1990 VW Golf Mk2 Moda in need of loving care

[Dr.AK]

So, I stumbled upon a set of wheels today on ebay. ATS Cups - nothing special, right? Well, wrong! Since this is a rare staggered set. The fronts are the standard 7x15 ET20s, but the rears are the 8x15 ET18s. Those are quite rare. And since I love ATS Cups, I just had to have them.

[Dr.AK]

I had a few minutes today to poke around the Golf, so I did.

Had a look at an area that is typically rusty on these - the bracket that holds up the fuel filler neck thingie. Worst cases, it's so rotten that you have to cut out the wheel housing. But it seems very solid on mine. At first it looked like there was no rust at all, but after I cleaned up some more, I did find some. But it's not really anything major, I think. It feels very solid and while poking it with a screw driver, I didn't poke through, so... shouldn't be too bad to sort.

[Dr.AK]

Got this interior yesterday - for free, haha. Guy who rents the unit next to mine had this sitting around gathering dust. I gave it a quick vacuuming and it looks pretty decent but definitely needs a real cleaning. May or may not use this for the time being. I think these are out of a Golf Boston. I was also offered Golf Moda sports seats - so like the ones currently in the car, but with the GTI shape for added support. Those are veeeery rare, but they definitely need to be re-upholstered as the sides have big holes. I may pick them up and store them until the car is done and then get the Moda interior redone.

[kevvy_dawg]

Yes, I like where this is going

[Dr.AK]

Well, I hope I won't disappoint haha.

Slight news, just bought the first few parts for it...

A period correct headunit since it came with a butt ugly spaceship one... I scored a working Blaupunkt Freiburg SQR39 on ebay.



And also a matching Fischer Cassette box:




And I also ordered a few sets of these to replace the ugly clear headlights that came with the car. The extra sets are to play around with... maybe smoke a set and such

[Minuki]

I'm really looking forward to seeing how you get on with this one man. Having obviously seen what you've done with the Touring, I'm sure you'll do just fine haha.

[Dr.AK]

I'm just not a fan of diesels. I just don't like their sound. I much prefer the sound of a petrol engine!

[Jlyons617]

Why not a TDI?

[C2_mad]

cant wait to see what you do with it... get cracking

[Mehowski]

happy that I've caught this build at such an early stage

love a mk2, dont see too many of them on here

[Dr.AK]

I think the front window needs to come out. First order of business will be removing the interior to look at the floor for any hidden rust. But first I need to finish parting my E36 as I won't have enough room until that's gone...

Took some proper pictures today at least.









Also, I think I got my old man on board with the project. He's basically the one who got me into cars in the first place and has owned his fair share of Golfs back in the 80ies and 90ies, a few Mk1s and a Mk2 as well. His words: "Yeah, that looks decent, just needs to be cleaned up, lower, some nice and shiny wheels and a good engine!"

So... let's see where this goes. I'm really not sure what engine I want - 2.0 8v would be the cheapest and easiest solution, but also the most boring. A 2.0 16v would be a bit more interesting but also more expensive. A VR6 would sound great, but I'm not sure how I feel about the added weight. I might need to drive a VR swapped Mk2 to decide. Even though I've never been a big turbo fan I'm also entertaining thoughts of a 1.8t. Then again, a traditional 1.8 16v with Weber carbs would sound bloody awesome as well... the possibilites are big and I'm really not sure which direction to go!

[SanderZ]

Nope, that won't be enough because the paint is fuuuuuuuucked.

o damnnnnn

[Dr.AK]

Nope, that won't be enough because the paint is fuuuuuuuucked.

[SanderZ]

Clean it and polish it and it will be alot better, have fun!

[Dr.AK]

So, I had it on a friend's lift today.

Underbody looks surprisingly decent, better than I expected. Did some poking around with a screw driver in all the usual spots and didn't really find anything. Found a bit of rust around the front wishbone (?) mounts and above the drive axles, but that was it. Of course it could still look entirely different underneath the undercoating... And I still have to look under the arches and skirts, but from what I felt behind the arches, I'm not expecting anything major.