I've been meaning to start this for a while, but I've finally got round to it.

I bought the car last July after a long time looking for the 'right' one. This is the original autotrader picture:



It needed work but it was a two owner car with a full history and stacks of bills including MOT's and tax discs. The first owner was an old disabled bloke who had it until 2007. When I got it home..





After a polish..







First thing I did was get rid of the nasty 90's wolfrace rollers. So I got hold of some factory option BBS's from the bay. Did a 100 mile round trip on a sunday night in august for these, the seller was a good lad too. I spent a while talking to him about his mk1. They are fairly scruffy but I didn't pay much for them.





Also threw some pressed plates on, I would prefer the original dealer plates but I only had the rear one Satin blacked the front badge because it had gone dull. I got a mint rear shiny one though.







One of the main problems when I first got it was the drivers seat subframe and backrest were twisted. I have no idea how anyone managed to do this, but it had to go. I had bodged a mk3 seat in for a while ahaha. I striped the broken one down in my garage and I bought at least 3 or 4 different ones from passats and golfs to try and fix the original one but it wasn't happening. Then I finally spotted an identical set on ebay from a 3dr driver locally. They were bought and collected from maccelsfield and fitted straight away!

I got bored of driving with no radio so I put a sony headunit that I had in, after messing around with about 3 different loom adapters. I also replaced all the speakers behind the factory grills. JBL in the dash, Alpine in the Doors and Kenwood at the back. I also ran an ipod lead to the centre console.

Then came the fischer tape holder. again from ebay. I have a receipt from 91 of one being fitted along with mats and mudflaps, so I tracked one down haha. I might get some mudflaps if I see any about...

(excuse the terrible photo and the mess)


It was then time for the pierburg to get some attention. Since around november it has had:
- Waxstat
- Inlet o ring and gasket
- Mounting flange
- Pulldown
- Choke housing rebuilt
- Another waxstat!
- Part throttle heater
- All new vacuum hoses
- Mixture adjusted

Other Bits:
- Indicator stork from volksmine (couldn't indicate left )
- Tracking done
- It has had a new 'waterpump to expansion tank' pipe from VW, all £33 of it!
- Thermostat
- Airbox Thermostat (3rd last genuine one in the country apparently)
- K&N filter in the original airbox.
- All the rear brake pipes were done for the MOT.
- Fuel leak fixed.
- Oil change with genuine filter.

Dewipered the rear. I think I want to put it back on though, I like how it sits at a funny angle on mk2's ahaha



Then came some Hella 181 spots. Proper 80's look I just fancied trying something different really.
I'm still not sure on these, some days I like them, but I keep thinking about taking them off...







Then yesterday I got some orange front indicators and chrome handle inserts from the scappy.
I also had a play with the centre caps.











Any comments welcome

cracking job mate looks very very tidy on the pics!! like the hella spots

wrighty wrote:

cracking job mate looks very very tidy on the pics!! like the hella spots

cheers mate

very clean example....

Jon wrote:

very clean example....

thanks Jon, there is a few bits of bodywork I want doing before I'll be happy though.

Looks awesome dude...Loving the wolfrace alloys ... very MAX POWER

Very nice car, looks very tidy and loving the new rims.

Hella spots are not for me, kinda look a tad out of place but if you like them its sweet.

looks tidy

Pictures do it no justice!

I'm not completely sure on the Hella's myself yet, I'll just have to see if they grow on me.

ahaha alex, I think the pictures do it a lot of favours

Couple of photos taken by Jon and robdaviesss a while back:

Its nice i like it. Not sure about the Hella's!

Thanks for the comments

The Hella's are off at the moment. Shiny new grille badge is on. (I'll get pics later)

I need a new exhaust also. Does anyone know a good place to get a standard system from?

I'm after front, middle and back sections.

Took all my wiper arms off and gave them a lick of paint. Rear wiper back on. Chrome Badge back on.

My home spray booth in all its glory.

I preferred the rear wiper off but if you're happy with it

Have you moved out of IQ now dude?

I'm fairly indecisive about most of it, so it'll get taken off again at some point I reckon aha.

I haven't been back for a few weeks but I'm back on thursday. Last time I was there I made good use of the oven...

Haha! Good effort! Your hob is so clean compared to mine. You can hardly see the white on it now...

What're you doing with MK3 lights?

ahaha, our kitchen isn't too bad at all compared to some i've seen. My housemates don't know I did this, there was a fairly toxic smell too..

Done them as a favour for my brother. Got them for free so we decided to split them and paint the insides. I'll get a picture of it posted up.

so shiney! lovley!!! :D

Just bake the lights at 150C of 2mins for best results lol

Remember doing mine and thinking "am i doing the right thing here sticking lights in the oven"

Rear wiper adds to the OEM retro look

i tried that with my lights but they wouldn't fit lol

KatVonMe wrote:

so shiney! lovley!!! :D

It hasn't seen any polish for 2 months so it's due a bit of auto glym soon

madmanmart wrote:

Just bake the lights at 150C of 2mins for best results lol

Remember doing mine and thinking "am i doing the right thing here sticking lights in the oven"

Rear wiper adds to the OEM retro look

It's a bit surreal, I was with a mate at the time and he thought I'd gone mad. Some people just don't understand haha. I'm loving the retro oem stuff at the moment.

HJRH wrote:

i tried that with my lights but they wouldn't fit lol

I've done it to mk3 fogs with a heatgun recently, might be worth a go

Decided to tackle the cloudy headlights on the front of the golf the other day





The sealant around the edges had more or less all perished away. The outer lamps came apart in my hands but the inners put up a bit more of a fight



I cleaned up the glass with vinegar and newspaper and resealed them, this worked a treat... for a few hours

The outer ones didn't take well to the vinegar as it seemed to corrode the reflective dome. So I was getting even less light out of them than before! Inners seem to have survived it though haha.

Picked up a couple of packages on my way home from Salford yesterday to put it right. Fitted them at the side of the road in stockport...



When I get home:

looking very fresh mate!

robbodred wrote:

looking very fresh mate!

cheers mate.

Both rear wheel were bearings replaced today. They were whiring horribly and it feels way nicer now

Picking up a package from VW tomorrow hopefully! cost me a grand total of £4.93. Anyone guess what it is?

Pics up tomorrow (if I get it of course)

Brand new radio blank



£4.82 it was in the end. I was sure they weren't available anymore but it seems they are. I got it because I don't like my headunit not matching the dashboard. Not sure where I'll relocate the radio too though haha.

I went in with a big list of parts I wanted and nearly all of them were obsolete, so I just asked about these on the off chance.

Decided to tackle a bit of bodywork that has been annoying me. There was quite a big shunt on the lower NSF wing and front valance, which had been given a basic repair job by the previous owner (note the screw holding the NS arch trim on ). This is the best picture I have of it before from a while back (doesn't really show the damage very well). The valance was also showing a bit of surface rust from stone chips etc.



So I took the splitter, the screw and front panel off



Making a few nasty discoveries along the way. The bottom of the front arch was completely rotten from the previous bump.



even worse though, to hide this, the splitter had been fitted like this:



instead of where it should be:



the plastic arch has been cut and the splitter bolted on with this:



I was amazed that in the time I've owned it I'd never noticed this. I always knew the dent was there and that a screw was holding the arch on, but the rust was a shock.

So I'm after a new wing and arch. The other one looks mint though thankfully

Set about preparing the valance for paint in the garden. I took my time to get it completely smooth, getting sunburn in the process





Just used rattle cans to paint it as I didn't really have much to lose.



Wet sanded it with 1500 grit and gave it a polish. I'm happy with it for a first attempt. It's not perfect but definitely way better than before. With a bit of practice I'd be confident in doing more (excuse the picture quality)



I'll be tackling a bit more bodywork soon. Hopefully the wing will be in a better state soon.

In other news: Radio is now hidden

Where?

If you need a passenger wing i got one not been touched and still got the dealer sticker on

Same blank as i have but i run no head unit

Front valances on mk2's for some reason take a beating over time. Every mk2 i have owned apart from the big bumper ones have a trashed front valance.

ChrisRivage wrote:

Where?

Put it in the VAG service system pocket next to the fuse box. I'm waiting for a sony remote to turn up in the post. I'm going to see how it goes there, it might get moved somewhere else yet. My ipod connects to it from the pocket above the ashtray (end of the lead is in the picture). I'm missing the pocket cover too so it's not that hidden until I get hold of one of them haha.

To fix it in I just cable-tied the cage to the shelf really tight. It's held up well so far and it doesn't rattle or anything.

Batler wrote:

If you need a passenger wing i got one not been touched and still got the dealer sticker on

How much mate? pm me if you want

Monkey boy wrote:

Same blank as i have but i run no head unit

Front valances on mk2's for some reason take a beating over time. Every mk2 i have owned apart from the big bumper ones have a trashed front valance.

Yours was partly the reason I did it

Yeah, mine was a mess. I just used it to practice a bit of painting really. It turned out better than I was expecting for a first go

Done a couple of little jobs recently. Tidied up my fan motor and surround with a lick of paint:



I had some hella stickers made for the front lights. I've also started gathering bits to go on my front wing out. (From left to right) Bumper mount, arch rivets, 16v ariel blank. After looking at it in more detail, I found the plastic arch hasn't been cut and the rust is not as bad as I thought at first. I might be able to rescue it after all.



Found these pictures the other day from a uni trip to Barcelona that I went on a few months ago (taken on my phone). There were masses of mk2/3's everywhere. Original minis were common too.

Update on what I've been doing:

I got hold of a lower dash section to replace mine as the service book part of it was missing



New one:



Did some cutting to get my radio in:













This arrived too




The next job was fixing my drivers side doorcard. Took it off first:



It had split behind the fabric and it was really annoying me





I wasn't really sure of the best way to repair it to be honest, so I fibreglassed it back into shape:



It looks messy, but it was the first time i'd used it and it didn't need to be particularly neat because it obviously isn't seen anyway.








Next up was the dent and rust in the nearside wing



I decided to have a go at repairing it rather than getting a new one, so I took it off and got working on it.





Sanded it down and fibreglassed it.



then started to get it all smooth and ready for paint. Masked up the rest of too.



in primer, the photo makes it look uneven here but it wasn't



I slapped a bit of underseal on the inner arch too before the wing went back on



Painted it with rattle cans and then wet sanded/polished before refitting it. The plastic arch is only cable tied on atm so it doesn't sit quite as it should yet. It needs a good clean too






I've also been working on a set of Pirelli P-slots. They started off like this:



Then I began polishing them, and got 3 to about this far:



Then I went off the idea and decided to polish/refurb the bbs' that are on it now instead. I took the centres off to see how they came up with a bit of elbow grease: (before and after shot)



All 4 now look like this:



So I decided to paint the p-slots so that I can use them while I refurb the bbs'. They will be silver with black inserts. Picture of a satin black one fitted to see how it would look below, but I wanted them to look original so they are getting painted.






That's it for now, the p-slots should be on by the end of the week with a bit of luck. comments welcome

The wing looks really good dude, you didn't dent it on IQ's ramp did you?

I should really pay them for my parking space next year haha!

awesome work dude....

Air-Alex wrote:

The wing looks really good dude, you didn't dent it on IQ's ramp did you?

I should really pay them for my parking space next year haha!

Thanks mate, no the previous owner put the dent in the wing, I'd just never got round to sorting it til now. That ramp is horrid though even in a standard car haha.

Me too, I've been meaning to do it the last few days but not got round to it

Jon wrote:

awesome work dude....

thanks Jon


I took a p-slot outside today and had a look at it lined up to the car and it's way too pale, so I need a darker silver .

Nice work on the wing,

Will look top on the P slots also.

madmanmart wrote:

Nice work on the wing,

Will look top on the P slots also.

thanks mate

P-Slots are now on, I took these pictures just before I left tatton park last week:





I got a tow eye cover yesterday too :D:

I haven't updated this for ages. I've had a very busy few months since the last update and the car has taken a bit of a backseat but it has undergone a few changes. The biggest is a new interior

Most of the changes are very minor though. I'll get pictures up as soon as I can.

It's just had a fresh MOT as of last week. I'm now thinking whether I can afford coilovers and which ones to get if I do go for some.

The bbs in the earlier pictures will be going back on for summer. I'm polishing them by hand, it's taking forever but it will hopefully be worth it!

Loving this, my first car was an 88 Driver in Atlas Grey (15 years ago :lol: when they were all still mint!) and its really made me want another....

Nice work too!