My GTX Project

[Dave_1990]

Hi all!

Im not new to this forum, ever since aquiring a "89" scala for free 3 years ago ive always been on here for tech info and parts and the like. Must say its been a great help being part of it cos of all your scirocco gurus out there! In those 3 years my scala has gone from sitting in my garage because i was only 18 at the time and couldnt afford to insure it, to doing 3 trackdays at donnington, mallory and bedford, and since these days i absolutely love sciroccos! So when i overheard a guy at work saying his friend (a scrap car collector) that hes just picked one up from an "old boy" and was taking it down the scrappy to weigh it in, i was straight on the case to see what the car was like. I wasnt expecting much but what had i got to loose! So this white gtx turned up on the back of a lorry, looking mucky to say the least but actually in really good condition, so without hesistation paid the guy £300 for the car and took it off his hands. Took it home, off the lorry and this is what it looked like...




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I thought pretty darn good for £300!
After some going over, i found the car was actually in incredibly good condition, whoever owned it previous has looked after it really well! The odo shows 220,000 but fired up first time, ran like a beaut, the fan kicked in and everything. Clutch - fine, gearbox - loose but just the linkage im thinking, brakes - spot on. Overall i think a really good buy!

This is going to definatly be a slow work in progress, but im in no rush, just always wanted a nice car to start off with and restore and tinker with, and this looks like a promising start!

So far ive stripped out the interior to look for rust or anything, bumpers off, plates, wheels, bonnet ect ect just to see if theres any hidden rust spots lurking around, and there is actually none, i cant believe ive not found anything yet! Ive took the heat insulation off the underside of the bonnet, paint is slightly chipped so i need to get a paint code and get some rattle cans mixed up, cleaned out all the interior, gave it a darn good wash and hovered everything out. Ill get pictures of everything ive done so far because reading other peoples projects threads is enjoyable for me so i thought id have a go at a resto thread too for other people to enjoy

Ill probably need hints, tips, advice and ideas of what to do for this project, i know its definatly going lower on some wide ass wheels but i dont want to do the "common" things. Things like single headlights and stuff do look really nice, but i want something different but not so it ruins the car. Also i might go for my first engine conversion on this one, so will probably need alot of help with that one! Hopefully try get the car looking mint, completely rust free, protected underneath and on suspension and wheels with everything polybushed by the end of this summer, but thats alot of work from now till then! I should hopefully get some more thorough pictures of the car when i can get it out and not get rained on! Hopefully this weekend.

Thanks for looking, and wish me luck!

[GTXTRA]

a great rescue there dave - white 88 gtx, one of my favourite models.

plan sounds spot on too.

happy to chip in with info as needed.

[Dutch GT]

Well done for rescuing her! Le castelletes look in good nick too.

[Dave_1990]

For anyone thats interested, this is my scala injection i got given for free! Another scrapyard salvage thats done 90k, and now done 3 trackdays and still has nothing wrong with it! Amazing cars! Blasting round a track watching loads of jap stuff break down when i can scream round all day long using half as much fuel and having twice as much fun!





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Thats a front end a made up to help with cooling. Used to run reaaaally close to the 98 degree temprature range, now wont even creep above 88! Got some harnesses, stripped all the interior out, some decent tyres and some koni struts and dampers i also got given for free


By dave_1990 at 2012-05-09

......and thats it, this is my track steed!


By dave_1990 at 2012-05-09

[Dave_1990]

Well done for rescuing her! Le castelletes look in good nick too.

Ive actually got these le castelletes for sale on here if anyones interested?

[Dave_1990]

Going to put some pictures up of the things ive been doing for the week..
First things first, Gave it a good wash and removed the bumpers ect to give a good check over..


By dave_1990 at 2012-05-10

Underneath the back bumper is looking spotless, and from what i can see the bumpers have had a respray, i dont think the rest of the car has been sprayed, but the bumpers look almost too good?? haha Im not gonna complain at the fact its been resprayed cos whoever done it has done a really good job, and theres no rust anywhere!


By dave_1990 at 2012-05-10

Backs looking good..


By dave_1990 at 2012-05-10

So does the front..
Time to get all the sound/heat insulation off the bonnet..
I scraped most of the foam off and left a little bit on, then soaked the whole thing in petrol, then worked it in with a small windscreen scraper, then jetwashed, and 20 minutes later i had this..


By dave_1990 at 2012-05-10

Then it was time to get all the 21 year old gunk out of the engine bay!


By dave_1990 at 2012-05-10

So out came the red diesel and the paint brush, personally the best way other than steam cleaning to get the dirt off. Just literally slap it on, scrub it, leave it overnight, then jetwash it off the next day which will be tomorrow nights job!
Just for now though i washed a side off to see what it would look like..


By dave_1990 at 2012-05-10

Looking tidy

Ive actually decided to keep the engine in this one for the time being. It needs a few things, service, rocker gasket, driveshaft seal, gearbox linkage, brake fluid change and bleed, and a few others, but overall it runs like a dream!

So thats all for now, gonna wash the rest of the grime out of the engine bay tomorrow (rain or shine!) And at some stage try get hold of a proper steam cleaner for the day and blast everything thoroughly! Need to get the sticky off the doors where the side strips went, take the b pillar vinyls off, gonna put all the interior back in after a damn good cleaning, but that needs a hot sunny day! . Then just littles bits and bobs i suppose!

Any feedback or comments are welcome

[thebrief_1979]

looking good - if you want to get into the nooks and crannies use a fence sprayer - fill it up with diesel or cleaner of your choice and spray away - then to rinse use warm soapy water using the fence sprayer again - its a bit more gentle then a pressure washer for the more delicate areas

getting cleaning envy now

[Dave_1990]

So, after a few days of not doing anything with the rocco, i thought i best get cracking and the show season is starting again and would really like to go to a few this year and see all the lovely sciroccos out there! So with a day spare on tuesday i had a go at tackling my grey faded bumpers! Ive heard that using a heat gun then some bumper shine is supposed to do the trick on these, so i cracked on with that, came up really nice half an hour later..



By dave_1990 at 2012-05-30
Little before and after heat treatment..



By dave_1990 at 2012-05-30
Then got them out in the sun and got some bumper shine on them.. RESULT!

But after an hour to let the shine soak in, they went really patchy and just lost shine!
So i remember the can of black spray paint i had..


By dave_1990 at 2012-05-30

By dave_1990 at 2012-05-30
Thats better!
The stuff i used is called rustoleum by hardhat, and i would DEFINATLY recommend this stuff! It will actually stick to anything and will never come off! I didnt even prep those bumpers, just sprayed it straight on and it set like rock 10 minutes later, and will actually last forever! Thought id let you all in on that little secret for anyone else loosing hope with having shiny bumpers! I was so proud of the outcome of them i actually treated myself..


By dave_1990 at 2012-05-30
MMMMmmm porsche goodness!!


By dave_1990 at 2012-05-30
With 25mm adaptors, these are going to be pokey as hell!

So overall not much progress made, but in the coming 2 weeks im going to fully service the engine..
Oil
Filter
Air filter
Plugs
Leads
Coolant flush and fresh stuff
Gearbox Oil change
Pads
Discs
Gearbox linkage bush kit
Alternator belt
Free off drums
Clean calipers and carriers out
Steam clean engine bay
Grease and lubricate everything
Brake bleed with new fluid
anddddd relax! haha
Oh and some tyres for the cookies :)

Will keep everyone posted on my progress, thanks for checking it out, Feedback very welcome!

[Risocco]

Look forward to the tyres being fitted, been curious for a while what Cookie Cutters would look like on a MK2.

Good work so far dude

[Dave_1990]

Cheers mate! Im still undecided on tyre size though, im hearing 165/50/15 is good for a nice amount of stretch, but im not sure if they will look like the tyres are painted on or not! Im definatly going on coilovers with this so it'll be low, but not ridiculous. Dont want big chunky tyres, but dont want silly stretch either, just suttle stretch..
Any tyre size recommendations? they are 15x7's

[shaun_89]

You have a very nice rocco here! Glad to see one being saved rather than suffer at the hands of the scrappage scheme
I love and hate cleaning the engine bay, its hard work but well worth the results.
Cant wait to see the cookies on, i personaly would think 165 would be too stretched, my tyres on my ronals are 185/45/15 to give you an idea of stretch (they are also 15x7)

[Dave_1990]

Well i originally bought these for my polo, but after seeing how much hassle it would be to get them to fit, i figured they would look better on my rocco anyways. So ill probably go for 195/50/15's, think they should do the trick :)
Thanks for the imput anyways!

[parch]

Hey Dave

Nice rocco and some great work.
Theres a site that shows the stretch for different sized wheels and tyres: http://www.tyrestretch.com
There's also a site for comparing your wheel set up with a different one: http://www.willtheyfit.com/
It should be noted that none of these are dvla safety approved but they give you a good idea of how much poke or if the wheels are gonna rub

If you put 195/50R15 on 7"wide wheels you'd get summat like this

[Dave_1990]

Thanks for that parch, just the kinda feedback and help i needed!
Ive decided on 195/45/15 toyo proxes t1-R's, the 195/50/15s look too chunky. gonna have to wait till next month though! Plenty of work left to do in the meantime though!

[andyneedham2]

Bloody good nick that! The track slag looks good fun too! How is your MOT tester man with having no front bumper? I'm reckoning on going the same way with my (to be) track car.

Cheers,

Andy