Polo-Loco: Harlequin VR6 Polo Saloon Drag Project

[Ryan Image 46]

I thought I would write out the story of how Polo-Loco came to be properly. It’s a story that’s constantly developing and changing as the days pass, and hopefully will do for many years to come. I belive that behind every good racecar there is a great story, this is mine:

 

It started back in September of 2013, I had a few hundred quid kicking about and it was burning a hole in my bank account. Sure, it could have been put to good use reducing my credit card balance but man-maths dictated that it should be used to buy something that would financially cripple me even more. I mean when has being sensible ever lead to a good tale?

 

Having grown up working on Beetles and getting my first project Golf at the age of 15 I was no stranger to Volkswagens, and from Rallyes to Raddo, Golfs to T4s Ive had my fair share over the years. My only previous experience of a VR6 was an Auto Highline I bought for £500, loved it but was a bit rotten and crusty sills and arches means a BER for the MOT.

 

Id had a bit of a ‘midlife’ crisis earlier in the year, sold all my toys and bought myself a nice, comfy, 4 year old X-Type to drive around in and not mess around with, telling myself that Id finally grown out of dicking about with cars and getting my hands dirty. The bug always returns though and so I found myself trawling thru forums, facebook and eBay for a VR but with a difference. I really fancied a Vento as you don’t see many about and it’s an unassuming car. I also have a thing for Saloons so a bit of booty action was my desire.

 

There is so much crap on eBay listed with VR6 in the title (NOT VR6 20VT G60 RARE RAT SCENE!!!!) that it was hard going, Id noticed a ropey looking Polo Saloon with VR6 in the title and assumed it was one of these erroneous listings. Then one drunken night I actually had a look at it, it certainly had the BBS wheels, then as I read on and checked out the pictures, it was a fully converted car.

 

A few emails backwards and forwards and I decided to have a bid on it, the unlisted BIN price of £1000 was too high for me but with no reserve and a start of £600 it was worth a go. The lack of history, no tax, on the limit tyres and shot wheel bearing would hopefully be enough to scare off most people.

 

With 10 minutes to go there was no bids, 5 minutes to go a bid of £600, I dumped in a £750 bid and won it at £621.20! I was at work at the time and had a moment of “YES!” before the “I’ve just bought a knackered Polo with a huge engine in it” hit me.

 

A quick call to Flux with all the details I had of the car, all modifications declared and I was insured. Tax was done online so that side of things was all legal, time to go and get this unknown quantity.

 

It was in Northamptonshire, I live down in Portsmouth so it’s a good 3 hours there and the same back with average traffic. We set off at 9am and got up there for 12 to see a very sorry, battered and scarred looking Polo sat on the road next to big black 11’s where it had been subjected to burnouts before. What had I bought?!

 

The owner turned up, chucked a dribble of fuel into it and then we had to bump-start it to get it going. Oh this was going well so far. Signed over the V5 and had a promise that he would forward the Tax onto me when it arrived and we went on our way. Got to the petrol station down the road, filled it with fuel as I filled with dread at the 130 miles I faced to get home in a car I knew nothing about. Still, part of the fun isn’t it? No you’re right, it isn’t. Also on my ‘Not Fun’ list is not being able to start your new purchase after filling. On popping the bonnet it was clear that the battery was a free-range one, rolling about and dislodging the hand-tightened terminal. Nice and safe on a petrol station forecourt.

 

Eventually we got back underway and stopped at the Rothersthorpe Services at the M1/A43 junction where I duly locked myself out of the car and hand to gain entry. I was close to putting the window thru buy my mate managed to use a tie wrap to hook up the door pin. Still, it was nice to get out in the fresh air, one thing I’d already found out was that the aftermarket exhaust fitted was actually sitting up behind the bumper, thus filling the boot with exhaust fumes and making me fell a bit ill. The noise was inescapable too, while I love the VR sound a back box with no baffles in angled towards the empty boot, attached to a single piece of tube that removes the other box and cat was making things very loud, either screaming on a loud drone. Still, helped take my mind off the wheel bearing that was starting to chirp a bit.

 

Carrying on down to the A34 and I was freezing my tits off as the heater didn’t work and I had to have the windows open so I could actually breathe. I also now had a massive headache and the wheel bearing was starting to protest at my “must get home” attitude. Grumblings of discontent were starting to sound decidedly mutinous in tone. Time to drop it a gear and press on that loud pedal, solves all the other noise issues!

 

Eventually we got back and I’ve never been so relived to park a car up and get out of it. I had the VR bug back big style and knew there was potential for this car but first a lot of rough edges needed sorting. A check of the oil showed it was nearly dry, the coolant looked to be just normal tap water and the steering was interesting to say the least.

Edited March 29, 2015 by Ryan Image

[Ryan Image 46]

A quick look over the car showed that it had been done fairly well, it was sporting a full 5x100 setup, 280mm up front, rear disk conversion on what looked to be a Golf axel. The engine didn’t smoke, rattle or knock and the gears felt nice, though the super long throw was getting irritating. I was lead to believe it has a Coraddo gearbox but I’m no certain at the moment. The engine mounts seemed nice and secure and everything fitted well.

 

A cup of tea was in order, I wanted a Guinness but I was planning on taking the car to get some oil and fresh coolant. Decided to flick thru what little paperwork I had, not for the first time when buying a car there was a receipt for a Rover 214. This was a haunting moment that takes me back to an ill-fated G60 Raddo that snapped a crank bolt, same deal, very little paperwork but a receipt for a sodding 214! He had signed and dated the V5 and left it for me to post, as I looked at the front I couldn’t help but notice the note of “Substantially damaged and/or repaired”. Oh great, I’ve bought a write off! It wasn’t listed in the advert as such, called the previous owner and he said he knew nothing. Ah well, is got an MOT and having done a HPI check it had the details on there. Goes to show, it’s worth doing. Still, I’m not that fussed, not like I spent thousands.

 

I then started trawling thru the net, searching for any history on the car and managed to find an original build thread for it, detailing some of the cars used, what was done and how. They had made a great job of it but towards the end lost their drive a bit and it sat, then one last push saw it finished and sold off. I believe it had two owners in a year before I bought it, currently sitting at 9 previous owners so the car needed a decent home.

 

Booked it into my friendly garage for the wheel bearing to be done and a check over, driving in there in the evening and the wheel bearing totally seized. Now, I have very little mechanical sympathy as it is, at this point I was indifferent to the Polo so I drove with it graunching and grinding for about a quarter of a mile along the seafront, disturbing pensioners in their swanky retirement flats and scrambling the coastguard who thought a ship had beached. Then the cabin started to fill with smoke and it smelt a lot like the time I accidentally burnt some of my pubes. I stopped and upon getting out saw a glow from the wheel and a small plume of smoke billowing beautifully between the spokes in the moonlight. Called up the RAC and waited for an hour till they could drag me to the garage. I can still smell the acrid burning when I close my eyes.

 

I was running low on time and patience so after they came back with a long list of things needed to make the car roadworthy, I left it with them and told them to just sort the bits as and when they could. I had nowhere to store it and they were happy to keep it there free of charge and do bits in down time or the weekends so it worked out well. Id managed to fuse what was left of the bearing into the knuckle/flange so a new one was sourced, among the list was a collapsed top mount, 4 shagged tyres, rear pads were non-existent, the horn wasn’t working, the battery was dead and lots of other little bits that all lead up to one quite dangerous car. With a new set of wheels in the shape of some Audi Pepperpots shod in super sticky Toyo R1Rs it would look a bit cleaner too.

 

This was in October, I got the car back on the 1st of February, Id actually forgotten I had the bloody thing for a bit. I knew one thing thought, it was feeling a lot better to drive and I enjoyed giving a blast down the local A-Road. It’s certainly not built for corners mind. I treated it to a keyring as a welcome home present, a peace offering if you will.

[Ryan Image 46]

First things first was the exhaust, it was never going to pass and MOT but if I wanted to use it till its current on ran out I had to sort it temporarily. I bought a couple of bolt on upswept tips, pulled the exhaust down, turned them around and got my mate to weld them on to just vent out as much behind the car as possible. Not ideal but it done the trick!

 

I managed to get myself a decent sized council garage to store and do some work on it. No power so some tasks are limited but at least I could keep bits going slowly

 

Starting from the back I removed all the trim, carpets, seats and unnecessary bits I could, slowly the pile got bigger and bigger. The 14th of March saw its last trip out on the road, with a blast up to Just Kampers in Odiham. It was a lovely sunny afternoon and Id finished work at 11am so a brisk journey up the A31 and down some country roads with the 6-Pot on song was beautiful! I took in the scenic route and made the most of my time with the car. It’s funny how one good drive can really bond you to something.

 

So, on with the surgery, out came the dash, heater and a whole mess of wires. The looms in terrible shape, luckily I won’t be needing a huge amount of it so most of it will be cut away and simplified. Fingers crossed I’ll get some money back from the complete electric mirrors and window setup etc. Once apart I could see what had been done to the Coraddo pedal box to get it to fit and function properly. It’s certainly not pretty and needs a bit of work doing, just goes to show what can be hidden away out of mind. Yes that it a tie holding the throttle cable out of the way and t

[Ryan Image 46]

Does amaze me how well it sits in the bay, the Polo Saloon is the same 6K chassis as the Seat Ibiza/Cordoba, it’s actually 2” wider than the 6N Hatch of the same age. The similarities between the 6K and 1H chassis makes for a far easier install. Plenty of room for a turbo later maybe!

 

I obtained a Seat Mourette grille with all the working lights and gubbins, I’m currently cutting, plastic welding and forming it to use the VW slatted grille for something different. I’ll be using the headlight holes for better cooling when racing.

 

This is a Toad I found squatting in my garage. Just thought I’d share him with you all. I threw him in a bush and I’m sure I still hear him croaking sometimes. Oh and a shot of my precariously balanced workbench, bucket seats are versatile as supports!

[Ryan Image 46]

One thing that needed attention was the suspension (that rhymed), it was sitting proud upfront and the rear was dragging like a dog with worms, so a cheap 2nd hand set of coilovers was sourced from a friend who owns an Ibiza and had changed, the fronts were 6month old but the rears were rusted, dirty and the adjusters had seized. I took them into work, chased out the threads, freed them up and blasted the old cracked coating and rust off the springs. Upon getting the rear wheel off I discovered that rather than fit new brake pipes for the conversion from drums to callipers, they had just bent the drum lines to fit, something else that needs attention.  Having been a while since I’ve done suspension on a VW I’d forgotten about the top mounts needing specialist tooling so made my own socket to fit and make life a bit easier. First fit of the suspension and I realised I’d wound them right down instead of up, so apart again and with the helper springs removed I wound them to the top, I’m going to be going in a straight line and on a strip more than the road so comfort isn’t a concern. I now had the arse-up stance I was after.

 

The fronts were just as much fun as the rears, if not more so. One strut had a rounded Allen key section, the other had seized and threaded bottom nuts. Oh how I love working on cars that have been messed around with! In the end I decided to just bend the top plate enough that I could pull the whole shock out and down through the turret, certainly not a pretty way to do things but it worked. Finally sitting a lot better than it was

[bennyk 1,238]

Hi and welcome to the club! Very entertaining read! Sounds very similar to how I ended up with an old VR6, wasn't brave enough to drive it back though!

[Ryan Image 46]

Thanks! Im not entirely sure it was brave, more stupid, reckless and dangerous but those are some of my favourite emotions. Ive been meaning to put this up for a while and keep it updated but never got round to it, as things are picking up momentum Ill be making sure to pop back on more

[Lukey. 381]

Good long first read and quirky car to VR convert

[abvsean 32]

ace read.is that it?

I have bought afew cars from different corners of this island too it is part of the fun driving it home i think! nearly bought a astra van for work with a redtop in it but when i turned up in fife to pick it up the guy was trying to get me to sign a logbook for a volvo haha and the 'fsh' contained nothing but crap.

[Ryan Image 46]

Thanks! Yeah its an odd choice but makes for the perfect sleeper, you aren't expecting that noise or power to be coming form a dog-eared old Polo saloon!

 

There is still much more to go, this is where I am upto so far. I was planning on racing in the VWDRC this year but money and time constraints meant it would have to wait till next year. Ill update this as I go, doing more and more to it now getting it ready  for an MOT and a hopeful test run on the RWYB at Action.

 

Yeah I look back on the first drive home with it now with fondness, I remember laughing nervously a lot throughout the whole experience. Bit like when I lost my virginity

[Ryan Image 46]

So with a new replacement battery thanks to my friendly garage I was able to fire up the Polo and drag it up and down the garages to see how the suspension was sitting. Rather like Alan Titchmarsh, Ive got a lovely Rake now, though I would like to drop it a tiny bit more at the front to help cut the wind out that extra bit. Contemplating removing the helper springs from the front coilovers to give it a touch more. It feels nice and static too so should help with neutralising weight transfer as I power off from the line

 

Next stop is the exhaust, I need to get a Cat and standard system on there for the MOT at least, it’s good to have a backup too so I got the car back in the air. Now I was aware that the “system” in place was a homebrew and that it worked alright for what it was, albeit a bit loud, the engineering of it is quite something. A proper de-cat pipe was utilised, then mated to a tube of steel that looks like it could have be robbed from a bit of scaffolding, feeding into part of the original exhaust system retaining the hanger mount, then into a lovely bit of welded joiner and into the empty backbox that is too short! It’s certainly a unique system

Ive got a standard VR6 cat to go on thanks to one of the Seat Ibiza boys and another one has a standard system on a 2.0 16v Cordoba that should fit perfectly and do exactly what I need

[abvsean 32]

You wana get that 'Rare unique exhaust VR6 NOT MK2 OEM+ OEM-  JVC RUN DMC GOLF POLO RAT LOOK CAT LOOK ' put up on ebay fella!

[Ryan Image 46]

Ill put a £700 buy it now on it just so people know its RARE! Could sell it to someone in American, "European Domestic Market" system!

 

Ive put the exhaust on hold for a moment as I only have half of it to go on,  best to wait until its all ready to go on but been ticking some serious boxes ready for its MOT and hopeful debut at Action for a test RWYB.

Firstly I had to get the steering wheel with the now redundant airbag off, it’s a Mk4 3 spoke item and after fiddling about for about an hour, slipping and worrying that I was going to trigger it I finally got it off. Got a smaller aftermarket one to go on so next job will be sorting out the horn side of bits.

 

I also had to finish off what I’d started with when removing the heater, the matrix was just dangling inside where the dash was and needed sorting. It’s not pretty but it’s as good as I can get for now, had no pipe knocking about so cut off the inlet to the matrix and used it as a bridge. I’ve got to sort out all the plumbing for the cooling system anyway, I will be removing the standard radiator and expansion tank. The radiator is literally held in place by cable ties thru the fins! Proper bodge

 

I had removed the door loom for the central locking, electric mirrors and windows with them in the up position which meant I couldn’t drop them out, so a bit of messing about and I was able to get them down and the regulator out. As they don’t do a lightweight window kit for Polo Saloons (apparently their not very common in motorsport!) I’m going to get myself some lexan and set about making my own. I will be putting manual regulators in the front until I go static with a slider at a later date. Once the regs are in I can see what amount of metal can go to make things lighter without being detrimental to strength

 

I got visited by someone who walks goats around the local area too, I couldn’t get a photo though. Proper odd! I had a few people stop and talk about the car, its on a bridleway/footpath so a lot of walkers about. They all loved the VR lump in there, was unique I guess.

 

Made a real dent on the loom inside the cabin today, it was a mess to say the least and Ive already removed the hardware for most bits, stereo, heater, lighter, lights, heated screen and so on, so it was a case of chasing back the loom and removing feeds, pins and earths from the tightly woven and bound loom that was the result of a merger between a Golf and a Polo. Still got more to do but it’s a far more manageable mess as it is that makes far more sense

 

Id mentioned the pedal box setup being a bit different previously, it needs a fair bit of work to get it strong enough for the abuse it will face as well as roadworthy, and this shows just what Frankenstein’s box looks like. Looks like some poorly executed Jackson Pollok painting!

 

And after getting the scuttle up to chase some of the engine loom I found the ECU not where I expected it to be on the driver’s side but doubled round in the middle by the wiper linkage. Free-Range ECUs are soooo 2014. Wondering if there is a reason for it to be there, I’m taking a guess that the writing won’t reach but an investigation will follow

 

And finally I found this little chappy hidden underneath a bit of sound-deadening behind where the dash was. I have absolutely no idea how he go there but I figure he has more right to stay in the car than I have to evict him so once its sorted he can live on the dash and enjoy the ride!

[VR6Pete 1,455]

You have been busy mate. Some good progress

Club Chairman

[D11PS 146]

Any updates

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ryan Image 46]

Been a bit quiet this week, working late a bit and with no power in the garage its making bits hard later at night.

 

In good news though we have found a Bungalow we like and are in the process of sorting out the tenancy on it, its got a massive frontage for working on the car and storing other cars plus a long drive with a brand new, powered garage attached! So that will be make bits easier

 

Things bubbling along in the background at the moment include me making up some lexan windows for it as you can't get them off the shelf for this model, some rather fetching (lol) mirrors just to keep things legal for the MOT as the electric ones are binned.

 

Got to sort out the other half of the loom running to the rear, put the passenger seat and belt back in, fit the exhaust (still waiting on it from my mate) and then its time to get the pedal box all sorted and we should be on for an

MOT

 

Onces its all legal and useable the real work can start, so I can drive it about and test out different bits. Got a lot of weight still to remove and general bits to do. Hopefully have some more updates this week

[Ryan Image 46]

So a bit more progress on the way to getting an MOT booked up, my wipers were shafted anyway and I wanted to go single wiper, it helps to lose a tiny bit of weight (its miniscule but every little bit all adds up in the end) and also I just happen to like them, reminds me of when I first started building Golfs in the late 90s. They do kits for the Seat Ibzia which is the same as this but I don’t have £100 to spent on one and none ever come up for sale second hand so I decided to modify the existing one. I cut, welded, bent and clearenced the mech and managed to get it to work perfectly with just one part of the mech, giving me a good 170degree wipe. Plus I can park it however I wish (aside from at MOT time)




Then it was the turn for the mirrors. Again, I can try and justify it by saying they are a weight saving over the standard ones (which where electric) and that they are more aerodynamic (Id argue that case as the standard ones are like brings on lollysticks) but it comes down to the fact they were cheap and were popular back in the day. Good old DTM style, who could forget them!


The car looking a bit 90s!


Cleared the car out as I’d been using it to store all the crap Id removed and refitted the passenger seatbelt and seat thought I need one of the clips for it to stop it rocking, bastard things


Then it was on with the arduous task of tackling the loom inside the car. The rears are now as simple as they can be, all I have going backwards are the lights and the fuel pump gubbins. All of the central locking system, dodgy old immobiliser and airbag system is now gone. Got a little bit more sorting to do around the fuse box and a bit under the bonnet but really making progress with it. Next to sort out how to hold my remaining switches: the headlights and the hazards. It’s nice to have a sparse cabin!

Edited June 14, 2014 by Ryan Image

[Ryan Image 46]

Ok so I can't work out how to embed videos in my post!

 

Nothings amazing or exciting, just a little test clip as I want to start doing more video stuff for the project, especially when it comes to testing and racing.

 

This is me giving it a very short drive up and down by my garages, first time its moved properly under its own steam since March, very happy to report there was no fire, no smoke and not even one melted wire (yet!)

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4EhRSGOdb0





Edited June 14, 2014 by Ryan Image

[Ryan Image 46]

So again slowish progress as I’m getting close to it going to the garage to have the pedal box welded and strengthened as it’s not exactly safe and I will be launching it hard (personally I’m a risk taker and would happily leave it but my girlfriends a worrier and I don’t think the scrutineers would be too pleased with it!)

A few little tasks left included sorting out the front windows as they did have electric windows but obviously I’ve ripped out all the wires so need to be able to open them so I can breathe (the cars like an oven) Eventually I will make some poly-carb windows with a slider but for now getting these converted to keep-fit spec was my aim. The issue I’ve had is trying to find replacement manual regulators, I’ve found passenger sides for the 5 door Polo Saloon/Seat Ibiza/Cordoba but can’t find a second hand drivers one for love nor money, new ones on eBay were well over the £100 mark so I decided to just modify the existing ones. I stripped the motors off and I’m currently modifying the splined cogs from the motors to fit a handle to spin them by hand. The tests have worked and it’s saved me a lot of time. Also a fair bit of weight saved too, over 1kg for the pair of motors. Granted, it’s not huge amounts and on its own would make no difference but it all adds up in the end and I’m hoping to have a substantially lightened car by the time I’m done (only to have to fit a cage because I end up going too quickly!)

 

I have a bit of a fetish when it comes to retrofitting basic parts onto cars, and to help with weight loss and to add to the Poverty-Spec look Im after I have junked the front foglights and wiring and replaced them with these fetching covers. They are ribbed (for your pleasure?) and look proper basic, absolutely love them. Quite a hard bit to get hold of as used, seems like most Seat Ibizas (which my bumper is off) had fog lights fitted as standard. It’s the little touches.

 

I also finally got a pair of used orange side repeaters. Proper manky ones too, all faded with a broken clip and each sides a different shade. Luckily beauty is on the inside and the Polo has plenty of that (inside the engine bay, not inside the cabin, nothing in there)

 

Doing some more free modifications for my switches, inside the car aside from those on the stalk all I have left is the headlight/fog light switch and the hazards. With no dash to talk of and m feeling too tight to buy switchgear of any type I set about trimming the existing switch and bolting it to the now redundant dash support on the right hand side. I will be mounting the hazard switch to the bottom of it so its all in the same place. Quite a nice little detail I think and helps to keep the cabin clean, wasn’t keen on having a centre console etc

 

 

[Lukey. 381]

More weight to be saved, scrap all that excess insulation off the firewall lol

[Ryan Image 46]

Its on the list along with some of the other sound deadening and sections of unnecessary metal

[Ryan Image 46]

One thing that’s really been bugging me with the electrics on this car is the fuse box. Having cut away a lot of the loom and simplified bits its still very bunchy and the bracket for the fuse box had been chopped about so it only held on one side. It kept falling under the pedals or above them and jammed both the throttle and brake on more than one occasion while working on the drive, when on the road or strip that could prove fatal.

 

I decided to move it over and try to keep it tidy, now I’ve mentioned before I’m crap with electrics but I planned it out and the easiest way of moving it without unplugging masses of bits and ending up with a labyrinth of wires was to drop the steering column down and slide it over. Now on any usual car that would be fairly hard but on this the column was held up by finger tight bolts. Mmmm safety first an all that!

I took this opportunity to rewrap the lights and cluster side of the loom as that’s all interlinked, I may have to re-evaluate my light switch location but that we can deal with at a later date! Just need to get the second half of the fuse box holder then we can get it bolted and secured. Nice having plenty of room by my feet now without feat of getting tangled in wires

[Ryan Image 46]

So yet more little bits going on, I need to stop making tasks for myself really. I’ve done some more loom work, cut and trimmed back and wrapped the two different sides. In reality it’s still a complete mess and I need to throw it all away and start from new when I can but that’s not the most important thing at the moment. Trying to work out where best to but the ECU, its currently floating around the scuttle aimlessly and I’ve looked at moving it inboard, just trying to keep the wires safe and not bunched up.

 

This is my modified switch gear complete, took out part of the unneeded plastic inside so I could run some bolts with a spreader plate inside to stop the plastic pulling and cracking thru the switch. The hazard switch was glued on using some aerospace grade epoxy so it’s not going anywhere, also ran a small cable tie around it just as a secondary measure, fingers crossed I won’t be needing them much! Took a bit of the sharp cut metal off the clock frame and then fitted the switch to the side of it, saves me having cables running over to the door frame and keeps everything central. I need to do a bit of drilling and positioning of the switch but will have to wait for now.

                                                                                                                              

One thing that I had looked at was removing all of the sound deadening in the floor of the car to help with weight loss. Id previously done the same to a Mk2 Golf and was amazed at how much weight was in it. Part of the passenger foot well had a crack  to the coating and with a little persuasion it started to come up so fingers crossed it will be easier than the last time when I had to pretty much chisel sections out! A bit of work with a heat gun and all will be good, keeps me out of trouble and if you’re going to lighten a car you’ve got to do it properly, no removing the backseats because RACECAR!

[havenhand 6]

Good progress on this fella, looked like abit of a dog when you first bought it, nice to see bodges and bad work bing put right and having a proper direction to the build.
top work!
 

[Ryan Image 46]

Cheers mate, it was very rough around the edges when I got it, it still is but Im trying to work with it as I go. I am really looking forward to racing it and I have a good bit of support from the other racers who want to see me in it. Ideally I will end up with it being a totally different car, I want to change every part of it but time and money don't allow. For now its about having fun and getting it racing.

 

Sorry bits have been a little quiet of late, been busy with a few bits and had a little bit of drama so its been a nightmare trying to catch up.

 

Popped to the garage to retrieve my fuse box so I could get it made up at work and thought nothing of it. Returned 24hours later to find that my garage door had been damaged, the slide bolt lock smashed off and a different handle and key in place. I couldn’t get into it and naturally panicked, my rent was up to date and I’d had no warning or calls from the council about maintainence work. My first thought was that someone had gotten in there and changed the lock with a view to going back and emptying the garage later, it happened to a friend and they didn’t check on their garage for a few days, gave them plenty of time to come and go as they pleased without drawing attention.

 

Finally after a frantic morning of calling about the council checked with their contractors (they had no records of the locks being changed) who then informed them that they had gone to repair damage to some other garages there, could see someone had tried to gain access to mine so made it secure for me. It was a huge relief, for a moment I thought I might have lost the car!

 

Fast forward a few days and I spent the weekend at Santa Pod with the VWDRC for my second meet weekend with them, getting to know people, see how the race setup works and so on. The rain stopped a lot of track action but left me plenty of time to learn some more about it all and gain an insight into race preparation which was great.

 

Back to mundane Monday and I had cut, drilled and prepped a bit of ally sheeting for my central under dash fuse box holder, went to bend it in the box folder and it snapped clean in half. Despite being called it enough at school, I can safely say Im not a bender! Turns out the bit of scrap sheet that I used hadn’t been annealed so was too brittle for a 90degree bend. Oh well, time to start again.

 

I also picked up the new exhaust parts from Euro to get me thru the MOT, £60 for the two rear boxes which go onto the free VR cat my mate gave me, just waiting on a 54mm sleeve turning up and then I can wrestle with the de-cat bolts, already WD’d them up but I will still end up losing knuckles, getting rust in my eyes and swearing at them while its precariously up on axle stands (I have no power in the garage so can’t even utilise proper tools!)

 

Back to the fuse box holder and we have an actual working one all completed now. I annealed the sheet at 350degrees C for a couple of hours then set about folding it. Afterwards I bead blasted it to give it a less reflective finish and fitted some rubber lining to hold the fuse box in securely and kill any vibrations. Next stop fitment

 

Ive drawn up a list of bits I need to do before I take it for its MOT (the garage are going to do the welding for me on the pedal box as I don’t have power in the garage and I’m not a huge fan of welding!)

 

• Secure Wiper Mechanism
• Trim/Fit Scuttle and Rain cover
• Charge and Secure the battery
• Check over all suspension bolts for tightness
• Eye adjustment of camber
• Fit fuse box holder and secure front cabin loom
• Secure rear cabin loom
• Blank off any holes into the engine bay in the firewall
• Shorten the matrix bridge pipes as they are kinked
• Flush out coolant system totally and replace with new
• Secure inner door release handles
• Fit Cat and standard exhaust parts
• Passenger side seat clip (wobbling)
• Fit window winder setup
• Number Plates
• Refit and secure front bumper with front arch liners
• Fit pedal rubbers
• Remove last piece of driver side pillar trim
• Look at clearencing part of the chassis connecting with driveshaft on full lock

 

In reality it’s a couple of full days work to get things ready to roll