From a £70 non-runner to a VR6-powered £10k show stunner, this Mk2 Golf has had more nips and tucks than ex-glamour model Alicia Douvall...

Words & Pics: Sarah Harrington-James

I’m telling you now; I’m not the type of person who gets easily impressed. Unless, of course, it involves watching some jaw-dropping street dancing from the likes of Flawless and Diversity off Britain’s Got Talent. So when it comes to Dubs then, the ones that really get me going are those homebrew varieties where hours and hours of blood, sweat and tears have literally been shed to create something of sheer wonder and amazement. Where the owner’s not given up halfway through the build just because it had all gone a bit Pete Tong or mind-numbingly tedious. Those are the people I respect more because the pain and hard work of their project is forever etched across their faces... no more so than 26 year-old Darren Bradley’s. He’d only had his Mk2 Golf VR6 creation on the road for three weeks when I caught up with him.  And it was two very long and expensive years in the making.

Bargain basement
No virgin to Golfs, Darren had already owned a Mk4 Golf GTI and a Mk4 GTI turbo before getting bored and moving swiftly onto an Audi S3. But even that wasn’t enough to keep him quiet. He was all fired up for a project of his very own, but perhaps became a little over ambitious thinking he’d have the whole thing completed in a few months for a couple of grand. If only...

“One of my brother’s mates has a unit and down near there was a grey modded Mk2 Golf finished and when I saw it I just knew I had to have one,” remembers Darren. “Luckily the same mate had a Mk2 1.6 Driver which I bought for £70 as a non-runner and although it was rusty in places I thought it’d be a good base for a project.” 

With it delivered to his tardis garage in his back garden, Darren had thankfully got the green light from his dad Roy who was essential to the project with his mechanical know-how. Darren had already had one of those lingering by the kitchen door ‘if I’m going to buy it, you’ve got to come in with me’ chats and was pleasantly surprised that his dad was just as enthusiastic as he was about getting stuck into a major build.

Stripping the car down and disposing of the engine was probably the easy bit, until the only original part left was the dash. Meanwhile, the bodyshell was propped up on axle stands. Most of the Mk2’s panels were dented so Darren went on a mission to find replacements from pretty much anywhere he could. He followed forum leads, but the best budget buy was at a good old scrapyard where he found they were breaking a white Golf GTI with a G60 bodykit – a deal was done and the front and rear bumpers were his. Although Darren coughed up for brand new G60 arches via Big Boys Toys, he found they couldn’t get hold of one of the rears anymore but to his surprise he stumbled across someone selling a full set at the autojumble of last year’s GTI Springfest for £100.

PROFILE

NAME:
Darren Bradley
AGE:
26
LOCATION:
Windsor
OCCUPATION:
Painter and decorator
DREAM CAR:
Aston Martin DBS
FAVE MOD ON CAR:
Interior
TOP CHOONZ:
Indie music

THE KNOWLEDGE

Engine:
2.8 VR6 OBD2 AAA series (from a 1997 Mk3 Golf Highline), fully rebuilt with new rings, bearings, valves, valve guides, timing chains and tensioners, block cleaned and engine enamelled, all ancillaries and brackets blasted, painted and lacquered, full Samco hose set with cooling via a new Corrado radiator and fans, plus Pipercross induction kit with a six-branch stainless steel manifold leading to a full Piper stainless steel exhaust system and
decat pipe
Transmission:
Standard VR6, cleaned, casing sanded down and etch primed, painted and lacquered including all bolts (same for driveshafts)
Suspension:
VR6 wide track front subframe and rear beam, shot blasted, etched, painted and lacquered with new coilovers, lower arms, balljoints, drop links and Powerflex bushes throughout
Brakes:
Brand new grooved, drilled and vented 288mm discs all round with new VR6 calipers and Mintex pads, all new brake lines, Passat master cylinder and servo unit painted and polished to a mirror finish
Wheels & Tyres:
16in DZ Exklusiv made to measure alloys: Front 7.5x16 with 195/40/16 Toyo Proxes T1Rs, rear 9x16 with 215/40/16 stretched Toyo Proxes T1Rs
Exterior:
Complete respray in VW Laser Blue Pearl with five coats of 2k lacquer which was block sanded and polished to a mirror finish, full new G60 bodykit smoothed, big bumpers, chrome door handles, Jetta headlamps, clear rear lamp clusters and a complete set of brand new tinted glass all round with top tint front screen
Interior:
Fiesta turbo Recaro front seats sitting on Golf Recaro subframes, Corrado rear seats, all fully retrimmed in black leather along with front door cards and rear quarter panel trims by Steve Claxton of Coverall, brand new carpet set, VR6 instrument cluster, electric windows and digital gauges
ICE:
Pioneer head unit (relocated into glovebox) and Pioneer speakers all round

Thanks:
To dad Roy for his help and expertise with the build

To read the rest of this feature see the August 2011 issue of Golf+.

Back issues available here.