thebaron
Europe
Over the river, heading out of town
Posts: 1,645 
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So anyone ready for an update? I really should go back and fix the broken photos at some point... Absolutely - c'mon then  |
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1983 VW Mk1 Golf GTI Campaign DarrenW
@darrenw
Club Retro Rides Member 74
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So the thing has been in storage since 2011. This changed in August last year when it had to be moved as the storage was no longer available... This is how it looked:  The first time it had been outside for 7 years...  A bit dusty in there...   |
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1983 VW Mk1 Golf GTI Campaign DarrenW
@darrenw
Club Retro Rides Member 74
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It went in to temporary shelter whilst a plan was formed. Without going in to too much detail, I have some incredible friends and I don't know why I deserve them. But in February a man with a trailer came:  and it went for a ride:  And it ended up in good company and excellent hands here:  That's CrazyQuiffs. Very well known Mk1 Golf expert and restorer, general all round magician with the things. Their website: golfmk1.co.uk/ |
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1983 VW Mk1 Golf GTI Campaign DarrenW
@darrenw
Club Retro Rides Member 74
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Their brief was to recomission the old thing and get it back on the road. Work started by digging in to what lurked underneath...  I wonder what lurks under there...   |
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1983 VW Mk1 Golf GTI Campaign DarrenW
@darrenw
Club Retro Rides Member 74
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They don't half work fast at CQ, and so just under two weeks ago it went for MOT!  You may have spotted that it's no longer a valver... That's a period correct, fully rebuilt 1.8 DX motor. |
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1983 VW Mk1 Golf GTI Campaign DarrenW
@darrenw
Club Retro Rides Member 74
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The P-Slots were a bit of a mess, I hate seeing weights hammered in to the front edge of alloys. They'd corroded a bit and so I stripped them right back, filled/sanded/primed and painted the correct VW silver shade. The black inners to the Ps took HOURS to paint by hand.    New Pirelli tyres (as if I'd put anything else on Pirelli wheels) to finish. |
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1983 VW Mk1 Golf GTI Campaign DarrenW
@darrenw
Club Retro Rides Member 74
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It was picked up and handed over on 22nd March, I couldn't be there but I had a good look around it via a video call. Excited to say the least... There's a lot to do but the car is mint underneath and solid in all the right places now.  |
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Last Edit: Apr 1, 2019 19:27:53 GMT by DarrenW
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1983 VW Mk1 Golf GTI Campaign DarrenW
@darrenw
Club Retro Rides Member 74
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I didn't get to drive it until last Friday. The car is essentially in shared ownership now so it had already racked up a couple of hundred miles, I couldn't wait. Taken part way through my first drive. You can't see how big the grin is on my face. Believe me, I haven't grinned like that for a very long time..  |
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Last Edit: Apr 1, 2019 18:54:26 GMT by DarrenW
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1983 VW Mk1 Golf GTI Campaign DarrenW
@darrenw
Club Retro Rides Member 74
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Saturday just gone was a big day, the first proper trip out for the car. We'd bagged a spot in the London Cartel cruise ages ago, but we weren't sure if the car would be ready in time. It was, of course, so time to get cleaning...  looks ready enough...  Last time it was on the road the whole social media thing didn't really exist. It's all different now, so the essential sticker applied:  Give a follow if you're on Instagram! |
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1983 VW Mk1 Golf GTI Campaign DarrenW
@darrenw
Club Retro Rides Member 74
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The London Cartel guys - londoncartel.org - put on a fantastic event. Everyone meets up at about 6:30 in Battersea and then the next location is announced and everyone cruises off through London, parks up and chats, until the following meeting location is revealed. It was brilliant. Parked up in Battersea:  Exhibition Road:  |
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Last Edit: Apr 1, 2019 19:21:09 GMT by DarrenW
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1983 VW Mk1 Golf GTI Campaign DarrenW
@darrenw
Club Retro Rides Member 74
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I don't have many photos as I was taking lots of video footage which I'll get around to editing together some time soon.  Wellington Arch. I think there was probably 25 or so Mk1s and a good hundred+ Mk2s. It was great fun driving around central London in the early hours of the morning. We got loads of thumbs up from lads in AMG Mercs near Harrod's, lots of glances and smiles. Really good to see the supposedly self-absorbed people of London giving their approval. |
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1983 VW Mk1 Golf GTI Campaign DarrenW
@darrenw
Club Retro Rides Member 74
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The traffic light sculpture by Billingsgate Fish Market.  There's a tunnel just around the corner. I'm sure you can imagine what happened next... I must get the video edited ASAP! The car didn't miss a beat all night, sat stuck in London traffic for hours on end. Fantastic. Fuelling up on the way home at nearly 5am, it was a long but memorable night:  More soon...! |
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Last Edit: Apr 1, 2019 19:23:50 GMT by DarrenW
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pOG
Posted a lot
SHATNER'S BASSOON
Posts: 1,339
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Fantastic to see this back in action!  |
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1983 VW Mk1 Golf GTI Campaign DarrenW
@darrenw
Club Retro Rides Member 74
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A short video clip of us driving through London. The red one in front is R32 powered, owned by a lovely fella. Not sure what's in the black one but it was definitely turbocharged...
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1983 VW Mk1 Golf GTI Campaign DarrenW
@darrenw
Club Retro Rides Member 74
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Fantastic to see this back in action! Thanks! It's quite surreal really, the memories are flooding back from when it was my daily driver. Such a long time ago, but behind the wheel it feels like no time at all... |
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thebaron
Europe
Over the river, heading out of town
Posts: 1,645
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Brilliant!!
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