Just having a catch up as have not been on much recently. (not done anything to the car either!) 
Glad you found mine and Chris's posts useful! 
Nice work again, where's the before pic of the alternator? 
Yes it's better off painted as ALU doesn't take long at all to go white and sh*t again in damp weather!
Shame about your insurance issues, I thought I used to have it bad when I tried to insure my first dub and that was a 1.3 MK1. wouldn't have been so bad if i'd left it alone but I stitched myself a bit as I had made it into a GTI rep and had to declare all the mods.
Cheers mate, your's and Chris' were inspirational.

Dunno it was just well grubby.

Well I'm insured for the month at £235 (coilies, exhaust & exterior changes fail tbh).
Exhaust looks wank cause it's universal but wow it sounds nice. It's not chavvy but deep and suttle til 3K.
I picked it up at 4:10PM yesterday, did 70 miles 'til now and it's not missed a beat. It needs a thermostat but tbh I'm not bothered.
It handles like an absolute dream. Really, really does. My mate took it out (got 3rd party cover) and he said the same. Really pleased with paying the expense for the coilovers because it really isn't firm. It's LESS firm then my brothers BMW 118D with the msport set up. Honestly is, perhaps because of the tyres, maybe.
I love it SO much I'm honestly looking at budgeting so that I can do it in April. It's expensive but I so do not want a 1l. It's SO nippy it's unreal. Really is. Not looking for racing but you can come to a junction, put your foot down and it picks up.
Need a cambelt cover, smashed my splitter. Speedbump on a temporary road, massive crater, going REALLY slow and smash. Would have done it in a stock car and the Merc behind made a horrible noise too.

To say I'm pleased is an understatement. It's comfortable, it's quiet, it drives as straight as an arrow, it handles beautifully.
My only plans would be lose the exhaust in favour of some wheels and the bumpers are getting sprayed this week.

I've actually found love and the girls love it way more then my mates 53 plate Corsa.
