Scirocco Storm MK2 resto - on a budget!

[obrut429]

I bought the Storm project from Kevin in Durham a few weeks ago with the intent of putting it back on the road for as little as possible. This is for two good reasons 1) I don't have a great deal of money to spend on projects at the mo! 2) I wanted to use up some stored spares I had specifically for a brown storm rather than have them gather more dust sitting around!

So far the expenses have been the car's initial price (£300), the delivery (£100), a clutch kit (£40), new gear linkage bush kit(£6), a couple of bodykit screw covers I noticed were missing plus consumable(£4)s (welding wire(£10), cleaning stuff (£10) etc). (total = £460)

I've used/will use from my spares collection : 2 good storm wings, 2 good storm doors, an OK storm bonnet, replacement engine, correct front bumber with washer jets, various misc pipes and hoses, spare heater matrix, fuel hoses (a mix of spare tubing I had and a spare kit for a porsche 924 which partly fits the sciroccos), an alternator plus I expect many others I'll get too shortly.

The work so far has been:

Original pics are:







Clearly the car had been sitting for a while :On the -ve

Rear arches under kit are poor - very rusty - The sills have survived though.
Engine buggered
Interior worn but saveable
When the crappy black spare wings were fitted to the car - the plastic wing guards were not - as a result the inner wings are unusually rusty for a MK2 scirocco - nothings perforated yet - but it needs attention
Rust hole in rear NS floor pan - had this before in Sciroccos
Fuel hoses and lines are shot - again typical for Sciroccos
An immobiliser has been bypassed - and some bodged wiring to sort

Missing rear 'storm' sticker





+ve

S/Steel exhaust and fairly recent downpipe fitted - all in good shape
Braided brake hoses all round and rears look servicable - fronts might need changing.
Body straight
All glass good incuding front screen - its a pain changing these if need to

Update 20th March

Removed fuel pump and accumulator - hoses rusty and been bodged in the past - but the main units look fine
Engine and gearbox removed
ENgine bay tidied up - noticed that the front slam panel is not original and but came from a white car - the lower beam, inner side wings and front valence are original and not damaged - so it seems that car had a minor front end bump in its past - its also clear that in fitting the front slam panel the original vin plate was not moved across and so its now missing. The car is clean on HPI so either the damage was non recorded or an approved repair. The chassis number is recorded correctly elsewhere.




Weekend diary update 27-28th March.

A busy weekend saw the fuel lines replaced and fixed in the engine bay (spares £0) whilst the engine was out (but not yet fixed under the car) and the heater matrix replaced - again easier whilst engine was out. The cooling system was totally ruined in this car and full of mayonnaise everywhere - like thick goop :o.Replacing the matrix was easier and better than trying to clean it out - I think I'll have to do the same with the radiator too.
A clutch repair plate was also welded in situ whilst engine out - a common failure on these cars as the clutch pulls through a weak bulkead. After these jobs were complete - the engine could then be installed in the bay.
Engine is from a 1991 H plate Scala (found paperwork woo hoo!)and whilst having been kicking around the lock up for a couple of years - turned freely. I just hope/expect it runs OK - although the cam followers may need to be replaced. A couple of jobs done on the engine whilst it was being built up:

Crankshaft -clutch seal replaced (from spares £0)
Waterpump cleaned and seal replaced
Water inlet to head connector new seal (from spares £0)
New gasket on the oil filter housing unit (from spares £0)
New gear linkage bush kit installed
New rocker cover gasket (£4)
New clutch and pressure plate
Spare alternator fitted - on the old engine when it briefly ran the alternator light lit - something to check in the future (from spares £0)
Swapped in the oil filter, spark plugs, tensioner and cam belt from the old engine which showed they were recent changes
Found good old brake servo connector and installed this too (from spares £0)

Had trouble refitting the cambelt metal shroud so left it off - and then engine was approximately timed.








Want to finish off the engine bay and then leave it whilst working on the body (especially the rear).

Jobs to do are:

Weld rear arches and end of sills
Install fueling pump / accumulator with new hoses
Weld NS floorpan
Check wiring for correct removal of old imobiliser
Clean interior and reinstall

plus plenty more!!
running cost £464

[jxp]

Nice one mate, keep us informed. I though about buying this last year but after takign advice realised was too big a job for me...... Hope it goes well

[Reverend Frog]

Excellent work so far mate. usually when I see a project being done 'on a budget' I assume it means the same as when i say it: ie a car that needs anything more than a polish and new tyres is out of my league! I'm glad somebody went for this, looking forward to seeing it returned to its former glory.

Dr Dub's site has an excellent template for a Storm badge if you need to get someone to make one for you. you won't get a genuine one for love nor money these days

[Risocco]

Looking good so far dude, best of British

Were you on the Register a few years back? Got the feeling I bought some parts off of you?

Alex

[daveyg]

Best of luck, look forward to seeing this progress

[obrut429]

Cheers for the comments - yep use to be a member a few years back. Mike Simcox and I still share a barn and one day we'll fully sort out the parts for Mk1 and Mk2 we have!

[Cpt Custom]

Good luck with the work ... look forward to following your progress.

[obrut429]

update - May 1st

Engine finally installed - and sorted starting problem (which was a mix of poor earths, incorrect valve timing and poor rotor). Engine fires straightaway but cannot tune until I have fully reinstalled the exhaust (no back box at present).
Additional costs are - some chemical metal to fill a block mark beneath the oil filter housing (£8), a water hose from a member here (£12), paint for front bumper and a couple of nuts for the wipers (£11). Spares used and fitted incude replacement fresh air motor, correct front bumper, spare beru set of used plug leads (from a porsche 924!) and two nearly perfect front wings. I swapped in some headlight adjusters from a spare headlight unit from an early square headlight gti model (which uses much higher quality adjusters!)

Interior plastic work/centre console refitted
Bonnet refitted - has some rust damage but will only be touched up and rattle can sprayed where needed.
Running cost = £495






Jobs now to do are:

1) refit front ARB and exhaust back box (s/steel throughout)
2) Rust proof the sills and refit the fuel pump/accumulator - which at present are just loose to supply fuel to the engine
3) Weld OS floor pan
4) Weld and repair rear arches
5) Refit interior
6) Fit inner wing liners (£10)
7) CLEAN!

Running cost £505

[DJPremier]

Fantastic to see this one being brought back to life instead of fully broken. Well done

[obrut429]

Just a short update - 15th May

Attached front wings and replacement inner wing shields. Finished reassembling engine bay materials/lights/wiring as far as I can at this stage.
Need a front ARB wishbone hoop to reinstall the ARB - but not urgent. Will be fitting these alloys with nearly new Bridgestones on.

Began cleaning the rear arches ready for cutting out and welding in new metal
This s what was holding the fuel neck together...!

Think I need a new one....!

[obrut429]

Update - began cutting out the rear rot - I have to do this on a work day and not evenings/weekends due to local national park laws.
So spent a few hours cutting and cleaning the rear arches:





I should now be able to shape, fit and weld in new metal - which is a quieter job!
Not going to pretty in the repair - just solid and longlasting!Also sourced a replacement fuel filler neck..!

[obrut429]

Update- took a day off work to do noisy stuff - cut out rotten rear arches and weld in cut out front arches in their place. The end of the sills was repaired with new metal and the small hole in the floor pan patched. The arches them painted with hammerite (£8), seal sealed and then stone chip protected. I wasn't aiming for anything visually satisfying - but solid - given they are going back under the bodykit (adhesive £6)

Tidied up the fuel pump area and reassembled everything - I just need to clip the new fuel lines to the body (£4 for screws and P clips).

Reinstalled the carpet and door cards and exhaust.






Despite the dust and debris - the paintwork is very good on the car!
Cheers
Ian

[obrut429]

Update - 16th June

Finished reinstalling the rear arches - they're OK but need some tidying still.
Refitted and began cleaning interior carpet and both door cards.
Had to extend one brakeline - and recreate a new brakeline mount on the OS rear sill - for some reason a PO had cut this off...! So new mount ftted and brake line extended (will bleed it when i bled the system and put new brake fluid in)
Reassembled all the fuel system (pump/accumulator and hose/pipes) - quite tidy again.


Picked up a replacement fuel neck which needs a bit of extension (its for the larger tank) - fuel neck £31 - very good condition
INstalled - with a bit of heath robinson extensions...


2) check all brake lines - they look serviceable - but will replace any poor connections
3) derust under rear of car with wire brush and waxoyl everything under pressure
4) Finish interior reinstall and clean
5) Install rear wiper and motor
6) install front ARB - I had to cut one of the wishbone mounts and finding a spare is proving difficult.
7) address the spot rust on the bonnet (the nly bits of rust I can see on the bodywork)

Running cost £550

So - not that much to do - then try for an MOT and sell!!

[obrut429]

needed a change - so washed the car!
Gonna have to remove i thikn the rubbing strips - as the replacement door and front wings are missing them anyway.
The body is actually very good - paintwise the only rust marks are on the bonnet - everything else is very good!








...needed a bit of motivation

UPDATE 25th June
Fitted front/rear wipers and motor (rear) - missing 2 of the nut covers...?
Adjusted rear brakes - probably need new cables - look like the cirrent ones have stretched
Bled rear brakes (after I had changed some of the pipework)
More waxoyl on rear of car / fuel tank/fuel neck/brake and fuel hoses/inner side of sills

Remaining jobs:

Check running and warming of engine - coolant/fan operation etc
Check lights/horn and adjust etc
Check brakes
Sort /touch up minor rust on bonnet
Remove and clean rubbing strip residue
Wire in the oil pressure gauge
Check clutch operation - suspect I have the wrong cable (too short) fitted.
Test drive!

[obrut429]

Update 3rd July

ReFitted fuel neck hose rubber and snap ring - added 5 L of fuel
Bought leather cream (£8) and fed interior (twice so far - the leather is just absorbing it!)
Manually retimed engine - will set it better later
Removed remaining rubber bump strips
Checked lights - all work OK - but oddly on dipped lights, the main beam dash light is activated (main beam works fine - but the dash light then goes out!)
No reversing lights - so need to check wiring around gearbox
Rear brakes adjusted and then handbrake cable adjusted
Rear brakes bled
NS door rataining pin replaced
Rear wiper refitted (but seems not to work?)
Front wipers work ok after sorting a minor catch on the fresh air blower
Rubbed down, rust proofed, filled, primed and painted odd blemish on bonnet - passable outcome
Oil pressure gauge wired in OK and oil leak stopped (on T branch) with new copper sealing washer


Car fires fine hot/cold and idles great. When cold though, it stutters on the blip test which seems to disappear when warm
Oil pressure seems good generally. I thought it was buring oil when I initially started it, but looks like this was oil seepage (probably past tired valve stem seals) over the time its been in storage. It has not reoccured since (and finally all the hydraulic valves have quietened)
Still think clutch operation is far too heavy and not happy i have the right clutch cable as I have very little adjustment on the clutch (despite fitting a new one)- new one ordered (£12)
Picked up toffee wheel for the bumb strip reside (£9)

Running cost: £579

Will post piccies when I have washed and cleaned the paint - X years of being outside means the surface is in need of a bit of cutting compound!