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Topics - Eddypeck

46
Mk2 Golf Chat / Are mk5 Golf front callipers any use on a Mk2?
I've got a spare set of Mk5 GTI callipers and carriers, I bought some 2nd hand ones and refurbished then and fitted on my Mk5 so I have my original ones in need of a refurb available.

Crazy thought but are they any use on a mk2? would they fit on 16v hubs?

47
General Chat / Beetle
Yesterday on eBay I found a really really cool old VW beetle.

1973, 1300 1 previous owner, never restored.
Proper grotty but you could see it was honest and original and could easily be serviced and driven as it with the lovely patina or put through a restoration to be made super nice.

Only 5 miles from my home and just under £5k.

If I’d had a spare £5k I’d have probably gone and bought it there and then and worried about the conversation later but as it is I don’t have any savings stashed so I knew if I wanted it I’d have to have a conversation and work out how I could get it.


Anyway, with it being what it was it was no longer available half hour later so someone clearly snapped it up so I never even needed to have that conversation - probably just as well really  ;D
48
Mk2 Golf Chat / 9 years with you lot!
Holy crap, it just popped up on my timeline that's it's 9 years ago today I bought my 2nd Mk2 Golf Gti, and that was some 14/15 years after my first one back in the late 90s.

And that's where the journey restarted for me and I've been on here ever since.


Here's a pic from the original ad, I paid £400 in 2013



Only 4 owners, needing a lot of work but completely un-touched which means un-bodged. A perfect base for a Resto, shame I got taken for a ride with some of the people I let work on it. Valuable lessons learned.

Anyway, some four years (or thereabouts) and thousands of pounds later and here's one of the pics from the advert I put together when I sold it on.



I know it's been on quite a journey since it left me, and many more thousands spent on it, but I'm hoping to be reunited on Friday at the Bristol meet as the current owner has said he'll be there.


49
Mk2 Golf Chat / Dilemma - which one to keep
At some point in the near future, I'll be forced to make a decision.

Keep the Mk2 GTI or the Mk5 GTI  :o

The Mk2 is my car, I also have a motorbike.
The Mk5 is officially my wife's and/or the main family car.

We've had the Mk5 for 3 years now and it is a great car. It was the best example we could find at the time, see the member cars (other) section, with low ownership, great service history and amazing high-level spec. I have only seen 1 or 2 with a similar level of options. The mileage was slightly higher than I'd have liked but still reasonable, so 3 years later we haven't added to it much so most of the other Mk5s out there are now catching up.

The Mk2 I bought because I wanted another, and it was affordable. It's far from perfect but it's decent enough but I never saw it as a keeper, it was just to get me back in one. That said I have been pretty pleased with it.

Carole, my wife, has been dropping hints for a while now about replacing the Mk5. At the time we got it, I was banking on being about 4-5 years till I had to make this choice but I always thought that when the time came I would take it on as my 'future classic' and let the Mk2 go. I might be able to stall this for another year, unlikely two, but still one day I'll have to face up to it.

Now to keep either of them I know some work is going to be needed.

The Mk5 is starting to show its age (16), the wheels definitely need a fresh diamond cut and the paint has a few stone chips and blemishes so to make it perfect if I were to keep it I'd be thinking about a fresh blow over, and based on milage maybe a turbo rebuild. I could easily part with a couple of grand to get it factory fresh and to sort it out for the next 10 to 15 years. It's a future classic and tidy examples are holding their values well - although with the unknown future of petrol cars could legislation render it worthless in 10 years' time.

Whereas another 10 years (9 actually) will see the Mk2 as a Historic vehicle (assuming they keep that) and potentially exempt from sanctions.

But to keep the Mk2 long term it's likely to need a lot more work, The welding I did last year was adequate but I'm sure it'll need looking at again as I'm no pro. Maybe 4 or 5 years and it'll want professional help - at which point I'd need to decide if it's worth restoring as a factory fresh example similar to Monkey's path with the red one. With prices as they are, I'd say that over the next year the Mk2 is probably at its optimal time for selling, beyond that it's likely to start degrading again and the resale value would be in line with a rolling project car in need of work.

The replacement new car is likely to be a small economical car that reflects how we use our cars now. Most likely a Polo of some kind. Unlikely to be electric/hybrid yet but you never know.

Carole works locally, our kids are grown up and have their own transport. We don't need a big family car, although it does help to have some capacity for the odd Ikea shop or bulky Marketplace collection, etc. Keeping the Mk5 would help here, although the Mk2 is still very spacious, especially with the seats down, being basically a box!

The Mk5 has modern comforts, driver's aids and safety features that the Mk2 lacks. It's fast and powerful and the driving experience is very similar to the Mk2 with less of the worry of what might break next - but more of the worry of knowing if it does break it's going to be more expensive.

And as mentioned I have a motorbike, so I have the toy/fun element.

I know it's only a decision I can make but would be interesting to hear what you might do given the situation.
50
General Chat / Dash Cams
Looking for advice on dash-cams.
To be a present for my daughter's birthday as she's mentioned she wants one.

Criteria:
Easy to fit, fit and forget.
Hassle-free operation, auto start/stop, collision activation from stand by etc.
Potentially one that connects to a phone app and/or auto uploads to cloud storage - but maybe not within my budget - just thinking that sounds easy.

Budget around £100 to £150.

I was looking at the little Garmin Dashcam Mini 2 but I've just discovered (at least reading the info I think this is what happens) that only activates when it detects a collision and doesn't continuously record which I think is more useful as it will record the events leading up to an incident or could be used for other reasons, i.e. near miss, witness of an incident etc.

Previously for my own use, I've just used a cheap (£40) Chinese fake Go Pro (SjCAM) in dash cam mode, but want something proper and decent for my daughter.
51
Classic EV - Electric Conversion / Other considerations beyond the actual job of converting.
What's the deal with registering the change with DVLA, changes of taxation class (if applicable) and future MOTs etc. if you were to convert a Mk2 (or other classic) to Electric?

I know some people have had enough trouble with a straightforward engine swap.

Now I know the Tax band for Golfs is fixed on the old pre-2001 rules, one price for under 1600cc a higher price for over. Whereas newer vehicles have a tax band based on emission output - or some such random number generator as it sometimes appears.

I assume because of the age of the vehicle you'd still pay the full road tax and some kind of conversion would be required to match the power output to an equivalent cc.

Now, clean air zones, where you may be free or reduced for zero-emission vehicles I wonder how many hoops you need to jump through to get an exemption for a converted vehicle. And would you need to apply independently to each operator, London, Birmingham, Bristol etc. ? My understanding of how these zones are run is that you may well need to apply to each and could end up allowed in London, but not Bristol if they decided that was how they wanted to play.

And finally, historic vehicle classification. We're not there yet, my Golf has only just reached 31 but the earliest Mk2s (1984) are only 2 years away now. My understanding is if a vehicle has been modified then you cannot apply for this so will need to continue to pay tax and get your car MOTed, I think there's a cut off year, something like if you can prove the modification was done before 1995 you can still apply.

52
Other Car Sales & Wanted / 2008 Saab 9-3 Convertible 1.9 TiD Vector 2dS
FOR SALE – 2008 Saab 9-3 Convertible 1.9 TiD Vector
£5,450.00 ono

Pictures and full advert:
https://eddypeck.wordpress.com/2008-saab-9-3-convertible-1-9-tid-vector-2ds/

My Borther-in-law, Chris, has just been diagnosed with multiple brain tumours, and doctors have given him just a couple of months to live. His pride and joy is a 2008 SAAB 9-3 Convertible, which he's no longer allowed to drive for obvious reasons. So I've been asked if I can help sell it and hopefully raise some funds to pre-pay the funeral so it's not left to his widow (my wife's sister) to deal with. My wife and her sister are still grieving from the death of their father just before Christmas so I'm sure you can imagine everything is a bit crap right now.

Now the problem is, I know very little about the car, SAABs aren't my area of expertise and Chris is in a situation where his brain is a bit all over the place, so
1. I can't really ask him about it as he might tell me a load of nonsense, he's currently struggling with timelines and is just as likely to give me information about a Vauxhall Cavalier he had 20 years ago. He keeps calling his wife by his ex-wife's name - you can guess how well that goes down. and
2. he gets tired easily so I'm trying to take as much as I can off of him and the family.

So I've been on the UK Saab owners club forum trying to piece together the spec and details for a sale ad and try to get a reasonable valuation.

Located in North Bristol, I'll add more info when I can, but give me a nudge if this looks like your kind of thing.
53
Mk2 Golf Chat / Hand brake tell tell light issues
An issue has started where when the handbrake is off, the light flickers while driving.

It could be just a loose connection at the switch but my worse fear is the hand brake at the callipers is not being fully released, making the cable go slack and preventing the lever to be fully clear of the switch.

Before I start pulling carpets or stripping down the rear brakes just thought I’d ask is anyone else has experienced similar?
54
Mk2 Parts for Sale & Breaking / Dog Gaurd
I'd be interested to know if anyone has a genuine VW accessory Mk2 dog guard.

If not for sale, then perhaps share some pictures so something similar could be fabricated or show how it fits.

I have a universal one for our main car that is attached to the rear headrests - obviously, no read headrests in the mk2.

I don't want one of those universal ones that expand to the roof as I don't want to damage the headlining, so looking to attach something to the rear seat back.
55
Classic EV - Electric Conversion / Electric Beetle
The biggest problem with my old Beetle (1302s 1600 tp, twin carb and sport exhaust) was it was very loud. To the point where my family, including the dogs, refused to go in it.

For a Beetle, it was quite fast, I was totally happy to take it on the motorway and keep up with the flow of traffic which was great.

Anyway, I'd love another Beetle (even though they're one of the most impractical vehicles out there) but I fear to get the pleasant air-cooled bumble my wife has pointed out to be as the pootle past at shows ... "see, that one isn't noisy like yours, why has your got to be so obnoxious?" then I guess I'd be looking at a stock 1200/1300 and I fear I'd be less comfortable in modern traffic.

So it occurred to me an EV converted bug might just be the answer.

A beetle lends itself well to the bolt in power plant, since the motor on a bug is just attached at the end so could be anything - right?

Anyway, still expensive but there seems to be out of the box EV kits available and a growing community.

https://eveurope.eu/en/


57
General Chat / News
Maybe this isn't the place for a political debate although it does say "Feel free to talk about anything! (But keep it clean)"

Today I would really love to hear the news that some kind of special forces had taken out Putin.  O:)
58
Mk2 Golf Chat / Back to reality?
Hey guys, as we know prices for Mk2s have gone through the roof last few years.
Now I can't say if they've been selling for the prices advertised, I assume not and I guess a lot of the inflated asking prices have been people trying their luck. I've seen non-runner full resto projects listed for £2.5-3k  ::)

But I've started to see some more sensible prices being set, with road-legal, running cars for under £2k, and even an £800 project (I'm sure that ad will be removed and relisted for twice that when they get inundated with messages though). 

I was always expecting the values to level off after the 'mad' period and I wonder if we're being to get into that phase now.

Granted fully restored, pristine examples will still fetch £12k+ and I'd expect decent examples, either original or modded for around £4-8k. But if some entry-level cars are still available sub £2k I think that's a good place to be for every budget.

I'd say to do a decent job on a resto, without paying too many other people to do the work, you want to have at least a £7-10k budget so starting with a £2k makes it more viable.
59
Mk2 Golf Chat / Alternator bearing squeal
My alternator is working fine (I have a voltage gauge fitted and it reports well) however the bearing is making a noise, I'm 90% sure it's the bearing and not just belts. When I get a chance I will take off the belt and give it spin without load to confirm...

Anyway, just wondering if anyone has done a strip down and replaced the bearing and how easy is it? Or should I just replace the unit, in which case where's best.

I'm sure I've seen some strip down posts for cosmetic reasons. Did you do the bearings at the same time?

TIA