Picked this up 2 weeks ago, since then the headgasket has been changed and the head has been completely rebuilt with a port and polish. Spec is small at the moment, but big plans for the future. :)

Engine

Rebuilt head with Port and Polish.

PoloAce Chip

Suspension

Evo 60/40 Suspension (not yet fitted)

Brakes

Standard

Wheels/Tyres

Steelies + shit tyres

Exterior

Late spec rear lights

Interior

Front and rear full leather seats

Day after i got it, quick clean + polish

Edited 21 August, 200817 yr by abc123

nice lil sleeper especially with the headwork. are you planning on a lairy cam?

came up well after a polish. are you planning on putting on arch trims on as the sidestrips look lost without them.

personally id try and get a set and stick them on, i like the arch trims and side strips on the mk3, helps make them look a lil bit butcher

Just bought my polo from lancing nr worthing!

How much did the port n polish come to?

That is a lovely deep shine you got going on there! Looking nice, I'd agree with 'grungeisdead' though about the arch trims, a set of them would make this car look the sex!

a set of them would make this car look the sex!

if you would fuck that car just because its got arch trims your a very wrong boy.

when are you planning on getting the suspension fitted? dont forget wheel bearings and top mounts, its probably worth changing the rear wheel bearings at the same time, and you can whip off your drum cover and have a gander at the condition of the brake shoes and cylinder.

good luck mate and enjoy your olop motoring

a set of them would make this car look the sex!

if you would fuck that car just because its got arch trims your a very wrong boy.

Its been a while since I had any action :( I'd fuck anything just now!!

even toby?

I'm trying to source some arch trims and lower sills atm, but its proving difficult. New brakes and the suspension will be fitted when I can afford it! The head work has taken quite a large chunk of money out my bank this month so the rest will have to wait. :p

Port and polish came to £50, and I got my car from lancing too! :)

even toby?

Depends how drunk I am at the time

^ that just wasn't worth admitting

08/08/08

Thought i should update this! (Work in progress)

Decided i can't keep relying on my mate to help me out + borrowing his tools, so off to halfords i went and bought myself a professional range, socket and spanner set. Also got some 240, 600 & 1200 sandpaper, wirebrush block, red & black hamerite, engine degreaser, and finally, a mars bar.

Work began shortly after my return (tea break first of course)

Before the fun started:

Took the grill + bumper off

Off with the air filter

Rad fan off

Look at the state of it...already started to take back the paint and rust with a wirebrush and its coming up quite well. Will go over it again with some 240 + 600, then spray it black.

The cam is in surprisingly good condition considering, thankfully one thing i don't need to replace just yet (although i will replace with a shrick cam eventually.

Next off came the radiator (fuck me those hose clips are a bitch), water coolent and washer bottle.

Thats as far as i got today, i also removed and labeled up some of the loom. I'm being super anal and putting all nuts, screws, washers and bolts in seperate labeled envelopes, imo it will be far easier in the long run.

Tomorrow my mate (Maxeh from here) is coming over and we should have almost the entire bay stripped bar the head and bottom end.

09/08/08

Weeeeeeeeeee

Got a lot done today, although it doesn't look like it

I've almost finished sanding down the fan housing this morning, good enough to paint anyway. (No pics sorry!)

Maxeh came round shortly after and we cracked on with stripping the rest of the engine.

We first started off with removing the rest of the airfilter piping, throttlebody, fuel rail, inlet, various pipes and the entire loom + labeling.

Then taped it up to stop any nasties from getting in

Next all of the coolant pipes, ignition leads, thermostat housing + other bits came off

This is a big hole...

Where this huge thing used to go, not needed so its going in the bin, weight saving!

What the inlet looks like at the moment, this photos only really to show the first part of a before/after shot.

Altenator out, which was relatively stress free, unlike Max's which took aaaaaaaaaaaaages.

Altenator is in a terrible state, its absolutely solid with grime (even inside). I guess thats what happens when your headgasket leaks out onto it for months and months :doh: (This is after scrubbing it down too)

Got to the point now where I can't really do anything else until i sort out a new engine + crane/engine stand. I've got plenty of prep work though which will last me until next week.

good progress mate, did you have a look in the carbon canister...i did...full of black 100's n 1000's, not tasty tho

that alternator bracket polishes up well mate so get that done lol.

paint you gearbox and engine block, clean the odd bit

heres mine after a days work...ish

^^Thats the plan...it will also be coming back to life as a 1.4

Yeah the plan is...

ABD 1.4 bottom end with the ported and polished GT head. (GT cam for now, but i might replace with a shrick in the future)

K&N air filter + drilled airbox, ported and polished throttlebody, raceland 4-2-1 mani and longlife straight through exhaust.

G40 calipers, brembo discs, pagid pads and braided hoses.

Rear strut, front ARBs, undecided on wheels yet (I'm thinking 14" black RJ's wrapped in T1-R's)

Interior will be stripped out with a 330mm deep dish wheel and two bucket seats :)

In a few weeks the suspension/bushes and topmounts will be fitted aswell as a new fuel tank and lines.

10/08/08

My early start failed as my bed was much more inviting, so i only started at about 12pm.

First off i degreased and washed down the fan housing read for paint

Degreased and scrubbed down the rocker cover, then started to wire brush and sand it back to metal.

Degreased and cleaned the alternator, its not pretty, but at least its clean and free of gunk.

Degreased, and lightly sanded the inlet ready for paint

Two coats of black hammerite so far

I regret not using primer on the head as the paints having trouble sticking and the metal was very dark. Its gonna take several coats + light sanding to get the finish good.

Not sure if this will look good or not in red, but i can always sand it back and paint it black.

11/08/08

Not much to report today...

Drilled the airfilter box

Finished the fan housing

Got another few coats of paint on the rocker cover, almost there.

Fairly boring stuff, don't worry engine soon!

this is a prettty cool thread i will be keeping my eye on this one good luck with it all!

Cheers nath :)

13/08/08

Took a few photos inbetween work today...

Rocker cover on

Red badge, whats everyone think?

Took one of the door cards out, gave it a quick clean then masked it up ready for paint. I'm going to try fabric spray paint, if that doesn't leave a good finish i will try and dye them...somehow.

14/08/08

Stripped the rear of the car and cleaned it all up. I will be making some sort of boot/rear bench cover at some point.

15/08/08

What a son of a bitch that was....excuse my french but how much of a bastard are the manifold/downpipe bolts? Its taken me 3 days to get them off, but after a can of WD40, a socket 1 size to small, a large hammer and lots of cut and bruised hands, the manifold is finally off.

I have also sprayed the inlet a lovely silver, and it looks all new and shiney, yey. Manifold will be cleaned up tomorrow and then painted too. Also i will try and remove the exhaust system without jacking it up, which should be interesting.

No photos today, because basically i couldn't be arsed after dealing with the manifold

Edited 15 August, 200817 yr by abc123

Have some photos...

One of 3 little bastards.

Inlet after 2 coats, will do one more tomorrow i think.

Brand new fuel tank.

Manifold before refurb :---)

16/08/08

Finished off the inlet today, took apart and cleaned the fuel rail, then reassembled.

Degreased and wirebrushed the manifold, then sanded it down ready for paint.

Manifold after 2 coats

17/08/08

Not much done today, started to clean the throttlebody ready for the port and polish, if i still go ahead with it that is. I'm starting to think it might be better to just purchase a new TB, already P&P, it might be more economical that way. Also, to be honest, the finish is most likely too be far better too :p

I got impatient and had a quick mock up test

18/08/08

I went engine shopping today, and found what sounds like a decent ABD lump, i have it on reserve so will check it out over the next few days. I also got a quote for my exhaust and I'm looking at around £250 (inc fitting and vat)

Got this skanky looking decat off a mate until i can afford the 4-2-1 mani, should do the job nicely until then.