General Custard: mk1 vRS Octavia Restoration

[nutters_uclan]

Hey all

 

Perhaps restoration is a little bit of a grand title, as I am tidying up, looking after and improving my recently acquired MY52 vRS. I've always wanted one of these badboys in yellow, but also wanted one that gave me a chance to learn more about cars and gain the sense of satisfaction that will (hopefully!) come from fixing one up.

 

A few weeks back, this beaut came on the market - unmodified - and I snapped it up. At just under £1k, it obviously had some issues, but the engine and transmission seemed pretty decent. There's very little history with it, so a thorough service, cam belt change, new water pump and new oil pick up pipe are all happening soon, before I add to the 124,000 miles it's already done. The plan is to keep it as original as possible, but acquire some factory options that were left off (no cruise control!!) and add those as and when money/time allow.

 

 

 

My initial list of things to attend to looks like;

• Rear brake mooring/squealing
• Interior light (driver's side) won’t stay on
• Rust on wings (dirt behind arch cover)
• Bent sills
• Low front bumper kerb scuffs
• Rear bumper scratches from loading (just no respect, is there?  )
• Rusted wishbones (MOT advisory)
• Cam belt and water pump change
• Total service
• Chipped/cracked grill surround
• Starter motor piston shriek
• Boot dent
• Gearbox oil leak?
• Peeling window tint (most windows)
• Tailgate struts (evident leaks, crap performance)
• OSF window clunk/rattle
• Water ingress in boot (both sides)
• Windscreen chips
• Replace knackered aerial
• Clean interior & boot carpet (evidently had previous water issues)
• Replace worn/scuffed/knackered plastics
   

I'll prioritise the bodywork and mechanical stuff (in bold) before shelling out on cosmetic upgrades.

 

I look forward to sharing my progress with you all and learning from those far more accomplished than I when it comes to car mechanics/restoration.

 

Cheers

[nutters_uclan]

Damn water ingress! I knew it was a common fault and so I asked about this when buying the car. The seller wasn't aware of any issues, although the boot liner did indicate this had been a problem before. Then, after a heavy week of rain I was greeted with this.

 

 

Balls. Anyways, I actually have water ingress pooling on both sides of the car in the same place, but because of different types of leaking.

 

It's pooling in these cavities behind the lights;

 

 

The Offside (pictured above) is running in from higher up, along the tailgate itself and behind the plastic speaker/parcel shelf mount. It then drips down when it reaches the lowest point. You can see the drip forming here;

 

 

The nearside issue seems to be clearer; it's the seal around the rear light, from what I can tell. The orange dirty water marks suggest so, but may also indicate this is also occurring (or was a previous issue) on the offside as well. Oh joy! At least it gives me something to do, eh? I'll use the opportunity to take out the boot lining and rear seats to clean them up.

 

 

Any thoughts on this or previous experience with water ingress would be gratefully received

[nutters_uclan]

A sunny day can only mean one thing! Head for the beach? Nah! I took the opportunity to start cleaning the interior. What an exciting life I lead.

 

I didn't think the interior looked too shabby, but the Vax waste water tells another story. A bit dirty, sure, but not this bad!

 

 

 

 

I've still got to do the leather parts of the seats and carpet of the whole car (it's coming out to do that!), but I already managed to extract this...

 

 

Minging! And I think the driver's seat is going to need at least one more attempt at getting it vaguely white.

[Dean]

19 hours ago, nutters_uclan said:

A sunny day can only mean one thing! Head for the beach? Nah! I took the opportunity to start cleaning the interior. What an exciting life I lead.

 

I didn't think the interior looked too shabby, but the Vax waste water tells another story. A bit dirty, sure, but not this bad!

 

 

 

 

I've still got to do the leather parts of the seats and carpet of the whole car (it's coming out to do that!), but I already managed to extract this...

 

 

Minging! And I think the driver's seat is going to need at least one more attempt at getting it vaguely white.

Pretty much the same colour out of my Red one and they were even that dirty! Years and years of grime! 🤢

[nutters_uclan]

49 minutes ago, DeanVRS20VT said:

Pretty much the same colour out of my Red one and they were even that dirty! Years and years of grime! 🤢

 

Sick eh? I've now got the interior carpet and underlay out too. I'm hoping a total clean will really benefit the look and smell of the car!

 

Thankfully, no rust or evident water leaks have ever plagued the cabin/floor. Phew.

 

Any tips on getting vRS white back to it's original best? I'm on my 3rd attempt to clean the driver's seat...still got some stubborn stains in there.

[nutters_uclan]

I'm still working away on the interior.

 

The dirt coming out of these carpets is unreal, but I just can't seem to get the stains out. I've changed their colour (they are now yellow to match the exterior!), but they just won't shift. Admittedly almost all of it will be hidden by a fresh set of mats (£130?! wtf!) but I'll know it's there. I've tried our generic Vax shampoo, then Vanish Gold Upholstery foam, and now No Nosense carpet cleaner from Screwfix. Any tips would be gratefully received!

 

 

I've actually sourced a cheap black carpet from a MK4 Golf and it looks like it's in really good shape. I'm tempted to take the easy way out, here, but I really wanted to keep everything original if possible.

 

Still, the combination of terrible weather and the fact that the entire interior has been ripped out has revealed another (albeit minor) leak in the driver's footwall just by the door. Better to find out now and solve it, before it gets worse and I'm in a damp cabin!

[J.R.]

Biological washing powder, wet the stain, sprinkle it on, work it in with a scrubbing brush then wet n dry vac it out.

 

Other than that I use spot cleaning fluid given to me by a neighbour who is a carpet cleaner, I have a car valeting machine but also a Betterwear carpet cleaning plastic squeezy bottle thing that has a sponge applicator surrounded by brushes, using that works really well on stains followed by either the valeting machine or a wet n dry vacuum.

[nutters_uclan]

Thanks for the input @J.R....I'll give that a go. The stains are getting lighter with each clean, but they may outlive the carpet if I scrub it any more. I've managed to get a mk4 Golf black one for the princely sum of £12 today,s o I had a good backup option if the original continues to frustrate.

 

I've solved the boot water ingress issue on one side (see above pics of dripping on the offside). Turns out it was a hairline crack under the roof plastic trim. I've since sealed it and there's been no water today after some solid rain (no surprise there). The cracks were on both sides, so I've done both to make sure.

 

I've never seen anything like this on one of my cars before.

 

 

 

I wonder what caused it? Most seems to be cracked paint, but at the end of the roof rail trim there's definitely cracks in the metal itself and this was letting water in.

[Paul thornton]

Mine was the same, sealer cracks along the roof join. Common fault I think.

Edited 23 May, 2021 by Paul thornton

[Paul thornton]

I used Dr magic carpet and rug cleaner on my carpet which worked quite well but as you've already got a black carpet and the white one is out I'd just fit the black one and have done with it.

Edited 23 May, 2021 by Paul thornton

[nutters_uclan]

54 minutes ago, Paul thornton said:

Mine was the same, sealer cracks along the roof join. Common fault I think.

Is this a result of undue stress to those areas? I'm thinking excessive body roll, or pressure from a roof rack.

[Paul thornton]

14 minutes ago, nutters_uclan said:

Is this a result of undue stress to those areas? I'm thinking excessive body roll, or pressure from a roof rack.

 

Possibly. Mines had various suspension setups over the years so has always been quite stiff. I presumed that was the cause but its probably just a design flaw.

[nutters_uclan]

On 23/05/2021 at 22:09, Paul thornton said:

 

Possibly. Mines had various suspension setups over the years so has always been quite stiff. I presumed that was the cause but its probably just a design flaw.

 

I had no idea that there were boot braces, as standard, in these things! Mine are missing and lord only knows how long that's been the case. Replacements on their way...

 

[nutters_uclan]

Cambelt day - wish me luck!

 

[skinnyman]

You're braver than me!  I'll be interested to know how you get on as it's something I've yet to tackle as I'd hate to mess it up.

[nutters_uclan]

34 minutes ago, skinnyman said:

You're braver than me!  I'll be interested to know how you get on as it's something I've yet to tackle as I'd hate to mess it up.

I think I may have ballsed it up! 

[Breezy_Pete]

As in "gonna have to start again", or "browsing ebay for secondhand" engines? 

[nutters_uclan]

2 minutes ago, Wino said:

As in "gonna have to start again", or "browsing ebay for secondhand" engines? 

Start again. I'm a tooth out, possibly.

 

I hope it's not caused any damage 😔

[Breezy_Pete]

Fingers crossed here. 

[mac11irl]

🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞

[nutters_uclan]

Everything crossed here too, haha.

 

It'll have to wait until tomorrow, or maybe Friday...I'm goosed doing that in this heat! 

 

Also changed the oil pick up pipe, oil, sparks and oil filter. 

 

It runs smooth for a bit, then the idle seems to alter and go searching, then the power dips right down and it stalls. 

[nutters_uclan]

All sorted now and no discernible problems. Cam belt day turned into cam belt week! 🤣

 

I'm glad I changed the oil pick up pipe, too. I've seen worse, but there was plenty of gunk in there. The pic below was after scraping some of the build up away.

 

The sump benefitted from a thorough clean too.

 

 

[trickstargee]

Great work, looks nice and clean for 19 years!!

[Paul thornton]

What ended up being the issue with the cam belt?

 

I usually just clean the pick up pipe with brake cleaner and refit. No need to replace unless its damaged. 

[nutters_uclan]

5 hours ago, Paul thornton said:

What ended up being the issue with the cam belt?

 

I usually just clean the pick up pipe with brake cleaner and refit. No need to replace unless its damaged. 

 

Funny you should ask, as I think I spoke too soon. Something's up.

 

I'd line it up on the cam shaft and pulley, check it was good, release the tensioner pin, check it was good, rotate the cam shaft twice manually and find it out a tooth. Baffling.

 

I repeated the process and it looked fine the last time. The car started and sounded sweet. I left it for twenty mins ticking over on the drive (to charge the battery, more than anything) and there were no issues.

 

I set off today and 10 mins in the EML turned on. I stopped and it wouldn't restart. I then got the code P0343;

 

Fault
    Control unit: 01 Engine
    Active faults: 0
    Inactive faults: 1
    System description: 1.8L R4/5VT         0002
    Software number: 06A906032HN
    Faults:
        P0343 - Camshaft Pos.Sensor Circ. High Input
            static

    Mileage: 199690 km
    Date: 2021-06-05 18:06

 

Now, I've either disturbed the sensor and it's nothing serious, or I'm a tooth out and the engine is starting to hate me. Understandably so! 

 

I'm about to concede and hand it over to a garage. I think I've bitten off more than I can chew 😔