# 1990 Mk2 Golf GTi



## Sandro (Mar 16, 2008)

This is my first write up in aaaaages! :wave:

I bought this Mk2 Golf at the end of April, stuck it in my garage the day after I got it and spent about 6 weeks of evenings and whatever spare time I had to get it looking lovely.

Here's some pictures of before I bought it, looking good already if im honest  just needed brightening up and some orange peel removed.




























As usual I didn't take any before of my own,  nor any pictures of the main wash, oh, dear, anyway, away we go.

Wash process was as follows -

- Pre foam with Carwashnwax Snowfoam mixed with All Purpose Cleaner through an HD lance

While that was working away I went round all the panel gaps, lights, window seals etc with a CYC 1" round brush got any dirt or polish residue that was in there out. After that I rinsed the car down with the pressure washer, taking as long as needed to make sure all the dirt that could come off, did.

The main wash consisted of the usual 2 bucket method with Chemical Guys Maxi Suds II and a lambs wool mitt. Rinsing off each section as I completed it.

After that I went around the door, boot and bonnet shuts with APC, the 1" brush and an angled radiator brush. At this point I remembered I should start taking photos.



















Once that was done it was given a final rinse down with the pressure washer



















At that point the rain started tanking down, so no point drying it yet 

I moved the car off the stones to the front of my garage to start on the wheels and arches. So I jacked the car up and removed 1 wheel at a time and cleaned front and back and in about the arches.

Wheels were cleaned with Bilberry diluted 4:1 through a foaming spray head and a Swissvax wheel brush. Then Auto Smart Tardis for any Tar or residue left from wheel balance weights.










Backs Before










After










While the wheels are off I dried them with my Megs Water Magnet then sealed them up with Poorboys wheels sealant. 2 layers on the back and 1 on the front for now. I'd put another layer on the fronts later.










The Arches were set about with Meguiars Super Degreaser diluted 4:1 and various brushes. And again Tardis for any tar spots.










Front Arch Before



















Front Arch after



















Rear Arch Before










Rear Arch After










Any Mk2 owners will know the problems with rust around the fuel filler. Sadly I didn't get a before of this but behind the filler was absolutely jammed with dirt. It took me ages to get it all out. Gadz!!!!










Mid way through the heavens opened again


















Not to worry though, on with the jacket and carry on :thumb:

Once the arches were done it was after 10pm, so I called it a night (after 11 hours) and rinsed the car off, put it in the garage and dried it with a Chemical Guys Miracle dryer and a Sonus Der wunder towel for the shuts.

*
Day 2*

Day 2 started early for a Sunday  The car was dusted down ready for Claying. The clay used was Bilt Hamber Auto Clay (regular) and water as lube. I wasn't expecting there be a lot on the paint TBH, since the car was sprayed recently and hasn't done alot of miles since then, and since I was gonna be machining it I wasn't bothered about the potential marring.

I got a cup of warm water to soak the claybar before I use it, as its pretty hard stuff to start with.










As expected, not much contamination from the bonnet.










A little more from the roof though.










During the wash I noticed some paint splatter up the near side of the car.

Before









After









Once I was finished claying I went onto taking some paint depths. Which is where I got a wee bit worried. I knew the car had been sprayed so I was expecting some thick measurements. Sadly not










This obviously wasn't what it was like all over the car, but it was a good percentage of the body that was like this. Oh dear! The bonnet was probably the worst part of the car for having bad orange peel. Thankfully the paint readings were better at around 120-130um. After about an hour I was done taking readings and notes and was ready to get on with polishing.

I started off usual trying out different pad/polish combos on the rotary. While a black 3m pad and Menzerna 106FF got rid of alot of swirls, it didn't do much for the rough look on the paint. So I finally settled on a combination of Menzerna Intensive polish and a Menzerna polishing pad. I've had the menz pads for ages and never used them because I though they felt far too hard. But after trying them out here, I love them!

Bonnet before









Here you can see the reflection of the light isn't sharp at all.









Here is a 50/50 after 1 hit on the right hand side of the crease. Certainly an improvement.









Here's another before and after, showing the correction of the swirls


















A better 50/50 of the bonnet. Look at the middle of the strip light you can see different between the 2 halves. A much better finish.









The other panels didn't have such a rough finish, so only needed the swirls removed, so because the paint was so soft I could get away with Menz 106Final Finish on a Black 3M pad. Which gave the desired correction and would mean I didn't need to go back over the panels ad refine them.

Front wing after









The roof was quite similar to the bonnet, it was pretty rough looking, so back to the Menz IP and polishing pad. To get it from this -










To this










Here's a few more before and afters from the rest of the car.

Rear OS Wing

















Front OS Wing


























Before I was done I had to go over the bonnet and roof to refine the finish (there were still holograms left from the IP and polishing pad) this was done with Menzerna 85RD Final Finish on a Blue 3M pad.

After I was done with all the correcting, the car was pretty dusty, I dusted down all the panels and gave them a final wipe down with Menzerna Top Inspection to get rid of any polishing oils that were left on the paint.

Using various brushes I brushed away all the dust that had built up in the door/boot/bonnet shuts.

Once were all dust free I applied Dodo Juice Lime Prime Lite to the paint, to "feed" it some nourishing oils (ohhh yeah :wave and help give it a nice glossy finish.

After that it was onto waxing, which was Victoria Concours wax, great too use, lovely finish and lasts pretty well. 3 layers were applied 24 hours apart to get the best finish and durability.

Here's a wee shot of the wax on the bonnet curing before it was removed with a Poorboys work towel.









Between coats of wax I did the rest of the wee jobs.

The rear lights had polish/wax residue stuck on around the writing, so out with the tooth brush and Megs last touch.

Before









WARNING: Action shot!









After









The rubber seals around the windows and along the gutter on the roof were treat to Swissvax Rubber feed, to bring back the nice black colour and get some nutrients into the rubber to help stop them drying out over time.

50/50 around the windscreen









Like on the rear bumper when I was claying, there was paint spatter all over the black plastic arch liners. So I used thinners and cotton pads to get the paint off, which left the plastic dull and crap. So I treated them to some Megs Hyper dressing.

Before


















Here's the rear arch trim before I removed the spatter.









And after Chemical Guys New Look Trim Gel









When working round the car I noticed the wheels nuts were looking pretty crap, compared to the nice bright wheels. So I whipped them off and gave them a spruce up.

Before

















Nuts off









Cleaned with IPA then Primed









Painted









And back on the car.

















After that the fronts of the wheels were given the 2nd coat of Poorboys Wheel sealant.

All the exterior plastics were treated to some Chemical Guys New Look Trim Gel to bring them back life. Some of the trims had white residue on there from the previous owner so I used an eraser to rub the residue off before applying New look trim gel. The tyres were also treated to new look trim gel.

Before









After









Exterior glass was sealed using the Carlack Glass Sealant kit, the cleaner was applied using a 4" pad on the G220 and removed with a microfibre towel. The sealant was applied using a paper towel, left for 10 minutes then removed with a MF towel and a spray of deionised water.

Onto the interior, which wasn't bad at all. Just needed a quick hoover out and the plastics treated to some Poorboys Natural look dressing. Though the air vents and other fiddly bits needed a real good clean out.

Vents before









Heres a 50/50 and a clean out









And heres how the cotton buds looked after each individual slat.









Pretty horrible :doublesho

My gawd! I think im done!
Heres some afters.

















































































It's my first write up in ages and it's a bit big :-| Thanks for reading it all

Comments are welcome!

Sandro
:car:


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## moonstone mo (Mar 7, 2009)

nice looking motor mate.

wouldnt mind getting one myself but finding a standard non molested one is proving difficult.


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## EliteCarCare (Aug 25, 2006)

Nice turnaround, to be fair it was v.clean to begin with but you've definitely taken it to the next level, looks nice and original too! :thumb:

Alex


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## Sandro (Mar 16, 2008)

cheers guys

yeah the guy i got it from just restored it and its done about 1000 miles in the last year since it was painted, so it wasnt bad at all. only took me 6 months to find it


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## Porta (Jan 3, 2007)

Lovley! I am looking for a nice MK2 and now I have to look harder


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## robertdon777 (Nov 3, 2005)

Love that, makes the new MK6 look overweight and ugly.


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## yetizone (Jun 25, 2008)

Lovely, very thorough write and a top car - I'm so envious - I want my MK2 back...!!!


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## Jman5000 (Sep 1, 2008)

Great looking Mk2!

Do you have access to *"Duplicolor"* paint? It's a widely-sold line available in US auto parts stores.

Their "Trim Paint" is a great match to refresh interior Mk2 plastics. My vents looked like yours and now they're deep and even. I've done the door pockets, pillars, lower trim, etc.

Just a few coats is all you need and you just have to wipe down the plastic w/alcohol.

Here's a shot of mine:


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## MadOnVaux! (Jun 2, 2008)

That looks absolutely fantastic, well done 

Ever thought of entering it into a concourse event?


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## STEALTH K3 (Dec 29, 2006)

Wow looks good did you remove the rubber seal around the filler neck fuel flap this is a area that always collected S%&T I always did this on my MK2s you would be surprised by the amont that was collected there over the years


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## Sandro (Mar 16, 2008)

Cheers again guys 

Ive never heard of Duplicolor, i might have to look into it.

nah no concourse for me, its not standard enough to be standard and isnt modified enough to be modified  haha plus its my daily driver now 

Stealth, ill have to look at that, cheers man!


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## VIPER (May 30, 2007)

Truely lovely looking GTi you've found yourself there, mate :thumb: :thumb:

Got to love the Mk.2s 

Great write up as well :thumb:


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## ryanuk (Jun 22, 2007)

stunning! just stunning!

also the red mk2 is mint! i so want one!!!!


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## Auto Detox (Dec 22, 2007)

Beautiful Mk2 you got there mate, good job. I went to see me Mk1 in the paintshop today makes me want it back even more now 

Baz


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## declanswan (Feb 27, 2008)

Great turnaround on a car that was already half decent. If you dont mind me asking, what did you pay for it ???


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## Richf (Apr 26, 2008)

My neighbour has this Mk2 for sale for £1500 its sorned without mot , i can get his mobile if anyone wants

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j198/liner33/P1010372.jpg


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## North east Car Care (Jan 14, 2008)

Cracking write up Sandro:thumb:


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## Sandro (Mar 16, 2008)

cheers all! 

just got the engine bay to do then ill be happy.

£1500 for the SORN'd MOTless golf seems like a lot to me


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## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

nice car, possibly on of the tidiest ive seen :thumb:


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## Alan W (May 11, 2006)

Cool ride now in stunning condition Sandro! :argie:

Enjoy,

Alan W


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## Rowan83 (Aug 21, 2007)

Now that is MINT! :thumb:


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## clcollins (Jul 30, 2007)

Oooooo, that's a gorgeous MKII, quite a find, looks awesome, thanks for showing it to us :thumb:


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## scooby73 (Mar 20, 2007)

Excellent work and write-up on a cool car!:thumb:

I must get around to owning a Mk2 GTI.


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## Sandro (Mar 16, 2008)

thanks very much guys


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## jrdragboy (May 12, 2009)

Nice Golf!


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## mk2jon (Mar 10, 2009)

thats a nice motor,credit where credits due.


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## gj777 (Feb 16, 2008)

Car looks amazing - a true classic. Great work. :thumb:


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## alexf (May 23, 2009)

thats absolutely lovely!

Id love o get my mk2 looking like that at some point


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## Mr Face (Jan 22, 2009)

Huge Respect & Congratulations:thumb: Stunning job executed with a great eye for detail and determination to do a wicked job. 

A truly PRO finish, great write up and exactly what DW is all about IMHO:thumb: Few and far between and a great little motor taken to pride of place and now concours.

Thank you for posting and taking the time to make this so special. Newbs, this is the way to go :thumb:


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## Sandro (Mar 16, 2008)

cheers again guys!

Mr Face, i dont think anyones ever said such nice thingd about one of my details  cheers buddy


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## Richf (Apr 26, 2008)

Sandro said:


> cheers all!
> 
> just got the engine bay to do then ill be happy.
> 
> £1500 for the SORN'd MOTless golf seems like a lot to me


Me too and its not a patch on yours


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## SilverJetta (Apr 28, 2009)

excellent write up mate, exactely what did you use to clean the arches up so well? Ive been taking my 87 Jetta gti to the next level, and have only given the arches one pass so far, but they have still got a long way to go to be like yours!

stunning car mate, top work!


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## Sandro (Mar 16, 2008)

SilverJetta said:


> excellent write up mate, exactely what did you use to clean the arches up so well? Ive been taking my 87 Jetta gti to the next level, and have only given the arches one pass so far, but they have still got a long way to go to be like yours!
> 
> stunning car mate, top work!


just used Megs Super Degreaser and a few brushes. might need to go over them a few times though to get them looking their best. then maybe some AS Tardis or another tar remover to get rid of any tar spots in there.

you got any photos of ur jetta?


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## SilverJetta (Apr 28, 2009)

Sandro said:


> just used Megs Super Degreaser and a few brushes. might need to go over them a few times though to get them looking their best. then maybe some AS Tardis or another tar remover to get rid of any tar spots in there.
> 
> you got any photos of ur jetta?


here you go sandro, my first detailing thread on here
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=115558&highlight=jetta


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## Sandro (Mar 16, 2008)

looking good man! love those wheels!!


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## pete001 (Dec 21, 2006)

Fantastic transformation great write up well done :thumb:.


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## pooma (Apr 12, 2008)

A cracking write up of a job that has been very well done on a stunning car, thanks for sharing.

And No, I'm not jealous in the slightest (well maybe just a little bit)


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## colarado red (Jun 5, 2008)

cracking car awesome detail:thumb::thumb:


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## Sandro (Mar 16, 2008)

cheers guys


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## mrgolfrider (Jun 22, 2009)

Dang, thats a clean ass golf!! Good work..

here is a pic of my MK4...


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## Sandro (Mar 16, 2008)

cheers buddy


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## dubnut71 (Jul 25, 2006)

Beautiful car Sandro, soo jealous, I had a G reg 16v big bumper in Helios blue back in the day and really really want it back now!!!!

Superb finish and good detailed write up, very enjoyable read mate!!:thumb:


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## Dipesh (Oct 12, 2007)

Thats awesome. Love it!


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## Sandro (Mar 16, 2008)

im feeling the love  hahaha cheers


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## swordjo (Sep 17, 2006)

Looks nice mate... you still thinking of punting the 182?


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## Sandro (Mar 16, 2008)

the 182 is away, sold it a few weeks ago.


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## swordjo (Sep 17, 2006)

Sandro said:


> the 182 is away, sold it a few weeks ago.


Ah right, not been keeping up with you on that one!


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## Sandro (Mar 16, 2008)

haha dont think ive mentioned it anywhere anyway man, dont be feeling bad


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## big rich (May 27, 2009)

always had a softspot for the mk2 :thumb:


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## _SYC_ (Nov 22, 2007)

Nice write up mate, :thumb: wish I had the skills to get mine looking that good, I keep it clean and polish/wax it but only by hand, plus the guy before me had it mopped and I think they removed nearly all the laquer off the roof.

Heres mine


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