GolfGL - 'Lemonade 8v GTI'

[jv]

[GolfGL]

Hi All and thanks JV,

So after 4 years owning a fantastic lightly modified Leon Cupra R 225 (named lemonade after its plate LM04NDE) I was really needing the extra cash towards a house deposit so the time came to sell up.



I started looking for a run around and in the sub 2k bracket had some interesting cars but i kept coming back to my earlier mk3 GL in dragon green and saw how much a bargain the mk3 gti now was.



After a couple of weekends scouring autotrader, ebay and gumtree I came across a mk3 Golf GTI locally with 51,000 on the clock backed up by every prior MOT and in near immaculate condition. With 2 former keepers it had every receipt going back 17 years to the original purchase receipt for £14k! It wasnt faultless under the exterior but I snapped it up for £800, a saving of £200 off his advert price with the main factor it needed tax. Given its silver like the Leon it’s only fitting its named Lemonade II

(previous owner’s photos)





Bad bits
Gearbox is like stirring porridge and I am struggling to get 1st gear(hoping its just the rod assembly)
Replace the window regulator that broke first time i touched it
MFA clocks that show oil temp, mpg etc have a dodgy LCD
Fix the sticky door lock
Stereo is only attached by the connector
Replacement interior trim, tow eye coverm badges etc
Respray/replace alloys
All round detail to get the wet dog smell out, get the bay tidied up and polish/wax the exterior to fend off future rust
Regular service items and probably a cambelt/waterpump

A little asthmatic at the moment and not exactly exciting plans but later on there may be a v6 or 1.8t on the cards as the shell and exterior are staggering considering the age.

Adam

[GolfGL]

So first day with the car began going straight to the breakers yard with a decent shopping list. The breakers was great had loads of mk3's so lots of choice for good parts. I managed to get;

mint rear badge

boot carpet (mine has a melted line on it)

scuttle panel (mine was cracked and missing top setction and looks terrible)

door lock parts

tow eye cover
various spare nuts/trim pieces

Best bit was i haggled the guy down to £12 and all parts were like new

I got in and got everything fitted fairly quickly cleaning as i went. I think the boot goes to show how clean this car is!


However the work quickly went down hill when i was playing with the passenger electric window. A creak then a crack showed something was clearly wrong and in need of more than a greasing. Getting the door card off to access the window was ok but finding the regulator clips ruined and needing replacement was a bit annoying and took a while to wiggle out leaving the window taped up with duck tape.

The offending item

I could have gone back to the  breakers but decided to buy new and save another one going anytime soon. Managed to get a new regulator off of ebay in the end for about £32 posted. Whilst i was on ebay i also purchased the gear shift repair kit £24, god knows how it all goes together as the haynes confused me with its terrible photos so il take it piece by peice when i get the new one.

Spend today £70

[GolfGL]

Last week i got the window sorted which was quite an easy job and i now have a working window which is nice.

Next up was the gearbox linkage as i was having some difficulty getting first gear. On the engine side nothing was particulary worn but as i had unbolted everything it would be stupid not to put the new parts in. On the road it momentarily felt better but then i couldnt get first at the next junction i decided to have a look at the bush on the end of the shifter. This was an absoloute nightmare where i couldnt see anyway of getting the part the bush locates into out. after an hour of hammering, levering, heating i had to leave it. At the same time i checked the shifter adjustment, its a fairly trial and error process but in the end found a nice spot where i can consistently get first which is a nice result. Id still like to get the shifter and mounting changed at some point to see if it removes some slack but i dont fancy attempting that again any time soon.

With the evenings warm and light i sorted a few of the little jobs like wipers and a full filter service. Plugs, air fliter and fuel filter were a breeze but when i started the filter i soon realised space was too tight for my filter socket so the hammer and a sharp screwdriver came out. I hammered through and after skinning my knuckles it was finally lose enough to remove by hand. Second trouble was then that the lower section of the dipstick broke, are these simple to replace??? for the time being i sanded the touching edges and stuck it together with super glue.

With the car on the ramps i had a check round the exhaust to find at the rear it was barely connected, luckily just needed the silencer pushed further onto the bracket and tightening up. I thought this would sort the boring raspy engine sound but nothing has changed. After owning a modified car with a really nice exhaust system i am missing the throaty roar when pushing the loud pedal but mods will have to wait.

As i had the window and gear linkage parts all i needed was the service items which i got for a bargain £50 with halfrods trade. if i paid full price i would be looking at £72.

Total spend £120

[GolfGL]

Bad day for the house saving today as i just received my car tax letter - £220!!!! a bit shocking for old and not great performing vehicle, although it does save me £40 over the Leon.

With the major repairs and service items sorted i have done my first decent journey in the car. I really enjoyed the drive as it feels tighter than i expected for a 17 year old car, no bad noises, its quite perky when your in the 2,000-3500 rpm zone which i wasnt expecting from the negative reviews the 8v gets and best of all i can now go over humps and pot holes unlike the Leons lowered suspension and wafer thin tyre walls (although i really wouldnt mind lowering it a tad but keeping the alloys and tyres it has)

[GolfGL]

Some new pics showing its glorious standardness!




How bad are those standard orange indicators!

After the first proper drive i realised something was up with the temp gauge, it slowly gets upto 90oc round town but on the motorway it sat between 75-90oc. Every vw/seat ive had till now has gone straight to 90 and sat there permanently so think its time to try a thermostat.

The headlining was starting to sag at the front and looked a bit of a mess so i took Deano2711 advice on sticking it back up with prit stick. Guess what, its holding steady and the moment so im pretty impressed.

Having no mats was annoying as it meant i could see the fag burn from the previous owner and its a bit harder to clean up so i stumped up £13 for some ebay mats and they look ok now but are crap - wafer thin and i can see them wearing through in no time but will do for a couple of months so anyone else looking out for an ebay bargain get a set of premium ones if you want them to last. Mine were listed as 650g so i would imagine you want 900g+ atleast to get OEM style carpets.

Another self inflicted problem like the window the exhaust is now rattling or i have a vibrating heatshield so i'll have to get under it again at some point as the rear box had definitely broken away from its mounting sp im also on the look out for a new middle rear section.

Adam