'87 Golf Zender resto - BUY MY SAAB!

[darrenh]

so technically its not the hole in the sill which is a problem, just the fact the hole is within 30 cm from subframe i love a good MOT

had that ferule nonsense on my silver astra, wire brush and kurust eliminated that "fail"

[Kroney]

That doesn't look half bad under the skirts, mine was much worse. Those Zender kits are pretty well sort after in certain circles. Thankfully it tends not to be the 45 degree camber crowd. I don't think I've seen a Zender kit on a GL before, I know of two other cars and they're both GTis.

[mikkey180]

darrenh - Yes you are correct, the holes are only a couple of cm away from the mounting points for the rear beam, but it isn't too bigger issue, there is a lot of solid metal around the area to weld to and the rust seems very localised which is always good news!

Kroney - Thanks, yes we were very surprised with the condition of the sills under the side skirts! I was expecting them to have held a lot of water in over the years it had been sat uncovered so it was a real relief when they came off and revealed pretty solid metalwork! I am also glad the side skirt came off in one piece as I am pretty sure I wouldn't be able to find another. Talking to the previous owner, this is how the car was ordered when new, so it hasn't had the kit fitted after it took to the road, but it is an automatic so I guess this could be the only way you could get an auto with the Zender kit as the GTI was a manual only?

You say you know of 2 other Zender kitted Golfs, do you know if they were 5 door? I haven't found any other 5 door Zenders!

[darrenh]

my old boss had a white zender mk2 golf, new, back in the 80s, remember him bringing pictures of it in.

i wonder!...

if you ever do a v888 his name was niall campbell

[mikkey180]

Oct 9, 2015 9:20:11 GMT darrenh said:

my old boss had a white zender mk2 golf, new, back in the 80s, remember him bringing pictures of it in.

i wonder!...

if you ever do a v888 his name was niall campbell

I might give that a go! Would like to learn some more about the history of it anyway, I do know at one point it was sold by Whitehouse BMW in blackheath, I sent them an email seeing if they had any record of the car and was told to ring them back which sounded exciting! The woman I eventually got to talk to stated "It's coming up as a VW Golf, we only sell BMWs here" and wouldn't accept that maybe it was a part ex some time in the late 80s / early 90s, until I mentioned that it was a 1987 and that she probably didn't work for BMW back then!

Anyway no information from them, so I am currently just stuck with the small amount of info I got from the previous owner when I bought it.

Update:

Both rear wheel cylinders and brake shoes replaced, all that it needed for the MOT now is welding to the sills and the brake flexi-hoses all round. Getting close!

Although after the MOT it still needs;

Carb rebuild / replacement - It runs terribly and the vacuum powered second butterfly valve doesn't open under load, along with a few other issues these Pieburg carbs are known for.
Replacement boot - It's simply rotten! 
At least one replacement door - Rotting from the bottom edge.
New headlining - Original is ripped and mouldy.
Partial Respray - Body kit needs respraying due to paint cracking + new panels will need painting.
A new backbox - Just look at the old one and you will know what I mean!
New wheels - The snowflakes on mine are gouged from curbing, any suggestions on replacements?

I am sure there is a shed load more I can't think of right now! 


Also just got back off holiday from Berwick upon tweed, I will upload some of the more interesting pictures (RR related of course) later today!

[mikkey180]

Ok, thought I would upload a few photos of our little weekend up north, I have tried to keep the photo's relevant to retro rides!

We spent the weekend at Haggerston castle holiday park in Berwick-upon-tweed, I have been here numerous times when I was younger with family but it was mine and Dani's first trip! Hope she enjoyed it as much as I did lol! 

This was the caravan we stayed in, ah the joys of freezing cold nights, paper thin walls and the smoke alarm going off every time you make breakfast! The latter of them not being great when you are trying to surprise your snoozing girlfriend with breakfast in bed! - also introducing the mighty Saab 900! 


On our first full day, we decided to venture to the Holy island, it is only around 5 miles away from the park and had plenty of beautiful scenery to offer! We had to keep our visit short due to the tide times, didn't want to get stranded half way across this causeway!


Some more photos of our trip to the Holy island, enjoy!


I did get more pictures of the scenery, not all with the Saab in shot (honest!), but lets try and keep things interesting! 

The second day saw us travelling to Edinburgh, until I spotted a sign for the National Museum of Flight! I didn't even have to persuade my other half (much) that seeing a Concord and the rest would be far more interesting than getting lost in Edinburgh!  

Some pictures from the day, hope you all like old planes! 


Unfortunately there were no Saab aircraft But this will do! I did take a fair few more pictures but my phone was struggling with the lighting conditions, and the lens was no where near wide enough to get a decent shot of the Concord in the hangar, it was an awesome day though!

My personal favourites from the museum were the Concord (obviously), Vulcan (must be a delta wing thing?), the Comet (a later model with the round windows) & the Lightning which is inside the military aircraft hanger, I can't believe how small the Harrier is when compared to a Lightning! 

[darrenh]

curiouser and curiouser! said old boss was from bromley which is about 4 miles south of blackheath

[mikkey180]

Oct 13, 2015 17:04:40 GMT darrenh said:

curiouser and curiouser! said old boss was from bromley which is about 4 miles south of blackheath

Interesting! Are you still in contact with the guy? 

[darrenh]

i think we have means to contact, but havent no

[mikkey180]

Last night I spent a couple of half hearted hours on the golf, it had been a long day and wasn't really in the mood so not much got done.

Jacked the back end up and removed the other side skirt, sill isn't as clean as the other side but at least both skirts came off without damage! Had a go at removing the passenger side rear flexi but access is pretty much impossible, I can't get a brake line spanner on to the union and an open ended spanner isn't going to cut it! I am worried it may have to go to a local garage to have the rear flexis done, fronts should be easier to access and I think we can do the welding ourselves.







Got to admit the rot is looking pretty daunting, I am relying on my man Lawrence to pull that off! (No doubt if I had a go I would burn the car / car port down!)

That's all for now! If anyone has done the flexi hoses on one of these before, feel free to drop me some pointers! 

[Kroney]

Mine went on the sills like that and it's been tickled up nicely. You can still get the sills. I think VW Heritage stock panels, if that's too rich for your blood, try Classic VW Parts in Germany.

The other zenders I know are 3 door GTis, incidentally.

[mikkey180]

Oct 22, 2015 16:20:50 GMT Kroney said:

Mine went on the sills like that and it's been tickled up nicely. You can still get the sills. I think VW Heritage stock panels, if that's too rich for your blood, try Classic VW Parts in Germany.

The other zenders I know are 3 door GTis, incidentally.

Nearly all the parts I have ordered for it so far have been from VW heritage! They seem pretty well priced, plus it was the only place I could get hold of a throttle cable for the automatic model (the cable itself is pretty strange as it goes from throttle pedal to the gearbox!)

And 3 door GTis are the only other Zender kitted mk2 golfs I can find too!

[mikkey180]

Small update,

No progress has been made on the golf, although new discs and a midbox has been put on the civic.

Last night I also picked up this little beast, thank you girlfriend for finding it on gumtree, it will replace my boring 2010 Sym Jet once its fettled.

Say Hello to Caren! A 1980 Honda NX50 "Caren". Runs and rides but needs a little tuning up, going to be fun though!







Repaired a blow on the exhaust, cleaned out the carb and had a quick look at the CVT system, it needs new rollers in the variator as the old ones have flat spots but they do look origional! A little down on power at the moment (after repairing the exhaust), I think the exhaust is clogged with carbon so will burn that out and see where we go from there! But she always starts first kick! 

[mikkey180]

Had a message from my friend who took the Charade off my hands today, it looks like its blown the head gasket and it probably won't be repaired. 











R.I.P H575PVW, one of the best cars I have ever owned.

[mikkey180]

So the Zender project has been slowing down due to the weather and a general fall in motivation. But the NX50 has passed its MOT with flying colours, I am now blasting to and from work on the angry wasp!



Every time I go out on this little thing it feels like I'm going on a mini adventure!










Top speed is a BLISTERING 32mph, but I have plans to hack up a Frankenstein exhaust system with expansion chamber to try and push some more power out of the beast! I know most people on the forum probably find mopeds annoying, clogging up the road or 2 inches off your back bumper if you are doing 29mph... but not everyone is that way inclined, don't knock it until you've tried it! 

[ckerr]

Love the little NX50.

Cant beat nipping round town on a little Moped, I have a Honda NB50 that I use for getting to the train station and trips to the shops, great little things.

Did changing the rollers out for new ones effect the top speed much?

[mikkey180]

Thanks for the comment, I havent changed my rollers yet as I am waiting for the sports exhaust project to be complete so I can tune the CVT to work with the higher revving engine. In theory unless your rollers are far too light it shouldn't affect your top speed all that much, more so acceleration and picking up revs! My variator tops out at 15mph (the rest it the engine rising in rpm) so it can't really affect the top speed of the NX50 at least.

If you are down on speed though, check your drive belt, I have heard when they get worn with age they start to get thinner, which lowers the over all gearing decreasing top speed! I am looking to get a wider than standard belt for mine once it is tuned up as I am hoping for 45mph!

[Bibbles]

Whoever is riding the moped has the same T-shirt as me haha. I don't know much about mopeda but I do like them and I love the Wasp.

Beautiful Golf I love retro rides especially with rare factory optioned kits. Keep up the good work!

[mikkey180]

Haha I will admit it was I trying to pull a wheelie on the mighty NX, with the same T-shirt as you!

I hadn't owned a moped since I was 17 years old and getting one again has made me feel like I have just passed my CBT all over again! When it comes to cutting through traffic and getting to work nothing beats it! All whilst returning roughly 100mpg!

My golf is my pride and joy, I haven't seen it in a couple of weeks as it is at a friends awaiting us getting the welding done, but due to the weather and other commitments it has been put on the back burner (annoying when its so close to having 12 months mot!)

But it will get there and I will keep the thread up to date!

[darrenh]

Nov 17, 2015 8:37:42 GMT mikkey180 said:

I am now blasting to and from work on the angry wasp

Traded the van for it, straight up. you can get 70 miles to the gallon on that hog.