Advice needed on buying a Golf Mk1 GLD

[pi22a]

Gday all,,,

I'm hopefully heading round to check out an old GLD, needs work, cheapy.

Any tips on what to look out for, known rust areas? telltale signs?

Any advice appreciated,
Cheers
Daave

[hiho]

Compression

See if you can cold start it, hopefully they havnt warmed it up before you get there. If its hard to start then its either low on compression (bad, diesels rely on compression to ignite the fuel) or it has one or more bad glow plugs (nowhere near as bad as low compression).

Once its started, loosen the oil filler cap but leave it in place. If there is enough blow-by to blow it off then the motor is most likely at the end of its life.

When it is running, remove the coolant reservior cap, if it is bubbling then either the head is cracked or the head gasket is blown.

Check for oil leaks around the gearbox end of the motor, most likely rear main oil seal.

When driving check to see if the clutch slips.

If the motor has low compression or a cracked head/blown head gasket then it could cost heaps to fix. If the head gasket is blown/head cracked you may need a new head and these are increasingly hard to find. Also to have a head rebuilt these days will cost you upwards of $400 without parts. Add in new pistons, rings and a rebore and a rebuit motor could easily cost $1500-2500, not cheap.

Check for rust around the front windscreen, floors, bottom of the doors, hatch, rain tray (above the firewall in the engine bay)

[gldgti]

its not all bad...

i would say heads are increasingly easy to find... you just need to know where to look.

like hiho said, check cold starting. i will reiterate, the numbero ne casue of bad cold starts in the vw diesel is NOT low compression, its **** glow plugs. an engine with 400,000km on it can still have great compression.

the blowby issue is more important, if possible, open up the air filter box. if there is lots of oil sitting in there and its all over the filter, then chances are it'll need re-ringing or worse.

[pi22a]

Thanks for the tips guys, will let you know how it goes,

daaave

[pi22a]

Aaaah,, the engine was willing,, but the body was weak

(engine pretty good nick, body was just too rusty for me)

Could be worth it if I can find a good shell, I'll keep a eye out for one

Thanks for the tips guys

daaaaaaave

[roccodingo]

Well ya never know Dave til you have a look, Will keep looking to see if I can locate any others..

[pi22a]

Thanks Grant,,

[gldgti]

Aaaah,, the engine was willing,, but the body was weak

(engine pretty good nick, body was just too rusty for me)

Could be worth it if I can find a good shell, I'll keep a eye out for one

Thanks for the tips guys

daaaaaaave

hey mate,

just my opinion, but, a diesel in good mechanical condition is a good find... it might be worth your while to look at turning two golfs into one, if you get my drift.... it is a lot more work, i know, but there are too few diesels kickin around these days not to snap up the mechanically a1 ones.

(just to let you know where i speak from, picked up my gld some years back after it'd been a doghouse, literally, for 12 months. the engine, gearbox etc were all in great condition because the dude had been a great mechanic, but the body was shall we say, past it. i didnt have money or knowhow at the time to buy another shell, but lots of elbow grease got me where it is now, so its surprising what can be saved.

[pi22a]

Considering using a GLS to convert to a GLD at moment, bit of work involved, wiring etc,,, or I was thinking of putting a diesel into a 2 door Mk1,, whatta think?

daaave

[hiho]

Do it, that would be awesome! if you want i have a diesel tank and fuel lines. If you go down that path, import a TD or TDi motor with 5speed and you will have a fuel efficient race car.

[pi22a]

Tempting, would be like a DIY Mk1 GLS converted to a GLD GTi,,, Where do these imports come from? and what do they cost?

daaaaaaave

[hiho]

Golfloon occassionally imports TD motors, otherwise you could import one yourself from England, Europe, US or even NZ