Welcome to our new video. We are back in Munich (Germany). Maybe you remember Sarah from one of our previous videos. In the last video you showed us your VW Corado. That was the last one you showed us. I believe so, yes. And today Sarah is going to show us her beautiful VW Golf MkII. But before we start with your car… … could you be so kind to tell us something more about yourself.
Who are you and what do you do? My name is Sarah, I'm 31 years young and a professional car mechanic and I'm from Munich. And my cars are my passion and my life. How many do you own at the moment? Ehm… like 9x with the VW Corado… That's what you call a nice collection… Do you have a huge garage or how do you store them all? Yeah, like a hangar. A hanger and a garage. And today you'll show us your beautiful VW Golf MKII. I've to say, it looks like brand new. Really well looked after. And the paintjob looks like it just came of the production line. Would you please tell us a few infos regarding the car? I got this one stock back when I was 18 years old from an older couple that lived in the same block.
That was perfect cause I've been like 17 and a half and they wanted to sell it. As you can see the fans are going to recognize… …it's a pre-facelift from 1986. Which you can see for example where the mirrors are positioned, further back rather than in the front. He had the smaller bumpers… In the front and rear… Yes, those are the GL bumpers. Sorry, it's kinda loud today as we are at the Centre for Development… They are cleaning the parking garages. That's why we have to stop sometimes as it'd be too loud for you guys. So, as mentioned it had the smaller bumpers but I converted it to the GL bumpers and the GTI front lip. Pretty low in the front.
Well… my hand fits below but… The frame has sufficient space… That was important for me that we didn't have to cut anything off the frame. I just had one problem, originally I had a H&R cup kit installed with 35mm drop. That was the first one. I had a different tires size on the rims. And before that I had the 1 piece original BBS rims from the MKII GTI. Oh, beautiful. And then I swapped for those. These are compact high gloss "Zender" rims. But I think they fit the car very well… looks a little like a manhole cover… Yes, they are called "Zender Turbo" Similar rims are as well installed already on my VW Jetta MKII too. Which has a similar color to this one. Currently, I believe… let me think, a H&R twin or monotube installed. But next year I want to install a different one with rebound. Because the car is so low in the rear I have no preload anymore. But you do everything by yourself on your cars? Yes, all by myself! The only thing which I don't do is the paint.
But look at the paint. What's the mileage on the car currently? 190.000km We have to check out the front later. What model year is this? 1986 Do you know what are the most common problems on the MKII Golf? Where do they rust? Yes, when you have the GTI widenings they tend to rust below those. The side skirts too. The tailgate in the rear. At the front the window frame. Exactly, I had it already done once. At this spot it started, so I had the window removed and fixed before anything could happen. But the bonnet looks really good, do you drive it a lot? It does look like it's not driven much and for sure not in winter. Never ever in the winter. That's what I have my BMW E30 or now the E36 for the winter.
Cause the BMW E30 was to nice as well to use in winter. To drive a bit sideways? Yes, exactly if a car then better a rear wheel drive in the winter. When I was 18 years old I did drive this one 2 years in the winter and then I got my first "winter car". That's when the customizations started. What else did you modify, so that we can go from the front to the rear? As already mentioned the GL bumpers. Headlights are clear glass, same as the indicators. Same at the rear, rear light in clear glass. The GTI had the black/red rear lights. Those were the ones I had previously and now the clear glass ones. Manifold, exhaust pretty much from front to rear including the catalytic converter are all stainless steel. The entire thing pretty much from "Novus". And where is the VW logo? I cleaned the rear and removed the logo and the branding.
Looks pretty nice all in all. I think the MKII is a really nice looking classic which we don't get to see on the roads anymore much… Most either rusted away or are collectors items by now. But it has a comeback as the cars are liked and is very easy to maintain. And not as expensive as BMW E30 or E36. Which engine do you have? 1.8l with 90hp GX with KE jetronic. You wanna do something to it? Yes, a sharp camshaft maybe. Lighter hydraulic valve lifters… but I'm not sure yet. Will come at one point. Are you going to do all yourself? Yes, all myself. Can we take a look under the bonnet? Yes, but it's not clean. That doesn't matter, no worries. flow divider K-Jet Does the MKII has any particular engine problems where you would say to look for? Depends on the engine really.
You cannot say in general. The 1.8l engines are pretty sturdy. That's a storage flap with a vacuum, right? Exactly. When there something with that it's shit. I had the problem when I wanted to do the photo shooting with Jule this year. He decided "nope, I don't want to" He did bitch around before that already a bit. He turned off by itself and I was thinking for sure it's the flow divider. I disassembled everything and in the end it was the distributor finger. What you have to say is.. I did check if there was a spark And there was one, but probably to weak or not right. The motor domes look pretty good too. Well some MKII's rust in the rear rather than the front. But I cannot show you guys as the trunk isn't finished yet. The fenders have never been taken off yet.
The only thing is, the previous owner replaced the roof cover once. Because he got stuck at the garage door once. I have everything, the original purchase contract from the previous owner. The original receipt where he had it done at the VW dealership. Are you the second owner? Third one I believe. But it's registered on my dad. Because otherwise I'd get different plate numbers and I want to keep those. What's the name of the color? It's called "antelope brown" I see, that's why the name of your instagram.
Let's check the interior. May we take a look at your interior? The first thing that I found… take a look who left an autograph here… Walter Röhrl (famous German Rally Driver) How did that happen? I was at the RedBull race track Twice, the first time I was too shy to ask him… And the 2nd time I didn't want to but all my friends told me don't miss the opportunity again. So I went to him like a little shy girl and asked "Mr. Röhrl, would you please sign my car?" He's kind, funny and always has a good mood. He's a icon! Let's get back to the interior. Momo Corse steering wheel 32mm or 35mm… not sure center console fitted afterwards Originally it didn't have one at all. Nope, originally it's without one. Fitted aftermarket with the additional gages. oil pressure, oil temperature and battery voltage all working? Yes, only the temperature isn't as I have to check what the problem is. There is a problem as it lashes out at 2000 rpm. Alcantara shifter Alcantara head rests and Alcantara headliner But you haven't done that yourself? No, I tried, failed miserable and then had it done.
What I did myself were the A & C pillars. We did it ourselves with the BMW E36 and who ever can do it hisself/herself, respect! Other than that the interior is original. The seats are original. They look very good, especially the seat cheeks. Door cardboards are original too? Yes, all original. Look at the seats, they really look like factory new. I guess no one is riding with you in the rear? Rarely, because it's grinding when there are people in the back… Usually you have problems with the seat cheeks when getting in and out, but these ones are really good. Those were quality materials in those days. Yes, but leather was available as well. with the facelift The Fire & Ice had black or beige leather as an option. Seems we chose the wrong place today. Usually there is nothing going on here. The moment we started shooting all the action started too. They all have to start cleaning.
Are you selling the car? No, sorry. Beautiful car. Or do you want to sell it? You see, you could have sold it right away! The car is not for sale! Not for a million, not for 2 or for a billion neither. It's my baby! Is this your dream car where nothing else can compete with? I do love the BMW E28 which one day will come for sure. I got this one with 18 and there is so much money, love and memories in it…
It's more than just a car to me. It's part of the family, same as my Kawasaki. I did ask the community on Instagram if they have questions about you. And we received tons of questions this time. And I'd say let's answer those now. 1st question: How come you chose this job and did you have some bad experience? I got into it through my dad who is a passionate mechanic and I always worked with him on cars since the beginning. And yes, I got a lot of bad experiences From the guys? Yes, exactly. Not all has been bad, but… I got put many obstacles in the way over time. Was it jealousy? Not sure if it was jealousy, ego or what ever? My motto is "you can do what you want" Either you get accepted or not, even if you are better there is nothing you can do about it if someone is stupid about it.
From a guys perspective, what did you experience if I may ask? Or one particular one that you can't forget? One customer didn't want a woman fixing his car. But the boss kicked that "customer" out. He said, he assigns the work according who is available. During the apprenticeship there were mechanics that didn't let me do anything as their opinion was women don't belong in a garage. I had one other mechanic apprentice who was like 2m tall and screamed at me that I was close to giving up… I don't even remember what it was about, probably something stupid small… Over time they tried to bad talk about me in front of the boss behind my back and lots of lies were told.
That sucks. I guess at one point you ask yourself "why do I even do it"? Yes, I though about that many times… but I love my job. It's my passion and I really love doing it. And then I get through it. A real fighter! Yes, but I guess you have to be like that when working in a purely male domain. Does she like only older cars or what about newer ones? Mostly older cars.
A VW Golf GTI or R MKVII is a really nice car. or the BMWG20 there are cars from any brands old or new which I like but in general I prefer older cars N/A or Turbo preferably N/A but I do work on a Turbo project as well at the moment… A 1.8T for my red VW Jetta which we saw in the other video. What was your very first car? This MKII here. What's your dream car and do you know any other girls in your friends circle that have cars as their hobby? Dream car would be the McLaren F1 with the BMW engine Audi R8 1st generation, in white with the carbon fibre side blades BMW E30 M3… this car is just amazing, you get so many emotions with this car the rear, the fenders, the looks and entire thing and the BMW E28 which I really want to get Did you modify everything yourself? YES! You do everything yourself on your cars or is there anything where you say I let someone else do it? I am not an expert when it comes to the wiring.
and parts of the engines I do not have much experience in but as I'm currently working on my golden Jetta I do everything myself with the engine too and my ex-boyfriend helped me a lot with it and still does support me Do you think that in today's time it's still worth to become a car mechanic? Yes, though I don't get the question really, either you wanna do it or not! I think the question was probably because there is more and more going into electric. Doesn't matter cause there are still mechanical parts and the old cars will continue to exist too. They won't disappear that fast… Nope! As long as we exist old cars will exist too! Thanks a lot again for participating for a 3rd time.
Maybe there will be even a 4th time, because of the BMW E30… So if you guys want to see Sarah's BMW E30 please write it in the comments below. Do you have anything you want to say? It was great that you guys came back to Munich again! I am happy to participate and anytime with pleasure! You are welcome to visit us in Bamberg too! Yes, maybe next year when the season will start and maybe I will come with the Jetta! So guys, leave a thumbs up and we'll see each other in the next video!