Wolfsburg-Berlin-Somerset-East Dulwich

Dave, you have REALLY made my day. Thank you. I can only promise to do the necessary work on the car to an excellent standard and to use it. Oh, and when it's properly on the road, I'll pop over to Chepstow. Thank you for filling in so much. I have a full box file of receipts and I imagine many of them are yours and Graham's.

I'm even more excited to get it done now! I owe you a beer, sir!

MOT'd, Taxed (new!), Insured, and my first drive of any distance- straight onto the M11 and then the M25. Sort of terrifying! It did conk out on the M25 but I think it was lack of use and the carbs seemed very upset at pootling along.

After modern cars it's a bit disconcerting to see the temperature gauge actually move. A lot. So a bit stressful, hot, and lots of noises and bumps and snuffles from the engine. Nice to make it to my destination! So a success all in, and one more Mk1 actually on the road. Wow!

polynesian said

Some pics from back when it was a 1.9 8 valve
                

Just love a freshly painted Lhasa MK1 with lots of shiny bits 

I had to hop straight from the Golf into the Alpina yesterday which was a bit of a shock. But it also reminded me what I love so much about these cars. Those upright A pillars, the diminutive size, that still accommodates 4. The terrier like quality of it (at least this one), which is quite like my Clio 172 Cup was.

But more than anything, even the unassisted steering, the best thing about driving it was the smell. It's exactly as I remember it 20 years ago, and I still don't know what it is. It's a bit motor oily but there's something else to it and I'm sure there is a mk1 smell!

Loads of jobs to do, but the major one was taxing and insuring it :-)

One quick question that this forum is probably best for- what could have caused the cutting out on the motorway? The revs died and I was changing down to keep the engine going. I had the feeling it was the carbs- maybe not set up for steady 2500-3000rpm running? A fuelling issue? Not sure what else it could be? After less than 10 minutes on the hard shoulder it started again and ran all the way, another 45 minutes including a lot of standing traffic on the motorway.

I can't believe it's been nearly a year! I'm going to put the golf up for sale because I just don't use it. I have managed to build a big stash of parts and the car itself needs some work. Please let me know if you're interested in it, I'd like it to go to a good home, and know it's back in use. 

Tell me all about it….
davidrthomas@live.co.uk (previous owner)

Although I don't really want to do it, it makes sense for me to sell! I'm getting the car ready- MOT, new rad and hoses… can anyone help- it has the corsa rad and I believe there's some kind of trick with using a hose upside down to connect to the 16v engine… can anyone tell me what type of hose I need to buy?! Thanks!

Mini update, I bought the Corsa hoses, aluminium joiner sections and a silicone KR hose set, loads of decent hose clamps and we'll try and put the lot together. Can't wait to get this done and the car mobile again.

My garage are really dragging their feet on getting the corsa/16v hoses fitted and the cooling system finished. That had me trawling eBay again and I won a pair of original front struts for 99p! If the guy responds I've said I'll make a charity donation of his choice and a donation to this site… I could do with them to refurb and put the car back in decent sports rather than the awful £200 coil overs.

But I really need a cooling system too… wanted to sell the car this summer. Not my really what I want but too many others projects and demands… that means I will likely have masses of stashed parts for sale- Nardi wheel, Becker MD stereo, proper subframes for recaros, all sorts. Maybe I will find a way to keep it, but I need it finished first!

With no advisories
I guess it's reluctantly for sale :-(

On the space between actually selling and just owning, there's quite a bit of wriggle room… so I've been considering the suspension and how nice it would be to have eibachs and Bilstein dampers on, so I found a pair of strut housings (in fact full struts) for 99p and bought them. Rusty. I reckon it's going to cost me far more to properly restore them, weld them, powder coat them than to buy the kit with strut housings over an insert kit. Live and learn… has anyone restored the housings? These ones look a bit flaky. Hence 99p 😂.

Also looking at brake bias pedal set ups, just cos!

Original struts from the Titanic.

love the story and this thread... proper old skool mk1 owner stories

Now that my good garage have returned to form I've got them doing an oil and filter change and spark plugs (I'm in Spain so hard to do from here). Hopefully it will be running well when I get back but I still have a question from its last longish (from last year):

What could have caused the cutting out on the motorway? The revs died and I was changing down to keep the engine going. I had the feeling it was the carbs- maybe not set up for steady 2500-3000rpm running? A fuelling issue? Not sure what else it could be? After less than 10 minutes on the hard shoulder it started again and ran all the way, another 45 minutes including a lot of standing traffic on the motorway.

Any ideas?

madone_si said

love the story and this thread… proper old skool mk1 owner stories

Thanks! Have to ask, are you Madone as in high end Trek roadbike or Si on a mad one??? Either is good by me!

Turns out the front strut housing are in pretty good, though rusty, condition. Can anyone explain how to release the strut insert top cap, once I've safely removed the springs? 

It looks like the caps that hold the damper insert in the housing have a 4 loved shape but nothing obvious that I can undo? I'm sure it's a stupid question but can you help me out?

Thanks!

Forget what mk1 looks like but here is a couple of tools i made up to remove strut tops , to fit/remove inserts,  suggest you knock up something similiar.

Thanks for that ABF, bet my garage have something just like that tool…

Quick update:
Good- spark plugs changed, oil and filter done, suspension raised up (yes, up) and… it has a functioning and brand new gear linkage. Wow!

Bad- it looks awful! Cobwebs, leaves, dust. It needs some tlc!

Picked up the car today. It goes into gear beautifully! Just shows that the linkage is really ok if it's in good condition. I wanted to fit the Italvolanti Nardo wheel but it turns out the boss is large spline and the car is small! Found a VW OEM adaptador which is on its way. I did for the new grille and red trim. Personally, I love it. It just looks a bit new, the car desperately needs a clean now. And then sell it. My ad is up on classifieds, pictures to follow. If you've read, you'll know the car isn't perfect, but is a total hoot and a good un.