I've always craved owning a VW since I was a kid in the early eighties. I lived in Germany (RAF brat) and was lucky enough to be exposed to the GTI experience at an early age and it left a lasting impression, even though I never got to drive one! Well, just under four years ago I finally got to realise my childhood wish (cliche alert but I apologise to no one) and bought a '1983 Mk1 Golf GTI in Alpine White. Shortly after returning to work in the New Year of 2010. I received the news I was to be made redundant, awful situation but it had a silver lining... When I left work I received a tidy payout, so I paid off most of my debts but still had to find myself a new job and quickly. This meant working away from home and would need a car to commute back and forth to Derby to see my kids. Thats when the mid-life crisis really kicked in; I was in the enviable position of having some money in the bank and needed transport. Mmmmm... I started to think the usual list of crappy and/or practical cars but fell into a dilemma when I saw an on-line advert for a MK1 Golf GTI. I had a look and was surprised to find I could afford to get a tidy example and being my age (36 at the time) the classic insurance was an absolute steal. The temptation was too great to resist and I started trawling classifieds in my price range. In the meanwhile, I moved to Leamington Spa in the February and got my dream job working on racing games. Of course this meant I was surrounded by petrol heads for most of my working day and their passion started to rub off on me so I started to go and have a look at a few Golfs in the flesh. After a couple of months of searching I found her (I know... but she had a 'J' on her plate so she got called Juliet). The advert had been posted a couple of days before I saw it so I phoned the owner, pronto, got him to stall another buyer and took a day off work. I found myself sitting on a train to Newcastle the next morning, on my way to meet a total stranger about a car I had never driven! When I finally saw her she met all my expectations, there was a little bubbling in front of the rear, passenger side wheel arch but nothing too serious (I thought), so I went for a test drive. She was so much fun, even at the speed limit and smelled like my granddads car. There was no turning back; I had to have her and paid the man his money. I arrived back in Leamington late that evening, after a six hour road trip without a single hiccup. Not bad for a 27 yr old car! Anyway, back to the point... Here are some of the pictures I took of the car for the insurance company. Project Juliet:April 2010 Front Quarter The bonnet bra has now been confined to the cupboard for corrosive reasons. Rear Quarter New stainless steel exhaust and everything Interior Spotless... Engine Bay Prize (imaginary) for anyone who can tell me the model of the car parked on the right? There's more to come but I think I'll call it a night. Thanks for reading...
Should be ok now. The issues are users with low post counts editing their posts. It needs approving again. And sometimes can't be approved.
Spot on Steved. As I said in my post, I work with quite a few petrol heads and there are some nice rides in the car park.
Thanks for the feedback. That's only the start of it, as I said in my intro post she is currently under restoration. I was wondering if I could post the build on here as she's being worked on professionally? I must admit I feel a little bit inadequate after reading a lot of the garage projects on your site. Unfortunately, I haven't the skills or the space to take the work on myself so had to resort to seeking out a shop to restore my car.
For once I've got nothing to do today so I thought I'd undergo some therapy... I used my Golf as a daily driver for the next year and a half. I serviced her regularly and changed the oil every 2000 miles which kept her in shape mechanically but her age started to show. By autumn 2011 I had to deal with a number of niggling issues such as fixing the heater, replacing a cracked washer bottle and repairing the bulk head due to the clutch cable acting like cheese wire but nothing major. However, the body work was now visibly rusting in the usual areas; the windscreen sill was leaking along the bottom seal (and draining any water into the fuse box), base of the wheel well, bottom of the passenger door and of course, the rear arches. The adjacent sections were in pretty bad shape, causing the rear valance to 'separate' from the rear quarter on the passenger side. Plus what were the arch spats hiding? Rear Passenger Side Arch The thing was I had to drive her everyday, knowing the corrosion was only going to get worse and I had no alternative transport. Watching the car slowly deteriorate was killing me but I had no savings to finance the repairs. I kept saying to myself, 'I'll put a bit away every month' thinking I would get the bodywork sorted out in stages. Did that happen? No! Life just kept throwing crap at me, literally... On my first day back to work in 2012 some oncoming traffic chucked a stone at my windscreen, Happy New Year! Once I had recovered from the noise of the impact I realised the screen had cracked, on the driver's side at head height. It was the final straw, I couldn't afford a new screen at the time plus my OCD wouldn't allow me to replace it without repairing the rust in the sill. So I took stock and SORN'd her the very next day. I removed the battery, got her under cover and started to sort out my finances. There was no way I was going to let my car just rot away. After what seemed a life time (8 months to be exact) which included getting my divorce through, I got some news. The ex-wife was looking to buy my share of my house in Derby. After some careful deliberation (or was it reckless abandonment?) I said yes, agreed a price and started the legal process. I had no intention of buying a new house with the money so there was only one thing left to do with it. I started dreaming of what I could do with Juliet and it came down to this; I didn't want to spend most of my time worrying about the state of my car and get on with enjoying the driving experience. I love the agility of my Golf when driving the B roads between my home and work, it is where I feel I get the most out of my car so I wanted to make her the best she could be when weaving between hedgerows. Saying that, I was always aware if I did future proof this car I would need to restore her sensitively, she may not be mine forever and considered the possibility that someone else may have different ideas for her. So I decided it was to be a mixture of restoration and custom build: - Bare metal respray, original colour, and refurb'd trim. - Upgraded suspension, brakes, clutch. - Refurb'd engine and gearbox. - Refit the original interior as I love the original design and fittings. Meanwhile, I had started a search for someone to take on the job, share my vision and contribute to the build on every level. I know this may wind some people up but please don't judge me, I may own a classic but I'm a self confessed office monkey, I'm not a mechanic or fabricator and I live in a flat! Anyway, in late September my research led me to a couple of brothers who have a history of restoring a variety of classic, fast road and rally cars but no real experience with VW's . After a visit to their shop I got to see their handy work in the flesh and for all of my limited experience you know when something feels right. So we sat down discussed the details and I got a quote, after some deliberation (about half hour) I booked her in and luckily they had a gap in November. On Monday 26th of November a flatbed turned up at my flat and my car was winched onto the back ready for delivery to the shop. Project Juliet was a go... Delivery Outside the shop ready to be man handled. Stripdown First things first, the car was stripped and the damage was assessed: Panels Interior Engine Bay Scuttle and Upper Bulkhead Rear Passenger Side Arch So that's what those spats were hiding... Worse than expected but not too bad. Body Shell Ready for media blasting... Back later, enjoy...
I look forward to seeing the development of this. That jacking trolley used to raise the shell onto the stands looks so useful. Just what I could do with!
That's surprisingly in good condition for its age but blasting will find a bit more, i bet you cant wait till she is finished what time scale have they given you for the work.
