Gem - Tonys Cabby - oops she broke...... :(

[insomaniac45]

Ladies and gentlemen, i introduce to you. 




GEM.  



she is a 99 2.0, with 65000 on the clock. i pick her up tomorrow. 

Looks wise she is a beauty, a few minor items need addressing, then she will be a stunner  

I will update with more pics when i pick her up tomorrow #cantwait 


Tony.

[Eeyore]

noice!

[Xsikid]

Looks a beaut bud bet you can't wait keep the updates coming

[insomaniac45]

Oh they will be coming bud, , tomorrow cannot come quick enough lol.

just want to get it home, and give it a really good detailing,

just needs some new rims i think so i might have to pop over to you at some point soon fella lol.



Plans for the future -

nice set of alloys, a bloody good clean and polish, clear indicators, tinted rear lenses and a little lower. Maybe tints as well. not sure on that yet.

[Mattcheese31]

Nice colour, why GEM doe?

[Toms306]

Generic Electronic Module?

I never noticed the rear windows stay up with the roof down, surely they drop down as well?

Looks nice though! Cabbies have grown on me tbh!

[puggered]

Love Egyptian red cabs.
nice pickup Tony.

[insomaniac45]

@ Matt - 2 reasons but the one i can give is she is a little Gem lol.
the other will remain a mystery lol.


@Tom, the rear windows are on a separate switch, as they are classed as the rear passenger window,

@Puggered, thats one of the reasons i really like her, something about that color just makes her look so nice.

[insomaniac45]

She is home

So, a few things noticed on the way home, and confirmed by Johhny (thanks bud )

Engine mounts are gone, Syncro into 3rd is gone, Airbag light is on, drivers rear window need replacing as it is stiff, drivers seat belt needs sorting as it sticks, cigarette lighter does not work, clock does not work, but other than that, she is pretty tidy

Pulls exceptionally well, firm to drive, no vibrations and stops pretty good too.

So from what i can tell from her, she was a summer car. Meaning she was not used in the wet, and only brought out during the good weather.


Here she is on the drive







The rear window ---------




YES ITS CLEAR!!!!!!!! lol.

so, i checked out the multi relay




and replaced it with one of my spares

the cigarette lighter......



the one from my old cabby, was different, so i had to tranplant the socket too, but that now works as described

The clock, was a doddle, simple take out, and put in.




Plans for tomorrow are

Interior out
Leathers in

Rear drivers window swap,
Seat belt swap,
lower engine mount out, and replaced with one on old cabby, as it is a polybush.
Top engine mount swap,
wishbone swap, (they are 6 months old)

and if i get time, give it a bloody good cleaning


One thing i did notice on her, is that i do in fact have the GTI6 radiator, i know this, because it has the pipe on the expansion bottle capped off

I am really happy with her, and think the leathers going in will make a huge difference, plus it might get rid of the airbag light fault.


Tony.
More tomorrow.

[Xsikid]

Crikey bud your going to be busy today! She does look lush thou and when your ready come get the gearbox

[Poodle]

Love that colour! Great to hear you're sticking with the cabbies, look forward to seeing this one at a meet in the not-to-distant future.

[Matt]

Love it mate, best colour for a cabbie imo

Will be cracking once you've sorted the niggles

[insomaniac45]

Alot done today, and still tons left to do....

Still to pull the mounts out of the old blue one, and the wishbones, which means i am yet to get those bits off for you Dee....

But alas, in an attempt to sort out the airbag light (it is not the airbag light, but the one next to it) i did this......................





i have also, changed the right handle for the roof, as the security clip was missing,

and alot of other little things, i believe the interior is sorted apart from that blasted light.................



I am taking a little break, so i can put the kiddies to bed, then it will be back on the job, blue one first, wishbones off, bottom engine mount off, top engine mount off, clips for the clutch cable off,

then depending on the time, it will all go on to Gem, apart from the clutch cable clips

More to come soon.

Tony.



Did i mention that the roof actually works................Not even had the mod on it, so that will be done at some point lol.

[insomaniac45]

Quite a bit done again today

While the daughters car was recieving its MOT, my car decided to photobomb it  



While up on the ramps, johnny went through it, pointing out a few things that needed doing for the test, and a few things to watchout for. 

So i got home, and subsequently started stripping the old girl a little more.. She is looking more like a skip now... lol. 

But now, we have all the bits off that people have asked for, and a few more i can hopefully pass on the help fund Gems restoration. 





the parts bin :



and a few cleaned up bits ready to fit to Gem tomorrow 



all about 6 months old. (apart from the top mount) which is only going on until i can fund a vibratechnics or similar. The bottom is polybush, but also need to do the gearbox one too, but that will be done when i change the box over, i will order a new one for that, as the one on the donor is knackered too. 

So, no real progress on Gem, apart from Johnny "Fixing" my SRS light fault  cheers bud. 


Tony.


addition,

bought/ordered new top and gearbox mounts today, so they should be here wednesday. Which gives me time to fit the lower engine mount, passenger wishbone, detail the interior, and start on the paintwork.

When she will then hopefully be MOT ready for either wednesday afternoon, or Thursday morning Lots of work to do to get her looking pristine.

[insomaniac45]

So bottom engine mount done - found a new tool for the job A hole saw.... Use that to cut out the middle of the old stock mount, leaving you to just cut the old outer case in half and it just taps out. What was an hours job for me, only took 1/2 hour. Now I have a nice firm polybush lower.
The passenger side wishbone has also been done . Just waiting on the other 2 mounts to come in the post now

So I might get chance to start cleaning the interior, make her all nice and clean again

[Magenta Sunset]

looking good

[insomaniac45]

Thanks Magenta a labour of love,


todays weather sucks....... so clean inside, wash the door jams, wipe round doors, wash all plastics,
Then when dry, treat the dash with dash cleaner, wipe seats down with instant valet, and give it all a bloody good hoover.....





the drivers bolster is still damaged, but i will be getting this repaired in the near future.





I know the fake walnut dash is not to everyones taste, but i think it looks better than the standard silver esp with the leather interior.

Tomorrows list.

- remove front bumper
- remove front tow eye (bent over)
- fix front grille,
- fix/change passenger side fog light
- prep for towing strap to replace towing eye
- put bumper back on
- upper engine mount change
- gearbox mount change

and if i have time, wash, t-cut and wax the paint

[Xsikid]

Looking forward to good news on the mot tomoz bud , great project btw

[insomaniac45]

Cheers bud

been a busy few days, but i think we are there.

Todays list has been completed. All bar the towing strap, as i was lucky enough to be able to straighten it enough to be useable again, so no chavvy tow strap for her lol.

Before -



After



had to replace both the fogs, as both had mounts broken, so they are now phase 3 spots
the grille was not too bad to fix, but of plastic welding and looks ok again,

Top engine mount had not arrived today so i put the one from the blue cabby in, its not great, but it is better than what was in there. It how has a firm engine lol.

oh, and she was given a wash.



hopefully tomorrow, on the way home from the mot station, i will stop by halfrauds and pick up some soft top conditioner, t-cut, polish and scratch paint. then it will be time to make her really shine

Tony.

[insomaniac45]

Ok, so she passed with almost flying colors after my fopar/fopars.

had to change the indicators back, as i fogot to put in the orange bulbs,
forgot to tighten the pinch bolt on the N/S/F wishbone,

but the O/S/F caliper was binding, all got sorted

2 advisories, but those really are minor, 1 is for the rear tyre perished, and the other is for 1 handbrake cable outer casing perished.


Time to make her shine

[Xsikid]

KaaaaaaBOOOOOOOOOM bud

[insomaniac45]

cheers bud

I stopped by halfrauds, and got some Soft top conditioner, so the top got a really good wash and re-condition. So she should stop absorbing the water now lol. Not that it leaked, but hey its all about prevention :p

more pics to come when i have given her a ruddy good polishing

[insomaniac45]

not much done since the MOT, been enjoying the sunshine lol.

I have started on the bodywork, she will require a full spray at somepoint in the near future, but being as i will never be able to afford it, i will do it myself

going to buy a budget tent, as it will most likley only be used in the spring/summer for spraying, plus a compressor kit. that allone is about £200 so i will start saving my pennies lol


This is how she is looking now.




yes, she is sporting a nice little black bra... mostly to cover the stone chips on the bonnet.

but that will not stop me trying to keep her looking great until i can actually afford a re-spray

[insomaniac45]

After a good days work me an jim finally got the replacement box out and into the boot of the cabby

few more bits to do, on the list to make her mint mechanically, but we are 1 big step closer with the replacement box, which means i wont have to rev match to use 3rd.


We also put some nice rims on her, i know they are not to everyones liking, buti think they look sweet, and different





the tyres on there really grip well, had a bit of fun through the twisties on the way back to the motorway ha ha. tons of grip in them.

[Xsikid]

Happy days bud they cleaned up well and I thought that when I bought the 6 but they suit it mate looking good, the xsi is looking bare now lol

[insomaniac45]

lol. and it still has a few bits left to come off lol.

next will be brakes   and exhaust manifold   she will be 1/4 GTi6 

[Mattcheese31]

I think the wheels look excellent! Suit it perfectly mate

[insomaniac45]

Cheers Matt

The rear still needs to be dropped, as I believe the front is running VTS shocks, this will be done soon and help level the car out.

[insomaniac45]

Before








After

[insomaniac45]

She is now sporting nice new top mounts and drop links

My word what a difference they have made. The old top mounts were fooked beyond belief, the mount was pitted and the race had so much play in it.

The passenger side drop link was not even tight ffs... But alas they are all sorted now, and thanks to Xsikid for lending me his spring compressors