So this is Doris, my early mk2 saloon. Had her 10 years this year!

Model: 1983 'old Y' reg mk2 Derby GT (originally badged as a Polo GL Classic) in Ihasa metallic.

Engine:

1.4 ABD bottom end.
Ported 'impulse developments' schleppebel cylinder head.
36.2mm pinto exhaust valves used as inlet valves (34mm is std size)
Schrick 280 cam
Schrick double valve springs (same as tall block for this type of engine, so parts readily available. )
Digifant MPI system from a mk3 GT. Injectors are Audi V8 ones; 185cc/min (GT are 155 G40 are 200)
Poloace fahvergenugen 8k chip
Uncle Dom Spec dewedged and bored out throttlebody. First stage increased to 32mm, 2nd stage 49mm (standard is 26 and 44mm)
4-branch manifold of some sort, longlife 1.75" freeflow exhaust.
200mm clutch mated to CWV gearbox (early mk4 polo 5-speed close ratio box with a 3.588 final drive.)

Suspension: 60/40 weitec kit, ARB blocks, GT rear axle.

Brakes: VWII calipers, 239mm vented discs, Raicam Pads, Braided hoses, Copper brake lines.

Wheels and Tyres:

Various, see pics. Currently on G60 steels with 175/50/15 tyres.

Exterior Styling: Mostly standard. As it's an early mk2 it has the square light 'Derby' font end from the factory. Car was resprayed in 2007/8 in factory colour. Replaced standard non-tined windows with later green tinted ones. Windscreen is an aftermarket one with a blue gradient at the top. Replaced original mirrors for some externally adjustable (as opposed to internally) '82 spec mirrors. Also has an electric chrome aerial that's operated by the radio. Most of the original chrome details have been removed due to dilapidation. I have fitted new window seal chrome and I hope to replace the bumper chrome sometime very soon. I quite like the 'cleaned' look so I probably wont re-fit the swage line or roof gutter chrome (fortunate really as you cant get the parts anymore!)

Interior Styling: Corrado front seats, Mk1 Scirocco GLS brown steering wheel or Coupe S wheel when the mood takes me. chrome window winders, mk1 golf MFA clocks with mk1 golf MFA indicator/wiper stalks (straight swap) Converted to green LEDs so I can see the clocks better at night. Additional Gauges in dash above radio. (Oil pressure, AFM, voltage)

ICE: Panasonic Digital Radio cassette player taken from my first car, a G reg Mk2 ranger. Fits in with the style of the car nicely. Has ipod connectivity(!) Single 6x4" kenwood speaker in dash. Storage for 5 casettes in centre console. Planning on adding a couple of other speakers hidden from view eventually.

Security: None(!) It's locked away in my garage most of the time.

Comments: The GL was the Uk's flagship mk2 polo model before the days of the Coupe S and the Ranger. Over the CL saloon model it came with a bigger and more powerful 1272cc 60hp engine originally sold in the mk1 derby GLS, chrome wheel trims, (like these) Special chrome trim along the swageline, chrome roof guttering, halogen headlighs with headlight washers (along with massive 8 Litre washer tank!) and a two-tone horn!

On the inside there is chrome detailing around the clock surrond, heater controls and door hanle surrounds as well as a chrome stripe running the length of each doorcard. This particular model has a brown dash and tan interior. There were three other combinations available. You could get blue and black interiors with black dashboards, and a full brown on brown interior: Pic

Future Plans: Want to have the seats retrimmed in tan leather otherwise not alot really! Keep it on the road. Drive it as much as I can. It'd be nice to get to 100k in it (it's on 73K now and I've done about 1K a year in it since I got it 5 years ago. Only 27 more years to go then!



Some pics of how it's evolved over the years, there are more pics throughout the thread. This is supposed to be a bit of a summary of it's evolution:

How it looked when I picked it up just before BVF in 2005



Polo show 2005. Ditched the roofrack. and fitted GT steels with chrome rings. Karl_CL gave her a good clean for me





Polo Show 2006. Not much changed on the surface apart from the wheels. But since the last photo, all the supension was replaced (FK 60/40 kit), GT rear axle fitted, G40 brakes and all new brake lines, new longlife exhaust and a weber carb conversion











April 2007. Respray prep. Interior removed, de-trimmed. New seats trial fitted.





September 2008. First pic after respray. Trial fit of borbets. Unfortunately it went badly!



September 2009 at the polo show. Think I must've forgot my camera for this one. No changes apart from I'd managed to find another pair of deep dish 14x6 CWs. Earlier I had used standard 14x6 ATS cups on the front. (see above pics) Unfortunately they are now well overdue a refurb.



July 2010. Pic mid way through engine swap and suspension upgrade (PPP subframe, weitec 60/40 kit, 1.4 engine build). One last look at it on the borbets before I sold them.



August 2010 at the polo show. G60s fitted, engine build completed with fuel injection conversion.

Edited 21 January, 201511 yr by Gaz

Very nice, and very clean too.

Do all the functions on the computer (like oil temp etc) work?

That car is phat as hell The green / brown scheme looks top too, well classy! :-)

Very nice, and very clean too.

Do all the functions on the computer (like oil temp etc) work?

Yeah the only thing that doesn't work is the shift change light on the economy computer, there's no provision for it on the 5-speed gearbox. :( All the functions of the MFA work, although the fuel economy gauge is slightly inaccurate:

The wiring side is pretty straight forward - it uses the same plug the formel E uses for the sensor inputs.

Thanks guys.

Looking good as always Gaz. Come on in leaps and bounds since BVF '05.

Karl.

Nice tidy example Gaz, especially for its age. Like it on them rims too

Love it. Bloody brilliant.

very nice, these are the coolest polo's in my opinion, gotta gl myself

Total minter and a role model for other mk2's, saloon or otherwise, I'd like to take a leaf out of your book and get some OEM-form power.

awesome car, always loved the mechanical side of it. stance and everything looks so right- if not knockit up 1 on the rear to get it sitting even. Kooool colour!

Yeah I agree needs to go up a touch at the rear. But it's already on the highest setting! I've got another set of shocks that will go up another 10mm or so, tis just a case of getting round to fitting them. :)

just palin and simply spot on

Really good looking car this!

Perfect.

Just one question - how long does it take to fill that washer bottle? It's bigger than the one on my camry

I've never had to fill it.

Sweet wheels Gaz

Love this car. Will be a beasy when you get the 1600 motor in it

Great picture chris - Cheers!

Not made much progress on the engine reecently. Just waiting for one to come along for me to pounce on.

Got a real soft spot for well modded mk2 loon's. Interior is spot on for era, glad you enhanced it aposed to ditching it for a new spec one.

Did the car come with early spec mirrors? Or have you added them yourself?

Not just a random saloon on cups then - absolutely superb.

Carefully chosen and desirable period upgrades enhance the car to make it what VW should've made at the time. Replacement drivers seat foam,and a bit more fuel in the tank,would make it a very pleasant place to sit :)

I suppose I should add some updates!

As mikey mentioned the drivers seat was a bit buggered. On closer inspection it had been repaired at some point already as some of the welds holding the subframe together had broken. I've now got some corrado front seats which I've modified to fit, these will be re-trimmed to match the interior along with the rear bench. (at the moment they are light grey)

At the moment, the car is very much in a transitional state. I've removed most of the interior to check for rust, including all of the sound deadening, which I will replace at some point, possibly with dynamat type stuff. The car is also on GT steelies and trims due to the Cups needing a re-furb. All of the side trim has been removed in preparation for some bodywork. Last thing need to do is remove the bonnet extension without breaking it.

I've had to take the GB sticker off too. It did a sterling job of hiding the big dent.

The 1600 engine is coming along, but I've run into a few setbacks involving the pistons and clearance issues. So the plan now is to get later ones to solve the clearance issues, and possibly to invest in some uprated conrods as the standard 1.6 8v rods are somewhat prone to failure.

Yesterday I fitted Digignition from a GK engine. I managed to source the loom and ECU off German ebay quite cheaply, but the distributor I had to buy new. (cost an arm and a leg!) I fancied trying something new as the saab dizzy will be included in the sale of the 1.3 engine, as well as the fact that I had no idea how suitable the advance curve was on it. Plus with this distributor I can fit injection at a later date if I decide to as it's the same internally as a GT dizzy.

After a small test I could find little difference between the two setups, so I can still recommend the saab dizzy as a good aftermarket upgrade.

a bit more fuel in the tank

Loads left! My fuel gauge is a little eccentric. When full to the brim it reads 3/4 full. Drops well off the scale before it gets to empty.

Got a real soft spot for well modded mk2 loon's. Interior is spot on for era, glad you enhanced it aposed to ditching it for a new spec one.

Did the car come with early spec mirrors? Or have you added them yourself?

I wanted a tan leather mk2 rocco storm interior for ages, I've given up looking now, so I will have to make my own with the corrado seats I've got. :) It'll still be retro though, don't you worry

I added the mirrors, mine is an '83 spec so it just missed out. I think they were removed due to aerodynamic concerns, but they do look miles better. :)

Some pics (such that is is at the moment!)

GK ignition (note ecu and no vacuum advance on dizzy)

De-trimmed on GT steels

Rado seats yet to be done and stripped out interior

Nice work mate, I'm glad yo're sticking with the cups caouse I think they really suit it. Looking forward to hopefully having one of my boots parked next to yours this summer. :)

Nice work mate, I'm glad yo're sticking with the cups caouse I think they really suit it. Looking forward to hopefully having one of my boots parked next to yours this summer. :)

The cups are sort of going, as I've found another pair of deep dish ones to match the rears! Not sure how it will look with a matched set, but I'm looking forward to it. :)

Yours is one of my fave mk2s, will look cool with the rado seats trimmed, shame about the original seats tho. Same as mine, I need the foam replacing :(

I did like the original seats, but they had seen better days. When I took the rear bench out I found out the fabric had split on on the top half along some of the horizontal stitch lines. I'd already replaced the drivers seat once, the original one had ripped fabric on both the backrest and the base. What I should've done is swap the fabric from the seat in the pics to the original seat, as there was nothing 'mechanically' wrong with the old one. Never mind, It'll all be right soon enough. :)