Do I have a MARK on my face? Only 1? Cool

[delatlanta1281]

Your mom's blowing it.

[Huff]

Any updates to this project thread? Douche bag?

[ILoveMPower]

I see snowflakes...

[delatlanta1281]

Holy cow, I never updated this! So it's almost 2 years later and the car is almost done. I have to tidy up a slight oil leak, and buy some tires, and we are pretty much there.
Lots of pics to follow, so I may break them up.
So when we got the car it had tons of problems.
1. The bottom end was shot, the PO had run it with no oil and screwed the crank, bearings, and block.
2.The interior was a mess, it had a cabrio dash and cluster, and the seats were shot. The back parcel cover had four 6x9 speakers cut into it as well.
3. the suspension and rubber was all gone. It needed a total overhaul.
At this point it seemed like a pretty daunting task, but I was up for it. So I started searching for parts and here is what happened.
This is the car directly after rolling it off the tow truck.

And in the driveway the next day

The grill was pretty haggard, so I repainted it
Before


Enjoy!

[F34R]

waiting on pics!

[delatlanta1281]

Engine

I found a nice low mile bottom end on VWvortex and began the overhaul on that. New bearings, seals, clutch, pretty much every wear part was replaced. I actually had a cammed head with equal length headers ready to go for this build, so that was no problem.
Huff and I getting the 1st motor to my house

Bringing it into my basement.

The teardown begins


Nice head, with a hot cam installed.

Pistons out and the difference between the cranks

Parts galore!!!!!!!!!!

Motor going back together



Old motor before removal

Rebuilt motor installed.

The motor runs great, it lopes nicely with a ton of compression. It pulls very hard and stays cool. In the future I would really like to put carbs on it, but I know nothing about the swap. Doesn't seem too hard, but that's down the road.

[F34R]

I am so in love with MK1 GTIs! You did that little guy right =)

[delatlanta1281]

Interior

This was tough. A blue interior is pretty rare these days so it took months to find what I was looking for. A complete dash, a great backseat, and unmolested door cards. It took about 4 months to source all the components, but when I finally got them all I was stoked to start the replacement.
This is the cabrio dash and cluster, ugly brown

You can see the gauge pods is from a cabrio as well.
Dash out

New dash and gauge pod in

Doing the wiring

wiring pretty much buttoned up

Minty backseat and hatch cover Impossible to find.

All in all pretty nice. New GTI cluster and one of my MOMO's installed.

I just need seats. I have swapped my black vinyl perf sport seats in for the time being. Not sure what I am going to do with the seats in the future.
Re-wiring the car back to the GTI cluster was a total PITA, but it's done now and everything works. I am planning on doing an IPOD only sound system designed by Specdock. That is coming soon. And of course I am looking for the original blue accordian boot for the shifter. GL, I know.

[delatlanta1281]

Suspension

Everything was shot. So I sourced all new rubber, and a GC suspension with Billy sports.
Car before




Car after


As far as wheels and tires go, I want a set of widened snowflakes for the back and the OG ones on the front. Those are pretty hard to come by as well.
More to come.

[T3rd Ferguson]

nice car, i had an 84 project i put entirely too much money in to. sold it on a whim and i regret it to this day. I promised myself i'll own another one some day.

missing a before picture, it was "silver" with the same interior as yours
during

after


2.0 16v
4-1TT race header
2.5" straight pipe to borla with custom outlet
H&R ultra lows
autotech sways
new gas tank/lines
new brake lines
new brakes
all new bushings
new clutch, shifter, and all bushings

handled on rails, fast, SUPER loud and had a shit ton of balls. I really really miss it

[delatlanta1281]

Terd, I almost sold this car to fund my stroker build for my e30. I was really close to selling it to a fellow member here, then at the last minute backed out. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I decided to keep it and just start my build slowly the way I did the MK1. It seems spending the time to do something like this, saving, searching, is part of the fun. Meeting people in the car community through the build was awesome as well. The experience and the pay-off of driving this and people being so stoked to see it around town are something I earned. So I doubt I will sell this one (just like the e30) for a long while. Let's be honest, it takes up about as much room as a motorcycle with a sidecar anyway. I know that MK1s out west are fairly easy to come by, but rarely will you find an MK1 GTI down here. If you find another MK1, buy it, and build it. I have a shit ton of parts in my basement waiting for the right person.

[delatlanta1281]

Little bump.
Two new things.
1. Rims.
2. screwed wiring harness :( Oh well. Time for a re-wire....

[delatlanta1281]

Oh, and for those who are keeping score... I installed a set of seats. At least I can sit in style while I re-wire it.

[RUFFLZ]

bet it handles like a go-kart. I WANT WUN

[delatlanta1281]

So I fixed the wiring issue. Little by little I am repairing what the PO "customized"

Buttoned up the dash today. Hidden sound system makes for much more storage space.
Also finally found a mint shift boot. If you know anything about the blue GTI interior, you know this is one of the hardest vw parts to find. It came with an extra center console as well. STOKED