Converting your Citi Golf to an oldschool/euro Mk1
I rewrote this little article because I get a lot of messages about going oldschool and I decided to try it with my '96 Chico. I hope it can help you if you want to do the same with your Citi Golf!
PLEASE NOTE, the details shown are from my '96 Chico, I don't know if it will be the same on earlier or later models of the SA spec Mk1's, like the Velocity etc. I'm just giving advice; if you screw up on anything don't come crying to me.
Seems like more guys want to go oldschool right now because there are so many SA spec Mk1's on our roads. I'll highlight the changes you need to make as well as some of the problems you may have overlooked. It might seem like a simple thing to do, but it all depends how far you want to go... I used my car as the guinea pig for this article, hehe.
Well this is pretty much what you are aiming for right?! "See first pictures below"
Below are the two types of oldschool Mk1’s. Those with the chrome bumpers as in the yellow one (usually the cleaner look, minimal) and then those looking like the M1k GTi with the plastic bumpers and other plastic bits.
One of the first things anyone will tell you when changing to the oldschool look is to change your fenders! It was one of the last things I did because finding a decent pair of oldschool fenders isn’t easy. I managed to get mine from a scrap yard for R300 each. I think original ones from VW are R500 new (correct me if I’m wrong). They fit on just as the Citi ones do, so you will probably only have to pay to get them sprayed up.
See below, the green fender is one from a Citi Golf and the cream one is one from the original Mk1 Golf. The main difference is in the front, and it’s clearly visible! And if you are planning to fit the chrome bumpers to your Mk1, you may want to fill those 3 holes in the cream fender…
Below you can see the difference with the oldschool plastic bumper fitted, but you can also see the nasty groove that shows on the Citi fender! BTW, the plastic bumper will fit no problem. Buy it new from Autostyle for R500 each. Again you can see how the Citi fender has that corner edge that slants outwards. When I removed my Citi bumper and fitted the oldschool grill and bumper I couldn’t understand what was wrong with the front, it just didn’t look right…. Fenders!!!
Also see below how nasty the Citi fender looks without a bumper!!! You can also see that the Citi fender juts forward to accommodate the shape of the Citi grill. If you fit an oldschool grill (as the one on the orange Mk1) the jutting edge will be more noticeable as the grill will fit to the contour of the oldschool fenders. And BTW, the chin spoilers fit no problem either. I fitted the large duckbill one and just had to drill holes for it.
The rear bumper will fit no problem either, but the groove on the body for the Citi bumper shows up a lot! If you choose to fit the plastic bumper like I did, it will hide the bumper mount (it looks just like that one on the front fender). If you are going to fit the chrome bumpers you better be ready to do bodywork, unless you don’t mind the ugliness!
I never notice this but the Citi Golfs have a groove in the rear panel near the bootlid, the oldschool ones are smoothed out. Easy way to spot a fake?? hehe
Beading. Oldschool Mk1’s came out with beading down the side so they have the holes already, but our Citi Mk1s did away with that, so if you plan to fit beading you are going to have to drill holes for the clips or make another plan. I’m making another plan because I want to be able to covert my Citi back to the way it was when I bought it if I sell it… The oldschool fenders have holes already, so if you don’t want beading you are going to have to fill them up.
Another small headache! See the holes on the front valance?! They are there so that the Citi grill has a place to clip into so be ready to plug them up some how and spray it all nice and flush! The oldschool grills are not as wide and they fit nice and flush into the front valance. There is also an indentation on either side of the front though I think that is for spotlights?
Moving onto the rear of the car. I think the small taillights came out on the A-series Mk1’s. The rear of the oldschool body is slightly different, see the pictures below. The bit between the oldschool taillights and the bumper is thicker than that of the Citi Mk1. You can still keep you Citi tail lights and be oldschool, but if you want to fit the small tail lights it might require some work because the holes for the Citi taillights are larger than those for the oldschool ones and might show up.
If you plan to fit the full set of arches like those on the GTi Mk1’s BE CAREFUL! DON’T fit the rear arches from a Fox. I did that and they are not the same, the front ones are the same from a Fox though. See the detail by the arrows… Also the Fox rear arches come up a bit short (see the picture below this one) You can apparently buy the arches from Goldwagen at R250 each.
This last bit is just for interests sake but, the Citi Mk1’s door is slightly different to that of the oldschool Mk1’s. You can see how the shape (on the left of the handle) is curved on the Citi and strait on the oldschool Mk1 (the red one). I never knew about this until someone pointed it out to me! Also you can see the oldschool Mk1’s had those cool “flag” door mirrors. I’m not sure if they mount the same as the Citi ones.
Well I hope this helps you if you are thinking about converting your Citi Mk1 to the oldschool/Euro look. Good luck!
Here is a link to my project Citi conversion: Click Me!
Big thanks goes to Gavin Haywood AKA Gavh on the www.vwclub.co.za forum for writing this DIY.