Long story short I have an F reg MK2 8v GTI which I bought with the intention of saving/selling. I have no attachment to the car and my motives for buying it where to try save it from the dead and get a few quid for my time. As it stands it owes me virtually nothing so am at a crossroads what to do with it having found some pretty horrible (to me) looking corrosion. Either sell it as it is to someone as it stands Or break it Or press on and save it Heres the rust in question. Now bear in mind I've never welded in my life however I'm not shy about getting involved and have seen a few intensive welding courses for a full day to teach the basics. I can probably borrow most of the gear as well so not concerned about outlay there. But I guess my question is does this look too nasty for an absolute beginner to tackle... opinions? Basically there's a hole in the bulkhead behind the matrix, holes in both rear pans and a big gaping hole either side at the front corners. Plus any more that I find haha.
I could probably crush it up and fit it in a big jiffy bag the state of it haha Do you think it's doable tho in all seriousness?
Sounds like you took the car on to turn it around and hopefully make a few quid, plus as a bonus have the satisfaction / enjoyment of doing it in the process? Think that's now reached it's end and from here on things'll be potentially expensive / time consuming with quite a few bad days to put up with taking any pleasure out of it. Going to have to boil down to what you're motivation now is... for example, if using it as a learning project where the financial out come / time spent is secondary or wanting to break even / maybe make some money? Welding's an art, I did a reasonably long night course with my son a few years back. He's a natural and just took to it, he doesn't do much but when he does it's excellent. I'm probably just OK, but had to 'learn' it much more than he did, so'll need the practice if I'm going to improve. Others there just couldn't seem to get the hang of it no matter how long they tried. Take that course first and see where your talents are, you never know and be a natural too which might influence how you proceed. Some of that corrossion seems to be in structural areas and will need fixed correctly, someone who didn't give a sh*t could probably patch it up, but not sure I could live with myself doing that. No matter how much you think it'll cost in money / time and even if you've double or tripled that just to be on the safe side, it'll always be more! Get your money back out of it and if you've still itchy fingers you can always get something less ambitious to start out on... if as you say it has no particular sentimental value to you, it doesn't have to be this one.
Very good points, cheers. I do want to try accomplish saving it if I can, and welding is a good skill to have in the old car game, especially as my other keeper mk2 is showing signs of needing work in the future, figured if I learn on this shed I can transfer my skills on my keeper one. No way I'm taking a grinder to that one without having at least some understanding! I could sell it this afternoon as a resto project and I'd be up, as I got most of my purchase price back already by selling a load of unwanted stuff it came with. Seems there's a big market out there for 90s throwback mods! But I feel like I'd least like to try do something with it. Maybe seeing how i take to it on a course is the way to go, if I can't grasp it that steers my direction.
I'm not in any rush with it, will get done as and when. A pro resto company suggested 2 or 3 full days and that was before I found the bulkhead hole
I like a challenge but even I would not bother with that. No matter what people say, learning to weld on a car is not good. The metal is thin and when it’s old it is even worse to weld. If you want to learn buy a welder (one suitable for the thinnest metal you can afford), and some metal and have some fun. You will then be ready to weld a car. You will get a ton of varying advice and most will be supportive but if you start on this car you will waste a lot of time and money and depress yourself. Break it, spend what you earn on welding equipment
What this guy said. Welding thin metal is hard, it warps, it blows and is very time consuming. Have no time and have the space? Leave it, learn to weld, have a go. It’s not costing you anything other than materials, if you want to make some money on it, don’t even start tbh
Fair comments, a mate of mine has offered to lend me his setup so I can practise on a few bits off the car and see how that goes, maybe that's the way to go for starters at least
If you are determined to try start on the easiest bits before progressing to the tricky bits. That is what I would do if the rest of the car is worth saving. As its been said the outlay in parts could be worth more than the car. These things always end up as a bigger job than you thought when you start.
Strip reso of it down before you start to repair it. There will be more issues more than likely. I've spent an age welding my Mk2 up but only because I've owned it over 20 years and couldn't see it go to the crusher. Financially it wouldn't make sense.
I think you must have a personal attachment to a car to get involved in that, especially if you have another car that needs love. I faced similar rot on my car which I only got involved in as I knew that if I let it go after 27 years of ownership I would end up in a mental health secure unit through breakdown! If that were my car and I didnt love it I would not start it. Let it be someone else's project as it needs massive dedicated input and that's before you have looked at the fuel filler area/support, trailing arm mounts etc etc. But each to their own.....
After poking about some more I've decided there's too much to do on it for someone of my skill set for welding (as in none at all) So next question is, would it be worth more in parts or as a complete resto project? I've not broken a MK2 for years so not sure what kind of return to expect these days, but I do know prices for some bits are ridiculous... Suppose the headlines in terms of parts value are the engines done about 175k and is strong, loads of receipts for rebuild work. 4 branch stainless mani and exhaust system. Full grey leather. Big front and rear bumpers with front fogs. Etc etc
Put a few pictures up of the whole car to give us an idea. Many parts for MK2s are cheap new and many parts are expensive second hand. We broke a mk3 and used the engine, gearbox, fuel tank, front subframe ourselves and still got over £1k back in parts. Everything that works will sell so long as you have the storage for it for a while. The shell will get taken away by a scrappy for free.
I'll stick some up when it's back together. Broke a 1.8t mk4 last year and kept the engine box loom etc and still cleared 1.5k so mk2 has to bring at least that?
