Did you paint the wheels black... or are they just dirty?Cpt Custom wrote:Hi Folks
Let me introduce you all to 'Poppy'.
For those of you who've not come across my "newbie" post, Poppy is a much-loved 1987 D Reg 1.6 Volkswagen Scirocco GT Coupe who sadly has seen better days. We bought her way back in 1992 when she had less than 50,000 miles on the clock. We have now owned her for nearly 18 years and only put her into storage in 2004 when we could no longer afford to run two cars.
At that time she was taxed and had a valid MOT, but now she has a SORN in place. Our intention was always to have her restored, but I'm afraid that having had her assessed recently by our local independent VW specialist (ADP in Starbeck) and with a limited budget available to us we had begun to think that for us at least restoring her wasn’t viable.
I say that because despite having been a car fanatic for many years, I’ve never gained any mechanical skills. I am a total novice and so to restore her properly I would need to get much of the work done professionally. And given that with any such project labour forms such a large part of it I thought I was finally going to have to let her go.
However, despite putting her onto eBay to try and find her a new home, we have not been able to bring ourselves to part with her. Instead, we’ve decided to keep her and I’m going to sell my 2009 Mazda 3 Sport, which is the only car I’ve had from new, to finance Poppy’s rebuild/restoration. After we’ve cleared off the outstanding finance the intention is that what’s left will be for the 'Poppy Fund'.
My relatives all think I’m totally mad, which is always possible, but I’m hoping to find some kindred spirits within this site that might even be able to help me deal with what lies ahead. Speaking of kindred spirits, I’d like to say a big thank you to the guys who've already gone out their way to welcome me onto the forum and to offer some initial advice.
Externally the body is generally in reasonable condition though the paintwork is scratched and the bonnet needs replacing. The GT body kit is undamaged, but needs some restorative work doing to bring it back up. Internally, she is also still in reasonable condition for a 23 year-old car with almost 200,000 miles on the clock.
Her main problems lie underneath where much work will be required. Initial inspection by ADP suggests that she’ll need: 2 front springs; welding to the back suspension; fuel lines; lower suspension arms; welding to the offside rear inner wheel arch; and the clutch appears to be on its way out. In addition, she would need servicing and possibly a new cambelt fitting. All that before I even consider what I’d like to alter or update.
So, she is indeed a poorly old girl, but like I've said we are serious about getting her back on the road. We want to do her properly and the intention is that she’ll become my daily driver as she was throughout the late Eighties and Nineties. To achieve that I’m thinking we need to:
• Make her sound: by getting all the crap and rust cut away underneath and any necessary panels repaired and/or replaced so as to provide a sound platform upon which to justify spending more money.
• Make her safe: by getting all the mechanical faults identified in the pre-MOT check sorted.
• Make her reliable: by getting the engine and running gear looked at - not sure yet whether to just patch up the engine as is or look at a rebuild.
• Make her pretty: by sorting out the bodywork, replacing the bonnet etc and getting her re-sprayed.
• Make her comfortable: by sorting out the interior - new seats etc.
Having said all that, this will be our first ever restoration project so progress may be slow. In which case please be kind with your comments - I’ll need all the encouragement I can get.
By the way, if you want to see what Poppy looked like in her prime and more importantly what she’s like now, please check out the following sets on Flickr:
How she used to be
How she is now
Least you have a good soundish car with potential and history. The end result will be even more satisfying
