Thanks! Last VW for a while, though.

This gives a better idea of the size difference - up! vs G40:

My front seats are for sale:

http://www.clubpolo.co.uk/forum/index.php?...=306506&hl=

Well, this is annoying:

Driver's side door handle flipper. It's only been on there a year, you can tell by how little paint has chipped off (and if you look for my delocked door handle guide from Feb 2012)

It's the third non genuine door handle to break within five years. Enough is enough, I've ordered a genuine handle and footed a £42 bill. At £10 per time for play-doh non genuine rubbish it shouldn't take long to recoup the difference.

I'm on a bit of a renewing spree with this car at the moment. We should complete on our mortgage on Thursday so I'll have a garage again, which means I'll be able to crack on with a few jobs on the car.

New door cards picked up from G40jon last week:

The list is growing:

- new door handle on the driver's side

- replace inner air seals on the a pillars

- remove seats and clean thoroughly

- remove and replace front, and maybe rear, carpets

- remove door cards, seal fuel tank breather hose hole

- fit VR6 steering wheel

- renew door membranes

- replace/rewire passenger side lock solenoid

- re-attach rear wing rubbing strip

- clean it all!

Car looks like this at the moment:

Mechanically it's sound but it looks a bit tired due to being rained on constantly for six months.

Pics as and when.

Really need to get this garaged man. Makes me sad thinking its out in the open exposed to the elements all the time :(

If we get the house keys on Thursday, it'll be in the garage on Thursday evening. Not messing about!

I'm REALLY sick of seeing it like this, but there's been no point cleaning it up if it's just going to sit outside again. We've had a really miserable, wet, grey winter this year, and I've been away a lot since we moved back to Cardiff, so I'm not overly surprised it's looking so haggered.

On the flip side, the surprise element is high at the moment.

Got my house keys, so the Polo will be garaged as of this evening.

And, in other news:

Something new...

Normality restored. Good to get a feel for size with the car in there. I can open both doors and walk around the whole car, which is a first.

Pressing on with stripping the interior this week, then I'll send it off for a service.

good size garage that!

very nice car mate

do you know how long the (near side) drive shaft is ?

Not a clue, sorry. Standard length...

Looking abit wintery..

Get a nice warm bucket and give the car some loving

Cant wait for mine to be freshly painted and actually enjoy detailing it and not seeing blemishs lol

Yeah it's been five months since it was last cleaned, and five months of rain have washed all of the bumper treatment off so it's looking very tired.

We don't have a hosepipe in the new house, not yet anyway. That's something I plan to rectify as soon as possible! If the weather holds I should be cleaning it this weekend. :)

Need to get one for my flat too .

I get a few odd looks when i take my car to the jet wash and pull out a bucket and mits lol

Need to get one for my flat too .

I get a few odd looks when i take my car to the jet wash and pull out a bucket and mits lol

Yeah I do too. I jet washed it (jet rinsed is probably more accurate) a few weeks ago but used a wash mitt to take some of the grime off.

It did a good job of my inlaws' lawn when we took it off just after the New Year. The hope now is that a few months of being parked on wet grass haven't done an equally good job of the floorpan. It should be alright but you can never tell without getting under it and taking all the carpets out.

I'm kinda dreading it though.

At least it's dry now. It was peeing it down over the weekend and I was thinking I'm quite glad the car is back indoors.

wish i had a garage to work in :( yours looks perfect too haha. car looks sick man keep it up :)

Gauge pod has arrived. I'm going to chop a hole in the speaker grille and mount it on a piece of plastic where the speaker used to be. Not worked it out yet.

The pod is too big. So it's going back, and I've got another one coming. A cheap one, but it's smaller than this.

Unable to fit the gauge, I've been working on the house today. But I got a sudden burst of enthusiasm earlier means I've spent a couple of hours starting on the interior. It all comes out so quickly!

I'm quite looking forward to driving it like this. It won't be staying stripped though, I'm getting new carpet and renewing the sound deadening material while I'm at it.

Thankfully despite being soaking wet and fairly grim under there, it's not rusty. I'm taking it up to Ponty for a service and checkup next week, to see how solid it is underneath. With the fabric out they'll be able to get at everything easily.

I think I might need a new fuel tank. Not so good. Just a hunch.

Door cards coming out one evening this week. Easy job that.

So this morning I had a few errands to run, thought I'd take the Polo for a drive. The interior is very definitely going back in but for now it's a giggle driving it around like this:

Massive G-smiles!

It's booked in for a service and to have the wiring put in for the wideband on Tuesday, and a quick stop-off at Longlife Exhausts on Monday to get the nut welded in for the second lambda into the downpipe.

The floorpan seems to be solid on first inspection but my driver's side sound deadening didn't hold up to much vacuuming. Sucked a load of dust out of the passenger side footwell but ended up with half the driver's side insulation in my Dyson. Whoops! While the interior is out and it's in for a service I'll be getting any rusty bits fixed in the garage.

a stripped mk3, such a noisy affair haha

Just taking the boot carpet out seemed to make a massive difference. It was much noisier without it!

Haven't seen the car for a couple of weeks, spent last week in Chamonix with a day at the Geneva Motor Show, thanks to Mitsubishi. A 1,800 mile road trip (even longer than Berlin last year) in the new Outlander.

I'm desperate to get a go in this - 2.0 TSI engine, manual gearbox, numbered - it may be happening. We shall see.

Chamonix is amazing - this was taken at 3,842m above sea level, and yes that's a group of people SKIING down!

So meanwhile I've left the car with the mechanic in Pontypridd who's looked after it for years. Where the following is happening:

- new polyurethane rear beam bushes

- Stack wideband gauge is now wired up, though it's temporarily fitted where the volt meter used to be

- Stack oil temperature gauge is wired up, that's only taken me three years to do (!)

- All of my other gauges have been re-wired, including a fuse box which wasn't fitted when they went in (and should've been, apparently)

- I now have a genuine VAG G40 rocker cover gasket

- alarm switches for the doors have had to be rewired, as they stopped working (FUCK my alarm, seriously)

- it's had a service

- and this week it's getting prodded, poked and checked for rust

As I've been away, and the house has had electricians cutting holes in the walls, I've said not to rush. But I've got new number plates, new seals for the A pillars and new carpets to go in so I'm keen to get it back. This week's going to be busy again though, so it may be another week before I get a chance to collect it. :(

Good news is since the car was last in the garage, the electrician has fitted an extra strip light, a bespoke power supply for the electric door and an extra pair of plugs near the door so I can charge electric cars on the drive. Or, more frequently, run a cable out for the Dyson when I'm cleaning the car. :)

Yet another update with no G40 pics, sorry.

Edited 11 March, 201313 yr by Alex

The car's been held up by a few delayed parts, rear beam bushes to be precise. Hopefully picking it up later this week, as I'm away Tuesday-Thursday.

So tonight, I spent a while reviving my new carpets ready for it to come back.

They've come out well, I think. Good and fluffy. I've given them a wash with AutoGlym interior cleaner for the bore stubborn bits.

My old ones have seen better days.

They were a bit grim when I bought them, a few fag burns and tears, and while I've had them they've spent a few years living next to building sites which has taken its toll. However, they're not awful, so I've put them up out of the way in case I ever need them again.

Sorry a slightly dull update. The interesting bits are happening out of sight at the moment - my gauges are all in and wired up, I've got a proper G40 rocker cover gasket, it's freshly serviced and there are some polyurethane rear bushes going in this week. But I've been in France most of the last few weeks so I've said not to rush it because I don't have time to pick it up anyway.

Car's still not back. Long story, not delighted about it but it can't really be helped. The garage floor is still covered in carpets as above.

I'm expecting its return to coincide with the departure of the good weather.

So this week I've been drowning my sorrows in V-Power. Gallons and gallons of V-Power. I've got this:

Sounds like undiluted evil:

http://youtu.be/499A0S_Bzao

Bloody fast, too.

massive difference in the carpets! haha

that r wrc looks pretty mad too :)

Just taking the boot carpet out seemed to make a massive difference. It was much noisier without it!

I find that even removing just the parcel shelf makes a noticable difference, now get the Polo running, stop cheating on it!

It'll be done on Tuesday, which is annoying because I'm jet setting this week. It'll be another week before I get time to pick it up.

The younger mistress, so to speak, is treating me well though. :-)