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JoeyEunos's SDI Beater.


JoeyEunos
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Greetings all, thought it was about time I got a 'members cars' thread started for my little SDI. I picked her up earlier in the week for a fairly reasonable price, she's got 120k on the clock and has FSH and 11 months ticket :)

I'd bought the car in search of the galactic levels of economy the diesel variants are capable of, although so far I seem to have spent most of my time worrying about every gearchange and awaiting iminent peddle box or gearbox failure, lol.  At least the fact that the car was pretty cheap means I can decide to walk away should the worst happen! I hadn't really planned on any modding per se but TBH I always say that ;)

The story starts here...

2wexeu8.jpg

 

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Good luck with your new ride. Red Lupos are the best ;)

Our first Lupo was a red SDi back in 2003. Now have red GTi.

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If you want the galactic levels of economy (I believe I currently lie in second place for the highest fuel economy on club lupo at 79MPG, the record is 81MPG), you need to get into the habit of 'hyper-miling', without doing it dangerously.

Even so, on a bad run I get mid 60's. The SDI will give you many many miles for your buck, with the wonderful levels of reliability.

The gearbox won't fail if you maintain it properly. The pedal box might, but it's cheap to replace and not a huge task. I think Rich said he can do it in about 45 minutes. You're in his part of the world.

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@Dubster Thanks Chap :)

@Skezza I'll have a look into the 'hyper-miling' phenomenon, thank you Sir :D For some reason I don't seem to get the option to like your posts, maybe because of your mod status? IDK... FWIW a gearbox oil change is on the cards and I'll be going 80w90 after your positive experiences with thicker trasmission oil.

Re Rich, it's a huge comfort to know there's someone in this part of the country who knows their way around them! @Rich If/when mine goes I'll happily pay you to do it if you're game and up for helping me out :)

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Well, 100 miles in and so far so good(ish) :) The pedal box hasn't imploded nor has the gearbox lunched itself (yet)...

I've had some success in stopping a nasty case of constant clicking of the hazard/indicator switch, it turns out fitting a new stalk was the answer so a bit of a victory there! The experience is slightly marred by the fact that now when turning the wheel left to right I can hear a faint grinding sound akin to metal on metal from underneath or within the wheel itself.... Something's not quite right -_-

Edit to say a thorough dousing with WD40 seems to have improved matters, not 100% cured but much improved!

Edited by JoeyEunos
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Mega service completed today and thanks to some advice from Skezza all went smoothly other than a minor incident with an ill fitting fuel filter! Luckily my local motor factor had the right one and I was able to swap! I'll admit to being slightly taken aback by the air filter location, probably the most fiddly bit of the whole job TBH :o

Full flow with my Pela 6000 (I love these things)

np0rqg.jpg

I'm likely to do 15k miles a year in this car all being well so with new Mann oil/fuel and air filters combined with fresh fully synthetic 5W40 I feel like I'm getting off on the best possible start ^_^

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  • 2 weeks later...

Right, slightly busy weekend :o

After looking at several SDI Lupos and Arosas before settling with this one I found them all to be corroded to some extent, one of which was a real horror show... This one was the best I could find in a 50 mile radius during the course of a month's hunting. That's not to say that she's rust free, because frankly she isn't! Just a couple of areas to sort out though so I thought I might as well crack on ;)

Firstly, a patch ajoining the roof trim, trim removed in this pic...

2h4b0qo.jpg

And another area where a previous owner had clearly experienced a spot of bother with a kerb or similar obstacle, tin worm clearly starting to set in here...

w8m1lc.jpg

Both areas had a good going over with 120G emery paper, here's a pic of the offending area on the roof during the process of rubbing back...

34i0kdf.jpg

Next up, products...

ifd8hw.jpg

The cleaned up areas were given a couple of coats of Bilhamber's Hydrate 80 half an hour apart to convert any rust left and stop the corrosion in it's tracks. I seriously love this stuff, it's starts out a kind of milky blue colour and you can virtually watch as the reaction takes place! Note the black colour as the converter works it's magic...

afk9sp.jpg

And the sill...

2s80mck.jpg

At this point the Hydrate 80 had to be left for 24 hours to properly 'go off' ^_^ Fast forward to this morning and I was out with the larks applying several coats of etch primer followed by many layers of Halfords own brand of VW Flash Red paint. After much blending in things were looking satisfactory...

2mrz860.jpg

And after even more blending and much patience the colour match is pretty much spot on...

149uv6w.jpg

I'm really happy with the results and feel confident that this should be a permanent fix, I trust the Bilthamber products and have used them for years and given I already had the Hydrate 80 converter the whole job came in at under £30 :D

I'm sure lot's of folk would have liked the dent on the sill to be filled and smoothed but from past experience I tend to find this often causes more problems, I also have a keen personal dislike of bodge and if at all possible would like to avoid having it on any of my cars!

 

 

Edited by JoeyEunos
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Almost 1000 miles covered now, the pedal box hasn't died yet and, the gearbox hasn't lunched itself either *Crosses fingers*

None the less I thought I'd better makes sure there was actually some oil in there! I'd toyed with the idea of a full gear oil change but in the end decided against it (For now) and settled for a quick top up... This in itself is a bit of a minefield, some recon a run of the mill 75w90 will do the job, others have had success using thicker oil, and some folk insist that VW's own oil is the only thing that will do :huh:

This is where the plot thickens slightly, having called VW they told me the correct oil for the 085 gearbox is now listed as their 'G60 Gear Oil', however many online sources suggest that when this 'box was first used on Polo's in the eighties the oil for the job was 'G50'... And that was before they became know for failures... Do you see where I'm going with this ;)?

Naturally, I decided I'd set about getting some of this mystical 'G50 Gear Oil', my local VW claimed not to have heard of it and it wasn't until I found the part number on an Australian website that they finally fell on their swords and ordered some in. Here it is in all it's glory...

5b69et.jpg

The catch is that it cost a mighty £17 per litre vs the recommended 'G60' at £8... Pricey!

With a nudge in the right direction from @Skezza I located the fill plug, here's a little pic to help anyone else who may be looking for it, green arrow shows the correct plug, red arrow shows what I'd imagine is some kind of oil presure switch, I didn't disconnect it and just covered it with cling film to avoid getting oil where it wasn't wanted.

4gtets.jpg

Final step, I ordered one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cars-Draper-38323-Drain-Plug-17mm/dp/B0001K9U28/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1462951967&sr=8-1&keywords=17mm+allen+socket ,

Assembled a length of hose and a funnel and got cracking :D In the end it only took about 200ml to get to the fill level, but at least I know it's been done!

 

Edited by JoeyEunos
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On 5/15/2016 at 0:38 PM, JoeyEunos said:

Right, slightly busy weekend :o

After looking at several SDI Lupos and Arosas before settling with this one I found them all to be corroded to some extent, one of which was a real horror show... This one was the best I could find in a 50 mile radius during the course of a month's hunting. That's not to say that she's rust free, because frankly she isn't! Just a couple of areas to sort out though so I thought I might as well crack on ;)

Firstly, a patch ajoining the roof trim, trim removed in this pic...

2h4b0qo.jpg

And another area where a previous owner had clearly experienced a spot of bother with a kerb or similar obstacle, tin worm clearly starting to set in here...

w8m1lc.jpg

Both areas had a good going over with 120G emery paper, here's a pic of the offending area on the roof during the process of rubbing back...

34i0kdf.jpg

Next up, products...

ifd8hw.jpg

The cleaned up areas were given a couple of coats of Bilhamber's Hydrate 80 half an hour apart to convert any rust left and stop the corrosion in it's tracks. I seriously love this stuff, it's starts out a kind of milky blue colour and you can virtually watch as the reaction takes place! Note the black colour as the converter works it's magic...

afk9sp.jpg

And the sill...

2s80mck.jpg

At this point the Hydrate 80 had to be left for 24 hours to properly 'go off' ^_^ Fast forward to this morning and I was out with the larks applying several coats of etch primer followed by many layers of Halfords own brand of VW Flash Red paint. After much blending in things were looking satisfactory...

2mrz860.jpg

And after even more blending and much patience the colour match is pretty much spot on...

149uv6w.jpg

I'm really happy with the results and feel confident that this should be a permanent fix, I trust the Bilthamber products and have used them for years and given I already had the Hydrate 80 converter the whole job came in at under £30 :D

I'm sure lot's of folk would have liked the dent on the sill to be filled and smoothed but from past experience I tend to find this often causes more problems, I also have a keen personal dislike of bodge and if at all possible would like to avoid having it on any of my cars!

 

 

Both the rear arches on my GTi have some rust on the inside lip, one worse than the other. I feel like I could possible deal with it myself after looking at this. Plus with the lip being pretty much out of view it wouldn't have to be 100% perfect paint wise I would imagine!

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10 hours ago, Skezza said:

So is G50 80w90 or 75w90? I wonder what the differences are?

Nowadays, and certainly since the late nineties VW no longer print the viscosity of their gear oils on the tub, but their G50 comes from a simpler time and quite clearly states it's a 75w90... however... This only tells half the story. Many off the modern off the shelf oils of this grade include package additives that contain phosphorus/sulfur compounds that are corrosive to yellow metals such as the copper and/or brass used in bushings etc, and you guessed it, the 085 gearbox is full of these metals :o Ergo problems when using modern oils, albeit of the correct grade. The G50 oil was designed to work with and is friendly and compatible with these 'yellow metals', making it a good choice IMO.

Having said that these 'boxes are frankly pretty fragile at the best of times and were originally designed to be used on 50HP 'period' engines, so with more torque being applied in modern applications it's an inherantly flawed set up even with the correct oil... I just want to give mine the best possible chance of survival.

9 hours ago, Skajme said:

Both the rear arches on my GTi have some rust on the inside lip, one worse than the other. I feel like I could possible deal with it myself after looking at this. Plus with the lip being pretty much out of view it wouldn't have to be 100% perfect paint wise I would imagine!

This is 100% something you could deal with yourself ;) It looks like your car's black judging from your avatar, luckily it's one of the easiest colours to match...

The key to success would be to rub back both sides of the arch lip thoroughly with emery paper (120g or so) , wipe down with panel wipes (Halfords own will do) treat using Hydrate 80 following the instructions, and then a couple of coats of etch primer followed by several of the correct paint from a colour matched rattle can. TBH if it's just the inner arch area I'd be tempted to spray the paint into cups and apply it with an artists brush. An extra note if going down the brush route would be that you'd need to probably still spray on the etch and thoroughly mask off areas where you didn't want it, and let the actual paint sit in whatever cup you'd chosen for 10mins or so to let the solvents evaporate before getting started... You'd need to pick a spell where no rain was expected for 2-3 days mind!

All of that should come in at around (or under) £50 where as I expect a body shop would want three times that or more, and usually all they'd be doing for that would be rubbing back, putting a layer of filler (Bodge) over everything and then re-painting. The rust would bubble through again in 6 months to a year for sure... With the above method this should be an *almost* permanent fix if done properly with decent prep, and would certainly last for many many years.


 

Edited by JoeyEunos
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Hi Joey

I too need to check the gearbox oil and at the very least top it up, two, possibly three things I need to know, what's the part number for the G50, (just in case my dealership haven't heard of it either) what is the oil capacity of the 'box and finally where is the drain, hopefully the latter is obvious but as yet I haven't looked!

Keep up the good work fella!

Cheers

Ian

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Interesting, so perhaps it's not the thickness but the additives? I'm still convinced that 75w90 is a tad too thin, but excellent research nonetheless.

We'll see if my gearbox goes any time soon. That said, it feels solid. 

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21 minutes ago, Skezza said:

Interesting, so perhaps it's not the thickness but the additives? I'm still convinced that 75w90 is a tad too thin, but excellent research nonetheless.

We'll see if my gearbox goes any time soon. That said, it feels solid. 

You may well be right RE viscosity, given it was only for a top up this time I'm not going to get bogged down with it any more than I already have ;) It's also worth considering that oil viscosity changes throughout the lifespan of any oil so what starts life as 75w90 ends many years later as something very different... as mentioned it's a proper minefield isnt it?

RE additives, lots of evidence to suggest that they are indeed a massive factor in terms of what's suitable to put in an 085 gearbox, but the infamous 'yellow metals' in there should be something people are mindfull of, pretty much all 'GL4' rated aftermarket oils should be safe though.

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48 minutes ago, Ian Daly said:

Hi Joey

I too need to check the gearbox oil and at the very least top it up, two, possibly three things I need to know, what's the part number for the G50, (just in case my dealership haven't heard of it either) what is the oil capacity of the 'box and finally where is the drain, hopefully the latter is obvious but as yet I haven't looked!

Keep up the good work fella!

Cheers

Ian

Ian, The part number I gave t them was G 005 000 , it's actaully printed on the bottle too. Capacity should be 3 litres I believe and skezza reliably informs me the drain plug is n the other side of the box, although if I'm honest I never checked given I was only topping up this time ;)

Here's a link to a DIY Polo oil change on the same 085 gearbox that's fitted to the SDI models of Lupo, lot's of good pics in this one...https://chocosmith.wordpress.com/2010/09/04/chaning-the-oil-in-the-vw-polo-6n-gearbox/

Worth noting that in the thread I've linked the OP opts for 80w90, which I believe is also @Skezza's oil of choice...

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Cheers Joey, job for the weekend I think, assuming I can lay hands on the G50, I'd assumed that was the part number but couldn't enlarge you photo to confirm.

Ta muchly, will report back ;)

Ian

Edited by Ian Daly
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14 hours ago, JoeyEunos said:

This is 100% something you could deal with yourself ;) It looks like your car's black judging from your avatar, luckily it's one of the easiest colours to match...

The key to success would be to rub back both sides of the arch lip thoroughly with emery paper (120g or so) , wipe down with panel wipes (Halfords own will do) treat using Hydrate 80 following the instructions, and then a couple of coats of etch primer followed by several of the correct paint from a colour matched rattle can. TBH if it's just the inner arch area I'd be tempted to spray the paint into cups and apply it with an artists brush. An extra note if going down the brush route would be that you'd need to probably still spray on the etch and thoroughly mask off areas where you didn't want it, and let the actual paint sit in whatever cup you'd chosen for 10mins or so to let the solvents evaporate before getting started... You'd need to pick a spell where no rain was expected for 2-3 days mind!

All of that should come in at around (or under) £50 where as I expect a body shop would want three times that or more, and usually all they'd be doing for that would be rubbing back, putting a layer of filler (Bodge) over everything and then re-painting. The rust would bubble through again in 6 months to a year for sure... With the above method this should be an *almost* permanent fix if done properly with decent prep, and would certainly last for many many years.


 

Nice. You have suitably inspired me to give it a go. I've sprayed up a new boot handle and a tow eye cover myself so I already have a can that matches and a slight amount of prior painting/sanding experience . I'll get some hydrate 80 ordered and nip up to Halfords for a few other bits at weekend! Cheers mate.

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Today I had mail...

Yup, got myself an Ebay bargain in the form of some genuine VW mudflaps, looking lovely after a quick wipe over with some Autoglym bumper and trim gel :)

308i88y.jpg

The torque bits came out and I got cracking, mid way through I discovered this small agrecultural phenomenon stored with my fron arch/sill area :o

15zsjn4.jpg

That's is from just one side, the passenger side was much the same. For anyone who hasn't delved into their inner arches yet, get out and pop those arch liners as soon as possible! Left un-dealt with this would have turned into a mojor rust trap for sure!

After about half an hours groveling about on the floor all four were fitted. Looking much better IMO B)

2gtommb.jpg

I recon some nice steel wheels, perhaps the original ones painted silver or if not some G60 types and she'll be done in terms of exterior mods, subtley is the key and and OEM+ look is what I'm hoping for. The car's an out and out workhorse but that shouldn't stop it from looking smart right?

Reflecting on it today it struck me how much I've done with this little car, so far in the space of just over a fortnight I've...

* Replaced both wing mirrors with working examples sourced from a local breaker.

* Fitted a new inicator stalk to stop the incessant clicking in the cabin (This allowed me to get the car at a knock down price!)

* Treated rust and re-sprayed aread of the roof and rear sill/quarter panel.

* Changed Fuel filte, air filter, oil filter and oil.

* Researched vintage VW spec gear oils and topped up my as of this moment still functioning gearbox.

* Had a Hunter four wheel alignment and fitted two new Vredestein tyres.

I've pretty much decided at this stage that she's a keeper and I've really bonded with her. I'll continue t look for rough edges to knock off in the meantime, but I feel like I'm winning, for now at least!

 

 

Edited by JoeyEunos
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^ I'd like to believe that ;)

TBH the Lupo saves me nearly £100 per month when copmpared with my Golf and the costs of running that so even if peddlebox or gearbox issues do arise the savings made on fuel should offset the cost of getting those bits sorted (Man maths at work) and still result in a saving in the longer term.

IMO this car was right on the edge with small bits of rust starting in the odd place etc, left to it's own devices I recon it would have been pretty much scrap within two or three years. I see no reason why it shouldn't last for another ten years of service given the care it needs though... Looking after elderly cars like this and giving them the love they deserve makes me feel warm inside :P

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Another day, another dose of preventative maintenance :rolleyes:

My Lupo (Like many others I'd imagine) had been jacked up incorrectly at some stage and as a result various areas of the sill rails were somewhat bent, that's something I can live with but the possibility of tin worm was something that caused me some concern! The rails were bent back using a set of mole grips and some brute force, the paint was scraped back...

Bingo! Exactly as I suspected, some areas of corrosion lurking...

30aqruf.jpg

Left unabated this would 100% have worked it's way into the sill itself. Next step, the rust was ground back using a selection of wire wheels and a cheap rotary tool...

2urxyl5.jpg

A couple of coats of Hydrate80 were applied...

nxq1dt.jpg

And within 30 minutes the magic had taken place (Note the black colour change/reaction only occurs where corrosion was present)

2co1k6r.jpg

A couple of coats of etch primer were applied (Picture showing passenger side this time)

16phz5.jpg

And several coats of Halfrauds Flash Red later, job jobbed :)

nn38s0.jpg

Again, I'm really pleased to have got this task out of the way. It may not be glamorous work but this repair should last for many years. I bought the Lupo on the basis of the longevity and reliability of the SDI engine, to allow stuctural body work to bring play to an end would defeat the object ;)

 

 

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Mine was incorrectly jacked up before I got it but luckily the sill rails weren't too badly damaged. That said, I fully expect to look under one day and see all the paint has disappeared and pure rust remaining. Great job that is though.

For those interested, the best place to jack these cars is definitely on the wishbone imo, unless you're using the widowmaker.

Pro tip: Don't use the widowmaker.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks for the kind words @Skezza :) When you say jack on the wishbones, do you mean on the actual wishbone itself or on the subframe where the wishbones join? I'd be interested in a pic of the exact location you're putting your jack as TBH I'm using the sill rail at the moment, albeit in the correct places ;)

Meanwhile, I've given the beater a going over with Autoglym super resin polish and sealed the job in with some 'Naty's Blue' paste wax, looking much better for it IMO...

2cen6tu.jpg

In other news I've also been lucky enough to meet forum legend @Rich B)

Firstly it's important to say that Rich is a top bloke and very knowledgeable to boot, and as luck would have it he has a unit that's literally no more than two miles from my place! Having spent a long time worrying about my pedal box and a slightly odd feeling clutch he was kind enugh to give the car a once over... After all of my internal mithering it was a bit of a relief to have someone who knows their way around Lupos have a look, it turns out my concerns were unfounded, all is well it seems :rolleyes:

Thanks fella, I owe you one!

 

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I place the jack under the bolt which connects the wishbone to the subframe if that makes sense? It's about as strong a place as you can rest your car imo. 

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