Enjoying a dirty weekend

TWO WEEKS into the ownership of this Montana Green Mk2 GTI, I've got my hands dirty and my bank account mildly flustered – and I’m over the moon with my new purchase.

- David Lillywhite

The first thing I did was to make a list of the jobs that needed doing and parts that needed buying. Of course, that list just kept getting longer but there weren't any nasty surprises; it’s clearly been well looked after, and I’ve enjoyed staying in touch with its conscientious and knowledgeable owner.

I knew the car had received a recent oil and filter change but I wasn't so sure about the cambelt, so I took a look at that first of all. Hmm... OK but clearly a bit old. The distributor cap was mucky and, when I took that off, the contacts were worn and burnt, so the cap and rotor arm went on the list, quickly followed by the spark plugs after the electrode pulled out of number 2 plug when I pulled away the HT lead. Amazing that it hadn't misfired!