JaymzHatstand's Blog

Nice work J. Would also look good seriously slammed with an unhealthy dose of rust for the 'rat look' thats in vogue at the moment.

The tail lights are wrong for that registration year. The Mk.1 Golfs had bigger tail light clusters introduced in about 1981 (late "W" plate) up to the end of production in 1983.

 

Bumpers are also wrong - they had changed to the bigger one-piece moulded wraparounds by that time, and both front and rear bumpers should extend up to the wheelarches.

 

There should also be a twin-headlight grille setup if the thing is trying to be a GTi - it was a popular mod at the time. It should have a red pinstripe around the perimeter. There was a fashion for fans of the Beastie Boys band to nick the "VW" roundel badges, so you could legitimately leave a hole in the centre of the front grille.

 

Don't forget the strip running across the top of the front windscreen! Stereo aerial mounted on the left (nearside) wing, near to the A-pillar. And for the real detail freaks, a sticker marked "Supersprint" or "Kamei" on the rear exhaust box

Hiya

 

It's well worth painting the tops of the bumpers black as well as the inner edges of the windows. Also get rid of the monster truck tyres. I used spare hose from a fish tank on mine

 

 

Hth

 

Jim

Cheers for that,

 

halfwit - It will be getting a bit of dirt, and a light wash of thinned black to stop it looking so 'shed-fresh'!

 

Horsetan - There's a good few suggestions in there, as well as what looks like some proper genuine Golfers knowledge! I had thought about going for the double headlights, but wasnt too sure about how, I'll have a think! And the windscreen strip was forgotten before I'd put it all back together, but it will be going in, as will a radio aerial (missed off thus far as I couldn't be bothered to go upstairs and get some suitable material (lazy? nah, I was comfy!)

 

jim - Thats a very tidy little upgrade, proper low profiles! I'll have to have a look for something suitable as the big fat tyres do look a bit big! Nice bit of street it's on too!

 

Thanks again

 

J

 

 

....Horsetan - There's a good few suggestions in there, as well as what looks like some proper genuine Golfers knowledge! I had thought about going for the double headlights, but wasnt too sure about how, I'll have a think! And the windscreen strip was forgotten before I'd put it all back together, but it will be going in, as will a radio aerial (missed off thus far as I couldn't be bothered to go upstairs and get some suitable material (lazy? nah, I was comfy!)...

 

My parents had a 1979 Golf, on a "T"-plate - the first production year to get the one-piece wraparound bumpers. That gave way to its saloon sister, the Jetta.

 

Early GTis came with slightly wider steel wheels, not alloys, with an identical slotted appearance to the lesser Golfs. I think they were 5.5 or 6Jx13, as opposed to the normal 5Jx13. I can't remember what tyre size that would equate to, but at a guess it would probably be 165 or 175/55 R13. Don't forget that the run-out Golf "Driver" edition cars (which had most of the GTi's cosmetics, but only had a 75PS - as opposed to a 115PS - 1588cc engine) sold reasonably well to the "wannabes" of that period.

 

Later Mk.1 GTis (last year or so of production) could be specified with Pirelli "P"-type alloys, which were also used on the Mk.2s.

 

It's only since the mid-90s that huge diameter alloys and low-profile tyres (generally 40 or 45 aspect ratio) have become really popular for modders.

 

The twin-headlight setup is quite subtle, as the inner high beams are a smaller diameter than the outer low beams.

 

I've just noticed that the rear windscreen could also be edged with a black border.

 

You could, if you really wanted to have a go, try to replicate the tiny white/silver Playboy bunny symbol which some owners would put next to the rear numberplate.

 

Some owners have installed the later 16v engine from the Mk.2, whilst others have gone even further (!), but the Mk.1 Golf GTi reminds people that you didn't need to have massive amounts of PS/HP to have a genuinely fun car to drive, and which was easy to service. It started the hot-hatch market in much the same way that the Mazda MX-5 / Miata would resurrect the two-seater roadster sector ten years later.

A second vote for slamming it!

 

My '89 golf was lowered by it's previous owner and the dual headlamp grill fitted as an "upgrade" I just need to get the thing on the road for summer...