238 replies to this topic

[elektrikbanana]

Don't want to rain on your parade Banana, but unless the bumper/wing were secured in a custom made box/container, its a bit much to expect them to arrive through shipping without damage. It's not as if the couriers are going to carefully lay them on a carpet in the back of an empty van and nurse them to your door, they have to share space with all sorts of other heavy objects in the trucks which may or may not lay/rub/vibrate against them during the journey. A few layers of bubble wrap aren't going to protect them if that's what was used.

 

Yeah I expected it to be honest, but it's an excuse for some spray work! Even in the condition they are in it's still better than my old bumper as that had a few gashes out that I always wanted sorted anyway.

[elektrikbanana]

Thought I'd make myself a list of goals for the car in 2016, may as well share it with you all on here. Once this 'minor' hiccup in progress has been sorted out this week the modifications shall continue!

 

Firstly the clutch needs to be changed, it's drivable now but I'm having to be careful especially with the motorway driving I do to and from uni. I have decided on an uprated Sachs clutch and pressure plate retaining a standard Sachs DMF, I think this is the best option for my use of the car and also the power that I am aiming for. In total this will come in at just over a grand, but will give me reliable power that the engine and transmission can handle for hopefully a long time.

 

The next step is to either lower the car slightly on a quality set of shocks and springs from H&R, again this will be best suited for my long drives, or to get both wings, the bonnet, and bumper resprayed to a high standard which will transform the car from its current state, the rest of the body work is in very good condition with no rust and hardly any scratches so this will be the cherry on top. Both of these will be getting done but undecided on what first. After doing some research, prices for what I want are coming in at around 300-500 on the interwebs which I think is pretty reasonable. 

 

Finally I want to get anniversary rear brakes to match my front 312mm setup, and a Cupra R front subframe, wishbones, hubs, and anti roll bar. I'm unsure on what parts I actually need for this, and might make a separate thread to get a definitive shopping list as it's a bit confusing. For example, do I really need the Cupra anti roll bar? Or can I get away with just the wishbones and hubs, do I need the hubs too?! A little bit confused but I'm sure some nice person will help me out on here when the time comes haha.

 

If I get all this done I'll have a pretty respectable car to get me about till the end of uni, a perfect motorway workhorse to get me from A to B, and it also needs to be faster than my mates new Audi A3 8L 2.0 TFSI, can't loose against that after all this effort

[elektrikbanana]

Got my car back on Wednesday which I'm happy about, just the same as before, no weird panel gaps, if anything they're better than before. 

 

Had another go at my window now that I have the XZN bit to remove the lock module, this was pretty easy following Imagewerx's awesome how-to guide. The difficult part was trying to get the inner door skin removed, it seems like no matter which way I moved it to try and get the regulator over the edge at the bottom it would not go far enough upwards to allow it to come free, I ended up removing the four regulator bolts and then re attaching it when everything was on the ground. 

 

This was why I had to take the inner skin off - 

 

 

How does it get dirty in there?!

 

 

All sorted - 

 

 

This is the issue with the regulator I was having, this shot is from when I was putting it back in, as you can see even with the panel pushed up I can't get it past this point. To get round this I undid the two top bolts securing the regulator in and this allowed me to slide the inner skin up further, I was probably doing something wrong but I couldn't work it out.

 

 

I was most worried about this part, but it was actually pretty easy and went without issue thanks to a lot of research, door handle operates as it should once reassembled -

 

 

All back together - 

 

 

 

 

Just have to finish getting the glass from the inside and cleaning all of that up ready for my drive home on Christmas Eve, will have plenty of time to get that sorted in the week.

Edited by elektrikbanana, 20 December 2015 - 12:03 AM.

[elektrikbanana]

So I'm back home from uni until September and the car is going well since it's little hiccup in December, nothing much has changed since then apart from a few bits and bobs. As soon as I was back...

- The oil and filter were changed, around 5k after it's last service.

- I fixed the bonnet latch so the tab now pops out.

- Sealed the passenger door so it stops leaking from the inner door skin.

- Fixed the little LED behind the door handle as I didn't reconnect this when I fixed the window in London.

- Finally gave it a good detail and polish/sealant after a few weeks of not washing it.

 

Oh and also between December and now...

- New Sachs SRE clutch and standard Sachs DMF (plus surprise CV boot).

- Realigned headlights with new tabs.

- Fixed headlight washer (as it snapped in the crashed).

- Fixed passenger side door locking mechanism. 

 

...that's actually a bit more than a few bits and bobs.

 

Resealing the rear vents under the bumper with silicone - 

 

 

You can see the glint of light right at the bottom where there was moisture, boot carpet was wet along with some MDF that my amp is mounted to - 

 

 

Getting the oil and filter replaced at Gaz's new workshop - 

 

 

Really not an enjoyable job this!

 

 

Replacement part in the bottom on this photo - 

 

 

Here we go again... - 

 

 

 

Better safe than sorry! - 

 

 

 

Very bad photo but exactly why I don't dare tackle something like this myself, I'd get lost! - 

 

 

Farewell 1 year old DMF! - 

 

 

Failed MOT on this, probably from the front end work, apparently I needed new headlights, LOL! - 

 

 

Replaced tabs - 

 

 

Fixed - 

 

 

 

Washer fixed - 

 

 

 

 

Current to do list is fit my new 256mm rear brakes, fix my recirculation flap as it's making an awful noise, and replace my blower motor as it's shrieking like mad as well! More interesting updates coming soon, hopefully.

[TomasLT]

Bummer about the hit n run. How about getting lower? Nice anyway, good that you're interested in the car.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[elektrikbanana]

Bummer about the hit n run. How about getting lower? Nice anyway, good that you're interested in the car.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Yeah that's the plan towards the end of summer, TT subframe etc then some H&R springs and shocks (-35mm). Will look a lot better and stop driving like a boat then! I'd go down the coilover route but I do a lot of long journeys and motorway driving.

[TomasLT]

I have coils and they suck in the city, but great for motorways


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[elektrikbanana]

Can you imagine central London on coils though

[JakeMcC]

Anything new happening on this build? You seem to have done a lot of work to get it going nicely! I've just bought an anthracite PD150 as a second car to replace my Bora (I'm 19), needs a bit of work but hopefully not to the extent that yours needed...

[elektrikbanana]

Anything new happening on this build? You seem to have done a lot of work to get it going nicely! I've just bought an anthracite PD150 as a second car to replace my Bora (I'm 19), needs a bit of work but hopefully not to the extent that yours needed...

 

Nothing very interesting in 2016 happened, just boring service items and some small bits to keep it running, replaced another door lock module and some LED's before my MOT this weekend. Next step will be sorting the suspension out which I'm hoping to do before summer. Difficult to be doing bits while I'm at uni so much else going on haha! 

 

Anthracite ones are my fav! They're great engines if they've been looked after, unfortunately I bought I bit of a lemon but after I sorted all the bits out since buying it it's been really good and reliable. What does yours need doing to it?

[JakeMcC]

Nothing very interesting in 2016 happened, just boring service items and some small bits to keep it running, replaced another door lock module and some LED's before my MOT this weekend. Next step will be sorting the suspension out which I'm hoping to do before summer. Difficult to be doing bits while I'm at uni so much else going on haha! 

 

Anthracite ones are my fav! They're great engines if they've been looked after, unfortunately I bought I bit of a lemon but after I sorted all the bits out since buying it it's been really good and reliable. What does yours need doing to it?

 

Only noticed this now, sorry!

 

Hope the MOT went well 

 

It seems I've bought a bit of a lemon as well, the main things were bodywork - plenty of rust and badly crushed sills, suspension bushes, and an issue with boost kicking in very hard at about 2k but feeling sluggish up until then. I've found the boost problem I think, downloaded the map off the ECU and it's been mapped before. The figures in the map should produce 225bhp according to the program (hopefully not on stock hardware) so I'm ready to flash the stock map back on and see if that improves things at all!

[elektrikbanana]

Hi Folks,

 

Well overdue update on this - I still own the car and all has been pretty well in the last few years apart from usual upkeep.

 

In 2017 I fitted an LCR subframe setup, R32 front ARB and ST by KW springs and shocks kit to suit an LCR as it has tabs for the drop links if I recall correctly. I also changed the drop links, ball joins and wishbone, top mount and ARB bushes with solid alternatives from an S3/LCR where possible. 

 

Today I did some maintenance which wasn't too interesting but here's some pics:

 

I wanted to change my gas struts on my boot as the original set were starting to struggle in winter to push the boot open with the cold weather, ECP were selling these for a whopping £2 each after a code so thought I'd swap them, here's the old:

 

 

Here's the new replacement, it's a bit filthy under my boot hatch please excuse:

 

 

Also swapped out my pollen filter as I've never actually had one (?!), I've been getting a bit more condensation over the last year and I'm wondering if my recirculation flap is actually open or not..

 

 

New element fitted to pollen filter tray:

 

 

Bit of a faff, clips secured so not water leaks:

 

 

New Bosch rear areo wiper (form a MK5) to replace ebay special from about 2 years ago:

 

 

eBay special wiper arm doesn't provide enough pressure on the spring so I'm getting a big gap in the middle of the wipers path across the window, need to buy an OE replacement (this has annoyed me since I fitted it, long overdue a fix):

 

 

Only wipes a small patch even with the new blade, no more squeaks though! 

 

[elektrikbanana]

A few things I forgot to add in from my earlier post that I completed over lockdown back in Summer when I had some time off work...

 

 

Rear view mirror died in the heat during August, replaced with one from another car. On the black mirror I never actually noticed it dimming but confirmed this to work on the new unit so that was a bonus fix. Unfortunately couldn't get a black one although originally I had beige so wasn't too bothered. 

 

 

Normal operation:

 

 

Dimmed: 

 

 

Replaced one of my rear lights as it's always had a chip in from the previous owner, here you can see my rear quarter that still needs sprayed.

 

 

I've also Joey modded my Xenon's as I had to replace the glass because a stone hit one and smashed the lens last year unfortunately, here you can also see my new bonnet which I replaced again a few weeks ago as when I repaired the car from the crash a few years ago I had to get a bonnet shipped and there was some shipping damage. I've not got the panel gap quite perfect but I can tweak that and a lot happier without the rust and dented edges. Here you can also see the right side of my bumper is not on its rail properly, my bumper rail has a missing tab so I've picked up another one this week and will refit this properly soon.

 

 

Here's some of the bonnet damage that's now fixed:

 

 

I've replaced my gear stick as the cheap ebay one I fitted when I got the car was well worn out already.

 

Old knob:

 

 

New knob: 

 

 

Over summer I also wanted to freshen up my wiper arms are they were looking a bit tatty, also in the corner you can see some more of the bonnet damage which I've now replaced. 

 

Old arms:

 

 

Sanded back, primed and painted with satin black (Halfords):

 

 

Fitted to the car, quite a small difference but in person it's more obvious that they definitely needed a paint, tidier now:

 

 

My mirror caps had been battered over the years:

 

 

 

Sanded back and painted, a little orange peel but I will go over these with a machine polisher and cutting compound when I can park near a plug on a drive:

 

 

Someone had reversed into me whilst I was parked outside my house with a towbar:

 

[

 

Cleaned the panel and applied body filler:

 

 

Sanded back with 600-800 grit:

 

 

Finished off with 1000-1200 grit and primed with grey plastic primer (Halfords) and also fixed some other areas on the panel whilst I was at it:

 

 

First coat:

 

 

Second coat before clear coat:

 

 

Fitted to the car, not perfect but a lot better than it was, I need to machine polish it all to bring the shine out but when I can get near a plug I will (harder than you think in London):

 

 

 

 

Edited by elektrikbanana, 04 January 2021 - 05:39 PM.

[elektrikbanana]

Today was a bit unsuccessful in the rain but can't say I'm surprised. 

 

Starting with the good news, I've bought an ABS plastic replica of my driver side headlight washer cap as the one I had on there was also a replica that I fitted in summer and it was really bad quality (deformed in the sun), this one is far better and is looking quite good after paint. There's a reason I lost my last genuine one but we'll get on to that..

 

Sanded with 3000: 

 

 

Primed:

 

 

Second coat and clear coat, bath makes a not bad booth in a pinch:

 

 

 

Replaced missing speed nut fitted to bumper so I can fit another T20 into the arch liner as there was a missing one:

 

 

Of course this happened which I'll need to extract somehow:

 

 

Stock boost pipework is somewhat holding on still:

 

 

My passenger side headlight washer has been slowly leaking, which in turn had killed my horns at my last MOT, it also means I can't clean my windshield with my dipped beams on or it will leak more so has been annoying me.

 

It's quite difficult to find these bits without paying over the odds for them or travelling halfway across the country, unfortunately the one I collected earlier this week from another car is leaking from the cylinder as well (just my luck) which I didn't discover until I leaked all my windscreen wash fluid out on the ground by connecting it, here's a an example of it in the sink where you can see it escaping from the cylinder. For now I've refitted my old one.

 

 

I use a different garage for getting my MOT's done which I don't really trust to do any work to the car as my usual garage doesn't do tests but last year my horn had failed and I needed to get it fixed asap to pass my MOT so I had them do it. Not only did they only replace the high tone so I have a ridiculous sounding horn at the moment, but they chopped the OEM loom to connect it.

 

 

As you can see the washer is still leaking on to it so they didn't even work out the actual issue which they should have done as technically my defective headlight washer is also a fail. At least I've had a look now and can see what's happening. Here you can also see what they've fitted and what has happened to the loom.

 

 

Here's the OEM low tone fitted from another car and I've isolated the chopped up wiring to repair once I get another high tone horn. I've positioned the output slightly upwards to avoid water ingress from the road.

 

 

So on the to do list is source another functioning lift cylinder for the headlight washer to fix my leak and to also get a high tone horn with bracket and a section of loom/the connecter so I can make a repair. Was hoping to get this sorted all at the same time but the bumper will need to come off again.

 

On a positive note I did fit a new bumper guide as you can see my old one has some slight damage, it's not fixed the bumper not sitting 100% flush with the arch however so not too sure what the issue is there, also here you can see my arch liner which desperately needs replacing and is also on the list to do.

 

[elektrikbanana]

MOT passed with no advisories (?!) - which is good.

 

Much happier with the low tone horn fitted again, sounds infinitely better than whatever aftermarket rubbish was put on here even without the high tone at the moment, will be fitting that next week along with another headlight washer then that corner should be all sorted. 

[Gti Fly]

£2 for the boot struts ?!

I need some for my R32 , would you kind sharing the ecp part number for them ?

[elektrikbanana]

£2 for the boot struts ?!

I need some for my R32 , would you kind sharing the ecp part number for them ?

 

Product code: 859440551

https://www.eurocarp...earch/859440551

 

They seem good quality replacements and already have dots of grease applied from factory to the ball sockets which is handy.

[Gti Fly]

Product code: 859440551
https://www.eurocarp...earch/859440551

They seem good quality replacements and already have dots of grease applied from factory to the ball sockets which is handy.

Thanks so much !

[yurtesen]

Do they slow down when nearly fuly open? In original struts is dampener which slows them down.

[elektrikbanana]

Do they slow down when nearly fuly open? In original struts is dampener which slows them down.

 

I've never actually noticed my OEM ones doing this, probably as they were already weak with age. I would say these don't slow down at the end of their travel but don't have enough force to cause stress on the boot hinge and it doesn't bounce off the limit of the hinge anyway when the boots fully open - I'll do a quick video tomorrow to demonstrate. 

[elektrikbanana]

Here's a video of the struts from ECP: 
 
 
 
I take back what I said on my previous post, they do bounce off the hinge if you totally let go, but I never actually do that (apart from here to demonstrate) and always lift the tailgate up with my hand anyway so not much of an issue for me but something to be aware of.
I still prefer this than the condition of my stock ones, as when they begin to dampen at the end of travel the struts just ran out of steam and the boot would hang half open unless you pushed it up which is quite annoying if you've already let go and expected it to continue.
 
Got some heated windscreen washer jets today to replace the ones that I accidentally sent to the scrapyard along with my old bonnet. I've had a bit of a headache trying to get these as I ordered some from a car with the winter pack on eBay and received standard nozzles in the post so was using those for a few weeks which also had an awful spray pattern. This set thankfully is in great condition as were my originals so happy I've sorted that.
 

 
Old units removed:
 

 
Replaced, caps back on all back together:
 

 
Good pattern across the screen:
 

 
aaaaand immediately reminded that my headlight washer is leaking, which killed my original horns (new low tone I fitted in the week is temporarily positioned out the way of this drip until I fit the high tone and get a non-leaking lift cylinder):
 

 
I also got today a high tone horn from another car and a section of horn loom to make a repair to mine with, cleaned the loom up first:
 

 
Amazing how clean you can get the plastic if its not been in the sun:
 

 
I'll use one of these connectors to attach to where the garage sliced my loom to fit a generic horn and thus restoring my horns and wiring to factory:
 

 
Waiting on a new headlight washer still from yet another car then I'll tackle that and the horn in one go.
 
Tried to fit some T20's in here to replace the missing screws and realised they take those smaller philips heads with a washer as you can see on the left hand side in this pic and also on top of some headlight top covers at the front of the bay, will need to order some new ones to fill the gaps.
 

 
Having a look at this it looks like my bumper is actually on correctly but my wing is fitted too far to the left and my headlight also fitted to the extreme left of its mounting position, might need to tweak that someday.
 

 
Investigated some water in the real light, that third nipple on these clusters will be the death of me trying to get these out:
 

 
Dried this up, I'm sure this was also contributing to the condensation which I'm very delighted I seem to have fixed for the most part after opening the flap under the pollen filter:
 

 
Found the issue, I've already resealed my rear bumper vents and checked my sunroof drain is connected (and poured some water through), so this has to be it:
 

 
Obviously has run into here at some point which I've dried up, will need to replace that board soon but it's dry enough for just now and the wheel well has been dried also. There was only beads of water in here so not a terrible leak. I've ordered a new gasket to fit to the cluster.
 
Dried the seal and cleaned behind the light (mrs was pleased):
 

 

 
Getting there with the small things!

Edited by elektrikbanana, 08 January 2021 - 05:46 PM.

[elektrikbanana]

Today I removed my driver side door card and door liner to reseal underneath to fix a small bit of water ingress that was happening from under the door liner. I've noticed a periodically damp drivers footwell carpet at the edge near the door, and could see the trickle of water down the sill trim inside so wanted to sort this out to help when I fix my rear light seal.

 

Since manually moving the flap under the pollen filter (G71 I think, could be wrong) I've had no condensation inside the car at all and driving on the motorway this week has been a dream. Should have checked that some years ago after I had my recirc flap connection terminated. Close to being fully water tight again, at least VAG aren't in the boat business.

 

I'm also aiming to fix my door handle LED on the drivers door as it's flickering as if it has a loose connection. 

 

Door card removed, getting it over the seal at the top was actually the trickiest bit, was careful not to break any clips:

 

 

Interesting some stickers and parts on the car say 2003 when it's a 2002:

 

 

Last time I had my door card off was to fix my window that had been smashed with a brick, I was doing this in an office car park near uni at the time just before Christmas so was a bit stressed trying to get it done, I clearly rushed reconnecting my door handle LED as is bit messy:

 

 

Offending perished seal:

 

 

 

Removed the old seal, was in good condition apart from that corner for some reason, I'm aiming to replace the bottom half of the seal:

 

 

Most 10mm bolts removed so I can get underneath:

 

 

Rough fit of new seal:

 

 

Bolts refitted and seal in place, imperfect around the tight bends but I hope it's all okay, time will tell:

 

 

5mm stripped from LED wires:

 

 

Connected to the loom with tabs if I ever need to remove easily, no solder just crimped together:

 

 

All working and back together:

 

 

Edited by elektrikbanana, 11 January 2021 - 04:58 PM.

[elektrikbanana]

I ordered a replacement rear wiper arm from an MK5 ED30 on ebay last week, on closer inspection of my old one from ebay and this genuine one there are some differences in the spring and it provides a bit more force on the arm on initial inspection which is good.

 

Here's it fitted, I later lowered its resting position a few degrees as it's a bit high here, car is filthy from the motorway:

 

 

Unfortunately I seem to have developed a weak rear washer jet, my initial thought was broken c-pillar connection, leaking 90 degree connector on the back of the motor or a sheared metal pipe within the motor mechanism. I removed the jet and tried again, to my delight I had about 3ft of water spray from the back of the car so don't think I have a leak internally somewhere which is good, was expecting to have to rip half the back of the car apart. 

 

 

Cleaning the jet with a paperclip:

 

 

I put everything back together and had the same problem so I presume it's an issue with the jet, I tried to blow through it and couldn't so presume it's something stuck in there I can't get to. I've ordered a new nozzle which should hopefully sort it. The wiper blade now makes even contact with the screen which will be helpful to keep the rear window clean when driving in the rain/wet roads which always annoyed me not being able to see properly. 

[adam-]

I think we have the same bathroom sink!  

[yurtesen]

 

I take back what I said on my previous post, they do bounce off the hinge if you totally let go, but I never actually do that (apart from here to demonstrate) and always lift the tailgate up with my hand anyway so not much of an issue for me but something to be aware of.

 

I had similar experience with cheap gas springs. Then I changed to some stabilus struts which has dampens motion when nearly fully open, but more expensive....

[elektrikbanana]

I had similar experience with cheap gas springs. Then I changed to some stabilus struts which has dampens motion when nearly fully open, but more expensive....

 

Like these? https://www.onlineca...lus-291425.html

 

Might go for these for the small increase in price, considering putting my OEM ones back in at the moment as the bouncing is actually more annoying than lifting the tailgate without assistance, classic ECP selling inferior parts. 

[elektrikbanana]

I think we have the same bathroom sink!

 

Hahaha no way, I bet you've got a better spot for cleaning your car parts though 

[elektrikbanana]

Sorting the rear light seal gasket today and fixing an annoying radio rattle.

 

A foam manufacturing place makes these and sells them on eBay:

 

 

Comparison:

 

 

Fitted:

 

 

Still some slight damp down here, ideally want to poke a paper towel down there to dry it out without having to remove the rear boot trim which the thought of doing makes me want to jump out a window.

 

 

Pulling this out, went for a drive with it removed to confirm something to do with the radio is making a rattle when low down in the rev range:

 

 

Think it might help if I fill the gaps in the cage with something absorbent: 

 

 

Sponge? I ended up putting it flat and not folded over:

 

 

 

Moleskin (~2mm) which I use at work for stopping actors clothes making noise when sticking microphones to them on the contact points of the cage/radio, it's soft and a bit squidey:

 

 

I've yet to go for a drive to test it but will update, I'm sure you're all thrilled to find out

[elektrikbanana]

Took the bumper off again today to sort wiring the OEM high tone horn back in, don't have a new headlight washer yet as the person sending it to me has covid unfortunately so there's a delay. 

 

Glad to see the radiator wiring has been messed about with in the past: 

 

Trimming these back and exposing some fresh wire:

 

 

One done, just twisted together and crimped:

 

 

 

All back together and working wonderfully:

 

 

Wiper garbage collection:

 

 

While I was here I wanted to move my crash bar to the left ever so slightly as my drivers side headlight washer jet doesn't line up with the bumper cutout correctly, a hangover from my bump a few years ago.

 

Drivers side:

 

 

Passengers side which is correct:

 

 

Pretty sure there's meant to be a bolt in there...

 

 

Pretty sure the crash bar should move independently from the plate behind it but almost looks like they've been spot welded together, I couldn't get it to adjust in any way unfortunately. 

 

Edit: I realise they are meant to be together but still couldn't get anything to move and didn't want to take the whole thing off as probably wouldn't go back on knowing my luck.

 

 

So I am still left with this:

 

 

 

 

Not sure how to go about fixing this I'm scratching my head, problems like this are an absolute nightmare and make me want to get another car. 

 

To top that off my 6 month old braided lines are lasting well :

 

 

At least the horns work. 

Edited by elektrikbanana, 17 January 2021 - 05:04 PM.