Alex's rather retro '88 Mk2 GTI

[alexperkins]

Only fair to stick a thread up on here too seeing as it was considered to be one of the best GTIs ever made.....


Bought for the grand price of £200, with over 230 000 miles on the clock on the original engine AND gearbox (and yes that is more mileage than it is from here to the moon!!!), it arrived in a somewhat sorry state needing a major amount of work doing to it



We wanted to keep it as a budget project, so all work was done by myself with dads help including all the welding and other labour intensive tasks that would otherwise cost an absolute fortune!!

All this has been done in the last 7 weeks.....

Camshaft seal
Sump gasket (fibre first, then rubber) and sump bolts
Front wheel bearing
Rear wheel bearings
Exhaust hanger rubbers
Downpipe
Exhaust gasket
Exhaust joint
Steering bellow
Steering knuckle boot
Gearstick gaitor
Dashboard
Horn push
Various fuses
Interior and Door Cards (complete)
Boot shelves
Parcelshelf
Sound insulation in floor
Tailgate
Drivers Door
Passenger window regulator
Aerial
Headunit, Speakers and Sub
Various bulbs
HID kit
Rear bumper iron
16V rear lights
Windscreen
40mm lowering springs
Front top mounts
Bonnet heat insulation
Lower front balljoint
Replacement wiring in various sections
Throttle body and related parts cleaned out
Oil and filter change
Weighted shift rod
Wiper blades front and rear
Drivers mirror replacement adjuster
Door membranes
Body fully undersealed
Handbrake cables
Rear discs and pads
Rear wheel arches completely reconstructed and inner rear wheel arches cut out and new panels welded in
Battery
Washer pump
Smoked front indicators
Smoked side indicators
Armoured door plates
Repinned drivers and boot locks
Petrol tank cap
Various hose clips
Radiator
Coolant change (G12++)
Carpet repaired
Heater matrix air outlets resealed due to air leak
PCV breather hose
Headlining clip in trim
Headlining cleaned
Number Plates
BBS RAs thoroughly cleaned
Areas of rust treated, filled and painted
Rear axle beam bushes

So yes, a pretty busy few weeks!!

Heres a few pictures from along the way  










































And how it currently stands....





Comments welcome  

[Top Cat]

   thats a lot of work gone on their. Is it finished now. 

[alexperkins]

Cheers TC

Not finished just yet

Theres still some respraying to do, but apart from that its not far off being done for now!

[Top Cat]

Must feel good doing all that yourself.   

[alexperkins]

Aye its somewhat satisfying!!

[psw mk5]

Fair praise indeed Alex  we need peeps like you to keep the best looking gti's on the road ... Top quality job it looks like 

[rdfcpete]

Bloody lovely Alex  

Lot of hard work there.

[alexperkins]

Cheers guys... it was blood sweat and tears i tell you!

My arms are still battered to buggery, and I had to get knee pads as I was working so much on it lol

[Snoopy]

I feel lazy now after seeing all you have done in 7 weeks.
 

[RedRobin]

.
Wow! Alex, that's a mammoth task. Well done! 

[gobbleplease]

Feckin hell thats a lot of work in a short space of time ! What is the big rusty beam type thing on one of the pics ? Sill ?
So far all ive done is rip out all the interior and nearly all the underside ready for undersealing ( still got all the fuel system to remove though) the only bit on my car ive came accross so far that needs welding is a sill the rest is very solid, it seems like every underside bolt ive removed has broken are you the same ? All brake lines ceased and the rear beam bolts and brake caliper bolts / allan caps had to be ground off, really feel like selling up and concentrating on the mk5 but every time i see a nice mk2 it brings me a couple hours of motivation followed by the rest of the day in the huff because ive smashed my fingers or spent the full day drilling out bolts

Good work mate,You can come and help me now if you want, keep this thread updated too im looking forward to checking the cars progress  

[alexperkins]

That was the remainder of the rear bumper iron! Not much left 

Every bolt I removed came out with no problem - 3 in 1 professional penetrating spray is your friend 

The mk2s are good fun, as are the mk5s but its a different kind of fun if that makes sense

Haha youll have to PM me some pics mate!

Will definitely keep it updated 

[golf nutter]

Inspirational stuff there...well done.  i would love to do the same but have neither the tools or practical skills!  looks absolutely lovely.

[NEWEY]

cracking project. i wouldnt be without my mk2

[gobbleplease]

Yea bud ill pm you some pics, my mk2 gti was originally my first car ! And it had found its way all the way to yoville, i think i well overpaid on it, hay hoe ! One of the bonuses on mine though is it had a brand new ( not reconditioned ) gearbox sourced through vw in 2007, its the latest ive heard off

How was your car under the plastics mate eg arches & sills ?

Good upgrade on the lights too oem ones are pants, and glad too see you have kept the oem grill !
I read something that in the new mot regs hids ect will not pass an mot as off december 2011 so it may be something to watch out for, pitty as i wanted to do mine !