L Reg Miami Gti Restoration

[chris 417 mi 40 2 Cars]

Ill begin with a little back story to explain things ... 

 

 

 

 

Many years ago on this forum i had an L reg gti, this was bought for me at 19 in 2001 by a family member and as such held great sentimental value.

Fast forward a few years funds were needed for housing etc in 2013 in a moment of madness...... i let it go to a friends brother. 

Years passed and with friends getting back into gti's again i had wanted to buy it back, with funds now easing and purchases becoming more likely and possible ( it was still in the area at the time ).

The car had significant attachment due to family member buying me it in 2001 and since passing 2018 this had spurred on the need to find it again. 

 

Unfortunately this also began the ' chasing ' of L417RAC'  round the internet,  as luck would have it , the guy who had it decided to sell it a month before id asked if it was now for sale.

Person after person bought it ... advertised it and then sold it on for more and more taking it further out of reach money wise. each time friends would spot it for sale again and tag me which was heartbreaking with the price going up and up each time.

 

I ended up giving up in 2019 and buying the laser in my profile until a chance trip to Pugfest in 2023 ended with: 

 

 1) Me agreeing to buy an L reg Miami shell from a well know pug scene members brother ... i hadn't know the reg of the shell until he sent me the photo a few days later after agreeing a price .... L427RAC ... what's the chances ... 1 number out !!

 

 

2) And also bumping into my old car itself coming the other way through Gotherington towards Pugfest !! again what's the chances  lets say i put the lottery on that day ( didnt win though )

 

 

Had a chat with the new owner after waving him down like an idiot shouting ' i used to own that ' .... sorry Dave haha 

[chris 417 mi 40 2 Cars]

So .... cut forward to a month later after agreeing a time and date for shell collection and some antics with a forklift ... weights and balancing in the back for a bare 205 shell to stop it falling off .. it was all ready loaded and about to begin its long journey back home to be restored.

 

 

 

 

A stressy drive home worrying it was going to move or fall off ... and if so how id put it back on if so followed .... but eventually ... back home and settled ... first task done. 

 

 

 

Next came the ' how the hell to get it off the trailer as it wasn't mine ... and i don't own a forklift' haha ... a local scrap beam was purchased and a bit of heavy farmers walk lifting got her onto the ground and the trailer back to where it belonged 

 

 

 

At this point id also sourced a boot and doors to try and make it look a little less like a bare shell. 

 

 

[chris 417 mi 40 2 Cars]

Few more of the shell once it was in a stable state ... junior door was pretty much free and the right colour which was a nice find.

 

 

 

 

 

There were a few issues to sort inside, couple of the seat fixing mounts had no captive bolts left inside but fairly easy to sort, needed a damn good hoover out but pointless yet as it would be outside for a considerable time yet. this was august 2023 still.

 

 

The petrol cap was a worrying issue at the time as no keys came with the shell and i didn't want to damage anything to get it off ..... but it would need to be removed before painting commenced, also chucked on the spare subframe i had bought for the laser engine bay resto the year before and not used. 

 

Noting that there were issues mounting the front part correctly as it seemed to be very slightly out which was worrying, a second was sourced and bolted strait up .... old one in the scrap metal bin at work. At this point all i needed to do was make the shell mobile to be ready for painting when that was possible, everything will be removed again and cleaned painted once the initial shell painting is done. 

 

 

[chris 417 mi 40 2 Cars]

 

Final one of 2023 ... cover sourced as i had / still have nowhere spare space wise under cover, the laser and the pulsar are the garage queens at the moment.

 

One expensive garden ornament, although next doors cat seemed to be taking a liking to nipping inside over the winter as well which was worrying ! 

 

 

The winter and spring was spent with several road trips sourcing bits here and there ! 

 

 

[chris 417 mi 40 2 Cars]

2024 came ... and lots of time and road trips happened : 

 

Front panels came from a forum member here, genuine units as over the years id had trouble with pattern parts and wanted the guy who was painting and welding the bits on to have as easier time as possible

 

 

 

Genuine Wings came from different ends of the country ... one from a certain Bush maker on here whilst picking up more parts for the laser gti who let us have a little look at his spare bits he had kicking about 

 

 

The other came from another long known forum member from the Scottish borders ... poor caddy van earnt its keep this year 

 

 

Again with parts now becoming scarce to find the mileage had to be done, although putting faces to forum names was a bonus and all part of the adventure .

The last trip of the year also brough back an 2.0 406 turbo engine with GTI 6 gearbox again from scotland, lovely 8 hour round trip ... least the weather was decent ! with plans at the time to make the car bit different and this is an engine id never had before !. 

 

Edited Monday at 12:57 PM by chris 417 mi

[chris 417 mi 40 2 Cars]

Spring 2025 arrived and time for some action ! 

 

With the new concrete down at the back the shell was fairly easy now to manoeuvre about, pity it was also in now in the wrong place as i needed the TD out first this year ... cue car tetris. 

  

 

 

 

Painting and all the welding was finally booked in so a few photos were taken ready for a before & after session later in the year .. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[chris 417 mi 40 2 Cars]

Finally painting day arrived in march .... no trailers to use this time round so a local transport company came and took it to the paint guy ... much easier in hindsight and what ill do from now on. No messing about and having to fight to get things on yourself 

 

While she had been sat waiting for pickup the glass , door seals and anything else i could remove ... i took off ... literally down to a bare shell respray should make a much better job though. I didnt want to be doing this again ( even though id said that with the laser ... but here we are haha ) 

[Leslie green 130]

Good story but you are not making it easy for yourself trying to build a car from a bare shell , you probably need another donor to get all the bits off   Might need more concrete laid !

Edited Monday at 06:34 PM by Leslie green

[SRDT 204]

Nice, how did you sort the petrol cap in the end?

[chris 417 mi 40 2 Cars]

13 hours ago, Leslie green said:

Good story but you are not making it easy for yourself trying to build a car from a bare shell , you probably need another donor to get all the bits off   Might need more concrete laid !

Haha i know i know but literally thats how it came, yes its going to be a bit harder work but ive gathered a fair bit of stuff already ... have the seats & doorcards, dash, loom, carpets & underlay, an engine and box .. bottom arms .. beam, windows ... its slowly piling up ! 

[chris 417 mi 40 2 Cars]

12 hours ago, SRDT said:

Nice, how did you sort the petrol cap in the end?

Very easily tbh ! a large flat headed screwdriver and a decent mash hammer ! .... screwdriver in the key slot .. good whack and the full thing just turned out with no damage to the surrounding cap filler area. 

Ive already got a New unit and full lock set sourced and were good to go whenits time to put it all in ! 

[chris 417 mi 40 2 Cars]

This now brings us to a few weeks ago, the shell is now at the painters ,,, i keep checking in every few weeks to see how things are going although i have told him that there's no rush to have it back yet as it means throwing one of the garage queens out 

 

 

 

Initial burst of activity with floors and boot corrected, panels smoothed in etc made for a nice surprise in the first few weeks ! 

[chris 417 mi 40 2 Cars]

And finally last few shots from two weeks ago ! 

 

Had a bit of a scare as some of the panels that id bought needed a few extra sections, cue some panic buying from a certain spooky supplier.

 

Will be nice to hopefully catch it in primer fully before the colour is added