Hey people, 

Here's my new project :1988  MK2 Polo Coupe S 

I've been kindly given the car from my house mate who recently had taken the car off the road due to a few issues.

- fuel tank leaks over half full ( new tank from vw heritage sitting here now)

- leaking radiator/ expansion tank ( new rad arrived last week )

-CV joint nearly exploded (replaced at the garage last week)

 

Lots of plans for the next few months it's got a fair bit of rust so that needs addressing before winter.

 

 

Edited 2 August, 20179 yr by Retrospoke

My Coupe has the same problem with the leaking fuel tank, nightmare! Hoping to get it fixed though soon! 

It's a expensive problem a leaky tank!

I'm striping the car for a good clean/ treating any rust along the way

radiator out today,

decided to do the heater matrix / thermostat at the same time due rusty mess I've found so far, so ordering those tonight.

Poped the expansion tank in the sink for a soak then got destraction by the air filter lid!

Grinder time! 

After I made it bare metal, treated it we it with some k rust, a few times washing off with warm water/sand paper 

Got a few coats if etch primer on, going to spray it bronze as I have a odd can left over

Spent rest of evening cleaning engine bay, not. Showing it yet , it's still filthy!

Edited 2 August, 20179 yr by Retrospoke

you know photobucket pics no longer work ?

Would like to see pics of this - suggest changing image hosting providers. IMGUR works for me and is pretty simple to use :)

Just managed to click on the links and take a look. I like it a lot and it's original as well!

 

I took a look at the MOT history online as well and there's previously been no mention of corrosion or rust, so I think whatever rust you can see must be surface only, which is lucky! The MOT has only just expired (May) so i'd be half tempted to pop in for a test and see what it fails on and that would be a good starter for 10. 

Have sent Retrospoke a Pm, hopefully he will be able to sort out the issue and use something other than Photofuckit.

 

 

Above photo's are before I started .

Then I started on the air filter casing

Bare metal

Treatment ( the Rusty water below is what came out the radiator!)

Finished!

Damm photobucket I will take my images elswhere!

 

Edited 7 August, 20179 yr by Retrospoke

So the rads out, now I'm focusing on rust patches + cleaning everything!

 

Bonnet needs some work

Radiator housing is in a bad shape so I'm going to try and save it with some phosphoric acid.

 

 

 

Edited 8 August, 20179 yr by Retrospoke

Great project I had an f plate coupe s cracking motor.  Keep up the good work.

Traced the coolant leak to a warped and cracked thermostat housing, 

 

New parts:

Thermostat housing + elbow,

Thermostat / O rings 

Rocker cover gaskets

Engine earth leads X2

 

Carried out a coolant flush, as the Haynes manual stated using hose to reverse flush the system, 

 

 

 

 

Liking the work so far. Where did you get the earth straps from?

Thanks MartinB

I got the earth straps on ebay for only £3 each 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/9-Classic-Car-Earth-Strap-Battery-Lead-Cable-Flexible-Tinned-Copper-Braid-/121930637020?hash=item1c63a1dedc:g:EQwAAOSwv-NWaFQw

So I painted up the radiator fan housing, fitted the new thermostat/ housing , cleaned the air filter box, then poured in some coolant , then fired it up , bled out the air from the system, then waited for fan to kick in.

The tappets seem a little noisy , but it idled ok after a minute,  I've noticed the carb wobbles abit so I might need a new rubber gasket for the base as I suspect it has a air leak. But overall I'm happy I'm making progress as it's not leaking coolant anymore!

Ok next problem.......

My suspension top mounts on the front are extremely worn! 

On the passenger side it's actually dented the bonnet!

It's covered 178k in its lifetime so let's hope they have been replaced at some point!

New bits:

Top mounts and rubber boots , ( Febi- bilsten) for front end 

80 / 60 mm lowering springs ( which only cost giving my mate and his mum a lift to Stansted airport at 6am.... he used to have a bready)

The car doesn't seem to bounce around to much so I'm hoping the original shocks will do for now, famous last words?

 

Next week I'm getting the new fuel tank powder coated,  

Rocker cover is also coming off for heat powdercoat 

Going to order:

90 amp alternator as I hear you can fit a one from golf/Passat 

Front ARB blocks 

New fuel lines, filter, 

Rubber Carb gasket

Spark plugs, dizzy cap + rotor arm 

Strut braces 

Underbody protection / paint for when I do suspension / fuel tank area

Edited 4 October, 20178 yr by Retrospoke

This week I've been doing a few little jobs, 

Testing out some POR15 on some rusty bits, 

Painted front bumper as it was so faded:

Removed a bodge on the rear exhaust ( shoelaces and wire ) with a pair rubber doughnuts.

 

my shocks were a bit knackerd!

Splashed out ? 

H+R cup kit 

PPP Stage 2 Subframe 

ARB Blocks

Febi bilsten lower arms 

Febi bilsten track rods

Febi bilsten shock absorber dust covers/ boots

Front wheel bearings 

Gearbox rubber mount + G60 rubber mount

Edited 15 November, 20178 yr by Retrospoke
Space at bottom of page

Finally got my tank and rocker cover back from the powder coaters but I'm really Happy with the results 

fuel tank ( Porsche silver )

Stainless tank strap from eBay.de

rubber strip ( found on the side of the road ) 

Rocker cover color ( rootbeer )

Bolts done in black por15 paint

New rubber gaskets

Hubs cleaned then painted in hammerite

Brake covers were almost beyond repair but will do for now

Rocker cover fitted

Stage 2 Subframe fitted, ,( what a battle getting the ARB blocks on!) 

Hubs, H,+R cup kit fitted, 

 

Nearly there but held up with my brakes , somehow eurocar parts have sent me 1x  239mm disc and 1 X 263 

Only fitted the correct 239mm one then got the other side and got angry! 

Also my track rods are being stubborn so further investigations needed.

Hope to fit fuel tank then get a MOT this week/end

Looks amazing.

 

And pot luck bad luck from eurocarparts. 

Getting track rod ends off .. at the strut use a bearing splitter (mole grips, hacksaw, angle grinder when the cone is released but the nut just turns)  - take whole rods off at the rack then you need a vice and 2 long spanners, one holds still one moves away to release the lock nut... look carefully at the rod's thread for direction - I've even sought garage help with this for beer/biscuits.

thankyou dvderlm, 
I was going to go down that route as I have a big old record vice which keeps things in place,, but I have handed in the towel and given the car to the garage with the new trackrods,
still have a knock coming from somewhere so I am starting to think I need to replace both ends on the track rod arms, will check it out next week,
maybe these? if I start saving! 

https://www.maxrpm.de/Steering-track-rod-for-all-Polo-86-and-86C-MK2/2F-with-track-adjustment-unibal-joints-Set-Left-Right-both-sites-adjustable

Good progress

 

:)

Good little project, cleaning up quite well. Like the colour on the rocker cover

Those trackrods... are you sure they fit RHD? ... I think the angles are different enough that you can't just swap sides.

 

Would mean you can get steering wheel dead straight on lowered car, especially with large spline column.

But more than I'd pay.

 

Knock might be the top mounts.

Edited 7 December, 20178 yr by dvderlm

good call didn't think of that! 

Just looking at there description says they will modify them shorter for extreme lowering which is interesting

Would make sense its the top mounts, just changed them I guess they bed-in thus making  cup/nut loose

 

Its nice to be back on the road in a old VW again!

Really Happy with the ride of the h+r cup kit + stage 2 Subframe /ARB blocks have transformed the handling.

After driving it for a few weeks I started to notice the carpet getting damp I knew it was rust around the battery tray but wasn't expecting a hole this big!

The battery bracket was hiding the worse  behind it, going to make a new one

New metal clamped in place, tried to make the patch as small as possible/ as resemble original, copying spot weld positions etc

Welding wasn't the best due to crappy access in this area but it will do, I have a classic mini so am quite used to welding in small spaces!

Spot welded Bracket , more primer then seam sealer both sides