Mk3 Golf 1.6 GL; because life isn't going as well as I hoped.

So i've bought a 1997 vw golf 1.6 gl mk3 in silver (beacuse it's like a bullet). Got it for £700, was fairly happy with that. But with that there's a couple of things to do. Fist the interior needs a good old scrub because the fella that had it before me must have smoked about 50 a day; all in the car. And the other major issue is the bastard rust on the wheel arches.
Any way here it starts

As i got it:


A good illustration as to why the first thing on my list was springs:

lol, the intro made me laugh

yeah, it'll look good man. Especially with the arches etc

Cheers Jonnie, and yeah should be alright.


The parts started to pile up. So, thought might as well put some of them on:


As said previously the first thing i wanted to do were the springs. Got these Eibachs for £120, not toooooo bad.
The first attempt didn't go to well if i'm honest; couldn't undo the top mount so i invested in a cordless impact wrench, worked a treat.
Got the little bastard off fairly easily:


Spot the difference:


It wasn't trouble free though. firstly it was summer:


So we had to get all ghetto:

It's the only way to do it.

One major problem though was sockets getting stuck on bolts. (it happened more than once)
This was probably the worst though; had to get a blow torch on it and use a wet towel to protect the CV joint:


Managed to get it off though so aint no thang.
It sits a lot lower now, drives a little nicer too. will be better once i've got all the tracking etc done.
Must say a BIG thank you to Jonnie for helping me out especially as it was in such nasty conditions, you're a darling.
I'll get some pics of how it sits now up soon, you'll be able to see that the front number plates been straightened too. whey!

i like! havent seen this too much in the bare metal dude but knowing you, you'll go the right way!

and you know i would have helped you haha

but now your a master mechanic (becaused you lowered your car) you can help me fit my coilies (or just come and watch )

much love

ps - loving the over arches

i'm sure you'll be seeing plenty of it soon mate don't you worry :p
i'll look forward to getting your car sitting a little nicer as well mate or of course watching this happen
and yeah thought i might as well go down the gti route but inside feel lke a pussy hole with my 1.6

How it sits now:

Decent enough i suppose, still fairly practical at this height which is nice

ooh look whats turned up.
Das Original zum Einbauen. Obviously.

Got the shocks fitted, big thanks to Ryan, then put the cars into the garage to have some bushes asnd wheel alignment done. pretty big bill but drives an awful lot better now.
Was going to work on the rust but then came across an interior on ebay so i went for it. paid £200 and makes the car a much nicer place to be: