# Cueball presents.......1998 VW Polo



## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

Hi All....

Well it's coming up for winter again, so that means one thing for me - a winter car! :lol:

This year, there was a couple of things, a) I didn't want to spend my usual amount, b) It had to be red (or even better pink ) and c) it had to be sensible 

So, a few phone calls lead me to this little car, one which was on its way, latterly to the scrap yard...thankfully I managed to catch the owner in time, and made a cheeky offer of £300 which he accepted... tax and tested too - bonus!

Now, in these pics, I have done a little work already, it needed a clutch and exhaust, and I have changed the rear doors for better ones...and it got another MOT and passed...

So, detailing people, I give you my VW "Adolf" Polo 1.4... with alloys! Oooooooh!

Doesn't look that bad, but there is lots of surface rust that ended up stopping my fun, plus there had been a petrol/oil leak in the engine, so it was really dirty and the fumes were still present when warm and trying to gas everyone, hence the Adolf moniker...




































































































So, a little bit of work to be done, plus a full service and seats out wet vac and interior steam clean was on the cards....

After a good rinse down with the PW and 'dirt buster' lance - Onto the snow foam! 



















This was left to dwell for 5 minutes, while I rushed around all the shuts gutters etc with Megs super de greaser and APC using various brushes... The wheels were cleaned using Megs Wheel Brightener, Tardis and IronX, the arches were cleaned in the same way as the door shuts then I used some CG bare bones on them....and finally we were back to another coat of snowfoam before the car was washed with dodo BTBM and the good old 2bm...

After this I moved onto the 3 stage decontamination section - Tardis followed by Iron X (wish I remembered to take a picture of the 'bleeding' on the alloys - wow!) and finally clayed with orange mild clay and poorboys spray and wipe as the lube, the car now looked like this!





































Once the car was dried using Megs last touch and a drying towel, I took some photos of some of the issues waiting me... swirls, more swirls, broken lacquer, and a whole in the passenger seat were all on the list to be fixed! Phew, it was going to be a looong weekend!














































First up, I tried to sort the broken lacquer issue..now normally it's a full respray job, but being a cheap Scotsman I opted for another method... a small bottle of paints4u lacquer, 1 paintbrush, and painted away.... I put a few thin layers of this on the worst areas, which brought the paint level up, plus (I hope) sealed the edges of the broken clear coat.... this was then compounded and refined as normal below.....

I wasn't too worried about all the things still to do; I had lots of nice new toys to play with.... So with this in mind, and remembering this is very much a test car, I started off the correction work with my new 3M rotary polisher, Gloss it wool pads and 3M fast cut polish 

I must say that I didn't like the way the polish dried out so quick, so changed over to the 3M compound pad (green) and this seemed to help a little...

Anyway, this was then refined further with 3M ultrafine using the blue finishing pad....


















































































I also got to tryout this little number, the very first CB RotEx bar....



















**Made in Scotland from girders and hopefully available soon to buy right here on DW**

Anyway, after this was all done, I went over the car with my new ClearKote red moose glaze, then he was given 2 coats of FK1000P (inc the wheels) to see him through winter...

Interior was cleaned with APC and my Vax - 4 full buckets of dirty black water was extracted and as you will see in the photos below, the whole in the passenger's seat was repaired...quick and nasty I must say, but at least your eye is not drawn to it anymore...

All windows were cleaned with Megs window cleaner and 2 coats of rainex applied, rubber seals were treated with Gummi Pledge, tyres dressed with CG tyre gel and CG new car sent was chosen for the newly cleaned interior..

Engine was cleaned top and bottom with Megs super degreaser, P21S and Fabrik Engine Degreaser and various brushes and 303 Aerospace was sprayed on after this and left for a few hours then wiped down...


















































































And the most important addition to the car!!! 










Well I hoped you liked that little tale....The sun had long gone by the time I was finished hence the lack of after shots 

Any comments/advice/suggestions most welcome, as always!.....

:thumb:


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## tom_painter85 (Jul 5, 2007)

Awesome sticker :thumb:

Great little winter runaround, looks really well looked after now too!


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## Eddy (Apr 13, 2008)

Nice work mate, worth a lot more than £300 now I'd imagine :thumb:


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## Igloo (Oct 18, 2009)

The biggest test, Sell it after the winter for a profit


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## Bratwurst (Jan 23, 2009)

Good thorough job captain :thumb:

Good wee buggy for a few hundred bucks. :car:

Your rotary extension thingy looks handy. Maybe not so good for a DA :lol: I'll test it on your Jag if you want, just to see


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## Overdoser (Oct 25, 2010)

Excellent turnaround. I love it when old cars are detailed. Well done mate.


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

Nice work Cuey! The VAG bug will set in soon, then you'll be selling the Jag, dropping in a 1.8T BAM engine, recolthing the interior and fitting Lambo Wheels :lol:

Hope to see it at a few dub shows next year  :thumb:


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## Leodhasach (Sep 15, 2008)

Looks like you had fun, well done! Hope Adolf serves you well over winter :thumb:

Love the sticker :lol:


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## mk2jon (Mar 10, 2009)

Looks good for a 300 squid car on its bottle top wheels :thumb:


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

Cheers everyone....

I think it's a great wee motor for the money, and should serve us well through the winter! :lol:

Oh, and Mat, this is actually my 4th VW.... 3rd polo too... although I usually go for the saloon version :car:

:lol::lol::lol:

:thumb:


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## SubtleAggressiv (Jul 17, 2010)

Great find for £300! Nice work :thumb:


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## Rowan83 (Aug 21, 2007)

Fantastic detail mate, now sell it for £800


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## BDJ (Nov 21, 2009)

I love when someone polishes/restores an older car.
It always looks rewarding! And it's more interesting to read such a thread than other ones!

Hope it's now worth more than £300


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

The Cueball said:


> Cheers everyone....
> 
> I think it's a great wee motor for the money, and should serve us well through the winter! :lol:
> 
> ...


Nice one.... you should really get along to a bud show


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## Baker21 (Aug 7, 2007)

Great detail Cueball on a classic, even better the fact you paid next to nothing for it and I like your thinking for the winter months, I am sure the low powered engine and smaller wheels will be the better option for all the weather we will have, I know I always rob Jule's Saxo for the winter.........:thumb:


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## VIPER (May 30, 2007)

Tell you what matey, that's looking a damn tidy motor after some Cuey magic :buffer: If you don't make a profit on that when you sell I'll wear one of those rotary extensions as a nose ring and you can't hold me to that! :thumb:

Great work!


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## zimzimmer (Apr 13, 2009)

£300????????? What an absolute bargain and a bit of a giggle making it look good again, which, may I say, you have achieved to great effect!!


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

Viper said:


> Tell you what matey, that's looking a damn tidy motor after some Cuey magic :buffer: If you don't make a profit on that when you sell I'll wear one of those rotary extensions as a nose ring and you can't hold me to that! :thumb:
> 
> Great work!


oooh, I didn't see the silver text... I was going to ebay it for a pound! :devil:

:lol:

Cheers!

:thumb:


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## Rgk Detailing (Dec 6, 2006)

Nice tidy up mate!, and a bargain find, should serve you well through another 'EK' winter, a couple years ago I picked up a N reg Escort LX with 80k on the clock for £300 and ended up doubling my money come spring time.

What happened to the Cherokee?.


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## J1ODY A (Nov 28, 2008)

I was wondering where the Jeep went... good work though!


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

Rgk Detailing said:


> Nice tidy up mate!, and a bargain find, should serve you well through another 'EK' winter, a couple years ago I picked up a N reg Escort LX with 80k on the clock for £300 and ended up doubling my money come spring time.
> 
> What happened to the Cherokee?.





J1ODY A said:


> I was wondering where the Jeep went... good work though!


Well played mate...nice little profit there.... :lol:

That is the plan for Adolf too...hopefully sell it in the spring...need to get back into buying, detailing and selling again....been away for a while!

Don't worry guys, the <Grand>  Cherokee is safe and sound, I had rented it out for a few months to a visiting Yank, and in true "I don't care" style it's a bit worse for wear.... look out for it's winter detail soon, needs a service, alloys repainted, glass machined and leather repair....plus some paint and finally a quick polish! :wall::wall::wall:

Adolf is for my 'interior & wheel technician' (recently given a promotion :lolto use during the winter so she doesn't get the FTO wrecked by some numpty sliding on ice, or gets eaten by the grit and salt on these roads....

:thumb:


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## ant_s (Jan 29, 2009)

nice work the Cue, looks like it will serve you well through the winter and save your car getting into any trouble with the ice and grit. Wish i could find me a £300 motor lol.

Plus didn't realise how long you extension was lol (the rotary extension)


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## Idlewillkill (Jun 3, 2009)

Nice work dude, a man after my own heart in saving a VW from the scrappies! :thumb:


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## cotter (Aug 31, 2008)

Bit of an improvement there :thumb:


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## magpieV6 (Jul 29, 2008)

Seems a bargain Cuey, lovely job on HER too


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## OzMoSiS (Jun 19, 2009)

a bit off topic, but have cars got more expensive since I left the UK?


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## -Kev- (Oct 30, 2007)

nice work Cuey, looks miles better now :thumb:


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## Rgk Detailing (Dec 6, 2006)

The Cueball said:


> Well played mate...nice little profit there.... :lol:
> 
> That is the plan for Adolf too...hopefully sell it in the spring...need to get back into buying, detailing and selling again....been away for a while!
> 
> ...


Good stuff didn't think you would get rid of the Jeep that easily

Got the Mondeo tucked away in a warm garage for the winter, since it nearly got driven into on numerous occasions last year!.


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## justina3 (Jan 11, 2008)

top result i have broken a few of them latley if you need any parts give me a shout


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## alan_mcc (Oct 28, 2008)

thats a steal for 300 notes.. :thumb: next time you try FCP add a couple of drops to ultrafina to the pad. makes it a bit more oily and workable.

great work :thumb:


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## caledonia (Sep 13, 2008)

Lovely transformation Big guy.
Glad to see you are still turning them over also.
Will have to find sometime shortly and get the 5 series finished and moved on also.
But thats the problem TIME. :lol:
Gordon.


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

Just thought I would complete the "winter car" thread as he was sold over the weekend....

Some final pictures for you (all taken on the iphone  ):














































Just stuck him up on ebay, over 70 watches, loads of bids and he finally went for £365....

Not bad for a little rusty runabout!

:thumb:


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## alan_mcc (Oct 28, 2008)

apologies for bumping the thread.. but a great writeup that deserves to be read again. 

cueball i can't believe you let it go for £365.. i would've had that off you for more than that!


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## ITHAQVA (Feb 20, 2011)

A real detail, spot on little beastie :thumb:


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## T.D.K (Mar 16, 2011)

Wow - what a turnaround - great work :thumb:

I had one of these Polo's and I HATED it, it was my mums, traded it in for a Rover 25...


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## badman1972 (Jun 24, 2010)

Cracking work mate and a tidy looking little winter hack, well worth a save and looks well now :thumb:


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## SarahAnn (Apr 6, 2011)

I'd like to know more about Cueball's handy tool that we got a peek of


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

SarahAnn said:


> I'd like to know more about Cueball's handy tool that we got a peek of


:lol:

here is a link to the last group buy... I'm in talks to maybe do another one this winter (slow time in my mates work)

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=201875&highlight=rotex

:thumb:


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## Demetrios72 (Jun 27, 2011)

Great work there matey :thumb:


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## TOMMY_RS (Aug 2, 2010)

what is the winter car going to be this year cue ball ?


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## DMH-01 (Mar 29, 2011)

Great work there fella, looked a tidy motor.


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