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Model specific boards => Golf mk3 => Golf mk3 how to guides + info => Topic started by: madmanmart on 17 April 2011, 17:58
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Thought I would do a rust buyers guide for the Mk3 for anyone who is looking to buy one.
Remember Kids, I bought this car so you don't have to
Right the car, a 1996 GTI Colour Concept.
(http://i395.photobucket.com/albums/pp35/madmanmart666/P3190010.jpg)
From the outside a nice looking GTI with a good very service history and mileage of about 120k.
Ok onto rust. We all know (hopefully) to look over the bodywork for rust. random scabs on doors ect. are too common.
But a very common place - The tailgate.
(http://i395.photobucket.com/albums/pp35/madmanmart666/Picture019.jpg)
The plastic arch kit on the Mk3 is a terrible design and holds moisture against the bodywork, also the front wings holds dirt at the bottom often causing the wing to rot out. So upon removal.....
(http://i395.photobucket.com/albums/pp35/madmanmart666/Picture014.jpg)
(http://i395.photobucket.com/albums/pp35/madmanmart666/Picture017-1.jpg)
Next sills..
Upper, where the rubber door seal meets at the bottom.
(http://i395.photobucket.com/albums/pp35/madmanmart666/Picture016.jpg)
Lower, at the front jacking points (note this cars sills have been bodged up earlier in life).
(http://i395.photobucket.com/albums/pp35/madmanmart666/Picture020.jpg)
Lastly Foors..
The rubber bungs in the floors let moisture in causing them to rot out.
(http://i395.photobucket.com/albums/pp35/madmanmart666/Picture015.jpg)
These are just common places but Mk3s can rust everywhere.
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Fook me :shocked:
Another fairly common place is along the top of the windscreen :wink:
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Don't understand it.
My 92' on 60K, not a spot of rust.
My 96' on 108K tiny surface rust on upper sill which has been sorted.
Dads's 96' on 140K, fairly rusty everywhere.
Spose it's about how it's been treated.
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Fook me :shocked:
Another fairly common place is along the top of the windscreen :wink:
:grin: Agreed
But on this car the top of the screen is rust free which was very surprising.
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My 97 16v with 114k only has a tiny bit of bubbling on the bottom of the drivers door and is barely noticeable, apparently it was treated by the previous owner anyway so it's not bothered me to much. My last mk3 had only a couple of pin prick rust spots on the door leading edges where the paint had been knocked so when i see the state of some of these cars I think myself quite lucky.
Ive just removed all the GTI arch trims and there isn't a single sniff of the metal worm under there either! :smug:
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That has to be one of the worst mk3's I have seen :shocked:
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That needs to be scrapped :grin:
The problem on some mk3's was the quality of steel used, its not the only car or manufacturer to suffer rust problems in that era.
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That really is a heap of crap above, surely the cost of repairing that to an adequate level far exceeds the cost of another solid shell?
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That really is a heap of crap above, surely the cost of repairing that to an adequate level far exceeds the cost of another solid shell?
Never worth repairing tbh, too much strength gone from the shell.
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was this vehicle dredged up from the bottom of the Mersey by any chance?
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bloody hell , was it worth welding that sill and those plastic arches are a waste of time but good at hiding the rust if you selling a car ,as for the floor never seen 1 rot as much as that :shocked:
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Im baffled how this car ever got it's past few MOT certificates?
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I believe that at least some if not all later RHD Mk3s weren't made in Germany. They came from South Africa so maybe the steel quality or something in the protection or application isn't so good. My '95 has just a tiny blister above the screen on the passenger's side and I suspect this originated from a bit of damage when the screen was changed.
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Mine has wrotten inner and outer sills and a hole in the floor.
I thought the later mk3s were galvanised to help stop this?
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Galvanized but used a thinner gauge steel i believe.
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Im baffled how this car ever got it's past few MOT certificates?
Easy enough, sills and arches are covered so will always hide horrors, it is why I was glad to remove them on mine.
I believe that at least some if not all later RHD Mk3s weren't made in Germany. They came from South Africa so maybe the steel quality or something in the protection or application isn't so good. My '95 has just a tiny blister above the screen on the passenger's side and I suspect this originated from a bit of damage when the screen was changed.
Nope all were made in Germany and shipped to South Africa some were supplied as kits however.
Mine has wrotten inner and outer sills and a hole in the floor.
I thought the later mk3s were galvanised to help stop this?
Thinner / poorer quality steel.
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Even so, that floor is well fooked!
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This is an extreme example of all the rotten Mk3s I have broke, hence why I did this guide.
Also this Mk3 will never see the road again.
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So later mk3 = cheap steel and rust
Early mk3 = not galvanised and rust
Im not going tohave to get a mk4 am I lol.
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So later mk3 = cheap steel and rust
Early mk3 = not galvanised and rust
Im not going tohave to get a mk4 am I lol.
Early mk3's were better :smiley:
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I seem to find its the 95-96 or 'N' to 'P' reg cars that have the most rust.
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All 3 of my mk3's have been that age without any rust issues though.
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My 1996 P had one tiny bit on the sill around where the door rubber sits but otherwise all ok, guess I was lucky.
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I seem to find its the 95-96 or 'N' to 'P' reg cars that have the most rust.
You seen my '94 valver? :grin:
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Must be luck of the draw then. :grin:
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Now kids, if you're going to buy a MK3 Golf, follow the guide indicated in the first post, but also for further clarification, here is my '94 valver's sills:
(http://i594.photobucket.com/albums/tt25/Shady_Pioneer/ee3f027f.jpg)
Always make sure you check under the sill covers!
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Shady I recon that has started from the inside out (or had a bad repair?)...... so it's worth checking for water leaks and pulling the door seal off to check around the seams!
and later cars used galvanised steel (it's just VW bought cheap to cut costs!.. I believe the steel was sourced from Russia?? Need I say more?)
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It most likely was from the inside out seeing as the inner sills were basically non-existant. The door seal has some rust but enough to start this. It was caused by a very bad bodged job on both sides of the car, the repairs were just quick fixes and just caused more issues.
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I sympathise with you Shady, on my old one the jack went right through the sill.
I had to wreck a pirrelli and drive it to a tyre fitter :cry:
My new one however is in the shop having the jacking points fixed and re-enforced.
I must say i bought the least rusty Mk3 i could find and I saw some rusty ones right across from 92 to 98 plates.
It seems purely luck of the draw for most of the normal rust, but most of the sill problems come from buggered jacking points and the damage resulting from falling off the jack.
I think if you own a Mk3 then you need a proper jack in the boot, makes a good anchor too :wink:
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I made wooden ramps to drive up so I can jack it up from the sub frame and rear beam.
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One trap which I was recently shown on my own vehicle is the drivers side inner wing (structural MOT failure). What was worse is while there was a small amount of bubbling of the paintwork it didn't actually look too bad (and the underseal was all nice and clean looking), but it had actually rotted through in one area, so that the screwdriver went through with no effort whatsoever. I'm told it's a very common area and the first place that most VW mechanics will poke, the passenger side inner wing rarely gets such bad rot.
Also the bottom corners of my driver doors (think there were drainage points there that got blocked up) have become rusted so much that you can use your finger to happily poke through.
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I'm having a look at a Mk3 GTI tomorrow, will I need to remove the trim pieces or can I get a good enough look without dismantling someone else's car?
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I'm having a look at a Mk3 GTI tomorrow, will I need to remove the trim pieces or can I get a good enough look without dismantling someone else's car?
You'll need to take the sill trim off, that's one of the important ones. You saw my pictures. :shocked:
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Do they sort of 'pop' off or is it trickier than that?
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There are about 5 screws to the bottom of the car, really easy to spot, phillip heads. Then literally just pull them off. Simple enough.
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Ok, and what about the ones round the wheel arches?
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There are about 5 screws to the bottom of the car, really easy to spot, phillip heads. Then literally just pull them off. Simple enough.
Not as simple as that, you need to remove the top main trim as well, that can be tricky to remove and refit.
Ok, and what about the ones round the wheel arches?
No chance they are pop riveted on.
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There are about 5 screws to the bottom of the car, really easy to spot, phillip heads. Then literally just pull them off. Simple enough.
Not as simple as that, you need to remove the top main trim as well, that can be tricky to remove and refit.
Sorry, it was as simple as that for me.
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They're riveted from the factory so if yours had screws holding it on then it's been taken off at some point in it's life and not re-fitted correctly. This would explain why yours became so rusty due to the ingress of water through all the poxy screw holes.
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They're riveted from the factory so if yours had screws holding it on then it's been taken off at some point in it's life and not re-fitted correctly. This would explain why yours became so rusty due to the ingress of water through all the poxy screw holes.
We are talking about sill trim yes? I didn't think sill trim was riveted on?
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They're riveted from the factory so if yours had screws holding it on then it's been taken off at some point in it's life and not re-fitted correctly. This would explain why yours became so rusty due to the ingress of water through all the poxy screw holes.
We are talking about sill trim yes? I didn't think sill trim was riveted on?
They are not, screws are fitted from new I even checked with VW :smiley:
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They're riveted from the factory so if yours had screws holding it on then it's been taken off at some point in it's life and not re-fitted correctly. This would explain why yours became so rusty due to the ingress of water through all the poxy screw holes.
We are talking about sill trim yes? I didn't think sill trim was riveted on?
They are not, screws are fitted from new I even checked with VW :smiley:
You are correct, screws along the bottom and a pop rivet at either end. But if you undo the screws at the bottom edge then you can peal it up for a sneaky peak. :)
As regards to arches, you can try to peal them back for a look but the best bet is to see if you can move the arch at all due to the rivets on them being rotted out. ( Ive seen this alot).
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Sorry yes of course the lower section of the sills are screwed on, for some reason i started thinking about arch trims. Doh!
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So later mk3 = cheap steel and rust
Early mk3 = not galvanised and rust
Im not going tohave to get a mk4 am I lol.
Early MK3 is like a mk2, absolutly sh!t loads of underseal and rust protection covering all the underbody, inside the doors, basically all the places where you dont see
late cars dont have any of this but have a crappy galvernised ssteel thats not much cop
Ben had a car thats worse than the one in the pic, the 1997 highline we broke for his engine, he still has it on his drive.
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i have a mk3 which i have just brought its a 1996 gti and has a few problems the one i discovered today is that the sills have rotten underneith the plastic covering im just wondering what i should do can i fix this myself ? if not how much are replacement sills and where can i find them theres also rust on the wing which i have treated and on the top of the boot which i have also treated please help !!!! only had the car 2 weeks and dont know if its just a money pit
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Hey, they door sills rust. how is that treated? or fixed? cheers.