Hey everyone, I'm a new member, I've had my breadvan a couple of months now (ish). First came across Club Polo looking at engine conversion guides and thought "Sod it, I'll become a member". So anyway, pics as she is at the moment. My 40th car in 12 years of driving, came with 12 months ticket, 5 months tax and a shall we say "slightly suspect" head gasket. All for a shade under £300.

intresting bit of bodywork on the front.. :p

wow 40 cars! that is alot! what have you had?

intresting bit of bodywork on the front.. :p

wow 40 cars! that is alot! what have you had?

Yeah she's a ropey old thing, quite fancy if funds allow giving her a bit of power and leaving her looking like that (although since the pics were taken it's gained a few stickers... will take more pics when the Club Polo one arrives.

In order(ish), 1. Mk2 Escort 2. Mk3 Escort 3. Mk2 Escort 4. Mini 850 5 Mk4 Escort 6. Fiesta 7. Micra 8. Mk2 Astra 9. Orion 10. Sierra 11. 340 12. Sierra 13. Passat 14. Metro 15. MK2 Cavi SRI 16. MK3 Cavi SRI. 17. MK3 Granada 18. MK3 Fiesta 19. Scirocco 20. Clio 21. Sierra 22. Mondeo. 23. Capri 24. Capri 25. Rover 416 26. Rover 620ti 27. MR2 28. Calibra 29. MK3 Golf GTI 30. XJS (Was looking for a small cheap reliable and economical car) 31. BMW 525 32. Golf MK2 GTI 33. Scirocco 34. XR3i 35. MK3 Astra 36. Mondeo 37. Polo. Between 16 and 17 was an Astra I forgot while typing the list, there's also a mk2 astra and a mk4 Escort that were literally driven for a week and banger raced lol.

17 fords 7 vauxhauls 6 vws i hope there not all dead and buried some nice cars in there lol i thought i was bad at 17 in five years lol that bready has potential by the way but imo could do with a little tidy up not to much though

Yeah, from a family of Ford fanbois, and although I've been in Cornwall for most of my life, my earliest years were spent in Dagenham's back garden which has an effect. Tbh, I think the bodywork is too ropey to really do much tidying, there's scratches, dings and dents to every panel, I expect Rat to be the way forward, maybe get the mechanics how I want them and look for a tidier shell. Really loving the bready at the moment, great car to drive. As regards the cars I've owned being dead, I know the Calibra, the beemer and one of the Sierras are still on the road. The mk2 golf was used by the next owner for a year and is now in storage while he funds the resto of it. The Mk3 was crushed, guy who had it drove it uninsured (I warned him that at 18 he wasn't going to insure it). One of the Sciroccos was sold for spares the other one, you don't want to know lol.

Can argue with that price though!

imo id get a drivers door a drivers wing and a new under head light strip that will tidy it up no end bud

as for aforementioned vehicles nice to hear the golf being looked after the roccos are getting rare now what with tin worm killing them so easy as for the golf mk3 theres still loads left should have left the lad in it though while it were crushed

If you haven't already, you really ought to check under your battery tray else you'll be getting wet feet and slippery pedals. I'd be very surprised if the metal under the battery hadn't rotted through, it looks like a much abused little workhorse

All dry inside. Nothing obvious under the bonnet that I've seen there, thanks for the heads up though. Somehow, the floors and sills are cleaner than the rest of the car looks. Tatty and abused, but plenty of life left in the old girl yet (Famous last words!)

It's a really common rot spot on these. Mine looked in better overall condition than yours when we bought it but the metal under the battery tray had rotted through, then rotted through the bulkhead above the pedals which meant rain just poured straight in. I'm not sure how it is for later Mk2s like yours, but I know on the earlier ones VW applied a lot of stone chip protection and tough paint.

Really, for all yours is a bit knocked about it looks pretty solid. That bodyshell has a few common rot spots I'm aware of from my own car and others as follows:

~ centre of rear valance, grot and water gets trapped between wheel well and valance

~ bottom of rear arches and end of sill, particularly driver's side, this seems to be another grot trap

~ inner arch on driver's side, the petrol tank filler pipe catches a lot of water and grot and it rots away behind the rear door card, unseen

~ bottom lip of front valance, though yours looks to have been treated and is probably not a worry.

~ filler flap hole, water gets in between the double skin and splits it. Easy to tackle if caught soon enough.

~ bottom of front wings (but not A-pillar) due to another grot trap.

~ leading edge of bonnet due to stonechips. It can blow the two layers of metal, usually near the bonnet catch, but again if caught soon enough it's not an issue.

Overall they seem to be really well built and well finished with plenty of rust and weather protection from new and good snug seams on the doors and windows. Looks like yours has had a fair old wallop on the nose, so I wouldn't be surprised if your front valance is deformed behind the front bumper. Body panels for these are getting a bit harder to source now, as I've been finding out, so the rat look approach would probably save you a fair bit of cash especially if you tackle any serious damage that might be hiding.

Hopefully all the above isn't a daunting list, it's all worst case scenario stuff and I'd doubt you had everything on that list in all honesty, you just seem to be suffering from a bit of body damage.

Id sort the body work out just enough for it to regain some structural integrity lol

But keep it looks slightly ratted and untidy. Dont want it having something fatal do you.

Loving the idea of it being a GT or the like though

Apart from the damage to the front, the worst of the grot is in the front wing and the door bottoms (the driver's side one is BAD). I was surprised how good it is especially considering how it looks. I have a habit of finding VWs that look rough but arent (except the mk3 that was rotten and one scirocco that was a minter). Looks like I've found a 1.4 Golf engine, not the 16v I'd like but we shall see what the funds allow. The straight 1300 is quite a giggle, but more power is always good.