Saving a MK1 Octavia VRS Police Car, FJ54 WYP

[a1topdog]

Let me introduce you to my project, hopefully you find it interesting.

 

It's a ex Leicestershire Police MK1 VRS, 160k miles and a total shed! (Don't be fooled by the photos of the outside, they make it look much better then it is).

 

I've been looking on and off for the last 10 years for one of these, from the time the early ones first started to be retired from service. My plan was always to preserve one in its original police spec, and that's what I hope to do with this. 

 

My plans are to get this back to a decent useable car first, while researching it's police history. I'd like to be able to use it without fear of catching the plague from its disgusting interior. I need to strip this out to dry it out as it's got the usual soggy footwell. 

 

I'll try to keep this thread up-to-date but it will be a slow process as I don't get much free time to work on the car.

 

Anyway, enough waffle, here's a few pics of the car in service and also what it looks like now.

 

If anyone happens to have any pics of the car either in service or when it was retired or knows the car and can share any history on it that would be appreciated.

 

Credit for the in service photos goes to their owners on Flickr and Facebook

 

 

 

 

Edited 1 March, 2021 by a1topdog

[Adamskii]

Police had good taste in cars back in the days! Awesome project good luck

[J.R.]

Anyone giving a MK1 the love it needs to keep it on the road whether it be a 90hp SDi or a VRS gets my vote and admiration

[VRS_White_Hatch]

So come on then, spill the beans .... Do the Police chip 'em or what? 

[a1topdog]

5 minutes ago, VRS_White_Hatch said:

So come on then, spill the beans .... Do the Police chip 'em or what? 

I don't know for sure, but I don't think so. I can't check my cars ECU as it had already been remapped by a previous owner.

[Dean]

15 hours ago, VRS_White_Hatch said:

So come on then, spill the beans .... Do the Police chip 'em or what? 

None of the production models were remapped as they all come from the same factory. They simply got the machines to paint them white without too much interruption to the production line once offered to the Police. If all the forces got their orders in on time they would get a white one, but it was only a very short run as far as I'm aware. The Police will never have a car modified (remapped) due to insurance and safety to which they would be liable.

 

Looking forward to the progress!

[Westbury63]

Great to see the photos of the car in service. Looking forward to following the thread!

 

17 hours ago, J.R. said:

Anyone giving a MK1 the love it needs to keep it on the road whether it be a 90hp SDi or a VRS gets my vote and admiration

 

Agreed 101%.

[skinnyman]

As J.R said, it's great to see someone willing to look after a Mk1.  I'll be following this thread with interest and am keen to see what you do with the car.

[mdk1]

Watching with interest.

[kentdale]

Brings back fond memories of our new mk1 elagance pd 130.

Looking forward to seeing what you do with it.

[a1topdog]

On 01/03/2021 at 22:56, VRS_White_Hatch said:

So come on then, spill the beans .... Do the Police chip 'em or what? 

I don't know for sure, but I don't think so. I can't check my cars ECU as it had already been remapped by a previous owner.

[a1topdog]

Started the interior decontamination today. Seats out and scrubbed, then removed the carpet and underlay as damp. I will look for replacements so didnt bother cleaning them. 

 

The seats not in great condition, but I will look at getting them repaired later. 

 

I have a better steering wheel so will swap it, but look at the dirt on the old one 🤮

 

Some before shots

 

 

 

Edited 7 March, 2021 by a1topdog

[a1topdog]

[a1topdog]

These runner covers give you an idea of the filth.

 

I always use a bit of gaffer tape to remove the plastic bungs over the screws

[a1topdog]

Damp underlay

[a1topdog]

Looking cleaner. Luckily the floors not rusty

[a1topdog]

As if I didn't have enough to do I discovered the handbrake cable guides have been butchered, leaving rough edges and snagging the cables.

 

I'll have to change both guides. 

[a1topdog]

Carpet shot, heal pad worn out, so will source a better example.

 

Cant believe how heavy the underlay is, it must weight 20kgs

[a1topdog]

I'm busy researching the cars police history and have been liaising with some officers who remember these from new. They have been invaluable in advising me what equipment it was fitted with.

 

An example of this was a mag light and charger in the passenger footwell. I have found the original mounting point and sourced the correct light and charger. 

[a1topdog]

Another mystery was the glovebox. It's covered in what looks like yellow paint. I was going to change it, but then one of the officers informed me that it was caused by the yellow road marker crayon/ chalk that they use when investigating a road incident. So I will leave it as part of the cars history.

[a1topdog]

Just for reference this is what the cable guides should look like

 

 

[a1topdog]

Picture of the cars calibrated Speedo, only found fitted on the police cars.

[Westbury63]

Excellent posts, thank you. The floor of your Octi looks factory fresh, amazing.

 

Really like the Police detais you're including, very interesting.

 

Great idea keeping the glovebox chalk marks, although not sure I could stop myself from cleaning them up!

[VRS_White_Hatch]

On 07/03/2021 at 19:03, a1topdog said:

Carpet shot, heal pad worn out, so will source a better example.

 

Cant believe how heavy the underlay is, it must weight 20kgs

That's 10kg of underlay, and 10kg's of filth.

 

Great thread. The seats clean up really well. 

[a1topdog]

One of the many little jobs to sort on the car was the drivers door handle. Sometimes it wouldn't spring back into the closed position. I decided to take the whole handle mechanism out to investigate. 

 

The door glass has to be removed first so that you can remove the inside part of the handle mechanism.  Next I popped off the two grommets in the side of the door to get to the screws olding in the door lock and retaining ring.  These do not need to be remove completely, just wound back a bit.

 

With the lock removed pull the handle open and make a note of the cable position and pop it off. 

 

 

Edited 26 March, 2021 by a1topdog