So the postman delivered a present to me today, since it was nice outside I went straight out and had a play with the Polo.

Shot down the rear of the car, the rear wheels tuck in too much for my liking so now I had what I needed to fix that.

Wheel off.

Nice new 20mm hubcentric FK spacer on.

Wheel back on, looks much better I think.

Then I fitted another little touch which I just had done. I got a mate of mine to sticker bomb wrap a spare fuel flap I had, here is the result.

Before:

After:

Couple more things to do before this years Polo Show but she is almost ready :)

Haven't updated this in a little while.

Not much has been going on, all the conversion niggles are now sorted.

So now I'm concentrating on getting the car tidied up and looking how I want. I've put a couple spare rust free panels away to get painted to replace the ones with rust currently on the car.

Just before the Polo show I treated the car to a Jabba Sport induction kit and yesterday I gave the bay a good clean.

Got a few things planned that I want to do before the summer is over and she goes to rest over the winter.

Yesterday I went to Crail Raceway and I did lots of this.

Was such a good laugh.

Never been to a 1/4 mile strip before so thought I did well for my first time. The video above is actually my second run and I kinda forgot I had to go on green!

Once I figured out what I was doing I got my runs down to a 15.4. Need to sort out issues with wheelspin see if I can increase that time when I next go.

Oh and that little gay laugh came from my mate, not me, it was his first experience with G-Smiles.

Edited 4 August, 201411 yr by kwijibo_coupe

Well the GT has been a little neglected since the Polo show. All I've been doing in it is driving it down to Crail Raceway where it gets a day of abuse on full boost then driven home and forgotten about.

It got forgotten about a bit more since I went and bought this.

BMW E46 M3 in Phoenix Yellow.

So I thought before I park it up for the winter I'd give it a little treat. It got some nice fresh oil and oil filter. Then I remembered I put a door and a wing away to get painted before the Polo Show. Went to see the guy, he had finally done them so I gave him some money and took them home.

Old rusty wing on the car next to the new door. Forgot to take pictures of the old door on the car but they were both rotten.

Old wing off with new door on.

Wing lined up just before I lost the light.

This morning, Everything back together looking nice.

Now I can't decide if I prefer the smooth look without the plastic trims or standard with the trims on.

Might take all the plastic arches and stuff off just to check for rust and decide from there.

Hopefully be more updates on this over the winter once it is in it's winter home. Got lots of suspension/handling mods planned. Plus just a general strip down and tidy up.

This just makes me want a G. :)

Good effort.

Scott.

Finally after ages of saying I will I got round to starting work on the Polo, plan is a kind of body restoration/rust prevention while also doing a complete overhaul of the suspension and brakes. Then once all that is done the turbo conversion can take place.

So lets get started, obviously first place to check for rust is the battery tray. This is what I found

So not looking too healthy, next I decided to take off all the GT plastic trim. First bad bit I found was a hole in the drivers sill near the front.

I poked at it a little bit and it ended up like this.

On the same sill down the back near the pipe of doom needs a bit of work also.

On the opposite side I did a bit of picking and stabbing and this appeared

Then down at the front on the passenger side the front wing isn't looking too healthy with this on the arch

Then this down the bottom where it meets the sill

So after being a bit depressed by finding all that I got it up in the air and had a look underneath.

Floor pan looked really clean which is good so I was happier after that. I also found the reason why I thought the car was getting louder too.

So new exhaust will have to be added to the ever growing list of things to do.

So now moving onto the inside.

Dash came out

Got a good poke at the battery tray once the dash was out, it's going to take a lot of welding to fix this.

Next it was time to take the seats out.

Rears out too, I don't intend on putting the rears back in to seatbelts and everything have been removed.

Then I took the carpet and foam stuff out, I want to make the car as light as I can so again none of that will be going back in.

Finally I started poking around the floor, the drivers foot well was soaking obviously due to the hole in the battery tray. So in the footwell itself I found another smaller hole.

So next task will be to cut out all the rot, make up repair plates and fix everything.

Hopefully more updates soon.

Liking the plans for this, a lot to do before poloshow so let me know if you need an extra pair of hands!

...since you'll be an expert welder after this, I may need to borrow your skill's at some point :)

So today some presents started arriving for this.

New rubber yo!

Two of them are a bit special :)

Also bought a pair of MOMO harnesses

Hopefully they are road legal as they have the proper seatbelt type clasp with the red button.

Not much progress with the car itself, haven't had much time to practice welding so haven't attacked the car yet. I took off the front passenger wing and thought it was too far gone as the crusty bit on the arch was really thin and the hole in the bottom where it meets the sill was so big there would be nothing to weld to. So I stole a wing off the G40 shell and put that away to paint to save any hassle.

Also stole the rear beam off the G40 and tidied it up and put discs on it.

Few more presents still to come for the car, but I need to get my finger out and weld it before anything goes back on the car.

Good progress. I love the feeling of new bits arriving!

I like having new parts arrive too.

These arrived last week...

GT inlet with a pressure switch installed and a 51mm throttle body thanks to XRrich :)

Also some rear beam bushes from PPP :)

Payday on Thursday, got a few more little things lined up to buy then I should have all the bits I need. Just need to get my finger out and weld the holes up. Pooping myself about it to be honest but I need to man up and get it done.

More new parts :)

Welding being done soon :)

Updates!! Actual work being done.

Finally got to stripping the engine down to take it out again.

Still buying loads of parts, each day the postie comes I get deliveries like this

Took the loom out, I wrapped it badly and in a hurry last year with cheap electrical tape, looked terrible.

Difference between electrical tape and the new loom tape

Even had a little helper while doing the loom

All complete, just the engine loom but the rest of the bay loom will get the same treatment soon.

Then back to the shed, engine pulled out and split from the gearbox.

Finally got the engine onto a stand to be worked on.

Next on the to do list...

Over the weekend the welding will be getting done, not confident to do it all myself so got a mate helping me.

Engine wise, while it is on the stand it will be cleaned and painted, cam changed for a 268/268 turbo cam along with timing belt since I'm there. Crank pulley changed to run the CL alternator then fit CL alternator. Sump changed for one with a turbo oil drain fitted. Block off the old supercharger oil drain.

After that just a case of getting it back in the car and getting the turbo setup on and get everything in place.

Gearbox will be changed for a CEG unit I have, was going to put a new clutch on but the one I took off has loads of life left so I'm undecided on that just now.

The target just now is to have the car complete and running for the 24th May as there is a thrash day on at Crail Raceway that day. That is looking like it will be the only time I'll have to test the car before it's 500+ mile drive to the Polo Show in June.

So hopefully many more updates to come soon

Looking good :)

Where did you get the loom tape from?

Thanks Martin. Just off eBay. This stuff http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=140550857403

Seems to stick better than insulation tape and the quality looks good to me.

Good stuff Steve. Turbo'd G at crail will have folk guessing! I'd cable tie on some wheel trims, remove all the badges and replace them with CL ones.

Managed to get a bit more work done today.

Engine started off like this

Started giving it a bit of a clean and blocked off the old supercharger oil drain.

Pulled the old sump off to make way for one with an oil drain fitted.

New sump fitted...check out the blingy chrome effect..... that will be painted black soon haha.

Finished off the cleaning and leaving the engine to sit overnight and dry.

If I have spare time tomorrow again I'll hopefully pull the timing belt and cover off and get the block painted.

The engine looks quite tidy already. Have you got all the parts there for it or are you still waiting on some coming?

Apart from the bits I need to measure up and fit when the engine is back in the car, lines for the turbo and the downpipe, I have everything I need. Unless I come across anything else along the way.

But all the other bits for the engine, suspension, brakes, wheels, interior, battery relocation etc. are all just sitting waiting.

Only thing I'm short of is time....

What car did you say you were taking to the Polo Social?

This one, it will make it....honest.

Finally feel like I've made some proper progress this weekend.

With the help of one of my mates who is an ace welder, we got to work.

Remember this?

My mate cut it out nice and square.

Took a good piece of sill from the now dead G40.

Welded it in place

Then buffed it back, looks great I think.

Then he set to work on the battery tray, it is never going to hold a battery again so it was just plated up nice so it doesn't leak.

Also found this hole just above where the steering rack sits

While he set to work on that he also stitch welded the steering mount brackets for me.

Meanwhile I have been cleaning and painting lots of bits.

Engine has seen a couple coats of black to the block

G40 TCAs got a coat of black hammerite

Also roughly lined up the stage 2 subframe and it looks like it should bolt in just fine which I am pleased about.

Over the next couple of days I'll get the engine bay tidied up and painted while my mate finishes up the welding round the back of the car. Then the sills can get a coat of protection and paint and the rebuild can begin.

A productive day! Where is the battery going?

Good question, in the back somewhere but I haven't decided on a final position yet.

Either behind the passenger seat or in the boot on the passenger side.

Been slow progress since the last update. Mainly just more welding when my mate had time to help. Still more to do but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Front end is all complete though so I've been cracking on tidying everything up to get the front end back together.

Still doing engine work too, changed the cam from the stock G40 one to a Shrick 268/268 turbo cam.

Old stock G40 cam

Turbo cam installed, cam carriers torqued down.

Cleaned up the CL engine mount and alternator along with its mountings

Started building up the inlet side too, new inlet gasket, GT inlet with a pressure switch set to 6psi

Also fitted a 51mm throttle body and wired up the pressure switch to the old what switch, then fitted G40 injectors. But my phoned died at this point so no pictures.

I bought a big tub of brush on hammerite black smooth, and just been painting everything I can with it.

5 speed gearbox mount from a cup car :) and the driveshaft cover plate

Steering rack all cleaned up with a nicely painted steering damper

Been trying to sort out the front end bodywork too. the front slam panel and the bit under the grill and headlights has always let the front end of the car down. So out came the sand paper and primer.

Started sanding back all the rust and giving the paint a good rub down

Helen was helping and was very proud of the small bit she did :)

On with a coat of zinc primer to hopefully stop any more rust coming back

Then sanded down the strip under the headlights

This was given a coat of zinc primer too, then both parts got a coat of normal grey primer

Then I though I'd give this thing a go

Had it sitting for ages and been nervous about trying to fit it, after hearing stories of them not lining up if your car has even had a slight front end knock.

Set to work cleaning up the TCA mounts and removing the dimple on the back of them.

Lined up the frame and I got it in place just fine, not mods to the frame of mounts needed :)

So took it back off and gave the TCA mounts a coating of hammerite

Then got the frame on and all bolted up nice and tight with the G40 TCAs

The TCAs and ARB feel lovely and tight now, hopefully it give me the front end feel I've been after.

That's how it sits just now, still loads to do, list of parts I still need to buy gets ever bigger as the bank balance gets smaller and the time I've got to finish this build gets smaller too. But I'm still hoping I can have this running and driving and on the road for the 24th May, which gives me a couple of days shake down before it's MOT on the 29th May.

great progress - cant wait to see it!