New to golfs - need help on a decision!

An engine's a pretty significant component of a car. It doesn't make sense to buy a car with a faulty engine, unless you definitely want a 'project' car (and are paying buttons for it) or are planning an engine conversion anyway.

paul_c said

An engine's a pretty significant component of a car. It doesn't make sense to buy a car with a faulty engine, unless you definitely want a 'project' car (and are paying buttons for it) or are planning an engine conversion anyway.

True very true  :y:

If there is white smoke out the back it couldbe just condensation especialy if the engine is cold.If the smoke is blueish thats normaly oil burning,that could be that the breather is blocked in the rocker cover.That was the prob I had,cleaned that out no more smoke  Just thought it might be worth a mention. Baller

ta for the responses.

cabriaulait - Soz don't think i made myself clear - the first car is a 87 gti, wrt the kit, i doubt it's come originally with the car, though it is a karman kit… the leather interior is a major factor for me (hence the procrastination) as its so much nicer than the usual cloth trim. its in  pretty good condition, i believe only the drivers seat is very worn.

yradave - thanks for the advice, i'm gonna get some quotes on what this kind of work would cost. As I see it (though I'm no expert), the engine isn't completely knackered, i.e. its running well, i am just wondering how long it would last (hopefully a couple of years?) … if i wanted to swap the engine at some point (which is very appealing); as i understand it, it would be better to get the gti due to re-use of various other components?

paul_c / autocab / baller - points taken thanks, unfortunately i am not incredibly clued up to decide if the engine is faulty! I'm gonna have a test drive on wednesday and give it some pastie… the car has been sitting around for about a month, so will get it warmed up and check the smoke situation. I am assuming that if it is still pumping out a lot of grey / blue smoke (when revved or idle) after 10mins of driving around, that it is not worth getting?

ta, Lama
p.p.s. The asking price is ?1250…  I was hoping to get that down to around ?1000 or under… thoughts? :scratch: -> Am I being a muppet?!

Not at all, when you first turn up check they havent warmed it up b4 you get there.it will blue smoke loads when first started if major fault, white smoke will go away, you will smell the blue smoke as well as see it and that wont go away, keep an eye on it.Will smell oily.
Put in a an offer of ?1000 they will only go up and not down then the balls back in your court.
Go for a drive your general instinct will tell you yes or no, If you were more local i would pop along with you, if you know anyone in a garage when test drivin it run it round to them and stick it on the ramp have a look underneath and let them have a look at engine and a listen to it.
Hope this helps.
My mate also has a helios blue Karman 1.8 gti cabby for sale need minor bodywork on it t +t new hood leather interior no rips or tears on an e plate he wants a ?1000 ono reckon you could get it for ?900 ish.Worth a thought.

wooders said

and also, we don't like you

that seems a little harsh when you don't know me! i only wanted some advice from people who i thought could help! i wouldn't dream of coming here and giving anyone else grief and so expect the same courtesy you.

el_sicko said

wooders said

and also, we don't like you

that seems a little harsh when you don't know me! i only wanted some advice from people who i thought could help! i wouldn't dream of coming here and giving anyone else grief and so expect the same courtesy you.

Relax….Wooders loves to wind people up. You'll see the witty side eventually.

lol ok.  

eventually

Thanks for the offer and the tips autocab. I'm having a go tonight so will let you know how it goes.
Once again thanks to everyone thats replied on this thread.  :clap:

 :tlc: El sicko, if you read any of the threads on the forum, wooders generally winds most people up. he's just a banter machine, makes life a little more intersting i guess!

Ok, so I took it out for a test drive….

Good news is that the engine seems fine, no smoke at all. I can only suggest that the car was smoking previously as it had not been run for a while, at present all seems well.

However there are a few more problems, first off there is a variety of clunks from the back of the car when changing gear.  I have attributed some of these to:

a) the drivers seat rails do not lock, so when there is a gear change the seat slides back and forth making a clunking noise.
b) there is a stainless steel exhaust system (heavy) which i believe has  loose mounting and clunks.

Is there anything else that might be making a clunking noise (in the rear of the car) when changing gear? I assume its not the suspension as it has been replaced recently and there is no noise when cornering…. Worst case scenarios please….  :pray:

Also I found the clutch very very hard and consequently pretty hard to find the  gears. Is this usual and something i'll get used to? (bearing in mind I haven't driven an 'old car' for about 8 years! - and that was a 1.3 golf mk2, so hardly the sportiest of clutches!) At first I thought the gear box was knackered however I was told that it has got a fairly new reconditioned one, so there shouldn't be too much of a problem gearbox wise. Suggestions???

*** Disregard*****Lastly has anyone come across the garage / shop called 'DUB CITY' the guy said that this is where the reconditioned engine came from, he said when he first had the car it had a wolfburg engine in which was too much for his wife to handle so he swapped it out. I had a brief look on the net for dub city and haven't found anything so would appreciate any input.  - Ok just found 'VWCity.co.uk', i assume this is it -> so gonna phone them up and see…
*** Disregard*****

*** Disregard*****Sorry 1 last thing, the MFA is a bit dodge, dodgy as in it displays some kind of illegible read-out… Is it hard to repair / replace these? - Ok just read up on these in the electric section… wow loads of posts so no worries about answering this.
*** Disregard*****

Thanks,

Lama.