Made up my drive shafts this morning

Hubs are in the freezer before I fit them to the swivels....my wife knows, isn't impressed but understands what I am trying to achieve!

Nothing wrong with car parts in the freezer or the oven. That's what they are there for isn't it?

Loving all the clean parts though :)

I normally try to do my car part cookery when she isn't in....what she doesn't know can't hurt!

Finish making up the front subframe, may try to fit it tomorrow. Though still need to make up front suspension, and about a million other little things before it can all be put back together!

Hubs are now on,

and made up the front suspension. Its Koni STR.T shocks with 35mm lowering H&R lowering springs, nothing too crazy and i'll see how it sits before making other changes. I like to see a nice even gap between the wheel and arch, not interested in scraping the floor.

And I finally accounted for the last 6 bolts, for the suspension top mounts!

Polished one rim of my alloys, and mocked up what they will look like....

Still waiting on the bolts, arriving Tuesday I hope!

Bit of a none update, fetched my new car today

And some splash guards for the disc brakes

So no more putting off the inevitable..

Love all the painted and detailed parts bud, should look clean as when it's back together!

Let's hope it stays clean lol nice new car too which merc is it?

Cheers, I hope it stays clean too!!

But all I am aiming for really is added longevity of the parts and as I was replacing bushes and having to remove stuff I didn't think there was much point in putting rusty bits back on the car. Just hope once it is all complete we can get another 140,000 miles out of it....aiming for the moon (238,855 miles average distance)

The new car (well, new to me) is an E-Class E300 AMG Sport Bluetec Hybrid. But don't let the AMG part get you excited, it is just styling options and a few extra toys inside....still drives like a 2.1 diesel.

The Polo is going to be the run around really.

Edited 1 March, 201610 yr by AveryCates

hmm.....I think I will stay in the warm today!

I moved the subframe into the garage yesterday, cleaned the arches and protectors, found some surface rust on the mounts... wire brushed, sanded, treated, painted and then seam sealed around the mount to stop it collecting water and dirt in the future and will stone chip and spray it silver once the welding has been done too.

Slight improvement from this....I like this picture, it shows how much cleaner everything is now.

Ended up getting too cold so I stopped cleaning, I'll give it another clean to try and remove some of the old wax drips on a nicer day..

Today is my birthday and i have spent it on my back getting dirty and scratched...not in the fun way, but I've made good progress. Subframe and suspension have been fitted, but ran out of good light to fit the drive shafts and exhaust!!

I must have fitted the subframe 3 times today, each time removing it to gain access to a different bit (Steering rack mount, gear linkage bracket)

Put the discs on as they were taking up space and realised that the brake pads I have aren't correct, they are to narrow and don't fit the calipers. Hopefully get replacements start of the week.

Here you can see the new nut in place, ready to get welded in and the grey stone chip I am going to use....might not even need to paint it silver?

That's a quality rebuild man looks awesome

Thanks, quality is what I am after....I am trying to polish a turd, not just roll it in glitter. Not that I think the car is a turd, the more I work on the car the more I like it and am becoming attached to it. Something that never happened with my old Mini Clubman!

Well, I was at my parents last weekend so progress ground to a halt. But this week, in between rain, I have managed to get the drive shafts on, brakes fitted and bled. I didn't get a picture of the everything together, I have orange HEL braided brake lines and orange dust caps on the bleed valves....looks really nice.

And for the first time in several months I started the car. Which jumped into life with the first turn of the key, I was very surprised and I expected it to fight me all the way.

Dog approved!

I also fitted my remote central locking kit, it was incredibly simple. Unplug the connector to the vacuum pump, plug in the supplied cable and the plug the unit in.... less than 30 seconds and it worked first time. There are extra wires for wiring in the indicators to flash and a couple of other things, but I am leaving it as just remote.

Now that the car moves, the next job is to swap out the rear shocks. I am not going to town on the rear until next winter, so everything is going to be left rusty for a little while.

Still to do - Polish the remaining rims and fit wheels, check all bolts are torqued correctly and then spray with clear wax to protect them, service the engine, and get the welding sorted.....and the MOT and enjoy!

Out of the garage for the first time in months, rear suspension changed this morning.

Very good progress and quality of work mate,where did you buy the remote central locking unit?

Very good progress and quality of work mate,where did you buy the remote central locking unit?

It came from eBay Germany, made by Inca Pro

Lovely project and well tidy polo, glad the 6n got binned as it was rough.

Serviced the car today, and fitted the new alloys....and I never took a picture!!

I'll be getting the welding done this next week (or week after) and will take some proper pictures then

Engine bay shot

I'll be insuring the car when I get paid this week and get it in for the much need welding....then I can finally tidy out the garage!

Its gonna be like a new car when you are done! Great work!

From 00:01 on Monday morning the Polo will be insured!

It cost me £420.....but that also includes the Mercedes for a year as well. Admiral multicar insurance is quite good. It broken down to £150-ish for the Polo, which is £100 less than I was being quote to insure it on its own.

So once I've had a cuppa on Monday it'll be off to the garage.

Little update, car was dropped off at the garage this morning (he had no space when I went on Monday)

He said he'll do the MOT today and then we can see what needs doing (if anything fingers crossed) to pass, plus the welding!

No timescale given by either of us, so now I wait.....or sort through my garage.

I have pretty a whole 6N in bits around the house/garage....so if anyone needs bits let me know.

Edited 6 April, 201610 yr by AveryCates

Car failed its MOT...

Head light aim, I told the guy that the units were new and would need adjusting before it got tested!!

Apart from that I am very pleased with the result, hopefully he'll sort it in the morning and get it retested and I can drive the car at the weekend.

The place I use just adjust the beams as part of the test, saves them doing the extra paperwork :)

Not a bad fail though. But my MOT guy does the same as Nige says, adjusts them as part of the test. After all it only takes a couple seconds with a screwdriver :)

Hope you get it back with a fresh ticket tomorrow :)

My testers do the same as above lol well done on the test. Basically a pass