I started a blog on this car the day after i bought her, but id like peoples input on the project (as no comments can be placed on blogs) so have moved it to this build thread :)

Right.

Firstly; about me

I'm 21, 3rd year university student based in southampton.

This is my second car and second polo.

My first was a Mk2f Genesis Coupe (Katy) which i bought as a 1.043 and converted to the 1.3spi from a £150 doner car (some of you may have had parts off me when i striped the doner!)

Unfortunately i crashed Katy in Jan 09 in that bad snow we had and bent the chassis which i couldn't afford to get repaired so i sold her.

Fast forward 2 years and i've decided it's time for me to buy another car.

I looked at a few small cheap cars (gotta be cheap insurance as no NCB and 3 points)

but the corsas, fiestas, kas, clios etc weren't doing it for me so knew i had to get another polo!

The only question was what age? I've never been a fan of the 6n/6n2 so it had to me older. I've had a mk3 so why not go older? And i Did.

Quick scout on ebay, trip up to a dodgy estate in Luton, £250 changes hands and here she is:

'89 F Reg Mk2 Bready in 'desaturated red' complete with heart shaped arial!

The exterior leaves much to be desired. the paintwork needs work and the front end has been in a shunt at some point in it's 21yr, 91k life but its all intact, no holes, no major rust.

The interior on the other hand is absolutely mint for it's age!

So, the plan is to keep it running until i've finished Uni (May next year)

I live in a 2 bed flat in the centre of southampton so space is gonna be tight but my working hours over summer leave me with 2 days off a week so plenty of time.

Whats wrong?

well, after a quick inspection when i got to my mum's, this is the list:

- Leaky petrol filler pipe

- Bonnet catch has a 'knack' to get it open

- Heater is operational but will only blow hot air

- Alternator belt squeals

- Squeaking noise coming from passenger side of the engine bay after longish journeys (carries on for about 30secs after ignition is turned off) - maybe fan belt?

- Front bumper has been forced on and is now warped

- Brake bulb gone

- Reg plate nights not work

- Clocks - main beam LED, battery light on, oil light flashing (level is fine might be sensor?)

- Tape deck works intermittently and only through LHRear speaker.

So not much at all for a £250 car!

I've now had the car 2 days and have had a good start at sorting things out

Thing's i've done so far:

- New stereo fitted (one my brother had from his old saxo) connected up both rear speakers and am now spoilt for audio choice! Radio? CD? Aux? how will i ever choose?

- Brake light (no brainer really: 72p from GSF)

- Stripped reg plate lights, ones knackered (replacement already sourced) cleaned terminals on the other and is now working.

- Removed the bumper to check out the damage underneath. It's not too bad but the slam panel may need pulling out slightly to accomodate the new bumper (also sourced)

- Hung dice (courtesy of the missus)

Thing's for the weekend

- Polo Show

- Source and fit new petrol tank (or temp fix till i can replace)

- Polish her so she's shiny red , back2black bumpers and trim etc

- Fit new front bumper

- Reg plate screws are FUBAR'd (Fucked Beyond All Recognition) so i hope i can get the plates off without damage!

- Front grille

Thing's for near future

- Filters, oil, plugs, dizzy, HTs

- Alternator belt tighten/replace

- find the source of the other squealing and attempt repair

- Rattle can/hammerite the steelies wheel covers bought @ Polo Show for the grand sum of £4.40

- new arial (as much as i love the heart) decided i love the heart too much :p

- pressed plates

- replace bonnet (or i thought of maybe getting the original one graffiti'd)

- Tidy up engine bay (paint pancake cover, new exhaust recycle pipe and a good clean)

Thing's for after winter and next MOT (if i decide to keep)

- Slammed not gonna go too low now but definitely gonna give her some rake!

- BBS, Minilites or anything else that catched my eye

- Steering Wheel (open to ideas)

Once the bumper was off, lined up replacement and realised how far the front panel had been pushed in!

Hammer, lots of pulling and some time later the bumper finally sat correctly, inserted replacement grille and she's looking better already

Just need to paint/back2black it now so that it matches the rear

oh and i realised when i got to work the following morning that i had forgotten to put the reg plate back on the front :/

MOT was done two days later

and she failed

Failed On:

O/S Front Wheel Bearing is Rough when rotated

Both front Position lamps not working

Advisories:

Both Front Macpherson struts have slight movement at upper attachment (what is this!? my last mk3 had this advisory as well, serious!?)

Nearside Rear Wheel bearing has slight play

Front to rear brake pipe slightly corroded

Both front brake hose has slight corrosion to ferrules

Both front jacking points corroded

Offside rear jacking point corroded

Front Number plate cracked

So overall not too bad!

was gonna fit the bearing myself but i dont have time/right tools so bought the part and got the garage to fit it. as for the 'position lamps' i checked them and they most definitely do work :/

after another day in the garage and a retest later....

Woop Woop! On the road for another year!

Got bored at work last night so took some piccies

Nice work!

So as usual, i come up to banbury for the weekend to see the family and end up spending more time with the polo :p

had £80 worth of servicing stuff today, oil, filter, air filter, fuel filter, spark plugs. after that she was idling erratically so a second trip to GSF was needed for ht's, dizzy cap and rotor arm. unfortunately she's still idling funny :/

also bought an alternator belt but didnt have time to fit that before sunday lunch!

The plugs don't look like they had been changed in at least 5 years and the HT's probably never!

gotta drive 150 miles back home tonight so we'll see how she behaves.

I also discovered the carb seems very wobbly, like it's missing a bolt or something but i cant be sure because i dont know how tight they should be!

any advice on that?

Wow, looks like nobody else noticed your efforts . You would be better off posting the issues about the idling in the appropriate section .

looking good mate

good progress! no the carb shouldnt be wobbly. haha. maybe thats your problem! air leak?

Yeah, I'd go with the wobbly carb as your source of erattic idle. Give that a tighten and see what happens. HTs shouldnt really need changing unless insulation is buggered. Have never changed HTs before, and never had issues. We could have had a look at this if i was around earlier

Edited 2 October, 201114 yr by prankstar2003

right, an eventful evening it has been! after i left me mams i popped round to collect a fan from prankstar (cheers for that), got lost cause i dont know banbury very well and the satnav had died, got half way to the M40 when my oil light flashed up and buzzed at me really loudly...cue big panic!

pulled over in tesco petrol station, checked oil level...fine, checked for leaks....none, checked my brother had tightened everything properly when he was underneath...he had, half hour of searching later and it clicked... i remembered accidentally pulling a wire off the back of the engine when doing the plugs, reached under the air box and yep theres the problem, hadn't plugged it back in properly! (I'm guessing that it was the oil pressure sensor)

problem solved :)

Prankstar, the reason i changed the HT's were because they were rather rusty on the inside, though i might as well do them whilst doing the dizzy.

As for the erratic idle...its stopped (Yay)

so overall, she feels alot smoother and pulls a tad better and the drive home was a bit nicer (except for the alternator belt squealing...thats got worse!)

I Start back at uni this week but only have 10 hours of lectures all week so hopefully will get time to do the fan and belt, and that petrol tank that i've been meaning to do since i got it off prankstar all of 3 months ago!

Sound, glad to hear you got back safely! Any time your in the area or need a few parts, give me a shout. Fan belt should just need a tighten, although check for oil on the pulley as this may be indication of an oil leak

Update Time!

Went on a reccy for a filming shoot I'm doing on tuesday and took this, all my friends say that the bready must've felt at home!

Anyways, i digress

Petrol Tank done!

Alternator belt done! although it now whirrs like an electric car, i'm hoping it't because its a new belt and needs to loosen up a bit?

Still idling funny but I'm pretty sure it's something to do with the dodgy carb, if it's still giving me problems in a month or so i'll probs replace the carb with a manual choke but don't have the foggiest about carbs so will have to do some major research and reading first!

Keeping an eye on a few sets of wheels and a gentleman near me has got a bonnet and some lows for me hopefully next week!

Looking better than when i last saw her. Regarding your belt, it shouldn't really be whirring, you may have it too tight. I'd suggest loosening it a little to prevent wearing something out!

Failing that, are you sure its the alternator belt? My water pump used to whir the whole time I had it.

right, an eventful evening it has been! after i left me mams i popped round to collect a fan from prankstar (cheers for that), got lost cause i dont know banbury very well and the satnav had died, got half way to the M40 when my oil light flashed up and buzzed at me really loudly...cue big panic!

pulled over in tesco petrol station, checked oil level...fine, checked for leaks....none, checked my brother had tightened everything properly when he was underneath...he had, half hour of searching later and it clicked... i remembered accidentally pulling a wire off the back of the engine when doing the plugs, reached under the air box and yep theres the problem, hadn't plugged it back in properly! (I'm guessing that it was the oil pressure sensor)

problem solved :)

Prankstar, the reason i changed the HT's were because they were rather rusty on the inside, though i might as well do them whilst doing the dizzy.

As for the erratic idle...its stopped (Yay)

so overall, she feels alot smoother and pulls a tad better and the drive home was a bit nicer (except for the alternator belt squealing...thats got worse!)

I Start back at uni this week but only have 10 hours of lectures all week so hopefully will get time to do the fan and belt, and that petrol tank that i've been meaning to do since i got it off prankstar all of 3 months ago!

LOL funnily enough, when i went dowwn to buy some seats off prankstar, i also got lost on the way, AND after i left his my oil buzzer started going off because i also had a loose wire.

what are the odds of that??

prankstar are you trying to make us break down? hahaah

Yeah. Hoping you'll breakdown, and then I'll raid any tasty bits off your car. MarkCrox may be coming across soon, and he has a lovely polo by the looks of it....

Starry I don't think you've realised but you have a Wolfsburg built car here so you should have better quality metals (less rust!)

Edited 9 October, 201114 yr by MattLoaf

Yeah. Hoping you'll breakdown, and then I'll raid any tasty bits off your car. MarkCrox may be coming across soon, and he has a lovely polo by the looks of it....

Yep I'm coming over.. perhaps Tuesday night will confirm by PM ... but luckily for me (by the sounds of it) I won't be in the polo as it will still be on axle stands!! :)

Starry I don't think you've realised but you have a Wolfsburg built car here so you should have better quality metals (less rust!)

I did not know that actually Matt! Is the a where to be 100% that it is a wolfsburg? marking on engine etc?

I haven't noticed a lot of rust on her (except around the accident area and the petrol tank!)

Prankstar: i never noticed the whirring before the alt belt was changed hence why I'm sure it's that, might have to loosen it off a bit!

I also left a small petrol puddle on the road outside your house (sorry :p)

I did not know that actually Matt! Is the a where to be 100% that it is a wolfsburg? marking on engine etc?

I haven't noticed a lot of rust on her (except around the accident area and the petrol tank!)I also left a small petrol puddle on the road outside your house (sorry :p)

You can double check by looking in the upper-left of the black tag on the slam panel. If you look on your vehicle ID number the final letter defines where the car was made, 'W' being Wolsfburg, Germany.

W actually stands for West Germany. Its in the VIN number embossed on the curve behind the air box

Don't worrk about the petrol boss, i'm sure its evaporated by now

Look forward to seeing you Mark, just let me know

Look what arrived in the post today :)

Also been on a road trip this evening to pick up some new wheels from M4TT :) Piccies soon

Insurance company want £102.53 for wheels and lows.....not alot when you think about it over 12 months but does tip me over a grand!

still gonna do it :p

Right ok, Just been to get the tracking done....20 minutes in the guy comes back into the waiting room and says theres a problem.....took me into the garage and showed me at the back of the engine bay, there is a rod, and it was seized with rust and slightly split. what is the name of this rod so that i can source a replacement?

(also posted in technical forums)

I'm hoping it'd be a straight forward swap with another part but the Haynes manual is on it's way so will check when it arrives by post this week :)

Just realised, not posted a pic with my new wheels :)

Not the best pic but only one i've got so far.

they're 14"x6J Avus/Scala/Snowflakes' with 185/50R14 Yokohama rubber. Courtesy of M4TT on here!

Only issue....first time taking 3 passengers today....major scrubbage on the rear and bit on the driverside front, Don't really want to do any arch work so gonna give it a few mm of negative camber to see if that sorts it, if not then i'll have to sell up and get thinner wheels :(

looks cool man. have a look at the rear arches, you can fold the lip in a bit. that may help. will pm you soon about lows, am moving house this week so a bit hectic.

looks cool man. have a look at the rear arches, you can fold the lip in a bit. that may help. will pm you soon about lows, am moving house this week so a bit hectic.

Yeah thats cool man, when we do the lows ill bring both sets of wheels, if we can bend the lips in, brilliant...if not ill rock the steelies again :p

Good Luck with the move :)

Edited 24 October, 201114 yr by Starry