one of my pupils has a nice mark I golf gti convertable that I had a play in today, rust mettalic brown colour, with beige leather seats (that move around all over the place! :eek: ) and a beige hood!

considering it was made in 1986, it was a cracking drive

things I like...

1) The engine was nice, very responsive, and pulled strongly, and WOW, what an exhaust note! (bear in mind this car is UN-modded, and completley original) reminds you what car makers were allowed to do before the restrictions from the EU for noise and pollution.....

2) the non-assited steering... yes ats alot of movement lock to lock (and a bit dead in the straight ahead position) but I love the feel you get from non-assisted sytems, I knew where ever stone was in the road, great feedback..

3) the suspension was nice, seemed a bit heavy compaired to my GPS, but very solid, no body roll... it was a "fun" drive, fun to be had at much lower speeds that in the fiat mind........

things I didn't like:

1) the brakes..... oh my god! makes me realise just how good the brakes on the fiat are, the brakes in the golf simply didn't seem to work (even though it had recently been MOT'd so they should be ok) they were so wooden, so lacking in feel, and so bad at slowing the car down! but he wants to keep it original, so no big wheels and discs.... gues he'll just have to get down the gym and work the leg muscles, the pressure required for even a moderatley useful stop was large....

2) the scuttle-shake.... oh my, the car would literally nearly fall apart over ever bump, although the body control was good the interior was moving around like a plate of jelly! (seats window pillars dashboard ect, and the rear view mirror fell off...)

overall though, cracking car for its age (and its 150,000 miles) he paid £1,600 for it, it was up at £1,900, so he got a decent deal, it had recently had a new hood (glass heated rear window, and none of it leaks) new battery, new alternator, and new (laughably) brakes..... doesn't seem to be much rust, if he looks after it, and does up all the little bits that need sorting (new dash, rust spots, new stalks ect) then it should hold its value well, if not go up in a few years! arn't many mark I's left....

had nostalgic fun driving it

great little cars and still a very nice looking car

indeed, lookes better than some of the later models for sure....

1) the brakes..... oh my god! makes me realise just how good the brakes on the fiat are, the brakes in the golf simply didn't seem to work (even though it had recently been MOT'd so they should be ok) they were so wooden, so lacking in feel, and so bad at slowing the car down! but he wants to keep it original, so no big wheels and discs.... gues he'll just have to get down the gym and work the leg muscles, the pressure required for even a moderatley useful stop was large....

Anything on a Mk1 Golf floorplan is like that (So Golf 1, Scirocco 1 and 2, Golf Cabriolet). It's worst in RHD cars as the servo/master cylinder is over on the left, as in LHD cars, and there's a spindly cross-linkage over to the pedal. Soemone used to do an uprated linkage (BRM?) but they were pricey.

The brakes will stop you, but compared to anything newish they seeem dead and hard work.

Nice car though.There's a nice, nearly original one around here.

Yep! The brakes in my Mk 1 cab were virtually non existent compared with todays standards. :eek:

I wonder if the guy putting the new pads on used OEM grade or cheap as you can get.

Have to say I think I'd have something done about the brakes as you can fit a set of 4 pots even under 12" wheels if you get the right ones and have custom brackets. Not sure how much it would help the peddle feel though

16v Servo, master cylinder, braided hoses and good disk/pad combo does the trick. Even without pushing the boat out a set of Mk2 16 rear callipers and G60 front set-up is easily achievable for not much money.

Anything on a Mk1 Golf floorplan is like that (So Golf 1, Scirocco 1 and 2, Golf Cabriolet). It's worst in RHD cars as the servo/master cylinder is over on the left, as in LHD cars, and there's a spindly cross-linkage over to the pedal. Soemone used to do an uprated linkage (BRM?) but they were pricey.

The brakes will stop you, but compared to anything newish they seeem dead and hard work.

Nice car though.There's a nice, nearly original one around here.

well that would explain it, (I noticed the servo was on the left , when nosing under the bonnet!) they did stop in a straight line, and if enough pressure was applied they would do the job, just a bit of a shock how much pressure was needed! lol.. but still no unexpected stuff as the car was about 23 years old!

really enjoyed the drive...... remembring my old past cars like my lancia thema turbo (one of the first with abs, but didn't really work compaired to modern systems...)

16v Servo, master cylinder, hoses and good disk/pad combo does the trick. Even without pushing the boat out a set of Mk2 16 rear callipers and G60 front set-up is easily achievable for not much money.

I'll suggest that to him, thinks he wants to keep it "standard" spec though, for future resale value.....

Really not much to notice with the Servo/Master cylinder to be honest, it would take a spotter to notice it (Like me ) even that on its own with decent disks/pads/fluid would be a markable difference. and keeping the system essentially standard.

I'll suggest that to him, thinks he wants to keep it "standard" spec though, for future resale value.....

The standard brakes are up to the performance if you fit OEM quality bits, adjust everything properly, and change/bleed the fluid. It will still feel a bit dead and hard work compared to something more modern though.

I've found a pic of the modified linkage: it was Autocavan, not BRM.

Autocavan mk1 brake pics - Club GTI