Olden days

Started by hartster, February 17, 2005, 07:13:56 PM

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hartster

Here's a couple of snaps of my first GTi. Bought this car as a demo in 1988 and did about 325,000km over the next 5 years, all over southern Africa. It was an 1800 8v which I modded with trick cam and head job, extractor etc after I blew the head gasket racing my cousin around the Cape Peninsula.

Can clearly remember the trips down to Cape Town from Joburg. 1450km one way, through the Karoo desert, always in a little under 10 hours. The MFI average speed would hover around 150kmh and fuel consumption was somewhat aggressive. The only problem was the starter solenoid which would get so hot it would jam and needed the application of a hammer to get it going again. Nevertheless, the car was excellent at high speed and would sit at 180kmh for miles and miles with no difficulty.

I learnt how to drive on gravel in this car and did literally thousands of kays on hardcore 'metal' roads. I fitted a custom made set of alloy underguards to keep the worst of the crap out of the engine bay, basically bolted onto the subframes. I lost it a few times and had one corking encounter with a bull which resulted in a new front wing and bonnet, but amazingly nothing else was bent.

I sold it in the end, cos its fair to say the engine / box were a bit tired... bought a BMW M325is 24v and endured a love / hate relationship with it due to excellent fun / high costs. I regretted selling the Golf for years and hence my 16v purchase last year, which I am pleased to annouce got its WOF first time last week after I took it completely to bits. It goes like a cut cat after its engine rebuild and with the stiffer Boge set up and Potenza G3 rubber, its glue on the bends. Only problem is the gearchange isn't great and the cam chain is noisy. i;ll get round to those soon...

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hartster

Another snap

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RS ZWEI

We have an SA Golf GTI that looks the same as yours, same colour, same wheels, 5 door etc . . .
1980 VW Golf GTI Track Car
1995 Audi RS2
2003 Mini Cooper S (Written off - rear ended)
2005 Mini Cooper S
2006 Skoda Octavia vRS Combi
2009 Renault Megane 230 R26 (Written off - rear ended)
2013 Renault Megane RS265 Redbull RB8

dubstar

Very cool.  Love the roof rack (retro look).
"I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying."

orggti

do the 16vs have a cam chain? how was the bull? dead? dinner?
nice write up its good to see a story like this on vask. What was the fuel consumption at 150kms?

hartster

Yes - 16v has chain drive from exhaust to inlet cams. Should have changed it out when rebuilt the head but didn't and now it's driving me mad. It 'chatters' a lot as the revs pick up and sounds horrible. Gfunk tells me he had the same problem and replaced his to great effect.

The bull - it lived for a short while after the accident - regrettably had to shoot it. It was a very serious brown pants moment in that crash as I very nearly had the animal up over the bonnet and through the windscreen which would certainly have been tickets for me and the girlfriend. Who left me anyway after that cos she didn't like being constantly "vreeslik bang" (lit. trans.: terrified).

Consumption on those long trips was pretty heavy - modded cams didn't help - can't remember now but it wasn't great. Got caught seriously speeding a couple of times - in those days there was no national database of drivers so everytime I moved I would register the car at a fictional address, get new plates, and chuck any tickets in the bin. Not to be recommended nowadays. Worst case in the Golf was outside Trompsburg - hammering along admiring scenery and... oh dear... very agitated cop in road. Radar said 182kmh. Got a BIG ticket for that one, which I still have as a momento. Never paid it though. Shame on me. Bettered that in the Beemer - 215kmh in Bophutstswana - problem on that day was the cops arrested me cos I wouldn't pay the bribe. But I was let off with a caution cos I knew the Mayor but the car was impounded in Mabatho for a few weeks and when I got it back it had a good couple thousand more kays on it...


orggti