Volksforum.com - Project 504 ** UK MK1 Full on Restoration **

As the title says I’m currently building a MK1

My History

Im 27, run my own company, got 2 kids and I'm from Edinburgh, Scotland.

I’ve had many MK1's over the years and quite a few other VW's. Currently I’ve got an X5 as the daily runner and the wee MK1 as a project car. Its a 1983 1.8 GTi, previously its been a show car and also graced the cover of the Golf+ mag

The Project

The car was originally restored and rammed with a big ass sound system back in 99/2000 (All Before I bought it) sadly in recent years its went a bit worse for wear. So the current plan is to fully restore the body with a few mods and change the colour, replace the Engine, running gear, interior and add a few trick extras to make it slightly different to the other MK1's around. It turned into a much bigger project than I first thought to be honest….

I’ve also created a website listed below, for the project. I do try to keep it up to date.

www.mk1golf.co.uk

Anyway below is the progress so far…………

After a brief strip down then house move which meant the car had to be rebuilt, I managed to get things moving again after I settled into the new house.

Unfortunately I’ve only got a single garage now, but can’t have everything.

Got the engine out and the new block up onto an Engine Stand to be re-con'd.

A big mate of mine owns a Valeting and car wash centre and he came up with some engine degreaser.

He foned and said "this stuff is the daddy, wait will you see it work" and he wasn’t joking. Honestly if I didn’t have such big plans for the car I wouldn’t bother painting the engine bay, it did such a good job. Quick spray and leave for 5 mins, then rinse it off job done.

We also did the New 2.0 16V engine :lol:

Stripped the first batch of parts to send to the company who are doing all the Chrome work.

I also finsihed stripping the engine bay all execpt the exhaust. Got the loom out Brake leavers, servo ect and removed the brake/fuel pipes.

Spent some time cleaning up the engine bay. I invested £100 in a Dewalt grinder and put it too good use.

Spot the difference, answers on a post card :lol:

Before

After

spent some time removing the Dynamat, which the car is covered in, from the engine bay area.

Also removed the Battery tray and washer bottle holder ect.

The car is covered in this stuff

After a good seeing to with a Heat Gun, scraper and a quick introduction to the grinder.....Job Done

Removed Battery Tray

The car prep'd and away to the paint shop :lol:

I was quite sad too see it go actually, got an empty garage now, but it should cum back all nice and painted 8)

Bought up all the panels for the body resto

Arch Repair Panels
Rear Valance
Front Valance
And the typical Filler Neck

After spending 2 days down the Garage things have finally moved on :D . The front and rear valance was removed, arches dressed back and corrosion cut out. The Doors wings, bonnet and tailgate preped. After many many hours I also managed to remove the Sound proofing from the WHOLE interior, which was a bloody nightmare. After a quick bit of filler and a seeing to from the orbital sander the interior will be good to go...... 8)

Found a crazy amount of corrosion around the filler neck area in both the inner arch and rear quarter.

Chassis legs have been trimmed in preperation for the pannels to flush them off

It’s in a sorry state but I'm sure weel get there, at least I hope so

Going forward, the engine bay needs to be finished few mods and then primed :P

Continued the work on the arches, it was a long slog but im sure you will agree it was worth the work. :D

Front and rear panels have been welded up in place, the rear quarter had been repaired along with the inner arches.

I’ve seen a few people remove the underseal and paint the inner arch but most seem to stone chip then paint, however I wanted to go for as good a finish on the inner arch as the rest of the car. So there was no choice but to fill and smooth off, took ages and trying to recreate the lines to retain the original look was a nightmare.

The chassis legs have also been flushed off, templates took ages to make up but look the business when welded in.

Also been buying up brand new parts, everything is being replaced with new, from fuse box to seals and grommets :D

I’ve waited for ages for this picture, dreaming what the bay would look like when flushed off. The chassis legs are coming on now, still a little bit of work to go but not million miles away. The lines look so good and suit the engine bay I think, need to see how it looks in paint right enough but for now in over the moon.

Pics aint the best but you'll get the idea

Had some lengthy work to do in order to get the new seats in, passenger side was slightly easier than that of the driver’s side. On both sides the runners were removed along with the cross box section, on the drivers side wee needed to take an inch out of the tunnel in order to fit the seat in. Once they were bolted up the looked the duggies and really suit the car, I can’t wait to get the interior painted and get the seats trimmed and fitted now.

Also removed the box section for the rear seats from the top of the rear arch, as it’s no longer required, plus it will clean up the inside

The rear pannel is also all welded up and filled ready for primer

The car is coming along nicely. In the mean time got my front braking solution delivered and I'm very happy indeed. 8)

The cars just about ready for Primer at the moment hopefully be in primer b4 the new year :lol: .

The underside has all been stripped back filled and smoothed ect, the pics aint the best, the catty is the wrong colour for my camera :roll:

The inside is close to being finished aswell, again all repaired filled and rubbed down :lol:

Transcal have the seats nearly done and are looking spot on IMO. The first pic is closer to the colour (Think my flash was playing up). I wanted the BMW leather, but the supplier was sold out, so Robert at Transcal managed to get me a really close match with the Bentley Creama, which is more expensive but looks minted