mhrallye

hi - when you changed the thermostat did you also change the housing it fits in to? from my memory i think the centre pin from the thermostat pushes into a cross piece in the centre of the pipe - trouble is through time it pushes completely through - this might cause the wierdness with the temperatures. worth a look - think it might be a good idea to change the whole coolant housing on the end of the cylinder head.
Also the water pump - i noticed  you said you hadn't changed it at timing belt time - at our branch (i work for vw) when we used to see a lot of these we always did the water pump - in fact we would refuse to do a belt job because you could bet the pump would fail within a matter of weeks...don't think they liked getting disturbed! hope this helps!

that mk1 golf - brilliant!  i would love to get that road legal and drive with it as-is - apart from the plastic wheeltrim its perfect!
Also just noticed it's a very rare "GX" run out model - shame someone in the 80's has added a plastic sunroof but it kind of suits the car....
Just noticed it's just along the road from me in edinburgh and currently only at £160.....must not bid,must not bid,must not bid!!

Ok here is the story - I currently have my trusty mk2 golf gti which I am using as my daily but I have been given back my old 1990 audi 80 td from a friend who was using it for the last couple of years so the plan is/was to start using the audi as my winter "hack" and keep the golf off the road during the winter.
Unfortunately it has hit a snag via insurance - I am insured on the golf with the AA so thought i would see what they could do for me with an additional policy for the audi - there were a few problems which surfaced when I called them...
 
1. they only do fully comprehensive policies - i only really need TPFT as the car is not really worth much.
 
2. most of the insurance companies they deal with point blank refused to cover it (age of car).
 
3.for some reason even though i have about 19 years NCB with them they said they couldn't use this with the other policy hence I would have zero NCB.
 
So the quote the gave me....£1592!
 
Bearing in mind i'm a 45 year old married home owner with a clean licence i was more than a little shocked with this - even the guy on the phone was surprised - even to the point of recommending i try some on line go compare type sites!
 
Anyway what do some of you guys do with your cars? classic policy? cheapest one on gocompare?
 
And just because a thread is nothing without pics here's the cars in question.

 

I don't normally bother with eBay useless descriptions of cars but that one for the purple mk1 golf really boils my piss - advertised as a "campaign" model which it maybe was - once - but as it stands all the features the campaign had are missing! pirelli wheels, leather steering wheel, twin fog lamp grille, etc.
Obv as a mk1 golf it will still go for huge coin to someone who dreams of the car it once was - good luck finding all the bits to resurrect it!

There is a kit available from vw to fix this very thing - if I remember correctly it was about £20 per side - comes with a new paddle, spring and ring - means you can still use your existing key as well - a bit fiddly to fit (having three hands to do it is a help!) but it's dooable with a vice to hold the handle/key - used to sell loads of these about 10 years ago (god I feel old now!)

Re: that Golf Rallye - I had one of these for over five years - sold it in late 2005 - good fun (once you got used to LHD!) but not really that quick - only got £4000 when I sold it to a guy from wales - saw it up for sale a year later £7500! Here's mine...

Re: that Golf Rallye - I had one of these for over five years - sold it in late 2005 - good fun (once you got used to LHD!) but not really that quick - only got £4000 when I sold it to a guy from wales - saw it up for sale a year later £7500! Here's mine...

Re: that Golf Rallye - I had one of these for over five years - sold it in late 2005 - good fun (once you got used to LHD!) but not really that quick - only got £4000 when I sold it to a guy from wales - saw it up for sale a year later £7500! Here's mine...

Re: that Golf Rallye - I had one of these for over five years - sold it in late 2005 - good fun (once you got used to LHD!) but not really that quick - only got £4000 when I sold it to a guy from wales - saw it up for sale a year later £7500! Here's mine...

Re: that Golf Rallye - I had one of these for over five years - sold it in late 2005 - good fun (once you got used to LHD!) but not really that quick - only got £4000 when I sold it to a guy from wales - saw it up for sale a year later £7500! Here's mine...

Update time - Well I finally heard back from the insurance about how much it would cost to buy back the jetta - £1433! plus they stated to re-insure it would require an engineers report IF i managed to repair it and get it back ready for the road - needless to say i'm out....it's a shame that things had to end this way for it but anybody interested should keep an eye out on the copart website as i'm sure that it will appear on there one day.....still a good car mechanically and with a bit of repairing would be a decent example again.
The only good thing to come out of this(if losing a car is a good thing!) is that I am now the proud owner of a nice mk2 golf gti!

 
Finally got the keys and paperwork today - it's like a new car inside and out - going to wait till friday to tax it and bring it to its new home...
And a mere 36319miles on the clock - it's a nice place to sit - brings back a lot of memories of my previous mk2's....
And of course there is the "bonus" scirocco - now with a years mot!

Needs minor fettling to get it to a standard I will be happy with but otherwise it's good to go - shame I can't keep this as well but space (and money) means it will have to go.....pity!
In other news the Arnold Clark takeover is in full swing - tomorrow is effectively the last day of my dealership - seem such a shame that it has been built up from scratch by basically two guys to becoming a highly successful operation until the last year or two when the current owner couldn't compete with the larger operators - the way of the world I suppose.....

Well to be honest it does seem like a lot for a smashed 33 year old car - I was expecting nearer £500 but to be perfectly honest it would be a lot of work to bring the jetta back from the dead anyway - lack of time and money would have eventually have seen it broken for spares and I would have hated to do that myself seeing all my work over the years trying to make it a good example gone to pot - hopefully someone out there will snap it up and either restore it to it's former glory or break it to keep other old cars on the road - a shame either way!
As for the gti that will become my new "daily" despite some people I know saying I should just park it up in a garage and not use it I plan to make the most of it - YOLO!

Well to be honest it does seem like a lot for a smashed 33 year old car - I was expecting nearer £500 but to be perfectly honest it would be a lot of work to bring the jetta back from the dead anyway - lack of time and money would have eventually have seen it broken for spares and I would have hated to do that myself seeing all my work over the years trying to make it a good example gone to pot - hopefully someone out there will snap it up and either restore it to it's former glory or break it to keep other old cars on the road - a shame either way!
As for the gti that will become my new "daily" despite some people I know saying I should just park it up in a garage and not use it I plan to make the most of it - YOLO!

Update time - Well I finally heard back from the insurance about how much it would cost to buy back the jetta - £1433! plus they stated to re-insure it would require an engineers report IF i managed to repair it and get it back ready for the road - needless to say i'm out....it's a shame that things had to end this way for it but anybody interested should keep an eye out on the copart website as i'm sure that it will appear on there one day.....still a good car mechanically and with a bit of repairing would be a decent example again.
The only good thing to come out of this(if losing a car is a good thing!) is that I am now the proud owner of a nice mk2 golf gti!

 
Finally got the keys and paperwork today - it's like a new car inside and out - going to wait till friday to tax it and bring it to its new home...
And a mere 36319miles on the clock - it's a nice place to sit - brings back a lot of memories of my previous mk2's....
And of course there is the "bonus" scirocco - now with a years mot!

Needs minor fettling to get it to a standard I will be happy with but otherwise it's good to go - shame I can't keep this as well but space (and money) means it will have to go.....pity!
In other news the Arnold Clark takeover is in full swing - tomorrow is effectively the last day of my dealership - seem such a shame that it has been built up from scratch by basically two guys to becoming a highly successful operation until the last year or two when the current owner couldn't compete with the larger operators - the way of the world I suppose.....

Well I still have to wait for the other parties insurer to agree that this is ok - probably why zenith, my insurer uses an independent engineer to get valuations - leaves no leeway for the other company to argue!
Like you've said £3500 is not too bad - obviously it doesn't get my car back but I could still negotiate it's return (and possible breakage) to get some more out of it plus if/when I get some compensation for other items (doctor/dentist) plus loss of use then this should help - which brings me to the scirocco, today I was offered it as part of a "package deal" with this:-

 
a very late mk2 GTI with a mere 36000 on the clock!
Needless to say the car is mint and is therefore worth a few quid - I wont tell you the price I've been told but its a fair amount - the scirroco would come as part of this which I would probably sell to recoup some cash on the golf - always wanted one since having a few before - too good to pass up?

Another update - Heard from the independent motor engineers yesterday afternoon - they've been and inspected the car and valued it at.....wait for it.....£3500! The guy was really impressed with it's overall condition and remarked of the valuation that these cars have shot up in value over the last couple of years - he also said if my drivers seat backrest hadn't been as worn (I was working on making a replacement seat cover just never got round to it!) the car would have been worth nearer £4000.
Obviously this wont get my car back fixed but I am fairly happy with the amount - really thought that they would say £500!
The next step apparently is for them to sent the valuation to my insurers (zenith) who will pass it on to the other insurance co - who hopefully will cough up.
I will probably hear from them at some point shortly but as I would still like the car back (sort off) as I think the car could be saved - just need to see what happens....

Well i've just replied to his e-mail - just need to wait and see what his/their reply is - I'll keep you all in the loop - plenty good ideas are being banded about here so far - In other news I decided to stop moping around and try and get my old car mojo back by get this going....1983 scirocco 1.6......wait for it.....automatic!
Actually belongs to my work and originally was going into the showroom as a display car three years ago but due to VW being arseholes (as usual) the car has sat outdoors for most of that time - I decided recently to get it sorted out as it originally ran like a bag of spanners with missing vacuum hoses, a poorly set up peirburg carb and worst off all the fuel lines literally hanging off the carb! anyway after a bit of fettling (and fannying about with a stuck cut-off valve the car runs well - needs a good service and brake recommissioning though - apparently our brand manager is putting it up for sale so if anyone is interested in it i'll let you know when.
Looks ok after pressure washing the mould and muck off....before..

and after.

Update time - Well I finally heard back from the insurance about how much it would cost to buy back the jetta - £1433! plus they stated to re-insure it would require an engineers report IF i managed to repair it and get it back ready for the road - needless to say i'm out....it's a shame that things had to end this way for it but anybody interested should keep an eye out on the copart website as i'm sure that it will appear on there one day.....still a good car mechanically and with a bit of repairing would be a decent example again.
The only good thing to come out of this(if losing a car is a good thing!) is that I am now the proud owner of a nice mk2 golf gti!

 
Finally got the keys and paperwork today - it's like a new car inside and out - going to wait till friday to tax it and bring it to its new home...
And a mere 36319miles on the clock - it's a nice place to sit - brings back a lot of memories of my previous mk2's....
And of course there is the "bonus" scirocco - now with a years mot!

Needs minor fettling to get it to a standard I will be happy with but otherwise it's good to go - shame I can't keep this as well but space (and money) means it will have to go.....pity!
In other news the Arnold Clark takeover is in full swing - tomorrow is effectively the last day of my dealership - seem such a shame that it has been built up from scratch by basically two guys to becoming a highly successful operation until the last year or two when the current owner couldn't compete with the larger operators - the way of the world I suppose.....

Update time - Well I finally heard back from the insurance about how much it would cost to buy back the jetta - £1433! plus they stated to re-insure it would require an engineers report IF i managed to repair it and get it back ready for the road - needless to say i'm out....it's a shame that things had to end this way for it but anybody interested should keep an eye out on the copart website as i'm sure that it will appear on there one day.....still a good car mechanically and with a bit of repairing would be a decent example again.
The only good thing to come out of this(if losing a car is a good thing!) is that I am now the proud owner of a nice mk2 golf gti!

 
Finally got the keys and paperwork today - it's like a new car inside and out - going to wait till friday to tax it and bring it to its new home...
And a mere 36319miles on the clock - it's a nice place to sit - brings back a lot of memories of my previous mk2's....
And of course there is the "bonus" scirocco - now with a years mot!

Needs minor fettling to get it to a standard I will be happy with but otherwise it's good to go - shame I can't keep this as well but space (and money) means it will have to go.....pity!
In other news the Arnold Clark takeover is in full swing - tomorrow is effectively the last day of my dealership - seem such a shame that it has been built up from scratch by basically two guys to becoming a highly successful operation until the last year or two when the current owner couldn't compete with the larger operators - the way of the world I suppose.....

Well I still have to wait for the other parties insurer to agree that this is ok - probably why zenith, my insurer uses an independent engineer to get valuations - leaves no leeway for the other company to argue!
Like you've said £3500 is not too bad - obviously it doesn't get my car back but I could still negotiate it's return (and possible breakage) to get some more out of it plus if/when I get some compensation for other items (doctor/dentist) plus loss of use then this should help - which brings me to the scirocco, today I was offered it as part of a "package deal" with this:-

 
a very late mk2 GTI with a mere 36000 on the clock!
Needless to say the car is mint and is therefore worth a few quid - I wont tell you the price I've been told but its a fair amount - the scirroco would come as part of this which I would probably sell to recoup some cash on the golf - always wanted one since having a few before - too good to pass up?

Update time - Well I finally heard back from the insurance about how much it would cost to buy back the jetta - £1433! plus they stated to re-insure it would require an engineers report IF i managed to repair it and get it back ready for the road - needless to say i'm out....it's a shame that things had to end this way for it but anybody interested should keep an eye out on the copart website as i'm sure that it will appear on there one day.....still a good car mechanically and with a bit of repairing would be a decent example again.
The only good thing to come out of this(if losing a car is a good thing!) is that I am now the proud owner of a nice mk2 golf gti!

 
Finally got the keys and paperwork today - it's like a new car inside and out - going to wait till friday to tax it and bring it to its new home...
And a mere 36319miles on the clock - it's a nice place to sit - brings back a lot of memories of my previous mk2's....
And of course there is the "bonus" scirocco - now with a years mot!

Needs minor fettling to get it to a standard I will be happy with but otherwise it's good to go - shame I can't keep this as well but space (and money) means it will have to go.....pity!
In other news the Arnold Clark takeover is in full swing - tomorrow is effectively the last day of my dealership - seem such a shame that it has been built up from scratch by basically two guys to becoming a highly successful operation until the last year or two when the current owner couldn't compete with the larger operators - the way of the world I suppose.....

Update time - Well I finally heard back from the insurance about how much it would cost to buy back the jetta - £1433! plus they stated to re-insure it would require an engineers report IF i managed to repair it and get it back ready for the road - needless to say i'm out....it's a shame that things had to end this way for it but anybody interested should keep an eye out on the copart website as i'm sure that it will appear on there one day.....still a good car mechanically and with a bit of repairing would be a decent example again.
The only good thing to come out of this(if losing a car is a good thing!) is that I am now the proud owner of a nice mk2 golf gti!

 
Finally got the keys and paperwork today - it's like a new car inside and out - going to wait till friday to tax it and bring it to its new home...
And a mere 36319miles on the clock - it's a nice place to sit - brings back a lot of memories of my previous mk2's....
And of course there is the "bonus" scirocco - now with a years mot!

Needs minor fettling to get it to a standard I will be happy with but otherwise it's good to go - shame I can't keep this as well but space (and money) means it will have to go.....pity!
In other news the Arnold Clark takeover is in full swing - tomorrow is effectively the last day of my dealership - seem such a shame that it has been built up from scratch by basically two guys to becoming a highly successful operation until the last year or two when the current owner couldn't compete with the larger operators - the way of the world I suppose.....

Well I still have to wait for the other parties insurer to agree that this is ok - probably why zenith, my insurer uses an independent engineer to get valuations - leaves no leeway for the other company to argue!
Like you've said £3500 is not too bad - obviously it doesn't get my car back but I could still negotiate it's return (and possible breakage) to get some more out of it plus if/when I get some compensation for other items (doctor/dentist) plus loss of use then this should help - which brings me to the scirocco, today I was offered it as part of a "package deal" with this:-

 
a very late mk2 GTI with a mere 36000 on the clock!
Needless to say the car is mint and is therefore worth a few quid - I wont tell you the price I've been told but its a fair amount - the scirroco would come as part of this which I would probably sell to recoup some cash on the golf - always wanted one since having a few before - too good to pass up?

Another update - Heard from the independent motor engineers yesterday afternoon - they've been and inspected the car and valued it at.....wait for it.....£3500! The guy was really impressed with it's overall condition and remarked of the valuation that these cars have shot up in value over the last couple of years - he also said if my drivers seat backrest hadn't been as worn (I was working on making a replacement seat cover just never got round to it!) the car would have been worth nearer £4000.
Obviously this wont get my car back fixed but I am fairly happy with the amount - really thought that they would say £500!
The next step apparently is for them to sent the valuation to my insurers (zenith) who will pass it on to the other insurance co - who hopefully will cough up.
I will probably hear from them at some point shortly but as I would still like the car back (sort off) as I think the car could be saved - just need to see what happens....

Another update - my insurance co has just been on the phone with the a value of £3700! basically all I have to do is agree via return e-mail then the amount will be bacs into my account directly - I forgot to ask about buying the jetta back though - I will later on when I reply.
The scirocco I don't really want as such - at least not as much as I would like the golf but like you say anything 80's is rocketing in value lately - I'm sure I could find it a good home - even if it is a 1.6 auto it goes ok - needs a bit of fettling and a service but could make someone a nice daily driver or show car - something a bit different than the rows of mk1 golfs that you usually see at shows.