Polo G40 1,2+3

[sleag40]

Bought my first Polo in the Summer of 2006. I'd driven it before when my brother owned it a couple of years previously so when it came up for sale I had to have it! Mechanically is was pretty standard,the pedal box was broken, all the plastic trims had been removed and it had Max Power 15" wheels, single wiper and a snap off steering wheel. Sourced all side and arch trims, correct steering wheel, pedal box, wiper mechanism and 14" RAs pretty quickly and drove it for a few months. Really pleased with it but wanted better brakes - a 256mm front disc set up was acquired, as well as all the bits needed for a rear disc conversion.
I wanted it to look as good as it drove, so as soon as I got my hands on a new pair of wings it all came apart for a full respray.

[sleag40]

A few months later I decided that more power was needed (Santa Pod's fault). Engine was stripped and the block was bored out to take oversize forged pistons. All bearings and seals were replaced, rotating mass was balanced then re assembled with a freshly ported and polished head. A GT inlet manifold, ceramic coated 4 branch, bigger injectors and one of Jabba's Piper cams went in. PSD toothies, freshly rebuilt to R1 spec Jabba charger, new alternator, oil catch tank and PSD intercooler kit were added, closely followed by a Gripper LSD into the rebuilt gearbox.
This was then carefully run in for a thousand miles before being mapped at Jabba.



An uprated driveshaft was fitted after destroying a couple of standard ones at Santa Pod!

2009 saw the addition of a PPP subframe - totally necessary modification - heartily recommended!



Had a new exhaust system made on the car at JP in Macclesfield the year after. (These guys make the systems for PPP) Modifications now complete - time to enjoy!

[sleag40]

It all went well for a few years until one day in May 2012 when out for a drive. A half asleep woman in a Clio pulled out into my path from a side road without looking. She then stopped, blocking my side of the road. There was no way I could stop in time so I started do steer round - just as she decided to move forwards! I slammed into her offside rear wheel before I could stop. curse word!
The damage doesn't seem too bad until you notice the ripples on the roof and the fact that the door didn't fit the roof line any more - Definitely not repairable!

[MK2VR6]

Gutted. I'd be a little emotional at that point tbh.

[sleag40]

Jan 26, 2015 20:21:44 GMT MK2VR6 said:

Gutted. I'd be a little emotional at that point tbh.

Was mightily cheesed off - but didn't hang about!

Whilst off work with a ruined back and broken toes I trawled the forums for a replacement. Found a complete G40 less engine/gearbox/wiring loom only 20 miles away - it was on my driveway less than a week after the crash. The guy had built a 1.5 Eaton motor but lost interest before running it. The engine and gearbox etc had been sold already but the rest had been hanging around as he didn't want to part the rest out - fortunately for me!



This one came with a single wiper just like the black one did - a good omen?



It needed a replacement sill on the driver side and a small repair was needed in the battery tray but otherwise looked pretty decent.

[skylinedave]

Buying/bought your car as salvage for the engine ?

[sleag40]

Jan 26, 2015 20:55:21 GMT skylinedave said:

Buying/bought your car as salvage for the engine ?

Indeed - all the important stuff was unaffected by the collision. Just the wings,bonnet,bumper and shell were wrecked. Quite lucky (as far as salvage was concerned!)

[sleag40]

The wings were scrapped as soon as the arch trims came off - there wasn't much left of the arches. Fortunately I was able to get some replacements from VW - not cheap though! The drivers side rear arch was perfect, but the passenger side not so! The drivers side rear quarter had been replaced after an accident the previous owner had been involved in.



As mentioned before, the drivers side sill needed work along with the battery tray. The only other spot needing a tickle with the welder was a hole in the drivers side inner front wing which was sorted straight away.

[sleag40]

I wanted to strengthen the chassis on this one after tearing the black one at The Pod. The black one had small cracks where the chassis legs join the bulkhead - also the gearbox mount had torn. Started by stripping all the seam sealer, wax and wibblepoo off the inner wings and chassis legs.





Stitched and braced the passenger side chassis leg, then treated it all to some POR15.

[sleag40]

Engine bay and inner wings + sills were then hit with stone chip paint.







Stone chip in the engine bay seemed a good idea at the time, but now a couple of years later I plan on doing a full tart up of the engine and bay.

[sleag40]

Respray was next on the to do list. Bought some nigh on perfect doors from the local breakers yard thanks to the scrappage scheme, a new unused bumper and a pair of genuine wings from VW. It all went a couple of doors down to my main painter man.









Got there just in time to take a couple of pics before it was primed.

[sleag40]

A couple of weeks later the job was done. The prep guy did his magic in the week then the painter man did hismagic on the weekends. All plastic parts were rubbed smooth and painted too just like the black one - I knew it worked in black but was still not sure if it would work in grey!

Panels and glass were refitted then it was returned for a final polish.







All the plastics were polished by hand then it was ready to go back together again.

[Swisstini]

That looks superb - it´ll be a cracking car once it´s back on the road !

We still have lots of G40´s on the road here in Switzerland as they are cheap to insure for the performance level. Unfortunately, the tighter laws on modifications here mean they all get nasty bodykits and giant stereo installs instead of upgraded suspension, brakes and engine work. It´s really refreshing to see one being sorted just how I would like to do it - top man !

Looking forward to seeing the finished result

[sleag40]

Jan 27, 2015 6:51:19 GMT Swisstini said:

That looks superb - it´ll be a cracking car once it´s back on the road !

We still have lots of G40´s on the road here in Switzerland as they are cheap to insure for the performance level. Unfortunately, the tighter laws on modifications here mean they all get nasty bodykits and giant stereo installs instead of upgraded suspension, brakes and engine work. It´s really refreshing to see one being sorted just how I would like to do it - top man !

Looking forward to seeing the finished result

Cheers - its been back on the road a couple of years now.

[sleag40]

I wanted to use everything mechanical and electrical from the black car but there was a problem - Pillock woman's insurance company had still not been in touch with me. (it was a couple of months since the crash now) As no assessor had been to see the damage yet I had to get an independent assessor to do a valuation. Once this was done I ripped into the wreck to salvage all my Polo goodies!







Left the tailgate on as I had better spare ones, the wings were both damaged as well as the bonnet. The sunroof was left in too as the grey car doesn't have one so I had no need for it!
The remains were weighed in a couple of weeks after its 20th year since registration then I got stuck in to building up the grey one.

[sleag40]

Tank, pump and lines went up first - followed by the rear beam, koni suspension and rear discs. Engine/gearbox + wiring loom next followed by suspension, driveshafts, cooling system, subframe then exhaust. Did all this in a day but didn't have a camera on hand.





Many thanks to the lads next door for the use of their two poster, and to Liam "Bernard Bresslaw" Potts for giving me a hand with bleeding brakes and stuff.

[sleag40]

PSD Intercooler was plumbed in. This had to be straightened, and have a hole repaired where the oil return banjo bolt punctured it in the crash.



Fitted the dash loom plus alarm, central locking and electric window shiz from the black car into this one. Realised that I'd forgotten to drill holes for the wiring in the shell and doors! Somehow I managed to remove the doors, drill the necessary holes then refit the doors whilst threading the wiring through all on my own AND without scratching any paint. Proper contortionist! Wouldn't attempt it again without help.



Tested all electrical stuff once all this stuff was fitted. Thankfully everything worked as it should so I didn't have to take it all out again!

[sleag40]

Fitted freshly polished trim pieces and door fittings etc.





Completed the front end with bumper and foglights - bit of a pain to get the fog light brackets in the right place so that the light lenses sit perfectly central in the holes in the bumpers. Got there in the end!



Starting to look more complete now.

[sleag40]

Back end was completed next - it has to be said that reassembling clean freshly painted parts onto a clean freshly painted car is probably my favourite part of a build!



The number plate lights didn't work very well to start with but I swapped them out with the ones from the black car - pretty lucky that the only things that didn't work were such an easy fix!



Body stuff completed!

[sleag40]

Dash from the black car went in, then the clocks/seats/doorcards/carpets that came with this car went back in.









Needed a good clean, but this interior was in better condition than the one from the black car - probably due to having a lot less mileage on it!