Glad you've got it back now mate, should be on the road by Tuesday???

Sorry to hear about the bodge-jobs, i had something similar on my breadvan, there was some rot near the rear seatbelt anchor, and instead of cutting it out and re-doing it properly, they welded in a plate over the rust!

Unsurprisingly i had them keep the car for another 2 weeks whilst they cut it all back out and did it again properly.

After that i'll never let anyone do any similar work on any of my cars, just isn't worth the hassle.

Other than that the work looks good though mate

Looks really good Andy!, I thought that body shop supposed to be shit hot?

Edited 16 September, 201213 yr by quiksilver_jake

Further updates (from a few weeks ago!)...

Driver's side windows in. Have new door B-pillar stickers from DKnight now to go on too, and have got a new lumpy B-pillar trim coming to replace the ones I've stuck on there as they're a bit dog eared from being taken off:

Mirror image, note door handles now on along with new armoured door plates (C&R Enterprises in Nottm can do OEM new ones):

Painted the re-sealed battery tray:

...but it still leaked when I tested it with water - that's after I added more sealer, primered, painted and lacquered. So I decided to Waxoil the fucker and be done with it. The result is far from pretty, but I kept going 'til the Waxoil stopped dripping inside the car.

Pimp my brake servo:

While I had the Waxoil out the pipe of doom got a good spaffing:

Boot plinth back on:

Brand new numberplate bulb lenses and bulb holders:

Shiny new boot latch:

Tailgate now shuts and latches, added some badges to cheer things up:

Wiring harness now back in the tailgate - I'd de-pinned the connector at the vehicle harness end which is about the only way I can see you getting this harness in and out unscathed. Anyway, it went in okay and routed nicely:

New washer hose added and threaded through. This was more of a pain in the arse than the wiring harness, but got there in the end.

Wiper motor back in and wiring all clipped up properly - also Waxoiled the fuck out of the inside of the tailgate too, as I didn't want a repeat of what happened to the original.

Tail lamps and wiring harness for them went back in:

And chucked the rear bumper back on with brand new bolts for some instant gratification. At least the arse end looks a bit more like a car again now!

Only fly in the ointment is this:

...the pedal box didn't fit!! I had some time off work with the aim of getting the servo/pedal box back in, and re-fitting the carpets so I can get the interior back in and out the way. Instead it had to go back to the bodyshop for the battery tray to be modified - more on that another time!

Check how close the bottom right-hand bolt hole is to the battery tray repair:

D'oh!

Looks great, so looking forward to putting mine back together,

Whats the engine plans then? Same as before?

I was planning on taking my g40 to east cote.. but after seeing their cock ups I'm now thinking elsewhere..

finish on the paint looks tip top though :)

I was planning on taking my g40 to east cote.. but after seeing their cock ups I'm now thinking elsewhere..

finish on the paint looks tip top though :)

Ditto,

Andy your doing a top job mate!

Great work on this. I love long term projects like this, it looks like a real labour of love

Got it back from the bodyshop (again!) at the end of September.

This is how the battery tray looks after their 'rectification'. The rusty holes on the left were previously hidden by seam sealer that had to be removed to make sure the battery fitted:

Yuck! Here's another shot without flash and a torch in the footwell. Had asked for it to be checked for leaks, erm okay...

Here's how it looks inside the car now too. The good news is the pedal box now fits and can be removed, but that seems to be it for the good news!

Noticed that there wasn't much paint coverage behind the servo area, and the skim of filler slapped in there over the welding has already started to crack. Had a bit of a pick at it.

I'd really been hoping that things would be properly fixed by now, after all the bodyshop had it back for another 3 weeks... Anyway, the re-painting they've done outside is hopefully going to be good once it's been mopped.

Plan with the battery tray is to do what I should've done in the first place - DIY. Will borrow 1 Yoof and 1 MIG set, clean up the area and re-do the welding. Hopefully we'll be able to tidy it up enough to seal it properly and neaten it up.

At the same time I'll try to smooth the area behind the servo a bit to neaten it up, and re-paint that too. Fortunately they're all bits in areas where the quality of finish I'll get with a rattle can doesn't matter too much.

Lacquered the set of steelies:

What an absolute piss take man :( how can they possibly be so useless after fucking up more than once?!

What an absolute piss take man :( how can they possibly be so useless after fucking up more than once?!

I'm pretty shocked by that work tbh.... the body shop imo has lost out one a far few polo's by doing shoddy work there...

At least you can rectify the work yourself Andy.

That is bad... but its great you got it back and can hopefully sort it out yourself! :)

Wheels look good. :) got a deadline for when you want it to be finished or will it be done when its done?

Really like this Andy, keep up the good work on the rebuild :)

edit: I don't like the shoddy body shop skills I must add!

Took the seam sealer off the pikey welds and wire-brushed it clean. The weld sloping from middle right of the pic to bottom left was broken along its entire length - no wonder the bodyshop's seam sealer didn't make it waterproof... This photo is after I've had a finger-sander on the welds to grind them back a bit too, didn't want the battery rubbing through seam sealer and exposing bare metal on the weld.

In the middle of welding it back together. The repair panel they used is thinner gauge than I'd have liked, so it took a few passes with the MIG and grinder to rid it of any holes or cracks. Blue paint pen marks some pin holes. Each time I was grinding it back more and more to try to get a flatter surface, and kept exposing more holes in the original welds. Given more time (and motivation!) I'd have cut the lot out and started again from scratch.

How it looks now, welds ground back, painted with vactan anti-rust paint and covered in primer. My garage is so cold it takes a few days for paint to dry properly, so progress was slow. Going to seam seal the nastier parts once it's all painted and then go over with colour and lacquer again afterwards.

Took the bog-filled area behind the servo back to metal and smoothed the welds back some more. Then threw some bog of my own back on it:

My bog mid-way through sanding back. Most of the yellowy/white patches are primer rather than filler. Much better!

The servo area is now in primer too. In fact, that was sanded back ready for colour coat 'til I spilled some thinners on it and stripped the primer off, lol.

glad your getting it sorted Andy

That garage work is shoddy as hell

Looks like you have done a good job getting it rectified there Andy. its always a bit of a shame to see work like that - but in some sort of reasoning way for them - did you provide the car to them with the pedalbox fitted? I'm wondering if it wasnt there they couldnt tell how much they could go in that area - however that doesn't excuse the fact there was holes! not good at all - quick work that not proper work.

you should have said about you repainting the servo - I've taken mine off and have got a mint reconned servo in black id have given you! whats your steering rack like? I've got a powder coated black one in my loft somewhere that i took of when i fitted my polished one.

Good point - but they had the pedal box, servo, battery and battery clamp all provided. Pedal box and servo they removed too, but didn't re-fit. They'd got a set of written instructions on what to do, and I'd explained why I'd given them an old battery to play with too! No excuses, just sloppiness. However, everyone makes mistakes - which is why I didn't get arsey about it and assumed they'd put it right when I took it back. Instead they just added insult to injury!

If you want to flog the mint servo and steering rack let me know. The rack is about the only thing I didn't have coated as it was still on the car!

il dig them out this weekend and fir some photos across to you - the servo is no good to me now - i aint never going to be able to put it back on! hahahaha the rack might have storage scratchs but i wont know until I'm up in the loft.

Il pm you when I've got them out.

you can give me a beer for them some time next year

KiZ

Behind servo in primer (bad photo!):

And now with paint - not perfect, but better:

First colour coat on the battery tray. Still needs rubbing down, probably another coat, and then lacquer:

Getting there!

I didn't even realise you were going this far with it!!

Will be great when its done though.

I assume it will be making some outings next year?

I cracked on with things again and rubbed the two areas down before giving them another colour coat and a dose of lacquer. The battery tray looks a lot better now, and the area behind the servo better still - shiny!

There's one bleb in the paint there, but I'll live with it - better than cracked filler any day. Next steps are to remove the masking, clean off any overspray - and then re-treat the underneath of the battery tray. That'll get another coat of vactan for good measure, seam sealer and then paint. Will then also seam seal the top side and whip some paint over that, as well as doing the corner where the strut tower meets the bulkhead.

Don't want to speak too soon, but it seems that getting decent paint makes the job easier. Got some Standox pre-mixed 2-pack stuff from the same supplier the bodyshop used, idea being the colour match should be spot on.

Also spent some time playing with gearboxes. Have an ATV with Quaife LSD rebuilt by JP Race to go in, but something didn't look right. Output flange on the offside looked very different to one from my other 'box...

...JP had stuck the offside on the nearside and vice versa. Maybe an innocent cock-up, but my other JP rebuilt 'box also had the same issue originally. Worth checking if you've had a 'box done by them methinks. Am sure I've got them right now, verified on several other (unrebuilt) 'boxes in my collection.

For reference, the flange on the engine block side of the 'box should be 084 356 D, and the passenger side is 084 355 G.

starnge to see a tuning place like that make a cock up like that! not been in the garage as i worked this weekend, hope to have servo and rack out thursday matey. i think i have a couple of other bits aswell you may want.

KiZ

Gutted about the mess they made of the battery tray Andy, but at least you've managed to sort it now. Looked like a proper cowboy job

Started with the seam sealer on the newly repaired battery tray. I'd decided to paint it up first, so that any metal that didn't get fully covered with sealer at least had paint and lacquer on it. Once this has all dried it'll get primer, paint and lacquer again. Probably creating more work for myself, but meh.

Did the underneath too, looking nice and messy - prime aim here is to make sure it's fully sealed and lasts for another 20 years. It'll be hidden behind the dash, so I'm not aiming for pretty!

The underside is now primered, painted and lacquered too - will stick up a photo later. The battery tray side is getting seam sealer built up in the corner to level out the battery tray and ensure water doesn't puddle at the front. Taking my time to do that so it builds up a layer at a time.

Also removed the original B pillar trims and fitted brand new VW ones both sides. One side is obsolete, but I managed to get a NOS part from eBay - and the other side is still available through VW Classic Parts. The originals weren't bad, but as I'd got new door seals etc. too it made sense to freshen up all the trim!

Got the door vinyl trims to fit next - came from VW Stickers/DKnight on here:

Also weighed some wheels this morning too. The bathroom scales aren't the last line in weighing accuracy, but they'll do for now!

Results are:

14x6" Golf Steel = 8.5kg

14x6" Compomotive MO = 7.5kg (just under)

14x6" BBS RA = 7.5kg (just over)

185/50 R14 Yokohama A539 (new) = 7.5kg

Thought that was interesting, conventional alloys saving about 1.5kg of unsprung mass per corner - which is useful, but not amazing!

Had treated a few rust spots on the boot floor back in the summer, so primered; painted and lacquered that yesterday.

Underside of the battery tray now painted too. Looks awful thanks to the scaggy welding and repair patches, not helped by the seam sealer - but it's water tight and welded up solidly now which is better than it was when it left the bodyshop.

Put the DKnight door trim stickers on:

They look pretty good. I would worry about them not perfectly aligning with the B-pillar trims thanks to my application skills, but the originals weren't perfect either - and my new (OEM VAG panel!) door isn't quite milimetre perfect. The first photo is of the original passenger door, unmodified, and you can see that the lower swage line aligns perfectly - but the upper one doesn't. The second photo shows the new OEM driver's side door, which is aligned as a compromise between the two.

For those of you buying these door trims and worring about how to apply them, the vinyl seems to be a really decent thick quality so little air bubbles really aren't a concern. You can be pretty ham fisted and they still fit nicely, air bubbles are easily pushed out.

The rounded edges are for the window surround side, and the 45° edges are for the door edge side. I found it easy to fit if you get the first 5-10mm stuck down at the top door edge, and then work down slowly; peeling the backing paper off as you go and paying attention to how central the vinyl is on the door pillar. Worth noting that the vinyl is slightly stretchy, so you're initial starting point doesn't need to be 100% perfect.