Marcus' 99 Mk1 VTR Project Log - New engine mounts?

[Marcus000]

Okay guys, got a 99 plate Mk1 VTR here!

Bought it off eBay knowing it needed work doing to it & picked it up at the weekend.

First thing I did was give it a much needed service.

Engine Oil
Gearbox Oil
Fuel Filter
Oil Filter
Rad Coolant
Spark Plugs
Alternator Belt


Body / Electrics Repairs
Front Headlight Bulbs - Osram Night Breakers off eBay - Done
Rear Brake & Fog bulbs - Done
NS Head Light - Done
Driver Side Mirror - Done
Sunroof - Done
PAS Pump - Done

To Do List

Refurb the VTR alloys Vapor Blasting / Powder Coating - Done
K&N Apollo Induction Kit - Done
Lower it 30mm
Change the dash LED's / Bulbs to some blue ones
Brake Discs & Pads along with Exact brake hoses - Done
Full body respray, Suzuki Swift Sky Blue
Will strip it down fully to an empy shell unlike it's previous owners and do a proper job of it.

ICE
Replace the standard door speakers with something that has a little more grunt.

Will get pictures up in a moment, gonna reserve the first coouple of posts.

[Marcus000]

The "Before" shots

Here's how it looked when we picked it up at the weekend





Quick trip to Halfords to grab the essentials needed to make the 3 hour drive home! lol...



Back at home on the drive way after we'd started stripping it down.

[Marcus000]

Parts & Mods

Exact Brake Hoses - Blue







Modding the front grill
Took a dremel to some of the front slats & then made a start rubbing it down with wet/dry.
Will finish the other side later today.




Ripping out the interior panels / door cards etc.

[Marcus000]

The Target

Here's a photoshop showing how the end result "should" look.

.

[Marcus000]

Okay guys, have finished uploading pictures for the moment.

Couple of questions for you now.

1) I read that the dash lights are bulbs rather than LED's, can I just solder some 12v LED's in their place instead?

2) Whats the best induction kit for the VTR? The K&N one?

Think thats all for the moment.

[carl]

1) Would think so but not sure have to ask a hardcore saxer
2) most people go for the raceland induction kit's good price too

[Marcus000]

I'm not too keen on the Raceland kit, seems odd to use a cone filter when the Saxo has such a good intake just above the rad.

I'm leaning towards the K&N Apollo Closed Filter and keeping the cold intake pipe at the front.

http://www.knfilters.com/universal/apollo.htm

[Rossi86]

should look good, i like it

[Marcus000]

Started stripping it back to bare metal this morning, will throw some zinc primer on it when i'm finished to stop it from rusting whilst it's exposed to the elements.

This is gonna take hours...and hours....and hours, needs doing though, the yellow is bloody aweful!

[Rossi86]

i want to de-badge my car!!

[Marcus000]

hehe, i'm thinking about leaving the rear badges off and just putting some chevrons on there instead, will try pick some up cheap in the FS section.

Just started stripping the side skirts, will get pictures up later on this afternoon.

[Marcus000]

Sanded the paint back to bare plastic on one of the skirts...long way to go yet though.





Also finished de-slatting the front grill, not sure if I should take out the remaining bits or not though.





Will crack on with modding the front bumper tomorrow so that it looks like this picture below.
It'll be backed with hex / diamond mesh at a later date.



Stay tuned!

[tomgarrett]

why are respraying it!!! i think a yellow vt looks brilliant

[Marcus000]

Because who ever sprayed it before me did the worst job in the world...didn't take any of the panels off the car to do it and didn't even prime it right.

That's why i'm having to cut the paint right back!

The pics make the paint look better than it is in real life.

[Marcus000]

Installed the new power steering pump earlier, no problems there thank god!

Removed the bracket that holds the fluid reservoir / fill tank for the PAS pump, it was rusted to hell so gave it a good clean up and it'll get powder coated next week.

Before:




After:



Removed the door cards to re-trim them





Need to order the new toggle switches for the electric windows before trimming them.

Also made a start on sanding the front arch panels, took the yellow off and also wirebrushed all the brackets on the back to clean off the rust then threw some primer on to keep them from rusting again.




Will get those panels finished tomorrow...unless the missus intervenes!

[Saxo--VTR]

Looks like a good plan! Alot of work, but i think it will turn out very nice!

[jdizzy]

wow uve cracked on with this matey lol

lokking good

[Rob-6]

looks good lot of work to do though. has the car always been yellow?

[Marcus000]

Originally Posted by jdizzy

wow uve cracked on with this matey lol
lokking good

Aye, aiming to get it totally finished by my 21st in August so canny afford to mess about with it.

Originally Posted by robvts20

looks good lot of work to do though. has the car always been yellow?

Na, it was white previously although I think some of the VT kit was off a green car at some point.

Went and picked up a fresh sunroof / seals from Andy_K earlier today, cheers fella, lifesaver!

Got back and ripped the old one out, fairly simple job, about 20 screws to drop it.





These bits are part of the sunroof construction, gonna clean them and powder coat them satin black this week, keep the rust away.




New sunroof dropped in and taped over whilst I get the bits back from the powder coaters.
Will clean it all up and sand it before screwing the new one down.




Will crack on with the front grill & body work tomorrow.

[pablo7uk]

nice car and in a rare colour too!!