To set the scene: I've been a biker 14 years - never really been interested in cars - recently started working with some disadvantaged kids, one of whom LOVES sciroccos. Long story short, it rubbed off on me, so I decided to get hold of a knackered old one and do a major restoration / modification project with him as a learning tool.
Day 1 - Found an '87 1.8 8v carb 'Rocco Scala with only 82k on the clock. Realised the guy spelt 'Scirocco' wrong on ebay. Looks a little beat-up, but hey - I'm going to be the only person bidding on it...
Day 4 - Win the auction for £670
Day 5 - Oh sh*t, guess I should take a driving test...
Day 10 - Pass driving test in a 2017 Hyundai with power assisted everything, hop straight on train from Exeter to Birmingham, jump back in time to an 80's 'lump', try to figure out how to drive it 200 miles home...
THE GOOD:
- Interior is in great condition - one tiny tear in the driver's offside bolster
- Seller chucked in a knackered set of the original snowflakes
- 82k seems legit, lots of supporting SH
- Engine bay very tidy
- Very little rust
- Sunroof doesn't leak!!
- Bodywork has been lazily touched up / resprayed. Overspray on lights, windows etc
- Struggles a bit at low rpm in low gears
- Auto-choke is aggressive as all hell
- Speedo intermittently judders up and down +/- 10mph at speeds < 50mph
- Idle when the choke comes off is a little weak, sounds like it's struggling
- Quote a lot of overrun
- Drivers door has obviously been replaced (different key, doesn't sit flush)
All ready to do the family visits for Xmas UNTIL the turn signal relay suddenly starts flashing double-time BOTH sides. Groan. Pull over to discover we have one tail-light, no rear fogs, and the reversing light and brake lights turn on the rear left turn signal instead. Looks like I have a ground fault to find, and the Xmas runs will have to be in the wife's boring Focus.
THE PLAN:
Avert your eyes if you're easily offended / a purist...
The plan is to embrace the 80's-tastic soul of this car by doing the following:
- Tidy up the cosmetic rust and fix the shoddy paintwork, then...
- Wrap the whole thing in Brushed Stainless Steel vinyl with Matte Black trim / fenders (think DMC-12)
- Restore the snowflakes
- Add (tasteful, subtle) LED lighting to the cab / bay / chassis
- Possibly swap out the 1.8 8v for a Golf Mk3 2.0 16v or similar
- Upgrade the brakes to match the BHP
- Add copious amounts of retro custom 7-seg displays to the dash (tyre pressures, various temps etc)
- Try to fond a louvre for the rear window
- Generally give the interior a more 'Millennium Falcon' vibe ;)
- Central locking!
- Improve the sound system, but keep the tape player
PS - this community seems great, and I'm looking forward to sharing the updates with you and learning from all your experience. Please remember this is an educational project, so if you don't like what we are doing / consider it vw blasphemy etc - please just keep it to yourself!
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