Weldathon Mk2 2dr GTI

[Andy@VWH]

Hi all,

I picked this Mk2 up on a bit of an impulse. I saw it on a Facebook cars for sale page, it was cheap, and it needed to go ASAP, and It was only a few miles down the road.
I looked round it, it had a headliner that was still stuck up - all the body kit in place, the scraper seals hadn't shrunk, plus it came with 6 months MOT.

I jumped on it, and the guy drove it home for me (to save on insuring it).





I got it home and started to work.
The rat look rusty bonnet was the first to go, a local VW breaker sorted me a good used Tornado pink (not red, it was faded) for £35 or so, and it went on pretty easily.


The wheels were swapped out for a set of 15" BBS RA's - a bargain from the Mk2 Golf owners club forum.


Sadly, hidden below things and underneath it was a little bit rusty!



So the welder has had a pretty good workout!


Theres a more in depth step by step resto over on the Mk2 forum, if you wish to see the hassle the car has caused me!
VW Golf MK2 Owners Club • View topic - My Mk2 Gti 8v itch...

In the mean time, its got only a few bits to sort in the inner arch behind the fuel tank now, then I can get it sorted mechanically for an MOT - needless to say Stevie Wonder must of done the last one!

I gather 3 door Mk2's are in short supply over in Australia? There's plenty of rusty ones here, if you're able to import them?

Andy

[benough]

Hey Andy

Yeah over here all we got were one batch of 4 doors that were destined for Japan.

An ex pat I know shipped on here recently. Sure, it was in good nick and he got it for 400 quid, but shipping it made it more expensive than buying a good four door one here.

[GOLFBALLS]

Good work!
It's so strange seeing rust on a mk2!!!

[Andy@VWH]

Hey Andy

Yeah over here all we got were one batch of 4 doors that were destined for Japan.

An ex pat I know shipped on here recently. Sure, it was in good nick and he got it for 400 quid, but shipping it made it more expensive than buying a good four door one here.

Guess that's what you pay for rarity..
How much does it cost to ship a car into Aus?

Andy

[Andy@VWH]

Good work!
It's so strange seeing rust on a mk2!!!

Oh it's in plentiful supply over there -more so on the later body kitted cars than the earlier ones.

What years did they offer the Mk2 in Australia for?

[Andy@VWH]

So.. the welding has continued!

After spinning the car round to work on the drivers side, I was relieved to see the underneath wasn't quite as bad.. but it still wasn't great!!

The jacking point at the front was still a little crispy, but I was able to access this from the top to make life a little easier.



Round the back the rear arch was a haven of rust, and I set about tackling it. The fuel filler area was slightly rusty, but I seem to of got away with a quick fix on that.

Midway through..
http://s32.photobucket.com/user/armc...fb209.jpg.html

After the routine of patching things up, I was confidently thinking it might be done!
Then, I saw a picture on an email from a customer about rust on the rear inner arch - I thought, uh oh.. hope my "worlds rustiest Mk2" hasn't gone here too..
Sadly, and as most of you could predict, it had.

The tank straps were mullered, the nuts wont undo, so a hacksaw blade was called upon to release the tank!

After dropping the fuel tank (didnt fancy waving the welder anywhere near the fuel tank!) things started to look a little bleak!
This is where the filler neck should of been secured.


As you can see, the captive nuts have taken a time out, and rusted away, fortunately really, as the bolt heads had rounded off so I couldn't undo them!
After my hard work cleaning things up in the inner arch, the filler neck had been hiding this.. should be a simple fix..

Sadly, from the inside of the arch.. and what lead me to this originally, things aren't so great!

And moving towards the front of the car slightly.. you'll see some more rust at the top of the rear shock..eeeek!

I've got a plan I think.
To fix the filler neck securing bit first. Fortunately I picked up this piece from work, which is just what was missing / corroded beyond repair!
https://www.vwheritage.com/vw_spares_Fu ... 277332.htm

Once that's done, the piece by the strut top will get tackled, luckily in some ways you can get to some of it from the inside.

Will keep you posted, motivation, weather, money, and kitchen re-fit pending!

Andy

[benough]

Man, epic commitment to bringing this back to life

[velly_16v_cab]

good work.