This is my 1986 Mk2 polo C Breadvan. I'm 16 and wanted a project to do for when I'm 17 and with the hope that i can take it to shows etc.
when looking for a car, i knew that it had to have a low cc engine so that the insurance wasn't to extortionate (so the 1.8 litre 8v GTI mk2 golf i was looking at before hand was out of the picture)
I have always liked older cars and i really liked the idea of taking them to shows and letting other liked minded people see what you've done and hopefully appreciate your work.
background on the car-
I don't know to much about it as the guy i bought it from bought it purely as a daily driver to get to and from work. the previous owner before that had sticker bombed the whole car and the paint has paid the price. (you can still see where a moustache sticker was put on the bonnet when its in sunlight). it came with 68k miles on the clock which we initially questioned, but on the drive home with all the temperatures and pressures correct and no odd noises coming from the car, the figure seemed more believable. it has almost no body work rust but has a very oily engine bay (which will be getting a very thorough clean). Where the exhaust had fallen off on the previous owner, there is a flat spot on the exhaust pipe from about 3/4 of the way along the car. because of this there is also a ground away hole in the muffler. it came on lowered springs (but i hope to update these to coil-overs) and stock rims.
31st December:
Hi guys thought id give a bit of an update since its the new year and haven't given one yet!
i haven't managed to do a lot to the car since the start of this thread as it has been very cold and rainy. also, i have a rather tight budget so coming across the parts i need/want for a price i can afford has been rather difficult. However i have managed to do some minor work like cleaning hidden areas of the body and rubbing down and trying to fix the small areas of rust that i have found here and there.
I have decided to go for the single headlight style rather than the double that came on the car as i prefer that look. (i am still looking for the single headlight grill if anyone has one that is for sale?) I am going to get a new custom stainless steel exhaust as the stock one that was on the car was ruined and i will want to upgrade it at some point anyway so why not just do it now? I will be phoning up a couple of firms to get some quote's this week. I have also been looking for new wheels, I'm interested in getting some 14" P Slots, but again, the funding of them is an issue. I have looked at other options for the mean time however and come up with a couple of ideas.![]()
I am also going to take out the engine in order to give the engine bay a total clean and respray as it is filthy and covered in a thick gummy substance, which i still have no idea, what it is.
11th May:
Hello again
long time no see aha! I've been very busy since last updating this thread so i though i may show you what I've been up to!
After saving up money from wherever i could for the past 4 or so months i had enough money to treat the car to some new bits:) the first was a mountney steering wheel. i wanted a wooden one i knew that but didn't have any idea where to look for one. i went to our expensive friends at VW heritage and had a look on there and came across the mountney on i ended up going with. to go with that, i got some wolfsburg window winders too.
Next, i was looking through the Facebook page (mk1-3 polo owners) and a fella (who happened to be a bloody good bloke) was selling 2 lots of steelies from a 6n polo. one set 13" and one 14". how i managed to get them i don't don't because as my comment went up saying "ILL HAVE THEM!!!" another 3 or four said exactly the same XD clearly a popular choice aha! but i managed to get them for a decent price, got them home via a terrible courier got tyres on them and got them on the car.
The only thing majorly wrong about the car was that it had not exhaust, i had bought a new one to replace the totalled one it came with. however the one i was sent from euro car parts was not long enough, and to make life easier, the mounts on the bottom of the car had totally rusted off. (probably why the old one was being held on by wire). unfortunately, without a welder, this wasn't something i could fix myself.
After the extensive amount of mods (yes thats a joke) i had to look at the mot. of which it didn't have. i am taking to its first show on the 15th and it being in newton abbot, i had to get round to it quickly. i booked it in, and failed. There was no exhaust (i knew about this, i was told they would put it on before the mot for me because the mounts had rusted off. but they didn't) and the rubbers cover the ball joints on the end of the suspension arms were completely rotten. and by that, i mean there wasn't any XD so i bought in some new ones and ended up replacing both arms entirely because they would have had to be done next year anyway.
16th january:
well, not exactly the way i wanted to finish this thread but a van on the wrong side of the road has decided otherwise.
after passing my test in november, me and the polo completed over 2.8 thousand miles and it didn't miss a beat. it had taken me to guildford where i was offered an unconditional university place, taken me to cornwall for some winter surf trips, to and from my friends workshops and houses countless times and gave me my first proper taste of freedom.
since my last update i haven't done too much different to the car as budget restricted that a fair amount but just being able to drive it was more than rewarding enough.
hopefully ill be starting a new thread with a new retro, but could be a long while until that happens.
Photos as per usual are at the bottom of the thread
ill keep this up to date with what I'm doing with the idea that i can look back on it to see where i have come from too.
This image was taken before i cleaned the area behind the bumper, the black drips are that gummy stuff that i mentioned before, it has all gone from the front panels now.
I tried respraying the stock wheels and they came out quite well. i may try other colours.
My poor attempts at cleaning the engine bay with the engine still in are evident. i also removed the rocker cover and sanded it down, ready to be sprayed colour matched to the body along with the air filter cover.
this is how it is now
still looking good, even with its front caved in XD
when looking for a car, i knew that it had to have a low cc engine so that the insurance wasn't to extortionate (so the 1.8 litre 8v GTI mk2 golf i was looking at before hand was out of the picture)
I have always liked older cars and i really liked the idea of taking them to shows and letting other liked minded people see what you've done and hopefully appreciate your work.
background on the car-
I don't know to much about it as the guy i bought it from bought it purely as a daily driver to get to and from work. the previous owner before that had sticker bombed the whole car and the paint has paid the price. (you can still see where a moustache sticker was put on the bonnet when its in sunlight). it came with 68k miles on the clock which we initially questioned, but on the drive home with all the temperatures and pressures correct and no odd noises coming from the car, the figure seemed more believable. it has almost no body work rust but has a very oily engine bay (which will be getting a very thorough clean). Where the exhaust had fallen off on the previous owner, there is a flat spot on the exhaust pipe from about 3/4 of the way along the car. because of this there is also a ground away hole in the muffler. it came on lowered springs (but i hope to update these to coil-overs) and stock rims.
31st December:
Hi guys thought id give a bit of an update since its the new year and haven't given one yet!
i haven't managed to do a lot to the car since the start of this thread as it has been very cold and rainy. also, i have a rather tight budget so coming across the parts i need/want for a price i can afford has been rather difficult. However i have managed to do some minor work like cleaning hidden areas of the body and rubbing down and trying to fix the small areas of rust that i have found here and there.
I have decided to go for the single headlight style rather than the double that came on the car as i prefer that look. (i am still looking for the single headlight grill if anyone has one that is for sale?) I am going to get a new custom stainless steel exhaust as the stock one that was on the car was ruined and i will want to upgrade it at some point anyway so why not just do it now? I will be phoning up a couple of firms to get some quote's this week. I have also been looking for new wheels, I'm interested in getting some 14" P Slots, but again, the funding of them is an issue. I have looked at other options for the mean time however and come up with a couple of ideas.
11th May:
Hello again
long time no see aha! I've been very busy since last updating this thread so i though i may show you what I've been up to!After saving up money from wherever i could for the past 4 or so months i had enough money to treat the car to some new bits:) the first was a mountney steering wheel. i wanted a wooden one i knew that but didn't have any idea where to look for one. i went to our expensive friends at VW heritage and had a look on there and came across the mountney on i ended up going with. to go with that, i got some wolfsburg window winders too.
Next, i was looking through the Facebook page (mk1-3 polo owners) and a fella (who happened to be a bloody good bloke) was selling 2 lots of steelies from a 6n polo. one set 13" and one 14". how i managed to get them i don't don't because as my comment went up saying "ILL HAVE THEM!!!" another 3 or four said exactly the same XD clearly a popular choice aha! but i managed to get them for a decent price, got them home via a terrible courier got tyres on them and got them on the car.
The only thing majorly wrong about the car was that it had not exhaust, i had bought a new one to replace the totalled one it came with. however the one i was sent from euro car parts was not long enough, and to make life easier, the mounts on the bottom of the car had totally rusted off. (probably why the old one was being held on by wire). unfortunately, without a welder, this wasn't something i could fix myself.
After the extensive amount of mods (yes thats a joke) i had to look at the mot. of which it didn't have. i am taking to its first show on the 15th and it being in newton abbot, i had to get round to it quickly. i booked it in, and failed. There was no exhaust (i knew about this, i was told they would put it on before the mot for me because the mounts had rusted off. but they didn't) and the rubbers cover the ball joints on the end of the suspension arms were completely rotten. and by that, i mean there wasn't any XD so i bought in some new ones and ended up replacing both arms entirely because they would have had to be done next year anyway.
16th january:
well, not exactly the way i wanted to finish this thread but a van on the wrong side of the road has decided otherwise.
after passing my test in november, me and the polo completed over 2.8 thousand miles and it didn't miss a beat. it had taken me to guildford where i was offered an unconditional university place, taken me to cornwall for some winter surf trips, to and from my friends workshops and houses countless times and gave me my first proper taste of freedom.
since my last update i haven't done too much different to the car as budget restricted that a fair amount but just being able to drive it was more than rewarding enough.
hopefully ill be starting a new thread with a new retro, but could be a long while until that happens.
Photos as per usual are at the bottom of the thread
ill keep this up to date with what I'm doing with the idea that i can look back on it to see where i have come from too.
This image was taken before i cleaned the area behind the bumper, the black drips are that gummy stuff that i mentioned before, it has all gone from the front panels now.
I tried respraying the stock wheels and they came out quite well. i may try other colours.
My poor attempts at cleaning the engine bay with the engine still in are evident. i also removed the rocker cover and sanded it down, ready to be sprayed colour matched to the body along with the air filter cover.
this is how it is now
still looking good, even with its front caved in XD 
