Scirocco Register

Little bit of progress over the weekend … of sorts anyway.

After weeks of looking I’ve finally been able to rent some workspace near where I live so we went up and spent a couple of hours sorting out some bits and pieces.



Believe it or not the building I’m going to be using was actually built initially as an aircraft hangar! Seriously, I kid you not … quite apt for working on a ‘skyrocket’ eh?

At the moment I’ve got just under half the hangar giving me a work area of about 8m x 4.5m, which should be plenty. It’s less than 2 miles from my house (I’ve only got to go through one set of traffic lights), has power, a concrete floor, seems to be watertight and the whole front can be opened up giving us plenty of access and natural light.

Having got some useful advice through the Forum on the ‘essentials’ for starting up a small workshop I’ve got most of the things, though not quite everything, folks have suggested. Like I say we took these up over the weekend.



The plan is that once Poppy has been for blasting she’ll go straight from there to the new workshop. Then we’re going to get the suspension, exhaust, rear beam, fuel tank etc off her so we can get her raised up and ‘tarted’ up underneath.

After that we’ll be cracking on with the bodywork getting her prepped for paint. And while that’s going on the bits we’ve stripped off her, which we intend to refit, can be refurbished as will the engine block. So expect lots of photos of bits getting stripped down, painted and even powder coated fairly soon.

Really excited about this latest development as having access to Poppy anytime of the day or night and at weekends should really see her progress quickly through the Spring.

The only thing is I’m not too sure about the neighbours … they look a bit rough!

Mr Postie has been and brought me something nice ...



FK Silverlines ... height adjustable and very shiny!

Looking forward to the rapid developments on this now mate... seeing as you have NO excuse with a hangar to work in!!

Funky Diver wrote:Looking forward to the rapid developments on this now mate... seeing as you have NO excuse with a hangar to work in!!

No excuses? Don't bet on it!

Finally got a few hours down at the garage where Poppy is currently being stored and made some significant progress with stripping her out.

I’d already stripped out most of the back end, but today we got the dash and all the associated bits like the parcel shelves, centre console, etc taken out …





I’ve still got the carpet and soundproofing to come out the footwell, but otherwise that’s about us done inside. Having said that there’s still the headlining, which I might or might not decide to replace. Even if I decide to stick with the original it might need to come out for the outer body shell to be blasted as I’m thinking it might get damaged if I leave it in?

To get a break from crawling around inside I decided to strip the vinyl off the B pillars. Given that I was already thinking of fitting new sections onto Lily I thought I’d practice on Poppy.

I followed the tried and tested method of heat gun and scraper, but was amazed how difficult it was to get it off without scratching the paint. Not really a problem on Poppy as she’s getting re-sprayed, but it has made me wary of doing it to Lily!



I also took off the gutter rails to see what was lurking underneath and found several rusted sections like the one below, so these will need some attention too …



Anyway, that’s about it for today. Got to say it was great to get a few hours in the garage so we could crack on. Having her where she is has been really useful as it’s given us somewhere to store her and access to all that a ‘proper garage’ has to offer. However, access has been restricted and I’ve had to fit in with other people’s plans.

Still, I got a fair bit done today and it’s made me realise how much better it’ll be once I get her moved up to the ‘hangar’ and I can get at her whenever I want. Like Funky says … there’ll be no more excuses (maybe)!!

that sure is a great workspace Paul.

good to see poppy progressing.

I look forward to seeing this one completed after all the time/money/work that's gone into it. Any idea when it'll be back on the road?

stu.gtx wrote:I look forward to seeing this one completed after all the time/money/work that's gone into it. Any idea when it'll be back on the road?

A wise man on here once said "it'll be done when it's right and right when it's done" or something like that, which at the time did strike a chord.

However, I'm an impatient sod at times! Hopefully, once she's back from being blasted and moved up to my own workshop we can crack on with her. Then with as much effort and enthusiasm as I can muster, along with some (make that a lot) of help through the forum I'd really like to think getting her on the road this year is achievable.

Kind of got the VW Festival at Harewood in my mind as a target.

It's local and with it being in August gives us just under 6 months to play with ...

By the way, what kind of biccies do you like again?

Having thought about it long and hard we've now bitten the bullet and have moved Poppy out of the local VW garage where she’s been over the last few months and into our workshop!

I guess up to now we've seen the garage as a safety blanket that would stop us making a complete arse of the restoration simply because we have absolutely no experience and my mechanical knowledge is zilch.



However, talking to people at Ultimate Dubs and at the North East mini meet over the weekend has led us to believe that we can achieve what we once thought was beyond us.

It'll take a lot of hard work and we'll be relying heavily on the support, advice and friendship of the guys in the Register, but we are determined to make it work. Let’s hope we don't live to regret it!

Anyway, here she is in her new home …





Now that we’ve got her up there I need to take stock of where we go from here and what we need to do to finish getting her ready for blasting.

The most obvious things to be done are taking out the engine and swapping the body panels around, then removing the glass and any remaining fixtures and fittings.

Like I say, we need to formulate a plan. But for today I’m just chuffed to feel we’ve got some control back over the project given that we’ve not been making any real progress of late.

It’s great to see her actually in the workshop. Wish us lots of luck because I reckon we’re going to need it!

Stick in mate. Maybe the next north east meet will be at your barn......

Paul, I am back home in the north east over the weekend of the 14th - 17th April. Further to the conversation we all had last Saturday, I am more than happy to come down and lend you a hand, I'm pretty sure other would help as well.
Let me know what you think. (No parking tickets though!)

GTXTRA wrote:

jxp wrote:Stick in mate. Maybe the next north east meet will be at your barn......

Great minds think alike!

ianaudia4 wrote:Paul, I am back home in the north east over the weekend of the 14th - 17th April ...

Nice one Ian. PM on its way!