Update from Page 5 - 1 Sep 08

Another month gone by and the progress continues! I've got (half) my exhaust on now and it was 'seen' for the first time yesterday - I've paired it up with a 4Motion Oettinger Valance (thanks to red_tdi for this!) and am well pleased with the way it looks!

The exhaust is a Blueflame one and for now it is just from the cat back but am hoping to get a de-cat sorted out for it in the next couple of months - either a milltek or one from pipewerx since they're just down the road from me.  Anyway, this is what it looks like now:

Also took the chance to change the top mounts on the suspension as well a couple of weeks ago as this wasn't done at the time - has made a big improvement in the ride quality of the car.  This is the state my old ones were in (old one on the left!)

Right then - an absolutely MASSIVE thanks to austin21 who helped me do both jobs - neither of which went as smoothly as planned - he barely even flinched when we popped a spring compressor doing the suspension and took the angle grinder to the exhaust with gusto when I couldn't get in properly being left-handed.  Cheers Greg - hugely appreciated

Almost forgot - took the opportunity to clean the wheel arches when we were doing the suspension mounts - I don't have a before pic but I'd always just assumed it was black underseal in them - turns out they're silver!

Plans for the next couple of months are to get the de-cat pipe on, my R32 brakes will be back from re-furb sometime soon so they'll need to go on, I've got a set of Leon Cupra R rear beam bushes waiting to go on (hopefully this month).  Oh, and I picked up this from tony_danza at NWNW at Tatton Park which I'll get round to installing eventually! And I think that's it for immediate plans - then we'll be on to new clutches and hybrid turbos Busy busy busy!

Jon.

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Start of Original Build Thread

With the new year and having lurked on here since for the past 6 months (and I'm feeling brave) it's about time I posted some pics up of it.

Car is a 52 plate GT TDi 150 and had 94k on the clock when I got it.  It gets used for work and my cars hammered for about 30k miles a year and it is a bit of a workhorse to be honest, although quite a nice one.

Here's it not long after it arrived.

First job to get sorted was the fan fix and a couple of other niggly things.  After that a front arm rest was put in along with a W8 light and an alpine IDA-X001 headunit which is the most ipod friendly headunit I've come across and is a great bit of kit.

The only other thing internally has been an S3 gearstick - after being consistently outbid for R-line sticks on eBay (and not prepared to pay outlandish prices), this cropped up on eBay for pennies so I thought I'd give it a go. Looks ok in my opinion and has a nice chunky solid feel to it.

After that it was on to the outside with the valances being colour coded (with some help from the guides on here) and a spoiler, aero wiper and stubby aerial being added.

My previous two cars have both been peugeots (306 and a 405) and I was astonished at just how bad the golf's handling (especially in the wet) so some new powerflex bushes were had all round as some of the old ones were well passed there best anyway. They're holding up nicely so far and I haven't had any of the problems that some others have with them.

After that the car was treated to a set of eibach pro springs and koni fsd dampers at the start of December and is nicely settled in now and I am well pleased with how it sits and how it rides.  Going any lower isn't an option due to needing the car to be practical for work and going over rough ground with it.

So here's how the car sits today.

The rear valance needs doing again in the summer because the colour match isn't quite right and I'm keeping half an eye out for some nice 17's, but apart from that, that's it for the outside as I prefer it to look bog standard at first glance.

Underneath, this years plans are a rear ARB to finish off the handling, remap and the seemingly inevitable clutch that'll mean. Oh, and bigger brakes will be done when the current pads reach the end of their life.  Then it'll be 'Done'. Probably.

Jon.

Looks nice. Very Clean too

Love this picture

Where is that? Car sits really nice too. Nice a low

NickW:

Looks nice. Very Clean too

Cheers Nick.  Pic was taken on Portland in Dorset when I was down there with work before Christmas (hence the suit hanging up in the back window).  Had just stopped to have a look at the view, turned round to go back to the car and realised where I'd parked so just had to snap it!

Trust me, it wasn't clean though - lots of quarries on Portland to make it nice and filthy. That's the good thing about silver cars, they hide it well.  Downside is that every man and his dog seems to have them

Jon.
 

looks nice mate :)

now, get that remap!! 

RossAdders:

looks nice mate :)

now, get that remap!! 

Cheers! At the moment the remap is pencilled in for May when I get to change to an insurance company who won't just empty my pockets of money for it and laugh in my face while they do it.

Before that it'll almost certainly have it's cambelt done and possibly a pre-emptive clutch change as well.

Right, I've done a few more little bits and bobs so I thought I'd add to this.

Firstly was the aluminium interior trim and door handles which was a bargain off ebay.  Not sure I'd pay new prices for them but quietly pleased with the way it looks with the W8 light.

 Next was a bit of extra boot lighting inspired by this thread as my job can involve some night-time survey work and standard light is woefully inadequate. 

Was cheap and it does the job but it could still be better so I may swap them out for some more expensive brighter strips.

Next was some bora vents (which came courtesy of Patch ) which were fitted yesterday

And lastly it's been treated to some new 17" genuine Audi RS4 style wheels, which were another eBay special

I keep looking at it thinking 'I could've gone a little bit lower' but I've already had a few nervous moments with it out on-site so it's staying as it is.

Next is a remap which should hopefully be happening in April if all goes to plan.  I've just serviced it and there's some tell-tale signs of boost leaks again which I'll need to sort before the remap.

Also happening this year hopefully are a rear ARB and a black grille.  Oh, and getting Jake Walsh to sort the paint on it when i've done splurging money on other things (like remaps and ARBs). 

So far so good - it's all pretty much OEM, which was the plan.

Jon. 

cars looking very very nice mate! love it!

 any chance of a pic of the aluminium door handles? mines really let the car down as they are scuffed. would love to see how they look as mines a reflex aswell.

 cheers

harveysduvet:

And lastly it's been treated to some new 17" genuine Audi RS4 style wheels, which were another eBay special

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I keep looking at it thinking 'I could've gone a little bit lower' but I've already had a few nervous moments with it out on-site so it's staying as it is.

So far so good - it's all pretty much OEM, which was the plan.

Jon. 

Nice matey, I like it. Its like OEM plus +

I have same car as you but diesel and this is the subtle type of look i'm after.

Seems like you got some right bargains too

Thanks for the kind comments everyone - I know it's not especially outstanding or stunning (especially compared to some of the cars on here), but I like it and I don't particularly want the attention that would go with driving an obviously highly modified car - I'm shy like that

Anyway that's more than enough about me, so back to the car:

Afro - the car is 150 TDi - sounds like a tractor but shifts when it needs to. Trust me, follow me up the slip road on to the motorway on a cold february morning and you'd know it's a diesel

K5-KYL - the only pic I've got of the aluminium door handles is below - haven't taken any of the others as they just look like normal door handles but with  aluminium inserts instead of the wood.  If you'd like a pic of these though, let me know and will sort it out.

Jon. 

Can you remember who the R32 aluminium kit was from dude and how much it was? Ive been searching through and am finding it hard to seperate the stuff which will look good from the usual rubbish thats on there and dont wanna waste my money!

Cheers

Julz.

Julz - the trim is the genuine VW stuff.  Was from a private seller who'd had it fitted but was putting the car back to standard, so not something that'd crop up regularly I'm afraid.

Wasn't really looking to do the trim but came across it by chance straight after it had been listed so snapped it up there and then.

Jon.

Golf_Chick:

looks great. Simple but nice and it doesnt attract attention unless you know what you're looking at.

Bingo! That's what it's all about for me - don't get me wrong, most of the highly modded cars on here look absolutely stunning, but that's just not me.   

Your car is looking pretty darn good now with the new wheels and the drop as well   Will it be make it to the next Rochdale meet this time then?

Only just found this thread,car looks spot on mate,thumbs up for the rear arb.We all know the mk4 platform is piss poor on the twisties.

Cheers Patch!  Insurance has been paid for this month and remap is booked for April 12th

It'll prob be May before the ARB gets done now. 

Any suggestions for other (subtle!) mods are more than welcome! Things already on the list or waiting to be done are: black grille, de-badge, rear ARB, TT Wishbone bushes and the Mann Hummel Pro-Vent.

Jon. 

Very nice m8, I like the subtle look. I've got a 1.8 20v Turbo silver 5 door golf and i'm going for a similar look. I've got 17" audi TT wheels with vw centrecaps, milltek resonated cat back (quiet system) ko3 sport turbo conversion. Looking to get audi TT front brake setup and remap to get best out of the turbo. Only thing I can't decide is whether to get it lowered. I know I will like the way it looks, but like you, I don't like attracting attention to myself, and I'm afriad I get labelled as a boy racer/ned/chav or whatever. I suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder and we shouldn't care what people think of our cars as anybody who knows, knows there is a difference between an enthusiast and a ned/chav racer. Good luck with you're remap. I hope you get nice figures!

Cheers Marcus You got any pics of your car at the moment? 

I reckon most people on here would tell you to lower it, if only a bit.  Mine is on Eibach Pro springs (-30mm from standard) but was already on the VW sport suspension so the total drop wasn't that great in the end, but was doing the shocks so thought I may as do the springs and get a nice subtle drop.

Unsurprisingly, I've never had any negative attention in it from people thinking I'm a boy racer / chav.  I do get a little bit of light-hearted stick from people in work, but that's only cos they know it winds me up 

Jon. 

harveysduvet:

  I do get a little bit of light-hearted stick from people in work, but that's only cos they know it winds me up 

 

You'll have to borrow mine one day,they will give you some stick."Erm what is it?" That's what i got from work mates.

Patch:

harveysduvet:

  I do get a little bit of light-hearted stick from people in work, but that's only cos they know it winds me up 

 

You'll have to borrow mine one day,they will give you some stick."Erm what is it?" That's what i got from work mates.

I'd happily do swapsies for a day in the 'rado and the stick that came with it!    Couldn't really see you in the diesel though

Not sure I could put up with your exhaust either

Jon. 

Hi, I've got pics of my car but I'm not sure how to post them yet! Will need to look in the help section when I get a spare moment.

Having heard you're opinion I think I'll probably go for a set of weitec adjustable springs and shocks. The car just won't be complete without them.

Remap on Tuesday! Phase 2 custom code, although I'm a little apprehensive since I've been told I probably won't make more than 200bhp without an uprated intercooler and/or sports cat. Was kinda hoping for 220ish having bought and fitted the ko3s turbo. Thing is, theres only so much money I am prepared to spend on the car and a downpipe for 250 quid plus fitting, or a 450 quid intercooler + fitting is not really an option!

Let me know what power you make from your remap. GT TDI should make 205bhp outright surely?