01x05 - Volkswagen Golf Mk1 GTI Part 1

[bunniefuu]

Welcome to Wheeler
Dealers, where I show you

how to buy, restore
and sell modern classics.

Cars of my generation.

The challenge is to find the car as cheap
as possible and return it to tip-top

condition for no more than a thousand
pounds.

Now, to help me, I got my very own car
fettler, Ed China.

He's going to be returning the cars back
to their former glory, and I'm going to be

showing you how to get the cars as cheap
as possible and how to source the parts.

Hopefully, we'll be
breathing life back into these

motoring icons like this
beautiful Mark 1 Golf GTI.

GTI.

Three letters which make all the
difference.

And this is the original.

The car which kicked off the whole hot
hatch craze.

Fast and furious, yet practical and
affordable.

It was the Golf that you always wanted
your mum and dad to buy.

Like all good ideas, the concept behind the
hot hatch seems blindingly obvious today.

Mix the benefits of a hatchback family car
with the fun and handling of a sports car.

Result?

A huge sales success and millions of happy
drivers.

But back in 1978, when the Golf GTI was
launched, this car was the first ever hot

hatch, and VW were nervous about the car's
reception.

They needn't have worried, though,
because as soon as buyers got to enjoy the

Revi 1.8 engine and rock-solid
handling of this amazing

little motor, then they knew
they were on to a winner.

Today this is a rare and sought-after car.

The boy racer Fraternity
have either driven them

through hedges or covered
them in nasty body kits.

So a clean original car like this in good
condition is worth up to a whopping £4,000.

Now, I've got just a grand
to buy and restore a GTI,

so I'm going to have to
use all my motor in no-how.

GTIs were often raced and rallied,
which gives buyers a problem, because some

of the cars on the market are bodge-ups
using bits from crash cars.

So before you buy, look
at the engine and chassis

numbers and check that they
match those on the log fork.

If they don't, then my advice is just walk
away.

Don't be tempted to buy a car that's had a
body kit fitted.

One, the panels are hard to replace if
there's any crash damage.

And two, well, they're just plain ugly.

Best place to look for a straight car is a
GTI owner's club.

There are plenty around and they run
dedicated magazines and websites.

They're full of useful
info and a classified

section where you can
find the odd bargain.

We tracked down this Mark 1 White Golf
GTI.

It's up for sale for a very reasonable 750
quid.

Good to see you.

Looks all right, doesn't it?

Yeah.

It's good on the face, isn't it?

You had it long?

A couple of years.

Okay.

Well, there's a couple
of things that stick

out to me straight
away and I'll just say this.

Number one is golf's
notoriously easy to break

into if you're getting
around the driver's lock.

So this is a good thing, actually.

When you turn up and you see this plate
around the door handle, that's a good thing.

That's a security measure.

Did you know that?

No.

Well, you do now.

So that is a good thing.

The bad thing is it hasn't got the
original wheels on it.

So I'm going to have to
solve some original wheels

because I want to turn
this into an original car.

Another thing that I
noticed, Matt, when I turned

up, I don't want to put
you on the wrong foot.

You know, I don't want to get off on your
wrong side.

But the Volkswagen Golf
GTI comes with a red GTI

in the grille and the
grille's got red in it.

So this is a non-original grille which
then leads me to believe that maybe,

you know, at the front
there could have been

a bit of damage
once or twice in its life.

Right, so what I'm going
to be looking for here is

signs of accident damage
across the front of the car.

So these legs are what the engine sits on.

Make sure that they're
not buckled or bent because

that shows you that the
car's been in a bad shunt.

Across the slam panel here, make sure that
this is nice and straight.

You can always look at the welding as
well.

You can see where they've been spot welded
in the corners if that's original or not.

And this one doesn't look too bad.

So I'll trust my judgment and say it's
fine under there.

The engine looks all right.

You done any work to it?

No, none whatsoever.

You haven't even put any oil in it?

Oh yeah, a bit of oil, but oil and water.

And that's it?

Like I say, I've had no problems.

Really?

Yeah, very lucky.

Yeah, you are lucky because it looks all
right actually.

It looks surprisingly in good nick.

There's a couple of things as well that I
noticed as I drove past it.

Do you know what a little rear spoiler is?

You didn't have that.

You didn't give it that in a box.

No, no, no, you didn't give it.

Because this has been painted,
it should have a black insert

on this and it should have
a red insert on the bumper.

So it is best to check in
the boot and make sure

that it's had no accident
damage up the back.

All right, shall we have a look under the
carpet?

Yep.

No, it's nice and straight down there.

No signs of accident.

A little bit of rust coming through,
not to worry.

No, it's all right, isn't it?

Yeah.

OK, what about around the side there?

Where's the decal down the side there that
says GTI?

Never there.

Probably had quite a bit of paint in his
life, this car.

But then it is an old car.

All right, start it up.

Still sounds fruity, doesn't it,
after all these years?

It's all right.

I mean, yeah, it's exactly what I'm
looking for.

It's just, you know, as original as I'm
going to find.

Golf GTI, I want to get
the bits and, you know,

turn it back into the
iconic car of my youth.

Yeah.

That's what I plan to do.

Only one thing left is a drive,
really.

All right, let's take it for a test ride.

Let's take it for a spin.

I feel like I'm 17 again.

Still feels great.

Got a nice zippy engine into the corners.

There's hardly any body roll at all.

It feels nice and tight.

Look at me, I'm smiling.

I'm excited.

A Mark 1 Golf GTI.

Steering wheel's off-centre, which leaves
me to believe that either the tracking's

out, but it seems to be
going in a straight line,

or at some point the
steering wheel's gone off.

But I'm just a little bit worried about
this gearbox, to be honest with you.

Golfs, they tend to wear quite badly on
their gearboxes.

You can sit in a set of traffic lights.

I think you've got the car in first gear.

You accelerate away, but actually you go
backwards and hit the bloke behind you.

And the brakes are almost non-existent.

I have to stamp really hard down on the
pedal to get this car to stop.

Volkswagen Golfs have notoriously bad
brakes anyway, because they're always

revved up highly and they brake quite
hard.

But to be honest with you, it's a fine one
in good nick, cost an absolute fortune.

They're either rotters or they're good
ones.

And this is a good half-way out,
so it's a nice project.

And it's quite cheap, so that's why I'm
giving this guy the benefit of the doubt.

Well, Matt, to be honest with you,
I'm absolutely surprised.

You're still standing here and not stuck
in a hospital wing somewhere.

Yeah?

It's a death trap.

It is a death trap.

The brakes are all over the place.

Well, the first time I
put my foot on a brake,

I thought I was going
to rear-end somebody.

The gearbox is as vague as a vague thing.

I mean, it doesn't go in any gear.

So you've not had no trouble with it?

No.

It's been all right.

Listen, usually I'll walk away from a car
like this.

I'll be gone, but I don't know,
it's cheap enough to work a gamble.

You want $750, I was going to say $600.

Yeah, $700.

I won't muck about it.

$650.

My hands out, and I'm out of here.

I'm gone.

Gone then.

Yeah?

Super.

Hack yourself on the back, Michael.

An original Mark I Golf GTI for only $650.

I'm ecstatic.

But what does my hard-headed mechanic Ed
think?

I can remember at 17 years of age,
Ed, I always wanted a Mark I Golf GTI.

The original hot hatch.

And I thought I was damn lucky to go and
find this one, because on the face of it,

it's a nice, straight car.

It does look very nice, actually.

It looks okay.

It does have a butt coming.

There is a butt.

But it's good to see you've got a smile on
your face.

And you've got a great sense of humour in
you, Ed.

Come on, let's show you some of the little
twingly bits.

The first of which was the decal that's
missing down the side.

It should have a thin black stripe and
then a thick one at the bottom.

Oh, I see.

It's still here.

It's under the paint.

It's had a little bit of paint.

But it's had no filler, which is the good
news.

Also, they're non-original alloy wheels.

That's not so hard.

We can get a hold of those easily enough
at the breakage yard.

Good.

We'll wire it at the breakage yard,
round the back.

Yeah, the plastic piece is missing here on
the tailgate.

That's a bit of a pain, because they're
not easy to get hold of.

But it might be quicker to get a whole new
tailgate.

A whole new tailgate, just for a piece of
plastic.

It's going to be easier then, today.

Okay, so we need to get some adult wheels.

We need to get this bit from the breakage
yard.

Also, the red insert is missing from the
bumper.

That's a pain, too, isn't it?

Not quite so hard.

No.

It's mounting up, though.

I'm getting a bit worried about this.

I haven't got to the worst of it yet.

Walk round the front.

Yeah, that trip to the breakage yard.

We might need to take a van with us,
because we need to get a grill.

This isn't the original grill.

The original grill had a red trim round
it.

I would imagine some
beastie boy in the early 80s

ripped the badge off
to stick around his neck.

That's a grill.

Damage grill, and they replace it with
this off a DL or a GL.

Okay, so it's mounting up even more now,
isn't it?

It's getting a little bit silly.

There's just a couple more other little
things.

You need to sit inside for me to tell you.

All right.

Good news.

I mean, dry is fantastically.

The engine, 1.8 is pokey.

It sits nicely on the road.

The steering feels good.

Everything about it mechanically feels
good.

There are a couple of mechanical problems
that I'll get to in a minute.

The electrics on the dash are typical golf
shot.

They're always going.

They're always going.

So the dash has at some point got to come
out.

Nice.

And you've got to have a look behind it.

But it's a good job you're taking the dash
out.

Sorry, Ed, but the gearbox between first
and reverse gear, the synchro mesh is gone.

And that's a common problem on early
Volkswagen's.

So it needs to be stripped down and it
looks like it might have to be rebuilt,

which is good because
if you can get your hands

greasy, you can have
a look at the brakes.

They stick on.

The brakes stick on.

And that's important, you know, when I
come to sell it, the brakes need to work.

Nice to stop.

Yeah, be nice to stop the car.

But look at the... I know it's a lot of
work.

It's a huge amount of work.

But it's going to be worth it.

At the end of the day, we're going to end
up with a Mark 1 Golf GTI minted.

And it's going to fly away.

I'm going to get this car away so easy.

Do you have faith?

Well, listen, here's the keys.

Good luck with it.

I'll come down and see you at the
workshop.

I'll even make you a cup of tea because I
know you're going to be working hard.

I'll make lunch too, mate.

I might do.

I might stretch it out.

See you later, Ed.

Good luck.

See you later.

This VW was a good deal at £650.

Our total budget is £1,000.

So my mechanic, Ed, has
a healthy £350 for parts and

he's already got plenty of
ideas on where to spend it.

I found driving the Golf a particularly
entertaining experience.

Mainly because there's barely any response
from the brakes.

I've put it up on the ramp.

I'm going to see if I can pinpoint the
problem.

I'm just looking for any dampness around
the drum because that could mean that the

sl*ve cylinder is weeping which would
explain the dodgy brakes.

This one seems fine, so I'm now going to
look at the other three.

From what I can see here, there are no
leaky brake components which is not a good

news because it means the problem could be
under the bonnet.

Well, here are the main brake components.

You have the servo and, attached
to that, you have the master

cylinder and above that, you
have the brake fluid reservoir.

Now, because it's full of fluid,
that confirms there can't be any leaks

which makes me think the fault must be
with the seals in the master cylinder.

Before I can get at
the brakes, I've got to

take off the air inlet
and the expansion tank.

Here are the brake parts from the engine
bay.

We've got the servo, the master cylinder
and the reservoir.

Now, you can see from the condition of the
master cylinder that it's really rather

poor and my suspicion is that the seals
inside have degraded.

Now, basically, as the name suggests,
it is a cylinder, a tube, and inside is a

rod and some rubber seals which make up
pistons.

Now, when the rubber
seals degrade, they no longer

push fluid around which
means you lose your brakes.

So, I'm going to replace that part with
this nice brand new shiny one.

Okay, now it's time to fit the master
cylinder, a nice new shiny one.

And I'm hoping this is going to solve our
braking problem.

This is quite fiddly.

You need to align the master cylinder and
the servo.

Connect them together and then secure them
with some retaining nuts.

Now, I've fitted the master cylinder,
I need to bleed out all the air of the

system to make sure that it works to full
capacity.

I'm filling up the reservoir with brake
fluid before I lift the car up on the ramp

and I can loosen the bleed n*pples on each
wheel.

When you bleed the brakes, effectively
what you're doing is opening and closing a

valve and that valve takes the form of
this bleed nipple.

So, whatever system or method you use to
bleed your brakes, you're going to end up

with a clear tube, which makes a nice
airtight seal, and you open up the valve.

I'm using a specialist
tool which sucks the

fluid through the pipe
by creating a vacuum.

But you could just get someone to keep
pumping the brake pedal for you.

When you see the fluid
coming through, you can see

here that there are
bubbles in it, clear bubbles.

And brake fluid isn't compressible,
but air is, which is why your brakes

wouldn't work if there was air in the
system.

Once there are no bubbles
at all in the line, then you

can be pretty confident
that it's been bled properly.

One down and three to go.

But be careful.

Bleed n*pples have a habit of rusting on.

Don't be tempted to force
them with a spanner, as

they'll shear off and then
you'll be in big trouble.

Try a bit of spray-on releasing agent,
leave it a bit and then ease them off.

Once all four corners
have been bled, it's time to

top up the reservoir with
brake fluid one last time.

And now for the acid test.

Do the brakes actually work?

Obviously I could go for a drive, but before
I do anything there's one simple test.

If the pedal is hard as nails,
then we've got a result.

Fantastic.

Changing gear in this GTI leaves a lot to
be desired.

Now the gearbox itself is fine.

All the gears are in the right place and
they work well.

The problem comes when you try and select
either reverse or first.

I'm pretty sure that the
problem is with the linkage

which connects the
gear stick to the gearbox.

It's worn, which means that when you try
to select first you could just as easily

slip into third or
reverse, which is a nasty

problem if you're
sitting at the traffic lights.

Now I'm going to give you a guided tour of
the gear linkage.

Here is the underside of the stick that I
was playing with a second ago.

You can see from this linkage there's a
rod.

It goes all the way along here to another
sort of mechanism of the linkage here.

There's a couple of pins and some hinges
and stuff and that goes up into the engine

bay and then back along here, some more
linkages.

And then it attaches to the gearbox just
inside here.

Over the years there's lots of wear and
tear on all the bushes, hinges and joints.

So the safest thing to do is to strip out
and replace the whole lot.

It seems a bit daunting,
but if you tackle

the job methodically
then you should be okay.

That's the main part of the mechanism
removed.

There are two more
linkages I've got to take

off and then I can
start the refurbishment.

One is here and the other one is just up
inside here.

And here we have one of them.

And then we have the other one.

A worn gear linkage is a
common golf problem, but that's

good because a complete
repair kit is easily available.

Some parts can simply be replaced,
others need to be refurbished.

But before I can get on with that, there's
years of grease and grime to clean off.

I'm going to be reusing
these parts, but as you

can see, they're really
dirty and quite unpleasant.

So I'm going to give them a good clean.

And this is my parts washer, and I'm going
to use this because I've got it.

But if you haven't got one
at home, all you need is

some paraffin and probably
a toothbrush is a good start.

Can you see how shiny that is?

That is well worth cleaning.

It makes all the difference.

Now that the components are spic and span,
I can fit the new bushes.

These are little rubber
bungs that just stiffen up the

mechanisms and make the
gear change much more positive.

OK, now these joints are nice and stiff.

And there's no slack or
free play in there, which

should hopefully tighten
the whole thing up.

This job has taken me
about four hours so far,

and the refitting will
take me another two.

It's about making sure that you fit the
right parts in the right place.

If you're worried about doing
this job, then a good idea might

be to number the parts and
mark their position on a sketch.

Or even better, take
a digital picture, which

will jog your memory
if you get into trouble.

Now, there are a few more fiddly bits to
put on after this, but this is the main bit.

The main shaft is going back on the car.

On the edge, son.

I'm just doing up the bearing carrier onto
the bodywork of the car.

Just to hold it in place, not enough for
me to now put the rubber boot up this end.

Once the rubber boot
is fitted, the car can be

dropped to the ground and
the gear stick reconnected.

Just put the gear stick back in.

I'm going to put this pin to connect it to
the shaft, and then basically we're done.

If I could just take you back to my
traffic light scenario, I had no idea what

gear I was going to get when I went for
first.

So now, perfect,
straight into first, and if

I should need reverse,
very, very positive.

So fantastic.

Now I haven't got to be scared of traffic
lights.

Time to catch up with Ed and our pretty
little Mark I Golf GTI.

Now, that's the little car that I left him
with knacker brakes and a dodgy gearbox.

He should have sorted them
out by now, and he should

have had time to work
on those making electrics.

Let's see how he's getting on.

Ed!

How are you, fella?

Good to see you.

How have you been?

Been all right, actually.

I've been busy.

I'd like to say you've been
busy, but the car looks

remarkably similar is
when I left it with you.

I've got really dirty hands.

Grease under your fingernails,
which is a good sign.

So what have you done?

Well, I've been doing the brakes,
first of all.

Safety first.

I've done the master
cylinder on this one and bled

through the whole system,
so now it stops, which is nice.

Fantastic, because it didn't stop before.

It didn't.

It was pretty hopeless.

Anything else?

Well, the best bit is inside.

Well done, the gears.

At least the gears stick.

The gearbox, you've done that!

Fantastic, because it was all over the
place, wasn't it?

Yeah, the gearbox is much better.

Well done.

That's beautiful.

It goes in all the gears, and it's got a
positive reverse.

And no slipping into first.

Good.

What about the electrics?

Because the dash is very intermittent.

Sometimes the rev count works and the
speedo.

And the little computer thing there just
doesn't work at all.

I haven't actually
looked at it yet, but I'm

going to just change
the binnacle altogether.

Right, so you're just going to replace
that.

Completely.

The three little clocks down here.

Well, I haven't looked
at those either, but I think

they're going to have
to have a look at those.

It can't be that complicated.

Ed, tell me, you've got to pull your
finger out.

I bought you a present.

I don't want to give you it now.

You know what they are?

I reckon they're little vents for the
dashboard.

They are for the man who likes to remove
dashboards.

Fantastic.

Other than that, Ed, not bad.

It's all coming together.

Slowly.

But you know what really changes,
can't you?

It's the wheels, because, well,
these are the steel wheels for Mark II.

They're horrible, aren't they?

And I was thinking, you know the original
sort of Pirelli alloy?

You remember the ones with the P in them?

They're lovely.

They were great, weren't they?

They're so rare.

They are, but I'm going to
make it my personal mission to

trawl every single breakage
yard until I find a complete set.

Good luck, son.

So the GTI has got
some of its get up and go

back, but how much
has it cost us in parts?

We laid out £100 for
the gear linkage kit, and

the break parts were
a very reasonable £30.

So we've still got £220 left to spend.

That's it so far.

Join us next time when we'll
be putting the original bits

back on this GTI that will
hopefully make its value soar.

And we'll be getting the grips with its
dodgy electrics.

And you never know, we might end up with a
minter on our hands.

See you again soon for some more Wheel of
Dealers.