***The first 2 1/2 pages are my mk4 golf build - go to page 3 for the new ride!***

Mk4 TDI 130 Highline:

Thought it's surely time to get a build up thread on the go, as i've had the latest mk4 for over 18months now and have spent a fair bit modifying it!

So here it goes....

I bought the car in February 2007 from the first owner, it was locally regsitered, and had come through the local main dealership:

• One owner
• 80,500miles
• Full VW service history
• Black magic pearl
• TDI Highline 130 (GT TDI if you will)
• 3dr

I found the car via autotrader on one saturday morning, only to find it had been put on the night before and already had a high amount of interest! I was there 2 hours later and after a thorough look-over and test drive i decided to place the deposit on it!

I was lucky to find out when i got there that the car had a few extra's that were'nt listed on the trader:

Heated leather, cruise control, climatronic, 5cd blaupunkt in dash, raintronic, auto dim rear mirror.

I was also happy to find a fully stamped service book complete with all genuine VW paperwork for any work it had done! And happy to find that the car had only ever been run on shell diesel due to a shell account!

Now for pics. I don't have many pics of when i first bought the car but i have a few pics after my first few mods:

First mods included: W8 light, bora vents, US gti rear lights, JVC kd-g712:

This is retrospective and there's alot more mods since, i will update once ive hosted all the pics!

Comments welcome,
Chris.

 Looks extremely clean mate - nice car

Looking forward to seeing the rest of what you've done.

Im looking forward to seeing the rest of the pics chris.

A little update:

I've been digging out old pics from the pc and have found a few of my first mods:

S2000 stubby aerial, red caliper paint (possibly the mod i'm most ashamed of lol), Hella colour magic headlamps in black (rare):

This was from a N.Wales / Chester meet, which just 2 of us turned up to lol:

And then here again at the same modding stage parked with my dads passat:



I went on to get a discount on a group buy on Jabbasport custom remaps :D

And shortly after in an attempt to get more traction i got some A3 sport alloys for cheeeaap so whacked them on too:



The jabba map however did take it's toll :P... update and pics to follow!

Chris.

Nice pics Chris - looking forward to the rest. I've thought about the stubby aerial too - How is the reception??!

@ 2 people turning up to the Chester meet - was that the carpark on the sealand rd estate?

Ah well LOL

Chris

 nice motor those alloys dont look to bad

chris_v6_4motion:

Nice pics Chris - looking forward to the rest. I've thought about the stubby aerial too - How is the reception??!

@ 2 people turning up to the Chester meet - was that the carpark on the sealand rd estate?

Ah well LOL

Chris

The reception is great, had no problems! And yeah it was outside the bowling/cinema on the greyhound park.

Chris.

Next, i decided i wanted to jazz up the interior a bit, so bought off ebay a whole cage from a mk4 including cupholder, wood trim pieces, gamma, single cd, climatronic unit etc for less than 90 quid :

The Jabba map started to cane my clutch, until eventually, it slipped constantly....
I then installed this:

This is the Sachs uprated clutch kit, consisting of an uprated pressure plate (stronger clamping force) and an organic friction plate. I fitted this along with a new DMF, new cylinders and replaced the input shaft seal on the geabox whilst it was out!

This is what the mk4 looked like in december 2007.

Update to follow

Chris.

 

Looks very nice mate, The wheels suit it and the calipers painted dont look bad, imo i like the calipers red, looking forward to the update

 What was doing the clutch like? A difficult job??

Chris

Nice work onto this car,

There is a real motor and with this clutch, that must be so amazing

 

The hardest part of doing the clutch was the gearbox removal using limited tools i.e. jack and a block of wood

A garage initially fitted it, but soon after the slave cylinder gave up and threw fluid over the clutch, so i had to replace both cylinders and re-bleed myself, then clean up the components, do a clutch burn and allow to re-bed in, has been spot on since (touch wood).

As far as performance goes, i'm very pleased with it, however I would like to clean the EGR valve and Inlet manifold, 106k on the clock now and i'm sure they're pretty clogged!

Next mod has definately got to be suspension and anti roll bars!

Chris.

Update:

Earlier this year i also layed my hands on some monty II's as i've always like the design (And i needed rubber!!)

Also had some wolfsburg plate surrounds as a Christmas present

Updates to follow!!

Chris.

Lower it mate, it will make so much difference..

Alittle update with more pics!!

Driving to work one morning, joining the expressway i put my foot down, and as i got onto boost i heard a bang, accompanied with loss of power, lots of black smoke behind and a very louu sounding car!

The elbow pipe had worn down and given up the ghost where it meets the EGR valve, throwing crap all over the engine bay :(.

£35 later i replaced it and cleaned up the engine bay:

Replaced the pipe and limp mode cleared! Spot on!



I then found a V6 4mo breakin for spares on ebay, and quickly snagged up the xenons, wiring, and ballasts for cheap!

And proceeded to joey mod them....





The finished lamps:

And fitted a Polo GT grille badge (£7) from the dealers!!



Around the same time i hit the magic 6 figure mileage:



I'll dig some more pics out and update soon!!

Chris.

Update:

Got some pics of further interior mods i've done:

These include the W8 light, foxy's led door handle mod, Beetle turbo gearknob and i've also installed the sunglasses holder





Handle LED's:



Beetle knob (not my own pic):



And another shot of some of the local VAG owners (going back before i had my xenons):



Watch this space for updates! Will get up pics of the new wheels and brake setup!

Chris.

I then went to the alltypes show (well, was towed, as some will remember), here are the pics from afterwards:

Ooh and thanks Rob for the bonnet Bra









Mid-show season, i went on my hols to Florida for 2 weeks, didn't buy anything for my car but managed to take a detour one day to a dealers to buy a full front cover for my dads passat. Also i couldn't resist snapping a few US dubs!!













And yes this pratt is me.... (bless my gf, she didn't quite get the shot perfect with the scenary ). I'm not sure what was going on with the backbox



Update to follow.... again! haha

Chris.

 You still got the german plates? Have you been pulled over yet??!

Chris

I've got 2 sets of german plates (used at shows only), a set of UK acrylic plates and i've currently got a set of pressed alloy UK plates on (from europl8 on ebay).

I'll get some pics up of the uk pressed plates later....

I don't wanna run the risk of german plates on the roads tbh!

Chris.

 Was the Pic with the beetle taken here (Formosa Gardens Village) Chris?

Neil

Yes Neil, you're now going to tell me you stayed in the Formosa Gardens area too i bet....

Chris.

Update:

After my hols i splashed out on a Sharan badge which i sprayed the back in Black Magic to suit:



And as my tyres were getting low i fitted some 18" Monza II replicas, which at some point i'll try and find some genuine centre caps that fit...



I also got a GT rear badge (polo) and replaced the TDI with GT...











Chris.

Drop it !!!!

Gorgeous car!! Looks amazing... how can i find those black headlamps?

Daz - fundage will not allow a drop just at this moment :P

Bigtoe - the lamps i initially had on were Hella's and can often be found on ebay, but the xenons i have are a custom job.

Do a forum search on "Joey mod" - stripping down headlamps to spray them.

Chris.

 

 Looking very good Chris,some aero wipers would look nice

Chris_Wales:

Yes Neil, you're now going to tell me you stayed in the Formosa Gardens area too i bet....

Chris.

Yes just down the road Chris, we had a villa leased from Lowry vacation homes and there office was in that little retail park we had to get the keys from there

Neil

 i love the monza wheels!

old_n07:

Chris_Wales:

Yes Neil, you're now going to tell me you stayed in the Formosa Gardens area too i bet....

Chris.

Yes just down the road Chris, we had a villa leased from Lowry vacation homes and there office was in that little retail park we had to get the keys from there

Neil

We picked our keys up from the best western lakeside (straight across the formosa gdns lights next to walgreens). Where abouts was your villa? we were on Indian creek, very quiet and good location too!

Patch - Aero wipers are on the list

And as for lowering, it's whether or not the coin situation allows, got the insurance renewal next month which i like to pay in one go, then its pretty much christmas shopping that take control of funds until the new year! So we'll see how things go!

Chris.

Update:

Got some pictures here of the 312mm's fitted

The setup consists of:

312mm carriers (bought off N15CKO)
312mm Zimmermann Cross drilled discs (GSF)
Ferodo DS2500 pads (from Bill at Badger5)

I can say the brakes are amazing, never felt a stopping force like it!!

Pics:

And some free pics of the car (please excuse the cam quality):









Updates to follow!

Chris.

Looking good mate.

How much did the brakes set you back?

The discs were 110 delivered, pads were 145 delivered and the carriers were 80.

I spent alot of time trying to get hold of the calipers and could have probably got some for less if i'd have waited but the pads were getting really low on the front!

Chris.

Update:

Cleaned my EGR valve and inlet manifold out due to them being caked in crap! Car seems to run noticably smoother now!

Before:



After:





At the same time i also replaced my temp sender for the revised version, carried out a full service, and ran a bottle of forte diesel treatment through it!

Fuel consumption seemed to be a bit better on a long slow run too!!



My interior colour coded trim was starting to pick up chips where the stereo had been out so i decided to look into options. Personally, i think the brushed Alu trim is a bit on the expensive side, so instead tried out the fablon idea, got a 1.5m roll from b&q and gave it a go.

Results:







I am very pleased with the results! Ok, you can tell it's home-made and it doesn't have the cup logo on it, but it still looks alright!

Next i think i'll rub down the silver net optic passenger grab handle and laquer it to see what effect i get!

Stay tuned for more updates!!

Chris.

 Mate the fablon on the centre dash trim looks great. Did you have to remove the trim pieces to attach the fablon to them.

I have fablon on my b pillars stands up well to being abused by the lements

Yeah i removed the trim pieces, as i was putting some felt tape on some pegs where the centre console meets the stereo cage anyway to get rid of rattles.

I cut a shapes out to a larger size, stuck it onto the trim piece then cut the excess on a board with a craft knife.

Doesn't look too bad IMO.

I have also sanded down a net optic passenger side grab handle so it looks like brushed alu, then laquered it, i will post pics of that mod soon.

Chris.