Mercury Grey MK1 VTS Restoration - Updated 103/07/16

[willsy]

Great start on the paint mate, that inner boot panel will be a big improvement when you get round to doing that one too.

[nuttysaxo]

Nice work on the paint work mate , I really need to pull my finger out to finish my saxo .

[Jigs2895]

Got the interior back together yesterday, and it's smelling and looking a lot better in there now! Gutted I couldn't finish the floor painting but it's something I can complete another day.



Next I made a start on the horrible smelly and mouldy interior, it's been sat in damp conditions for 3 years. Luckily enough my mother is a clean freak and owns a wet vac so I put that to work on the interior and it's bought it up like brand new.

Before



After



Smells amazing now also, gave all the seats the same treatment, safe to say they needed the deep clean..



Next I turned my attention to putting the engine bay back together. And happened to notice someone's bodge.. self tapper and silicone in the bleed hole.



Plastic thermostat housing was also cracked and the rubber gaskets all just fell apart, so that's all been removed and will be replaced with new ones sometime this week.





I've got a new steering wheel on its way to me and I'm on the hunt for a standard radio. Once I've sorted the thermostat housing issue I can then get the engine back together, seal up the cam covers and get some coolent into the system and bleed it once I've swapped over the thermostat housing for one that actually has a bleed screw!

[lincolndanny]

Can't tell you just how jealous I am of this car, looks a great project to be getting stuck into! Good look with tracking down an age correct cassette player, too me well over a year to track one down for my '98 GTI!!



Whats next on the agenda?

[Gandi699]

that thermostat and housinbg looks bad, how people can let their engines get in that kind of state from neglect I'll never know

[phil10]

Love the colour of this! Shame they didn't do it on the mk2. Great project and good work

[Jigs2895]

Finished cleaning up the cam ladders this evening, a tedious job, but much happier now its all done and done properly.



Sourced a replacement thermostat housing, swapped over the sensors and cleaned it up.



New plastic housing.



Bought this after loads of recommendations from people for sealing up the cam covers (even new gaskets on the JP4 covers still leaked) and the thermostat housing.



Can't say I'm a massive fan, stupid tube split within seconds of use.



New thermostat went in before I sealed it all up.



Whipped the old plugs out, they didn't look to happy.



New plugs went in.



Lastly I popped the new air filter into the airbox.



I've often had troubles sealing up cam covers. I've gone for a different approach this time though, i've applied the sealant and done the bolts finger tight, and i'm leaving it over night to cure and I will tighten the bolts up in the morning when the gasket it set. Hopefully that will stop the leaks.

No pictures of the covers and new housing on the car as I lost the daylight so I will update with more pictures tomorrow evening.

[lincolndanny]

Thats the same stuff I used on my GTI mate and I also did the leave it over night jobby. Went to the sad lengths of torquing them up to the pitful specified torque as well!

BUT not a single leak 7 months later and it's my daily!

Where was this car advertised by the way as I cant seem to find any mk1 VTS anywhere!

[jpsaxo]

Should always do sealant up in 3 stages when you want it to seal something. Otherwise you just end up squashing the sealant out and making a mess.

Apply, put cam covers on and do up slightly, after 10mins tighten each bolt abit, then leave for 10mins, then do a final screw tighten. Leaving overnight is probably too long before tightening

[Jigs2895]

Originally Posted by jpsaxo

Should always do sealant up in 3 stages when you want it to seal something. Otherwise you just end up squashing the sealant out and making a mess.

Apply, put cam covers on and do up slightly, after 10mins tighten each bolt abit, then leave for 10mins, then do a final screw tighten. Leaving overnight is probably too long before tightening

I will see how the method I have used goes when I run it to MOT. If it leaks out I will give the above method a go!

[Jigs2895]

Dropped the front nearside arch into the paint shop yesterday, that should be back next week sometime in Mercury Grey.



New jubilee clips on the water hoses.



Now the water system is all connected back up again, all thats left is to bleed it and run it up to temperature and check for leaks.

However before I do that I'm going to do an oil change (hopefully this evening) and get some fresh fuel in it. 3 year old stagnant oil and petrol isn't ideal.

But the engine bay is getting there, can't put the airbox in till i've bled the water system unfortunately.



On the hunt for a manifold heat shield but struggling to find one at the moment.

[lincolndanny]

Quality as always mate!

[Jigs2895]

Got cracking with the oil change this evening, same as any other oil change, definitely needed it though...



Noticed the dipstick was missing its O ring.



Quickly solved the problem.



New genuine battery clamp.



Removed the stickers off the battery and gave it a clean up and popped it into the bay ready for its first start up since it got trailered to my house..



Next on the list was to top it up with fresh coolant and bleed the system.



Got the coolant in, first turn of the key and it started straight up and sounds very healthy! Gave the system a quick bleed and got the water circulating around the new matrix, no leaks! And heaters blowing nice and hot.

So before I got to excited I decided to do a quick block test, last thing I wanted is to have done all that work and find out the head gasket was gone and blow the new matrix!

Happy to report its all good! (previous owner had the head gasket done about 50k ago anyhow but I wanted to be sure)



More good news is that the cam covers have sealed up wonderfully, not a leak in sight!

Got the airbox in and sorted out the JP4 breather system so its all connected up and the bay is starting to look half presentable compared to when I first saw it!

Before:



Now:



Whats left:

Run it up to temperature to check the fans work
New Discs and pads all round
Wet vac the front seats
Fit standard steering wheel
Fit new gear knob and hazard switch
Fit new standard rear badges
Wire in the Hawk central locking fob
Check check all the bulbs

>> MOT <<

After MOT I have loads of other bits such as cambelt and water pump, paint the engine bay, fresh gearbox oil etc etc.... but thats all to come after I have a years ticket, so everything now is working towards that.

[lincolndanny]

Right thats it Im selling my GTI and getting an early VTS.......

[Jigs2895]

Originally Posted by lincolndanny

Right thats it Im selling my GTI and getting an early VTS.......

There is a MK1 Mercury grey VTS for sale in the for sale section! PM Dan subtle if you can see it!

[lincolndanny]

Originally Posted by Jigs2895

There is a MK1 Mercury grey VTS for sale in the for sale section! PM Dan subtle if you can see it!

I know mate but need to sell one before a VTS can show up! Gutted as that MK1 looks a perfect project to get stuck into

[Jigs2895]

Got my front arch back from the paint shop, they have done an amazing job on it, very pleased.







Ordering some new clips and leaving the paint to harden over the next week then i'll pop it on.

Got fed up of looking at the rusty poverty spec backbox.



Got a new one.



However whilst I was having a nose underneath I realised I had missed a bit of rot on the boot....



Looks worse than it is, its on the tube section by the tow hook, its not bent, it just looks that way because of the rot. I then gave it a good poke to see how bad it really is.



Thats the full extent of it. So i'll grind it all back and get it sorted. Whilst I was in the mood for poking holes I decided to take a look at a bit of rust on the front nearside chassis leg. Peeled back the underseal to find some surface rust, and one tiny hole after I gave it a good poke with the screwdriver.



Again, the lot will get ground down and treated and welded where necessary.

Bit of a set back but its my own fault for not looking as closely to begin with.

Anyway, will be fitting the brakes at the weekend so made a start at tarting up a spare set of rear carriers I had lying around.





More updates at the weekend once I have done the brakes.

[lincolndanny]

What's happening with the scratch on the rear kit mate?

[Jigs2895]

Going to to get that and the rear bumper re-sprayed after MOT.

[lincolndanny]

Ahhhh spot on