Big bumper car means it most likely has the 10:1 Digifant engine, so it is a transmission swap away from being an 8v GTI drivetrain-wise.
It probably has solid 9.4 rotors, which is super simple to convert to 9.4 vented rotors like the GTI had. Rears are probably the tiny drums, which really isn't awful because the rear brakes hardly do anything on a nose heavy 2200lb car. Sway bar can be updated to GTI spec, although bigger would be better.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:I don't get the anti-4 door sentiment.
I had a 4dr 1964 Impala, it was the kind I could afford and it was pretty cool. I don't have that same feeling about a radwood Golf even though I have owned ~20 watercooled vws.
In reply to Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) :
I missed the era when you could buy a running Golf for $100 for its doorhandles and then part it out. I got mine as a nonrunner, needed to replace some electrical stuff and some other business I can't even remember. But two years later, when the floor was basically a bag of rust sandwiched between the undercoating and carpet (the chassis was so flexible it would no longer lift a rear tire, it'd just pop the doors open) I could not find a solid Golf in any condition for under $3000. And that was... gack, 12 years ago. Which is why I bought the Quantum instead, because five cylinders and all wheel drive. (And slow and not revvy and atrocious fuel economy)
The other option, fat rear sway (see if you can find an old SRS (shine racing suspension) one, manual swap and rallycross.
In reply to captdownshift (Forum Supporter) :
All the Shine Racing stuff is basically gone. I've been trying to find a set of their springs and rear swaybar for my Corrado. My friend has tracked down Mr Shine himself but apparently there is no more new old stock of stuff.
captdownshift (Forum Supporter) said:The other option, fat rear sway (see if you can find an old SRS (shine racing suspension) one, manual swap and rallycross.
Opposite way. Stiff front bar, leave the rear suspension as soft as possible. Lowering the rear a bunch also helps, but that isn't Stock legal.
The problem with stiffening the rear is that bumps in the rear tires will upset the fronts, hurting grip. So it's best to make the rear as soft as you can tolerate, to the point that it is floaty, so you can leave the front tires alone when they're trying to work.
Yes, it sounds backwards, but that is only from looking at it from a high grip, low surface irregularity point of view. On rough surfaces, chassis control is more important, and at lower grip levels, nothing you can do to the suspension is going to alter handling because it is going to be defined mostly by weight distribution.
And, the kicker, on loose surfaces like dirt or grass, increasing weight transfer INCREASES lateral grip, not decreases. Adding a large rear bar to a front driver will make it understeer even more because it adds rear side grip.
Decent mk2 VW's of 2 or 4 door variety are getting thin in the NE. It would be a cool daily or crusier with a manual swap which isn't hard to do or score parts for. Still a good aftermarket and oem parts market fir them and since this Redwood thing prices are starting to go up on them. Which reminds me that I have a 89 jetta still sitting waiting on me to stop messing around with the cherokee I just bought with a bad head gasket...
Buy it I had an 85 GTI did I put 170,000 miles on. The 100 horsepower engine is more than adequate it really teaches you how to drive not rely on the engine. Almost every shift up to third gear was that red line. The clutch took that s*** 4 121000 miles 105000 of which I put on it. It had a small crunch shifting into second if your revs weren't just right. At the time I had a friend with an automotive repair garage that would let me use a bay and give me technical advice as needed. So when I had the transmission out to change the clutch he talked me into splitting the case and sanding the Synchro for second gear which was gummed up. We did it it worked perfectly for one day. I started to get horrible crunching noises. luckily I was right by the shop and Coasted it in and parked it there. The fifth gear on those Transmissions is in its own separate housing and there is a bearing in their held in with I believe for screws. I neglected to Loctite one of them and it backed out and went through 5th gear leaving the first four gears undamaged. I took the 5th gear housing off pulled both gears out there that were extremely chipped and cleaned the entire mess up. I took the gears to the bench grinder and ground them down until they had no teeth. I put them back to use them as spacers so everything could be torqued down properly in the transmission and ran it as a 4-speed for another 50,000 miles. The cars are tough I love them
I guess I should have proof read that autocorrect didn't work so well
One of my best friends had a 1988 Jetta with the 8V and a 5-speed back when we were in high school. We had THE MOST fun in that car. We beat the ever loving berk out of it every single time we got in it. It took all of the abuse and asked for more. Off-roading and gravel road "rally" blasts, epic rollback burnouts that vaporized countless tires, hanging out the roof and windows acting like morons... you name it, we did it. His sister T-bone cow tipped a Suburban with it while he was away at college, and that was the end of it. She was fine (and so were the occupants of the Suburban), but the car was obviously destroyed. But man, it took out something 3x its size on its way out, because of course it did.
You never see these anymore in New England in either Jetta or Golf/GTI form. There are almost none left. I say, if the price is right, snag it and clean it up. If you like how it drives, swap a manual in there. All sorts of swaps are well documented with these. And if you loathe it, someone will surely snag it.
Tony Sestito said:
And if you loathe it, someone will surely snag it.
DIBS
Now when I drive by, instead of looking at the car, I look at the note that I left on the windshield.
It was there at 8:00 this morning.
It was gone at 9:15.
There is activity at the house today.
Leave another note that reads...
If you're not interested in parting with the Golf, would you be interested in an extended warranty for it? no? Parting with it would be easier? Okay then reach out to me at (insert phone # and or email)
Car is gone. 
In reply to Woody (Forum Supportum) :
Aw, man... Sorry.
The only reason to pick up this car (or any VW for that matter) is nostalgia and passion. What I mean by that is, if you love these, you'll put up with the fact that these cars were never very good and aside from looks, don't age well. If you like tinkering, you'll love old watercooled VWs... because you'll always be tinkering, as omething is always wrong. Things light up that shouldn't, things don't light up that should, handles break off in your hand, everything leaks, sometimes it won't idle, things rust through if you even think about salt.
I know that sounds crappy, but you need to know what you're in for. If you've got the heart, go for it. They look different, feel different, and will make you earn even the simplest commute.
Source: I've owned multiple A1-A4 generation cars in just about every state they exist in, from nearly new to rebuilt salvage. Rabbit L to R32. Even the nice ones were a headache.
Woody (Forum Supportum) said:Car is gone.
Dang it
You'll need to log in to post.
