There was a thread on prices before but I can’t find it. Maybe it was the old forum. As I think we’d been tracking prices over the last 10 years or so.
Things got a bit bonkers a year or two back but recently I’ve seen what in the face of it seems like some real bargains, or at least sensible price points.
Low spec tidy Golf’s below £2k and GTIs between £2-3k again.
Has the bubble burst, or is it the case that these unrestored cars now need a decent amount of money spent.
There’s still £10-20k examples around.
And if someone has taken a £3k golf and put £10k+ or restoration cost into it giving you essentially a new 30 year old car, ready for the next 30 years then why not?
And yes it would be easy to spend £10k especially if paying others to do the work.
I estimate £5-8k on a parts only DIY restoration, not including a paint job.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed how the rear of the car is often dirty due to the shape of the hatchback and the drag created.
I assume this means the aerodynamics allows air to circulate behind the car. So I’d be wondering if the boot seal, or even the seals of the rear lights would be an issue.
Do you ever get water in the car in bad weather? If water can get in then so can exterior fumes.
As the exhaust is expelled out the back I wouldn’t expect exhaust fumes to be coming in from the bulkhead as the engine bay should be gas free generally.
Good to see you've got a happy engine. Does it feel betterer? Rolling roads are strangley exciting aren't they! I got massive differences between the 2 separate dynos I went to but I guess how it feels is all that really matters.
I haven't actually used it much since. But I'm off to the Bristol meet tonight so will give it a blast. I did go out for a little drive (to the supermarket the long way round) and convinced Carole to come with me. I felt she needed to understand and appreciate the new credit card balance. It's not cheap for a few hours of tinkering.
ollowing the cambelt change, I haven't used it much but I knew I needed to get the timing sorted. I think it was just pulled a nudge out when pulling up the tensioner. My pops and bangs were more frequent (fun, but not how I want it) and it was feeling a bit laggy above 3k.
Having been suspicious that the distributor shaft was likely to be seized in the block, and also thinking it was worth getting my worked checked. I booked it into my local old-school tuning shop, Interpro.
They freed the dizzy and did the timing and asked if I wanted it set up on the rollers. Of course I didn't decline. I also know Dave there would be able to work his magic and get the most out of it.
Ok, so it's not going to blow anyone away but for a stock motor, with just a Pipercross panel filter and Milltek exhaust it was good to see nice smooth curve and I haven't lost any power over the years.
OK, so now the dust has settled I can do a bit more of an update.
Here's the dodgy plug. It was only by pulling the lead off and finding the rod part stuck in the HT cap, else I might never had known. With it pushed back in, the plug looked normal.
I did plugs, leads, car etc when I recommissioned the car after the COVID lay-up, so about 3 years but only 4000 odd miles. But it was on my list to do this year as part of general maintenance anyway.
The original cam belt
No idea how long that's been in there, I haven't done it before in my ownership, which is getting towards 4.5 years now. I think I remember seeing a bill for it in the paperwork when I got the car.
The last time it was done it looks like someone was a bit heavy-handed with the pulley bolts
The good old Irwin tools to the rescue
But I was never going to be able to torque it back down. So I ordered 4x genuine bolts, but also needed to wait for those to be delivered.
I also fitted all new belt covers and fixed the alternator bracket while I was in the area.
And for anyone with Power Steering, you'll know how much of a nightmare it is to adjust. Well, hopefully, that's all freed up now if I need to make any further adjustments. A squealing belt has plagued me for quite a while.
New cam belt and tensioner fitted, and miles and date written on the inside of the belt cover.
I still have a list of jobs to do, and a box of new parts ready to fit.
The good news I got the cam belt right after all. New plugs, leads, rotor and cap and I’m all good. Must have been that busted plug. Just got nervous as it was after the belt change.
I’ve patched up a few with chunks of foam from carpet underlay etc and gaffer tape. Once the covers are back on you’d never know.
And if you have access to a steam cleaner (wallpaper stripper will do it) you can refresh the rest of the foam. Blast it with steam and you can watch the miracles of your old foam expand and breathe!
It started well, I nipped up the rear wheel bearings, and did a few other tidy up jobs after seeing the car on the ramp at MOT time.
But then I did my cambelt, first time doing it solo. And I’ve been apprehensive, but after talking with people and watching YouTube video etc I thought I’d take it on.
It all seemed to go ok, but afterwards my biggest fear was realised as the car wouldn’t run.
I tore it down again, double and triple checked, also got my son involved to help me go over everything again.
And to the best of our ability, everything seemed fine.
Running through diagnostics and backtracking everything I did, I did remove the spark plugs to make turning the engine by hand easier.
I wanted to check I hadn’t messed up the firing order, but then I discovered a broken spark plug. And remembered I did drop one when I took it out.
My son also pulled the end off one of the leads, so not sure if that was a sign it was deteriorating or just him being heavy handed and pulling from the cable not the end.
So now I’m stuck with a stranded car, awaiting eBay orders to come in this week for plugs, leads, cap and rotor.
And until I’ve replaced all of that I have no way of knowing if I messed up the cam belt …. Not such a happy Easter bunny right now.
For the GTI which has taller side bolsters the early seat frame has metal bar added to the seat base. And foam is just foam that sits over the side bars.
It’s easy to make a mould and pour in foam for reproductions.
In the later cars the metal seat base is the same on all variants, the side bolster framework is inside of the foam.
I imagine this was a production saving as there’s no difference between the main seat frame across all variants.
But it does make it harder and more costly to produce reproduction parts which is very likely why only early foam can be purchased new.
I did do a post about earlier vs late seats, but it was ages back and I’m not even sure if it got copied to the new forum.
