16v Badge is standard?

[28Guy]

Hi again,

Another quick question - Was the 16v badge that sits under the GTI badge on the grill standard on mk2 16v GTI's?

I'm thinking of buying a GTI 16v but the badge is missing (probably got knicked), are there any other differences between the 16v and the 8v that I could look out for?

I just want to make sure it really is a 16v as I don't know that much about them (at the moment).

Would appreciate any advice you guys can give 

Thanks in advance!

- Guy

[Haribo!]

the easy one is that on the 8v both manifolds are at the rear of the head wheras on the 16v one is at the front, there probably other differences but the manifolds are a dead give away,

[jezza16v]

Hi, the front badge is standard, probaly been nicked, they only clip on. I got 2 off ebay one with damaged clips for £5 and a good one for £15. Guess what? I'm using the damaged one fixed with some silicone sealer, they'll have to rip the grill of to get it again! They also have a small red 16v badge on the glovebox and one below the 'GolfGTI' on the back. As stated, the biggest give away is the inlet manifold which is huge and covers the top of the engine and has 'DOHC 16V' deeply cast into it, The lettering is normally inlaid with blue paint which wears off, so don't worry if the lettering is not coloured. Most repaint it in red that I have seen. Check, check & check again for oil leaks, especially out of the dizzy, and down the back of the engine from the head gasket, camcover gasket & sump gasket. Check rear suspension top mounts, they rust away and the spring bears on the shell, you won't even know it to drive because VW put so much rubbery gunge underneath. Make sure the car is stone cold before you test drive it (I mean left over night) then check for 'crunch' in the g'box esp. on the change up to second gear, even if the car is just slightly warm this does not show up. When driving make sure you get it really warm and check you can get 5th gear OK and check there is no vagueness between 1st & reverse. Any problems here and the gear loinkage is knackered. Check the heater works well when the car is well warmed up put it on demist and make sure the widscreen does not steam up, check the MFA works..... Its endless really...but don't be put off, just keep looking for a good one and enjoy.   

[rubjonny]

But the most important thing that jezza forgot to mention, check the BODYWORK

Anything mechanical can be fixed easily by your average hobbist mechanic, but bodywork is always expensive!  Check the sills, especially near the jacking points, check up inside the rear arches, behind the fuel flap, bottoms of the doors, in the door jambs, especially between the door & wing as they like to rust where the sunroof drain pipes pass through into the front wheel arches.  Check the sunroof drain pipes arn't trapped between the bodywork & front wings, this points to a wing replacement at some point.  Check under the bonnet along both inner wings and the front subframe, and under the boot carpet looking for any signs of an accident damage.

Any rust on the replacible pannels isn't too much of a worry, but if its a rare colour you might be hard pressed to find new pannels, especially Royal Blue metalic, they're like gold dust!

Check the sunroof opens & closes, and both arms are present, normally at least one is rusted through and makes closing the sunroof a pain.

[28Guy]

Wow thanks for the advice guys, appreciated!

I think the car has got a bit of rust on the drivers door and the scuttle plate (whatever that is), don't know about under the car or in the engine bay, inner wings, etc.

Hopefully the rear suspension top mounts will be ok too as i bet that's a a fair few quid to sort 

It did have an oil leak from the dizzy and a water leak from somewhere but they've now been fixed.  Hopefully the gaskets should be ok as it's only done 80,000.

How do you check if the MFA works? Is that some sort of trip computer?

I've got a choice between a 75,000mile 8v just down the road from me that's got FSH and loads of service receipts or a 80,000mile 16v with FSH but no receipts and it's quite a way away from me, but it's cheaper.  Hmmm what do you do.... what do you do 

Anyway, will keep you posted and cheers for the advice!

- Guy

[Gambit]

bodywork is the biggy!! everything else as said can be fixed.

personally id find somebody who knows about them & take them with you!

my first 16v i bought looked good for the price but turned out to be a stinker!! i learnt so much in the 2 years i owned it from so much going wrong that i knew what to look for in my next one!!!

where abouts are you from? you might get somebody off here willing to go look over it for you

[rubjonny]

By scuttle plate he probably means the bit under the screen, they all rust around the spare wiper hole!

[jezza16v]

Yeah! And bodywork  .... Must have been very lucky with both of mine, only found nasty rust on the second one up by the fuel filler in the wheel arch underneath the years of crud that had collected behind all the pipes, it had just about rusted through to the inside by the rear seatbelt mount. Have also seen quite a few with holes in the front floorpans in the footwells, presumably where water has sat from leaks. Rear spring plates are a cheap & easy fix  so long as the spacers aren't rusted on to the shocks.