May as well start a thread in here and set a good example

I wasn't after a new car. Put it this way, i wasn't after an old car either.

I'd been looking for a GT for a few months however I got disenchanted with A) The price they go for and B) There are many poor examples for sale; even in the 'right' places.

It all happened on the 14th April, I was browsing the forum at lunchtime at work and came across this post:

http://www.clubpolo.co.uk/forum/index.php?...=192926&hl=

I thought, cool, a Derby owner in Bristol, it'll be nice to go and have a look at it as i've never seen one in the flesh before apart from at shows.

I messaged the lad and got no response immediately. It was almost two weeks later when I got a message replying to me and how much he was asking for the car.

I was in Morrisons (of all places) when I read the message on the internet on my 'phone. Immediately my blood pressure rose, I found Kaylee (my girlfriend) and told her the news, she thought nothing of it, naturally.

I tried keeping it a secret but by bedtime that Evening my brother, my best mate and my mate George (evabot59 on here) knew too.

Arranged to view it on Bank holiday Monday, it's solid apart from the rotten front arches, valance and rear arches. My Brother (misterstumpy on here) is a welder by trade and all he could say was "get it".

Went and met Rob the owner, all of 8 miles away, looked around her, started her up and made an offer there and then; Rob accepted.

Here are the pics from when I went to view it (the big wheels were on just for transportation reasons)

We agreed that his mate will be able to deliver it for me which was pretty decent seeing as it had no tax or test.

Received it last night and examined it this morning. Where it's rusty it's completely gone, however everything else is pretty damn solid and straight!

Plans for the short term are to get it transported back to Oxford where we can start the work. Rust will be cut out and arches/wings repaired if we can't find any second hand items. Golf arches may make an appearance too.

My aim is to get the bodywork absolutely solid and rust free and 12 months MOT on her, for the time being I may have to leave her in red oxide primer until I get plans/money for paint.

I have a GT engine in my knackered GT Breadvan on my Parents' driveway. it will have a full GT conversion running on fuel injection a 4 branch/decat, 8k chip and a K+N panel filter. I also have a set of Weitec 60/40 springs, G-Laderseite ARB blocks and plan on rehauling the whole braking and suspension setup. A GT rear beam will make an appearance too.

This, for me will probably be a long project, a year at least but to say i'm pleased is an understatement. I'm pretty sure it'll be worth it.

Thanks for reading!

Nice one Charlie, will do! Here is my first and very minor update on her:

Update 1. 15th May 2010.

Saturday afteronon, weather seemed nice, didn't have much to do so I thought I better crack on and explore this 29 year old rust bucket sat outside the flat.

I removed the rear lights and was met with almost 30 years of roadside grime:

Once I managed to get prise lights away from the shell (lots of mastic/sealant in the way) I inspected the lights and gave them a bath; they're in good condition minus some overspray that'l t-cut out:

Then I removed the badges and, met with a load of dirt behind them:

They cleaned up well, minus the lack of paint on them!

I then removed the grime on the rear panel and was pleasantly surprised at the condition of the paintwork/bodywork on the rear:

A very minor update I know but it got me attached to the car, almost in a maternal way! John Bowlby and his Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis better watch out!

Next plans are to collect another pair of rear lights and a rusted wing as a spare, hopefully at the weekend.

I'm keen on getting some small bumpers, same ones as Simmo produces so will have to have a look for a pair, I do wanna keep the square lamps too so will have to have a think about what it'll look like.

Update 2. 23rd May 2010.

I went over to a nice part of Bristol yesterday, well not quite Bristol - Temple Cloud, near Bath to collect a spare set of rear lights and a wing 'that could be saved' all for £30.

Plan is to get a pair of tatty wings and make one good pair out of them both with the welding skills of my Brother. Alternatively, we could just repair both pairs and have a pair as spares.

I cleaned the lights up in the bath, they're in good condition however the rear of one unit has cracked where the bulb holder fits into position - not a problem for me.

I'm becoming a parts whore already!

Update 3. 23rd May 2010 (Second update today!)

Decided to remove the front headlamps and grille which eventually ended up in me removing a wing too.

It was only the 5 or 6 bolts holding the nearside wing in place so I whipped it off and lined up the new one:

It doesn't fit well, obviously it needs work so I have left it on the car with the bumper holding it in place for the time being:

This is how it stands now:

I 'won' well, made an offer outside of ebay for a set of 14x6 Speedlines which may go on the car, think they may be a it too modern for it though.

Update 4. 14th June 2010.

No more on the Derby as such, however I nipped 20 miles 'over the bridge' to Wales yesterday to collect a spare Polo GT Head and Cam that i'm hopefully going to rebuild for the Derby.

A little slight scoring on the lobes but I honestly believe it's nothing to worry about. I have my GT engine at home I could comare to also.

Plan is to completely rebuild the head and chuck on a smart rocker cover. A lad my girlfriend works with had his Mk4 Polo engine replaced as it was knackered and I helped him start to strip it down earlier tonight, I got this rocker cover out of it:

Would be nice to get it sand blasted/polished up but I don't really think that's me to be honest. May get it sent off to be powder coated instead.

Just need to sort out the breather for it.

I'm hoping to get the Derby home in July. My aim is to get her on the road by next May, in time for my 24th Birthday...

Took her over the road on Saturday as me and my mate were bored after Bristol Volksfest!

Update 5. 19th August 2010

The Derby has been at home a couple of months now much to my parents' disbelief! My dad reckons we'll have gypsies round asking to tow it away for scrap metal in all seriousness.

Attended Stonor Park, Bristol Volksfest, BVF and the Polo Show and saw a handful of mk1's [both Polo and Derby] at the latter two and that really gave me inspiration to get mine on the road.

I'm at the 'collecting parts' and 'getting prices for repair panels' stage, me and my brother have a shortlist [should be named a longlist in this instance] of panels for her.

After seeing retrowagen1234 advertising a pair of solid wings I knew I had to have them, unfortunately one was sold by the time I got there but I managed to get a drivers' side wing which I was happy with.

After a chat to Vic [euro-derby] at the Polo Show I knew I needed to replaced the front panel as mine was shot, I didn't want to get it repaired for it to rot again so I bit the bullet and got a brand new front panel from retrowagen1234.

I thought i'd treat myself to a Hella spotlamp grille that toby aka bitz007 was selling; brand new in the box... It arrived today and i'm chuffed. I hope the move to round headlamps pays off.

Just enough room to clip in my MK1 GT badge onto when I find it!

Sorry for the hoarde of grile pictures, in my eyes it really is a historical artefact!

Here is a list of panels I know I definitely need still...

Drivers' side wing

Pair of Sill repair panels

Pair of rear arch repair panels

I may need a pair of doors... Hopefully I can get all the parts required before the end of the year.

love the hella grill! awesome to find a brand new one!

is that a bloke or a women on the manual fitting it?!

you now have a blue wing for each side!

harlequin derby ftw!

is that a bloke or a women on the manual fitting it?!

Think the tash gives it away.

Nice little project there pal.

is that a bloke or a women on the manual fitting it?!

Think the tash gives it away.

Nice little project there pal.

Back then women did have tashes =/ lol

Progress has been slow on this, mainly because the car is back at my Parents' in Oxford and i'm currently residing in Bristol 80 miles down the road

Just purchased pair of wings, I have 6 wings now. 2 on the car (trashed) 2 that I just bought that appear to be absolutely solid (and OEM items) and 1 that i got as a spare that needs a bit of work and one that is solid. So out of 6 wings, 3 are useable!

Mum and Dad want it off their driveway so when i'm next home i'm going to look for a garage in the village to store the car in; and to work on it as and when.

Once that plan is together I will then start stripping the car and finding out which areas need attention. Once i've done that I shall consult my brother who is a welder by trade!

Once the car is solid (maybe 3 years time at my rate?) I will then think about paint.

I have a 75k GT engine at home too along with a schrick 268/268 cam amongst suitable upgrades.

Update No. ?

Wings arrived yesterday, many thanks to 'evvo' on the www.mk1polo.com Forum.

Just unpacked them:-

Focus between now and the end of 2010 is finding a garage in my parents' village to store the car so the stripdown can begin.

Been a while since i've updated... Lost touch with the Derby and almost considered selling after seeing a T&T'd Derby for sale for a decent price, engine was goosed from what the owner told me though.

All that's in the way now unfortunately is

A. Not having somewhere dry and undercover to keep the Derby, I really really need to find an old widow or similar with an empty garage she would let me put the Derby in for a monthly fee so me and my brother can really get to work on it.

B. Living 80 miles away from home/ the Derby, It's like a long distance relationship, it just doesn't work!

However, yesterday I purchased on eBay the Mk1 Thatcham manual for 99p (thanks for the link, Yeti!) and also getting a pair of doors, wingmirror, tan carpets and tan parcelshelf delivered one weekend soon to really boost the parts collection.

I've lost count of wings I now have. I think it's 6 in total. i purchased a pair of good items last autumn, got one from retrowagen that's decent and a half fucked one from a lad near Bath so I think 3 wings are shot but I definitely will be able to make up 1 excellent set if not two.

Parts/panels I have purchased/sourced

Wings

Front panel (NOS)

Inner wings (NOS)

Sill repair panel (NOS) Not sure what side now!

Pair of doors with minimal dents and surface rust

Stock wingmirror

Matching tan carpets and parcel shelf

Battery tray panel (NOS)

Spare set of square headlamps

Spare set of rear lamps

Hella spotlamp grille (NOS) bit marmite but all my Polo's hav a Hella grille!

I'm hoping I won't need more however I think the above list covers the most important items.

Really don't know what way to go with the bodywork and engine once the structure is rectified. I'd love to get the bodywork absolutely mint with fresh paint but I know that the car won't be structurally sound for at least another year so that's the least of my worries. I'm hoping, like any young person to hopefully move up the job ladder so by the time the bodywork is ace it may go for a full reapray.

Suspension-wise, probably -40mm, I don't want to scrape anywhere as I don't think Mk1's look that tasty slumped on the deck, dainty is the way to go I think, period wheels with all new suspension components etc.

Engine, will give the current engine a service and go from there, I think there's a good bit of life in her yet!

i'd like to see some pics

but whats with the wing fetish?

Because nearly all MK1'S have rotten wings, may as well stockpile for the future!

reckon petrol will be something you only find in museums before you get this car finished marty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

you sold your old white gt yet?

not sold the GT yet mate, I need to reply to Charlie actually, thanks for jogging my memory!

meh, not too bothered how long it takes, I just need to get it in a nice garage and strip the her down and get the bodywork all straight. Sounds easier said than done!

it is easier said than done!!! think charlie has bought a rocco now. i would still pm him though incase I'm wrong

i got cash waiting if you want to sell the derby!

Edited 14 May, 201115 yr by cheddarcheese

Another update:

Still no garage/lockup to get her moved into, found a garage advertised however it had been taken :(

Bought a new old stock VW valance this week on eBay, hope to get that delivered next week.

I now know how I would like to proceed with the car.

Totally original and unmolested is how I want the finished article to be, the best feature will be the paint. I want the car to encapsulate the period it was designed & produced in.

Hella spotlamp grille (NOS) bit marmite but all my Polo's hav a Hella grille!

Ha! I'll never forget your choice of words when we met at the RR day "I'd like to congratulate you on your choice of grille"

Everyone should have a Hella grille in their life

Update #3.854

Got the rear valence delivered to work yesterday, thanks to Nev on the MK 1 Forum.

Unwrapped it today, love it!

Mocked up with a pair of rear lamps:

love this thread mate please please please keep it coming

MOAR!!!

Good news.

My brother (welder/fabricator) will hopefully be building his new garage in the next month or two!

Derby will be transported there along with it's abundance of panels.

ahhh! so much retro-cool. LOVE where this is going :)