Hi Guys,
Had this beaut tucked away for a few years now. Thought it about time I got a thread going. I've been doing a few bits to it; as and when I've had a chance.
So it was one of those cars I never set out to buy (the best ones never are right!?). I was in the process of trying to save up to buy my (now) wife an engagement ring. One of those moments; having a leisurely paid poo at work. Quick browse on the internet. The beast that is Facebook (no longer a user) led me to this particular steed. I'd seen a guy advertising this car along with a VR6 mk2 golf on a local "dubs" page a few weeks before; perhaps a month. I'd instantly dismissed any interest, like a good chap keeping the bigger priorities in mind. I'd said to myself "that won't stay long". Well here I was again, looking at the same car, several weeks later and it was still for sale.. locally!
My curiosity got the better of me. So a break-time phone call later and the guy was telling me he still had it, it was completely original and it sounded like he had a car problem (who doesn't!) and needed it gone. Talked about his bottom price and convinced myself it was worth it.
Now I didn't have the cash for the car and I'd bought a bit of a dogged mk2 golf diesel a week or so before. Telling my girlfriend it would be a "good runaround". So like all sensible people I got on with some scheming. I'd basically decided I'd buy it on a credit card using PayPal, stump the fee and suck up the interest until i'd shifted the golf and got some cash together. So a lunch-time phone call to confirm, a call to the insurers and I set about the afternoon's interrupted messaging to the better half, persuading her that I was making a good decision. She was sceptical; unsurprisingly!
So we set off after work on a winter's evening and travelled around 30 miles south discussing how this really wasn't the best time to be buying a car (in the dark) and hoping it wasn't a complete dog. On arrival at the sellers house he informed us it was at his unit. Things were looking up. We followed him up to a farm we'd driven past, which I'd said to my GF; "you never know, it could be up there". We were right. After moving a BMW 740 AC Schnitzer out of the way, I was passed a torch and the Polo was lowered on the two post lift for inspection. Needn't have worried about viewing it in the dark. The seller was a nice guy who restored cars for a living; mostly Aston Martins. AC TIG welding was his forte.
After inspecting the chassis; it was clear to see the structural stuff that mattered was in good order for it's age. All the running gear was completely original and looked as tired as you might expect for 150k miles which showed on the clock. The body work was not perfect, with scabs on a few of the panels a small amount on the lower rear quarter panels and a bit around the windscreen. All in all though it was a good car and true to the sellers word it was completely original with 2 former keepers on the logbook. It was also black and had no sunroof
. After some negotiating the seller could see I knew these cars and wanted it, so it was then the act of convincing him to take payment with PayPal. After some reassurance regarding fees, a ride behind the 740 and some internetting; we had ourselves the new keepers slip and an original unmodified G40.
I used the car for a couple of thousand miles, in that time changing the usual tired parts with genuine where possible: Coil, Dizzy, Leads, Lamda sensor, Bosch W5 DP0 Plugs to name a few. I then started investing in a few longer term parts as it rode like shit, but pulled really strong. So the money pit started.. Koni dampers, original springs from classic parts, MLR braided brake lines, new drums, cylinders, shoes, bushes, new TCA's from classic parts, new in-line and lift pumps.. the list goes on. Things got shelved when we bought a house, I saved up for an engagement ring and got married. I'd made her wait a bit longer... but I made it right in the end.
So here we are and on we go..
