Wolf in Sheeps Clothing

[brianmac]

Hello to Everybody,
Just new to the forum.  I have a one owner (my father bought the vehicle new in 1988) Polo Coupe 1.0L, Mars Red with a genuine 68k miles which has been sitting in my garage for the past 16 - 17 years and I would like to convert to a G40 or similar. The inside is like new and I would like to keep  the vehicle as close to original as possible - 'wolf in sheeps clothing'.   Advice/suggestions please.
Many Thanks

Brian

[z3i]

Dont do it! its too original and lovely!

[scotsjohn]

Agree. Why spoil a minter, especially when you can pick up a decent G for the sort of money you'd spend on the conversion.

[jez1272gt]

I have to agree with these two chaps. If it is mint condition and been kept true for this long it would be a shame to spoil it. Scotsjohn is right, for the money you will spend on a conversion you may as well just buy one outright!

[brianmac]

Thanks for the replies.  Guess I will just keep it original and maybe keep an eye out for something with a bit more poke - GTI Golf !!!

[hayesey]

Well I'm going to disagree and say do what you want with it

mk2 G40 conversions are awesome and if it's dead clean and good condition then sounds a good car to use. 

It's a fairly common conversion main issues that are unique to the mk2 rather than doing the conversion in a mk3 are:

- you'll need to swap all the fuel lines for ones from a mk3 capable of supporting the fuel pressure needed for an injection engine.  You'll also either need to swap the tank or block off the old supply and return pipes from the bottom of the mk2 tank.  You'll need to wire in and mount the mk3 fuel pumps too.  Both the in-tank one which is easy enough to fit, just remove the tank level sensor from the mk2 and fit a mk3 combined lift pump and level sensor unit.  Then the in-line pump too which goes underneath the car behind the offside rear wheel - the mk2 should have the mounts for it though.

- you'll need to fit g40 or better brakes.  Mk2 polos don't have servo assisted brakes so you'll either need a strong leg or fit a servo.  Theres a few ways of doing it - weld in part of the mk3 bulk head so you can just fit a mk3 servo.  Use a remote servo kit, similar to a mk1 golf.  Make some other servo fit somehow - there were some kits made years ago to allow fitting of a metro servo to a mk2 polo.

- space at the front end is pretty tight.  You'll need to cut a bit out of the front slam panel to get the charger to fit.  Space will be tight for the intercooler too.  Most others have fitted a thin front mount cooler.

[SamG40]

I was wanting to reshell my GT conversion into a Mk2 but I struggled to find anything decent. Some people might argue that if its clean and original then keep it that way but for a conversion like that you are making life easier for yourself by starting off with something clean and solid. That way you arent putting time effort and money into bringing a basket case up to scratch first. Although you do have to think about the issues Hayesey has mentioned. It has been done before though and there are at least two people on here who have done it.

The only thing I would say is that you will probably want to change the wheels and suspension too so that they can cope with the power and also maybe put some more supportive seats in. Its quite easy to start getting away from the 'original' base you started from. If you do it well though it should look even better.

[dekerf1996]

I would convert it, am currently doing the same!!!

TBH as an original its not going to command much money (actually i have seen people asking unrealistic figures for mk2 recently) and its something that you can work on, tinker and enjoy

It just finding some of the mk2 bits a bit harder

FOr mine i have a mk2 G40 intercooler set up and all the pipework and a slam panel cut out. Both not at all needed but i think makes things easier. You could also get the front spoiler if you wished.

Germany is a good place to look for these parts, although they come up here occasionally, and i though Luke had a front spoiler for sale

[Alex]

I agree, do what you want with it. Sounds like a good base to me.

Even mint condition Mk2 Polos aren't desirable classics, unfortunately. If it was a Mk1 Golf in that condition I'd say it'd be half worth restoring, but there just isn't the same demand for a Polo. It's not like some low mileage barn find E-Type Jag or something which is a bit of a museum piece.

From that point of view, you're not messing with a car which is worth a fortune now but won't be if you change bits. You could wind up with a rusty snotter instead, and spend a fortune restoring it to get it back to a standard where it's worthy of a conversion. I know which I'd rather do.

[DaBigGinger]

Don't forget to grab the G40 rear axle if you can. I know they have an anti-roll bar built in and I'm not sure what difference they make on their own - I fitted mine at the same time as a whole load of other stuff.

In addition to the other stuff people have mentioned, the rev counter won't work without a bit of tinkering. I can't remember exactly what I did to get mine going... it was about 9 years since my conversion. I think Mark Hunter (confusionhunter) may have given me advice on how to get it working. From what I vaguely remember, you need to run a pair of wires from the terminals on the top of the coil to the rev counter. You also need to disasemble the speedo and remove the L shapped circuit from behind it, otherwise the rev counter keeps setting off the oil pressure light and buzzer. This means you won't have any kind of oil pressure warning, but I've just fitted an aftermarket setup now.

As for the servo, I've got a Lockheed remote servo - I've seen these kicking around on eBay for around £150 new. It needs a bit of creative thinking to get it working properly. It went straight over my head... I ended up getting someone to fit it for me.

Stich weld the chassis leg whilst the engine is out. A few people have mentioned to me in the past that the Mk2's were better built and hopefully shouldn't need it doing. I noticed a split starting to develop where the chassis leg runs through the bulkhead which needed a bit of attention about 7 years ago. It's been solid since then

If you've got any questions, give me a shout and I'll try my best to help.

Pic below - you can see where I've cut the slam panel to make a removable section for when I need to get the 'charger out. You can also see the servo at the back of the engine bay on the nearside.