76 Blue 2 Door

[brasstinman]

Hi guys and gals.

Thought I'd better edit the post and let you know my name is Warren.

I'm new to the MK1 scene, drove my first MK1 on Sunday morning when I drove this little blue beauty home from Goulburn to Lalor Park. I loved it from the moment I drove it.
4 speed with a 1.8 litre 8v from a 1991 Golf in it. Went well on the way home.


I was extremely lucky to have picked up this golf from this site in the for sale section. It's turned out to be the biggest bargain buy. I'm so over the moon with it.
Roland was such a top bloke and kept me in line as the first caller even though he had guys throwing more money at him.
He even drove up from Canberra to Goulburn to meet me. Top bloke!
I'd been screwed over like this a few months back on a 69 beetle so I was dreading the long wait from Friday night to Sunday morning.

Here are a few pics I took on Monday afternoon.
Got the right sticker on the side window



Dash is roached so I'll need a replacement at some point. Speedo is working but the odometer isn't. Stuck on 202,000 kms.


Slight damage to the front right quarter panel which I'll look at later on. No damage to the structure of the car.
Bumpers aren't straight but didn't expect them to be.


Engine bay needs a tidy up. Need to find an air cleaner for the carby.



Paint code under the bonnet


Absolutely no rust at all in the boot or under the spare wheel. I was really happy.


The only rust I've found is a small hole no larger than a 5 cent piece on the passenger floor at the front. I'll get onto that and put in some fresh steel. Mind you I haven't removed all the carpets but I will be doing that this week. More pics to come.


New battery fitted on Monday afternoon and changed over the alloy wheels back to the original steelies. Tyres on the original steelies are at like 80% so they'll get me through rego and unit I can figure out what rims I want to run.
The boys absolutely love the Golf. I love the Golf. I'm going overseas shortly so the blue slip will have to wait, not to mention there's a list a mile long to get it to rego.

Scored How to Keep Your VW Rabbit Alive tonight on eBay for $5.20 with shipping for $11.00. Should arrive the day before Easter. Sweet!
I've got the beetle and bus version and it's an excellent book.


P.S. If anyone wants the alloys 15x6.5 with 2x80% and 2x40% tread with spacers for the fronts, you can have them for $200.

[ffoff]

YOU FOUND THAT BOOK!!!! haha nice work dude! I was wondering where this car went. Look forward to what you do with it.

[brasstinman]

I jumped onto thebookdepository.co.uk and they didn't have any in stock but there was some on Amazon 2nd hand for like $22-45 I did a check on ebay.com.au and wouldn't you know there was one copy with a great buy it now price. Snapped that right up because I heard it was hard to find.

[Peter Jones]

We've got a thread about that book.

http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/forums/f69/poor-richards-rabbit-book-26357.html

[Jarred]

congrats on the buy. looked like a bargain (only a little bit jealous!)

[mikinoz]

Welcome to the club! I am sure you will be able to make something good from that base.

[Lima]

Haha, great result on the Rabbit book, you've no idea how lucky you were to find one (and at the price) without enduring a loooooong search.

Mk1 2dr. Best.

[funkamedic]

nice score! mine's the same colour and a 2 door too



it looks like you've had better luck than me in the rust department though

i'll look forward to seeing some progress.

All the best.

[brasstinman]

Looks good dropped down on original wheels funkamedic. She looks nice and clean.

I've spent the last two afternoons cleaning out the garage and carport (cleaned it up not so long ago, not sure where it all comes from) so I could get the MK1 in the garage. Need to do the shuffle to get it out and work on it as the motor bike is parked behind it.
At least the MK1 is away from the elements while I strip the carpets out and get the rust sorted out.
Only got as far as the centre console and trying to figure out how to remove the front seats before calling it quits.

[brasstinman]

So today I got stuck into flushing and cleaning the radiator. OMG the filthy water that came out of that was unbelievable.
Adjusted the throttle cable so the accelerator is now up off the floor and is nice and responsive.

While I was waiting for the engine to cool down so I could flush it again I started attacking the interior.

Pulled the heater box out from under the dash and the amount of leaves and crap in there was scary. I reckon once I take to the car with the vacuum cleaner I could fill up a 20 litre bucket with what's under the carpets etc. I'm also finding money left right and centre. Not enough to buy me any new parts but it's keeping the 4yo happy his helping me out. lol
Removed the front seats the front carpets and sound material out so I could inspect the floors.....

Yep I found more rust in there than I first thought. Another small hole in the drivers side floor pan. Rust in the left side support beam that runs in the middle of the floor pan from the back to the front of the car. I'll attack the rust during the week and see what I'm dealing with but it looks to be no biggie. [touch wood] If that's it then I'm a very happy camper.

I don't have any pics of the rust, I'll try and post those tomorrow night. Darn day light savings is gone so I'll need to set up the spot lights up to work on the Golf now.
I need to drive it out of the garage to work on it and then put it back in because there isn't enough room to open the doors completely with all the stuff down the sides of the single car garage.

Even though I'm spending some time on the Golf now it won't be going through blue slip until sometime in May as I'm heading to Vietnam in April so no point rushing to get it done now and have it sit around with rego when it isn't going to be used.

[samSC1192]

im jealous as it looks so neat

[brasstinman]

These arrived today, eBay AUS bargain, two for the price of one

[brasstinman]

Checked the meat on the brake lads and bled the brakes, adjusted the clutch and flushed the water pump and radiator again to ensure its super clean and condfirmed the water pump is working like a tropper.
Took it up and down the street and she was driving so much better, then the misses gets in the drivers seat and runs up and down the street and is loving it until a big squirt of brake fluid shot up from the metal hose on the drivers floor and got her in the face. when knew she was ok I laughed my ass off.
No wonder the floor was all wet and rusty there.
Until I can replace the metal brake line is there a way to fix a small pin hole in the line with something, maybe some of that clear silicon filler?

[Peter Jones]

Nope. You need to replace the line. The brake system operates at pressures up to 1000psi.

They're easy to make, any decent brake place will sort you out.

[brasstinman]

WOW a 1000PSI! I had no idea. I'll replace the line. No sense in doing something half ass.