Last October I bought this red beauty for 750 euro. A pretty good value imo, there is no serious rust on any structural parts.
The ususal rust at the edge of the front-window and some below the rear bumper are the most severe cases of rust. The garage I bought it from put new wider but smaller wheels on it, so the car is already faster on the speedo : )


My plan is to take "Paula" for a roadtrip from Holland through scandinavia this summer. Before that can happen it does need some work on the engine though, I already posted on this forum about throttle hesitation. The fuel filter seemed to be the quick fix however the carb probably has a leak somewhere, the hesisation is still there. This is my first project car, so feel free to give me tips/advise!
 

Last day of November

 

 

 

 

Paula her home for the winter

 

 

 

Edited 23 January, 20206 yr by bastibum

Last week I put sound deadening in the boot. Paula is missing the backseat. The noise from the boot while driving is really uncomfortable especially on highways. 
The amount of noise hasn't changed drastically with the mats in the boot,  but the unpleasant tinny sound is less present. My plan is to buy a backseat somehwere in germany. With that installed the noise should be reduced quite a bit.

Yesterday I checked for a vacuum leak in the carb by spraying some carb cleaner on it. First time I took off the entire air filter and the carb does show signs of leakage.
The area pointed out by the arrow is where the carb cleaner actually got through the seal. What is the exact name of this part that needs replacement? 

 

 

The inside is neither a clean place....
Any recommendations for a good cleaning product?

 

 

Get a full carb rebuild kit , wont be expensive,  and use carb cleaner , dont be tempted to use wd40 as it waxes up inside.

>exact part name

"top cover gasket" I think.

An exploded parts diagram would tell you.

 

You could cut your own from gasket paper with scissors and craft knife if a rebuild kit is hard to find. too costly

eg

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-Flexoid-Gasket-Paper-A4-size-Sheet-Free-UK-Postage-1-60mm-Thick/183968642836

 

I guess that is a Solex PICT ?

Indeed I could not find a carb rebuild kit for my Solex 31 Pict 7 that does not cost way too much for what you get. Is it important that I get the original thickness of gasket paper? Or is it the thicker the better?

On 26/01/2020 at 01:01, dvderlm said:

>exact part name

"top cover gasket" I think.

An exploded parts diagram would tell you.

 

You could cut your own from gasket paper with scissors and craft knife if a rebuild kit is hard to find. too costly

eg

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-Flexoid-Gasket-Paper-A4-size-Sheet-Free-UK-Postage-1-60mm-Thick/183968642836

 

I guess that is a Solex PICT ?

 

Not too thick or the float will be at an odd angle and fill the carb well too much.

 

MacColl famously used Scotch Porridge oats packet. Don't laugh it is waxed cardboard. 

 

Oh okay, I'll have a quick look at my breakfast cereals then 🙂.
I'll go for the middle road 

You might want to check the domed oil breather on the back of the block

 

https://bangernomics.tripod.com/oilypolo.htm

 

I put on the new gasket and tried out the carb. However not to my suprise the idle was very erratic with maybe even more vacuum leaks than before.
The flange between the carburetor and the inlet manifold was very worn and probably the original part from 1984. Because I scraped away any rubber residu on the inlet manifold and carburetor that came from the flange there is now a very poor connection between the flange and carb+inlet manifold. So a new flange is my plan. Where do you guys buy such a part?

Extra question: After refitting the air filter I had this little (air?) pipe (looking at the camera in this pic) without any possible hose left over to connect it with. What do you reckon this hose should be connected with? 

On 04/02/2020 at 07:13, dvderlm said:

You might want to check the domed oil breather on the back of the block

 

https://bangernomics.tripod.com/oilypolo.htm

 

This link didn't work for me 😞 
site refused connection

site has gone... try this

https://clubgti.com/forums/index.php?threads/oily-polo-filter-edited-subject.17122/#post-166730

full text in there

It appears the worn flange is the model with OE-number 052 129 765 B that's not for sale anymore.
One last try  with Permatex no.2 sealant to get the car running again. Result was actually suprising; The worn flange is impossible to fully seal at this point, but there is significantly less vacuum leak. Car is running again, actually better than after purchase. There is a lot less throttle hesitation. How long will the permatex last ...... 

 

 

Resurrection 😮

Painted the grille and bumpers. Certainly makes it look better 

 

I also did some work on the interior: new dome light, cleaned up the greasy and brown headliner.

The carburetor is being revised at the moment by a carb expert, who lives just down the street(lucky me).

There is still the problem of the carb-flange that isn't produced anymore but needs replacing. He told me he'll find a fix for the problem.

Because the car doesn't go anywhere at the moment I bought some jack stands in order for me to replace the front break pads. 

I further discovered under the car that the rusted floor pan is worse than I thought. At the passenger side it is rusted all the way through

Anybody that has let a shop fix/replace the floor pan on their bready? A price estimate?

 

Another point of worry is the rust at driver side of the front window. I'm planning on tackling the rust and using filler without the hassle of completely removing the windshield. Would this still be possible or has the rust already spread too far?

tip of the iceburg imo , mine looked far nicer than that yet needed welding once the screen was out 

 

no harm in cleaning up and painting what you can see but dont kid yourself its fixed 

Just removed all the carpeting to expose the rusted floor pan. It looks like a proper car from the flinstones at 2 points on the passenger side. 
Strangely enough there were these rubber mats between the floor and carpet on the passenger side. One of them covered up the 2 holes. Really not a clue what their purpose is apart from maybe keeping the water out or maybe for cushioning.

 

 

Mine had those on the drivers side, don't know whether to help with sound deadening or extra cushion under feet.

Rot on my floor was a lot worse, anything like that can be fixed.

Seem to be a lot of rotten Mk2s on here, I was stunned, but then when you think that they youngest of mk2s are 30yr old it's to be expected

Yeah, mine is turning 36 this year. I'm guessing it hasn't been pampered in any way before I got it, then it has lasted pretty well.
It appears on both sides the place for the jack stands (I guess?) was a weak spot. I still want to lift the car though, probably on the front axle.

UPDATE

The carb has been revised and looks mint. To tackle the faulty flange we planned on vulcanising the worn rubber. However the materials bought online are still not delivered after 4 weeks!! 

I guess it's the 'Rona.  😕

 

I decided to kill the time not driving my car by painting some engine parts and the spare wheel.

 

 

 

😎

Finally got my carburetor back. After more than 2 months.....

Totally revised and the flange vulcanised, just for 50 euros 🙂

 

Edited 12 May, 20206 yr by bastibum

Excellent! Good job?

Haven't been able to assess it yet. The engine won't turn over, starter motor seems to be working fine. I ordered a new set of spark plug cables, those had their own patina 🙂

Gonna give the distributor cap and rotor a cleanup, hopefully it'll do the job. Maybe the coil or distributor needs replacement