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

[willsy]

Gotta be happy with that, very minimal list (and mostly easy to sort & minimal cost) to sort. Hopefully flies through that retest then :-)

Quick manifold question: is that a brand new one? If not have you had the original blasted? What is it coated in?

[Jigs2895]

Originally Posted by willsy

Gotta be happy with that, very minimal list (and mostly easy to sort & minimal cost) to sort. Hopefully flies through that retest then :-)

Quick manifold question: is that a brand new one? If not have you had the original blasted? What is it coated in?

I actually spent an hour or so giving it a good wire brush and sand down myself. And then I put some high temp Matt black paint on it. It came up really really well but I used good paint not the cheap stuff.

Think it's a few pages back the before and after pictures.

[Jigs2895]

This has now got 12 months MOT with 1 advisory for a worn rack which I will get round to sorting.

All that's left before I use it daily is to swap the lower engine mount for a standard one, change the top engine mount buffer and fit some new door locks.

Hopefully I'll get those bits done tomorrow then it's going to a massive clean on Sunday and out for a nice first proper drive Sunday afternoon, might treat the Mrs to some afternoon pub grub!

[Titu]

Nice, looks good

[Jigs2895]

So my tax started today and I have been driving this around all day.

After an hour of driving a few niggles started to show. First off the indicator relay was ticking away constantly, I replaced the relay which didn't help, so had to be the indicator stalk, luckily I had one spare so I swapped that over quickly.

Next to cause me a problem was the top heater matrix hose, it started leaking and the pipe was perished, again luckily Citroen had a brand new one on the shelf and they allowed me to buy it even on a Sunday so I swapped that over also.

Next on the list of things to do was give it a good detail, a horrible foggy day isn't the best for polishing but hey ho.

Covered in polish:



Washed, clayed and polished, just need to get some wax on it during the week:




Gave the engine a quick go over, still need to polish up the rocker covers and fit my manifold heatshield, but I'm happy enough for a daily.



Again, my plan was to get some really good pictures today but I just didn't get round to it.

I also made a quick trip to halfords and picked myself up a cheap stereo until I find a standard head unit.

The last problem to solve is the heater blower no longer working!!

I'll do my best to get some decent pictures this week, but it does go very well!!

[lincolndanny]

WELL DONE!

it's starting to look special now mate, don't get rid of it like your last ones! Get some miles on it and enjoy it before you do the next bits

[Mickswan]

Love it, didn't take you long to have a nice motor from what it was. Working in a garage helps though.

[djx11b]

Very clean looks great hope to get mine to this standard one day in the future.

[willsy]

Great job on getting it back on the road both so quickly, and without compromising on the standard of restoration.

Sure you'll find plenty of bits to tweak and perfect, but being able to use and enjoy it will be great.

[Brettles1986]

Looks really nice that!

Are you planning on keeping it oem or is it being modded at all?

[Mickswan]

The lunatics decided to get engaged! That's the end of this thread...

[Jigs2895]

Originally Posted by Mickswan

The lunatics decided to get engaged! That's the end of this thread...

As above.

Moving out and getting engaged with the Mrs has put a holt on this.

I have infact put 400 miles on it and it's utterly fun to drive around in.

I have a recon steering rack ready to go on and I'm building a set of wishbones up that are all polybushed with new ball joints and powder coated.

Eventually I want to get the right wheels back on it with some fresh rubber.

But it's a pretty quick little car and I'm enjoying it.

[Jigs2895]

I been doing a fair amount on this on the quiet.

After the first few days of driving it daily the heater blower motor decided to seize up, great considering the cold weather just started.

Got a £20 replacement off eBay and swapped it over.



The only advisory on the MOT was the steering rack being worn. Of which is is.... Badly. So ordered a replacement of eBay.



I'm going to clean it up and fit it on Friday hopefully.

Also got a pair of wishbones from blackie. They are undergoing a referb ready Friday, I've got a pair of ball joints and some powerflex bushes, including there new ones they released not so long ago.





Hopefully I'll have some fresh rubber for the VTR wheels I referbished.

Also another little surprise I have on order which I'll update in a few days time.....

[Jigs2895]

Spent last night stripping the wishbones down, safe to say I will never do that again! Nightmare!

Action shot of burning out the bushes:



Loaded in the car ready for powder coating tomorrow, they will be gloss black to match the struts and the rest of the suspension:



Probably get those back in a week or so, then they will get the new ball joints pressed in and some nice new polybushes.

Also received another nice package today....



Brand new 743's. I know it doesn't keep with the 'standard' theme I have done with the rest of the car, but it is a daily so I have to have a bit of fun, and its easily removed if I wanted to return back to standard.

Hopefully fit these tomorrow along with the steering rack.

Opinions welcome!

[Jigs2895]

Spent my birthday (Saturday) last week tinkering with the Saxo before going to see Clarkson, May and Hammond (Previously known as Top Gear) live in the O2!..

Anyway, managed to get a fair wack of work done.

Stripped the standard cams out the head ready for the 743's.





After cleaning up the old sealant of the head and ladders it was time for the new cams to go in.





I let the fresh sealant set for half an hour and then tightened everything down.



Although I've only done 1,000 miles since the rebuild the engine got treated to a fresh oil change. (mainly to clear out any swarf or sealant etc..)



And I popped a fresh cambelt on, mad after only 1,000 miles I know. But the belt costs me pennies being trade and as some of you may know earlier on in the thread I had accidentally left the timing pins in and the belt was spinning on the crank... well I have no idea what kind of stress that had put on the belt so I thought its better to be safe than sorry.



With the cams all done and sorted, I decided to compliment the new cams but in a desecrate way to keep with the 'standard OEM' theme. So a decat pipe went on...



And I also had a few troubles with the engine holding back when its cold... only thing I haven't really changed was the fuel filter, so.. old one off.



And the new one on.



And i'm happy to report it seems to have sorted the issue!

Bought some tailored matts for under a tenner, can't complain!



------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This week I received back the wishbones from the powdercoaters.



So I began building the wishbones back up. New ball joints pressed in.





And centre and rear wishbone mounts polybushed! This evening I whipped off the old wishbones (which are polybushed and have spot solid rear mounts)



However my suspicions where correct and the spoox mounts have worn away and had a fair amount of play in both wishbones.. that explains the poor handling!!

Popped the new wishbones on and they look very nice indeed, whilst the car was on the ramp I thought its about time to change the wheels...



So got 4 brand new Uniroyal Rainsport 3 for the VTR wheels I referbed (original wheels for 1997 VTS) and popped them on.





Excuse the massive arch gap, the suspension hadn't settled but its looking much much better on the right wheels!



On the drive home this evening the car feels a million dollars! The steering is lovely and tight, the tyres are superb and grip fantastically and the cams pull much harder through the rev range.

Overall I am very happy with the car. And its really feeling like something special now, i'm happy I've been able to do a few cheeky upgrades whilst leaving the car looking completely standard to the untrained eye!

Still need to change the rack over and have the tracking done, thats the plan for next week.

[McAndy]

Bloody good job dude. Looks absolute mint!

[Jigs2895]

Last week I managed to get the rack swapped over.

Pain in the ass job that I never want to do again!

Quick mid action shot:



Old rack off:



Got the new rack on and bled up the power steering and put some fresh fluid in.

Unfortunately the collars on the wishbones had worn resulting in the new ball joints popping out.... thankfully held in with the pinch bolt!!

So had to whip the wishbones back off, push the ball joints back in and blob some weld round them to keep them in, after changing the bushes and having the arms powder coated I didn't fancy buying new arms.



Probably the only garaged saxo in the country!



On Saturday I decided to give it a quick once over with the bucket and sponge, seeing as I haven't done it in a while!

Washed off:



And a quick polish (nothing special, needs another full detail and a proper coat of wax, might do it boxing day)





I do have a set of standard rear badges and powder coated rear wiper and wiper motor to go on when I have the time.







Referbished wheels are looking good, and the new Uniroyal Rainsport tyres handle great.



Interior is still nice and standard. I have a standard radio to go in, but might just pop it in for shows etc..





For the moment is driving faultlessly, one of the best driving saxos I have had... to be fair it should be the amount of work its had!

Next up over the next year will be a new rear axle and brake lines, and to get the boot floor and rear arches undersealed and painted, brake servo and power steering pump bracket powder coated and maybe get it mapped to help the cams out a bit.

[willsy]

Looking absolutely fantastic there :-)

[nuttysaxo]

Top job on that mate

[m11kvy]

Hats off to you mate it's great to see another saxo being given another life.. Brill