Big bumpers, G60 arches 1.8 8v PB engined 1988 Volkswagen Golf GTi Mk2

When Tweaked Performance’s main man, Gerald Morten was considering a project car,he just had to scratch the Mk2 Golf GTI itch that had been bugging him for the last 40 years.

This sweet restomod was worth the wait…

Words: Graham Leigh

Photos: Nick Williams

TWEAKY CLEAN

Wokingham-based Gerald ‘Gez’ Mortem has been a petrolhead since he was in short trousers. With an engineer father and a car-loving mother, it was inevitable that the now 48-year-old would catch the bug. As a child there were often cool cars on the drive including his mother’s Fiat 124 Coupe and then later an Opel Manta GTE. By 12 Gez was racing motocross and by 14 he had bought his first car. “I took Motor Vehicle Studies at school. They had a Vauxhall Chevette in the department. When I got wind of the fact that they were thinking of selling it, I managed to buy it myself.” The Chevette was sold on after Gez fixed a couple of issues. In 1992 when he passed his test at 17, his first car on the road was, again, a Vauxhall but this time a Mk1 Astra 1.3. Too many cars to list followed but Gez’s personal highlights include a Mk1 Golf Cabriolet, a Mk3 Golf 16V, a Peugeot 205 GTI, a custom 1303S Beetle in an oh-so nineties white with candy flip and a BMW E30 M3 that was purchased for the princely sum of £5500. “I have always liked Volkswagens.

«Custom deep pile floor mats with yellow piping complete the theme»

One of my mates had a MK1 Golf which was tastefully modified back in the early nineties and there was just something about them, considering all the other hot hatches around at the time, that made them a bit more special. It wasn’t until the early 2000s that I started to buy classic Golfs. I had worked for BMW GB and had E30s and then later lease cars which meant I always had a new BMW. I always had that soft spot for Golfs though and would go to GTI international when it was held in Crowthorne just to see the cars in all their different incarnations.”

Gez fondly remembers his time at BMW’s UK Head Office and as an Apprentice Technician, he would have a hand in preparing press cars for TV, films, magazines and VIPs. Influenced by his interests outside of work, Gez took the leap and since 2006 has worked in the tuning industry. He founded Tweaked Performance Limited in 2016 and uses his wealth of experience in performance and styling to help customers enhance their modern classics and the current crop of European machinery.

“The Mk2 big bumper GTI was the one for me. It was one of those cars from the nineties which I always wanted to own but never got the opportunity to get. I thought why not build a Mk2 GTI that not only showcases my work and attention to detail but also some of the components from the suppliers and other small businesses I work closely with on a day-to-day business.” With the decision made, the hunt was on for the right car. It was purchased from a little village just outside of Stroud as a non-runner. The previous owner was midway through a 1.8T conversion and whilst tired, Gez saw that the late GTI had potential. Once back at Tweaked Performance, Gez wasted no time in tearing the car down.

The Golf was taken back to a bare shell ready for the chassis leg and battery tray to be expertly repaired by Darren at Mulgari Cars who Gez often entrusts welding to. With the remedial work complete, the fun could start. Darren welded up the unnecessary wiper hole ahead of the planned single wiper conversion as well as deleting the aerial aperture on the wing. The driver’s side door was damaged around the handle after a bodged break-in attempt. Gez replaced it with a mint secondhand item and sourced Porsche door handles. Once the metal work was completed, the Mk2 was ready for paint.

Tom at Little Knocks laid the flawless black onto the shell and panels with Gez having decided to retain the original colour. Wayne at Ultra Finish was responsible for painting some of the smaller components such as the spoiler, yellow badging and custom air intake that utilises the headlight hole in the GTI grille. “This started off as a Mini R53 Pipercross induction kit that we modified to fit. The yellow design mimics the spiralling gun sight imagery at the start of James Bond, another one of my favourites! Wayne has captured it brilliantly. The only vinyl on the car is the contrasting matt black horizontal bonnet stripes and the yellow stripe detail on the door cards, everything else is all paint.

The car was always going to have a restomod style makeover carried out with modifications subtle enough to require a second look where the enthusiast would look, initially clock it as a tidy Mk2 but then drink in all the little details. It’s a combination of things that I like with a nod to period accessories, touring cars with the single wiper and my favourite colours. My good friend, Nick Williams (the talented photographer responsible for these very shots) worked closely with me on this build. The pair of us are Star Wars fans and we named the build ‘Project Stasis’ after Force Stasis in the film, a power that freezes time. The car is definitely a nod to the nineties but with enough modernisation to keep it simultaneously fresh.”

When the car was stripped, every nut and bolt was bagged and labelled. The components were then assessed and either cleaned and restored or replaced with a mixture of new old stock and uprated items. With the car back from paint, Dodo Mat UK’s soundproofing was applied to make the car quieter on the inside and help with internal heat management.

Despite the obvious performance potential of the 1.8T, Gez was keen to keep the car period and decided to reinstall the original 8V PB motor. The trusty peppy unit sounds amazing with the aforementioned custom intake, Miltek manifold and their Classic exhaust system with factoryesque offset tailpipes. Bilstein came up trumps with their quality B14 adjustable coilovers, giving the car a perfect stance whilst retaining ride quality and improving handling. The SuperPro bush kit further tightens feel and rigidity. “The car came on Borbet A wheels which were always my favourite in period. Despite being finished in a bad rattle can black, they were straight and unwelded. We worked with Little Knocks to get the result we wanted. They were acid dipped, the faces were treated to a recolour in Nardo Grey before the outer lips were diamond cut. They look stunning and despite being a retro classic, have a bit of a modern twist.”

Going back to Gez’s original vision of the smaller details, he’s certainly stayed true to the brief but not without considerable hunting on Europe’s classifieds. He was lucky enough to source a couple of different variants of the hen’s teeth Hella 2 spoiler. He opted for the high-level brake light version that works well with the tinted heckblende. The yellow and black theme flows throughout the car with the callipers, badging, custom VW roundel, and pinstriped de-badged grille popping nicely against the moody main hue. The offset roundel effect was inspired by an Audi TT with a similarly positioned emblem that Nick had photographed a few years ago. A local 3D printing company made the item that fits into the foglight hole in the grille and, along with the induction kit opposite, gives a unique take on the classic front end. The lower fins in the bumper are picked out in yellow and together with the custom French yellow foglight blanks, bring some further highlighting to the lower face.

The colour theme continues into the interior which helps the car to flow. “Just like the exterior we wanted to keep the factory look but with some spice and hidden details. We worked closely with our friends at Cobra Seats who we felt honoured to have onboard with this project. We chose a pair of their Le Mans seats which they then did in custom leather and Alcantara with Yellow diamond stitch. We then had Ed at Edward Aldridge Automotive Tailoring trim the back seats to match which looks fantastic paired with the yellow seatbelts from Airbag Team UK. The door cards and dash also received the yellow touch with some colour-matched pin striping that stretches front to back. The carpets were restored up front and replaced in the boot and joined by a yellow K brace.”

The audio set-up is well thought out, and despite looking period, the Blaupunkt SQR 46 DAB head unit has, as its title suggests, digital connectivity. It’s connected to Alpine component speakers in the factory locations and a boot floor-mounted sub and amp. The driver is treated to a Genuine OMP wheel which, helpfully, came in their signature black and yellow, and a weighted Forge Motorsport gear knob. The old Golf was born into the pre-cup holder era but Gez managed to find a dash vent that had been converted to hold a later OEM folding cup holder. Custom deep pile floor mats with yellow piping complete the theme.

The build took around nine months which was no mean feat in addition to running a busy business. The car was extremely well received and drew crowds and compliments from its debut at Players Classic in 2021.

The car has now been sold and Gez is turning his attention to his 2010 VW Caddy which he is in the process of converting into an eyecatching shop van but promises that it will be a more subtle build to retain a degree of practicality. If it turns out half as nice as this Mk2, we can’t wait to see it.

«They were acid dipped, the faces were treated to Nardo Grey before the outer lips were diamond cut»

DUB DETAILS

• ENGINE: 1.8 8v PB engine running Milltek Sport four branch manifold and system
• TRANSMISSION: manual 5 speed
• CHASSIS: Borbet A 7.5x16” wrapped in Toyo Proxes, Bilstein B14 adjustable coilovers, SuperPro bushes all around, EBC grooved and dimpled discs with Yellow Stuff pads and braided lines, K Brace in yellow
• EXTERIOR: Big bumpers, G60 arches, custom yellow badges, custom painted badgeless grille, custom 3D printed VW roundel, custom air Intake, arial delete, wiper arm hole delete, Single wiper conversion, heckblende in black and red, Hella 2 spoiler
• INTERIOR: Cobra Le Mans seats, custom trimmed rear Seats to match, K Brace, OMP steering wheel, Blaupunkt Bremen SQR 46 DAB head unit, Airbag Team yellow seat belts, custom air vent cupholder, custom fl oor mats, Dodo Mat soundproofi ng throughout
• SHOUT: Milltek Sport, Bilstein UK, Cobra Seats, Edward Aldridge Automotive Tailoring, SuperPro, Dodo Mat UK, Forge Motorsport, VW Heritage Parts Centre, Little Knock (Tom), Dubstock (Brendan), Ultra Finish (Wayne), Mulgari cars (Darren and his welding skills and help throughout), IVM Engineering (Mo and his team), Oxford Car Audio, Airbag Team UK, Nick @ NWVT for the massive help with the whole build and putting up with my calls and pictures at stupid hours and fi nally my wife, Jen for putting up with me through the whole build

«The car is a nod to the nineties but with enough modernisation to keep it simultaneously fresh»