1998 MK1 VTS OEM Restoration

[lincolndanny]

Time for a new project then folks!

I've been keeping an eye out for a MK1 VTS to restore back to standard for a little while now. They seem to be rather rare these days. Recently a rare Mercury Grey one appeared in the classifieds on here being sold by Dan Subtle. The issue for me was the fact that he is over 200 mile away! So I put the car out of my mind for a while but comments by Dan about it being turned into bean cans soon started playing with my heart!

To cut a long story short, today involved getting up at 5:30am and dragging a car trailer on a 400+ mile round trip to pick the dam thing up! I am absolutely shattered but all that matters is that the car is now safe and sound in my garage!





I've restored quite a few cars over the years but I've never built a 100% OEM concourse car. I've always wanted to know if I have got it in me to be able to do it so here goes! Painted underside, Zinc plated bolts, original tyres, THE LOT!!

Progress will be slow at first as I need to get my MK1 Escort finished over winter but in the meantime I can start to track down all the Genuine Citroen bits that I will need!

Sorry for the quality of the pictures but was getting quite late tonight after I had got home!

Interior is a stripped out mess!









Body needs a lot of work. Body panels, full kit, respray etc. I need to track down all new decals, window rubbers, lights etc as well.













Engine bay is an absolute state! Lots of rust and missing bits!









So there we go, a knackered, 11 owner VTS to restore. A few good points though... I've checked the MOT history and the 92k seems genuine, it has a full matching lock set with 2 keys and a 2 minute scrubbing session revealed..



....that it's got it's original engine still. A matching numbers car

More soon when I recover!

[Dan-Subtlem]

Glad it's gone to a good home, looking forward to seeing what you do with it.

[stevo67]

Good luck with,got more bottle than me.Is the mk1 Escort the mexico Avo?

[lincolndanny]

Always wondered what the yellow numbers referred to(grey is paint code)



Just found this website...

http://www.citroen-ds-id.com/gen/Gen_Organr.html#codes

And apparently the yellow numbers mean that my car was built at the Aulnay sois Bois factory in France on the 16th February 1998

[willsy]

Another one to follow progress of :-)

If you need any help getting hold of new genuine parts Danny then let me know. I can point you In the direction of Craig, my parts guru

[Jigs2895]

Can't wait to see you turn this around.

You've certainly got your work cut out!

[lincolndanny]

Managed to kick things off by obtaining one of the parts that I thought would be really elusive! An original Citroen radio/cassette with it's user manual. Its in great condition with no wear evident. Correct part for my model and year







Weirdly it will probably be one of the last bits that I fit as well!

Just a mini update for now as I've got plenty of bits on their way but couldn't resist posting up about that little find. More parts buying updates soon.

[MaxoVT]

Awesome, looks like quite a task. Good luck

[lincolndanny]

A little chain of events over the last few days has resulted in a slight change of direction with the car and this progress thread. Rest assured the car is still going to be going concours but it's going to take me years to track down all the bits i'll need.

I've been stripping down the donor car each night after work as I really feel like there is one too many cars at home at the moment. The issue with stripping a complete car down is where to put bits!

So I started to put bits straight onto the VTS loosely so they were out of the way but then it hit me. Why not just clean the VTS up and build it up as I take stuff off the donor? Get it in to a tidy condition for now and enjoy it a little. Then once I've got a good stock of the bits I need in a few years, crack on with the concours build!

So the thread will now concentrate on my progress of getting the car back up to scratch as a good condition car and i'll also update it each time I get decent juicy bits for the concours build!

Sound ok?....Good!

So where to start? Well decided to start at the nearside rear.


Dull & coarse paint plus a nice long scratch!
So I stripped out the rear window, light and rubbers. Washed, clayed, G3 to get rid of the scratch(yup, disapeared!)3 coats of SRP and then a coat of sealant.




Then cleaned and refitted the rubbers, light and window.


Very happy with the colour, I really don't know why more people didn't order it when new??!!!??

[lincolndanny]

Next up for attention was a bit of boot love. Typical filth in the hinge area.




Cracked on with cleaning it up, got a good couple of layers of polish on.






The car has previously been used as a track car so the rear wiper had been removed completely along with the 3rd brake light. Not very carefully either....



So replaced that section of loom with the one from the donor car.

Robbed it of the wiper motor and wiper etc as well. Gave the wiper arm a coat of paint and a fresh blade.

More soon

[chinkostu]

beautiful colour.

you've got the right idea though. get it all cushty and straight then concentrate on making it a minter.

it's hard on mine as its a daily driver

[Gandi699]

nice work here, lovely colour this too. The saxo had loads of colours to choose from yet 90% of them are in silver or posi blue, no idea why they were the most chosen ones

[willsy]

Where's todays update? ;-)

[lincolndanny]

Originally Posted by willsy

Where's todays update? ;-)

I wish! Next update will likely be at the weekend now.

Area I want to clean up is the nearside door. Plenty to be on with!

Original electric mirror is scabby and missing it's colour coded cap.



Tasteful() carbon stickers need removing off the door handle and pillar.



Inside of the door needs cleaning out and the foam damp protector is missing.



There's also a bit of cleaning to be done. The car has no arch liners at the front and looks like it's been through a muddy field multiple times.





I've popped the door off to make access nice and easy.







More soon

[stevo67]

Good luck with it mate.

[willsy]

That'll keep you busy for a few hours :-) whilst the doors off do you want/need some new hinge bolts? I think I've got a new set in the garage that you can have

Also found this on eBay
New old stock genuine backbox that might be of interest?

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item...obalID=EBAY-GB

[lincolndanny]

Thanks Matt, funnily enough I've already got some. Doh! Along with a new door check strap, new door vinyls etc. Hence that backbox can wait for this month....

[ash_hart]

Looking nice mate.

[VTR_Craig]

Looking good. I think I have a standard mk2 VTS airbox if you need it

[lincolndanny]

Is there a difference between mk1 and mk2 airboxes Craig?

If not and its got no scuffs then yes I'd be interested!