MKII GTi Car Diary

[ChaneyTec]

Picked up a MkII GTi 4 door last friday in red. Will be tidying this car up, down to the finer details, working on it with my younger brother (Im 19 hes 16) to get it clean, reliable, road worthy, regoed, and a great daily cruiser for him once he gets his P's. Hes always loved VW and euro scene, so hopefully this will be a good project as a learning curve. Will be doing the majority of the work ourselves... with the help of properly skilled mates. We bought it unregistered, for a very decent price, but it came with almost everything needed for road worthy. New front indicators, new indicator and wiper stalk, a tonne of nuts and bolts, manual, the usual stuff... Iv already swapped over the wiper and indicator stalks and it all works fine now, pulled out the broken headunit and began to pull apart the front end...

For the price we paid youd expect alot of work, but it drives fine, engine is fine, drives straight and handles suprisingly well. We got it home, into the garage where it will probably live for a few more months until my brother gets his license...

So basically...

1990 MKII GTI 8V 5sp Manual
150,000 kms
Basically a completely standard car, with all servicing just done..
New spark plugs, oil, oil filter, air filter and near new tires on some near completely rank wheels...
Drivers seat bolsters have been re-upholstered in grey suede
Some form of 6x9's on the broken parcel shelf (cheers :|) and a broken headunit

Being his first car we plan to get it reliable and comfortable, lower it on some decent enough wheels (i say coilovers, but we will see with money..) and put in a decent but not ridiculous soundsystem... time will tell.. also need to replace the rear right window rubber which is just old and worn... and brakes too... :S

I apologise now for the terrible photos...

Once we had gotten the car (anyone wanna buy these wheels?)


The interior


Ignore the fake plates


Pulling it apart and tidying up the light surrounds and mystery red splash all through the front end...


Pulled out airbox, battery, washer bottle as well as a tonne of other crap..


which revealled centipedes spiders and too much dirt for comfort..., so all tidied up now...

but suprisingly no rust even throughout the entire car besides one tiny fingernail size piece at the front near the wipers...

anyway will update with decent photos soon, so keep posted any thoughts, feedback, criticisms or suggestions much appreciated...

[rob64981]

Looks like a good project.

Why have they done that to the seats.....could they not find a nearer match to the original cloth?

Some people..........

Enjoy your self.

Rob

[Stiggy_21]

looks like fun, especially doing it with your bro (i wish my bro was mechanically minded)
have fun with it!!!

lol its looks like suede on the seats???

[Cookie28]

looks like a nice project and i live pretty close to you (I'm in seaforth) and so I'm sure ill see this driving around once its on the road!!

[ChaneyTec]

cheers guys, yeah the previous owner re did the seats, akwardly too, upper right bolster on drivers seat but not passengers... and both lowers on both seats.. feel alot kinda... harder than usual, so maybe re-inforced but yeah seriously... suede?? its kinda cool, buut.... cmon man...

i reckon itd pass for rego as is.... but still many more things to do to get it really good...

oh and yeah, being 19... not really that mechanically minded.... doing my best though and have alot of knowledgeable mates... they let me watch and help them with their cars..... hopefully i can learn a bit though...

[Stiggy_21]

Don't worry we're all still learning.. Just keep taking the car to bits and you'll know it back to front before you know it!!
As long as you give it a go, you'll be getting somewhere

[ChaneyTec]

Don't worry we're all still learning.. Just keep taking the car to bits and you'll know it back to front before you know it!!
As long as you give it a go, you'll be getting somewhere

yeah thats the plan, need to fix these windows soon, left rear regulator and right rear rubbers.... anyone tried any of these before?

[ChaneyTec]

So the radiator fan now turns on when the key is turned to accessories... even though the car hasnt been run and isnt hot.. :S any ideas anyone?? im sure this shouldnt turn on straight away and it definately didnt used to, even after turning it on when we first got it home or when we test drove it... :S confused

[Stiggy_21]

yeah thats the plan, need to fix these windows soon, left rear regulator and right rear rubbers.... anyone tried any of these before?

only done front before, but i'm sure it's not much different.
with the regulator from memory... unclip door handle, door lock pully-thing and door latch surround. unscrew the door card and take it off. carefully take off the sheet of plastic. now you can see the whole mechanism. now make sure the glass is supported!! unbolt the bolts holding the regulator in place, and take it out. you can either take the glass out, or keep it in the door.

please someone correct me if i'm wrong!!

if you haven't already, get the Bentley Mk2 workshop manual.. it explains everything on the car, never failed me

[ChaneyTec]

thanks for the suggestion mate, will give it a go as soon as i get the parts

[ChaneyTec]

Alright so over the weekend in between work and uni assesments, managed to change a few things on the car..

fixed all problems with the fans and headlights, now just need new foglights because the passenger side one is corroded and useless....

had some wheels laying around that i got free for my old mirage, so we put them on just to see what itd look like because it was kinda similar to a set (i think the stockies) that the guy we bought this off was selling.

old vs ... well old




thoughts? top are 16's bottom are 14's, would love a decent set of 15's to try out...

and while changing realised we are definately going to need new brakes (will do rotors, pads and fluid change)



good opportunity to learn something

[Jarred]

I think I like the 16's better than the 14's!

Congrats on getting stuck in, with your brother too. I think the best way to learn is to ask questions and do it yourself!

Plenty of knowledge floating around the forum, so if you get unstuck, dont be afraid to ask!

[ChaneyTec]

yeah its good fun!, too bad its so cold!! haha, i guess the 14's just look average because they are terible sizings/specs and its not low...

will probably run 16's until enough money is laying around for a decent set... taking donations if anyone want to...

[benough]

good opportunity to learn something

Do those brakes even work?! haha

[ChaneyTec]

Do those brakes even work?! haha

auprisingly not too badly, but pretty sure after about a day of use theyd die haha