Saxo VTS restoration

[BigRichi]

Well it seams this is my version of a mid life crisis at turning 38 soon.

Me and the girlfriend went from 2, to sharing a car after having a baby. The daily Lexus RX450 only just fits in the garage and the girlfriend won't even attempt to put it in so for the past 5 months I've had an empty garage pretty much.

So there's only one thing for it....fill it with a toy ??

Back in the day I had 2 nearly new saxo VTRs...a white phase one and Icelandic grey phase 2

Priority was to find something that hadn't been Barrie'd, which proved to be difficult but I've found a one owner car with 80000 miles on it which sounds perfect but unfortunately been off the road for the last 4 years and been a bit unloved.

The previous owner looks to have got into too many projects and this dropped to the bottom of the list.

It needs some work to bring it up to a good clean car which should only see some summer use.l

Plan so far is to

- clean the outside so I don't get dirty every time I brush past it ??
- deep clean the inside
- new discs and pads all round
- freshen the suspension all round
- change all filters and fluids and a good service
- tidy up the bodywork

Couple of pics today of how it arrived

Edited by BigRichi on Saturday 6th February 14:47

[FELIX_5]

Interesting project, subscribed. It will take a few more years, but I'm sure we'll all look back and say, where did all those cheap Saxo VTR's and VTS's go?! Such a common sight at one point, but they will dwindle, albeit perhaps slowly. Perhaps now is the time to snap up the low owner / mileage examples, if you can find them?

[BigRichi]

FELIX_5 said:

Interesting project, subscribed. It will take a few more years, but I'm sure we'll all look back and say, where did all those cheap Saxo VTR's and VTS's go?! Such a common sight at one point, but they will dwindle, albeit perhaps slowly. Perhaps now is the time to snap up the low owner / mileage examples, if you can find them?

Thats kinda what I'm thinking....buy one whilst I can afford one and find a non modified one

[Stenn]

Great little project. I too had a nearly new VTR back in the day, loved it and still have a soft spot for them. So hard to find a tidy, unmodified example now.

[Spantney]

Looks like a good buy, definitely decent scope for a nice little project!

I also bought a VTS a couple of months back with a couple of mates as a little project between us. Our goal is to generally give it some TLC and maybe run it round the odd track

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Wicked cars especially for the money they can be got at, but as you say, finding one that hasn't been abused seems to be quite difficult!

Cheers,

Tony

[SirSamuelBuca]

Had a vtr as my first car just under 5 years ago. Was terrible. Death trap lol

[CSK423]

Had a phase 2 VTR in Poseidon blue back in 2000 and then 2002 a 2 tone VTS. I've also toyed with a VTS as a doer upper but not many around never mind non barried versions.

[si_xsi]

Is the rear axle ok, nearside tyre position and gap seems a bit out and high? Great little cars, easy to work on and in non barried condition, a rare find.

[S10GTA]

Check the rear for rust. They have a bit of a bad habit

[BigRichi]

si_xsi said:

Is the rear axle ok, nearside tyre position and gap seems a bit out and high? Great little cars, easy to work on and in non barried condition, a rare find.

I'm pretty certain its shot so a refurbished beam will be ordered up

[BigRichi]

Spantney said:

Looks like a good buy, definitely decent scope for a nice little project!

I also bought a VTS a couple of months back with a couple of mates as a little project between us. Our goal is to generally give it some TLC and maybe run it round the odd track

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Wicked cars especially for the money they can be got at, but as you say, finding one that hasn't been abused seems to be quite difficult!

Cheers,

Tony

Good read....thanks for that and I'll keep an eye on your progress

[senorblm]

if you need an oem head unit let me know, I have one from my first car complete with the UK garage CD that I forgot to take out before I swapped in my sik nu head unit in 2007

[LeeThr]

Looks like a good project, I've got a 106 GTi (which is basically the same car underneath) but that's going to be used as a track/rally car so won't be a mint example unfortunately, but I might buy another to fulfill that bit haha.

[BigRichi]

senorblm said:

if you need an oem head unit let me know, I have one from my first car complete with the UK garage CD that I forgot to take out before I swapped in my sik nu head unit in 2007

Thanks, you have pm

[CSK423]

edit *looks silver in the pics but is yours actually icelandic grey ?* How about spraying the VT kit storm grey and making it a 2 tone ? Mine from circa 2003.....

[Kitchski]

CSK423 said:

edit *looks silver in the pics but is yours actually icelandic grey ?* How about spraying the VT kit storm grey and making it a 2 tone ? Mine from circa 2003.....

I recognise that plate, were you on the old SSC forum? I was Icey_Furio back in the old days!

We've got an early ph2 VTR in the family. Fitted a VTS engine from a 1998 breaker I had a few years ago now - transformed the car as far as I'm concerned. It's not that it's lightyears ahead of the VTR in speed (though it is noticeably, much quicker). It's more the fact that it just feels like a more grown-up, advanced engine. The car behaves more like a genuine hot hatch, rather than a light hatchback that has about 100bhp/ton. You're brave getting a post-2001 car, the VED is horrific on a VTS!

The rear ride height is just there because it's parked on a hill. They all do that.

Rust is the big thing to look out for. They go around the boot floor, rear subframe mounts (if you're pulling this off, I'd clean back to bare metal and treat/paint with something decent before refitting the beam), rear arches up to seatbelt mounts and front chassis rails.

Good fun though. There's not much I haven't done on a Saxo!


I think you need to review your idea of a 'restoration' though. A resto is fully stripping and starting again with refurbished bits. You're just bolting a few new bits on and cleaning it

Should come out well though

[BigRichi]

Kitchski said:

CSK423 said:

edit *looks silver in the pics but is yours actually icelandic grey ?* How about spraying the VT kit storm grey and making it a 2 tone ? Mine from circa 2003.....

I recognise that plate, were you on the old SSC forum? I was Icey_Furio back in the old days!

We've got an early ph2 VTR in the family. Fitted a VTS engine from a 1998 breaker I had a few years ago now - transformed the car as far as I'm concerned. It's not that it's lightyears ahead of the VTR in speed (though it is noticeably, much quicker). It's more the fact that it just feels like a more grown-up, advanced engine. The car behaves more like a genuine hot hatch, rather than a light hatchback that has about 100bhp/ton. You're brave getting a post-2001 car, the VED is horrific on a VTS!

The rear ride height is just there because it's parked on a hill. They all do that.

Rust is the big thing to look out for. They go around the boot floor, rear subframe mounts (if you're pulling this off, I'd clean back to bare metal and treat/paint with something decent before refitting the beam), rear arches up to seatbelt mounts and front chassis rails.

Good fun though. There's not much I haven't done on a Saxo!


I think you need to review your idea of a 'restoration' though. A resto is fully stripping and starting again with refurbished bits. You're just bolting a few new bits on and cleaning it

Should come out well though

I suppose its more a case of trying to restore a bit of its former glory rather than a full on restoration :-)

[BigRichi]

CSK423 said:

edit *looks silver in the pics but is yours actually icelandic grey ?* How about spraying the VT kit storm grey and making it a 2 tone ? Mine from circa 2003.....

it is Icelandic Grey....my favourite Saxo colour.

don't fancy the two tone though as I want to get it back to as close to original as possible

[CSK423]

Kitchski said:

I recognise that plate, were you on the old SSC forum? I was Icey_Furio back in the old days!

We've got an early ph2 VTR in the family. Fitted a VTS engine from a 1998 breaker I had a few years ago now - transformed the car as far as I'm concerned. It's not that it's lightyears ahead of the VTR in speed (though it is noticeably, much quicker). It's more the fact that it just feels like a more grown-up, advanced engine. The car behaves more like a genuine hot hatch, rather than a light hatchback that has about 100bhp/ton. You're brave getting a post-2001 car, the VED is horrific on a VTS!

The rear ride height is just there because it's parked on a hill. They all do that.

Rust is the big thing to look out for. They go around the boot floor, rear subframe mounts (if you're pulling this off, I'd clean back to bare metal and treat/paint with something decent before refitting the beam), rear arches up to seatbelt mounts and front chassis rails.

Good fun though. There's not much I haven't done on a Saxo!


I think you need to review your idea of a 'restoration' though. A resto is fully stripping and starting again with refurbished bits. You're just bolting a few new bits on and cleaning it

Should come out well though

SSC Forum there's a blast from the past ! yes that was my username on there.

Any pics of the ph2 VTR (VTS) you have ?

[senorblm]

BigRichi said:

Thanks, you have pm

Just seen this, I havent had / haven't been able to find your pm?

email me direct: wsmith1990 [at] g mail [dot] com

Edited by senorblm on Sunday 14th February 18:00