Hi my names James Griffiths (everybody calls me Griff), I’m Griff1 on the forum. I’m 26 and live in Tetbury, Gloucestershire and this is my Alpine White GTI.

Well knowing where to start is tricky with this one….. I used to own a calypso green mk2 1.6 CL that was indeed a very loved car as it had only had one lady owner from new before me, i would imagine a few of you would be familiar with this car as i sold it to a member of the forum and she done a few member a good turn after the oringinal sale from myself. 

I was looking out for a GTI for a small and quick project for me to do and have on the road within a month or so for me to drive instead of the CL. 

I was searching for a few months and being on a tight budget i couldnt really find a good car that was within my budget, they were either mint and expensive or sheds and rusty. Eventually i saw a post on the old mk2 owners club forum selling a 91 3dr alpine white mk2 for £100 (this ticked all the right boxes for me) so i jumped on the phone to the seller and bought it from just looking at pictures(oops lol).

I arranged to go and collect it that weekend, one thing he did mention was i would need a trailer as it was not running at the time. So i rang a friend of mine and went down to collect it. When i got there, there was a white mk2 shell with no interior, no bumpers, no arch trims, no carpert, a mix match of wheels and some nasty rusty patches, i thought “great mums gonna love this on the drive” lol, anyway bought the car and kinda realised this isnt going to be a quick project……

After 2 1/2 years of tinkering about with her, i finally got round to giving her a full engine rebuild and a full respray. I put her through an MOT and she passed however, i wasnt happy with how she looked so after another 2 months i finally found some exterior trim and seats that i was happy with. 

She was finally on the road for me to use daily i was using the wheels that i kept from my old green mk2 on standard suspention, but wasnt happy with how she looked so i was always on the look out for another set of wheels, then at bristol volks fest i stumbled across the schmit wheels i have now.

 I done some work on a friends car for a few months so he bought me the coilovers that are on her now.

I had some spare headlights lying around and it was time to experiment……..As i work in a vehicle repair shop i found a pair of subaru xenon lights and combining two sets together, I ended up with a unique set of lights that no one else has this is different from the normal smoked crystal lights that people generally go for.

As i covered an exciting 30,000 miles since shes been on the road and now being on 206,500, i decided to give her a break through the winter and bought a bit more of a practical car(only for winter i must add as i hate not diving her lol) and her new bucket seats are not very easy to get in and out especially in a multi story car park lol.(well my fiancee doesnt enjoy it lol). 

The above blog was up to date  when i was asked to do the ‘car of the month’  in March but a week into having her back on the road in April my trusty 8v decided it wanted to retire lol. 

It was now time for me to make a decision to either put another 8v in or put in am ABF 2.0 16v being given the chance of one,i went for the ABF of course!!

What i thought was going to be a nice cheap conversion starting on Easter sunday ended up being quite expensive, time consuming and at times stressful especially as im still finding little niggles with it now, being very stubborn i’ll get there and won’t let it beat me!!!!

As for future plans for the mk2, i do have a lot of ideas for her, a new set of wheels, a bit more paintwork and a complete interior overhaul and who knows maybe more green lol (my fiancee has other ideas like a 2nd mk2!)

Its been a pleasure owning my mk2 as its such a wonderful car that i love to drive as it always makes me a smile.