I wanted that Coupe S when it was on eBay, I couldn't stop looking at it, if I didn't have 4 cars already, I would have put a bid in. Lovely car mate, good luck with everything.

It was a very accurate advert, the guy was happy to email me lots of photos too (underneath, mainly). I was gonna win it regardless, i think - i went for broke with my bid..

Been out there this afternoon, short days, not getting much done, but i'm chipping away. Today was mainly spent building up the new 1.6/clutch/gearbox. Also stripped the Comet's mouldy seats of their trim (easier said than done), as i'd like to use them. They're still in the wash.

If it's not a success, i might use the Genesis seats - seems a shame to lose the 'Dennis the menace' sports seats, but the stitching has turned to dust and they're splitting at the seams. If they're the same as the MK1 Golf GTi frames then Newton Commercial sell a re-trim kit for those, or i could just have the bolsters re-made in leather - but either way, i'm not looking to spend quite that much on the thing!

Not done much on the car itself in the last couple of weeks, but still chipping away at stuff.

These cylinder heads have a few cam choices, i'm keeping my current match secret until i know how it runs on them - as a clue, the cams in the foreground of this old pic are cast iron and include the one i minced on the way to poloshow '13, but both cams i'm now gonna use are hollow steel like the ones in the background..

I'd previously painted my manifold black, to keep the engine looking in relatively ordinary/factory 6n/9n colours, seemed to suit the Comet blue..

..but though the bay was usually filthy dirty and never a show case, which is a theme set to continue despite a good wash, i've decided on a colour scheme more fitting for the age of the white car.

The clean.. (though i'm not bothering to remove any wax)..

The '80s engine colours (note catch tank)..

Crackle paint would've been better but it's a bit '70s really.

Serviced the bike carbs, too..

Edited 24 December, 201510 yr by MikeyMK

Engine cover and bike carb bits look very tasty :)

I may make some longer funnels, i've already made a former for some up to three inches longer.. But i wanna trade torque for top end really, which means keeping the short ones. I thought they were annodised, turns out they're just dull - took literally five seconds each to bring them up like that with a lathe and a Scotchbrite.

More the point, the carbs are now properly serviced for the first time since i've had them. The o-rings for the fuel inlets were totally flatted and can't have been up to much, so it was long overdue.

Good work, should run lush compared to the boshed together examples that there are about, would love to see a video of running if your able to do that at some point

Got about five weeks left before Clubpolo annual RR day. Hoping to have it there, and will take video.

It was last there two years ago, not running it's best but not bad. I'd just thrown it together and set the dizzy by ear. It was making over 140nm by 2k but gave up at 127bhp. Turned out to be lean up top. And the horribly raspy back box was indeed on the wrong way around (never did find out what car it was off!).

I'll also do the run with the bonnet open, this time! Lost about 40bhp there!

This year the dizzy is still a factory curve - 1.05? 1.3? Who knows! So it'll still be well compromised.. but here's hoping i can do better than 127bhp.

Edited 24 December, 201510 yr by MikeyMK

Just read this thread from start to finish, talk about ups and downs!

Glad you're getting on with the new one.

I didn't take it to RR as it wasn't gonna be finished in time and i didn't wanna rush it. Brakes and suspension all went smoothly but the engine is a new build and a few changes have been made to electrics and fuel system (reliability and security).

Then there are the seemingly hundreds of little things, things like sorting a new adjustable alternator bracket, proper exhaust hangers, new less-aggressive geometry ARB mounts, etc all ate into time.

But eventually, it's back on the road..

To me at least, it's the car i've always had (helped by giving it my reg), and it's the best it's ever been.

I wrote a comment on this yesterday but my connection must have been to weak for it to post...

Looks stunning mate, the standard look is the only one that's doing it for me with mk1's and mk2's atm. Love the pin stripe too. It gives it a subtle "sporting" effect :)

The stripe is factory.

I have the vinyl for a braver set of stripes i've designed, with quite shameless inspiration from the MK1 Fiesta Supersport, but it won't look right with both. Or even the mouldings either. So although the driver's door has seen better days (it was re-skinned in 1991 and the repair is showing it's age), and the mouldings are pretty useless, i'm not sure i wanna do it.

The car's already attracting too much unwanted competition (dickheads) whilst i'm out on the roads. And whilst i can hold it down, it annoys me when i've got a 4yo kid in the car - i don't really wanna make it look racier right now. I'll see.

There's no passenger seat in the pics. This is because i stripped the '88 seats to wash them. Passenger squab still has some black mould spots though. I have one in there now but i don't really wanna use the Genesis seats. That said, the child seat in the back means i can't fold the '88 rear seat at all, wheras the Genesis bench is split-folding, and would allow me to enlarge the boot with the child seat in place. So that's another thing i don't know about atm.

My other plan is to put an extra inch on the wheels. The reason for this is that the 185's are a bit much for the 5.5's and there's a touch of rub to the inner wing on full lock. Bringing the outer rim out a touch would sort this. Front arch clearance is the only issue here, really.

I'm not keen on banding, but there's a way of doing it so it'd look factory - less than half the welding, valve in the right place, inner vents still uncovered.. I don't need any new tyres yet but my next set will probably go on these new wheels if i ever get around to finishing them..

I think the sticker looks spot on now, would be a shame to experiment and then not like it lol maybe someone can photos hop what it will roughly look like for you

In regards to the wheels I take it you plan on cutting out the centres and putting them in an already wider rim like you said some time ago?

There was an issue with that idea - Weller told me they'd be happy to sell me rims without centres, but that the rims are stretched when they press them in. This is the case with all steels, to a point. So there was a chance i was not gonna be able to press the VW ones in, and even if so, that the rims wouldn't be entirely round..

So with my other approach, this is how the other wheels are looking atm. 7x13 et20.
Bit wider than I wanted but I was limited by my choice of rim - I wanted a bead lip (not all inners have them) and a suitable profile for the valve.

Edited 8 March, 201610 yr by MikeyMK

Those will look lovely when finished. Hats off

If they don't fit/work/look just how i want, then i'll use a smaller tyre - either a brand where 185 are smaller (such as Falken or Pirelli) or a 175. Nankangs are naturally wide - these 601's are more like a 195 really. Their ability in the dry, and lack of ability in the wet, reflects this.

The 7's would then probably be for sale - they were on my breadvan storage car (shed for the kid's bikes and stuff, as i live in a flat) but i think as 7x13s they'll be open to theft if i leave them on that. Even if i put the ancient and crumbly 165 tyres on them that the white coupe came with.

Anyway, i'll do a gallery thread for that car in the 'MK3' gallery, much as it isn't a MK3, and much as it may never run again.

Edited 8 March, 201610 yr by MikeyMK

I've got a few questions about the picture in this post.

http://www.clubpolo.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=177200&p=2162424

Basically what distributor did you use, or what is it from rather? Also how did you control the VVT?

Please forgive my ignorance if you mention this somewhere else.

It was running static in that picture. Note there's no plug in the switch, i just put a blanking plug on the top. With no woodruff, the inlet cam can be positioned perfectly for static running.

I did change it to switched, by putting an activator switch on the throttle, so i switched the cam by having the pedal down far enough. I could feel when i was against the switch so it was a case of waiting for the revs to get there before advancing the pedal. Sounds complicated but in practice it was second nature.

Problem was, the 2D advance curve of the late MK2 dizzy didn't change with the cam advance in the way it needed to - as the cam advanced, so did the dizzy, and knocked the timing right out. So it made more noise, but not more power.

One answer that instantly springs to mind then is to put the dizzy on the exhaust cam. But again of course, the ignition is only gonna be right for one cam position, even if it reduces the problem. It would probably have been much better, as the timing would've been in the same place in relation to the crank. But by then i'd had enough, knowing it was still gonna want some sort of step in the curve, so i didn't bother to find out.

If i thought it was worth having i'd do it. But this VVT system does little to get more mixture into the combustion chamber. It only changes the overlap, the duration remains the same (just shifts it) so it only flips the flow to better suit low/high rpm.

I'm happy with it how it is now, static, using a non-VVT Seat Leon head. I still have the same lift and duration, nice moderate overlap, no point going back down the flip/flop route.

Nice engine setup, I want it for my bready!

But do you? There's always a compromise, and for me, the problem is.. how much power do I want?

Sounds like a no-brainer but every 1.6 engine I've ran has me questioning it.

This gearbox has a long final drive, yet first gear is still useless. Second gear requires care, as even moderate use spins up the wheels from a standstill, up to 60mph. Third gear grips okay unless full throttle is used. Or the road isn't perfect. In the wet it's still able to slip the wheels at the national speed limit and has plenty left - pretty sure third is good for over 90.

And this is enough to bring out the yob in anyone. After getting it off my chest in the first few days, I've taken to teasing it along - this is nice, it takes well to low-rpm cruising, quite effortless. Spends most of its time in 5th, even when 20mph speeds are involved it stays in 5th because it pulls happily from idle. In 5th.

It's not that it's particularly powerful, plenty of stronger G40s about, but it's that it's ham-fisted. And so it requires a more mature driving style than.. i was aiming for.

Because yet again, I miss the days I could give a 1.4 8v a good workout (and vice versa), yet still fit in with the traffic. Can't do that with this. Maybe it's a good thing.

This is the best 1.6 I've ran. And it's a capable car. But it brings me to believe more than ever, that the 1.6 isn't the best engine for a MK2.

Again though, it's need for a light foot does bring good fuel economy - of all the miles it's done since being back on the road, I've put in less than 10p for each one. Super unleaded. That's over 45mpg average. It breezed the emissions test but not to a degree that suggests dangerously lean running.

I'm happy with it, it's just, a bit of a nutter.

Edited 16 March, 201610 yr by MikeyMK

Sounds like a good laugh, do you ever think you will go back to 8v?

You sang praise about the ABD and because of the array of engines you've had..you must know them enough to give a good accurate view. It made me want an ABD but they are very thin on the ground. I let one go for the sake of it being a little overpriced, that was before I realised they are bit difficult to get our hands on unless we personally go to a breakers and get balls deep removing one from a golf which I cba for.

I'd think of everyone here your one of the few that would do something a bit frankenstein with one and possibly produce a very high powered 8v.

Money can you actually take me in your car whilst it works properly?

I am yet to experience all of these described lairy features, cars with greater power and torque don't seem to experience the same traction issues or be able to pull off in 5th like you can... Like you said before when you ran on the rolling road it made less than you expected... Just curious to see what it's actually like.

It could be due to the fact you run standard cams and not big exhausts etc that you're setup for loads of low down punch?

Interesting none the less. And it least it's working

The problem with the ABD is it's in a MK3 Golf. And the MK3 Golf was so badly built, and such a dull car, that the MK2 Golf out-lived it. That's why the ABD suddenly got hard to find.

It's not a great engine but it's good for the MK2 Polo on the carbs. It's good because it makes a balanced car. I'm sure the 6n version would be as good if not better (it's a slightly shorter stroke engine than the ABD).

But a 16v is best for these, imo. They're more peaky, so they work well with sporting aspect of the light car.

The 1.6 is just a longer stroke version of the 1.4. The 1.4 is more efficient at high rpm as the piston speeds are lower and there's lower rotational losses with the shorter stroke crank. The 1.6 doesn't really make any more power top end than the 1.4 like-for-like but has far more torque due to the leverage science involved. The relatively torquey 1.6 is a boon in a heavy modern car like the MK4 Golf, but the short stroke makes far more sense in the featherweight MK2 Polo.

So i'm gonna pull the 1.6 engine out and re-build the bottom end to 1.4 spec..? Erm, maybe.. one day.. but i don't plan to do that any time soon because..

Money can you actually take me in your car whilst it works properly?

I am yet to experience all of these described lairy features, cars with greater power and torque don't seem to experience the same traction issues or be able to pull off in 5th like you can... Like you said before when you ran on the rolling road it made less than you expected... Just curious to see what it's actually like.

It could be due to the fact you run standard cams and not big exhausts etc that you're setup for loads of low down punch?

Interesting none the less. And it least it's working

It was only about 10-15bhp short, which is fine given that the ignition timing was miles out, it was running lean and the exhaust box was the wrong way around!

Hopefully i'll be at SpringFest (i don't even know when it is) and get a quarter time for it. You're only light, i'm sure it'll still be second-gear starts with you in it..

I just wanna know what's so different about yours because any cars Iv been in haven't been anywhere near as lairy as you describe yours

Could it be as simple as the tyre choice and size combined with ride height and stiffness?

At standard height mine with its first standard 55hp would spin in 2nd easily in wet and even in dry a little bit, then after lowering and different tyres I struggled spinning in 1st unless it was wet and I was booting it

Edit: Julian's Gt spins up a lot on new standard suspension which has given him 4x4 ride height despite the fact he has big tyres on