Wilhelm Update

I'll be off to a show on Sunday, so there'll be a report on that.  In the meantime, because it's been a while since I've had anything to update with lately, here's a brief update on my own daily driver.

Got some curb feelers to save my wheels.  Everyone seems to call them whiskers.

Then it was time to resolve the weird cutting out issue I was having.  Suspected to be a combination of fuel starvation and weak spark, we replaced a lot of very old parts.

Rotor arm, old on the left.  Pretty worn out.

Distributor caps, again with the old on the left and again pretty worn out.

Next up was the coil.  The old one had a bit missing and was one of two main suspected problem causers.

This was the other problem causer, a very dead fuel filter full of silt and bits of red paint.

Last under bonnet job was to sort out some sort of catch for the bonnet prop.  A bit of velcro does the trick nicely.

So with all that under bonnet stuff out of the way - we later found out the intermittent cutting out issue was resolved, so something we replaced did the trick - here's what's being going on inside the car.  First up was some gold detailing to match the seats.  I now have a Flash Gordon console.

 

The doors are still missing their doorcards, but these should be fitted soon now I've got the last few bits I need.  Window winder inserts were done gold and some green cut glass door knobs used as door pulls.  The door pulls work very well and fit in the original door handle hole but look nicer.

The interior is coming together nicely.  Still need to redo the carpet, fit the doorcards and, eventually, put a new cloth headlining in.  But most of it is done now.

Finally, I refurbished my tailgate badges in a gold version of the original factory chrome.  Turned out well, just need a final polish and clean.

The Road Trip

A few days ago Wilhelm, my little '85 Polo, had his maiden voyage and shakedown run all in one.  It was a long, tiring drive for me since I've only ever driven a 25 mile round trip before this happened.  Happily, it all went without incident.

So with a comfortable 8:30am start, which got delayed to nearer 9:15am because of traffic we set off from Sheffield in my Dad's 18 year old Lexus LS400 (affectionately known as Dorset, due to her size) with me at the helm.  It was about 70 miles to the secret barn location Wilhelm was kept in and as a wafty cruiser, Dorset performed admirably.

After picking Wilhelm up, making sure that all the checks that needed doing were done and packing a few items from the barn we set off to Mablethorpe because I'd decided that we had to go to the seaside for ice cream.  On the way I was listening attentively for anything amiss, taking note of any smells that might be odd, all the things one should do when driving a 25 year old car that's been off the road for 10 years.  A peculiar metallic whine caused me to pull over at a little garage and an impromptu picnic broke out.  Turned out the noise was just brand new brakes bedding in.

Once we arrived in Mablethorpe it was my job to find a car park.  £3 all day for nearly seafront parking seemed very cheap so I pulled in and was directed to a comically oversized space next to a Land Rover that made Wilhelm look like a toy.  As you can see, the weather was glorious.

After our sojourn at the seaside and an ice cream each which we all enjoyed it was time to toddle on to my Gran's place in Louth.  The last time my Gran had seen Wilhelm was back when he was still navy blue just over 10 years ago and she couldn't believe it was the same car.

I was forced to pose for a photograph, I suppose that sort of thing is traditional.

Photo opportunity from my gran's living room.

After lunch and enjoying more of the fantastic weather it was time to move on, we had a schedule to keep and a lot more miles to drive.  It was on to North Kelsey Moor to visit my Grandad, in part to show off my car but mainly to thank him for helping me with many of the costs involved in getting a full driving license and new driver insurance.  Here we see Dorset on the left, Wilhelm in the middle and an Audi Q7 I think it is on the right.  By parking Wilhelm nearer the camera he looks nearly normal sized.

On the way back I made a stop off at the home of the chap I bought my wheels and tyres from.  I knew he was due to move at some point and it looks like I just missed him.  Of note is the now uncommon Peugeot in front of me.

Finally, after 170 miles, we arrived home in the dark.  It was a long drive and I was exhausted when I got home.  Driving a 25 year old car excercises muscles I didn't know I had and it was certainly brave to go so many miles in a car that could have let me down.  But thankfully Wilhelm is a Volkswagen and he lived up to the German manufacturer's reputation admirably.

In total it was a 240 mile round trip, 170 of which was covered in the Polo