My Mk1 Golf project - slow build thread

[GeorgeMK1]

Weee another mk1 thread. I get all excited everytime i see a new one hehe
The car looks like it has potential mate, hopefully with a few touches here and there she's running agian!!

As for the colour, it looks the same as mine, but a tad darker haha, i likey the orange

[madglf3]

So yesterday I got rid of the suspicious patch hiding on the front left section just behind the wheel well and it was not good.

The person who'd resprayed the car obviously saw the rust starting and then just patched over it with fibreglass rather than fixing the issue. Here's what it looked like to start with:


So I pulled the fibreglass out and tried to clean the edges around the area to see just how far the rust had spread:


It's pretty bad, and I haven't even looked further than that area. I'd pretty much can guarantee that there is a bunch more rust and dodgy repairs all over the car.

Has anyone here ever tackled rust like this (even if only to make me feel a little better about my car)? I'm thinking that I should perhaps strip the car down and find all the problem areas.

[SpeciP3]

That's pretty nasty looking mate, but it's not 'unfixable'. IMO you'd be better off going over the whole car first in case you need to source any repair panels, etc. and it might be cheaper for you to buy a few at once as opposed to individually.

Check out a few threads in the restoration section, there are some good guides to tackling this sort of cancer.

Don't be too worried by it though, once it's all done you know it's sorted... and properly too!

[Preen59]

Yikes! nasty stuff.

Remember, cutting more out doesn't necessarily make the job harder. Cut the panel out where it will be easiest to replace.

Pete Jones also might be worth PMing if he doesn't see this a chime in..

[madglf3]

Cheers guys. That's right Preen, if I did just scrap that section I could replace it from where the metal is good with a new piece. It's right where the rain tray is, then goes down further. Also in that pic but perhaps more difficult to see is the rust that starts at about where the floor joins to the firewall. I'd guess that the floors would be pretty average too, but time will tell. I've been looking at Mk1Autohaus and Rabbitparts.com as they sell replacement floor panels and lower A-pillar sections too. I'm stoked that there are places around that make it almost possible to build a completely new Mk1.

I am thinking that it'd be a good thing to just strip all the interior + then the engine out and go from there, but not sure as yet if I'll tackle the job of replacing that rust as a beginner. But I did get this car to learn. I'd imagine that it's a pretty structural part where the wheel wells are and so I'd want to do it properly. This area will see even more stress when I put stiffer suspension in and if I put a more powerful engine in too (I'd love a 16V in there some day, a while from now though).

I've had a look at Tafe courses in welding as a few people have said that that's a good way to learn.

[Jace]

Sounds like you're going to be doing what I wish I could with my/a different MK1.

Preeny, can you bring in replacement panels?

Short of finding a Cabby shell for patch-panels... big new replacement bits would be a good choice!

Good luck with it!

[sports racer]

Has anyone here ever tackled rust like this (even if only to make me feel a little better about my car)? I'm thinking that I should perhaps strip the car down and find all the problem areas.

Mone has a lot of rust in the floor, see my thread for pictures (Got it now what do I do with it). Rego said I should scrap the car but it's a MK1 2 door and I'm kinda attached to them. Also, I know someone with rust free 2 door shell for $1000 if I can't get mine sorted.

[Peter Jones]

It's fixable, but you're going to have to get handy with a welder.

Take a look at the rust repairs I did here

http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/foru...-23140-15.html

that should answer a few of your questions, if not just ask.

Pete

[madglf3]

Thanks for the comments guys, it's encouraging to see that other people reckon they're worth saving too.

I've seen the welding you did in your car Paul, good work and might need a bit of that kind of attention on my floors too. I definitely will need to get handy with a welder Pete. Thanks for the link too, your threads are always a good read. I will probably ask you a few questions in the future when I get a bit further on with the car.

So next weekend I will start the strip down and find out just how much rust there really is. I'll be sure to post pics after.

[cdogg]

there isnt much that cant be repaired it just depends, if you can be stuffed.
as you see with pete jones' threads, almost anything is possible
good luck