I think I can manage it in the time I've given myself Chris. As for the spare wheel well I was just going to weld in a piece of sheet metal. Unless the panel from PPP is superior to that? 

 

Didn't do much today apart from getting it on axle stands, wheels and bumpers off. Hopefully have more time tomorrow to take more off.

 

Not much progress, been too busy with work. But so far I've managed to strip the interior (wasn't a big task as most is missing anyway.

 

 

Also took the rear side glass out. Mainly because I'm going to be doing a bit of grinding and welding at the back so didn't want to glass and rubber to get damaged. But also a good time to check for rust. Luckily none was found :)

 

 

I've started chipping away at the sound deadening under the front seats. What a task that is! 

 

 

Front suspension, subframe and downpipe off too. Coilovers need a lick of paint as does the subframe. Also ordered some heatwrap for the downpipe so I'll get that done while that is off too. Reason for taking all that off is to get access to the sump.

 

 

The sump that is on the car just isn't sealing. Resealed it twice now and it just ends up leaking. Dunno if it is because it has been 'chromed' or because it was no where near flat when I got it, but it had a turbo oil drain on it so it got me running at least.

Anyway decided to refit the old sump, but obviously need to fit an oil drain first.

 

Hole drilled

 

 

Nice new screw fitting too, doing all I can to ensure the best seal.

 

 

Fits nice and snug in the hole.

 

 

Then the worst welding in the world to fit it.

 

 

After that I blocked off the fitting and filled the sump of water to test for leaks, which it did due to my terrible welding skills. So I've laid down a couple extra beads where it was leaking so should be all good now.

That is all for now, more to come soon :)

Loads to update, progress has been kinda slow. Just not feeling it as much this year for some reason.

 

Anyway as per my list somewhere earlier in the thread, I wanted to do something with this.

 

 

So I got the grinder out and made lots of noise.

 

 

The seam sealer where the panels meet is horrible to get off. Ended up using a wire wheel on the grinder and fired seam sealer dust all over the car. The end result looks like this.

 

 

I'll spare everyone loads of pictures but I cut a circle out of sheet metal to fill the hole. Tried to weld it in but my welding skills aren't that great yet. So went for the riveting option in the end.

 

 

At the same time as that I started fabricating a base for me Corbeau bucket seat, started of with some 1" CDS cut to fit between the old runners.

 

 

Got one made then had to line it up and take measurements to make the second.

 

 

Both made.

 

 

I didn't want to cut out all the old runner, but I had to cut out enough to where the old seat won't fit unless a short arse is driving it.

 

 

Got the rails tacked in and holes marked out and drilled for the seat brackets.

 

 

Seat mocked up, lovely :)

 

 

For the harness I'm just using the original seatbelt mount in the back and on the drivers side. But there is nothing on the passenger side. Luckily @citrus has an old Polo shell so I cut a seatbelt mount from that. Makes it more OEM. This is it mocked up and tacked in place

 

 

 

The metal there is so so thin! Probably the hardest bit of welding I've done on the car yet. Got it done though and seems strong enough.

 

 

After that the seat and harness could be installed and tried out for the first time :)

 

 

Once all the hard work inside was done I gave everything e lick of paint to make it look neat. Even painted the floor where I removed the sound deadening stuff as I wasn't sure if I could get the rear section of carpet to fit again or not.

 

 

But the next day once it had dried I gave it a go and got both sections of carpet in perfect. Had to cut the rear section to get around the new rails but you can't see the cuts :)

 

 

Then got the rest of the interior in and I'm really please with how that side of it has turned out. I hate, HATE seeing track orientated cars with the carpet ripped out. It weighs nothing, literally both sections in a Polo must be less than a kilo. So for the sake of a few extra grams I'd rather have a neat looking interior.

 

 

Also I know the seats are now very odd. A Corbeau bucket and a G40 seat don't exactly match. But the bucket and harness are both proper FIA certified items, they weren't cheap! So I wasn't doubling my cost just to have a matching passenger seat which will rarely get used.

 

Now to get onto the mechanicals, sump AGAIN! Decided to ditch the sump that is on the car you you may have guessed from previous posts. So didn't waste any time in ripping the old one off.

 

 

Here is the 'new' one that was originally on this engine as from memory never leaked a drop so freshly painted and with a fresh gasket it is going on.

 

 

Also with the different style of oil return in the sump I had to make a new turbo drain again too.

 

 

All fitted, bolts torqued, drain fitted and connected. Certainly looks a lot neater anyway.

 

 

The drain now just has a straight shot down from the turbo into the sump. Before it had to be routed in a massive arc and had a few joins which meant lots of loose pipe flapping about and more potential to leak. So I prefer it like it is now.

 

 

Once that was all done it was onto the suspension. Being just myself I can't fit a subframe and take pictures. But I managed to fit the subframe, ARB and TCAs in under an hour which I'm quite proud of :) 

The I came to the hassle of trying to fit the camber adjustable top mounts from MAX-RPM. Took me ages to get one side in, but got there in the end.

 

 

That's as far as I've gotten just now.

 

The current list of jobs is as follows.

 

Fit drivers side strut

Wrap downpipe

Fit downpipe & exhaust

Fit wheels

MOT

 

So not a big list, but something to keep me busy over the weekend :)

 

 

 

 

Better update this before I forget. For some reason the drivers side strut took me 5 minutes to fit. I dunno if it was because I'd had a good nights sleep, done something different or the hole in the shell is slightly bigger but I'd no sooner picked up the strut and it was on the car and all built up.

 

 

All of the front suspension now fitted, now it was on to getting the engine bay tidied up and back together.

 

 

First I had to do a quick gearbox oil change, thanks to getting a shot of a Halfords trade card I got a great deal on the oil.

 

 

But then I couldn't find my gearbox plug removal tool, wasn't in the mood for messing around so I took an old BMW wheel bolt and an old socket and made them one.

 

 

I love a homemade tool! :)

 

I'd bought some titanium heat wrap for the downpipe, it was a nice day outside so I sat out in the garden and did this.

 

 

Once that was done I got that and the rest of the exhaust back on the car and set to work getting the rest of the car back together including putting the windows back in.

 

 

Once she was all back together and running I took her down for an MOT which was passed with just 1 advisory :)

 

 

The next day I gave the car a bit of a clean up, finally got my hands on a genuine cam cover gasket as mine was constantly weeping oil. 

Old one off.

 

 

New genuine one on.

 

 

All back together including all 3 plastic caps on the bolts :)

 

 

Also I changed the expansion tank for a genuine one and refitted the proper plug too along with some fresh G13 coolant. No pictures of it though. Then it was just a case of getting the wheels sorted and cleaning her up. Here it is the night before I left for the Polo Social 2016.

 

 

Couldn't be happier with how the car is running and driving just now. Over the Polo Social weekend I did a total of 1260miles and the car literally never skipped a beat. The only issue is with the offset of the rear wheels and the weight in the car the rear arch lips have been rubbing on the tyres. So I'll need to fold the lips at some point. Here is a couple Polo Social pictures though.

 

 

 

 

 

The next adventure is the track day at Blyton Park on the 16th July. Got wheels and tyres to get sorted but apart from that it is just a case of keeping her going strong until then. I'll update after the track day hopefully with a couple videos :)

Excellent build, all top end work. Whats the power to weight for this

Thanks Kiran,

 

I'm still yet to have it on the rollers but I'm hoping it is in the region of 200bhp/ton.

 

I'll try and get it on the rollers before the year is out.

Excellent build.

 

I agree whole heartedly about track cars not having carpets. I'm going to carpet all of mine once its stripped out. It'll still be lighter and will look so much tidier.

Just realised I never updated this after the track day.

 

Made it down there fine apart from a little 'pit stop' in Dundee after the battery decided not to take a charge any more. The issue was the cable I ran from the front to back for the positive battery connection had corroded at the front where it meets the original loom, basically turning itself into a big resistor. So after about 20 trips in and out of Maplin and Halfrauds finding suitable parts it was fixed.

 

Anyway after that little hiccup the car ran flawlessly all the way down to the B&B.

 

 

Next morning myself and Ross out at the track nice and early to get sorted.

 

 

In a slight change to last years setup I went out and bought an extra 2 track tyres for my track wheels. Last year I was running 2 x Yoko A048 Mediums on the front and 2 x Yoko A539 road tyres on the rear. This was good but made the rear a bit skittish once the fronts were warm. So this year I was on A048 Mediums all round and the difference was amazing! Also I changed the front brake pads to Ferodo Racing DS2500 pads. These two mods made the car a different animal on the track and gave me a lot more confidence on the brakes and in the bends. I was loving it!

 

Anyway some pictures on track thanks to @nige8021

 

 

 

 

I love this picture, just shows how low my seat is :)

 

 

 

 

Also got some video footage of a few laps.

 

 

 

I had to cut my day a little short, after I came in from a session I opened the bonnet to cool the car off and noticed oil all over the top of the engine. I suspect it is a mixture of the turbo feed pipe fouling on the bonnet possibly causing a leak, the seal on the oil cap did look to be doing much and also I suspect the crank seal has given up on the cambelt side. So I decided just to let it cool, clean it up and call it a day. I managed to get a hold of another oil cap and I gave the bonnet bracing a tickle with a hammer to stop it fouling and that seemed to cure the oil leaks on the way up the road. But the plastics around the alternator pulley weren't drying off so I suspect the crank seal has given up. So looks like once the garage is clear of my other projects the GT will be in and the engine will be getting pulled out for a little overhaul. 

 

No update since August last year! I really am slacking with this car. Well this update will be a little picture heavy.

 

So from it's last outing (yes I haven't driven it since July!) I had the oil issue to fix. Decided to buy a complete engine gasket set, block and head....along with some other goodies.

 

 

We have there a windage tray, new sump bolts, new flywheel bolts, new crank pulley bolt, new clutch and brake pedal rubbers then the all important AEM wideband kit 

 

Also bought myself a Christmas present 

 

 

With the correct tools and parts to hand it was time to get to work.

 

 

Didn't take long to get to this point

 

 

Engine bay empty

 

Engine on the floor

 

 

Strip down begins, this was the seal I suspected had let go. Looks like the gasket between the block and the end cover had failed. I don't know if this would have been the only cause of the oil leak, but it was certainly a factor

 

 

Stripped and cleaned ready for the new seal and gasket.

 

 

Stripped all the rest of the bits off the bottom end, then it was time for the new bits to be fitted. Starting with the windage tray. Some fettling was required....

Before:

 

After:

 

Fitted:

 

All bolted up with the sump and 2 gaskets 

 

Also stuck in a magnetic sump plug that I bought. Only a couple quid so thought why not.

 

Once all that was done I could get the rest of the block built back up and get it looking like an engine again.

 

State of the rest of the garage in this picture.....

 

Flywheel end seal and gasket all changed too.

 

Flywheel on with the nice new bolts.

 

I was going to buy a new clutch this time but the one in it is still going strong, plenty meat on it so going to keep using it. Not like it is hard to change when it does give up the ghost.

 

Gearbox cleaned up and reinstalled.

 

Before I put the engine back in I made a little modification to the gear linkage. Bought a DIY kit from Germany to make a short shifter. Seems to work pretty well. The middle setting takes 2 inches out of the front to back throw. Feels a bit odd to start with but once I had gotten used to it I definitely prefer it to the standard setup.

 

Anyway once that was in the car the engine got chucked back in....make it look and sound so easy don't I?

 

Just a case of putting the pieces back together after that really.

 

Then a little test drive the night before embarking on the 450mile journey to the RR day at Aldon Automotive.

 

Those of you that were there will know of the 3 attempts I had to make to get it to run on the rollers.....top tip, don't throw a car back together before a long drive and a run on the rollers. Give yourself a couple days to check for issues haha.

 

 

And the results. Slightly disappointed if I'm honest. I expected more. But 153bhp from a car I've built myself on an unknown map is still a good job I think. Also a bit concerned about the transmission losses, 42bhp seems a little high. I know the gearbox is good, it has fresh oil, drivershafts are all good, CVs got re-greased when the engine was out and they moved free enough. Bearings are still pretty new too so really dunno why that is so high. 

 

 

Regardless it is a baseline, which is all I was really looking for. Now the hunt for power can begin, the engine has proved itself to run well and my mechanical modifications are complete. Just need to make the most of them. Thinking of going for a MegaSquirt setup as no one up here can map Digifant. Most places seem to be able to play with MegaSquirt and I can also tweak it myself if I make any changes mechanically later on down the line. Haven't got an end goal in mind, although 200bhp would be nice. But I need it to be semi reliable and not rip gearboxes apart too. 

 

 

 

 

Where did you get the DIY short shifter kit from? Been thinking about doing this for a while but unsure on a starting point. Having something adjustable would save a whole load of welding and chopping! Brilliant build by the way! Looking forward to see you push your way up to 200bhp/ton @kwijibo_coupe

@diggerinthewoods This is the kit I bought http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=182403357573#ht_2834wt_1338 You could probably buy the pieces separately yourself but this is easier. There is some cutting and welding involved, but it is pretty easy.  

Lovely job! That kit does look like it will make my life a lot easier @kwijibo_coupe will have to purchase one. Recently bought one of those engine cranes as well. Bloody cheap and bloody handy bit of gear!

Still not getting much time with this. Been washed and driven a couple miles but that's about it until today. Had some time so decided to sort out the wiring to the gauges. As they are they are on a permanent live, which was ok but I've now installed an AEM wideband and that really needs to be on a switched live. 

 

So got in the car and set about pulling all this apart. 

 

Wires everywhere! Haha. 

 

I discovered the black/yellow wire on the ignition plug is a switched live so decided to take the power from that. It's a nice beefy wire so should handle the extra load. 

 

Then it was just a case of sorting through the wiring i did have and getting it hooked up to run off the new live. 

All the new connections were then wrapped in some loom tape. 

 

Then here it is all back together. So now notice the clock is on on the dash but the volt gauge and wideband are off as the key is out. 

 

Then with the key on the volt gauge and wideband come to life.

 

So hopefully this will stop the battery draining too quickly. Also means if I'm using it over a weekend I hopefully won't have to be disconnected the battery to stop it going flat. Meaning the clock stays correct too. Bugs me if the clock is wrong. 

 

Been spending a bit of money on the car getting in cleaning and care products since it should be coming out more frequently now the good weather has started. Also should have a different set of wheels on it soon too. 

So let the cleaning begin! Been ages since the car has had a proper polish up so the paint was looking pretty poor especially the most exposed areas like the roof.

 

Here is a halfway picture of the roof. 

 

Then all done, check out the reflection now! 

 

Every Polo owner knows the stresses behind the fading plastic bumpers. So I took advice from The Car Cleaning Guru on YouTube and bought a trim restoration product called Gtechniq C4. After using it I'd highly recommend it. 

 

Bumper before

 

After

 

Along with the cleaning I decided to do something a bit different. Again another inspiration from YouTube, white lettering on the tyres. 

Before

 

After

 

Then on the car. 

 

 

Doesn't have the same effect on the camera but in the flesh I really think the lettering sets the car off nicely. Was just the look I was going for. 

Hopefully get some decent pictures tomorrow to show it off more. 

Let me play you the sound of my people