Transatlantic Relations: KJ Saneinia’s Low, Loud and Patinated Mk2 Golf

Hey! I’m Kj Saneinia. I’m a brand consultant from the South East of the UK, and this is my Mk2 Volkswagen Golf Ryder.

This Golf is the fifth (and final, I told myself) Mk2 that I’ll own. I purchased it in July 2017 at a very reasonable price of £700, to be my daily driver while I worked on – you guessed it – my other ABF engine-converted Mk2. With 12 previous owners, but only 57,000 miles on the clock, I figured the pokey 1.3-litre engine, 50hp Golf would be the perfect way to get me around town and to commute in.

I’d never seen Calypso Green paint on a Mk2 before, apparently being quite rare on anything other than a GTI, and I instantly fell for the Golf’s shade of teal-with-commitment-issues. I knew it had to be decked on some sub-par coilovers and cheap wheels in order to look the part, as well as some kind of radio because while we don’t need practicality, we need audio.

I managed to score a nice Alpine 7179LA on eBay at a seriously low cost. It was super important that the stereo lit up green to match the controls and clocks, and the Alpine does just that. Really, I didn’t know how much of a bargain I’d managed to secure.

The wheels and coilover plans were inevitably delayed by the head gasket failing a mere two months into my ownership, however a severe lack of money would force me into doing my first DIY bits of mechanical work on the car. In a matter of days, head studs were being torqued down and the engine fired back up. It was the first time I’d sensed that heightened feeling of satisfaction, and then anxiety, shortly after remembering I had to drive it to work on Monday.

I lost the storage for my other Mk2 after that, so before selling it, I nicked the JOM coilovers and BBS RZ wheels from it, and set on giving the green car that ‘bottom thread on the shock’ look. Bouncy as f***, it didn’t ride or even look that good, but I was hyped it was mine.

t didn’t get touched much after that, being was my daily driver (except for the two gearboxes I blew up because I kept finding the ends of their ratios), until I managed to score a set of Zender Sport wheels – the first set of wheels I ever purchased for my 6n2 Volkswagen Polo. A quick polish followed and the car had a cool new look.

The five-spoke, convex faces were almost too modern for the car, yet looked right at home. A Craigslist find in New York had me acquiring a Westmoreland (Westy) front end, something I’d always wanted to have. Having been born in the USA, it kind of felt like it had to be done! Shipping from New York to Los Angeles and coming home with me on the plane after a visit to my dad, it was installed days after getting home – while battling jet lag, of course.

In December 2018, I took the car off the road. I found a council garage (common in the UK) for a reasonable price and decided I was going to ABF engine-swap the car. The 16-valve unit is the perfect solution in my opinion.

With enough grunt and one of the coolest noises for a simple four-cylinder, I called up the new owner of my old Mk2 to ask for my engine setup back…