In July 2018 i came across a meet that I had seen mentioned on Facebook at Curborough which is about an hour from my house. It was the mk2 National meet!
I was absolutely in my element, massively enjoyed the Saturday and chatted to a lot of owners, an even got some passenger rides round the sprint track Rufus took me round in his blue/orange mk2- fantastic driver and car. Alistair took me round in his r32 engined mk2 which was incredible, a couple of 20vs that were insane in a straight line especially but the car that really impressed me was Barry's abf,
I also bumped into Henry that day, he has become a good friend and played a huge part helping me with my golf.
I left that day knowing that i would 100% not miss the next one. There was some fantastic cars there that day. Also made me want to try and improve my own car for the next one and try and get involved on the track.
Drivers seat had the usual bolster wear so managed to source a good condition passenger seat to transfer the covers over. Stuck it through the washing machine with the other seat covers. Worst job to date but quite rewarding afterwards results.
The rear badges were looking tatty so a bit of black paint seemed sensible to tidy them
The suspension was extremely harsh and was taking some of the fun away from using the car everyday. FK coilovers were removed by a lad at work for new oe shocks, springs, bump stops, top mounts etc. - massively disappointed with the way it sat and it didn't settle.
Turns outs the front springs were wrong. I decided to have ago myself this time at work on a Saturday morning, another job that was a lot easier than i imagined. Got the correct springs fitted and it looked more sensible. Although it was great over speed bumps and pot holes i was beginning to think a decent set of lowering springs would be a decent compromise.
Decided to go for Bilstein B4 shocks and Eibach springs this time. This felt like perfect setup between OE and coilovers.
Also got my sebrings back from the powder coaters
Temporary fitted the old tyres as they had some life left until i saved for some semi slicks. Risked using the tyre machine myself... safe to say its not for me. I'm not strong enough! At least it gave the lads in the workshop a laugh. Centre caps were painted but not a perfect match to the powder coat sadly, doubt i'll notice when they're dirty
The heater isn't basic stuff and neither is correcting the emissions. I would say both are more complex than the brake pipes. Nice car, cleaned up well.
Brake pipes on a gravel driveway didnt appeal much either, wish i had gave them ago now.
If you've got the room and it's in good condition, I'd hang on to the bonnet. You never know when you'll need another in a pinch and they're getting harder to get hold of.
I am posting this all retrospectively from the photos on my hard drive (i'm in 2016 i think) Sadly the bonnet was in the way. I couldn't give it away for free so it ended up at the scrap yard In hindsight i really should of kept it as i seem to be hoarding spares these days.
The bonnet was in really poor condition and was letting the car down, it had crazed badly and had obviously seen paint previously
A chap called Vosswagen supplied me a replacement which again was too much effort to swap over. Vosswagen was miles away but was a good excuse to take the golf on it 1st proper run which was a success. Also i was relieved to find out a mk2 bonnet fits in the back with the seats folded down
The heating never felt particularly hot so after a bit of research I bought a mk3 matrix and some coolant hoses to by pass the valves. I had heard this was a nasty job but was surprised at how straight forward it went. Feeling a little more confident to have ago
Maybe only basic stuff but starting to enjoy working on this!
I had always like bbs ra's on a mk2 so picked up the 1st local set i found. They were a bit scabby but luckily a mate refurbed them and I managed to get some cheap Toyo T1r tyres to go on with too.
Managed to borrow a ramp at work on a Saturday morning to fit them
The sebrings were in need of a refurb also. The plan was to eventually get them powder coated with some semi slicks.
The year before (2014) it had failed its mot on brake pipes, couple of light bulbs, headlight tell-tale and emissions. Some Osram nightbreakers, headlight loom, couple of fuses and an hour with a co meter solved all but the brake pipes (which i left to someone more capable).
New vac hoses, a temp sensor, a step by step guide and the emissions were good.
Headlight loom and bypassed dim dip resistor
Also had to realign the gear linkage to find 1st and 2nd gear and within a month over ownership it had an mot with no advisories! Really pleased to have done everything myself minus the brakes pipes.
Thanks for the advice guys I will keep an eye out for a set in the January sales!
So ended up chatting to the guy who owned it before the guy I bought it off. He sent me these photos, looks like someone had started to break it before he saved it.
After a little over 2 weeks I still hadn't managed to collect. The seller had messaged me a quote to move it, i sensed his frustration and took the hint!
Gave it a quick wash so it felt like it was mine
Probably worth mentioning I'm not massively useful with the spanners, I have quite a busy work and family life too. So this was destined to sit on my drive until i admit defeat like its previous owner.
Technically this arrived 6 month before my 30th so I had a bit of time to get it ready. I'm not completely new to mk2s, I grew up sat on the back seat of my dads cars in the late 80s early 90s- always red 8v mk2s, hence wanting this,
I have owned a few mk2 in my late teens and early 20s (3x pb's, 1x kr & mk3 abf) but I always sold them fast as I didn't have the desire to maintain them without any support and they were pretty expensive to insure! There was regularly an old beetle, bread van polo, mk1 or mk2 golf being fixed in my garage when growing up but sadly never got the opportunity to help other than with a sponge in hand Its safe to say I was gonna need to learn quick or find help if I wanted to hang on to this!
After buying this 6 years ago I thought it would be fun to try and document my ownership so far. I'll try and add some photos... if this fails I'll give up here!
I was just browsing eBay at work looking at mk2s when i came across this for £1,000. Got the shock of my life when my girlfriend offered to buy it for my 30th.
I took my dad with me on the 150 mile journey from Leamington Spa to Maidstone on that weekend. We were surprised at how solid it was despite a few cosmetic issues and the listed faults so gave the guy £1k and promised to collect it within 2 weeks, We've driven a fair few neglected cars home previously but decided this one was best on a trailer.
Rufus took me round in his blue/orange mk2- fantastic driver and car. Alistair took me round in his r32 engined mk2 which was incredible, a couple of 20vs that were insane in a straight line especially but the car that really impressed me was Barry's abf,
At least it gave the lads in the workshop a laugh. Centre caps were painted but not a perfect match to the powder coat sadly, doubt i'll notice when they're dirty
In hindsight i really should of kept it as i seem to be hoarding spares these days.
Really pleased to have done everything myself minus the brakes pipes.
