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

[Jigs2895]

This has been smashing the daily life. Had no issues except myself abusing it.

Took a few hours today to spend some time on it, I've cleaned it out inside and given the engine bay a sprouse.





Saxo tinkering!!



Also got the central locking fully working now and changed both door locks so they work off one key. Finally I can lock the car!!

Also stripped down the centre console as all the bulbs has gone out. All stripped down, just need to replace the bulbs tomorrow and put it back together.





Hopefully if the weather holds out I'll get this washed, polished and waxed tomorrow. It needs it!!

Maybe some welding on the Mauritius blue project in the garage too.

[Ben_SaxoForte]

Very tidy mk1! noticed you have the powerflex wishbone bushes would you say they are worth the money as I know the rear ones are a bit steep? considering buying some for my rebuild this year

[Jigs2895]

Still cracking away at this one. Covered nearly 5,000 miles with it now, but it's not been without its problems.

Anyway.

First of all, I purchased a brand new Saxsport.



On the car:



Again doesn't follow suit with the 'originality' of the rest of the car but it's easily removed and fairly subtle like the cams.

Next it was into the workshop for a new alternator. The only part I bought second hand when I rebuilt the engine and it's the only part to fail! Serves me right!



Old one off:



All back together with no squeaks!!



Next it was due a detail. So outside for a wash and clay.

Dirty girl.



Washed and Clayed.



Back into the workshop for a polish, sealant and wax.





4 hours later...













Took the old girl for a well deserved country side drive!







Who doesn't look when you drive past!



A few weeks later the water system started to pressurise, classic head gasket symptoms, however I tracked it down to a stuck thermostat.



All changed and running perfectly again.

Next was something I wanted to do for a long long time! New rear badges!!







Sorry for the poor picture it was getting dark, but makes a massive difference!!



And this weekend I made a visit to be local scrapyard to get a few other bits I've wanted for a while.

Excuse the mess in the boot, but rear light has been missing since I bought the car.



Replacement.



It's really the little things.



Also had a stupid bee sting aerial since I bought it.



Managed to find the Citroen Sport Aerial it would have come out the factory with!



Much better!



And I finally got round to fitting my standard radio!!!



Absolutely love the standard retro look!

Managed to hunt down a few manuals.







So there is a months progress.

I have a bonnet sound deadening ready to be fitted. I also have the B pillar vinyl strips ready to be stuck on. Ah, and a passengers foglight!

I'm on the look out for a wiper motor set up, and hope to get some paintwork done over the next few weeks as the front and rear bumpers are looking tatty.

[saxokid100]

Done realy nice job here..

[Johnjourno]

Love this thread! Restores my faith in my new found project!

[Jigs2895]

Few updates for you all.

I managed to get hold of a fairly decent MK1 under bonnet sound deadening.





Fitted, and what a difference it makes!



Danny informed me that my 'clear' side repeaters were incorrect and that I should infact have orange side repeaters, so I sourced a pair of those.



Cleaned them up.



Period look!



Changed just in time.



Next I moved onto a job I have been meaning to do since I bought the car... Remove, clean and re-apply the VT kit.











Into the conservatory.... Cleaned up the panels and tiger sealed all the brackets on and replaced all the clips with genuine Citroen clips.



Bit of light reading!



A nice frosty day the next day for re-applying the kit!



All back together and a wash!



Next I sorted a rear wiper motor, wiper arm and a new Bosch blade. Just need to find a wiper arm nut cover now.



Then I ordered some genuine door pins and made a start sorting this mess out!





Greased up the new pins heavily.



Much better.



Same procedure the other side.





Then the old girl lost an eye.



Picked up a good replacement.



Finally found a standard rocker breather hose.



Much better.



And finally, a few months ago I bought what i thought was a 'genuine' washer bottle cap, when it arrived it was clear it wasn't, finally got round to ordering a genuine one from Citroen. Much better, as you can see the colour was completely wrong, new one also has the Citroen logo on.



More updates to come over the next few weeks!

[nuttysaxo]

Great job on this .
I have been thinking for quite awhile now to replace my front end on my phase 2 Saxo for phase 1 , not sure if I should just sell up and find a phase 1 instead , the only thing stopping me is the shell is in decent condition and the car is reliable .

[bender]

Jigs that is mint mate! My phase 1 is coming along pretty good just sorting the rust at the minute, gonna hassle you for some part numbers soon if that's alrite!

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[griff_106]

Absolutely love this car... and the thread for that matter! Must be the first time anyone has gone back to the original orange side repeaters - I wouldn't have known they weren't original though tbf!

Probably a bit of a strange one but do you get much attention from people with comments on how clean the car is at all? You'll obviously get the anti-boy racer brigade with a modified Saxo/106, but just wondered because there are so few originals left it attracts any attention?

[BUMMERS]

Originally Posted by nuttysaxo

Great job on this .
I have been thinking for quite awhile now to replace my front end on my phase 2 Saxo for phase 1 , not sure if I should just sell up and find a phase 1 instead , the only thing stopping me is the shell is in decent condition and the car is reliable .

My advice would be to stick with what you know! If the car you have is decent and working then personally I'd just swap the cosmetics over rather than gamble with a phase 1 which might have hidden gremlins to sort out.

[Brettles1986]

Out of interest where are you finding these oem parts?

I am taking my saxo off the road at the end of the month and I want restore it over a period of time.

[nuttysaxo]

Originally Posted by BUMMERS

My advice would be to stick with what you know! If the car you have is decent and working then personally I'd just swap the cosmetics over rather than gamble with a phase 1 which might have hidden gremlins to sort out.

Yes mate that is what I have been thinking , car is solid underneath arches etc , hammerite has saved it ! , I will have to start a new thread as I am thread jacking this one ! lol

[HeZ]

Top attention to detail a real beauty to revive!

[Jigs2895]

Sorry for the late update, I have been busy cracking away.

Got a fresh cambelt kit a few weeks ago, as I realised after the 'timing pin drama' I had when I first turned the key, that I only replaced the belt, I didn't replace any of the idlers or tensioners, so it got its 3rd cambelt in 5,000 miles.



Next I thought it was about time I had the offside rear quarter, and front and rear bumpers sorted out, its been the cars let down since the day I got it:



Into the spray booth:



To say I am happy with the job done would be a massive understatement!! Looks ace!



Had the rest of the car mopped and polished. Its really coming together now!





Fresh paint









I also purchased and fitted black vinyl weather strips. Much better!



Interior is still nice and standard (except the snap on seat cover).



As I said the car is really getting there now, all that is really left is to refurbish the rear suspension, I did the front when I rebuilt the engine, so now its time for the rear.

Ive been holding parts over the last few weeks, plan is to build the beam up fully and run new brake lines, obviously the boot floor and rear arches will get painted at the same time, aiming to fit it all at the end of the month. Just need to get some bits over to the powder coaters this week.



IM axle refurbished beam
Powerflex bushes
New rear hubs
New rear brake hoses
New handbrake cables
New ABS sensors
New rear discs and pads inc fitting kit

Few bits still yet to come but it should look brilliant.

[Ben_SaxoForte]

Looks awesome, liking all the work you have put into this. Nice to see another saxo being saved do you mind me asking how much the respray was? sorry to be cheeky lol

[shell-vt]

great thread

[Jigs2895]

Got the beam rebuild done about 3 weeks ago now, sorry for the late update.

Began by doing the usual bits, exhaust off, disconnect brake lines etc...



And it was beamless:



Which left me with 20 years worth of rot and grime to sort out.



2 hours into the 4 hour grinding and cleaning session...



Finally got it into etch primer.







With that done I stripped the old beam of parts that I couldn't buy new and sent them off to the powdercoaters.



Made up some new brake lines for the beam.



Touched up the paint and lacquered the new beam.



With the parts ready to go I slowly began bolting everything together....























And I got the bits on I wanted on before I bolted it up, the rest of the beam was built on the car... ready to go on.



Next I turned my attention to the floor pan, it was looking tired so I decided to grind it back and re-underseal it.



A very messy and shit job...

But well worth the result!



Ran the new brake lines and it looked great!



Next I got the top coat and lacquer on the boot floor, that came up great too.







With that all done it was time to bolt the beam onto the car without scratching the beam or the boot floor....



Job done, no scratches either.



Finished building up the beam on the car, powder coated disc guards.



New handbrake cables.



New genuine ABS sensors.



Pads in and brake lines connected, it was all looking rather snazzy.







Treated the saxsport to a polish and some polybush mounts.





And finally it looked just how I wanted it to look, well worth every penny and hour spent on it!!



The car is no longer my daily so it will see a garage for most of the week and maybe a occasional drive out on a sunny day, but my plan is to now tidy up the little bits and bobs to make it perfect and enjoy it for what it is now.

That being said I managed to get the front fogs working.. finally!! Tracked it down to a broken wire between the stalk and chassis plug!



Next updates will be pre FCS prep!

See you all there!

[nuttysaxo]

Nice work there , when are you making a start on the blue VTS ?

[Jigs2895]

Originally Posted by nuttysaxo

Nice work there , when are you making a start on the blue VTS ?

I'm breaking it at the moment, the rear arches are absolutely rotten, as are the sills and chassis rails.

[nuttysaxo]

Originally Posted by Jigs2895

I'm breaking it at the moment, the rear arches are absolutely rotten, as are the sills and chassis rails.

Shame that mate but atleast you can salvage a few parts off it for your one , interior trim parts is what I would keep hold of as these bits become more scarce over the years .