GolfGTIforum.co.uk
General => General discussion => Topic started by: Mcleod on 05 June 2012, 09:59
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Hi im thinking about selling my mk4 gti to get either a mk1 or a mk2 shell and built a car from the bottom up by myself and is just wanting to know what would be the bets one to do for parts and bits like that.
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All depends on your funds, the shell you get and what you want at the end of it.
Personally, I'd go for a MK2.
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Yh I'd say mk2 and vr6 or 1.8t intit, depending on what power your looking for.
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Budget will prob be about £2k to start with but adding stuff over time.
Really wanting good power from the engine that's why I'm tying to find stuff out the now so when I get rid of my car I can start looking for a shell and start work on it.
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It depends on so many things, budget, space you have available, and what you want the end product to look like.. concours or just for fun weekends.
Personally, I'd go for a Mk1, but that because whatever it threw at me, i'd never be out of my depth, but to recommend a project, then it would have to be a Mk2, for so many reasons, parts availability, and likelihood of finding a base car thats in great shape being your priorities
Bottom line though, buy the very best, complete, example you can find, ignore rotten doors, bonnet and tailgates and wings, these can be sourced easily new or OE 2nd hand, you're looking for a shell that has great floor pans, sills, A posts, and rear wheel arches, and no signs of accident damage anywhere on the shell itself... accumulate as many new parts as possible before you start ripping to bits, this will help in the long run, and also save money, as "Scene Tax" starts to kick in, in the near future, as Mk2 donor cars start to get scarce, expect parts prices to rise even beyond what they are now!
Every now and then, "Rolling shells" come up for sale, thes can be great if fully restored by someone reputable, but you would likely still need a donor car, which would mean that you would need space for at least 3 cars!! something to bare in mind!
Thom
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Budget will prob be about £2k to start with but adding stuff over time.
Really wanting good power from the engine that's why I'm tying to find stuff out the now so when I get rid of my car I can start looking for a shell and start work on it.
2k, nowhere near enough! just buy a straight car and run it, enjoy it :cool:
Thom
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Cheers man that's a bit of help with some stuff that I had going through my head. The budget would keep growing as the project went on it would be done over a period of about a year so the 2k would only be to start with it prob going up to about 5k over time. It would prob be a everyday car but would want it pretty light and fast.
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Every day project at a 2k budget - a tidy 16v mk2.
Remember the rule - Buy on body if you don't have skills like Thom. Body is the most expensive thing to put right.
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For some strange reason i'm drawn to the V6 4-motion, not sure why but i've seen some very nice ones recently.
For a project i would have thought you'd struggle in mk1 territory with 2k.
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Think by the sounds of it it would be the mk2 wood be best. What are the differences with the mk1 over the 2?
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Mk1s are getting very expensive, even for rot boxes or base models. The GTI only came in 3door and with either the early 1.6 8v engine or the later 1.8 8v. Avoid Mk1s with sunroofs as they are most likely to have rust or leaking problems.
Mk2 is much easier to get a decent example.
Is 2k your initial budget for the car or do you want to buy some other stuff (suspension/engine) with that cash?
For that budget you'll probably be looking at either a Mk2 non-GTI model with lower miles (sub 100k) or a higher mileage GTI.
You probably want a clean unmodified example. One thing to look for, if it's a pre-89 model it should have small bumpers, after then it should have big bumpers.
As said, get the best, straightest body car you can. Everything else can be upgraded. For example, even if you buy a GTI you'll probably want to replace the brakes with newer better ones (from a Mk4 perhaps). If the engine and gearbox are ok, keep them in for the moment and upgrade later once the rest of the work is done (unless you have space and money to get it all out and done in one go), then at least you can move the car around easily.