1980 4 door Oil Burner

[pedro]

Thought I should chuck up a thread for my trusty 1980 mk1 GLD Oil Burner. I have owned this rig since april, purchased from ebay in victoria (but previously owner brought it back with him from WA to VIC).

My history is with Datsuns so this was a whole new purchase for me. I'd been looking around for one of these for a while but not seriously, used to see an old guy around my work area so the need to own one was always renewed everytime I saw him.

I was using a Mitsubishi mirage as a daily driver as I was trying to keep the toys separate from the cheap daily driver, but one day when I happened to check on ebay I saw the car which I eventually bought. Got the sign off from the wife then hit the buy it now option.

Got it shipped to Sydney site unseen via the cheapest place I could find, had a interesting drive back from the depot as I found out not only did the headlights not work, neither did the wipers This information was lacking from the item description when I bought it, but in fairness I buying a 30+ year old car sight unseen from another state.

Once I got it home I went about checking it over and found the car was actually quiet sound which was a good tick in the box, but needed some love in areas generally around normal serviceable items;

- New radiator due to leak.
- CV boot busted
- Rack ends worn and boots broken
- Fix headlights and wipers
- Both door locks on front doors were destroyed by someone trying to break into it with a screw driver
- Passenger door lock mechanism had been broken needing repair/replacement to allow door to close properly.
- Did a timing belt for good measure.
- Fuel leak from filler neck to tank & also over flow.

So got all that stuff sorted and passed a blue slip for go, have been daily driving it for over 2 months now without an issue other than having to lube up the starter motor.






Below are some luggage racks I made (work in progress), hoping to have them completed soon (thread here -> DIY Luggage Rack )




Was considering putting rims and some suspension mods in, but to be honest I'm really impressed with how this thing handles so I'm just enjoying it at the moment.

Will complete the luggage rack, then get some wide whitewalls done on the tyres then re-access. A turbo diesel would be nice, but all depends on whether I keep the car long term, still researching that one.

Will get some better quality photos when I have time, cheers.

[gldgti]

nice car! GLD's with even reasonable paint and running are getting extremely rare, so its nice to see one that looks good.

Paint looks alright in the photos apart from the roof - would be an easy repaint job!

Have a look in my cabriolet thread for TD info. also check out Welcome to VolksWagen Diesel forums for info on all the old diesel engines.

a well sorted standard mk1 is always a pleasure to drive.

Interior looks good through the windows aswell. Looks like you picked up a great little car.

[Surfpig]

looks cool man, personally i would of made the luggage rack sit a little lower to roof line, but it looks good quality from here!

glad your enjoying it.

[pedro]

nice car! GLD's with even reasonable paint and running are getting extremely rare, so its nice to see one that looks good.

Paint looks alright in the photos apart from the roof - would be an easy repaint job!

Have a look in my cabriolet thread for TD info. also check out Welcome to VolksWagen Diesel forums for info on all the old diesel engines.

a well sorted standard mk1 is always a pleasure to drive.

Interior looks good through the windows aswell. Looks like you picked up a great little car.

Thanks mate, actually sent you a PM after reading your thread prior to posting mine, just had a few small questions regarding the TD install.

Yep the roof needs a paint strip and repaint, will need to get to it pretty soon to avoid any rust issues, so it's on the list for sure even if it's just an interim.

The seats are really good in this thing, I have a feeling they may have seen a retrim and repack at some stage, as they are very comfortable and not saggy. The dash is cracked and some small parts are sun damaged but still very good for it's age.

I am stoked it drives so well, I didn't think I'd adjust to a 4 speed but it runs like clockwork.

looks cool man, personally i would of made the luggage rack sit a little lower to roof line, but it looks good quality from here!

glad your enjoying it.

Already on it! Grabbed a pipe cutter off my old man on the weekend to chop the feet down a bit, so will bring it down an inch or 2 which should be about right hopefully. Then just need to finish the securing parts on the side to the roof gutter and a paint job and it will be on there permanently.

[pedro]

Trimmed those feet down on the rack

[pedro]

Finished the luggage rack

The real test (Surfboard fits perfectly, happy considering I didn't check any measurements there)



Apologies for the poor pictures below, taken on phone at work this morning after surviving their first trip




If the car gets up to 90kmh (down a hill in neutral ) the wind deflection noise is pretty loud, I liken it to crocodile dundee spinning the bull roarer wind instrument to call his buddies in the bush.

[pedro]

With much regret after getting this car running mint, I have to offer it up for sale;

FS: SYD 1980 Mk1 Golf GLD - Unmolested!