Robs Project 'Doofy' - Gone but not forgotten!

[herisites 0]

Well as some of you may know i am going back to uni in just over a month (eek!) and running the corrado is going to be rather expensive especially as it will be supercharged by then (he says :roll:) so i was looking for a daily hack to use for uni and general driving whilst the corrado gets tucked up in the garage only to come out on sunny days and when i can afford to put some fuel in it.

 

Originally i wanted a mk1 golf because they are SO cool slammed on wide 13's! 8) However i have been looking at mk1's recently and tbh for one thats going to definately get me to uni and back every day ie well looked after engine and service history wise but maybe a bit tatty on the outside, they still seem to be fetching a good amount of money! But then i noticed on edition 38 this old D reg polo squareback (in red so proper postman pat :lol:) which has only done 74k miles and has tax and mot for only £100! Bargain to be had i thought so last night i went and picked it up.

 

Its a BEAST! :twisted: :lol:

 

The stickers have been taken off and the lights are no longer yellow. The exterior is tidy, no rust or major damage anywhere it just got a few dents and faded paint (soon to be sorted with the machine polisher though). Engine wise it got me home lastnight (70 miles) and didnt skip a beat and was very happy sitting at 70/80 mph on the motorway with its massive 55bhp 1.3 engine!! The clutch will need doing as its slipping a bit but other than that its a sweet little motor.

 

Dont expect many 'plans' so to speak as i havent got it for that, and i may not even use it for uni yet i havent decided. The reason i got it is because i want to learn! So like doing the clutch for example, i have never changed a clutch so thats something i will learn from it. Also i am going to learn to pull the dents out, repair any rust, wet sand any deep scratches and polish it up. Then once its looking pretty smart and it drives better i will decide whether to use it or sell it on for a profit and get a mk1 golf. Although tbh im not bothered about looks and that squareback will be ideal for luggin about valeting/detailing kit!!

 

So anyway, i will update this thread with anything i do to it that i want to share! (dont expect any mahooosive turbos like that beige one :lol:)

 

Rob.

[Andy665 0]

I have been looking for a squareback to play around with - reckon they can be made to look really cool, slammed on small and wide alloys

[vwdeviant 0]

Yay Rob! Finally...

 

So how much you goes down the slammed, G40'd and on Ikkle wheels route! :lol:

 

I take it clutch wasn't an issue then?

[herisites 0]

Yeah i know what you mean mate, i had a look on edition 38 for some squarebacks and fond some pretty tasty examples! If i get bored and find some uber cheap wide steelies or wide wheels then i will chuck them on it (might make it a bit more stable to drive :shock:) and just chuck on some cheap arse lowering springs so it sits on its arse 8)

[herisites 0]

Yay Rob! Finally...

 

So how much you goes down the slammed, G40'd and on Ikkle wheels route! :lol:

 

I take it clutch wasn't an issue then?

 

:lol: there wont be any G40 engines going in, i might look into a diesel conversion maybe that would be a good learning curve! And even more cheapness for fuel :lol:

 

The clutch wasnt an issue really, once it got hot if i tried thrashing it then it was slipping (or the massive power was spinning the wheels :wink: :lol:) but if i just drove it steadily then it was ok. Im not going to be using it yet anyway so i will do that clutch anyway as well as try and get the brakes working a bit better! :shock:

[vwdeviant 0]

as well as try and get the brakes working a bit better! :shock:

 

It's a Polo.. they don't (I had a H plated Mk2 "Ranger" complete with roof-bars!) try investing in a "Develop your ESP" course.. or just alter your driving style to make sure you're looking about 3-5 cars ahead.. good practice for when the charger's in too!

[mic_VR 3]

nice one Rob, but Jon's right. Better start developing your own ESP as those early polo's (mk1 to mk3) are a nightmare when braking.

 

Useful mods for them I'd say are mk2 golf gti 8v front brakes, G60 steelies! and if you want a good engine conversion get yourself a 1.4 from a seat ibiza and an 8P gearbox with the longer 5th gear ratio!

 

Well done chief! 8)

[Phil K 0]

Convert the front doors to act as air brakes :lol:

[vwdeviant 0]

Convert the front doors to act as air brakes :lol:

 

Phils Working from home obviously means ... Drinking at home.. :lol:

 

Rob, take a look at the Beige G40'd Square here and on ED for brake upgrade ideas.. But DON'T expect them to be anywhere near the Corrado's brakes.. standard or otherwise...

[yeti 0]

there must be something wrong with me cos 1 i like the piss stained headlights, and 2 i actually though for a cheap run about just run that into the ground and if you crash it with shit brakes just buy another... cheaper than bothering to put any decent brakes or diesel lump in it!

 

o and if you dont want to keep it and find a mk1 i'll take it off your hands for my lil bro when he passes his test (hard to tell sometimes but that part was serious!)

[herisites 0]

Convert the front doors to act as air brakes :lol:

 

Now thats an idea! :lol:

[herisites 0]

there must be something wrong with me cos 1 i like the piss stained headlights, and 2 i actually though for a cheap run about just run that into the ground and if you crash it with **** brakes just buy another... cheaper than bothering to put any decent brakes or diesel lump in it!

 

o and if you dont want to keep it and find a mk1 i'll take it off your hands for my lil bro when he passes his test (hard to tell sometimes but that part was serious!)

 

Well sorry to disappoint mate but the piss stained lights are gone. They werent actually yellow lights, it was a crappy film on them and the guy i got it off said they look w*nk up close so ripped them off.

 

Yeah i think i will just run it into the ground, still going to do some cheap work to it though but thats all to learn as i said. Clutch needs doing so will do that, brakes i can just put up with, but will check the pads etc just to be sure but im pretty sure they are just generally that bad! and practise body work repairs and polish it up! Was going to start polishing lastnight but it was pissing down and was cold so couldnt be arsed :lol: i will have a play at the weekend though.

[davidwort 0]

8)

had a few of these, at least the D reg had hydraulic tappets, although the auto chokes aren't the most reliable when old

stuck some scirrocco vented disks, calipers and carriers on one, helps it stop although with no servo it's all up to how hard you can push lol

check for rust under the battery, water will drip onto you feet otherwise :)

They also suffer from oil leaks at the HG in the front left corner where the main oil passage comes up, it then pisses all over the alternator.

[herisites 0]

8)

had a few of these, at least the D reg had hydraulic tappets, although the auto chokes aren't the most reliable when old

stuck some scirrocco vented disks, calipers and carriers on one, helps it stop although with no servo it's all up to how hard you can push lol

check for rust under the battery, water will drip onto you feet otherwise :)

They also suffer from oil leaks at the HG in the front left corner where the main oil passage comes up, it then pisses all over the alternator.

 

Cheers for that useful info David. I am going to give it a check over at the weekend so will take a look at those points. If there is any rust under the battery that can be my first body repair practise :D weld a new plate in if needed and spray it! Or whatever is needed anyway. Its been sitting on my drive since i picked it up the other night and there doesnt appear to be any leaks coming from it. The guy i got it off said there is the slightest fuel leak out the filler neck he thinks but it only leaks if the car is parked on a lean! So i will try and find where its leaking and patch it up but so far havent noticed anything.

[herisites 0]

Just gave the beast a clean before the rain came. Used fairly strong mix of APC to clean everything off the paint. Then moved it into the garage and im just going to start polishing it up. Should be interesting with old single stage paint so i think i will use my old sponge pads. Its got some nice pink panels im looking forward to hitting :D

 

Its also got a lot of touch ups all over the paint so i will see how they turn out with just a polish but dont think it will do much so i am going to get some wet sand paper and give some areas a wet sand and polish, going to need my own touch up paint as well me thinks as one of the previous owners touched up some chips on the bonnet with black paint and its a red car :? but i think it was more to stop rust than touching up as there are spots round the arches etc where he has used waxoyl to touch up, but its worked as the car is almost completely rust free!

 

Watch this space as im going to take a few pics.

[herisites 0]

As promised here are a 'few' pics. Ended up spending all weekend on it really, the paint was fairly easy to restore with the machine polisher being single stage, just went over fairly quickly with some intensive polish on my old sponge pads and it was transformed, also went over it with some SRP via the machine on a soft pad, i love SRP normally but used with a machine its even better :shock: the intensive polish restored the colour and removed swirls but the SRP really brought a deep glossy shine to it and very quickly too!

 

As well as paint though i also restored all the plastics and rubbers by cleaning thoroughly with some APC (mainly to get the green crap off the rubbers!), the plastics were heated with a heat gun and worked with some snot (thats AG Bumper Care to people who dont know) and the rubbers were then cleaned with AG Rubber Care and finally some Megs Endurance to keep them black and glossy!

 

The engine bay got a bit of a clean up (sorry no pics i forgot) but nothing major, just wiped the majority of cap off, hit anything metal with some wire wool and wiped plastics/rubbers over with AG Rubber Care.

 

And finally gave the interior carpets a bit of a clean with some APC, a stiff brush, an old microfibre and a hoover. Dash was wiped over and windows were polished inside and out with AG Glass Polish.

 

Now for some pics 8)

 

This was the level of swirls and pinkness pretty much over the whole car, the roof was worse though, looked like it had been cleaned with a really course brush as there were lots of deep straight scratches as apposed to swirls.

 

This is how the bonnet looked after a few hits with the intensive polish.

 

This is how the pad looked just after doing the bonnet!

 

A pic of some nice 'touch ups' on the bonnet i gotta sort out with some RED touch up and some wet sand paper :roll:

 

I continued to polish the rest of the car then, some before and afters:

 

 

 

 

 

Who's that handsome devil!! :oops:

 

 

Roof before

 

Roof after

 

50/50 on the roof, tried to get a good angle to use the flourecent lights to show the scratches/swirls.

 

And some pics taken today with the sun out 8)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes that is a CD player and it actually makes noises through 1 speaker 8) :lol:

 

Im pretty pleased with how its come up, doesnt look bad for a hundred quids worth of car does it :D I know that a lot of you are probably thinking "Whats the point??!!" well the point is that a) im learning with it, ok i have machine polished a few cars now but none red with single stage paint so that was new to me, im also going to learn how to do touch ups with wet sanding, smart repair with filling ans spraying, when i dont need it i will strip the engine and learn how it all goes together. And b) i am not only going to be using it to get me to uni, if i was i would just leave it but im also going to be using it to do valeting/detailing at the weekends whilst at uni because my kit wont fit in my rado and will in this with the seats folded down etc and it would look good turning up in a 20 year old car thats really clean and got better condition paint than my customers :lol:

 

What do y'arl think then?

[Goldie 2]

I think youre doing a decent joband its better to learn on a 'hundred pounder' than on the Rado..

 

Megs APC really is brilliant, unbelievably versatile stuff, i cant believe i did my carpet with it very successfully and then its great for weheel arch cleaning and engine bay bits aswell, a must in the 'detailers' tool kit...

 

Is the masking tape you use a special one and if so where you getting it from??

[herisites 0]

I think youre doing a decent joband its better to learn on a 'hundred pounder' than on the Rado..

 

Megs APC really is brilliant, unbelievably versatile stuff, i cant believe i did my carpet with it very successfully and then its great for weheel arch cleaning and engine bay bits aswell, a must in the 'detailers' tool kit...

 

Is the masking tape you use a special one and if so where you getting it from??

 

Cheers Michael! You are right mate APC is great stuff, i havent actually used the Megs stuff yet, i just use Aldi's APC which is £3 for a gallon, much cheapness, a lot of guys on detailing world use it, its not as strong as Megs though so i just use a stronger dilution, 2:1 instead of 4:1 and it does the job, also foams up really nicely in the foam lance for my pressure washer, although only use it on cars without wax or if im stripping wax as it takes most of it off! Did a pretty good job on the carpets and done a superb job on the window rubbers and trims cleaning all the green crap off! Its also good on fabric roofs!

 

The masking tape isnt exactly 'special' but its used more on paint than the normal cream stuff as it leaves less residue behind. I get it from cleanyourcar.co.uk like most of my stuff but most car cleaning sites do it like Elite etc.

[vwdeviant 0]

Ah so the saying wrong....

 

You can polish a turd! :lol:

 

Rob you mailed those to Mugly yet? He'll pee himself!

[herisites 0]

Ah so the saying wrong....

 

You can polish a turd! :lol:

 

Rob you mailed those to Mugly yet? He'll pee himself!

 

You sure can polish a turd :lol:

 

Not sent him them, im going to post them up on edition for all to see and then see his reply :D

 

Already got a job to do at the weekend, take the fuel tank off and find where its leaking :roll: only a slight leak, i didnt notice it before but then it didnt have much fuel in but i put half a tank in this morning so there must be a crack somwhere, think it might be where the filler neck connects to the tank. So going to take the tank off, clean up the rust areas and fill in the crack (ooer!!)

 

Gotta do the clutch soon as well as its slipping quite a bit, i think it would go ok when its done, at the minute you cant really put your foot down else it slips so just have to gradually accelerate :lol:

[herisites 0]

Oh and i have decided it WILL be slammed on some little wide 13's 8) its gotta be done :lol:

[vwdeviant 0]

Oh and i have decided it WILL be slammed on some little wide 13's 8) its gotta be done :lol:

PMSL I Knew you couldn't resist for more than a week!

[Goldie 2]

Rob you mailed those to Mugly yet? He'll pee himself

 

Was this his car?

 

The masking tape isnt exactly 'special' but its used more on paint than the normal cream stuff as it leaves less residue behind. I get it from cleanyourcar.co.uk like most of my stuff but most car cleaning sites do it like Elite etc.

 

Nice one, ill be ordering a batch of new stuff shortly and will be needing some of this...

[herisites 0]

Rob you mailed those to Mugly yet? He'll pee himself

 

Was this his car?

 

Yes mate, Mugly sold his golf mk1 and not sure if he got a car between but he got this as a run around and was planning on doing it up as a cheap project but he hated driving it so put it for sale. Its not great to drive i will agree so can see why he said it was horrible but it will do me for a uni car, its not terrible lol.

[Goldie 2]

His MK1 was lovely, im getting more and more tempted to get one and start a major project, it would have to be at the sacrifice of the Rado though..