Sorrento 1.6 Gti Butchery

[vtifan 26]

well i'm officially a 205 owner again after a 10 year break,bought a 1.6 sorrento phase 1 with full leather 69k miles and a few problems,shagged rear beam,startings of rust on sills but very little rot

Edited August 14, 2012 by vtifan

[Tom Fenton 1,541]

Unlike the vast majority of Sorrento green cars on eBay that claim to be "limited edition", yours actually IS an LE car, 1990, orange indicators, grey plastics. A nice car to keep and restore back to standard, if you've plans of ripping the engine and interior out then I would consider finding a lesser car to do it to.

[davey sprocket 14]

Looks like a good base car.... like Tom, I hope you don't butcher it too much.

 

Being picky, it's not actually a phase 1. They had a different dash with sliding heater controls.

[vtifan 26]

Unlike the vast majority of Sorrento green cars on eBay that claim to be "limited edition", yours actually IS an LE car, 1990, orange indicators, grey plastics. A nice car to keep and restore back to standard, if you've plans of ripping the engine and interior out then I would consider finding a lesser car to do it to.

don't think its anything special at all mate,hate the colour(well it is kind of growing on me tbh),hate the indicators,hate the rear lights,dont like the wheels,the interior is pretty bland i think a gti needs the red bits inside to feel like a gti,engine i only bought it because the shell is decent and it has lowish miles,as per the title i am going to change everything about the car,bought a pretty much fubared 1.9 with broken gti6 motor in it to swap all the bits over,i think i'm saving the car tbh as it has been a bit neglected the last year or two and is needing work to get the mechanicals and body up to scratch

[vtifan 26]

I built this one about 10 years back but it was running fondmetal 4000's and the front and rear pugsport bumpers when i had it,bought it as a knackered red 1.6,did all the bodywork and mi16 swap,theres pics of it in an old redline as i took it to a psoc rolling road day at ecosse

 

[Baz 421]

An ex-owner of that is a member on here, it was sold a couple of years ago or so iirc.

 

I'm with Tom with the way things are going, if you just want a toy to change, i'd start with a non-rare car, sell that one on to someone who'll appreciate it being one of the 300!

Edited August 14, 2012 by Baz

[Tom Fenton 1,541]

don't think its anything special at all mate,hate the colour(well it is kind of growing on me tbh),hate the indicators,hate the rear lights,dont like the wheels,the interior is pretty bland

 

In that case sell it to someone who does appreciate it for what it is, rather than wreck it with all manner of bolt on s*it.

[vtifan 26]

An ex-owner of that is a member on here, it was sold a couple of years ago or so iirc.

 

I'm with Tom with the way things are going, if you just want a toy to change, i'd start with a non-rare car, sell that one on to someone who'll appreciate it being one of the 300!

it went through a couple of owners after i sold it,before stiege got it,i spoke to him one day in dunfermline as i saw the car sitting outside his house and stopped for a wee nosey

i broke one of those sorrentos when i built the last one too as i wanted leather,it was a total shed,had blown up the engine and been replaced with a 1.4 that had been fitted by a guy i know that is the biggest bodger i have ever met

the sorrento i iust bought was on gumtree for more than a month and no one bought it so i really dont see it as being that sought after tbh,to me its just a i.6 gti in a nasty colour that i bought with the intention of changing,if it had been a miami 1.9 ltd i might have just kept it as is,if anyone wants to swap me a nice shell for this and save it then i would be up for a swap,it needs a rear beam and has some running issues and needs paint, any takers ? doubt it but i will leave it for a week

[vtifan 26]

 

 

In that case sell it to someone who does appreciate it for what it is, rather than wreck it with all manner of bolt on s*it.

i might have taken that as a comment from a purist but then i looked at your sig and saw your cars that you own,all nice standard examples mate

i'm just saving this car as it is beyond economical repair at the moment imo,i'm not going to spend a fortune putting it back to being a standard example because thats not what i want in a 205,this is a keeper for me and i'm going to do it right from the ground up,i might well stick some stuff on it that you regard as tat but i dont,i'm going to build it as i see fit just as you have with your cars,i look at a standard 1.9 gti and i think thats nice but when i look at my sorrento i just think yuk,even the shed of a 1.9 i bought today looks nicer with all its dents and scrapes and peeling laquer,i'm no purist mate and i have a thick skin i once painted an rs 1600i metallic purple and took it to an rsoc show for a laugh,it was totally standard and absolutely spotless apart from the colour and an rs turbo engine,you would think that i had violated one of their children by the looks and comments it got,i thought it looked a lot better than the horrible off orange colour it was when i got it tbh

[vtifan 26]

well anyway ,yesterday i went and picked up another 205 but a 1.9 phase 2 gti this time, it was running a gti6 motor but had cracked the block due to being frozen,list of parts for my sorrento that are on this new car are,1.9 rear beam nice and straight but a little rusty at the moment,gaz front coilies,full stainless exhaust mated to a gti6 manifold,gti6 brakes,full phase 2 wiring loom with gti6 engine loom joined in,phase 2 black dash and steering wheel and very good half leather interior and red carpet,oh and a passenger side door which is the only good panel on this car and the only bad one on mine,fate i think,set of 1.9 alloys,one of those bmc induction kits,and lots of gti6 spare parts that i will be hoarding away just got my rustbeater stuff off of ebay as well,so 1st job is to get the sorrento stripped of all parts then get it up high enough so i can take the underside back to bare metal,treat all the surface rust with fe101 and then get a couple of good coats of epoxy mastic on there, p.s apologise for my stella fueled posts lastnight,but i'm going to have to paint this car and i'm sure not paying to have it painted a colour i dont like,its going white and black or black and silver/chrome,car needs a fair bit of work as i said and would be a big ask for someone to put back to standard,and might have been broken or crushed if i hadn't bought it,i might put some ecosse parts on i might not it depends if i get the bits i want really,the sorrento might be rare but its not pretty in standard 1.6 form and probably why there are not many left,will get some pics up when i get my halogen light down the garage

Edited August 15, 2012 by vtifan

[Carbs4me 45]

Might be worth bringing the phase 2 back to life. unless its been binned. the Limited edition one shown above does seem a shame to do it up considering their is so few of them remaning and to some enthusiast might pay big money for it down the line if set straight. Just to me sounds like the phase 1 could be more work to put on the road than the phase 2 I prefer them over the phase 1 even tho mine is a phase 1.

 

Im no purist my self look at my car!

 

But the effort you might put into the phase 1 may take twice aslong.

 

If i where you id keep that phase one and spend bits and bats on it, and once it see's a MOT id put it on piston heads.

[GLPoomobile 958]

i might have taken that as a comment from a purist but then i looked at your sig and saw your cars that you own,all nice standard examples mate

 

If you are going to resort to childish bickering, then perhaps get your facts straight first of all. Given that 2 of Tom's GTIs didn't start out life as limited edition cars, and the low mileage 1.6 is being restored to a high OE standard, then I think his comment is perfectly valid.

 

It's your car, do as you please. There's no point getting humpty just because some of us (whether purists or not) think that's it's a little short sighted to molest a genuine limited edition model. We're at the low point of an upwards curve in the market at the moment, with good condition OE spec GTIs climbing in value. If that doesn't interest you, fair enough, crack on and let the purists weep.

[Baz 421]

I think the thought was with you rather than against you, rather than spending time, money & effort making a car worth nothing in the future, perhaps not your cup of tea, but if you chose to tidy it up as a standard original car, no doubt you'd probably make some money considering how things are going!

 

Sorrento black green in good condition is actually a lovely pearl colour that has a yellow tinge to it!

[vtifan 26]

i dont really care if its worth money in the future tbh,i'm planning on keeping it as a second car for a bit of fun,maybe shouldnt have thought up my thread name when half pished cos now i am sober it sounds a bit harsh and not really what i meant not out to make money as i dont think there is money to be made at this moment anyway,i am doing a full restoration on it just not an oe resto,i am going to make the car better(in my opinion)and hopefully keep another gti on the road,i wasnt getting humpty at all really thought it was a fair reply to toms comment,i can appreciate where you are coming from guys but its just not worth the hassle and expense to put it back to standard as i would have to sell it and would be lucky to be even close to breaking even,just the last couple of days i have actually been thinking of leaving the bodywork pretty standardish but i just cant have the car green as it really does turn my stomach sometimes,i bought the car with the intention of painting it anyway as it was probably the best shell i saw and was cheap enough,cant really see what the fuss is about as the car is basically a banger its not like i went and paid 2500 quid for a pristine one and tore it to bits,it was for sale for 1500 quid 2 years ago and it was driven for a year hard and left sitting for a year

[Carbs4me 45]

So whats wrong with the phase 2 apart from the cracked block?

 

Why not bite the bullet and just grab yourself another 1.6 axel for the 1.6 as a run about while you sort the phase 2?

[vtifan 26]

i actually tried to change the thread title but cant figure out how,the green probably wouldnt actually be that bad if it wasnt for the orange indicators and the red bits and the ride height,tatty looking trim and the wheels,if i was going to keep it green it would have to be like,lowered,colour coded trim with gunmetal inserts,1900 goodwood style wheels,phase 2 rear lights,auto bonnet,morettes,de badged grill,smooth bootlid,i could almost live with that,the red inserts go with most of the gti colours i think but red and green should never be seen except for on an irish queen,to quote an old saying.

[vtifan 26]

So whats wrong with the phase 2 apart from the cracked block?

 

Why not bite the bullet and just grab yourself another 1.6 axel for the 1.6 as a run about while you sort the phase 2?

its a fookin shed tbh,every panel is dented,has rust issues,the inner wings are rotten at the bulkhead,was a bargain though wouldnt run about in anything that wasnt diesel mate as i do about 800 miles a week

[Carbs4me 45]

Plasticare can restore your trim to the colour they once where.

 

I actually hate it when people spray the trims the same colour as the car. takes away that orginal GTi look, in my opinion.

 

Ive never liked the yellow indicators either to be fair.

 

If i where you, id give it a spray in the same colour resotore the trims to the best of your ability and change those indiwinkers to clear and you might see it in a diffrent light.

[vtifan 26]

this last few days i have actually been thinking about my 205 and what i actually want from it,the 1st thing i actually bought for the car was an auxia spoiler i really wanted one years ago

anyway i wanted the ecosse bumpers and sideskirts to go with this spoiler,i think it was more to do with the fact that i really didnt like the overall look of the standard 1.6 when i bought it and maybe a bit of youthfull reminiscing of back in the day ,but after picking up my spare parts car a 1.9 that has speedlines and a slightly lower stance i have kind of fallen in love with that standardish look that drew me to the 205 in the ist place

so now i am thinking of just keeping it oem looking but obviously some minor touches thrown in,i'm going to keep the phase 1.5 interior as my leathers are pretty much mint,going to keep it sorrento colour code the arches and bumpers(got spares to swap back to standard if needed) debadge a spare grill i have and keep my sorrento one to swap back,phase 2 lights are a must though,auto bonnet and morettes also,going to get rid of all the red trim and either go chrome or gunmetal,goodwood style wheels either speedlines or nimrods,a nice lowering but not too low,all the things i am doing will be reversible,oh and put the auxia spoiler on ebay

under the bonnet it has to be a gti6 motor though and put all the money i will be saving on fibreglass s*ite towards some engine mods down the line

so i guess i'm not going to butcher it quite so much just a bit of a makeover and freshen up,sorry if i traumatised anyone with my fibreglass inspired thoughts,cheers pete,

[cybernck 402 1 Cars]

Sounds like late 90's / early 2000's 205 styling.

 

It won't look bad at all, here's some inspiration for you:

 

 

 

Hope this helps .

[vtifan 26]

thanks for the effort mate but seeing the sorrento greens just about the way i was thinking of doing mine has just made me realise that no matter what i do to it it's never going to look as good as a black,white or red one,so going to have to do some serious thinking over the next couple of months as i am getting my shell ready for paint,confused.com !

[GLPoomobile 958]

it it's never going to look as good as a black

 

But it is black, most of the time!

[vtifan 26]

But it is black, most of the time!

probably why i like it in my dark dingy garage i will maybe just take it out at night mate

[vtifan 26]

well got started on the stripdown and must say i am pretty pleased so far,i hate rust and just scrapped my crx because of rust issues,but not found much more than i was expecting,i am going to have to replace about 2-6 inches of both sills at the rear wheel end only to be expected on a high impact area on a 23 year old car,the rust bubble i saw was as expected(well apart from the filler applied by just gti's)and needed a small patch that i will cut off my spare shell,will be needing 2 rear bumper hanging brackets,and the small panel above these has just totally rotted out where the drainage pipes go through,they looked solid too but it was just the underseal that was holding them together,so a wee bit of fabricating and welding but nothing major,i would rather get it dealt with properly now than have to go back to it after painting so am giving it a harsh poking about looking for rust,will get some pics up as i progress

[vtifan 26]

managed to get into my old photobucket after weeks of trying,just thought i would put up some pics of a few cars i have owned,we all like pics after all,some of you might know the pug as stieges it was a red 100 quid banger when i got it,that blue one used to be an eg9 vti the alpina really broke my heart i had always wanted one but never wanted a bmw and got this one for a good price but the shell was totally fooked so i started reshelling it into a mint 1.8 4 door shell but then me and the mrs had a huge argument and split up and left me in major financial strife so had no choice but to sell it to a guy that had been trying to buy it for ages will never forgive her still dream about what might have been with the alpina

Edited August 24, 2012 by vtifan