Finally, some love! I've been loving mine since I bought it new in 92 (8v GTI "parts clearance special"..even had drums on the rear). Article was great..but I do want to add one thing.
I can't believe I'm going to say this..but if you live in an area with high traffic density, avoid the big bumper cars. I personally love the look (and my own ride will keep it), but the body kits are getting extremely hard to find. Repros for the F & R bumper covers are available from Europe, but the wheel arch flares have largely dried up over the last three years. Mine's been off the road for a year because I hit a big piece of debris on the Interstate, and destroyed half of the plastic stuff on the nose. Two years previous, I had all the "big bumper" stuff up front replaced (sagging w/old age), used bumpers and side skirts were everywhere, and the 16v fender trim was available new (so that's what we used instead of the smaller 8v flares). By the time I had to do it again (only 2yrs., right?)..everything seemed to have dried up (at least locally-and everybody on Vortex either doesn't answer back, or doesn't want to ship).
And believe the magazine about the 8v..I can go out there after two weeks, reconnect the battery, and it fires right up. 240K, and all it's ever had is valve stem seals (which can be done from the top on an 8v..just add compressed air through the spark plug hole to keep the valves up). You can't get much power out of the 8v, but with regular maintenance, you can't kill one, either. What the magazine says about 2nd-gear synchros seems to be true..mine doesn't have that problem, but my "Trusted Allies" at the shop say that's probably because it's been enthusiast-owned since new. Others I've driven (usually the more plebian trim levels) have this problem. Volkswagens were still economy cars in the 1980s, and many were bought as budget grocery-getters by cilvilians.
I think everybody who's not just dead-set against getting into a wrong-wheel-drive car ought to drive one of these sweet little cars once. It's amazing what a great balance of perfomance, economy and reliability they are. Frankly, taken as a whole, it's the best berkeleying car I've ever owned, and the only reason it's not going to be my DD anymore is because of the bodykit supply problem.
I was actively searching for a "small bumper" car to make a DD out of before I got laid off. Now I'll just settle for the plastic crap, until I'm working again. Anybody got a RF GTI 16v fender trim laying around?
EDIT: pix.
Before:
After (crappy cel photo):
Yep, good article. When I first saw "GTI" I was expecting more ink for the MK1. They're just getting hard to find.
A pic in case someone wanted to see the original GTI...
fornetti14 wrote:
Yep, good article. When I first saw "GTI" I was expecting more ink for the MK1. They're just getting hard to find.
QFT. They used to be everywhere. And then kinda just vanished.
fornetti14 wrote:
A pic in case someone wanted to see the original GTI...
My first Drivers' School was in a A1. Not a GTI, but the rules allowed us to swap engines at the time.
I have a '91 16V 2.0 in the garage. It's been sitting for about 8 years. It needs the LR flare and the rocker panel cover for the driver's side. Not easy to find these days. Oh....and mine only has 57K miles on it !
I've always loved the 8v, Mk2 GTI. My Dad had an 86, and it was the car I really learned to drive in. That car spent a lot of time on 3 wheels!
I still dig the old VWs, and have been working on this one. Soon the floor will be welded, a 2.0 liter ABA installed, and lots more fun will be had! I'll have a web-page of the car up soon with updates
Ahhhh....
There is hope for my poor old 86 GTi 8v rust bucket after all.
Good story on these fun cars...
Mk2s have mostly disappeared around here. The hatchbacks have gone way up in price, and the jettas are going to the crusher by the hundreds without even ever making an appearance on craigslist or any other place I am aware of. They do drive well when in good shape, but they seem really cheaply made and and they are hard to keep running right, so most of them are not near what they should be though.
friedgreencorrado wrote:
Repros for the F & R bumper covers are available from Europe, but the wheel arch flares have largely dried up over the last three years. Mine's been off the road for a year because I hit a big piece of debris on the Interstate, and destroyed half of the plastic stuff on the nose.
I was actively searching for a "small bumper" car to make a DD out of before I got laid off. Now I'll just settle for the plastic crap, until I'm working again. Anybody got a RF GTI 16v fender trim laying around?
Do you have the part numbers for the parts you need? Supposedly pretty much all of the parts are still available from VW in germany if you know who to ask, if its just a few things I know someone who could check for you.
fifty
Reader
6/24/11 8:30 p.m.
Just worked on my Mk2 today: ABA with a WRX turbo, Peloquin LSD and the entire Ground Control catalog! Hope to have it back on the road within the month.
I owned a '91 2l 16v GTI for 7 years. It was a fun car. The article didn't mention the pop rivets on the ring gear problem and had a few other inaccuracies.
I expected a larger article honestly.
I was thinking about getting another one... Thanks for making me think more. Already have an AEG block and 9a pistons for a cheap race motor build... If anyone has a cheap nice mk2 pm me lol
Travis_K wrote:
Do you have the part numbers for the parts you need? Supposedly pretty much all of the parts are still available from VW in germany if you know who to ask, if its just a few things I know someone who could check for you.
I don't have the part numbers..but after your offer..I will certainly search for them!!
Paul_VR6 wrote:
I was thinking about getting another one... Thanks for making me think more. Already have an AEG block and 9a pistons for a cheap race motor build... If anyone has a cheap nice mk2 pm me lol
Paul, that's half the problem..seems like even though these cars were so popular in the rest of the world..the pack of Americans that bought them were either up in New England (where they've all rusted out) or in Cali (where nobody will sell a good one). When I was using mine as a DD, I had three guys (car guys, not "civilians") a week ask me if I wanted to sell it. Not too many "clean Southern cars" for the A2. Still kicking m'self for not picking up that little red Jetta coupe on Atlanta craigslist that was posted up here last year.
I had a 91 8v gti that i really loved but i couldn't afford to keep it on the road so i started driving BMWs instead.
2002maniac wrote:
I had a 91 8v gti that i really loved but i couldn't afford to keep it on the road so i started driving BMWs instead.
ROFL! I was actually a BMW guy in 1992. Lost my grey market 6-cyl E21 to a crash in the rain (somebody hit me), lost my E3 to rust, and was driving a worn-out square tail 02 with a tii head and twin Weber sidedrafts. I was planning on restoring it, but then the baby came along. Kept riding the poor thing, instead of doing the restoration. One day..dropped a valve seat on the way to daycare. Ooh.
Had a fight with the (then) wife..I'd found a pretty good E34 (this was 1992, they weren't "old cars" then), but she didn't want to hear about "used cars". I was actually the guy that finally got her out of her Fords (she had one of those US market Escort EXPs when we met), and into a Honda. Shocked her that I wanted to go to the VW dealer instead of the Honda place. Hell, I was pissed off enough that I had to buy "new"..she wasn't gonna get me out of a German car, even if it was "wrong wheel drive". Window sticker said $13K (92 8v GTI), talked it down to 10. Hated, hated, HATED buying new. But at least I got an A2 out of it. Like I said..overall, best car I've ever owned.
Apologies to everyone..I've been drinkin' a lil bit..
Just can't help myself. The article mentions the advent of the 16v engine to get back into the HP wars back when they were new cars..and here's the commercial for it. It's actually a redux of the original US market GTI commercial for the A1 that had only appeared three years previously. Yeah, it's Kleiner GTI, Pt.2. Sue me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g--5pFF6BpQ
Yeah not too many clean&cheap ones! I passed up on a non runner 2dr sm bumper golf a few wks ago. Just had no time to get it. Kicking myself over that one.
fifty
Reader
6/25/11 8:14 a.m.
Check ebay and www.autopartswarehouse.com (not a spam post, BTW) for the fender flares - they are pretty cheap, although for some reason the front passenger side flare is difficult to find.
Left hand turns and understeer makes sense of that.
fifty wrote:
Check ebay and www.autopartswarehouse.com (not a spam post, BTW) for the fender flares - they are pretty cheap, although for some reason the front passenger side flare is difficult to find.
ROFL! That's the one I'm missing! Thanks for the link, tho..I'll keep my eyes open. Crazy thing..the A2 seems so much lighter than the Corrados that when I drive it, it feels like a kart.
Made a little progress..the shop had a used pair of foglights laying around on a bench. $15 bux for the pair.
EDIT: If I've neglected to say so in the past..anyone with Bootsy as an avatar absolutely rocks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIHrdLwa_y8
I found a place with the part you wanted in stock.for about $125. I tried to e-mail you the information but it was rejected.