1990 VW Golf GTI 16V

[cliveyp]

So, after much searching, some let downs, some lockdowns and some months, last weekend I finally found and purchased my latest MK2 Golf.

I'm a long time lurker on here having had more modern cars for some time, many of dubious heritage, but my driving history lies in Volkswagens.  First couple of 'no claims' boosting cars aside, I picked up my first MK2 GTI back around 1998/9, and there it all started.  Some 13+ other VAG cars have since passed through my hands, including around another 4 MK2 Golf's, with my last one being a Golf 7R that I parted with late last year.  The itch to own another MK2 has been with me since, having decided that a daily car isn't really something I need any more (can bike to work, and the wife now has the practical family car), especially since I had big plans for the last one around 10 years ago which all went to pot after uncovering significant rot beyond anyones hopes.

With that, I introduce my latest.  It's not quite as good as it appears on all of the photos, which was part of its charm.  It needs some light rust repair, but is solid enough for now.  I'm no welder - believe me i've tried - so the worst of this will be going to someone else to do, but I plan on turning my hands to the bits I can do.  Mechanically it's top notch.  There's almost 200k on the clock, but sometime in the last 50k has been subject to a 2.0 9A bottom end.  The previous owner was somewhat meticulous and has battled through various mechanical jobs in order to get it to where it stands today - which is with a recently resprayed engine bay, very clean engine and a host of new bushes, coilovers and other parts.  My jobs over the short term are to try and bring some life back into the shiny leather Recaros and rear bench, a few internal (hidden) surface rust patches, and just to drive it!  I'll be sure to keep this thread updated as I go.









And the two worst bits of grot to be attacked....

[benpf]

That's stunning! I love the colour, is it a dark green?


Look forward to the updates

[cliveyp]

Apr 22, 2021 13:29:43 GMT benpf said:

That's stunning! I love the colour, is it a dark green?


Look forward to the updates

Thanks.  Yeah, it's Oak Green (the ultimate colour for a MK2 16V alledgedly).  It's never been my first choice of colour - most of my past ones have been black - but I have to admit that I do like it.

I'm looking forward to getting stuck into it, but I also have to work it around sorting out the garage to make it fit.  That in itself is a major task! 

[ballbagbagins]

An "Oakey". What's it like with the 9a?

[cliveyp]

Apr 22, 2021 15:20:39 GMT ballbagbagins said:

An "Oakey". What's it like with the 9a?

It's surprisingly spritely!  I was concerned about going back to an NA motor after so many years with forced induction, and my last car being a Golf R, but actually it's a torquey little fella.  I've got no idea on what sort of power it's running at the moment, but i'd really like to find out.  I'm not convinced it's running standard cams either tbh, as idle is a little lumpy - though that could be that i've just forgotten how unrefined things from the 90's can be.

[Alpina99]

Have to agree about the colour,
In the first couple of shots I thought it was black but that green looks stunning,
Looking forward to seeing future updates on this thread,
Nigel

[Stu]

Lovely! I fitted a 9A into an oak green ‘91 Mk2 16v many moons ago. Great fun. About 170bhp as I recall with a decent setup on k-jet and a P&P’d cylinder head. There’ll be an old thread on here somewhere of my various tinkerings.

Enjoy it! :-)

[mouse]

Loving this as I'm another serial VW head and more so a MK2 Golf Gti pervert. Currently in a MK3 but it's just not the same.

Looking forward to updates, keep them comin'

[sc00bysnack]

Beautiful car cliveyp - such a lovely colour on a mk2!

G60 arches on the front too

[rickygolf83]

Must pull hard to the red line with the 9a bottom end 👍😁

Subscribed

[cliveyp]

Thanks both.  

Yep, G60 arches all round (only a slight difference on the rear compared to the normal GTI ones), so plenty of clearance to run this height with nothing catching.

It's pretty torquey.  I've only had one 16V before, which was a standard 1800 KR lump, and that was almost 10 years ago.  From memory, that felt very flat at low revs and wasn't that inspiring when the needle went north of 5k either.  This one, on the other hand, is happy to pull from 30 in 5th, and just keeps pulling.  It's unfortunate that the few times i've driven have either been a short commute to work where it doesn't get warm enough to drive hard, or with the family in the car, where I don't really want to take unecessary risks.  I'll have plenty of opportunity to get used to it though.

I'll admit to this thread being a slow burner at the moment as i've not had much time to do anything with it, and have only driven it a small handful of times.  Hopefully that will start to change as the longer nights approach.  Current plan is to pop it round to a couple of the local body shops that gave me some rough quotes on the rust repair and see what they think in person.  One that was recommended has a waiting list out to around September at the moment, so booking it in might be on the cards with that sort of wait.  At least it'll tidy up the outside to match the engine bay!  Watch this space.

[jmsheahan]

Nice to see another Mk2 in the RR fold, lovely! It's a shame the fuel filler is always such a hot spot on these, would be well worth checking the fuel tank bracket behind it too.

Keep the updates coming!

[cliveyp]

Apr 30, 2021 15:16:02 GMT jmsheahan said:

Nice to see another Mk2 in the RR fold, lovely! It's a shame the fuel filler is always such a hot spot on these, would be well worth checking the fuel tank bracket behind it too.

Keep the updates coming!

That's a plan to do when I start to dig around.  I don't want to get too carried away at the moment as I just want to drive it.  After all, if I can't get it booked in to have the rear quarter repaired until Sept, I might as well hold off anything that will spoil the enjoyment before then.  It'll definitely be checked after finding on one of my old shells too.

[rickygolf83]

Yes don't dig too far when we have better weather now, save that for sorn time 😎

[pseudonymous]

Apr 30, 2021 13:15:37 GMT cliveyp said:

Thanks both.  

Yep, G60 arches all round (only a slight difference on the rear compared to the normal GTI ones), so plenty of clearance to run this height with nothing catching.

It's pretty torquey.  I've only had one 16V before, which was a standard 1800 KR lump, and that was almost 10 years ago.  From memory, that felt very flat at low revs and wasn't that inspiring when the needle went north of 5k either.  This one, on the other hand, is happy to pull from 30 in 5th, and just keeps pulling.  It's unfortunate that the few times i've driven have either been a short commute to work where it doesn't get warm enough to drive hard, or with the family in the car, where I don't really want to take unecessary risks.  I'll have plenty of opportunity to get used to it though.

I'll admit to this thread being a slow burner at the moment as i've not had much time to do anything with it, and have only driven it a small handful of times.  Hopefully that will start to change as the longer nights approach.  Current plan is to pop it round to a couple of the local body shops that gave me some rough quotes on the rust repair and see what they think in person.  One that was recommended has a waiting list out to around September at the moment, so booking it in might be on the cards with that sort of wait.  At least it'll tidy up the outside to match the engine bay!  Watch this space.

About 20 years ago I had an early 16v (with small bumpers and quarterlights etc) that had a late spec 50mm inlet manifold fitted. Under 3k it was quick but not spectacular but of you held it over 3k it was pretty rapid, and from 4k was great fun and just kept on pulling like a train to well over licence busting speeds.

It was a lovely thing but so low it was really uncomfortable to drive as a daily and round town not much to shout about over an 8v as you simply couldn't work the engine enough to get the benefit.

I'd have it back in a shot though

[crossy10]

Oak Green mk2 👌🏼

That’s nice

[shin2chin]

Best colour Mk2. I've always wanted an Oak green

[cliveyp]

First little job found and attempted repair today (sorry, not a mega interesting job, but a job all the same). A previous owner has fitted ‘black chrome’ Porsche 944 door handles. With the battery ok charge today, I attempted to lock the car with the key in the drivers door to be greeted with a lock barrel that turns 360deg......and does nothing in the process.

Handle out and a bit of studying confirms that, despite the majority of the handle innards being swappable, there is a difference between the Porsche lock barrels and the VW barrels - and the previous owner just whacked the VW ones in. After some careful cleaning of years old sludge from insure the lock barrel area, I managed to reassemble the handle and make it lockable on the key, but due to the miss-match of parts, I can’t make it unlock. Needed to head out so have had to leave it for now, but it’s a project for a small file and a lot of time, taking small bits from the barrel to make it work.

As it was...a couple of hours staring at, and poking at, this gave me something to think about.

[cliveyp]

So, it's been a while since any update. Mainly as i've just been enjoying actually taking the car to places over the summer. RRG was it's final outing of the year.

Good news was that it passed the MOT with only an advisory on a rear tyre coming down to 2mm, which made me vary happy and reassured me that the coming investment was going to be worthwhile........so last weekend I dropped it in for the first bit of bodywork to be done.

This little bit of bubbling needed to be looked in to - with a understanding that it was highly likely to be much worse than this....


And sure enough these are the photos that followed.....
















So after a bit of discussion, we've decided the best way forward is to completely strip it, whizz it back to bare metal and get every single rusty part cut out. Unfortunately, my current lack of overtime has put paid to that for a while, so in the short term the grot has been cut out/treated around the arch, and the inner arch/filler flap area has been repaired properly.






Hopefully it'll be ready for me to collect and pop back in the garage tomorrow, where I'll then start to have a look at the other side, strip the interior, wire in my seats then start to think about learning to weld......

[ballbagbagins]

Classic mk2 rust but at least you knew you'd find more went you went digging.