'90 Helios Blue Scala

[ScalaSam]

Hi everyone,

Now that I've finished school I thought I'd start a thread for me and my dad's 1990 Scala Injection, in Helios Blue.

The car was a Cat C write off a few years ago but was fixed well and all necessary parts were replaced (the owner probably saw something in it to restore it as the whole front was smashed in) and when my dad and I went to see it in August 2015, it looked in a right state. Leaves and muck in the guttering, small dents, basically just unloved, but we saw the bags of potential it had and we knew we could do it to how we would like it, and show it some love it deserved and hadn't had for years.

The car had only done 55000 miles and it ran really well, there is loads of history with the car and it was really well maintained by its first owner up until he sold it in 2003. We got a good deal because the person we bought it from was willing to do the MOT, put new tyres on, centre caps (although not genuine) and a new style radio amongst other things. We bought the car and then after the work being done it took about a month into mid September until we brought it back home.

From what we saw in the advert:


After a good wash, T-Cut and polish when we got it:


It scrubbed up pretty well. AutoGlym really is good stuff.

We then got on to just giving it a normal service (new oil and filter, spark plugs and the like) and adding more details as we went on. My dad then found work on the south coast so he had to go there for a couple of months in January and February, leaving me to look after the car over the winter months.

In the snow: (Thanks for the help mark1gls!)



When my dad got back we have continued to do little touch ups and replacement work up until now where it is pretty close to concourse. (some of the jobs are not done yet) We've bought some clear indicator lenses and side repeaters, a fog lamp to replace the one with a hole in it, new genuine centre caps all round, original Blaupunkt Hamburg radio, some great new bonnet lining that fits like a treat. We've still yet to do the parcel shelf hence the wooden template currently in there, as well as refurb the wheels because they're looking a bit crusty. The rear lights could do with being re-smoked to give it a good look and the aerial needs sorting out. There are other odd jobs that need to be done.

And then that leads us up to now, we have a car that has been given a new lease of life and will be driving for many years to come. I'll be documenting any more additions we add to the car (It is after all a project thread). If the car works I hope my dad, brother and I can make it down to the meet in August. It'll be the first major trip out!

(Before side repeaters and centre caps added)

[mr.brown]

Looks great. I don't want to use the "r" word but there aren't many Helios Scala's about.

[GTXTRA]

Nice story, lovely Scala.
Good effort.

[ScalaSam]

Cheers guys :)

[mark1gls]

Looking good.
To add more pictures you need a photobucket account (or similar) and upload them to there then copy and paste the IMG code from the picture into your post then you can add lots of pictures.

[ScalaSam]

http://s448.photobucket.com/user/ScalaSam/profile/#

They should all be on here

[ScalaSam]

Got on with a few jobs lately due to the nice weather, just small ones but thought I'd post them anyway.

First on the list was to open the sunroof that we hadn't opened since we got it and give it an oil if it needed. When opened it appeared to be well kept, but we oiled it with some 3 in 1 stuff just to keep it smooth because it was slightly stiff.

Pictures of oiling the open sunroof:





Now the sunroof slides and clicks just correctly, however it does need a bit of help to speed up if you're in a hurry haha. Up next to do was the door seal guttering which was peeling off the drivers side doorframe, and on the passenger side it was drooping off. Used some UniBond Gel to glue them on then mask up to hold in place with the doors shut. had to take off some tape left over on the roof but it wasn't hard at all.

Tape around the seal to hold in place:

As most of you probably know the rear spoiler makes a handy table.


Now the rear lights were getting quite annoying with the black lines being faded, so we popped down to Homebase and bought some universal all weather all surface matt black paint and a rubber wallpaper seam roller to try and get some of the smoked look back to the rear lenses. I'll admit the left one was full of water but that can be resolved later. we decided to paint them whilst on the car because it was being used that day and the weather was warm and dry so there was no worrying about the rain. So we taped up the outer seals of the lenses and started painting. Now the Scala has much more stance and it doesn't lopsided with one lense more faded than the other. There are imperfections but from a distance I'd say it's a pretty good job.

Application:


Before:


After:


So yeah that's basically it so far... will be doing more things soon. Looked at the filler neck and fuel tank today but I'll save that for another time when a few more things have been done, then I can post them in bundles. Gonna leave you with a pic of it at my rugby club. Cheers,
Sam.

[ScalaSam]

just a small update as to what's been going on with the Rocco. really starting to get to know this car after one year of having it.

First of all it was great to see all the makes and models at the national meet, had a great time and met some great people. definitely hope to make it next year as it was a brill day out as well as seeing all the cars together. The convoy down from Lymm was fantastic, seeing all those people in other cars who went past just staring was something I'll never forget.

Done a few more jobs, and it's gone through an MOT since I last updated!

Pics of the national:





Even got a 20th anniversary sticker to go with it.


Now - as for the actual restoration part of the thread. The wooden parcel shelf template needed some sort of black carpet on it so after visiting carpet shops after carpet shops, they had nothing that we could use without it looking tacky or buying an entire roll just for the shelf.

what we ended up doing was going to a sofa re-upholsterers and they just happened to have a material that didn't stick out too much, and is a sort of velvet black.
After a day without it, the parcel shelf came back really presentable. it now has padding as well as a sewn in black trim underneath to get rid of the nasty wooden colour. in my eyes, the only other way would've been to paint it. So I think it worked out well.

Thanks to Sean with A20 GTX who provided us at the meet with the clips and bung, haven't got round to fitting it yet as we need to get the other parts for it to work properly haha. Sorry to anyone we couldn't get to for buying things, it was so busy! At the moment it definitely looks much better than it did.




The thing I mentioned in the previous post was that we had painted the fuel filler neck and fuel tank with that universal paint. This was because a little surface rust was starting to show through so now it looks the part.

Filler neck:


Tank:


Also the MOT wasn't that long ago, and I'm pleased to say it passed with flying colours! no advisories or anything either so we were pretty chuffed about that. The tester said it was the least rusty, factory condition, non-undersealed H reg scirocco he'd ever seen. hopefully it remains that way!

Thanks for reading, I'll post another time when I get round to sorting any more niggles we have with it.

Driving into RAF Cosford: (I hope I'm allowed to use this as it was someone else's photo from the fb forum)

[ScalaSam]

Hi,

Well it's now officially been a year since I joined the register. Been a great year and thanks to you guys a lot of problems have been solved.
It's winter now and the car is still being used daily without fault. Just goes to show Sciroccos can be show queens in the summer as well as muddy daily workhorses if you need them to be.

Muddy side:


General Photos:



I know it short but there isn't much to document really. I'm glad I started one of these because it means I can look back at what I've done. Hope next year is a nice one too without any major issues. Bring on 2017!

Sam

[Mark H]

Sam

Good to meet at Lymm for the convoy down to Cosford and back up North. Look out for any NW meets..

Mark

[ScalaSam]

Cheers Mark,

It was brilliant, and will keep and eye out for the next one as we had arrangements last Sunday.
Thanks again,
Sam

[ScalaSam]

Hello again.

Been a while since I've been on here.

Scirocco meet again this year was great to attend, and the car has passed another MOT with no advisories. Have done an oil and filter change, a wax and that's about it really.

No need for a picture, not sure of the best way now photobucket went silly.

Thanks,
Sam

[ScalaSam]

Hi

Bit of an update as to how the Scala has been. A few changes since I last updated - oil flush and change after a sticky cam follower issue, filler neck and brake drum paint/tidy, new driver side window and a general update.

The car is used daily as my dad drives it every day - has served him well after long journeys to the south coast for his work (from Leeds) and back every few months. It's taken us to wales and back also which was one hell of a trip.

On one of those trips the police decided they break into the car for fears of concealed drugs. So they smashed the front drivers side small window near the front to gain access.
As soon as they found out nothing was there they didn't pay for a replacement - so my dad had to source it himself and get someone to fit it (who did what could be said as an unscrupulous job as it's left scratches on the door card).
The new window is holding up fine but the number is no longer etched of course. As for the police they obviously don't have anything better to do with their time than breaking into classic cars.

More recently the car developed a tapping noise on a cold start - after realising of our stupidity (not changing the oil for 10 months) it was a simple diagnosis. A sticky cam follower. Was advised by you lot on the Facebook page to give it a flush and change which was needed anyway, and now the car is much sharper and runs much more smoothly - no longer the dreaded tapping on start.

Other than that and a fuel pump relay issue the car is still okay (touch wood!). Maintaining the fuel filler neck has been a priority along with brakes and 'rust combat' as I like to call it. And I will remember to change the oil!

I have tried to add pictures but not sure if they will be visible.

[mark1gls]

Good to hear it’s being used, don’t worry to much about tapping noise if it does happen Rev the car to 2000 rpm for 30 secs and then let the revs drop it idle and 9 times out of 10 it stops as the oil pressure increases, it’s not going to damage anything and as long as the tapping stops after a few minutes of running you’ll be fine. Mine tappets away when the oil is getting to the end of its 12 months/10,000 miles. I would avoid flushing the oil system to much as the build up of gunk etc can help seal things and stop oil leaks.

10w 40 semi synthetic oil is the stuff you should be using.

[ScalaSam]

Thanks, just keeping on top of regular maintenance really isn't it. I have heard horror stories about oil flush, it was just to remove the gunk that was already in there; the engine is running much better thankfully (doesnt have the highest of mileages) but I shall not be using it again as long as the oil is changed (do use 10w40 Castrol or Comma). Now I know the tapping is nothing to worry about so thank you.