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Topic: JI31 GHG 1991 GTI (Read 2674 times) previous topic - next topic

JI31 GHG 1991 GTI

Thought I'd start a build thread on here of my 1991 Pearl Grey 8v GTI. I bought it in February 2017 when I was 18 as my daily driver. I daily drove it for two years before I couldn't face driving it through winter, so it became my weekend car.
Going to try and start the thread when I first got it, then bring it up to date.







These pictures were taken on the day I bought the car. I'd been looking for a mk2 gti for a few months and this one popped up 10 mins from me, meant to be I think. As you can see it was fairly original and straight, so a deal was done and it came home with me. It had 135k on the clock and came with its original bill of sale which was cool. 12k new with the only optional extra being the bbs ra's at a cost of £500.

Re: JI31 GHG 1991 GTI

Reply #1 –
Nice car, looks to be in great condition
Mk2 Driver
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911 Carrera 4S

Re: JI31 GHG 1991 GTI

Reply #2 –
Welcome to the forum. 

Re: JI31 GHG 1991 GTI

Reply #3 –
Well that’s a beauty. And what a clever move buying that for your first car . Can only imagine if you bought that right in 2017 you’ve had all that enjoyment and a sound investment as well .
Does it look much different now .
You’ve got the best colour mk2 but I am biased

Re: JI31 GHG 1991 GTI

Reply #4 –
Thanks. It was actually my second car, no way I could afford the insurance on a gti in my first year. Looks wise it hasn't changed too much, I've very much gone for the oem+ look. And yes pearl grey is one of my faves, although I would have had any colour as long as the car was clean.

Re: JI31 GHG 1991 GTI

Reply #5 –
I didn't do that much in the first couple of years, the usually maintenance with daily driving a 30 year old car. Although I did a few modifications to improve the car.
The first thing was a milltek classic system from the downpipe back as the mild steel one on the car was blowing badly. Yes these systems are expensive, but in my opinion they look the best and the quality is top notch. For some reason I never took any photos when fitting it so have a pic from the 2018 National Meet.



Next up was suspension, the car still had its original set up and it was tired to say the least. Floaty round the corners, plus it looked like a monster truck. I opted for bilstein shocks and eibach 35mm lowering springs as my budget couldn't stretch to decent coilovers. I remember fitting these in the pouring rain! Worth it though, the driving experience was massively improved and the stance was perfect.




My mate made me an aluminium gear knob the same style as the original golf ball and to go with this I bought the uprated gear linkage kit from gas n gears, a really nice bit of kit. Didn't take long to fit either and I replaced the worn bushes while I was at it. The result was a very crisp gear change.



Re: JI31 GHG 1991 GTI

Reply #6 –
Love a grey mk2. Looks like your doing all the right things with linkage, exhaust and suspension., all nice touches that enhance it

Re: JI31 GHG 1991 GTI

Reply #7 –
Quote from: ianmac86 on
Love a grey mk2. Looks like your doing all the right things with linkage, exhaust and suspension., all nice touches that enhance it

Cheers. As it was my daily I wanted it to drive spot on and sound good of course.

Re: JI31 GHG 1991 GTI

Reply #8 –
Quick question guys, hows everyone uploading photos? I'm currently using the mk2oc imgbb account but just wondering if there's a simpler way?

Re: JI31 GHG 1991 GTI

Reply #9 –
I'm using the same thing but find it slow to upload my photos

Re: JI31 GHG 1991 GTI

Reply #10 –
February 2019 marked the end of daily duties for the mk2. I bought a T4 for me and my girlfriend to convert into a camper van. The aim was to have it ready for a July trip to cornwall, so the mk2 just sat on my parents driveway as I was too busy with the van to use it. It briefly came back into daily duties for a couple of months as the T4 in typical vw fashion needed some welding doing.



By October I was fed up of seeing the mk2 sat on the drive in the elements so decided to rent a garage. I found one about a 10 minute drive from my parents that was £100 a month which I didn't think was too bad. It was a very basic ex council garage with no power but it would keep the golf out of the winter weather.



The end of the year brought a right result, the previous owner contacted me saying he'd found the service book while having a clear out. As soon as I could I went and picked it up. It was in really good condition  and even had a fair few stamps in the book. I love this kind of thing, so cool.




Finally a quick indicator change to the original amber which I think looks much cleaner.

Re: JI31 GHG 1991 GTI

Reply #11 –
Now that I had a garage I wanted to start tidying up the bits that let the car down. I started with a fairly straight forward job, replacing the rusty fuel tank straps. I got some new replacement stainless steel ones from ebay. I removed and replaced the straps one by one with a jack and piece of wood under the tank to stop anything getting strained too much.
Gave the exhaust a quick polish while the car was in the air too.




Made a start on cleaning up the engine bay. Bought a G60 rocker cover as I've never been a fan of the standard pressed steel one, plus they always leak if they're not perfectly square. Gave the cylinder head and block a paint while I had everything off to replace the water pump as it was squeaking. Had the fan cowling sand blasted, then I gave it a few coats of satin black. Did the same with the fan body its self and then built it back up, ready to fit.






Managed to pick up an eibach rear antiroll bar for £40 which I thought was a bargain, didn't come with a fitting kit though. But that wasn't a worry, the rubbers were there I just had to cut and bend some sheet stainless to go over the centre bushes and used some mikalor clamps to mount it round the beam. If I'm honest I couldn't tell the difference while driving the car but I'm sure it's doing something!



Quick sticker change on the RA centre caps to bring them back to life.


Re: JI31 GHG 1991 GTI

Reply #12 –
That is a lovely mk2 and liking your plans and work done to the car. Very sympathetic to it's classic status.

Re: JI31 GHG 1991 GTI

Reply #13 –
Quote from: MJA on
That is a lovely mk2 and liking your plans and work done to the car. Very sympathetic to it's classic status.

Thanks. Yeah I think the mk2 as a base car is so good, just wanted to do some choice mods that I think will improve it but not ruin its classic look.

Re: JI31 GHG 1991 GTI

Reply #14 –
Another very common problem on the mk2 gti, a bleeding LCD screen on the mfa. Mine always had a slight bleed in one corner, but one morning in winter when I went down to the garage it had spread across half the screen. I removed the clocks and set about stripping them down to get to the screen. I followed a how to on here or club gti (can't remember), which was very useful however the clocks were slightly different so the last bit I had to wing it and figure it out.




So many screws!



I put every thing back together, plugged it back in and it worked. What I didn't realise until I drove the car a few weeks later is that the mpg and average speed readout was blank and not working. I've had the clocks out again since this and still can't figure out why it's not working, not the end of the world but a bit annoying as it was fine before I took everything apart.