Model: 1986 Polo Coupe S

Engine: 1.3 MH with 5 speed 8P gearbox, full Ashley mild steel exhaust system and 4-branch.

Suspension: TA Technix shocks with Weitec 40mm springs and 10mm lowering top caps up front. Powerflex anti-roll bar bushes, poly inner and outer TCA bushes and 5 speed anti-roll bar. GT/G40 steering damper.

Brakes: Standard VW I's. VWIIs to be fitted after a rebuild.

Wheels and Tyres: Black Coupe S steels with beauty rings 13 x 5.5 ET38/Mattig SSF steels 13 x 7 ET20.

Exterior Styling: (Almost) Full respray in original LA3A Mars Red, red front indicators, LHD rear foglamp.

Interior Styling: Standard 'Dennis the Menice' seats and doorcards. Fischer cassette storage box. Golf Clipper Sportline Recaro front seats.

ICE and Security: Sony CDX-CA700 head unit, JBL GTO 6 x 4 rear speakers, SPLX amp, JBL 12" sub.

Comments: I've owned this now for over 2 years. It was bought off a member of the forum as a non-runner for £125 with 57K on the clock. After promptly sorting the headgasket, changing the cambelt and giving it a service it was returned to full (running) health.

As I was getting ready to send it for an MOT, however, serious corrosion to the driver's rear jacking point meant I had to get the welder out. In my quest for perfection, and righting previous bodges on the car, this quickly turned into a restoration project .

Its laid dormant in the unit for the past couple of years wating for me to give it attention. This month I decided to give it my full attention, and her is where things stand at the moment. More updates will follow.

Old and new:

The nasty bits:

Hole in tailgate below screen seal caused by incorrectly fitted rear screen.

Offside rear arch/valance heavily rusted. This was after the grott was chopped out.

Work begins:

Nearside sill was welded where there was some nasty rust coming through from a previous bodge repair of some accident damage.

The tailgate has been welded, de-rusted and de-dented after the hole was found in it.

Another picture of the nearside. The rear arch wasn't too bad, but there was patches of rust coming through. These were chopped out, new metal welded in, and then the repair given a skim of filler.

Rear panel finally starting to take shape after one of the cars previous bumps left it pushed in, and previous filler work was less than decent.

A crease in the rear quarter was sanded back to bare metal to allow the use of the 'pin-puller'.

The rear end starting to look more original now. This was prior to the final bit of sanding, and before the application of tone-chip paint.

24 years of careless and clumsy people's dents removed from the passenger door...

and the driver's door, which was the worst of the pair.

Nearside rear quarter finished, ready for the first stages of paint.

Rear end completed, ready for first stages of paint.

The MRS has eyes without a face . The start of more trim coming off in order to ensure a decent paint job. I hope I can find somewhere who can skillfully re-fit the Coupe S stripes!

And what it could look like after all this work :

Hopefully have some more updates soon!

Like mk2's in red.

Love the work so far mate

Any plans for the MH

Or will it be converted to something?

Max

nice work :-)

What about a 4+e gearbox they fit the MH engine code (same as my 1.3mh golf) live the 5 speed dream

nice work buddy didnt know you had a mk2 you fancy helping me with a spot of rust and a few dents

Like mk2's in red.

Love the work so far mate

Any plans for the MH

Or will it be converted to something?

Max

I particularly like Mars Red. Noticed there seems to be a fair few Mars Red coupes that have come out of the woodwork. Was nice to see them, as it gave me inspiration and motivation to dig mine out the unit!

The MH will stay standard. It was, in the brief month or two before the car was taken to bits, running well. I'm hoping I can put it into daily use and benefit from some decent fuel economy. Something my GT lacks, though my lead feet might have something to do with that!

I was toying with the idea of testing a bike carb set-up out on it and perfecting it before transferring it over to the GT. I might give it the GT engine from the Mark3 though and treat the Mark3 to something different. Wanted to make sure the shell was good to go though before I did anything to it.

nice work :-)

What about a 4+e gearbox they fit the MH engine code (same as my 1.3mh golf) live the 5 speed dream

I can't take full credit for all the work. I was able to call in a favour from a panel beater at work. I did muck in with a sanding block though, and shall continue to muck in during the painting process.

The eventual plan is to go 5 speed, changing the anti-roll bar, gearlink and 'box to allow me to do so. I'm after anything with a nice long 5th, so 4+E, 8P, CEG. That should hopefully follow in a few months time once I've sorted out any teething problems after a 3 year absence from the road.

nice work buddy didnt know you had a mk2 you fancy helping me with a spot of rust and a few dents

I've kept it quiet. Very quiet .

Now its approaching a stage where it won't be too long before its on the road, I thought it was about time I introduced it.

I'm happy to help any time. Unfortunately though I can't weld myself, so any rust that needs chopping out, I wouldnt be able to do that for you. I'm getting quite good with filler though. Charlie's Mark1 Derby has helped me hone my skills a little.

mine doesnt need any weld bud its only tiny bits its the dents and scratches that are driving me nuts

nice to know that you have restored it bud it will look fantastic next to the peril its nice to see older dubs getting the love they need and with your keen eye for perfection I'm sure this will be nothing short of stunning when its finished

Like the sound of a carb set-up.

i used to own a coupe s

but now i love my golf with the same engine in it lol

Looks nice :-). Havn't seen too many black ones. At one point my mate Charlie had two of them . I've seen one of them making an appearance at shows. The other one unfortunately met an untimely end, but thankfully Charlie came away from it.

Really like the Golf you have btw. Really refreshing to see a car done in such a bright colour, and the aircooled hubcaps are a nice touch too.

Be nice to see what happens to wee Marco. I did one or two bits and pieces on that car with Saf, and it certainly had potential for more.

Looking like a fun project. Yours is a bit futher down the line than mine. I'm still taking the paint back to see what is lying under it.

I thought of having the stripes painted on rather than using stickers but I'm not too sure if they are going back on yet though.

Looks nice :-). Havn't seen too many black ones. At one point my mate Charlie had two of them . I've seen one of them making an appearance at shows. The other one unfortunately met an untimely end, but thankfully Charlie came away from it.

Really like the Golf you have btw. Really refreshing to see a car done in such a bright colour, and the aircooled hubcaps are a nice touch too.

Be nice to see what happens to wee Marco. I did one or two bits and pieces on that car with Saf, and it certainly had potential for more.

Cheers dude. The wheels are off a mk1 vauxhall cavalier. The car was all matte black until i stepped away from the growing trend. I ain't no scene kinda guy.

I used to be on here aroung 2006/7 as all-couped-up but dropped off the face of the earth. lol

Yaaay, I love your progress pics Karl

Looking like a fun project. Yours is a bit futher down the line than mine. I'm still taking the paint back to see what is lying under it.

I thought of having the stripes painted on rather than using stickers but I'm not too sure if they are going back on yet though.

I think my resto won't be quite as hardcore as yours, as by the looks you're painting inside and out. Mine's not too bad inside, so I think I can get away with it. Other than 24 years of car park dents and dings and the dent in the offside rear quarter mine wasn't too bad. I did find a fair chunk of bodge in the rear valance when I removed the paint on the rear panel, as it was peeling and didnt appear fully dry. Turns out it was stone chip paint that had reacted with the top coat creating a gooey mess.

Yaaay, I love your progress pics Karl

Thanks Salster :-). There won't be any more until next week, as it won't be ready for first coat of primer until the weekend, when it can be fitted in the booth. Its kind of bottom of the list of cars at work at the moment, as its not an insurance job, and those have to be completed to deadlines, whereas mine doesn't really, but I would like it back before Christmas.

Taken the doors off in my break at work today so the sills and door shuts can be painted properly, and removed the driver's side rear quarter glass. Tomorrow the tailgate is coming back off and I'll hopefully have time to remove the front arch trims. Really I could have done with removing front arch trims first and seeing if the wings were much good underneath, but things got rolling very quick! I have faith that they should be in reasonable condition though, going off the rear arches.

Oooh you sneaky project guy

Selecta plans look schwibbidy homie, even for a red car

car is lookin sick! I'm restoring a coupe myself at the moment and although the rear arches are not too bad there a few bits which could do with sorting. When you say you welded new metal in did you manage to get repair arches (which I cant find anywhere..) or do you have hammer and dolly skills? any advice would be well received :)

cheers

love love love

car is lookin sick! I'm restoring a coupe myself at the moment and although the rear arches are not too bad there a few bits which could do with sorting. When you say you welded new metal in did you manage to get repair arches (which I cant find anywhere..) or do you have hammer and dolly skills? any advice would be well received :)

cheers

I was in the same position as you, and couldn't find coupe repair arches anywhere. A good friend of mine ended up gas-axing an arch from a car at a scrap yard for when she gets round to restoring her saloon. In my case we cut plates to size and shape and then welded them in. It was handy that they came off an offcut of a repair panel for a car we'd had in previously, as parts of the panel weren't too far away from the shape of the coupe arches. The welding and some of the filler work was carried out by a work colleague. Hes got mad skillz and has the same eye for detail as me.

love love love

Why thank you :-)

One day, not far from now the MRS and Dennis will be side by side at a show, pimping it up .

Oooh you sneaky project guy

Selecta plans look schwibbidy homie, even for a red car

You can talk! You've hidden the beige hustler away. I didnt even realise you still had it, you kept it that quiet .

Red is the new white, which was the new black .

Nice one Karlos, good to see its getting some love and shortly to be back on the road :-) i'll send you fern up next

Nice one Karlos, good to see its getting some love and shortly to be back on the road :-) i'll send you fern up next

I can't wait, after I've been putting it off so long! Another Coupe S back on the road :-). Just got to gather a few missing pieces from here and there.

Sorting Fern. Now that could be fun after the MRS. You'd be scared to leave her anywhere though afterwards. Paranoia is already setting in with me, incase the local unscrupulous scrap men decide to cart it away with the state it in at the moment!

Currently devoid of doors, a boot, quarter glass and plastic mouldings, its ready for the booth tomorrow to have all the repairs put in primer. Before it gets put into paint a week on Saturday, I'll remove some more items from the front end.

more pictures are needed of the WIP :) everyone love a good build thread!..

Oooh you sneaky project guy

Selecta plans look schwibbidy homie, even for a red car

You can talk! You've hidden the beige hustler away. I didnt even realise you still had it, you kept it that quiet .

Red is the new white, which was the new black .

Ninja modding skills

Oooh you sneaky project guy

Selecta plans look schwibbidy homie, even for a red car

You can talk! You've hidden the beige hustler away. I didnt even realise you still had it, you kept it that quiet .

Red is the new white, which was the new black .

Ninja modding skills

Hang on a min. I've just realized something......hahaha

Damn it the M.R.S !

Nice to see you finally working on it dude .

I'm living in Derby now , we eill have to meet up for a pint or summit ..

It is all about Ninja modding skills i thaught this one wasnt going to be shown until after its work though dude .... tut tut .

Edited 8 October, 201015 yr by Stealth