Advice - Mk2 Driver

[Sega_Boy]

Hay folks, im looking to buy a nice MK2 Driver from a fella in the next few weeks hopefully, either in 1600 or 1800 when I find out the engine size for sure (would prefer 1600 for cheaper insurance and tax etc), and basicially folks, i need your advice on everything that can go wrong with the mk2's.

What to look for, things to kep an eye open for etc, any help would be greatly appreciated folks!!

Hints and tip's please folks, found this excellent site thanks to the same fella actually, lol!!

Cheers!

[Haribo!]

as for any car make sure you get your arse on the floor and take a good look under it,check around the engine for possible leaks,have a suck of the dizzie vacume pipe, im a fussy bastard so i check everything, when i bought my last one i even skidded it a few meters to make sure the brakes were even, look in and under everything, im ure youll get a mre detailed answer, im not sure what commonly goes with golfs but your best checking everything either way.

[Ali-Jay]

Hay folks, im looking to buy a nice MK2 Driver from a fella in the next few weeks hopefully, either in 1600 or 1800 when I find out the engine size for sure (would prefer 1600 for cheaper insurance and tax etc), and basicially folks, i need your advice on everything that can go wrong with the mk2's.

What to look for, things to kep an eye open for etc, any help would be greatly appreciated folks!!

Hints and tip's please folks, found this excellent site thanks to the same fella actually, lol!!

Cheers!

As above, plus;

Check the clutch - usual thing, start the engine put it in fourth gear and ease the clutch out sharply, the engine should stall.

Check for blue smoke when the throttle is blipped - worn/failed valve stem seals.

Check for sludge (salad cream) around the oil filler cap/rocker cover - possible duff head gasket.

Find a smooth stretch of road, at about 20mph put the clutch in & pull the handbrake up
gently to see if the car slows evenly or the brake grabs at all - uneven/warped rear brakes.

Check for any obvious accident repairs – usual things, signs of fresh paint, over spray around window seals etc.

Check the tailgate & rear panels for rust - pay particular attention around the boot spoiler, boot handle, behind the number plate & around the bumper irons - MkII's suck up a lot of dirt/salt behind them which can make the rear ends a bit prone to rust.

Check the interior is dry – could have leaks that can take an age to find & fix.

Good luck & happy motoring.

[Chugadub]

yo

check the engine/chassis numbers match the v5, if they dont leg it!
and unless im much mistaken the tax for a 1600/1800 will be the same. only 1400 down its lower.

 

[Volkswagavin]

Insurance costs aren't much different neither.

The peirberg carb on the driver tends to play up.  My automatic choke didn't always disengage, so I was getting through fuel like nobody's business.  A weber conversion with a manual choke is a huge plus if it has one.  When I bought mine the carb had been butchered and it was missing a fair few vacuum pipes and wouldn't idle on its own for long.

Like any Mk2, check the rear tailgate for rust - you tend to get rust around the window seal.

Check the carpet in the rear footwells for dampness.  The door seals can go, flooding out the rear footwells.  If the front footwells are damp and there's a slight anti-freeze smell, the heater matrix has gone and its a bugger to fix.

Drive it and listen for howling from the wheels (sounds a bit like a milkfloat).  If you hear a moaning the wheel bearings are going.  The back ones are easy and fairly cheap to sort out.  The front are not.

Rear axle bushes - You won't know that they are worn until you get it MOT'd.  A big job that will cost a fortune in labour if you can't do it yourself.  Have a look under the back end of the car if you can.  Look at where the subframe joins the chassis for signs of wear.

Look out for rust - there really shouldn't be any - apart from on the tailgate (the only weak spot)

[Sega_Boy]

Plenty to think about, and almost exactly what my mate who had a mk2 GTi 8V for 10 years said.

Can't wait to get my mk2, wanted one since I was 15 (over 8 years ago lol!) and was reading Golf mag's in a petrol station. Fancy a basic 16V big bumper GTI rep with Rallye Grill and lights, grill spoiler, late tinted 16V rear lights (as this one that has popped up is black anyways), and other than a bit of smoothing and respray to keep it fresh and black, thats it.

P.S. Anyone here done a 1.8T Engine conversion before? I was out in one in a mk2 (which was an 16V originally), and it was pulling around 250bhp. needless to say I loved it, if I ever change the engine in it that would be my plan.

Cheers folks.

[rubjonny]

Expect the carb to be knackered and idle at 1.5-3k randomly and smell of petrol.  If it does don't worry too much either replace it as said or fix it, only a couple of weekends work.  Theres a lot that can go wrong with them but I've put a Pierburg 2e2 FAQ together which covers most if not all of it
http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=18871.0