1988 Mk2 G40 #017 from the factory

[amill]

Hey everyone, just confirmed that i will be getting my first G40 in ten days time.

Returning to polos after a few years break. I'm based near Annecy in France but i'm originally from the UK.

This is my 3rd polo, after a 1.0l 1994 fox which was my first car and a mk5 GTI as my second (both in the UK).

I have a 2009 Transporter T5 174bhp as my everyday vehicle.

Hope nobody minds me joining here, theres no club in France!

Info on the G40:

1988 Mk2 G40 black, number 17 of a 500 car run that they made in France.

I don't know whether they did the same in Germany, but i believe the G40 was released first in France, thus it could be the seventeenth production G40..?

It's in a relatvely good shape for a car that is 24 years old, but will require a fair bit of cosmetic work (rust and paint).

Plan is to completly restore the car back to its original splendeur and stick in on some coilovers and a pair of BBS splits in the end.

External restauration is first; then the engine; then the interior.




More photos all the way through the restauration to follow...

[breadman]

Hi and welcome.
Mk2 Polo's are my favourite of all, and a G40 is excellent.
I'm definately with you on the restoring it to its original condition. Gotta be done IMO.
Keep us posted with plenty of pics along the way.
Cheers,
Richard.

[eppo]

Welcome Amill!! You have there a nice MKII g40, vw only made 500 in Germany, not in France..or anyplace

good luck with this project, you are lucky of have one g40 of the firth generation

If you want, you can join G-Lader club Portugal, i,m the site admn  

cheers André

[hayesey]

welcome to the forum. 

As Eppo says, I thought they only ever made 500 mk2 G40s anywhere not just for France.  So it's 17 of 500 made anywhere!  I bet there can't be more than a couple of hundred left on roads now.

Definitely worth restoring

[SamG40]

Welcome and please keep us informed of your progress. Lovely cars Mk2 G's.

[Justin14100]

I think the limited run of 500 was the 'GT-G40' then they did another 1500 'G40' Mk2s didn't they? I may be very wrong!

[eppo]

you maybe be right Justin!! I made a research, and i found this in G-Lader.Info:

http://www.g-lader.info/fahrzeuge_vwpolo.htm

http://www.g-lader.info/fahrzeuge_vwpolo_vwpologtg40.htm

here is some of the text in Inglish:

By introducing the first G40 began the success story of the G-Lader. The first edition of the Polo GT G40 included 500 vehicles and sold almost entirely on working families.

Known, in addition to a single source of pre-press or models with red-black interior trim and "GT G40-words" and another 500 black GT G40, which were exported to France. After the black 500 series in Germany in 1988 a second series was built, the tornado mostly in colors, helios blue metallic been ordered and alpine white.

A comprehensive buying advice for polo G40 GT appeared in the ODLDTIMER MARKET 04/2010.

[norfolkvw]

i thought 500 mk2 for germany and 500 for germany

[amill]

ok thanks for the info, ive been doing a fair bit of reading up on it all, cant wait until pay day so i can get started on the restauration, it seems like a long road ahead! 

[randombadger69]

Nice find. Wish we drove left hook!

There is quite an active polo scene in france. From what iv seen some very high quality cars too!

Check out www.polo-land.fr

[amill]

First things first, got the car, its in the garage!

Few things to rectify first off, the 'Controle Technique' (MOT) in france has to be done in order to put the registration documents into my name (i have a month max.). The previous owner put it through yesterday but it failed on the handbrake and a couple of bulbs...

Just ordered some new EBC pads for the front and rear along with replacement drums.

I'll check out the slave cylinders and cable on the way.

A few things will need to be sorted straight away as my plans have changed interms of the restauration:

I now plan on fixing up the engine so that i can enjoy driving the car in the alps this summer, i will attack the body work over the winter.

There is a bit of leakage from the head, i have planned to get the RS1 kit from maxrpm.de, it includes a 68mm pulley, Asymetric Schmitt camshaft, a tuning chip, Hydraulic tappets, Cylinder-head bolts (kit), Motorsport throttle valve, Bosch Spark plugs W4DPO and a Cylinderhead gasket-kit incl. metal cylinder-head gasket.

In terms of other things i will be replacing, the fuel filter (motorsport one also from maxrpm), panel air filter, oil filter and a rebuilt charger (sending the uprated mk3 charger to them aswell).

Am i obliged to get the head skimmed if changing the head gasket (i know its recommended)?

What are the other things that i should replace whilst the engine is in pieces? what belts, bearings and seals should i get as a matter of course??

Their is a bit of leaking from between the engine and gearbox...

Many thanks for your help, i will post some photos this weekend.

[amill]

So work has begun, slowly, as i need to get the G through the MOT asap.

Brakes have been stripped and are on the way to being rebuilt.

Had a chance to look over the car a bit more indepth, a fair bit of rust and things to sort out when the car gets stripped, fixed and painted during the coming winter.

Notable problems include : Exaust rubber bands way to short and fixed in place with a piece of elastic rope (dont know whether the bands come in different sizes?

Starter motor has been playing up, taping it with a piece of wood and hammer works, hopefully its just in need of a clean. (will get it out when i send off the charger and throttle body to RPM in germany).

The rear panel (under the rear bumper) is really rotten and needs replacing.

There is some serious leakage going on from the bottom end / charger side. Needs to be investigated, fingers crossed.

Picked up a G40 badge from vw classic parts .