Bought my first polo last weekend. i knew it needed a bit of work on it but the bodywork is solid no rust anywere.

Engine ; 1.3 spi

model ; Genesis Coupe

mileage ; 170,000

Exhaust Manifold Gasket

First job was to remove the exhaust manifold as the gasket had perished and was blowing.

i soaked the nuts with wd-40 and got the engine hot so it made it easier to remove them. the nuts came off with no problem.

then i cleaned the old gasket off both the manifold and the block, then put a thin layer of exhaust paste on both faces.

next i put the new gasket in place and tigthened the nuts then checked for leaks, i was really suprised how easy it was to do i had it done in 20mins.

Rocker Cover Gasket

Firstly i soaked the engine in degreaser to remove the tons of oil which had leaked from the rocker cover.

then i removed the three secring bolts from the top, the rocker cover then lifted off.

Then i removed the old gasket and cleaned the sludgy oil off both the faces with a rag.

I then put the rocker cover back on with the new gasket, i then tightened up the three mounting bolts, got to the third bolt tightened it too mush and it snapped off in the head lol

so i then had to drill out the bolt and use a stud extractor to remove the stud

After the stud was removed i then found another bolt to go in its place and fitted the cover back on

Spark Plugs

Firstly i removed the airbox to access the spark plugs.

Then one by one i removed the the spark plugs

Old

New

Front Discs & Pads

Firstly was to soak all the mounting bolts in wd-40 as everything was corroded and seized.

Removed the old pads from the carriers and thoroughly cleaned the sliders

I then removed the old discs, cleaned the face on the hub and fitted the new discs.

Fitted the new pads and securing clips.

While i had the wheels off i gave the calipers a quick clean and a coat of silver hammerite

I also fitted the new distributor cap and rotor arm but i dont have any pictures, also the new air filter has been fitted.

Next up oil and filter change, coolant flush, change thermostat, new petrol tank getting fitted at Motortech on Monday afternoon

thanks :-)

jesus your good a t cleaning

wanna do my disks and stuff?

they're new disks mate, aha. good little project man!

Update

New Petrol Tank Fitting

When i bought the the polo i knew the petrol tank was rotten and was leaking fuel, so a call to MOTORTECH and i was booked in for monday and a new petrol tank ordered.

Monday afternoon came and the job started

First job was to remove pipes from the fuel pump and fuel gauge sender unit under the back seats.

Next job the overflow and vent pipe were removed from the fill nozzle to allow the tank to be lifted out.

Here is a picture of the fill pipe pulled out of the rear quarter, rotten, the leak was coming from the bend on the bottom of the fill pipe.

Heres a picture of the old tank in place

Next job was to undo the securing strap, then lift the old tank down and emptying the fuel into a container.

Here is the old tank out on the floor

The new tank ready to go in

The new tank went in no problem and was connected back up to all relevant pipes, then filled up with fuel to check for leaks.

All was good and i now had a tank which didnt leak :-)

New Steering Wheel

I ordered a new steering wheel last week, it turned up today

Heres a picture of it.

Also my newdoor handles arrived as the current ones are worn

While the car was on the ramp at MOTORTECH kilvo had a quick look around it, we found that it needs 4 new wheel bearings, two front bottom arms as the ball joints are knackered.

So will be more updates soon when i renew the following parts

0 - Front Bottom Wishbones

0 - 4 Wheel Bearings

0 - Refurbish Rear Drum Brakes

So its nearly there mechinically, then it will be onto the modifications

Future Plans

0 - Full Respray

0 - Underseal underbody

0 - Powerflow Exhaust

0 - New Interior

0 - Flocked Dash and Interior Trims

0 - New Wheels

0 - Tidy Engine Bay

Thanks For Looking

hope you undersealed the pipe on the new tank before fitting it

Looks like a great project. Any pictures of the whole car?

X2 on the underseal haha, it'll rot away like nobody's business if you don't.