Yah nah, wasn't a barn find. Just decided to post a log of my old MK4 Golf GTI that I parked up at my parents' property in 2017, never to be moved again.

Here begins a work log of trying to get it back on the road. Car turns 25 next year, but I think I'll just keep it on regular rego instead of club plates.

Current state

I was following this back on VWW I think when I still had my Bora. Poor old girl deserves better @funkymonkey !!

This looks like it could be one very satisfying pressure wash!

Is it dry on the inside? The amount of moss and little flowers growing on the outside has me a bit concerned.

Totally dry on the inside. Smells as fresh as the day I parked it

16 minutes ago, funkymonkey said:

Smells as fresh as the day I parked it

What? Like spilled Redbull and garlic sauce?

Looks pretty simple, just insure it then accidentally set it on fire.

6 hours ago, GTSBoy said:

What? Like spilled Redbull and garlic sauce?

I'd expect the inside of a VW to smell of exhaust gas...

46 minutes ago, MBS206 said:

I'd expect the inside of a VW to smell of exhaust gas...

Shades of Belsen?

47 minutes ago, MBS206 said:

I'd expect the inside of a VW to smell of exhaust gas...

Nien, they stopped making gas chambers a while ago 🤣

2 minutes ago, funkymonkey said:

Nien, they stopped making gas chambers a while ago 🤣

Diesel-Gate showed instead of chambers, they tried to gas the whole planet

21 hours ago, GTSBoy said:

What? Like spilled Redbull and garlic sauce?

Monster Ultra Peachy Keen and KFC wicked wings, but close enough.

16 hours ago, Duncan said:

Looks pretty simple, just insure it then accidentally set it on fire.

No chance it’s that combustible with that level of vegetation on it.

On 24/8/2026 at 6:15 PM, MBS206 said:

Diesel-Gate showed instead of chambers, they tried to gas the whole planet

meh, I own a twin turbo diesel V6 Audi that probably would have failed diesel laws spectacularly - they didn’t even bother trying to sell it in the US. The SQ5 they got in the US was this limp-wristed petrol thing.

Pulled the bonnet up to check internals. Looks like some of the wires are dangerously brittle. I got second hand factory Xenons from Japan (RHD) but the wiring has pretty much disintegrated. time to watch some wiring video from HP Academy

On the upside, the engine is an AGV engine, which I'd completely forgotten about (I knew I bought this specific car for a reason!). Cos it has the large port cylinder head and the 20mm wrist pins standard, I should be able to put some forged rods and bolt on a K04 hybrid onto it pretty easily in my garage. Should make around 200-250kw pretty easily.

Sounds like it's time for a complete standalone ECU and full rewire of engine, and hack all the other rubbish to work without the real ECU...

23 minutes ago, MBS206 said:

Sounds like it's time for a complete standalone ECU and full rewire of engine, and hack all the other rubbish to work without the real ECU...

Seems a bit drastic? This is the last pre-canbus golf, so should be tunable with flashes

54 minutes ago, funkymonkey said:

Seems a bit drastic? This is the last pre-canbus golf, so should be tunable with flashes

Yeah, but need all that new fancy wiring, may as well go drastic... Add nitrous while you're there...

I thought the idea was to get this back on the road?

12 minutes ago, soviet_merlin said:

I thought the idea was to get this back on the road?

We can't rush great things...

50 minutes ago, soviet_merlin said:

I thought the idea was to get this back on the road?

This. Bare minimum to pass RWC (ie working headlights) and not grenade the engine by cranking it with 10 year old fuel

1 hour ago, funkymonkey said:

This. Bare minimum to pass RWC (ie working headlights) and not grenade the engine by cranking it with 10 year old fuel

Andthennitrous?