Introducing Black Betty

[iPlod999 143 1 Cars]

 

20 years ago I sold my Cherry Red 1989 1.6 205 GTI, G550 ALD, and regretted it each and every day. I was 40 back in September and decided that I will start my midlife crisis early and get another.

 

Looked at a few, test drove a few and thought that I must have been looking back with rose tinted glasses. They were all sheds!

 

 

 

 

However, a little trip to Norfolk and I found Betty. 1.9, 84,000 miles, full service history, every MOT and sales receipt since the year dot.

 

We have got on well over the past 6 months. Apart from new full exhaust, metal water pipe, various other rubber pipes, new battery and new shocks. She still sits too low and I have been told that the rear beam is fine. It is just that somebody has lowered her. I will return her to normal ride heightb soon.

 

 

I recently refubished the wheels and over this weekend I brought a rotary polisher and gave her a good going over.

 

 

I have also be having a play with a DLSR. Not quite got to grips with that either.

[GLPoomobile 958]

Bam alam!

[iPlod999 143 1 Cars]

Bam alam!

 

Funny you should mention that.

 

[2-Pugs 57]

Great car and great pics there. Especially like the last one, it looks like a model!

 

Re. the rear beam, I think you will only know if it's really any good or not once you dismantle it all. If you're lucky it'll be ok and you can rebuild with new bearings and seals and set the ride height to the original height. There's a good guide on the front page on how to do it.

[iPlod999 143 1 Cars]

Thanks for the compliment 1FM Guru.

 

The last picture was taken with an iPhone App and yes it does look like a dicast model.

 

I have looked at the rear beam rebuild guide. Although, it looks far too advanced for me. Easy bits of tinkering I will give a go at but that looks a bit too much for me.

 

Let's hope im lucky!

[sensualt101 31 1 Cars]

what a nice example! its extremely rare to find a full service history car these days.

 

i have what sounds like your your old cars twin ( a near full history 1992 1.6 gti in cherry red ) and like you i have just entered my 40's and needed a 205 gti in my life again lol!

 

i look forward to seeing how you and betty get on in the future and how you reset the rear beam

 

Mark

[AlexRS2782 136 1 Cars]

Looks like a really nice example you've got there Welcome back to the joys of 205 ownership

[iPlod999 143 1 Cars]

Cheers Mark and Alex.

 

I think this one is a little rearer.

 

On the log book it is noted as an auto. Doing a little digging on Google. It shows that my car was part of and export group to go out to Japan with VRM ending AVC or BKV. However, the order was cancelled and the cars remaind in the UK.

 

It looks as if at some stage it has been converted to a manual.

 

Some say there were only 10 produced and other say 300 or 1,000.

 

Does anyone know the real history of these auto's.

 

Regards.

[miamibungers 8 1 Cars]

Nice looking car there iplod! I think the Jap auto 205's had the lower power 1.9 engine fitted ~105bhp? It should also have aircon, a CAT & power steering if its for the Japanese market.

 

EDIT - just watched your video & noticed the symbol on your temperature control dial is an 'ice' symbol for the cold, mine is a '93 K plate and does not have this. Also the oil temp, oil pressure & coolant temp all have numbers whereas mine doesn't. I think export models / european models have these numberings on the dash whereas the UK spec ones don't.

 

Someone with some more knowledge on these matters will undoubtedly be along shortly & will be able to give you definitive answers.

Edited March 20, 2012 by miamibungers

[iPlod999 143 1 Cars]

Cheers Miami.

 

When I bought the car I asked the sell if it had aircon because of the ice sign. He said no. Although, he only drove the car 100 ish miles in 18 months.

 

The air coming out does get a little cold. However, not sure if that's because has been cold outside recently! My 1989 model did not have this. I will have to wait for the better weather.

 

Betty has got PAS and a CAT.

 

Finally Betty seems to have a slim gear stick and she has a plastic sheath covering the stick. Again cannot remember this on my old one.

[cybernck 402 1 Cars]

That's an A/C model heater panel, but you don't have an A/C switch.

[2-Pugs 57]

If it is a converted Japanese Auto model then it will originally have had air con. I would be surprised if someone went to the trouble of removing it all as it's a pretty involved setup.

 

It's very obvious underbonnet as there are a number of things to look for. You should see the aluminium refrigeration pipes, most notably the one running down the offside inner wing to the filter cannister where the jack would normally live.

You'll also have two drive belts coming off the crankshaft, one that goes to the alternator and pas pump, and another that goes to the aircon compressor which is bolted to the sump, which incidentally will be cast alloy and not pressed steel.

On top of the throttle body there should be a small solenoid device with two wires coming off it. This is there to raise the idle speed slightly and stop the engine stalling when the aircon is switched on.

The other way of checking is to twist your blower control knob both ways. When you turn it anticlockwise, there should be some initial resistance but you should hear the fan should run, faster the further you turn it. Ditto the other direction. This is a feature of aircon-equipped cars (recirc mode) which non-aircon cars don't have. If no aircon, then the anticlockwise rotation will do nothing.

Lastly you could remove the small panel that holds the switches for hazards, foglamp and heated rear window. If behind there you find another connector with nothing plugged in, that's the connector for the aircon switch.

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

Jap dials as they have the numbers on them, The engine should have black injectors as well with twin fans, 1.6 Drive shafts and rear Drum's to name a few

[cybernck 402 1 Cars]

We need to see a photo of the engine bay... at once!

[iPlod999 143 1 Cars]

Sorry about the delay in getting back. This thing called work gets in the way!

 

Had a look under the bonnet and the results are.

 

Refridgeration pipes. Tick.

 

 

 

One belt coming off of crankshaft. No tick. However looks like another pulley. Tickish.

 

 

Small solenoid device off of throttle body. Tick.

 

 

Blower knob test. Tick.

 

Extra connector behind switches. Tick.

 

 

Looks like I have air con. Right who has a belt and the panel which has an extra button?

 

So does anyone know the number of the cars that were made for the Japan order?

 

Regards.

 

iPlod999.

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

They done a fair job of removing it, You still have the A/C rad, Black box on the strut, Throttle body switch and fan relay box, mind to fit the jack back they must have welded something in there as you should have a large hole for the drier

[iPlod999 143 1 Cars]

So Miles......I don't have air on then? Just a few of the remaining bits.

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

You should see a heat exchanger in front of the rad if that's left, but it sounds like most of it's gone, also behind the Air filter box there should be a connector instead of a rubber bung

Another thing I have noticed is the coil shouldn't be on the wing, but on the inlet meaning the engine bay loom may of changed as the engine again looks like it's a early one due to the metal cambelt cover

[cybernck 402 1 Cars]

You should also check if you've still got the compressor, mounted on the sump, below the alternator, but I doubt it.

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

+ Alloy sump

[chipstick 382 1 Cars]

I was thinking the same about the last pic. Looks like a model.

 

Mind you, I actually went to read the date stamp expecting to see it say 1996 or something as it looks like an old photo. I love old photo's of cars.

[johno_78 2]

You should see a heat exchanger in front of the rad if that's left, but it sounds like most of it's gone, also behind the Air filter box there should be a connector instead of a rubber bung

Another thing I have noticed is the coil shouldn't be on the wing, but on the inlet meaning the engine bay loom may of changed as the engine again looks like it's a early one due to the metal cambelt cover

 

I hate to try and correct the guru that is you Miles, but the 2 Auto Gti's that i have owned had the coils on the wing and not the inlet.

 

iPlod - My wife used to track all the other 205 Gti Autos, and built up a small register. I have found your car being sold on ebay in 2007 in Preston while it was still an auto. If you want the ebay pics and blurb, send me your email and i'll pass them on to you.

[iPlod999 143 1 Cars]

PM sent Johno.

 

Do if I am getting my head around this. Then, it appears to have a old model engine put in. Therefore, that would explain why no aircon bits and now a manual gearbox.

 

Bad news I don't know what sort of mileage the engine would have. Good news it would be the 128 BHP engine rather than the 105 which were fitted into the import models.

 

To be honest I don't really mind as she run well and still goes like the clappers!