The Original Hot Hatch

[Dieseldave]

This story started 15 years ago when my brother and myself rallied a 1600 Mk1 Golf.

It was at our local event in 98 when a guy turned up with a beautiful very well sorted
VW Rabbit (what the Mk1 Golf was called in America) We spoke to the driver who was
an Irish man living in the US, we drooled over the car for a wile and we never seen it again.

Here is the only pic I could find of the car back in the day. This is an event in the US
(Note the rabbit had square headlights among other different parts)



It often came up in conversation in our house about the car
"Do ya remember that American yoke" "Jesus, yeah, that was some car"
"I wonder what ever happened to it" and so on.

So After 15 years of wondering, I started making calls, I put an add on a classifieds website
and I started to get Tip offs as to its whereabouts and after a few day I had it tracked
down to within 70 mile of my door.

The owner told me over the phone that he had seized the bottom end on an
event 10 years ago and it never moved since. He also said the shell was rotten beyond repair
but I didn't care, I just wanted the car because I know what lay beneath.

That weekend and after 15 year's I saw the car for the second time and I almost cried
It was in a very sorry state, it had been converted to RHD by blind monkeys, it was left to
rot in a field but it was going to be mine

[mattrallye]

Very nice Dave! Mk1 1600 was the first car I ever rallied! Very fond memories!

[LukeS1Stoke]

Nice one, great story too. Is this your next project then Dave?

[Dieseldave]

Current Project, I took a break from the 106 when I couldn't get it to start.

After stripping the car The full spec turned out to be.

Audi 80 2.0 short block
Lightened and balanced bottom end
ARP Nut and Stud conversion
mk2 16v head with serious porting and polishing
Kent 1603 rally cams
Twin 45 Dellorto carbs with match ported manifold
Mild steel 4 branch

VW Motorsport close ratio big tooth gearbox (mega mega rare.)
VW motorsport 4.2 Final drive
Quaiffe Diff
VW Motorsport solid drive shafts.

Wilwood pedal box
Wilwood 4 pot, 280mm front brakes
Mk2 16v rear disc conversion with Wilwood 2 pots

Bilstein coilovers
Solid top mounts
Front and rear adjustable anti roll bars

The crank in the car had some pick up on No.3 journal
and one of the rods was slightly bent so I used another
bottom end I had from an Audi coupe, got the head looked
over and fitted new oil seals and I sent the carbs off for a service.

I also stripped the box for a look over. All good bar a slightly damaged
dog ring on 2nd but there was no chance of getting a replacement so I
used it again.









And then I had to source a donor car. I didn't want a rusty project that needed a full restoration so after a
short search I found a very original and very solid 1980 1.3 Driver. The Golf Driver was like the 106 Quicksilver
in that it was a poor mans Gti. It had the wheel arches, GTI stripes, rev counter, different interior and a few more
bits that were cool 30 years ago.

I had more pics but my camera decided to pack up.








I ripped the engine out and inspected the bay for rust. The top of the scuttle/rain tray was rotten so I cut
the whole lot out and binned it. The battery tray was rotten so I cut it out and binned it and the usual
mk1 rot where the clutch cable pulls through the bulkhead had been badly patched so I replaced it with
fresh metal.











The mk1 is noted for its bad brakes due to a brake linkage between the pedal and servo similar to the 106
but much much worse. The main rod does not run through a tube like the 106 so the 8mm bar just flexes
under braking.

I decided to try something I never seen before and with the scuttle out of the way and a bit of modding
to the chassis leg I was able to fit a MK2 16v servo direct to the pedal.



I had to mod the pedal box to mount the servo to so I fitted some EPS at the same time







Washers tacked on to run the loom outside for a clean bay.

And sitting awaiting the sandblaster.

[mattrallye]

Nice stuff Dave! Really jelous! The one I rallied was exactly the same blue as the one above. What's your plans for it?

[Dieseldave]

Its just going to be a road car for chasing Honda's Matt.

Any pics or info on your old one. What year, Short or long back lights?

This was the stage my camera shit itself. I was on X Mass holidays and I just ploughed on
with it to get it done.

I painted the bay, detailed the engine and box. Zinc plated and powder coated everything and
fucked it together.

Along with the above spec it now has a Supersprint Stainless 4-2-1, Supersprint 2.5" System
Corsa rad with 12"slimline, new oil cooler, Quaiffe quick rack and a home made airbox.

Blue hoses and stainless fuel line now replaced with black











New red carpets and underlay



106 rallye seatbelts took very little mods to fit. I used a Civic mount here as the Golf setup is different



And the Re-trimmed Recaros

[Harv]

Bloody hell Dave, immense! Love Mk.1 Golfs, especially with a bit of poke behind them.

Quoted for posterity:

Originally Posted by Dieseldave

I painted the bay, detailed the engine and box. Zinc plated and powder coated everything and
fucked it together.

[mattrallye]

Amazing Dave! Heres a really old pic!

It was a 1600, such a fantastic engine, proper screamer! Billies all round and full cage, otherwise road rally spec.

[indigorallye]

Just thought I'd let you all know that I've bought an absolute shit snotter of a car. But in the time it takes you to read this I will have stripped it, cleaned it, modified it, improved it, and generally made you all want one the same.
Love always, Dave.

/\ - how I feel!
Keep them coming!

(ETA- 'shit snotter' refers to condition, not make/ model/ etc!)

[LukeS1Stoke]

Wicked stuff Dave bet it sounds awesome and goes like stink.
Ive had a couple 8v Gti mk2s in the past and my current daily is a mk2 GTD, bought it for £500 after leaving a note on it, it was covered i moss on a drive lol. Got love for the retro VWs!

[Dieseldave]

Originally Posted by mattrallye

It was a 1600, such a fantastic engine, proper screamer! Billies all round and full cage, otherwise road rally spec.

Looks well Matt, What's the chances it would be that colour too as its a non factory colour

Originally Posted by LukeS1Stoke

Wicked stuff Dave bet it sounds awesome and goes like stink.
Ive had a couple 8v Gti mk2s in the past and my current daily is a mk2 GTD, bought it for £500 after leaving a note on it, it was covered i moss on a drive lol. Got love for the retro VWs!

I didn't have it on the road yet but it was some tool to go back in the day. Hard to beat a good Mk2 for an all rounder. Still kinda modern but old skool retro too.

Mike, that's the funniest shit I ever read. There aint much I cant do with a VW to be fair,
most of the dubs I built have been show winners both here and in the UK.

A few more pics. I powder coated everything underneath, wishbones, hubs, rear beam, ARB's and Fuel tank.

[Cris B]

Ha ha, bit of triggers broom this one. Massive respect once again Dave.

Huge love for these. My dad's best friend had one when they were new out. I remember being taken out in it when I was about 5 years old.

I almost bought a British Racing Green Mk1 GTI, but couldn't quite raise the funds, so I bought my first Rallye.

Then I just missed out on a Mk1 race car just before I bought the second s2 Rallye. I was driving down with the money when I had a call to say he'd sold it to someone else. Gutted.

This is looking great, especially like the seats. Shame Peugeot don't still make the fabric used for the Rallye seats.

[mattrallye]

Very true Dave. Funny thing was towards the end of the season there was another mk1 competing in the same colour again! Lol if I still had it I think I would have dropped the same time of engine as yours in, just looks so perfect and seats nice and low. Unfortunately the 1600 didn't see us out for the whole season, we had to swap it for another. Problem was we couldn't get hold of a replacement 1600 so dropped the 1800 in, the car was never the same with the 1800, certantly didn't feel as quick!

We ended up changing it for a mk2 16v in the end, road rallying really took it'd toll on the mk1.

[Gus]

Lovely. Nice job with the seats.

[Wayne D]

I cant believe I missed this thread, any more updates on this car? Awesome find and very impressive work as usual.

[Dieseldave]

Roof Change.

[Dieseldave]

[Dieseldave]

Rear panel changed for earlier short light version











Rusty filler cap area replaced









I cant seem to find finished pics of either of those 2 jobs just yet

Rusty Scuttle replaced.Only available in LHD so I redrilled the holes and flattened out the humps
for LHD wipers. These 2 humps are still part of the RHD version but I wanted to make it flat.

[Dieseldave]

From day one I knew the car had a serious amount of paint on it. The sharp lines that make a
MK1 so perfect were big curves on this car, It just didnt have a nice shape to it.

I wasnt expecting to count 14 layers of paint though

It took weeks and weeks to get it to bare metal.













Ready for the body shop.

[Dieseldave]

In the shop tidying up some of my work and some previous repairs































Reworking the scuttle to fit the screen correctly.

[Dieseldave]

[Dieseldave]

[Dieseldave]

[Dieseldave]

[Dieseldave]

[infamous aidy]

never been a big fan of these but fair play mate. suprised you ever get chance to go to work with all these projects on the go!

[Rado-Steve]

Originally Posted by infamous aidy

never been a big fan of these but fair play mate. suprised you ever get chance to go to work with all these projects on the go!

How can you not be a fan of a Mk1 Golf...They are Iconic!

Thats is going to be an absolute stunner, I guess the original Shell was too far gone to save?

TBF the donor car looked pretty Rotten too! Glad its going to live another day!

[Cris B]

I thought for a minute there Dave, that you'd bought a paint booth. GTI looking fresh!

[infamous aidy]

Originally Posted by Rado-Steve

How can you not be a fan of a Mk1 Golf...They are Iconic!

never been into volkswagens full stop mate.

god knows how i ended up working for vw lol

[Dieseldave]

I better try wrap this one up.

Loads of genuine bits from classic parts.









Stack tacho in place of original speedo and audi Key modded to fit.





New carpets, Rallye belts, retrimmed RS turbo Recaros







Clutch reservoir behind speaker grill in middle of dash



POT for Corsa EPS built into tuning knob for old ratio



Rims from a Rallye Golf.



Pop out rear windows











Strut tank/header brace

[indigorallye]

Fantastic.

[Wayne D]

Awesome work and detail as always Dave.
I may be over your direction in the new year with work, I'll message you before hand and maybe try and meet up for a chat if your free.

[Dieseldave]

Sounds like a plan.