My 1987 Volkswagen Golf GTi

[Kai]

Picked this up from a local for £50 - and i reckon its a diamond in the rough, as far as GTi's are concerned!

Yes, it's got some problems, namely:

Requires new Passenger side outer sill
Requires new Pasenger side front wing (Fender)
Passenger Door needs re-seating

Sloppy gearchange
Stiff Clutch Cable
Wheel Balancing (60+mph = NO!)

Although apart from that, its a reasonably rust free shell and it's fitted with the 1.8 litre 8v Digifant II Engine.

Pictures:

 

[Kai]

* UPDATE *

The engine issue with the surging idle *should* be fixed now. I soaked the ISCV in a petrol bath, while the ignition was on (so it was "gibbering" still), and came back an hour and a half later to find the bath was totally murky and there were horrible icky deposits lurking at the bottom. So, dried the ISCV off and proceeded to reconnect it to the Vacuum hoses. I didn't bother refitting the metal bracket that secures it between the inlet manifold and the cam cover, i'll do that tomorrow.

Started the engine (needed some throttle), and it refused to idle at all, and first time, just crapped out on me. So, started it again and held the rpm's at about 3000 for a minute, then slowly eased off the throttle. It settled down and sounded much happier, i'm guessing there was still some fuel in the ISCV, and it was still poorly adjusted. Anyway, it was sitting at 900rpm, but after blipping the throttle, it settled down to 1500rpm and wouldn't go any lower. So, figuring the idle screw was out, i picked up the screwdriver, jammed it into the throttle body and twisted it clockwise until the rpm's went back to 900rpm again. Blipped the throttle again, and it settled back to 900rpm again and stayed there. Did it a few more times, and voila, it was still good.

Woo!

Here are the video's:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efwJz7Pkzlo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaOeWbTQ1Gs

 

[Mr.PFloyd]

whaaaat. 50 pounds???? man i wish i could find one of those locally for that little... i love those gti's...
My first car was an 86 jetta... loved that car to death.

 

[Kai]

The seller wanted rid of it because 'it was old'. And he 'couldn't be bothered to fix it'. I've fixed two problems already!

 

[romaniello]

They restored a Mk 1 GTI on Wheeler Dealers recently - or it was on TV recently.

http://www.markevans.co.uk/acatalog/Wheeler_Dealers_DVDs.html

.

 

[LilMissMkIII]

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :love::love::love::love::love::love:

 

[shaeff]

1) You sound cute.
2) Nice find!

 

[gtsfirefighter]

I loves me some VW:love:

 

[Kai]

Shaeff - you're scaring me

Contrary to my earlier assumption - it's still fecked

To start it, you NEED throttle, once it started, it'll sit at 900rpm, steady idle, and gently raising the throttle will be fine, and come off the gas and it'll be back at 900rpm.

Now, at about 2250rpm, the engine is stuttering and misfiring, until you get to about 3500rpm, at which point it'll zip to 6500rpm without issue, and smoothly, too. But, then the idle will settle down to 1500rpm and won't go any lower. Turn the car off, start it back up again (with the prerequisite throttle), and it'll sit at 900rpm again - but again, after driving it, it'll never go below 1500rpm again.

If i adjust the idle screw at 1500rpm so it sinks lower, it'll start doing the surging crap again, and upon restart, will barely keep idle at 400rpm or so.

AAARGH!

 

[GuNDeZZZ]

1) You sound cute.

AH HA! I Knew it!!!



BTW nice find for £50.

 

[Mk3runner]

i remember that long convo we had on flash chat about v dubs and older GTI lol. cool grab.

 

[MK3.0dudeman]

great looking car just please loose the wheels.Maybe some bbs messy's :love:

 

[Kai]

Well BBS RA's are the ultimate goal - this is a restoration after all, but first, the major issue is:

a) getting it to IDLE right
b) getting a new set of shocks on it
c) repairing the passenger side sill

 

[1987mk3turbo]

i have an 86 golf gti wicked cars watch out for under the hatch release button they rust fast have three of them and only one had a good hatch and it was not original hatch i am going to put a mid 90s vr6 engine in it

 

[foreverpsycotic]

Needs the big bumpers, and I think I know why your car wont go over 2250rpm. Its the excuse of an 8v digifont engine. 16v or vr6 that thing. It is SCREAMING for it. Of if you want to get trickey, run the OG audi 5cyl.

 

[Kai]

8v Digifant.

Keeping this original as i can - its just going to be a pig to get right, first time around. I think my mixture setting is slightly wonk. Caused of course, by my coolant temperature sensor.

 

[Kai]

Yep - my mixture was set too lean on the AFM, but the coolant temperature sensor is the culprit - upon removing the plug on that bad boy, it ran at 900rpm and purred like a kitty cat

Of course, i've ordered one now, along with the whole front end suspension!

New shocks, springs, top mounts, bump stops, bushings, the works.

I'm getting there slowly....and it's been less than a week!

 

[Kai]

My lock set arrived today - woo!

And i got a possible set of doors lined up, although, they'll need spraying...

 

[Kai]

I've also just bought a headgasket set, and a set of headbolts for less than £60 including shipping, so while i'm at it, i'll do a complete head stripdown, clean & rebuild.

 

[Brewster]

That brings back memories. My dad had a 87 Jetta GLI and a Scirocco before that. They both threw belts and no one could ever figure out why. I remember my mom having to go rescue him from the side of the road many a time.