Yayyy it lives! About fucking time haha.

Ugly ass head mind!

IMO...before the Internet kills me hAha

Yayyy it lives! About fucking time haha.

You're not wrong! Felt so weird at first, tiny, with controls like walking a staffie in one hand and a stray cat in the other at the same time.

Still haven't put the baby seat in it - taking the baby out in it tomorrow when the wife's at work cos she's nervous as fk about it, the weirdo.

She never went in it but for once about three years ago with the first 1.6 16v AFH, scared the be-jeez outta her because she didn't expect it, says she knows me too well and is concerned about me taking the baby out in it..? I don't know what she means..?

But it's a nice car to cruise about in now i'm getting some strength back in my braking foot, it's not all about being a dick.

Ugly ass head mind!

In-it! Makes the quirky AFH look handsome - it's like an anorexic, wrinkly version of the MX5 top, i've got a GTi style surround type plastic engine cover, but the rear section is way too high and i'd have to chop it to bits to close the bonnet. Plus the strip down the middle for the HT leads is a pain in the arse when you wanna pull leads/plugs.

The 9n3, 6r and MK5/6 Golfs have different covers, some quite basic and look like they'll fit, but sellers on ebay want crazy money atm. I also think the hardy all-metal look is good for this old skool motor but i don't think that cam cover/carrier is ever gonna look right without a cover of some sort. So a modern dressed look isn't out of the question yet.

Well i'm getting used to it again now, been rainy lately and it's useless in the wet but given some dry weather i went the long twisty way home today.

This must be the only Polo on the planet with a Panhard rod on the front, linked to a brace to the chassis legs - it means both front chassis legs resist any lateral ARB movement and this makes for very responsive steering.

Combined with multi-set rear twist bars and this MK2 Polo handles far more like the MK1 Golf GTi as it should. But now with more practical springs and it really dives, lifts the inside rear wheel right up, can feel it touch back down at times.

It does feel like it's gonna understeer, needs input to get the front end to dig in, the tail will slide out on one wheel but it takes some provocation. On public roads i can't explore it nearer the limit of course, but to a comfortable degree i'm delighted with how it handles now.

Even if it does look like a 4x4 (or 3x3 in a corner!)..

All of that handling jaga you just wrote but it's useless in the wet, doing it wrong Mikey!

Handles in the wet, traction is the issue. Without being able to tame the front axle, the balance of the car is compromised. So in the wet it's sensible driving only - a wet trackday would be a waste of time.

There are things i could do, i have pretty much all i need to convert to a DMF which would help, but that's not what i wanna do. Trying to get it to go fast in the wet, that's just not on my list of priorities.

Fair enough,

Anyway. Now it works. Hide it until the day before a show, then attend a show within the polo

Yeah i hope to be there, but it's for driving not showing, so all the provision i can promise is to keep a spare gearbox

How's the tuning going then? All set up now?

It seems happy, yet to get it on screen but i'm pretty happy with my ability to tune by senses. The ignition could go a touch further but i think it's best where it is, the dizzy currently on it is almost a stock 1.0 advance because there's something wrong with the one i curved (unreliable, hall sender i think) but it's not bad. All i've done is allowed for a fraction more advance top end by stretching the stop a fraction (this can be done in seconds on the car).

If it's missing anything from when it ran it's best ever, about three-four years ago with the first 1.6 AFH, i recon it's top end. It isn't missing torque, it's not far off the best AEE's.

Fuelling stages all seem about right, i intend to try leaning out a bit more but i wanna get a couple of packets of new plugs for trying that. The darkish sand colour these have gone is irrelevant because they've been used with varying driving styles.

It needs a tighter exhaust, i don't know what car the genuine VAG rear exhaust is from, even though it was brand new. Might have to get the part number checked out if it hasn't burnt off yet. A rod inserted goes all the way to the other side of the box and it has a hollow rasp, i suspect it's a centre box from an Audi. Currently looking at 1.8/2.0 Astra3 items to replace it with. There's a choppy nature to it at low revs, but it's not the refined helicopter sound i had with the AEE's. More an unstable choppy sound - it does sound a bit like a tuned Subaru but it doesn't quite sound right. I've only ever managed these choppy exhausts with 4-1 single box systems, so i recon a tighter rear silencer will still allow some helicopter goodness whilst chugging down the high street at 20mph..

Economy is about right i think, heavy toes in the Golf and i thought that was a fair compromise, and then this with it's shorter commute time due to getting up to speed quicker after the many roundabouts i cover, it's still matching the TDi for economy. So i know the fuelling isn't gonna go much leaner, but i'll do the exhaust box and gas analysing first and go from there.

I don't think there's much to do, it feels and sounds right apart from that slight instability right at the bottom, all indications suggest the same, and it's just generally letting me get confidence in it and the only thing i'm unhappy with is that rear silencer (or expansion box, as the case may possibly be).

Good then ? lol

Can't wait to see it in reality. Sounds amazing

Can't wait to see it in reality. Sounds amazing

Watch he just have bored main jets out.

Sounds good, looking forward to seeing this!

Come to think of it, i didn't drill these jets, they're all standard apart from the mains, and they're aftermarket 160's from ebay.

Need to remember the settings and put them in the carb thread. Needles and emulsion tubes are '99-'01 CBR600F-X as are the pilot screws which i've lost count of the turns, otherwise the carbs are the '93 CBR900RR's the bike breaker described them as. I haven't investigated this.

It's not an immaculate car, it has dents/rust/etc, some will find it interesting to look at, some will be disappointed. But there's plenty to see for those who know what they're looking for, as long as they don't have a clipboard in their hand.

It's not a show'n'shine car but i previously kept it out of the show'n'shine for this reason. Then i found people missed it because they didn't just wanna lurk all over it at a random time, so this year i'll put it in to let people have a mooch.

Come to think of it, i didn't drill these jets, they're all standard apart from the mains, and they're aftermarket 160's from ebay.

Need to remember the settings and put them in the carb thread. Needles and emulsion tubes are '99-'01 CBR600F-X as are the pilot screws which i've lost count of the turns, otherwise the carbs are the '93 CBR900RR's the bike breaker described them as. I haven't investigated this.

It's not an immaculate car, it has dents/rust/etc, some will find it interesting to look at, some will be disappointed. But there's plenty to see for those who know what they're looking for, as long as they don't have a clipboard in their hand.

It's not a show'n'shine car but i previously kept it out of the show'n'shine for this reason. Then i found people missed it because they didn't just wanna lurk all over it at a random time, so this year i'll put it in to let people have a mooch.

Just bring it to poloshow!

Yeah

come stay in the raked gazebo

I'm hoping to stay a night this year, so i can have a couple of beers.

I'm no stranger to Poloshow tbh, just the people - because i only live down the road and have only ever spent a couple of hours there..

Be great if you can come along Mikey. looking forward to seeing and the car.

JC

I'll be looking at yours, can't believe I didn't buy a loon shell when I reshelled the red one into this blue one.

It's all about the saloons, but only with square lights and short rear bumpers. Otherwise I'm a bready man. Or coupe

Mikey and the blue one have both been at polo show - shamone!

Edited 20 May, 201313 yr by grungeisdead

lmAOO !!!

beANO

Mikey and the blue one have both been at polo show - shamone!

Ahaaah! I forgot about that pic, love the foreground stuff, cheesy chips, McLovin the ledge..

You had to be there, obviously..

It's a real shame it didn't make it, loosing the bottom end yet again to friction/heat damage, possibly for the same reason as before because both times have had heavy main bearing failure on cylinder three/four. So i'm not necessarily looking at a carb fault last time afterall (sandy plugs/valves suggest this, too). Good oil circulation, same rods and crank both times so it could be a blockage i dunno.

Well, it's just gonna have to wait now whilst my time is spent on other things. I'll consider my options in the meantime. For now though, whilst this car never really changes in appearance but for loosing it's stripes again, a fresh photo taken today of it sulking..

finally a descent picture mikey! looks crackin!!