'90-'92-ish VW Golf: Do I want to pursue this?

So, here's the story...

This car is not too far from my house and I drive past it every day. It hasn't moved in a few years. In fact, no one has even lived in the house for a while. The same light has been on in the upstairs window for a long time and there is a chain across the driveway.

I've always liked the first two generations of the Rabbit/Golf, and when I drive by, I inevitably imagine it as an ice racer, a rallycrosser, or just a cool old car to drive around in (can never have enough of those, even though I don't really go anywhere). These cars seem to have all but disappeared, and this one looks pretty solid.

A couple of months ago, I finally stopped to trespass/take a closer look. Obviously, it's a four door (not a huge deal to me at this point), but a closer look reveals not only an automatic transmission (in this case: Boo!), but also the truly hateful motorized seatbelts.

I've pretty much written off the idea of owning even a desirable car from this brief period, simply because of those seatbelts. So, at that point I decided that the car wasn't really worth putting any effort into, and my interest waned.

Suddenly this week, there is activity at the house. There was a landscaping crew there on Monday to remove all the overgrown bushes, and a new split rail fence went up yesterday. Something is going on.

So again...do I want to fool around with this car? If it's ever going to happen, the time is probably now.

What I know:

-Base-ish model, four door

-Automatic

-Annoying seat belts

-Solid but filthy body

-Appears to be rust free

-At the very minimum, would need tires, a battery and all fluids

-Front bumper was replaced at some point

-Was very likely a one owner, little old lady car

If this were either a two door or a five speed, I wouldn't even be asking...I'd have done it already.

All the mounting points for conventional seat belts are already in the car. I may have a set of belts tucked away. I'll look tomorrow. So take that negative off the list. The doors may also have the mounting points for the Canadian spec belts in them ,too. The CDN belts were a conventional lap belt and an electronically interlocked shoulder belt with the upper end connected to the door, not the B-pillar.

You should already be figuring out where it will sit in your driveway. If the house is being suddenly worked on, it wouldn't surprise me in this market if some flipper or speculator has bought it and just wants to clean the place up - it could disappear at any time. And from what I understand of VWs, everything is pretty interchangeable and cheap, so a manual transmission is probably easily sourced and bolted in.

What 02Pilot said........drive trains from MK2 and MK3 Golfs are easy fits. Seats (at least the fronts) are an easy fit. 4x100 wheels are a dime a dozen. What are you waiting for?

In reply to Woody (Forum Supportum) :

Cars that original & clean are pretty slim these days. Even if you never get around to a 5-speed swap there's a bit of value as-is. 

If it was a two door, barely maybe.

I loved my '89, probably my favorite car ever, and I wished it was a four door, but even back then you had to take what you could find.

Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) said:

If it was a two door, barely maybe.

Please expand upon this^.

They are pretty hard to get parts for now but even to fix and flip it's worth it.  Definitely buy it if you can so it doesn't end up getting scrapped.

At the very least, I'm going to leave a note on the windshield in the morning.

I had 2 Mk2's in the past (both Jetta). I'd say do it. I know the automatic cars had this issue with the starter getting heatsoaked making hot starts difficult. But 1.8 8V's are not very exciting and swaps are super easy...

Rocambolesque said:

 1.8 8V's are not very exciting

I respectfully disagree.  Happy to rev and made fun noises.

I had a big bumper, large glass golf 4 door 1.8L for a while. I replaced the pistons with ones from the gti and put a cam in it. Motor never came out of the car. Trans swap isn't too bad to do. I've done it on the rabbit. Parts are available if you know where to look. The seat belts, as was stated, can be easily retrofitted.

Save the squares! 

As noted manual swaps and or mk3 aba swaps are easy-ish. Though if you do the ABA swap with a manual attached, you'll want to replace the rivets with studs or else the transmission case will grenade. 

If you want to get fancy, I bet you could 1.8t swap it with a manual and be within challenge budget. 

No. 

In reply to Woody (Forum Supportum) :

I just checked and I DON'T have the fixed VW belts any more. Must have thrown them into a box of parts when I sold my VW GTI.

Respectfully I love projects as much as the next guy, but I don't see the value here for a project.  Four doors don't bring much money, the car has been sitting for a long time and it immediately needs a manual swap.

The engine doesn't offer much performance stock, and once you invest in upgrades, swaps, reconditioning you likely could have bought yourself a decent GTI.

PS:  I'm not a VW hater.  One of my favorite cars was a 1985 Jetta coupe with a stick and I came very close to buying a new GLI last week.  

More trespassing. I left a note.

I couldn't see the odometer, but the condition of the interior indicates that this is a pretty low mileage car. Not sure if the fender matches the doors.
 

Woody (Forum Supportum) said:

Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) said:

If it was a two door, barely maybe.

Please expand upon this^.

You have managed to find the most common and pedestrian example of this vintage VW available (short of a Jetta which has a useable trunk). Even as an enthusiast of these, it's a hard pass. I flipped a 2dr one in similar shape and I at least made money. Really depends on what your goals/dream is with this car. Throw some nitrous and crank the trans pressure and it's a funny challenge car. Other uses YMMV.

Also likely it was in a front ender w the mismatched bumper and grille.

If you were closer, I'd offer to buy the wheels and hubcaps if you acquire the car.  Love to have a set of VW 13" wheels for my Quantum.  (Yes I know it would require 9.4 brakes, I'm planning on that anyway)

I don't get the anti-4 door sentiment.  You can open the door all the way in most parking spaces, you can access the rear seat more easily, etc.  The chassis may be stiffer depending on how the 2 doors' pillars are laid out, because smaller openings.  The only minus is that it's more of a pain to do a roll cage that ties into the B pillar, but I have a feeling that vintage cars like this aren't going to be turned into stage rally vehicles any time soon.

those seatbelts aren't motorized.  They're attached to the B pillar and are fixed there, the belt just unreels from the seat.  As mentioned all the mounting point are on the body already, get a 3 point setup and bolt it in. 

As also mentioned, that's a really pedestrain spec'd car, unless it's a super clean body that you're planning a VR6 swap, recaro interior swap etc into, I'd pass.

I had a four-door, five-speed A2 Golf. Looking back, I can see the nostalgia. Also, it's a roomy car, so fairly usable. 

I'd rather have an A1 than an A2, but they're both *rad*. The interchangeability of VW parts means it's probably not bad to get it manualified as noted above (though I'm not going to call it trivial; this sort of thing always results in parts stalking at least). Seems like a lot of the "anti" comments center on salability or value. I see it as an opportunity to drive an old VW for cheap, on the hope they just want it hauled away (fingers crossed there's a title?).

It'd be neater if it was a GTI, but if you're in for a drivetrain swap and seats, then pretty much everything else that makes a GTI I'd probably swap out even on a GTI... (sways, springs, dampers).