Model: 1993 Coupe (silver)

Engine: 1043cc AAU, 4 speed 'box. Mk3 Golf air intake + filter, 6n cam cover

Suspension: Front down 40mm with sports shocks, Rear standard

Brakes: Standard but new at least

Wheels and Tyres: G60 steels, 195/45 cheapish tyres

Exterior Styling: Clear indicators

Interior Styling: Momo Champion 300mm wheel, GT clocks

ICE and Security: None whatsoever

Comments:

Well, just got rid of my 6n...

Happy Days!

Going to purchase this little number on Thursday, she's very very clean, with 67000 on the clocks and no modifications whatsoever.

Apologies for the nasty photo, tis all i have til i actually buy it haha.

Plans are to keep the standard ride height, and then just clean up the looks with daft little things like clear indicators and a different grill. I went off the idea of lows whenever i realised that people thought i was a hooligan...

But, of course, i managed to save these from the 6n, so they'll go on too!

I'm sure this will be a pretty boring build thread in comparison to others on here but sure i might keep some people interested!

That's all for now

Michael

Edited 27 January, 201313 yr by mikethebike

Far more like it!

Stands to reason if you like riding a bike you like driving mk1-3 Polos.

Far more like it!

Stands to reason if you like riding a bike you like driving mk1-3 Polos.

...Explain?

Right, i have the car now, i've driven it everywhere... It's impressively quick for a one litre engine.

I put the BBS RZs on, they fit really well and look excellent!

I never liked the colour of the car, but now it's growing on me. Not many other colours would look as retro.

So here are some pictures!

on my maiden fuel stop, pre BBS rims!

And this morning, in the light of day:

The interior smelled like dogs.. It was full of hair to the extent that i was actually allergic to driving my car! Haha!

So i cleaned it out and it looks and smells fresh. The interior is in very good nick and looks very well, even the original 'Radiomobile' radio is in there, which i like.

Constructive opinions, suggestions, and criticism (to an extent) welcome.

This car will not be lowered, so don't start suggesting that!

Michael

Far more like it!

Stands to reason if you like riding a bike you like driving mk1-3 Polos.

...Explain?

Because they mollycoddle the driver far less than most cars on the road. Everything you do directly effects the the car's drive, and everything that effects it gets communicated back to the driver. There's no driver aids there to help you out if you f*** up, so driving them puts in right in touch with the act of driving, keeps things interestting and you on your toes, like riding a bike.

Case in point is there's a sweeping left hand corner near my folks place, and part way round it is a drain cover. If you hit it in a modern vehicle, you never even feel it or have to realise it's there, you hit it on a bike and your arse twitches and if you hit it in a mk2 polo, the car unsettles a little, just enough to remind you to think about what you do and remind you of your involvement. It's that direct communication that I love about old polos, stuff that a modern car driver would see as a flaw.

The other thing is the perception of speed. Doing 60 in a mk2 feels like doing 60 on a bike. Whereas doing 60 in a modern car just isn't interestting.

Because they mollycoddle the driver far less than most cars on the road. Everything you do directly effects the the car's drive, and everything that effects it gets communicated back to the driver. There's no driver aids there to help you out if you f*** up, so driving them puts in right in touch with the act of driving, keeps things interestting and you on your toes, like riding a bike.

Case in point is there's a sweeping left hand corner near my folks place, and part way round it is a drain cover. If you hit it in a modern vehicle, you never even feel it or have to realise it's there, you hit it on a bike and your arse twitches and if you hit it in a mk2 polo, the car unsettles a little, just enough to remind you to think about what you do and remind you of your involvement. It's that direct communication that I love about old polos, stuff that a modern car driver would see as a flaw.

The other thing is the perception of speed. Doing 60 in a mk2 feels like doing 60 on a bike. Whereas doing 60 in a modern car just isn't interestting.

You're right!

Riding a motorcycle has a direct involvement with the road, when cornering and braking, you have to feel and understand what the front tyre is gripping on. It is quite similar in these early polos, what with vague steering and sloppy suspension, you have to get as much feedback as you can in order to work out how to control the car.

Tonight i did some work with the badges:

I brought the car up to the light of the garage and painted the front badge black.

Then i had a look at the rear badges...

And then i don't even know what happened here:

Edited 10 January, 201214 yr by mikethebike

I have a few questions here which i'd like to see if anyone can answer:

1. Which colour is my car?

2. I'm going to spray my bumpers black, should they need primered or will a couple of coats of gloss black do?

3. Will a non-airbag 6n steering wheel be a direct fit on to this boss?

All help appreciated

Thanks

Michael

I have a few questions here which i'd like to see if anyone can answer:

1. Which colour is my car?

2. I'm going to spray my bumpers black, should they need primered or will a couple of coats of gloss black do?

3. Will a non-airbag 6n steering wheel be a direct fit on to this boss?

All help appreciated

Thanks

Michael

Car looks good. I love silver mk3 polos.

1. Car should have a paint code on a sticker in the boot. Best way to make sure you get the exact colour.

2. I wouldn't paint the bumpers on a mk3 polo unless you really wanted to colour code them. Best bet to make them look new again would be to remove them and use a heatgun on them to restore the dark black colour or use a back to black bumper restore product every so often. The autoglym one is decent.

To go gloss black you would have to sand smooth/fill and sand smooth the texture on the bumpers, then the correct primer, glass black, lacquer etc. It wouldn't be fun, cheap or easy to get a good finish and would probably get chipped and messy within a short time anyway being the leading edge of the car. Also once people paint the bumpers on a mk3 polo they seem to lose all their retro charm. Basically it will look gash.

The bumper paint from halfords is shite too. Looked good on my mk2 but didn't last long at all before it looked shit (followed the instructions to the letter).

3. The non airbag 6N wheel should be large spline and your polo will either be large or small spline. For the sake of undoing one bolt under the horn press you could just try and fit it? Would take about 5 minutes.

POLOMON:

Oh yeah man, of course! Had to be done.

demolover:

Cheers, i'm coming round to the colour myself :)

Ok, well the best bet then is to try this Auto-Glym stuff and see if it works, seems less hassle than fiddling around with sandpaper and filler and primer and paint as you say.

And don't worry, i'm not a fan of halfords so i won't be buying any of their paint.

As for the steering wheel, it's just i'd like to pull one off a 6n in the breakers and know it'll fit.

I'll investigate further!

Thanks

Edited 9 January, 201214 yr by mikethebike

Used Turtlewax 'Black in a Flash' results seem pretty impressive, however we'll have to see how long it lasts!

Hopefully it's not 'Black for a Flash' and it lasts longer than i hope.

Apologies for messing up the mk3 build thread section with shite, looking at the likes of Yoof's track car, this just doesn't cut it.

But i've started now so deal with it!

Apologies for messing up the mk3 build thread section with shite, looking at the likes of Yoof's track car, this just doesn't cut it.

But i've started now so deal with it!

We all start somewhere and we all love a clean mk3 polo so no worries.

Bumpers look miles better!

Black in a flash is ok actually but it isn't so hardy against water. It's what i am using up at the minute then i can get stuck in the autoglym bumper jazz i bought.

Cheers for the kind words :)

Well apparently it builds up a repellant surface if you keep using it. We'll see.

I ordered some stuff on monday there, clear indicators and pressed plates.

and look what arrived this evening:

Next update will be this weekend when i can get some daylight pictures.

Plans are really just to keep the car as clean as possible, because it's practically mint as is.

So i'll get stuck in to the engine bay tonight.

So, got the Taxbook through the post today, i'm the 5th owner! Pretty cool.

Also, I got the clear indicators last night.

And I painted the airbox lid, it was a little rusty.

Pictures!

Okay then, so we have wheels, re blackened bumpers, clar indicators and pressed plates really.

Any more suggestions?

Edited 14 January, 201214 yr by mikethebike

Managed to sell the 6n quite quickly then!

Looks good man :)

I like the silver mk3's, think they look pretty cool! Nice purchase there ;d

I take it you will be getting another towbar for this one too?

Also I reckon you could get away with lowering it 60/40 wont be seen as too much of a yob!

police are gunna love u for having them plate :)

Managed to sell the 6n quite quickly then!

Looks good man :)

I like the silver mk3's, think they look pretty cool! Nice purchase there ;d

I take it you will be getting another towbar for this one too?

Also I reckon you could get away with lowering it 60/40 wont be seen as too much of a yob!

Yes yes she was advertised for a day and gone the same evening.

And yeah i intend to find/make one for it because without a towbar it's almost useless to me!

and as for lowering, no.... Maybe at an absolute max you could have 40mm all round, but then what's the point, and you'd still have bother getting in and out of fields etc.

And thanks, i really like the silver myself now. :)

police are gunna love u for having them plate :)

Right you are, sir.

Well if i ever do get stopped i have the originals in the boot, along with a plain screwdriver to replace them.

No messing around here my man.

why do you need to drive a polo into a field? and when you put bigger wheels on these and dont lower it they look like you are going to have a go at off roading! is that why your driving in fields? and please remove the boulevard badge and get some of these, yours just look wrong

and now for the positives i like silver coupes and i reckon some black wheels would look good

why do you need to drive a polo into a field? and when you put bigger wheels on these and dont lower it they look like you are going to have a go at off roading! is that why your driving in fields? and please remove the boulevard badge and get some of these, yours just look wrong

and now for the positives i like silver coupes and i reckon some black wheels would look good

I need my car for taking my motocrosser to races, hence fields.

And they aren't big wheels, 14"? Just a nice size I reckon.

As for the plates, they're German font? Surely this is the way to go?

...and, yeah the boulevard badge. I may just take that off, you don't need to show off your trim level in your car.

Thanks! The wheels will stay silver though, i'm not out to make it look modern, period mods only

I need my car for taking my motocrosser to races, hence fields.

And they aren't big wheels, 14"? Just a nice size I reckon.

As for the plates, they're German font? Surely this is the way to go?

...and, yeah the boulevard badge. I may just take that off, you don't need to show off your trim level in your car.

Thanks! The wheels will stay silver though, i'm not out to make it look modern, period mods only

14" is only an inch bigger than 13" but with the common 185/60/14 tyres, that seem to be on 14's all the time, they are quite sizable compared to 13" wheels with low pro's

heres a comparison of your wheels and standard wheels: 145/70/13 v. 185/60/14 and a comparison of your wheels to my wheels: 165/55/13 v. 185/60/14

your car is 32mm higher than mine because of the wheels alone, and mines lowered 70mm so your polo is 102mm higher than mine and mines far from the lowest of the low

german plates are for use in germany, gb plates are for use in great britain

and I'm not quite sure how you think black is a new looking colour? surely silver is newer looking, take a look at the wheels on my car and try and call them new looking

I need my car for taking my motocrosser to races, hence fields.

And they aren't big wheels, 14"? Just a nice size I reckon.

As for the plates, they're German font? Surely this is the way to go?

...and, yeah the boulevard badge. I may just take that off, you don't need to show off your trim level in your car.

Thanks! The wheels will stay silver though, i'm not out to make it look modern, period mods only

14" is only an inch bigger than 13" but with the common 185/60/14 tyres, that seem to be on 14's all the time, they are quite sizable compared to 13" wheels with low pro's

heres a comparison of your wheels and standard wheels: 145/70/13 v. 185/60/14 and a comparison of your wheels to my wheels: 165/55/13 v. 185/60/14

your car is 32mm higher than mine because of the wheels alone, and mines lowered 70mm so your polo is 102mm higher than mine and mines far from the lowest of the low

german plates are for use in germany, gb plates are for use in great britain

and I'm not quite sure how you think black is a new looking colour? surely silver is newer looking, take a look at the wheels on my car and try and call them new looking

Alright, cool thanks for the constructive criticism, you even did the research, fair enough.. But sorry i don't particularly care how high it is!

It's a practical yet retro car, i have no use of a retro car that's good for nothing but looks.

As for your wheels, i'm pretty jealous, always loved those four spoke deep dished things but they don't seem very OEM. No, RZs aren't OEM, twas the RAs, but they're what i have and i like them silver.

ANYWAY, today i took the polo to my good friend Josh, who took a few photos of my car.

these aren't updates, just really good pictures.

Looks like the silver Polo's are out in force this year, seems to be a lot of them popping up. I also own a silver coupe myself. :-)

The car looks great! Looks really good on the RZ's and that bumper care stuff has really worked its magic! Hows it holding out?

Yeah, a lot of silver coloured ones have been popping up here, I think they look well!

I think the RZs suit it well, even at that mega ride height.

And the Black in a Flash is holding well, I haven't power washed it yet but I shall keep y'all updated.

Cheers Tom!

Have a look in the garage of any keen motorcyclist and i'm sure you will find motorcycle parts. But not often do you come up with something so relevant to a polo!

Hmmmmm

Hahaha yeah you're right!

I'll be looking at replacing the steering wheel with some handlebars now.

I'd quite like to fiddle with suspension to be honest, I could have uprated shocks, new top mounts etc etc and only 40mm springs!

Hopefully that would cure the boat-like handling without sacrificing practicality.

Little update:

Got the sound system bangin' with my cassette converter.. AC/DC

And changed the spark plugs, we now have fancy four electrode plugs!.

All this car needs is a little bit of a wheel refurb and some GT/G40 arch and sill trim set and it would look awesome!!

Lowering a car isn't all about being low. Lowering a car makes them a more fun to drive (even at slow speeds) and unless dropping the car utterly on its arse you wouldn't sacrifice the comfort. Friend of mine wanted to keep good ground clearence yet lower the car a tad so he just put 40mm springs and uprated shocks on the front and just left the rear standard (replacing for new springs and shocks but standard height). This dropped the nose so it sat a little nicer. It handles better (not race car handling) yet still has a comfortable ride with more than enough ground clearance.

If you lower a polo 40/40 the rear drops much lower than the front. Leaving the rear standard height made it sit nice. Cheap to do just the front too. Food for thought if you were ever tempted.

Good work. I wouldn't bother with carbs unless you really want them.

All this car needs is a little bit of a wheel refurb and some GT/G40 arch and sill trim set and it would look awesome!!

Lowering a car isn't all about being low. Lowering a car makes them a more fun to drive (even at slow speeds) and unless dropping the car utterly on its arse you wouldn't sacrifice the comfort. Friend of mine wanted to keep good ground clearence yet lower the car a tad so he just put 40mm springs and uprated shocks on the front and just left the rear standard (replacing for new springs and shocks but standard height). This dropped the nose so it sat a little nicer. It handles better (not race car handling) yet still has a comfortable ride with more than enough ground clearance.

If you lower a polo 40/40 the rear drops much lower than the front. Leaving the rear standard height made it sit nice. Cheap to do just the front too. Food for thought if you were ever tempted.

Good work. I wouldn't bother with carbs unless you really want them.

Thanks! :) I'd love some centre caps for the wheels, was outbid on a set recently.. I dunno about arch trims, i never really fancied them myself. For the minute I'll de-bumpstrip it and see if it looks nice then.

And yeah, as for lowering.. All I care about is arch gap (mainly at front wheels) and ride quality. I'd like better handling and a slighty better stance..

So i'll keep that in mind, thanks :)

Oh and the carbs were just put in for the craic. I'm gonna go for a 1.3 throttle body though, simple upgrades at first, because i still don't understand fuel pumps and fuel injection and pressure and boost... Haha

Cheers for the kind words lads :-D