New To Forum - My MK1!

[WildChild]

Hi all,

As im sure you can tell by my post count, i am new to the forums! So Hello to everyone, fantastic to find a VW forum thats not purely dedicated to rudeboys!

My next door neighbour a retired engineer offered me his Volkswagen Polo MK1, For FREE.. so instantly as i did not have a car i took it with great appreciation.. (he wanted something more comfortable to have in his old age)

Anyway my car is a Volkswagen Polo "L" MK1 895cc 1980, i have the FULL service, owner and mot history proving its true mileage of: 25,834.1

Yes under 26,000 miles in 26 years! - and it's been used on a regular basis as a grocery car, not only that but its been kept garaged for 25 of those 26 years and so has kept its paint job from fading.

It's been through two MOT's (whilst not being in use for the last year and a half) which the only faults they found were windscreen wipers needed replacing.. and 2 tyres.

So far i have:
- Repainted the lettering of "Volkswagen" & "Polo" on the back
- Sanded down and repainted the front and rear bumper with black rubber
paint
- Taken each hub off and removed all rust using a industry drill & a wire brush
- Repainted each hub with Silver Aluminium Paint
- Repainted the Tyres with Black Tyre Paint to give them the "new tyre look"
- Washed & Waxed very often
- Removed All Seating and thoroughly cleaned upholstery and leather with relevant product cleaners
- Cleaned all dashboard
- Replaced Exhaust
- Original Radio was broken, have removed original speaker & replaced with a Pioneer DEH-890 45Wx4 CD Player which is wired underneith all the flooring, carpets and seating very neatly to 2 6x9 Sony Mutant X 300W RMS speakers (in a spare rear shelf) - I have a spare one just incase i want it to look authentic.

From knowing nothing about cars or engines or their mechanics 6 months ago i've managed to justa bout understand the haynes manual and have:
- cleaned the carb
- claned & replaced all spark plugs
- replaced air filter & cleaned
- removed and replaced head gasket
- removed, cleaned and replaced brake pads
- removed and replaced several cracked and damaged rubber pipes surrounding the engine (mainly air filter)

Anyway, enough talk (sorry im just excited to find fellow MK1 & MK2 owners ), here are some pictures of my car:

PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT U THINK!, means alot..

[Mk2Adam]

wow 25k

bet you were pleased with that, anyway welcome to the forum mate and it is generally quite relaxed and slow here and i think you'll fit in seeing the way you're restoring your car.

if you need any advice norniron is probably the man, he basically re-built a mk1 from the ground up

not too many mk1 owners here i'm afraid but everyone here apreciates them and will do their best to advise

[NornIron]

That is beautiful..........

Fantastic original Mk1, what a find! You are a lucky boy......or girl... Don't be tempted to mod it, original is the only way with these rarities...

[tupac2makaveli71]

looks amazing, makes me want a mk1, but i love my mk2 lol, great car mate

[WildChild]

Thanks very much

With regards to modding, the only things i have done really is to paint the wheels.. which i think just smartens it up, and added speakers in the rear shelf for some radio, (i brought a second back shelf so still have original which isnt modified..

oh.. and im male 19, names Tom

[WildChild]

On a seperate note, on the bottoms of either side of the car there are 2 or 3 areas with slight rust on the paint work.

Nothing major, literally its right at the Very bottom..

I realise the onyl way realistically to get rid of it is to sand it odwn to the metal and repaint, but i wont get hte same colour / fade of yellow on it now..

I was thinking of perhaps sanding an equal measurement of paint of at hte very bottom where the rust is.. about 2 1/2 inches high by wheel arch to wheel arch in length and giving it a spray of gloss black..

it wouldnt look out of place, or majorly modded just neat..

or do u think i should just leave it and treat it with some anti-rust agent?

[GroovyCarrot]

Wow! The first car I ever remember my mum owning looked just like that - I don't think I've seen a mk1 in that colour since Very very nice car, where on earth did you find it?

[Mk2Adam]

My next door neighbour a retired engineer offered me his Volkswagen Polo MK1, For FREE.. so instantly as i did not have a car i took it with great appreciation.. (he wanted something more comfortable to have in his old age)

Anyway my car is a Volkswagen Polo "L" MK1 895cc 1980, i have the FULL service, owner and mot history proving its true mileage of: 25,834.1

silly GC

[bootie3367]

1 year older than mine, but in much better nick. Hopefully mine will look as good when it's completed.
Any good paint shop will be able to colour match your fade colour, I don't mean for them to do it for you, but they will match it with a chip and then tell you where you can get that paint or even mix it for you to spry yourself. The better places can even produce it in a rattle can for you. Give it a try. They can only say no.

Yeh, nice car mate

Jon

[SpikeyG40]

welcome to the forum mate, nice to see another clean mk1!

keep up the good work!

[DanDiesel]

welcome along mate!!

ur car is beautiful!! so nice to see un-molested versions of the mk1!!
don't get me wrong, nicely modded ones look good too, but u just can't beat a standard original!!

[SteB]

Simply stunning, a credit to the guy who owned it, and to you since you've obviously given it some TLC since recieving it.

Good to see another mk1 in capable hands!

Steve

[Jim1500]

Class wee motor!!

[Breadman]

Yeah, welcome to the forum Tom.
That is a very special car you have been given there. So many of the mk1's have surcumbed to severe corrosion, yours looks to be VERY nice indeed.
lt's a credit to you that you've put in so much tlc, rather than 'bodge it good'.
With reguards to the corrosion thats showing on the sills, treat it NOW and treat it properly. If it is limited to the outside of the sills, make sure you remove all the paint from rust effected areas and treat with a top quality rust converter/preventer. Bilt Hamber and Frost Automotive Supplies (I think that the correct name) do some superb, independantly tested products that should with the correct preperation make it a once only job. If it were my car, I'd respray the lower part of the sills in a stonechip finish that you can then spray over with the correct body colour.
Then invest in some Waxoyl or Dinitrol rust preventor wax. It really isn't expensive, and in a weekend you can work your way slowly through the car, spraying wax into all the cavities, box sections, behind door trims etc etc.
It'll be well worth it IMO, as it will keep your rare car in mint condition for many years to come.
Good luck with it Tom,
Richard.

[WildChild]

Richard,

Thanks for the advice, i'm away on holiday for the next 3 weeks and then i'm back to finishing off the last month of my course, after which i will have about 4 months solid of summer to apply appropriately to my car before i start work in september..

The only other areas of rust are the wheel arches behind each wheel where the mud gets thrown and has corroded small areas..

The guy at the MOT said it's unlikely to spread and theres no point treating it as it will cost more than its worth.. (trouble and expense)

But hopefully i'll get it done in the next few months..