Currently working on a small-bumper 16v, which will be my co-host for a proposed magazine/video travel show. To suit the media project the chosen car had to bookend 1986 and 1992, which (if I got my dates right) are the years that the 16v featured in the Mk2. I am currently documenting the driveway strip-down in a light and loose fashion on my website, but thought I'd echo what I'm writing there here too. The Golf is, by the looks of it, 100% original which I will be honouring. Just over 106K, four owners, and VAG service history up to 1996. Since then it's only done a further 10k, and been off the road since 2009. Any advice will be greatly received. [/IMG]
[/IMG] After the genuine excitement how having a Golf GTI back on the driveway, I decided to stop squinting at the problem areas and give it a proper inspection. I have attached a picture of my findings thus far: You are first looking under the passenger-side windscreen rubber (top left). I honestly thought I’d smugly got away with anything related to windscreen metal work. Moving on: (top middle) driver’s wing is non-factory, with a dusting of rust. Inside (top right) driver’s seat runner cross-section needing some attention, as will the near-by sill (left middle) which houses the pressed seam for the door-sill trim: it is where the door rubber meets and, in this case, water too – not overly-happy about this discovery. The opposite thankfully is not so bad. The floor is very wet under the carpet too, most probably two-fold: failed sunroof seal and failed heater matrix. I’ll be getting the carpets up soon for a full inspection. Both of the rear arches have rotted through (middle right and bottom left) where they join the rear valance panel: they’ve at least been primed and roughly painted to stop them getting any worse. Arch also gone through where the driver’s-side arch meets the sill (bottom middle). The passenger door (last in this sad series of pictures) has received some unwanted attention in the past, proving at least that armour door plates actually do work: I’m hoping the damage can be beaten out… [/IMG] Also back end of passenger sill also has a hole. It’s been treated with paint in the past.
Thank you. Someone stopped to chat the other day. He said "ok, it's not a desirable colour, but it's nice to see a Mk2 GTI being restored." I think it's a fine colour.
[/IMG] The interior, bar the front seat belts, is now out. The dripping dead-weight of the sound-deadening was remarkable. [/IMG] Thankfully it was, I believe, all recent absorption as the floor underneath was pretty clean. The passenger side however was a different story. The sound-deadening was much better – being bone dry – but underneath revealed a rusty floor section. The same level of water has obviously make its way in over the years and has been left for a time unnoticed and untreated. Hopefully this is a more surface discolouration than the worse alternative. Joining the carpet sections, leather panel trim and the dashboard on the front lawn was the offending heater box, or more specific the failed heater matrix within. I already have a replacement, so this will be cleaned up and readied for repatriation. The inner bulkhead is as intended, with no additional holes other than those cut out at the factory, and these showing zero corrosion. Rest of the inner shell is clean. Thankfully nothing lurked being the leather door cards either; the doors carcasses pin-sharp. There was quite a chunk of detached wiring. It appears that most strains are associated with disconnected speakers and the retired Gemini alarm system, but not sure about the two black lengths (pictured below: can someone help?) ... UPDATE: thank you rubjonny, who has informed me it's a connector for the rear speakers. [/IMG]
I think it's a great shade, not the mediocre greens that most used in the 80s, eg austin rover and ford. And the red striping on the gti contrasts well with it.
Chipping away at the underseal on the ‘good’ side, the footwell has revealed a few holes, including the tin-worm around one of the factory drain-plug holes in the passenger well, with a few thin spots in the front footwell where a screwdriver easily breaks though to thin air. Assuming a whole floor section is advised here? [/IMG] The driver’s side (the good side) ironically was the floor with the soaking wet carpets. This appears to be surface rust. Remaining inside, the fragile roofliner, which once had fabric attached, is now – finally – down mostly in one piece. What is not in one piece is the end of the roof gutter strip that the passenger-side trim slots into. Not sure the correct term, but it has crumbled at its tail end as well as going through ever so slightly around the final pin that holds one of the numerous trim clips that dot along this channel. The other side is much better. With the rubber strips now off both sides of the car the already alarming plot of rust at the bottom edge of the pillars leading down to the windscreen/top of the wing is more worrying, with a gentle tap leading to a hole appearing. Not sure how easy this is for a professional to repair, but it will certainly need to be addressed. [/IMG] Elsewhere, the Golf is now devoid its roof aerial and tailgate spoiler, making it much easier for said professional to cast their eye over the decay. Soon after I discovered all of the above I decided to go buy some 185/60 VR 14 Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2 tyres for the original alloys, which should be back from the refurbishers this week, as well as a new headliner and original-spec speakers for the dash and the rear shelf supports. Random jumping-the-gun purchases, considering the Golf is far from being back on the road anytime soon, but I needed cheering up…
Great to see you are saving it! A factory jade green 16v on the original Montreal alloys with the red side stripes intact is a fine sight !
Thank you for the comment: it has been totally stripped down for some time, but have failed at every hurdle to find someone to undertake the bodywork and paint. I have since, therefore, focussed on building a garage (which is now weather-tight as of this week) to try and sort as much of the bodywork myself and focus on bringing the paintwork back to a reasonable shade of fade and get the car back to being weather-tight and back on its feet. Have it in my mind to keep the bodywork as original as humanly possible, bonnet paint peeling, parking dents and all, rather than eradicating evidence of its life thus far with a factory-finish restoration.
