Just to clarify, the W in the vin does not indicate Wolfsburg... The first digit in the vin is the country code indicating the country where it was manufactured. 1=USA, 2=Canada, 3=Mexico and in our case W= Germany (formerly West Germany). Hello from number 2 . Cheers
They did some "cross platforming" in the '88-'89 years. Mine is from 1989, it's a very basic model with "C" badge, and originally sold in Hungary. It has a very basic speedometer, small centre box and side mirrors adjustable from outside, wipers without intermittent function, etc.. it has the hazard light switch separated in the dash panel, not top of the steering column, and the fuse box is also the CE1 version. (cluster module has also 2 connectors just like the typ19) I bought a donor car for parts, it's a 1988 model, and i wanted to swap one of wiper arm, since mine was broken, and had to realize the spline had smaller diameter on the wiper mechanism of the donor car, so i had to replace the entire mechanism. Small details, but differences may occour in the FL models too. Friend of mine told me, that the pre FL models has smaller diameter ball joint at the end of the wishbone, he had a Jetta, and one of the axle hub has the smaller diameter one. 😅
I like the big bumper MK2s the best - but I might be biased as I've had 91 and 92 Jetta ECOdiesels :) Have you ever seen a USA made Mk2 in person? Tons of differences. They aren't even central electric!! The US made cars' fenders don't even have the hole punched for the indicator / badge.
@@427Motorsports it's always funny to me how the "grass is greener over there"... people in the US were always trying to get the euro mirrors and dash warning light assembly, and as I understand it getting an "objects in mirror are closer than they appear" mirror and the seatbelt warning light was kind of a thing there? The euro headlights were better than the USA ones. I did import a set of seatbelts and the lower dash trays from Canada for my 91 Jetta. IIRC all 89 and later USA market MK2s have "passive restraint"... big knee bar at the bottom of the dash, and the shoulder belt latch attached to the door. If the belt is unbuckled it interrupts the starter. The idea being you don't have to do anything for the restraint system to work, you just get in and close the door. The separate lap belt was manual.
Pretty good Tommo, love your summary. side repeaters were legal requirements in UK from 1985, so it’s only first year of production that had blanking badges. From then on all had indicators regardless of model spec. Boot bottle was only first year also. So most “typ19” still have only front bottle. Handbrake position and design is different. And therefore so is the carpets. Boot lock is a solid aluminium block, later we’re plastic. Now, open your boot. On the early car you’ll find a grommet allowing access to the plugs for the heated rear window. On the later car this isn’t here so VW must have devised an easier way to thread the wires through. I’ll let you know if I think of anything else. And of course the 19 shells were continued to be used after the first major facelift so there’s plenty of 19 shells with all of the later attributes. But as you say, each year of production VW made changes to improve the vehicle, and to continue to market it and extend its sales lifespan. They also made cost cutting decisions. Like later carpets are rubbish 👍😀. Keep the content rolling
Great Comment Tim, thank you! Truth be told if we went into every single difference of Mk2s, this video would be an hour long. That’s why we sorta said at the end there are many differences but for the average layman, here’s what to look out for to tell a 19 from a 1G. But as we said… it’s all bollocks ;) Thanks for watching!!
Great video type 19 is such a strange one. my 1988 mk2 cl is technically type 19 according to the chassic number and has CE1 eletrics but pretty much everything else is 1g style. This is how it came out the factory. Seems to be an odd cross over year
there are some mk2 typ19 with large window as standard. some "sondermodel" were assembled in '88 with "old" parts and "new" parts. I have a memphis 06/88 typ19 with chassis, ce1 electrical system and factory exit with large glasses
As you can plainly see, that the Golf is the successor of the VW Käfer, causes the Typ Number. The Käfer is the Typ 1 ....and every Golf carries the 1 in their number......Typ 17 (Golf 1), Typ 19 CGolf 2), Typ 1H (Golf 3), 1J (Golf 4), Typ 1K (Golf 5 und 6 are the same Golf)...then they run out of numbers..... Same the Typ 3 and the numbering of the Passat.....
Golf 2 has a special place in my heart, I recently got my drivers license and I'm thinking buying one as my first car, but I don't know if they are still reliable, or if you can still find parts like second hand ones. Any opinion from someone who owns or owned one? Anyway a very good video, I really like your vibe guys keep going👌👌
We've owned many of them - we have a video on our channel we released after this one talking about if you should daily drive one or not and answering your question. Check it out :) But long story short - yes!
my golf mk2 1986 1.8L 8V carburetor no AC no power steering everything is manually activated been driving for 15 years and never failed me (doing proper maintenance is very important ) it's reliable fast and very sharp balanced on curbs and highways 👋👋
I've had 2 (for now, the 3rd is on the way). the first a memphis 1.6, 75hp from 1988 (father cars) to 2005 (my first car). and now another memphis from 2020 to today. born with the 1.6, but now has a 2.0 gti. the next one will be a brown gl with a beige interior, where a mk4 1.8t will be placed. I owned many great cars in my live, mazda 323 v6, bmw e30 320, nissan terrano, mitsubishi colt, golf mk3, mk4... but the mk2 remains my favorite car. simple, but not uncomfortable like many other 80s cars. very reliable and practically a lego with other golf models for spare parts.
Bro same thing with me. After a year I will have my drivers license and I already have a golf 2 as my first car. So it’s really reliable car parts everywhere Cus it’s an old car and they are cheep as dirt. Go to it if you ask me
Plus the whole electrical system, hence EC1 and EC2, passenger's shelf, much deeper in 1gz, alse the hazard lights switch is placed in a completely diffent place...
i have typ19 early GTI and i have discovered one more difference between models in the hoods. Holes for washers has different form and you can't install bolt on newest spray washers instead of old stream washers) it means they made different hoods as well
and more difference i have found inside the engine)) it seems like 8v engines are the same but old models also have shims for adjusting the valve clearance and new models has hydraulic compensators instead. Because of that they has different camshafts that can't be swapped
The specification of the Golf Mk2 was updated throughout it's lifetime, not just when the chassis number changed. In reality, there's nothing special about that particular changeover other than the numbers changed. It means nothing at all. For anyone reading, do *not* pay more for a "Type 19" because someone is telling you it's rarer or "special". It's not. Buy a Mk2 Golf on overall condition and originality for the year it was made, not the chassis number.
You have not actually listed the differences between the two! Just one example, Type 19 GTI has GTI badges on the front wings, later cars have repeater indicators there.
It's not 1GZ, it's 1G Z is a filler, like the WVWZZZ. Other models have it too. Tourans are 1T1/1T2/1T3, but the vin reads 1TZ because that's a filler, maybe meant for differentiating different body styles (hatch, saloon, estate, cabrio)
I just bought a 1985 last Monday. Technically it's an 86 but it was built in 85 so I like to call it that 😂 Nevada Beige 1.6 CL with a grey interior. It's a piece of shit but I love it.
There’s technically a few facelifts but the main difference to most people would be big bumpers if it’s a late one. Our big bumper car wasn’t finished at the time to be in this video. The grille is one part, goes from 7 slat to 5 slat, but there’s many other differences too!
K-Jet is 87 and before, Digi is 87 onwards. There was a little bit of overlap in the middle - but for 99.9% of cases, a type 19 is K-Jet and a 1GZ is Digi :)
@@427Motorsports thanks for the reply. I’m going to have a look at a mk2 on Friday it’s a September 87 mk2 it’s got all the things you would expect a type 19 to have except it’s rocking a 8v digi, the owner claims it’s the original engine and was a demo in London 😬
It is yes - if there's no bung, your car has either had a replacement panel put in or someone has removed the bung and welded it shut - a common mod in the 90s!
That’s fascinating, for us over here in Ireland it’s very difficult to find any info on the South African market so we really appreciate you pointing that out to us. We’re doing a book on Mk2s in our spare time and we’d love to include that fact in it! Thanks for the comment :)
In South Africa the badges carried the older font into the later models, scuttle panel cover was made of a flimsier plastic than European models, and I'm not sure if they had them in Europe but we had rear mud flaps with the GTI logo on them or GOLF or VW for non GTi models
I don't know about England, but in Europe it is not always correct. in 99% of cases everything is correct, but in 1% it is not. many sondermodels from 1988, they are marked “19” on the chassis, ce1 electronics etc… but have large windows, updated badges and other 1gz stuff. My 06/88 memphis is one of these.
i didnt even know about a older one, isnt that like the 1.3 short small mk2 golf? cant look at those and call it a mk2, the 1.3l ones seem like some sort of a rip-off shitty australian mk2 golf that was only made there or something.
Eh... no, not really. The 1.3 is just known as a small block, only difference between a 1.3 and the rest is the subframe and running gear. There was a 1.1 as well but very rare. Not really sure what car you're thinking of though!
Just to clarify, the W in the vin does not indicate Wolfsburg... The first digit in the vin is the country code indicating the country where it was manufactured. 1=USA, 2=Canada, 3=Mexico and in our case W= Germany (formerly West Germany).
Hello from number 2 .
Cheers
Thank you for this video I have a 1985 US Jetta myself
VW South Africa actually had the LHD hole completely covered up for the wipers
Someone's just mentioned that - that's new to us! Love hearing the new info, thanks for the comment!
They did some "cross platforming" in the '88-'89 years. Mine is from 1989, it's a very basic model with "C" badge, and originally sold in Hungary. It has a very basic speedometer, small centre box and side mirrors adjustable from outside, wipers without intermittent function, etc.. it has the hazard light switch separated in the dash panel, not top of the steering column, and the fuse box is also the CE1 version. (cluster module has also 2 connectors just like the typ19) I bought a donor car for parts, it's a 1988 model, and i wanted to swap one of wiper arm, since mine was broken, and had to realize the spline had smaller diameter on the wiper mechanism of the donor car, so i had to replace the entire mechanism. Small details, but differences may occour in the FL models too. Friend of mine told me, that the pre FL models has smaller diameter ball joint at the end of the wishbone, he had a Jetta, and one of the axle hub has the smaller diameter one. 😅
I like the big bumper MK2s the best - but I might be biased as I've had 91 and 92 Jetta ECOdiesels :)
Have you ever seen a USA made Mk2 in person? Tons of differences. They aren't even central electric!!
The US made cars' fenders don't even have the hole punched for the indicator / badge.
Always wanted to but never have! Nobody bothers to import when they’re so readily available here 😂 maybe some day!
@@427Motorsports it's always funny to me how the "grass is greener over there"... people in the US were always trying to get the euro mirrors and dash warning light assembly, and as I understand it getting an "objects in mirror are closer than they appear" mirror and the seatbelt warning light was kind of a thing there? The euro headlights were better than the USA ones.
I did import a set of seatbelts and the lower dash trays from Canada for my 91 Jetta. IIRC all 89 and later USA market MK2s have "passive restraint"... big knee bar at the bottom of the dash, and the shoulder belt latch attached to the door. If the belt is unbuckled it interrupts the starter. The idea being you don't have to do anything for the restraint system to work, you just get in and close the door.
The separate lap belt was manual.
Pretty good Tommo, love your summary.
side repeaters were legal requirements in UK from 1985, so it’s only first year of production that had blanking badges. From then on all had indicators regardless of model spec.
Boot bottle was only first year also. So most “typ19” still have only front bottle.
Handbrake position and design is different. And therefore so is the carpets.
Boot lock is a solid aluminium block, later we’re plastic.
Now, open your boot. On the early car you’ll find a grommet allowing access to the plugs for the heated rear window. On the later car this isn’t here so VW must have devised an easier way to thread the wires through.
I’ll let you know if I think of anything else.
And of course the 19 shells were continued to be used after the first major facelift so there’s plenty of 19 shells with all of the later attributes.
But as you say, each year of production VW made changes to improve the vehicle, and to continue to market it and extend its sales lifespan. They also made cost cutting decisions. Like later carpets are rubbish 👍😀.
Keep the content rolling
Great Comment Tim, thank you!
Truth be told if we went into every single difference of Mk2s, this video would be an hour long. That’s why we sorta said at the end there are many differences but for the average layman, here’s what to look out for to tell a 19 from a 1G.
But as we said… it’s all bollocks ;)
Thanks for watching!!
As well as that there’s early 19 and late 19. But they’re definitely not things you’d see on a 1G.
Great video type 19 is such a strange one. my 1988 mk2 cl is technically type 19 according to the chassic number and has CE1 eletrics but pretty much everything else is 1g style. This is how it came out the factory. Seems to be an odd cross over year
there are some mk2 typ19 with large window as standard.
some "sondermodel" were assembled in '88 with "old" parts and "new" parts.
I have a memphis 06/88 typ19 with chassis, ce1 electrical system and factory exit with large glasses
As you can plainly see, that the Golf is the successor of the VW Käfer, causes the Typ Number.
The Käfer is the Typ 1 ....and every Golf carries the 1 in their number......Typ 17 (Golf 1), Typ 19 CGolf 2), Typ 1H (Golf 3), 1J (Golf 4), Typ 1K (Golf 5 und 6 are the same Golf)...then they run out of numbers.....
Same the Typ 3 and the numbering of the Passat.....
looking at the VIN plates if Z is a space then its either a 19 or a 1G. There's a Z after the 19 as well!
Golf 2 has a special place in my heart, I recently got my drivers license and I'm thinking buying one as my first car, but I don't know if they are still reliable, or if you can still find parts like second hand ones. Any opinion from someone who owns or owned one? Anyway a very good video, I really like your vibe guys keep going👌👌
We've owned many of them - we have a video on our channel we released after this one talking about if you should daily drive one or not and answering your question. Check it out :)
But long story short - yes!
my golf mk2 1986 1.8L 8V carburetor
no AC no power steering
everything is manually activated
been driving for 15 years and never failed me (doing proper maintenance is very important )
it's reliable fast and very sharp balanced on curbs and highways
👋👋
I've had 2 (for now, the 3rd is on the way).
the first a memphis 1.6, 75hp from 1988 (father cars) to 2005 (my first car).
and now another memphis from 2020 to today.
born with the 1.6, but now has a 2.0 gti.
the next one will be a brown gl with a beige interior, where a mk4 1.8t will be placed.
I owned many great cars in my live, mazda 323 v6, bmw e30 320, nissan terrano, mitsubishi colt, golf mk3, mk4... but the mk2 remains my favorite car.
simple, but not uncomfortable like many other 80s cars.
very reliable and practically a lego with other golf models for spare parts.
I know this is an old comment but I just got my drivers license too and bought a mk2 golf 1.6 CL as my first car and I love it so much
Bro same thing with me. After a year I will have my drivers license and I already have a golf 2 as my first car. So it’s really reliable car parts everywhere Cus it’s an old car and they are cheep as dirt. Go to it if you ask me
Great video! I thought I had twigged all the differences at this stage but there were still a few I hadn't noticed.
Cheers David! There’s a lot more that we didn’t mention but they can be difference between early and late Type 19s, not necessarily Type 19 and 1GZ.
I absolutely love these videos! Please make more! You have such interesting content!!
Thank you, we're going to be flat out making more B)
Plus the whole electrical system, hence EC1 and EC2, passenger's shelf, much deeper in 1gz, alse the hazard lights switch is placed in a completely diffent place...
i have typ19 early GTI and i have discovered one more difference between models in the hoods. Holes for washers has different form and you can't install bolt on newest spray washers instead of old stream washers) it means they made different hoods as well
and more difference i have found inside the engine)) it seems like 8v engines are the same but old models also have shims for adjusting the valve clearance and new models has hydraulic compensators instead. Because of that they has different camshafts that can't be swapped
Forgot about the washers actually, discovered that a while ago by accident!
The specification of the Golf Mk2 was updated throughout it's lifetime, not just when the chassis number changed. In reality, there's nothing special about that particular changeover other than the numbers changed. It means nothing at all. For anyone reading, do *not* pay more for a "Type 19" because someone is telling you it's rarer or "special". It's not. Buy a Mk2 Golf on overall condition and originality for the year it was made, not the chassis number.
Yup, that is essentially what we say at the end of the video. But people like to think what they have is special.
I bought a mk2 7 months ago and I'm still confused about the mk2 models.
I missed my 1992 VW GTI MK2.
Apparently one of my previous comments was pointless. 😆😆
You don’t mention the engine changes with the model changes
You have not actually listed the differences between the two! Just one example, Type 19 GTI has GTI badges on the front wings, later cars have repeater indicators there.
so only thing there is, that before 1988 there was quarter window, and after 89- there wasn't. I like mine without
I mean, there's absolutely more than that, but sure.
Steering wheel is different, central console and few more details
Did y’all not get the aero grill with 9 and 3 slots over there?
Nope! Just the plan 5 and 7
So here's a question...does the Corrado have an internal "Type" number???
Very seldom used, but its Typ509 and Type 53i if facelift
1gz rear badges are not on the left, centre is the VW logo then on the right would be the model logo. part from that all correct bro!
We’ve had 3-4 1GZs and all of them have had the badges on the left. So that’s strange!
But we did a check and you're right. That's really weird that ours have been different. We've cut that bit out now, thanks for your heads up!
It's not 1GZ, it's 1G
Z is a filler, like the WVWZZZ.
Other models have it too. Tourans are 1T1/1T2/1T3, but the vin reads 1TZ because that's a filler, maybe meant for differentiating different body styles (hatch, saloon, estate, cabrio)
We know and agree, but for some reason Mk2 people call them 1GZs. Not really sure why. Nobody says 19Z but there we are. 😂
@@427Motorsports ok.
Btw, can you do a video on the B3 or maybe Audis, newer or older models (newer, up to B7 😅)?
You never know, we might do! 😁
@@427Motorsports old SSPs are quite interesting to read 😉
I just bought a 1985 last Monday. Technically it's an 86 but it was built in 85 so I like to call it that 😂 Nevada Beige 1.6 CL with a grey interior. It's a piece of shit but I love it.
Nevada beige is honestly one of the nicest colours they ever came in. Enjoy!!
Is the facelifted golf look just the grill? Is this replaceble?
There’s technically a few facelifts but the main difference to most people would be big bumpers if it’s a late one.
Our big bumper car wasn’t finished at the time to be in this video.
The grille is one part, goes from 7 slat to 5 slat, but there’s many other differences too!
@@427Motorsports thanks for replying!
Did all type 19s have kjet engines? or do some of the “later” type 19s have digi on the 8vs?
K-Jet is 87 and before, Digi is 87 onwards. There was a little bit of overlap in the middle - but for 99.9% of cases, a type 19 is K-Jet and a 1GZ is Digi :)
@@427Motorsports thanks for the reply. I’m going to have a look at a mk2 on Friday it’s a September 87 mk2 it’s got all the things you would expect a type 19 to have except it’s rocking a 8v digi, the owner claims it’s the original engine and was a demo in London 😬
If that’s true that’s very very rare! If you want you can send us the reg of it and we can do an engine code check for you?
@@427Motorsports that would be brilliant I’ve messaged you on Facebook
Is this the same all over the world. I have a 87 with rhd wipers and no bung for where lhd used to be.
It is yes - if there's no bung, your car has either had a replacement panel put in or someone has removed the bung and welded it shut - a common mod in the 90s!
@@427Motorsports Could have been in the South African factory where they were built. Had a look at other mk2's and the same they don't have it.
@@427Motorsports obviously not saying all mk2's we're built there. Anyway love the video and this bung thing has me hunting to spot them now lol
That’s fascinating, for us over here in Ireland it’s very difficult to find any info on the South African market so we really appreciate you pointing that out to us. We’re doing a book on Mk2s in our spare time and we’d love to include that fact in it!
Thanks for the comment :)
In South Africa the badges carried the older font into the later models, scuttle panel cover was made of a flimsier plastic than European models, and I'm not sure if they had them in Europe but we had rear mud flaps with the GTI logo on them or GOLF or VW for non GTi models
I don't know about England, but in Europe it is not always correct. in 99% of cases everything is correct, but in 1% it is not.
many sondermodels from 1988, they are marked “19” on the chassis, ce1 electronics etc… but have large windows, updated badges and other 1gz stuff.
My 06/88 memphis is one of these.
Yeah not the case in Ireland! 🙌🏻
i didnt even know about a older one, isnt that like the 1.3 short small mk2 golf? cant look at those and call it a mk2, the 1.3l ones seem like some sort of a rip-off shitty australian mk2 golf that was only made there or something.
Eh... no, not really. The 1.3 is just known as a small block, only difference between a 1.3 and the rest is the subframe and running gear. There was a 1.1 as well but very rare. Not really sure what car you're thinking of though!
🤪 p͓̽r͓̽o͓̽m͓̽o͓̽s͓̽m͓̽