project mk1 golf gti mars red

So first of i need to give big thanks to Lee (caddyrage), Gem (gemibiza) and Simon (mk1g60) for all there help and support, i wouldn't have been able to get this project going if it hadnt been for lee and gem, since it now lives on their driveway hahaha. Anyway, after trying to decide on getting a Mk1 golf as a project, my mind was made up by the time we all got back from our Worthesee tour in june, i knew i had to have one, but on a tight budget. I was searching for weeks, and the only sub £1000 cars on offer were half restored wrecks, and i wanted something untouched to restore myself and also improve my mechanical skills, since my Mk4 tdi 130 is so complicated i dont like to mess with it.. Then this ruff diamond turned up on the bay, a 83' GTI tintop in mars red (awesome colour) that hadnt been messed with but was tired and needed a little welding for the mot. So with the help of Mike and his trailer we headed up to Leeds and brought it home to Fenland.




It looked great in the pics on ebay, and the seller warned me there were hidded problems, and he included a chassis repair panel in the sale as there were holes around the rear beam mount that needed sorting for the MOT..



We did see other problems when we viewed the car, there was rust to the nsr wing below the window, arches and sills a bit rusty, and someone had remodelled the rear corners using fibreglass , but i expected that these problems could be dealt with in time. Unfortunately i was wrong.. Once we got the car up in the air, we noticed that the underside was in poor condition, the inner and outer arches were crusty, the sills not great, the chassis was worse than we first thought, and damages to the passenger side front sill too..


this wheelarch hole only appeared after removing the grey arch liner







Anyway, we got to removing the rear beam, fuel tank and exhaust, and i took the beam, brake drums, ect home to clean and repaint, got some silver hammerite, cos i thought black was too dull, heres some pics of before and after..

before



and after


Should look good when they go back on

So it turns out that we couldnt repair the chassis mount holes, without doing the outer sill, and the inner wheelarch on the driver side, which leads to the outer wheelarch, the rear panel and so on, so it all had to be done right away.. Out with the Angle grinder then hahaha

these are shots after cutting started...




So ive spent the last few weekends with Lee and Simon restoring her, Wire wheeling and grinding rust down underneath to see what was good and bad, i measured up and Lee welded the chassis repair section, probly shoulda done a better job on the measuring but it looks good enough.. pics

before


after


Then after that was done we started patching up holes along the chassis, until lee noticed the towing eye is area is rusted out, no good metal left either for welding too, and it was a disaster as the whole inner corner was gone.. we both got to the stage of thinking is it worth it.. but lots of time and money were in it now, so Lee pulled out the dodgy section leaving this behind..



Not good, i didnt know if it would come together, but Lee fabricated a whole new corner section in an afternoon, and i couldnt believe how good it came out..





and after a grinding down the welds, and a quick protective paint this is how it looked..




Maybe ruff and ready, but i think it looks brilliant, and im gonna weld the towing eye back on just for decoration too
Oh we also had to fix the fuel filler panel inner and outer, as that caved in tryin to remove the fuel filler pipe
again, i think its looking good so far though..



So thes last pics are the car as it stands today, the floorpan is now solid, and ive painted it in antirust primer were require and the next stage will be to undercoat the car, ill get pics up as we go, but for now...





Still loads to do, but soon we should be ready to start putting outer panels on if all goes well, cheers for reading, and ill have some new pics up soon..

looks like you have got your work cut out. I will be keeping an eye on this one! Good progress - keep the good work up!

You forgot to add jim for his much needed moral boosting banter lol

Not the best welds you've got pictured there but then i have'nt done any for years. All looking good for the outer panels now though and atleast i'll be welding with new metal. Not far from you getting it shultz'd up mate.

Once its built back up, you can get it MOT'd

CaddyRage wrote:

You forgot to add jim for his much needed moral boosting banter lol

Haha yes of course, sorry Jim

Hope so mate, be good to see that floorplan black again, so the rebuild can commence

Yeah don't forget Jim dude, at least yours will be on the road before his MK2

Good progress in the last couple of weeks guys. I'm free again most of this week so will be over with some spare grinding discs if needed

Lets get this thing on the road and then start looking for a motor to install before Worthersee/Ring

good job for getting stuck in cuz id imagine alot of people would of thrown in the towel

bridgedubber wrote:

good job for getting stuck in cuz id imagine alot of people would of thrown in the towel

We nearly did ben but then, pretty much all mk1 projects need rear arches and valance so it's only a bit more work than normal. It'll be a solid mk1 in time

[quote="CaddyRage"]

bridgedubber wrote:

good job for getting stuck in cuz id imagine alot of people would of thrown in the towel

Yes like Lee said it was a close call, but it deserves to live again, and it will
Can't wait to bring it to it's first meet

That corner Lee fabricated is spot on

Sweet pics simon thanks for those dude...

I now see the culprit for cutting the chassis mount repair section too short lol

"It wasn't me" in a Shaggy styleee...

good stuff guys, i though you was going to look for a new shell when i started reading the list of repairs! good to see you all getting stuck in!

So after work tonight went over and got on with the final stage of the underbody restoration.. Undercoat with Shutz, still needs a bit of touching up, but its now strong, rust free, and ready for the axle to go back on .. heres a few pics.

Good work

Good job man, build her up over next couple of days, MOT on Thursday then we roll to show Friday?

Supa78 wrote:

CaddyRage wrote:

You forgot to add jim for his much needed moral boosting banter lol

Haha yes of course, sorry Jim

MK1G60 wrote:

Yeah don't forget Jim dude, at least yours will be on the road before his MK2

yeah yeah blow me all of you, mk1 bum chums, forget us mk2 guys need lovin too

mk2 will be on the road by edition.....just not saying which one

good work dudes, do you need the rear arch repair panels as i'm sure i got some somewhere

Lol Jim. You know mk1's rule haha

Mark, already got the repair panels mate

mark-1vw wrote:

good work dudes, do you need the rear arch repair panels as i'm sure i got some somewhere

might be interested in some doors though mark, i think you said you had some

So the floor is all solid now, so i got with a quick refurb of the fuel tank, wasnt in bad nick so just a quick scrub down and repaint where it was rusty. Then yesterday me, Simon and Lee got on with refitting the fuel tank, and installed the rear beam, so parts are starting to go back on , cant fit the shocks yet as one of the bolts has rusted solid in the bottom bush, cheers Jim for taking it to work to hopefully get it sorted.. hahaha its literally taking an army to move it
anyway few pics of progress...

Supa78 wrote:

mark-1vw wrote:

good work dudes, do you need the rear arch repair panels as i'm sure i got some somewhere

might be interested in some doors though mark, i think you said you had some

let me know soon, i was gunna put them on flea-bay after the weekend

cheers Mark, but i just won a door in the right colour on the bay for £20, supposed to be spot on too, but ill know when i collect

Coming out to play soon or what?



Man down...