Time for me to parts ways with my polo, after a good (and interesting) 18 months of ownership.
When i got her she was a fairly standard and clean Formel E derby, complete with the original Derby front end, Formel E boot spoiler, MPG gauge and high comp 1.1 litre engine. shortly afterwards, however, the engine started knocking, and i built up a 1.6 lump to go in her, consisting of Mk4 polo 16v (engine code AFH) block, pistons, crank, head, cams, timing gear, etc, and Polo GTI (AVY) crank and rods, giving a static CR of 12:1. To ease the installation, i went with bike carbs from a kawasaki ZX9R. everything in the engine was replaced at this point, so new shells, rings, water pump, timing belt, gaskets and a new thermostat and housing. a brand new mk4 polo 1.9 diesel radiator was fitted at the same time, with the early mk2 end tank swapped onto it (makes the rad a top fill one, and removes the need for an expansion bottle). The carbs were fitted using a home made mild steel manifold and rubber joiners, and were rejetted to suit the engine (cant remember the exact jet sizes, i think 155 mains and 45 idles). the original formel E gearbox was used, since i could not find a 5 speed in time. the box is in pretty good nick, sometimes reluctant to go into first when cold, and the gear ratios are abit strange for the torquey engine, but it cruises alright in 4th, and the MPG gauge still works! while the engine was out the engine bay was cleaned up, and still looks really good today
After all that, I enjoyed her for the summer, drove to france and a wheel bearing collapsed, but otherwise completely trouble free! While the wheel bearing was being fixed the whole rear end was rebuilt consisting of new spindles, second hand drums, new bearings (obviously), new wheel cylinders and new brake shoes. The polo was then taken off the road for the harsh winter we had and kept in a car port where I fitted a new stainless manifold and exhaust (2 inch straight through, sounds very nice and only loud if you want it to be) as well as some ARB blocks (moves the ARB forward and improves the handling when lowered). I also fitted some koni reds to the rear since the lowering kit that was fitted was abit past it. At some point new door cards and a centre console from a coupe S were thrown in to tart up the interior, and a MK1 golf speedo was butchered for the rev counter.
Then it was put back into service as I swapped engines on my civic, and i ended up keeping it for the whole summer! drove it to cornwall, this time without any major break down, but i did n=manage to crack the windscreen (probably cheaper for the new owner to get this done through insurance). Unfortunately since then the Hall sensor in the dizzy has started playing up, resulting in a random misfire, but a new one is on order and will be fitted before it goes. Also for the last MOT it had a new rear handbrake cable.
The speedo says its done 89,000 miles, but it lies as its never worked while i've owned the car... the milage is probably around the 110,000 mark, and the engine has done roughly 7,000 miles since rebuild (and i believe the AFH had done 90,000, and the AVY 88,000 before rebuild but i could be wrong). The engine itself is very good and strong, pulls really well (will spin up in second from a rolling start) and will return high 30's MPG if driven so. It also makes all the ITB noises you'll need to be entertained for hours!
The bodywork is generally in good condition, and polishes up really well, having not really faded at all. up close it is obvious that the car has had replacement wings and drivers door, as they are slightly brighter than the rest of the car. there is also a patch of respray on the drivers rear quarter, by the rear light, but it is a good colour match, just not blended so well. unfortunately, being a 31 year old car it has a couple of bad bits, most notably a light dent in the bonnet, light dent in the passenger rear arch and scabs on the sills. The sills are completely solid, however, having been treated at some point in the past, they just look bad. Same goes for a hole in the rear valance, but this is hidden by the bumper mostly.
At the moment it has 3 gold mini wheels (as one is bent) and a spare, but it will come on black MK1 golf GTi man hole covers, and the gold wheels can be included if the seller wants them. it also comes with a bunch of spares, such as the original door cards (tatty and horrible though they are) and the original bump strips and wolfsburg steering wheel. There is also a 120MPH golf speedo, should you wish to fit it and get the odometer working again, but its so inaccurate I wouldn't bother.
Overall its a cracking little car, with plenty enough power to surprise most things on the road, and old enough to have that classic VW feel to it. The car is located at my parents in shropshire and i'm after £1500 for it (cheaper than a mk1 golf GTI, and a fair bit faster
). alternately i'd be open to a swap/PX for a nice E30 or MR2 Turbo
Contact me on here or by texting 078 one six 444 172
Weekend after next i plan on tidying it up abit, fixing the dizzy and taking some nice pictures of her in the meantime, here are some to get you going, and a link to the photobucket account for it.
Like this but with no bump strips
Heres the link to the photobucket for it, mostly pictures from the engine build however.
s480.photobucket.com/user/splitty456/library/Polo%20engine%20biuld?sort=3&page=1
When i got her she was a fairly standard and clean Formel E derby, complete with the original Derby front end, Formel E boot spoiler, MPG gauge and high comp 1.1 litre engine. shortly afterwards, however, the engine started knocking, and i built up a 1.6 lump to go in her, consisting of Mk4 polo 16v (engine code AFH) block, pistons, crank, head, cams, timing gear, etc, and Polo GTI (AVY) crank and rods, giving a static CR of 12:1. To ease the installation, i went with bike carbs from a kawasaki ZX9R. everything in the engine was replaced at this point, so new shells, rings, water pump, timing belt, gaskets and a new thermostat and housing. a brand new mk4 polo 1.9 diesel radiator was fitted at the same time, with the early mk2 end tank swapped onto it (makes the rad a top fill one, and removes the need for an expansion bottle). The carbs were fitted using a home made mild steel manifold and rubber joiners, and were rejetted to suit the engine (cant remember the exact jet sizes, i think 155 mains and 45 idles). the original formel E gearbox was used, since i could not find a 5 speed in time. the box is in pretty good nick, sometimes reluctant to go into first when cold, and the gear ratios are abit strange for the torquey engine, but it cruises alright in 4th, and the MPG gauge still works! while the engine was out the engine bay was cleaned up, and still looks really good today
After all that, I enjoyed her for the summer, drove to france and a wheel bearing collapsed, but otherwise completely trouble free! While the wheel bearing was being fixed the whole rear end was rebuilt consisting of new spindles, second hand drums, new bearings (obviously), new wheel cylinders and new brake shoes. The polo was then taken off the road for the harsh winter we had and kept in a car port where I fitted a new stainless manifold and exhaust (2 inch straight through, sounds very nice and only loud if you want it to be) as well as some ARB blocks (moves the ARB forward and improves the handling when lowered). I also fitted some koni reds to the rear since the lowering kit that was fitted was abit past it. At some point new door cards and a centre console from a coupe S were thrown in to tart up the interior, and a MK1 golf speedo was butchered for the rev counter.
Then it was put back into service as I swapped engines on my civic, and i ended up keeping it for the whole summer! drove it to cornwall, this time without any major break down, but i did n=manage to crack the windscreen (probably cheaper for the new owner to get this done through insurance). Unfortunately since then the Hall sensor in the dizzy has started playing up, resulting in a random misfire, but a new one is on order and will be fitted before it goes. Also for the last MOT it had a new rear handbrake cable.
The speedo says its done 89,000 miles, but it lies as its never worked while i've owned the car... the milage is probably around the 110,000 mark, and the engine has done roughly 7,000 miles since rebuild (and i believe the AFH had done 90,000, and the AVY 88,000 before rebuild but i could be wrong). The engine itself is very good and strong, pulls really well (will spin up in second from a rolling start) and will return high 30's MPG if driven so. It also makes all the ITB noises you'll need to be entertained for hours!
The bodywork is generally in good condition, and polishes up really well, having not really faded at all. up close it is obvious that the car has had replacement wings and drivers door, as they are slightly brighter than the rest of the car. there is also a patch of respray on the drivers rear quarter, by the rear light, but it is a good colour match, just not blended so well. unfortunately, being a 31 year old car it has a couple of bad bits, most notably a light dent in the bonnet, light dent in the passenger rear arch and scabs on the sills. The sills are completely solid, however, having been treated at some point in the past, they just look bad. Same goes for a hole in the rear valance, but this is hidden by the bumper mostly.
At the moment it has 3 gold mini wheels (as one is bent) and a spare, but it will come on black MK1 golf GTi man hole covers, and the gold wheels can be included if the seller wants them. it also comes with a bunch of spares, such as the original door cards (tatty and horrible though they are) and the original bump strips and wolfsburg steering wheel. There is also a 120MPH golf speedo, should you wish to fit it and get the odometer working again, but its so inaccurate I wouldn't bother.
Overall its a cracking little car, with plenty enough power to surprise most things on the road, and old enough to have that classic VW feel to it. The car is located at my parents in shropshire and i'm after £1500 for it (cheaper than a mk1 golf GTI, and a fair bit faster
). alternately i'd be open to a swap/PX for a nice E30 or MR2 TurboContact me on here or by texting 078 one six 444 172
Weekend after next i plan on tidying it up abit, fixing the dizzy and taking some nice pictures of her
in the meantime, here are some to get you going, and a link to the photobucket account for it.
Like this but with no bump strips
Heres the link to the photobucket for it, mostly pictures from the engine build however.
s480.photobucket.com/user/splitty456/library/Polo%20engine%20biuld?sort=3&page=1
