Volkswagen specialists like Oxfordshire-based Crazy Quiffs or Deutche Doktors in Stoke-on-Trent know the cars inside and out and should have most of the bits in stock, but they may be too far away for you. Garages like the Classic Coachwork Company in Broxted, Essex, are more local but don't necessarily specialise in GTIs. So you'll need to decide what's most important to you. Before you do that, though, decide how deep you want to with the restoration. Are you going to go full nut and bolt, stripping back to bare metal and rebuilding the engine - or do you just want to touch up the paintwork and have brakes and suspension refreshed? While Mk2 Golf GTIs have certainly appreciated in value over the past five years, a full restoration could easily run to more than the value of the car. And, to borrow a famous quote, 'there are things you don't know you don't know'. So, for example, you may decide to have the wheelarch touched up and find that there is more rust than you realised, which needs dealing with. Or you may have decided to treat the car to new brake pads, only to find the callipers need rebuilding and the brake lines replacing. Whatever you decide to do, make sure you see examples of a garage's previous work and speak to owners of cars they've worked on to find out about their experiences.