Polo G40 oddball

[twosmoke300]

Christ ! I hope they did something to the brakes on the bread vans before they put a g40 in them . Got to be some of the worst car brakes I've felt . Esp the non servo ones . They make a Saxo seem like a sharp stopper

[Pillock]

Standard G40 brakes weren't much better, thanks to the famous LHD-RHD conversion involving meccano and crossed fingers. They had bigger, vented discs but still had to fit under 13" wheels so most upgrades were to wheel size first.

 

The G40 is the reason I still brake too early in every car, ever, 12 years after I sold it!

[4wheeledstool]

The standard brakes are indeed truly shite - when I get out of my modern Caddy and in to this, there is a period of adjustment required. This usually starts with a squeaky bum moment at the first junction encountered!

[4wheeledstool]

Been getting a fair bit of use out of this recently - the supercharger is now run in, so it can now be driven as though stolen. The poor grey one hasn't had a look in for a while - I suppose that as I age, noise and speed are less appealing!

 

 

 

Better brakes WOULD be nice though!

[4wheeledstool]

Finally got my blank key cut this week -

 

 

Here ends the possibility of losing the one and only key, and the subsequent ballache of changing all the locks!

[4wheeledstool]

I was recommended this stuff by a friend with really nice plastic pieces on his 205GTI.

 

 

Thought I'd give it a go - I dislike repeatedly cheering up old plastics enough to paint them all body colour on my other one!

 

 

Looks a fair bit "blacker" on the treated part - only time will tell if it lasts though. My mate's Peugeot still looks fine several years after he did his, so fingers crossed!

[Station]

I didn't know how much work had gone into this, looked really nice, thought T plate was a bit late.

[DodgyBastard]

Have a couple of pics!

 

DSC_0375 by srblythe, on Flickr

 

DSC_0366 by srblythe, on Flickr

[4wheeledstool]

Nice one! ^^^

[SambaS]

Stations comment echoes what I wanted to say. Car looked like new. Taa for the ride to town food made me alive again!

[4wheeledstool]

I didn't know how much work had gone into this, looked really nice, thought T plate was a bit late.

 Cheers! Plate gets a few double takes when out and about!

Stations comment echoes what I wanted to say. Car looked like new. Taa for the ride to town food made me alive again!

Thank you kindly! No probs - you looked proper ruined - knowing what that feels like, it was the least I could do!

[Skizzer]

This car looks even better in the metal (and refurbed plastic) than it does in the photos, and that's really saying something.  Am proper jealous!  Really glad you brought it along for perving over.

[4wheeledstool]

This car looks even better in the metal (and refurbed plastic) than it does in the photos, and that's really saying something.  Am proper jealous!  Really glad you brought it along for perving over.

Many thanks! The first owner came from your neck of the woods - it was bought from Corner Park Garage in Swansea, and they lived in Ammanford.

[Skizzer]

Mmm, lots of lovely G40-friendly roads around Ammanford (I came through it on my way home from Devil's Bridge in fact).  Corner Park is still going strong, it's a sort of homebrew local CarCraft next door to what used to be a Ford and then Visteon gearbox plant back in the day.

[4wheeledstool]

Dug this out for the VW show at Tatton Park at the weekend. Gave it a half decent clean just before it went dark -

 

 

Sunday morning, and it absolutely pissed it down for the journey there. This was the first real world test of the repaired battery tray, and I'm pleased to report that my feet remained drier than a ship's biscuit. The sun came out soon enough, and no doubt ripened many pineapples over the rest of the day.

 

[J-Rod]

 Corner Park is still going strong, it's a sort of homebrew local CarCraft next door to what used to be a Ford and then Visteon gearbox plant back in the day.

 

Fun fact - my granddad designed the machine shop for the Ford/Visteon plant. 

 

If it was a Swansea car, it's highly likely I saw it at some point in my youth..! 

 

Really lovely job you've done on it, too. There's something weirdly satisfying about watching a small car like this be restored to former glories, rather than some E-Type/Ferrari, etc.

[4wheeledstool]

Really lovely job you've done on it, too. There's something weirdly satisfying about watching a small car like this be restored to former glories, rather than some E-Type/Ferrari, etc.

Cheers!

 

I always seem to forget what a massive pain in the cock cleaning these wheels is. Fortunately it doesn't happen all that often!

 

[J-Rod]

I can well imagine... toothbrush?! 

 

Someone has actually marketed a 'scrubber' made out of an electric toothbrush. Or you could just, you know, buy a cheap electric toothbrush..! 

[4wheeledstool]

I tried a toothbrush, and it doesn't get into the corners where the "spokes" join the rim

 

Just over a thousand miles since the last test - a poor effort that I'm a little ashamed of!

 

[4wheeledstool]

How's this for a piss poor attempt at a festive car related shot -

 

 

My phone camera seems to be pretty good at making a balls of night time stuff!

[Skizzer]

Just over a thousand miles since the last test - a poor effort that I'm a little ashamed of!

 

Do feel free to sell it to me if you're bored of it!  

[4wheeledstool]

This made an appearance today thanks to a nice dry day - roll on the salt free Summer!

 

 

 

See how bloated the Corsa looks compared to the Polo - a Corsa used to be a small car a few years ago.

[4wheeledstool]

Was just thinking the other day - its about time the oil was changed in this. On arrival at my unit this afternoon, I caught sight of an empty ramp next door! An opportunity like this cannot be wasted - so I quickly got the job done before the chance was gone.

 

 

Had another good look about for any leaks - all is good still!

 

 

One day I'm gonna get me a two poster all to myself

[4wheeledstool]

I think one of the front wheel bearings is starting to grumble - but that can wait for now. Gave it a clean and took some pictures instead!

 

 

 

 

 

No space in my unit to work on this until my current restoration is complete.

[Jifflemon]

Don't know what I'm more jealous of - Your car or your unit!

 

Epic thread!

[4wheeledstool]

Don't know what I'm more jealous of - Your car or your unit!

 

Epic thread!

Cheers! The unit is a bit of a turd to be honest though!

 

High mileage shocker!

 

 

Wonder if I'll crack 100k in it before fossil fuels run out.

[Pillock]

Is the odo in miles or km?

[4wheeledstool]

It's miles - the little gearbox in the cable slows the cable speed before it enters the clocks.

[purplebargeken]

What a nice thing! Much impressed

[4wheeledstool]

Many thanks Ken!

 

Finally got round to wheel bearing replacement last weekend. Because it's only been together for a couple of years (and copper grease was used) it came apart very easily.

 

 

 

New bearing pressed in

 

 

Job done

 

 

Other side still to do!

 

 

The other side isn't noisy, but I like to replace things in pairs.