Model: 1992 CL Coupe

Engine: 1.0, golf elbow + pod filter fitted, painted cam cover & heat shield, blue dressing kit, bonnet struts

Suspension: Factory

Brakes: Factory

Wheels and Tyres: 13/145 Steels w/ spinner rims & locking VW dust caps

Exterior Styling: Debadged grill, chrome VW bonnet emblem, chrome washer jets w/ white LEDs, clear indicator/repeater lenses and LED bulbs, polo-themed sunstrip, misc. stickers

Interior Styling: GT clocks w/ blue LEDs, push start button, black/blue seat/seatbelt cover & carpet set, blue LED gearknob, blue footwell lighting kit

ICE and Security: Halfords stereo w/ CD/USB/Aux, 2 6x9"s in parcel shelf, aftermarket alarm system w/ g-sensor, dash cam

Comments:

Dora is my second car, and the first car that I've been able to legally drive. The name comes from a german WW2 railway gun. I got her for £300 on November 3rd of 2013 at 86k miles, not 2 years later and I'm over 113k. We've been 400 miles to London and back, and I plan on keeping her on the road for as long as physically possible, and then a few more years after that.

Dora's main purpose is more 'fun' than anything - it's been mostly about the aesthetics and indulging my ricer needs, but as of recent I've been getting into the more technical side of things and learning a lot in the process. Perhaps one day I'll get a nice mix of both and she'll be the ultimate show-car. I have no real plans about where this build is going - if something catches my eye (and if the necessary parts are cheap on ebay), I give it a go.

Pictures:

When I first got her:

The peak of my ricer career, just before merseyside police got involved:

(I also had motion-activated blue LED dust caps. Mad street cred was gained.)

How she stands today:

Night shots:

Complete & Hopeful To-Do List:

- Redo badges with chrome wrap

- Relocate air intake

- Install oil catch can

-14" Steel Wheels with 175/50 Tyres (& spinner trims ofc)

- Lowered suspension, 40/40 or 60/60 progressive springs

- Window tints @ 75% all round

- Upgraded rear lights (considering options)

- Upgrade all lights to LEDs (bar headlights)

- G40 discs, brembo pads, braided brake lines

- Power windows

- Central locking

- New alarm system w/ shock sensor

- DIY killswitch

- Vinyl wrap door cards & dash, install new door pods & speakers

- Do something with the seats, roof lining etc., not sure what as yet

- RICE loom & switch, upgrade all interior lighting

- New stereo w/bluetooth

- 6.5" speakers in the doors, tweeters in the dash, amp & sub in the boot

- DRLs

- Projector headlights

- HIDs (undecided as to what as yet)

- Bodywork (sort out all the rust)

- Do something with the exhaust

- Arch trims/spats, all to be chrome wrapped

- Custom fibreglass bodykit

- Fog lights

- Headlight washer system

- Complete neon set - underglow, wheel arches, grill, badges, etc.

- Flushed handles & lambo doors

- Full blue chrome vinyl wrap

- Engine conversion to the best a Mk3 can get

- Turbo/supercharge it

- Dry Nos system

Edited 15 August, 201510 yr by Vio

Bright

It looked really nice when you first bought it.

Okay, I'll admit, the engine bay looks tidier now.

But the LED's, the interior lighting, the spinners? I don't really want to mention the seat covers.

If you took the spinners and the hood emblem off it would actually look like a decent car. Right now I just feel somewhat sorry for it.

At least you're working on it yourself, I suppose. I have to ask, is the Porsche gonna get the same treatment?

Bay looks okay, not a fan of the rest would be my kindest words. But it ain't my car and each to their own an all that

What happened to ma post?!

I luv dis car .

Spinners for the win m8...

What happened to ma post?!

I luv dis car .

Spinners for the win m8...

I took it away, why make your first post on this forum a negative one about someones car?

Not my cuppa dats all. Sorry to offend you.

"Most of the time we look to other people to tell us what we should do to our own cars, how we should do it, and then we look back to them for approval to make sure we fit their mold." - Moog of MightyCarMods

Without the spinners/LEDs/etc I'd be going down the same route as any other Mk3 on here, and while they are all quite good in that sense, I'd prefer to try something a bit different. Understandably it may look crap now but it's a work in progress, and there is much much more yet to do before anyone can truly appreciate it

I don't have half the enthusiasm for the Porsche as I do for the Polo, that will probably just get tidied up and kept stock. I'd ideally like to get my hands on something a little more practical than a classic sports car or polo, and that would probably get more "approval" when it comes to the mods I'd do on it. But Dora is my primary concern right now, and I have a hell of a lot planned for her. I accept that not everyone will be pleased, but it's one of the most enjoyable projects I've had thus far, and thus the show must go on

Well at least you're sticking to your convictions! :P

It's easy to knock somebody elses pride and joy but if you're happy with it that's the important thing!

At least you have the stones to do it your own way regardless of the current trend. Without our "Vio's" car modification would not exist and we would all be rolling stock.

Its not much to my taste but I'm more interested in this than most other threads on here already,

I've seen wayy to many polos on ats classics, alleycatz, minilights and bbs's now and I need a break.

- Remove green filter from GT clocks without destroying them

Done

Decided to try the coat hanger method of removing the cluster. However once I took off the plastic steering wheel cover, the clocks just slid out without the need for any tools. Waste of a perfectly good coat hanger.

I'm not sure what I expected. Maybe I'd be better off going back to white bulbs and making a blue filter? Ah well, at least I can see what speed I'm doing at night now.

Decided to let the local garage sort out the oil breather hose, as I haven't managed to get the old one (or what's left of it) off. Took me about 10 minutes just to undo the clamp, as there's only enough room for one hand to fit in there

Earlier this year our Rover's window was smashed and my dad ended up paying £80 for a professional replacement. Thus I decided to replace my recently-smashed quarter light myself, and I am pretty satisfied. 20 minute install, nothing important broken, only minor injuries sustained, and all for a total cost of £5 (thanks Gaz!). That's what I call success!

Also replaced the tatty grey carpet with my new black one, and was surprised at how easy it was, the whole thing took only abut 2 hours (could have probably been done in 1, but I don't like rain). Loving it - the floor mats suit nicely and the footwell lighting looks even better. Only problem is now the door cards look awful in comparison, so I guess I'll have to add that to my to-do list.

When removing the old carpet, I found underneath a drill bit for a drill we don't own, and a 50p coin (hurrah!)

Did the carpet clean up well? Was a bit dusty!

Did the carpet clean up well? Was a bit dusty!

Aye, gave em a good vacuum and used a bit of shoe polish on the leathery bits on the drivers side, and they look good as new many thanks!

Small touch up by painting the badges. Sort-of. They weren't completely dry when I put them on, so there are a few fingerprints... but I can live with it, driving out 200 miles today and I didn't want to do it badgeless. Forward planning is helpful!

Today I made my first proper electrical mod. With only experience from soldering a speaker cable and messing around with various neon washer jets - I decided on a start button, as I wanted to start small and they were cheap on ebay, had blue lights, and practically no downsides. I'm surprised and proud that it works, and that nothing exploded in the process. Kind of. I did experience firsthand why you need to disconnect your battery before you start cutting wires in your dash... but I'm unharmed and everything in the car still works, so I think we're good.

Think it looks a bit out of place in a retro polo but cool that it works.

Also what's with them wires?

Edited 2 July, 201511 yr by wizardmanjm

Think it looks a bit out of place in a retro polo but cool that it works.

Also what's with them wires?

Black vertical powers my dash cam, black horizontal is an audio cable from phone to stereo, blue charges the phone. And that's only 3 of em - the whole car really is a mess of wires for all my useless crap On a nicer day I'll have to take out the seats and run everything under the carpets/drill holes in the dash to hide them all - I was going to do it today, until it started raining

What's a dash cam?

What's a dash cam?

Records everything up front when I'm driving, so if I ever get into an accident that wasn't my fault I have video evidence.

We (me and a few other dashcam owners) also like making videos of interesting stuff - bad driving, near misses, road rage etc. that we capture, these are mine:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtkw1QbxSYSsTjbi05VpnBQ

Edited 4 July, 201511 yr by Vio

Does this affect your insurance premium

Does this affect your insurance premium

Unfortunately nope, Churchill doesn't take dashcams into account

Watched some of your dash cam videos, you do like blasting the beats in the Polo....

The videos look a decent quality, often thought about getting one myself.

I hit the mute button, but they were interesting to watch. :)

Worth considering, some insurers do consider them, and at least you've got video evidence if there's ever an incident!