Been reading this forum the past little while, seems very good. Thought I'd register. I'm also registered on the PVW Mag forums.
Hello all (with pics)
Hello all (with pics)
Hi everyone, I've just joined UK-Polos. I currently have a black '91 Polo GT
Been reading this forum the past little while, seems very good. Thought I'd register. I'm also registered on the PVW Mag forums.
Been reading this forum the past little while, seems very good. Thought I'd register. I'm also registered on the PVW Mag forums.
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carmadaaron
- Bling Bling Diamond Member
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- Joined: Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:55 pm
- Location: Scotland
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hardhitter
- Moderator
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- Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2002 10:35 pm
- Location: Derbyshire 3F Guru
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I bought my 1991 Volkswagen Polo GT Coupe for £50.
"What.. huh.. ?" I hear you ask.
The previous owners had it sitting in there driveway doing nothing, for over 6 months - no MOT or TAX. And before that, it had been off the road for over another six months waiting to be done up. Reason? Wasn't running. The head was sitting in the boot, rusted out, as was the bottom end. They'd inspected it after having problems (we found out after we bought it they'd blown a cylinder head gasket.) So me and my dad spent a few weeks doin' it up. Cleaned up rocker cover and painted it black with a red VW emblem. Cleaned up and restored the head - quite a bit of time with a can of WD-40 and fine sand paper. Replaced just about everything - all filters, dist. cap, rotor arm, lambda sensor, fuel compensator, throttle body potentionmeter, coolant temperature switch, fuel pump (all of these items weren't immediate, like lambda, fuel pump etc, this was overtime as we realised they needed to be changed or we started suffering problems from them like leaking fuel...) Gave the system a good clean or two out to get rid of water and oil mixture from previous leak from head gasket. Everything else was also cleaned and made to be in good running order. Got a new exhaust - middle section and backbox. Has a nice purr to it naturally. All round new brakes, brake pipes and cables. New bearings in back wheels (wish we'd replaced fronts at the time 'cause I think I hear the humming of a knackered bearing this past while) Self-made bracket was fashioned to hold the handbrake cable up and out the way, for some reason someone had strapped a cable tie up to hold the brake cable. As you can guess this would allow the handbrake to close but not open again.
Bodywork needed nothing more than a very good clean with a bit of TLC. Bumpers got an intensive treatment from Carplan's black bumper gel, fanstastic stuff. Got a new gear gaiter from German Swedish, as I'm sure all of you know that's the absolute must inside on a VW this age. I'm sure I don't have to post a pic to let you know what it was like before. I took off Catalyst badge and t-cutted till the void with the white border blended well with the paintwork. Ordered new Coupe, Polo GT and rear chrome VW badges. I also made use with the old Polo GT badge by using the "GT" part, sprayed it black and used it as an interior glove-box badge. New plates with red bar and VW logo. Had original VAG plates on it, so I saved one and it's on my wall. Got some rear light clusters from a later spec. Polo (L reg) at Overton's Dismantlers. Replaced the headlight bulbs with Phillips Vison Plus H4 (super bright white). It has improved night driving significantly and also helps the car show it's age less. You know what older cars are like with those yellowish bulbs. Gonna be giving the trims a recondition soon, they've suffered with scuffs and scratches over the years. On the look out for some cheap G40 rims.
Interior just needed a good clean and a freshen up. As for ICE, I currently have Clarion CD/RC head unit, Clarion 6 disc multi-changer, Clarion 360watt amplifier, Clarion 90watt front speakers (not fitted) and 200watt Panasonic 6x9s. We also installed red interior lighting. We used super bright LEDs. Two in the centre console, 3 in each footwell and for the intrument panel and heater controls I used a sheet of red coloured acitate. Removed the original green strip from the instrument panel and cut some red to match, slipped it in and there we go. Pitty about the green LCD, but hey. I can't have it all. The heater control panel was the same dealie. Some red acitate to filter the light. I used a switch from the dash of a Polo at the scrappies and installed it in one of the blank switch holes and wired it up to the 12v through the cigarette lighter. So it doesn't look outta place.
Well that's just about it I'd say for now. I really appreciate you taking time to read my Polo-Story.
Thanks.
"What.. huh.. ?" I hear you ask.
The previous owners had it sitting in there driveway doing nothing, for over 6 months - no MOT or TAX. And before that, it had been off the road for over another six months waiting to be done up. Reason? Wasn't running. The head was sitting in the boot, rusted out, as was the bottom end. They'd inspected it after having problems (we found out after we bought it they'd blown a cylinder head gasket.) So me and my dad spent a few weeks doin' it up. Cleaned up rocker cover and painted it black with a red VW emblem. Cleaned up and restored the head - quite a bit of time with a can of WD-40 and fine sand paper. Replaced just about everything - all filters, dist. cap, rotor arm, lambda sensor, fuel compensator, throttle body potentionmeter, coolant temperature switch, fuel pump (all of these items weren't immediate, like lambda, fuel pump etc, this was overtime as we realised they needed to be changed or we started suffering problems from them like leaking fuel...) Gave the system a good clean or two out to get rid of water and oil mixture from previous leak from head gasket. Everything else was also cleaned and made to be in good running order. Got a new exhaust - middle section and backbox. Has a nice purr to it naturally. All round new brakes, brake pipes and cables. New bearings in back wheels (wish we'd replaced fronts at the time 'cause I think I hear the humming of a knackered bearing this past while) Self-made bracket was fashioned to hold the handbrake cable up and out the way, for some reason someone had strapped a cable tie up to hold the brake cable. As you can guess this would allow the handbrake to close but not open again.
Bodywork needed nothing more than a very good clean with a bit of TLC. Bumpers got an intensive treatment from Carplan's black bumper gel, fanstastic stuff. Got a new gear gaiter from German Swedish, as I'm sure all of you know that's the absolute must inside on a VW this age. I'm sure I don't have to post a pic to let you know what it was like before. I took off Catalyst badge and t-cutted till the void with the white border blended well with the paintwork. Ordered new Coupe, Polo GT and rear chrome VW badges. I also made use with the old Polo GT badge by using the "GT" part, sprayed it black and used it as an interior glove-box badge. New plates with red bar and VW logo. Had original VAG plates on it, so I saved one and it's on my wall. Got some rear light clusters from a later spec. Polo (L reg) at Overton's Dismantlers. Replaced the headlight bulbs with Phillips Vison Plus H4 (super bright white). It has improved night driving significantly and also helps the car show it's age less. You know what older cars are like with those yellowish bulbs. Gonna be giving the trims a recondition soon, they've suffered with scuffs and scratches over the years. On the look out for some cheap G40 rims.
Interior just needed a good clean and a freshen up. As for ICE, I currently have Clarion CD/RC head unit, Clarion 6 disc multi-changer, Clarion 360watt amplifier, Clarion 90watt front speakers (not fitted) and 200watt Panasonic 6x9s. We also installed red interior lighting. We used super bright LEDs. Two in the centre console, 3 in each footwell and for the intrument panel and heater controls I used a sheet of red coloured acitate. Removed the original green strip from the instrument panel and cut some red to match, slipped it in and there we go. Pitty about the green LCD, but hey. I can't have it all. The heater control panel was the same dealie. Some red acitate to filter the light. I used a switch from the dash of a Polo at the scrappies and installed it in one of the blank switch holes and wired it up to the 12v through the cigarette lighter. So it doesn't look outta place.
Well that's just about it I'd say for now. I really appreciate you taking time to read my Polo-Story.
Thanks.
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Tahrey1043
- Bling Bling Diamond Member
- Posts: 5184
- Joined: Thu Sep 18, 2003 1:15 am
- Location: Birmingham! Enjoys: The pseudo-G-Smiles provided by a 1.6 Megane Sport valver...
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tainmrk3polo
- Bronze Member
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- Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2004 6:14 pm
- Location: Worcestestesrshire
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hey (nice to see you followed my choice of forum advice! )
like i said on messenger, looks bloody stunning! i didnt know about the lighting inside, i might have to try that and also did you get round to getting a price for shipping the wheels? still havent got those pics off my camera. anyway welcome!
like i said on messenger, looks bloody stunning! i didnt know about the lighting inside, i might have to try that and also did you get round to getting a price for shipping the wheels? still havent got those pics off my camera. anyway welcome!
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Karl_CLCoupe
- Platinum Member
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- Joined: Thu May 06, 2004 11:43 am
- Location: Southport AKA: Mr Sambuca
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