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

[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

[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

[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

[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

[BigRichi]

Not been many updates due to a stay in hospital....but that did give me the chance to do some online shopping for car bits 😀

The car is currently away with a trusted mechanic to have fitted

Refurbished rear beam
Discs & pads front & rear
Front calipers
Flexi hoses all round
Front wheel bearings
Dampers front & rear
Front springs
Drop links
ARB links
Front suspension arms
Cam belt kit & waterpump

I was hoping to do more of the work myself but simply don't have the energy just now but when it returns I also have

Oil filter
Air filter
Fuel filter
Spark plugs
HT leads

It has a leaky exhaust somewhere which I need to sort then it should hopefully be ready for an MOT

[BigRichi]

So the cars had a few more odd jobs done to it

As well as the previous mechanical work done I've had the wheels refurbished and a new set of tyres fitted. I've had the front suspension tracked as well and it actually drives like a nice wee car now....although only round the corner lol

I've changed the fluids, plugs and filters. Did a double oil change to try really get any gunk out and added a K&N panel filter. That should be good for an extra 50 bhp lol

I've given the inside a good clean out and fitted a CD player so starting to feel like an everyday car 😄

Unfortunately no mot yet as still to put a new exhaust on it to remedy the old leaky rusty number and the abs light is on which will need to be investigated but added a few update pics I took