Is it some kind of early EGR system? or maybe a carb warmer?

So once again the idiot begins experimenting with suspension set ups.

I've never liked the TA Tecknix set up on the back as it seems rather soft. I'm always a bit disappointed when the back end drops under acceleration :(

So I'm gonna try some coilies instead. From a mk1 golf so probably gonna be way too hard but we shall see.....

A bit dirty and manky and.....

Red springs.

So after a bit of cleaning, polishing and painting:

And all put back together again:

So now just the fun of attempting to fit 'em, get em level and trying them out!

Well after months of playing finally have the carbs fitted, tuned and more importantly no holes in the delivery

http://youtu.be/nYI9H1rGT-Y

Yippee!

So been a busy time.

Firstly the ICE install:

I'd noticed that even with just the ^X('s running I was getting a lot of vibration on the rear deck so first thing to do was sort that out.

Strip of the thin layer of foam that had turned to dust (at least theres no rust here!)

Add some vibration cancelling matting

Next step was to add a decent board under the deck to help give it some weight and be able to mount the amp on it. I don't like drilling holes in the car so avoid whenever possible. There were enough holes in the deck to screw a sheet of MDF covered in carpet into place. This meant I could put the amp where I wanted and not be limited to where the exisitng holes are.

Build some uprights and install a sliding self:

Drill some holes for the wiring and cover in carpet. Install the 2 amps. One for the front speakers and one for the rears and the sub.

Wire it all up trying to remember which wire went where :huh:

Make up some MDF speaker housings for the front, drill a small hole in the A post, install the wire shields from the boot of a VW fox,

Send all the wires through, mount on the door panels, wire in the crossovers and mount on the inside of the doors and then put it all back together again:

The front door panels will be re-done soon and the mounts for the speakers will be smoothed in and the whole lot re-done. It was more to check that everything worked ok and the sound was what I was after. The tweeters are a bit 'brassy' at the moment so I'll be re-thinking the Profiles and probably end up with JL again in the front.

Then complete the boot

So the boot:

just loads of carpet and MDF really. Plus a lot of head scratching, measuring, glue-ing, mounting and swearing later:

Just got to complete the side panels and find somewhere for the cans of tyre repair stuff now

well that and strip everything out again and add copious amounts of sound deadening throughout the entire car. Curretnly the number vibrates quite a bit!

Nice mate, very nice indeed! good to see a subtle boot build!

I need to get the false floor over mine. Shall be stock-ish then, subs in a full width boz so it flows with the back of the seats..... Currently after a couple of planet audio Big Bang 12" ers. Also need a decent amp, I'm using an infinity 450 watt now but its mainly a speaker sub. Thats what i plan to do with it once I've got a Mono bluck for the subs anywho.... it'll run the 2 fronts and rear and mids.

Thanks mate appreciate it.

Your plans sound good mate. I like the sound of the box flowing with the seats. I take it yours is a hatchback? it's definitely easier doing a build in a hatch but it's the finishing then as you have to edges you can see :-D but trying to complete a build in the saloon you end up working upside down for half of it!

Where are you planning on putting the amps? I was trying to get away from having them on the sides of the boot, but it meant that the enclosure beneath them was smaller than I wanted. I've got a 12" Earthquake I was going to use as well but the size of the box required meant it wouldn't go under the shelf, which was a bit of a bugger, so i'm missing the real lows but it's not too bad. all needs tuning properly now and i think the fronts have gone so i'm on the look out for JL componenets for the front too.

I've got a mate in the trade who might be able to do you a good deal on specific stuff if you've got the model or part numbers you're after.......?

wow

wow

Is that a good wow or a not good wow? Actually sod it I'm taking it as a good wow cheers mate.

Updates on the new suspension and exhaust to come soon

Very nice mate - jealous... makes me miss my old mk1

Looking like a really tidy, classy install mate!

Almost looks original!

I thought it'd be rude to not stop by and have a good look through this.

Really liking what you've been up to so far. The install looks really nicely done, as does the rest of the car

lovely car

Why thank you gentleman. Much appreciated. Gives the old mojo a bit of boost :-)

"So what have you been upto lately" I hear you all cry! Or not as the case may be. I'm gonna tel you anyway :-D

I've managed to pick up some coilies for both the front and the rear. The fronts came from a very nice chap on here.

Gaz Adjustable Damper coilovers. hmmmmm nice

I had refurbished the original 'stone-no-go-in-brake-disc plates' earlier. hmmm smooth and no rust! These are the originals from the mk1 struts. I presumed I'd have to trim them to get the brakes on, but as it turns out I didn't. thats why there is a bit not quite as good as the rest in the corners.

nom nom

Job Done! Despite having to clean up the threads for the top mount YET AGAIN (what do people do to them!) total time for front end.............. one and half hours. I think all the practice is paying off

And a really rubbish pic in the dark

Then time to do the rear. These are golf mk1 items I believe. Also from a very nice chap on here. The golf items might be a bit stiff for a polo but there's the boot on the Derby and it's full of MDF so I'm hoping it won't be too stiff.

First the all important spacer to make the struts fit!

Dunno if you've ever tired to this on a saloon but it's pretty tight. If I thought it was tight before it's even bloody tighter after building a sub enclosure!

yep another quarter turn at at a time job. We were lucky though as I have a rachet spanner that fits and we could just about the hold the shaft of the shock in position by hand and release the nut. Phew :p

One thing I did notice was that the coilies are much shorter than the old set up. It does mean that when you jack it up the wheel goes straight into the air rather than the 2 feet of the spring dropping down first

With the backs set at a 'just off the bottom' position with the helper springs in place I was expecting it to be about right however .............. the wheels just hit the arches.

In the end we took the base of the adjuster up about 150mm from the bottom of the shock. Using verniers we then measure between the arch and the wheel. each side set the same at 52mm.

As a double check we used a spirit level on the roof of the car. Everything looked ok B)

Went out for a test drive. So much better! no crashing noises any more Yippee.

No back end drop under accelleration and much smoother less bouncy ride.

And the all important finished stance :unsure:

I like the back but I reckon the front needs to come down a bit further. Which is a bit of a pain as the fronts are adjusted as low as they go. :(

Dagnamit.

Any ideas? :blink:

Oh and can anybody tell me how the brake lines are secured to mk3 struts please ?

Next to come.........4 branch manifold and new exhaust :-D

This looks really well!

As for the stance, you're right about the reverse rake. But it's only slight! still looks good

Blimey haven't updated this for ages!

So I've had an exhaust made up and fitted complete with a four branch manifold

basically 2" straight through. The box at the back is only a little larger than the original.

And the all important tail pipe shot:

Sounds nice and definitely responds quicker on the throttle following the tune of the 40's.

Unfotunately she decided to start leaking water all over the place as the bottom rad hose has decided to perish. Managed to track down another one and 'popped out' to stick it on.

However, like a new born kitten, i tend to get distracted and the removal of the hoses turned into something else................

I noticed the bottom of the front panel was beginning to get a bit rusty so thought I'd better do something about it

Which kinda led to:

And then

Bit of a reaction on the front panel where I'd painted it before :(

So more sanding, filling and painting

Just about getting there!

IMG]http://i470.photobucket.com/albums/rr70/borednow/Engine%20bay/P1020598.jpg[/img]

Finally primed to an okish standard:

Got there in the end and stuck on some colour. Freshly mixed by the monkeys employed at the local branch of Halfords. Obviously I wasn't expecting it to be a perfect match to the rest of car but it seemed to be somewhere near. Which was nice

Hadn't got enough paint to really finish it properly so nipped back to down to Halfords to get some more paint mixed up..........................

Nope that ain't the flash on the camera, nor your screen. It's a different shade. Lots more silver and less green.

BUGGER! You can imagine the language I used at this point

As the car was due at VW Action South West in less than 5 days I had to leave it and crack on with re-building the engine bay

Bonnet catch

Coil and bracket

Engine mount (and bolt )

Fan cowling

Fan motor

With all the paper removed on Wednesday morning (4 days to go)

So i booked the car in for the MOT on Friday Morning at 1115. No pressure then!

I've basically got Wednesday, Thursday and a bit of Friday morning to get her back together (are you on the edge of your seat yet? )

So part of the idea of this 're-vamp' was to move the wiring loom as where it comes down the wing has always been a bit annoying to me. (yes weird i know)

So time to crack on extend part of the loom. Gulp :blink:

the bit that needs extending aren't too important just the washer bottle motor feed, the 2 wires to the underside of the engine (oil pressure?) and - oh yeah - the coil. :unsure:

erm

Getting there

And all connected and attached to the top of the inner wing and covered in loom tape

So that was wednesday and most of thursday, just had to nip out on Thursday to get the steering arm that was needed for the MOT, fit the rear fog light (again ) and give her wash ready for friday. At around 11pm I decided enough was enough so i ended up having to the steering arm and the wash on Firday morning prior to the MOT. Rolled the car out of the garage and onto the drive in the rain at about 10 in the morning locked up the house and got in ready to drive down to the MOT. Now bearing in mind thursday I had charged the battery, started the car only twice and sorted all the electrics that started to blow when the fog light was attached (fault in the light swapped it out and all good again) i was quite surprised to find out the battery was a flat as a very flat thing and no ignition lights or anything.

DAGNAMIT.

So I robbed the battery out of the wifes little Fiat and managed to get down to the mot. Where it failed :( apperently some idiot had turned the carbs right up so the emmissions where about twice what they should be. oops :p

They sorted it for me and it passed! B)

So I made VW Action in the end! (Piccies robbed from SW Dubs Forum taken by someone other than me!)

As the paint in the bay was never really finished properly, no laquer and no flatting I'll have to get back in there and re-do it at some point. I'm considering a different colour entirely for the engine bay. Maybe either matt black or old english white. Any thoughts?

Edited 7 July, 201214 yr by Borednow

I think it would be a shame to change the engine bay colour.

I think it would be a shame to change the engine bay colour.

Id have to agree...

Love the work on this, always wanted a derby!

I love this but the mismatched paint has made me want to firebomb halfords. Great work here, love the carbs and work on the loom..I've got that to come!

loving this - nice work on the bay - keep a near original colour in there . When its a different colour it sort of breaks the continuity IMHO.

really nice derby, il be looking fo coilovers for my mk1 in the next few years but there so dam expensive

Seen this at VW Jamboree this weekend. Really like what you've done with this, looks really tidy and well restored

Edited 27 August, 201213 yr by Dialled for life

Thanks for the comments chaps. I'll stick with the original colour under the bonnet then. Looks ok outside in the sunshine. I'll have to strip out the engine over the winter and do it all properly. Should be fun :-D

Seen this at VW Jamboree this weekend. Really like what you've done with this, looks really tidy and well restored

cheers mate.

I really must update this thread though!

So here we go!

Trial fitted some new wheels (well one anyway)

Fitted on an original Derby chrome bumper to the front

First thing to do was sort out the rust on the inside of the bumper. So a little Vatcan and a little paint to protect it a bit

Then a bit of trimming

and then lots more trimming and little by little got it to sit where I wanted it too. I can honestly say I'm pretty good with an angle grinder now!

I haven't got the plastic trim to go on the bumpers so I've taped it for a while and I'll see how this lasts. One day i'll get araound to making a strip of polished aluminum or something to cover the holes in the bumper. Unless someones got some better ideas?

The front end has gotten to be a bit 'crusty' in places. I'd treated it with some rust converter (vatcan) ages ago and have been saving to get the front end and rear panel sprayed professionally. However it seems just as I get some savings put away we end up having to buy food or something equally as pointless :p so I thought I'd have a go at the front and the rear panel myself :unsure:

When I did the slam panel a few years ago I used a spray can and the paint match was better than Halfords (well it kinda green what more do you want) attempt at paint matching. Luckily I had 3/4 of a can remaining so i thought I'd have a go with that instead.

Please keep in mind that this is a short term fix and the whole of the panel will be sandblasted and done properly shortly!

So front end stripped down (again) and all sanded down

You can see the areas of rust that have been treated and the poor colour match repairs made by the previous owner

Note the cunning use of blocks to lift the car up a bit. (I'm getting old i think cos my back begins to ache after bending down working on a lowered car! )

All masked off and ready for painting

Chucked some etch primer on it, some primer sanded it all down and chucked on some colour

Left it cure for a week, sanded it down with 2500 grit wet and dry and then checked a can of lacquer at it

Thought i'd tidy up the rear panel by removing and replacing the rear fog light

Eh voila:

After a week of curing poished up the front panel

Came out all right after a bitof sanding and polishing

With The Cornwall VW OwnersClub show coming up I thought I'd try something a bit different.

Bumperless :blink:

Although I like the idea of bumperless I'm not to keen on the the way our back panels have the 'lump' in the back panel. So I needed a panel

Take a length of aluminium, paint into the lines and polish the upstands, a bit of cutting and 'gentle persuasion' later:

The other problem with running bumperless is indicators at the front. I've always liked the front end of the Alfa rally cars. Something like this

So a bit of modification to some old spot lights and some side repeaters that I had lying around plus a bit more aluminium to 'tie' in the front and rear, plus a bit of mesh et voila

Grrrrrr

Edited 2 September, 201213 yr by Borednow

Looks liek a mustang from the front Not sure on the back mind but if your happy

can i ask what you have done with the bumpers?!

Looks liek a mustang from the front Not sure on the back mind but if your happy

I know what you mean about the back. This is the 'mk1' of the 'bumperless bumper' :-D It does look better in the flesh though

can i ask what you have done with the bumpers?!

Sold the polo ones but kept the Derby ones. You can buy new polo ones from Heritage now if you need some :)

That looks incredible,

I know what i'm buying next!