Right then, new to the forum and polos and this is my new daily! (My project car is a 1980 Volvo 244 that is getting a full retoration, a 250hp turbo engine, and orange paint! See more here if you're interested http://retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?...474&page=1)

1992 VW polo CL. 1.3, 5 speed, and fully awesome!

My old daily was my seat arosa 1.0l which was far too reliable and sounded like a dyson and was about 15 years too modern for my liking - bought because I was talked into the idea by boring parents and grandparents.

Everybody thinks I'm mad, but I'm sure you lot don't!

This is the pic from the advert, it was 200 miles-ish away in Wolverhampton

Went to see it and got a really good vibe about the car, had it up on the ramp and checked it all out before handing over £400.

Went to collect it a few days later, the car having had an MOT, and set off on the journey home. 15 miles later, on the motorway, the rear wheel bearing decided to let go and the rest of the evening was spent on the back of an AA van. Not the end of the world, just one of those things....

Once home, got the car up in the air and both rear hubs off. The seized side welded itself to the stub axle and had to be cut off....

And the other side, which I was checking as a matter of course, had previously had the same treatment, only from a monkey it seems.....!

So, both stub axles replaced @£21 each from GSF, along with bearings and rear drums etc

Since then I have done the waterpump and cambelt, which all went well.

It would seem however that the car has had some very bad work carried out on it and has had a dodgy MOT.

Both front shocks have immediately started leaking oil (still passes the bounce test tho'), the strut top mounts are rattling around like theres no tomorrow, and various other little faults.

I have spoken to the dealer about this and he is appalled at the garage that carried out the work and has refunded me £50 for my trouble and parts bought. Not much but at least its somethings, and I'm still not disapointed in the car because I would have probably still bought it if it was twice the price.

On the to do list are:

Buy and fit uprated shocks and lowering springs

Refurb arosa wheels and get decent tyres fitted

Polybush the whole car

Fit decent stereo and some front and rear speakers (not huge things though, I don't like that)

Fit new aeriel

Have a dent guy out to sort some parking dents

and no doubt plenty of other stuff.

Heres to retro daily driving!

Steve

Got the wheels off the arosa fitted today (temporarily whilst I get the seat ready for sale)

I know the car is too high, but I think they look good and would look really good when its lowered, plus I have a spare set, so its like a free mod!

are those 924 rims?

very classy

No! Haha! I wish!

they're the ones off my SEAT. Original arosa wheels.

Right, sorry for the lack of updates. Been busy with the car!

Checked the dreaded battery tray for rust - zero! Waxoyled it anyway to prevent further corrosion.

And saw another nicely modified polo at the unit in Huddersfield where i work on various old cars

Added go-faster stripes :) Think they look cool - and they're painted!!

Pressure washed the underside in prep for undersealing...

and undersealed...

(obviously I've missed the fuel tank - needs removing as its leaking - possibly the filler neck. Will finish off and also add a coat of waxoyl at a later date)

Completely restored (corrected/polished/waxedx2) the paintwork. Just needs a coupe of niggly bits touching up and a dent guy to work his magic and itll look damn mint bodywork wise

Added a MOMO steering wheel that I had. Want a more subtle horn button though. Also added my radio and some half decent speakers (Thanks Will) and replaced the broken off aeriel

My polo with my friend John's Merc 500SEL

And finally, yesterday I bought a set of BBS RZs, which i think look really good, and Will look excellent when the car is lowered.

More Soon, just waiting to sell the SEAT to free up some cash!

Good start, car looks clean and the bbs will look even better when lowered!

Right then update time. Been doing plenty on the car and I'm starting to fall back into love with retro motoring now. Its a hoot to drive and puts a grin on my face, and when it breaks, you can fix it with gaffa/WD/biffer!

Heres the arosa and the polo...the arosa has now gone to a new home (so i have funds )

So this is now my "fleet"

I bought a Spax suspension kit. 40mm lowering progressive springs, with spax uprated dampers. I also bought a polybush kit for the whole front end and a set of strut top mounts.Took a couple of days off work to fit them and hey ho!

Massive thanks to my "retro crew" John and Will for helping out! Really really appreciated guys!

Car now handles sooooo well. Really precise and well damped, whilst still being pretty predictable.

As can be seen, i also got these pressed plates :)

Also done a few other bits and bobs, fitted the usual GT rear lights and rev counter instrument panel - painted the needles orange too for that uber retro look! Changed the interior lighting colour to amber, fitted a new cig lighter socket (old one wasnt deep enough for most things!?)

Negative progress would be that I've blown a speaker up, and the new thermostat i fitted only a fortnight ago appears to have failed, and also that my BBS RZ wheels will not fit....

They look awesome IMO. I'm not a fan of stretched tyres and I'm aiming for a more "factory GT"ish look rather than "dub". The wheels will not fit (even with smaller tyres) as they will foul the inner arch, and also the wheel arch lip, so much that rolling/cutting would not solve the problem.

I will be on the lookout for some new wheels, probably 14 x 5.5s or similar. Shout out suggestions!

The only significant rust on the car was the rear lower edge of the drivers side front wing. I decided to attack the rust. I ground it down first to see if i could grind through the rust (effectively removing it) but it was too deeply pitted and the metal ended up too thin, so i decided the best option was to cut and weld a new section in.

An old bit of volvo 244 door sacrificed itself to make the repair section!

Clamped

Welded and ground

Fiberglass filled (to seal and strengthen)

Filled to shape

Sanded and primed

And the back has been blathered in dinitrol and then undersealed, so hopefully this repair should last well.

More soon, Steve

P.S...

Have a safe, but happy halloween!

Right, due an update here I reckon...

Machine polished the roof and bonnet as they had taken some abusive washing over the years.

Thanks to my friend Nick for the xmas present of a G40 leather gear knob and a new gaiter :)

Done a full rustproofing on it. No grot found apart from one tiny bit at the bottom of the rear arch where its hidden, so I simply chopped off the offending bit of rust, primered, seam sealed and painted and undersealed.

Got a set of MK2 (pre facelift) arch and sill trims off ebay. Removed the rubbing strip and fitted them. Still undecided whether I should refit the rubbing strip or not. arches are fully rustproofed inside and out.

Had to make a filler peice to adapt the rear arch trims for MK2 facelift

Proof that retro cars is a way of life for me!

Painted the engine bay of my volvo...

Did the O/S/F wheel bearing and found I had a bent, and incorrect brake pad in the process. Now has new mintex pads and adjusted/keyed up the rear and now it brakes twice as well with a much more solid pedal.

and the finale...

got myself some audi coupe GT wheels (£27 for all 4 off ebay :p) 14" x 6" and will definitely fit.

Prepped them all up and filled some marks and de-curbed them (no pic)

Painted them in 2k clear over base (ford moondust silver)

basecoat...

and 4 coats of lacquer (i didnt dare put any more on)

I'm damn proud of them - its only my second time dealing with 2k paint, and my first time with clear over base, and I'm proud to say they have an absolute ton of lacquer on them, and absolutely not a single run. Just a few bits of dust in them as to be expected from painting them in your grandmothers garage haha, but obviously they will easily flat out and polish up.

More soon! I'm loving this car!

Steve

Wheels fitted, with lovely new rubber! Four 175 60 14 Falken ZE912's. Did my research and read the reviews etc and I think they will be well suited to the car.

Pictures tell all really, but I'm dead pleased with he wheels, a subtle upgrade that would be obvious to car people, but just nice looking to anyone else. I didnt want anything that really stood out or spoiled the handling or looks of the car. I think they look really classy, which makes a nice change to the rat look/banded steels look that seems to be overdone on these polos

Think its time it had a good valet inside and out now and finish off a few odds and ends.

One balls up that charlie browns tyre fitters made was that they left the locking wheel nut key on the o/s/r wheel when I took the car (okay, so I should have noticed, but its not really my job when I paid them to do it...) and half way home I heard a clunk bang wallop and thirty seconds later I realised what it was and went back to try and find it but to no avail. Going to go back tomorrow and try and get them to remove them and supply me with some new lockers....

Steve

Another little update of what I've been up to....

I had some import mazda mx5 seats in the garage and i was getting annoyed with not being able to let people in the back (golf seats are from a 5 door) so i decided it was high time i made some brackets for them. They are tan leather (but I'm re-dying them back, along with some leather mk3 golf split folding rear seats), and the best bit - they have subs in the backrests and speakers in the headrests, just like a gaming chair!

Golf seat....

MX5 seat...

Stripped the golf seat and started to make some new rails...

Also, the polo was a sight for sore eyes today - my other project (1980 Volvo 244 turbo) is having a new roof skin, and the donor car got stripped this weekend (in Huddersfield) so i had to transport the new roof to Wakefield!

Roof rack made up...

Called in KFC on the way home and no word of a lie, at least 15 people stopped and stared at it in the car park!

Steve

Small update on the polo is that I've had to straighten the front end out considerable due to someone reversing into it reasonably hard....all sorted now though. And also my front silencer has a baffle loose in it at the mo' so it sounds like a bloody moped! Good excuse for a magnaflow methinks...

I like your style with this car, 40mm is a nice height, and those Audi wheels suit it well!

May i ask a question though?

When you had the BBS rz wheels on, where did they rub?

You see I intend to replace my front suspension (shock absorber gone) and I'm considering going a tad lower, while its apart. I too have these BBS wheels, with hefty tyres!

Thanks :)

The BBS RZ wheels rubbed before i even lowered the suspension. Lowering can never make any difference as to whether wheels rub or not, because the suspension can still compress to the same level (i.e. full bump)

So, 15 x 6.5 BBS RZ wheels simply do not fit a polo properly without either modifying the arches, or lowering the bump stops, which is just plain stupid.

But to answer your question - they rubbed the inner rear arch, and at the "halfway points" on the outer arch where the taper of the arch/bodywork crosses the line of the tyre.

The BBS RZ wheels rubbed before i even lowered the suspension. Lowering can never make any difference as to whether wheels rub or not, because the suspension can still compress to the same level (i.e. full bump)

So, 15 x 6.5 BBS RZ wheels simply do not fit a polo properly without either modifying the arches, or lowering the bump stops, which is just plain stupid.

But to answer your question - they rubbed the inner rear arch, and at the "halfway points" on the outer arch where the taper of the arch/bodywork crosses the line of the tyre.

Don't worry man, I know how suspension works :)

But Yeah, I've just realised, your BBSs are 15". My bad. I'm running 14" RZs and haven't experienced any rubbing at all, and that's towing a trailer too.

Cheers for the info anyways.

I shall follow this thread!