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Tolucophoto 1.8T

264K views 2K replies 183 participants last post by  tolucophoto 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
*tolucophoto build thread*

Links to mods

Stubby aerial
Smoked LED indicators (halfway down post)
Depo projectors + HIDs (halfway down post)
Sharan badge (halfway down post)
HotTuning coilovers
Whiteline front ARB

Recaro leather interior
Dewipered
Show plates
Cold air feed
Leather arm rest
K&N 57i (custom pipework)
Toyo Snowprox (winters)
GTI 3 spoke wheel
Custom cat-back exhaust
Glass wiper plug
4motion rear valance
US rear lights
Rear upper strut brace
Rotiform NUEs (9.5Js all round)
Rotiform NUEs (staggered)
Mud flaps removed
New HIDs
Colour coding (sort of)
Studio photos
Leather handbrake
Black sunvisors
Black interior lights/ sensors/ handles
Black rooflining 1
Black rooflining 2
Black rooflining 3
LED interior
New rear discs
Anni front splitter
Painted brake callipers
Black seatbelt caps
Black vanity mirror lights
S3 upper and lower braces
Rear camber
Polished Rotiform NUEs
Polished show plates
Plate holders
Bora vents
New heater dials
S3 coolant cover
Black sunglasses holder
TT style pedals
T111 UCO
Polybushed drop links
New GTI 3 spoke steering wheel
Wrapping centre console
Re-wrapping front badge
NUEs fully polished
Sharan rear brake return clips

Polished oil dipstick handle
GTI grille badge

RAMAIR Jetstream XL induction kit

New headlight protectors

FK AK Street coilovers

Polybush top mounts

R32/S3/TT wishbone bushes

1.8T engine + mods
1.8T engine
Sachs clutch/ G60 Flywheel

RTech supersize TIP
3" MAF

AUM Looms
Forge 007p
Milltek 3" downpipe / sports cat
Boost gauge
Passat clocks
Polished inlet manifold
Coilpack loom conduit
Injector loom conduit
Polished 007p
Painted rocker and throttle body
New injector seats
Fitting 288mm brakes
Forge coolant hose kit
Braided fuel hoses
1.8T lambdas
Turbo heat shield
Vac hose


Lower engine cover

New sump

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Thought I'd start a build thread as I've had my Golf 2 years now and I've finally started to do some proper mods to it.
This thread isn't going to be anything ground breaking, but as I'm a photographer, I love taking photos and want somewhere to post them!

Starting at the beginning… (sorry for the life story!)
*2003*
I started learning to drive when I was 17 and my parents gave me my first car as a Christmas present that year.
It was a beast! 1993 L-reg Citroen AX Jive 1.0 in white. [H]
Fitted a headunit with a sub and amp and spent the next few years deafening myself.
When I went to University I didn't have anywhere to keep it, so unfortunately it had to go.

*2009*
After I finished Uni I was on the look out for a new car.
Living in the centre of Leeds, I knew insurance was pretty steep, so I was on the look out for a 1.4.
I'd always liked Mk4s but didn't think I'd be able to afford one.
Eventually found one in great condition for a decent price on eBay 5 minutes from my mate's house (who is a VW fanatic).
He went to view it and agreed it was perfect so a few days later, and £3000 down, I picked it up.
2003 black pearl on 77,000.
BuildThread01-1.jpg
BuildThread01-2.jpg


I had just got a new job working in a photography studio, but the pay wasn't great and the frequency of work was even worse.
My original plan was to keep the 1.4 for a year, save up and upgrade to a more powerful Mk5 Golf. So I decided not to spend too much on it….
(Never works out the way you hope!)

My first mod was to fit the single din headunit, sub and amp from my AX.
I began looking on the Internet for guides on how to dismantle interior parts and run the wires through the firewall.
I stumbled upon a really helpful website called UK-MKIVs.net [:D]
Followed a guide and got the cabling sorted.
Decided I didn't want to screw the amp to the back of the seat like in my old car, so I decided to hide it under the boot liner inside the spare wheel.
The amp is only small so I bought some MDF and cut it to size, painted it black, mounted the amp to it and wired it all up.
Pretty happy with the result! Nice and tidy.
BuildThread02-1.jpg


BuildThread02-2.jpg

Its designed so that if I need to get the spare out, the MDF board just lifts out of the way.

I also fitted a black aluminium tax disc holder.

A month after owning the car, I moved to a house with a drive and garage.
A few weeks later, the car was on the drive overnight while I was clearing the garage when some scumbag broke in. [:mad:]
They smashed the passenger front window and stole the front panel off my CD player, but not the player itself!
This was the first time anyone on the street had had any trouble like this and the police said they think they were targeting Golfs in the area.

So this meant some new window glass and a new headunit. [:(] (And I park in the garage every night now!)
I replaced the headunit with a Kenwood KDC-W7544U.
You can control an iPod from the display, and most importantly, the colours can be matched almost perfectly to the dash!
BuildThread03-1.jpg


BuildThread03-2.jpg


The week after the break in, my bad luck continued. Exiting a roundabout near my house, a car changed into my lane and side swiped me. [:mad:]
Dented the driver's door and ripped my mirror cover off.
BuildThread04-3.jpg


Driver was an 88-year-old man. He could barely walk, and said it was his fault.
To cut a long story short, he then denied liability. [facepalm]
My insurance company, Direct Line, tried to mess me around encouraging me to pay my excess, even though I had a witness.
Many phone calls and 9 MONTHS later, I get a letter saying he's admitted liability. Wouldn't use Direct Line again even if it were free!
New door skin, mirror case and re-sprayed (including my front bumper for some reason??) and it was all back to normal.
During the repair I had a '59 Vauxhall Astra 1.6. It was dreadful. [:O]

I fitted a rear aero wiper, as my old one was pathetic!
 
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#452 ·
The next mod on the list was bought from the forum classifieds.
S3 upper and lower strut braces. I saw them for a great price and snapped them up.
However, I've not got round to fitting them yet.
For the upper I need to drill some holes in the towers (which I'm not confident doing!) and to fit the lower I need to fit some rivnuts. I don't have a tool for that and I'm not 100% sure where they fit.

If anyone wants to help me fit them lot me know!
 
#453 ·
Also last year as the winter was approaching (so probably not the best time!) I decided I'd had enough of my mud flaps and removed them.

There were a few reasons:
-I didn't like the look anymore. They made the car look a bit cheap (plasticy)
-They caught on speedbumps and my drive as they were the lowest point on the car
-My winters are slightly lower profile than my summers and it drops the car around 15mm, so they would catch even more
-I'm planning to go slightly lower in the spring by removing the rear adjusters (hopefully) so they would just catch even more

The only negative is there are small marks on the wings where the flaps rubbed some paint off, which might need sorting in the spring.

I also took the opportunity to clean the mud out from behind the arch liners.



It makes the poke look better too:

Just needs a slight more drop at the back.
 
#455 ·
I remember telling you about the Costco Jack when i bought the RS4 reps from you. Mines still fine just the rubber jack pad is destroyed
Yeah I was going to buy the same one from ebay for about £40 more! Saved me some money there.
The rubber on mine is damaged too but its not really that important.
 
#465 ·
For anyone who has the phantom footwell leak problem (not from the sunroof gutters)
This is what I found when it happened to me recently:


It comes out of the door at the rubber strip underneath (not sure how it gets there from the top),
but it gets past the sill rubber where you can see in the photo, under the plastic sill trim and down into the footwell.
Not sure the best way of stopping it, but it only ever happens on mine when I'm parked facing uphill.
And then I have to dry my rear drivers footwell...
 
#471 ·
End of October one of my HID ballasts started to play up.
It was flickering slightly and it cut out a few times while warming up but eventually stayed on.
As I left it longer it got worse until it wouldn't stay on.
Ordered a new set of 6000K 35Ws.



Fitted them in the dark:


Perfect light cutoff
 
#474 ·
Those are some lovely beams sir.
Lol. Cheers *tips top hat*

Liking the driving experience pics


Just had to buy a pair of ballasts for mine this week, one would ignite when it wanted. The beam pics show just how good the Depos' really are! lovely shot
Yeah sounds like same problem as mine. Was about 3 years old though!
I've always been happy with the beam from these lights.
Hopefully this shows what a good HID kit and some proper projectors can produce and that it's better than standard bulbs in the stock headlights.
 
#475 ·
There's a road near my house called Sunset Road.
This is why:
Posted Image

The Sunsets by tolucophoto, on Flickr

While I was out doing some photos of the sunset I decided to get a couple of shots of the car.
I hadn't got round to washing because of the weather it so it looks filthy on the photos, but I quite like the images.

Posted Image

Parked by tolucophoto, on Flickr

Posted Image

Sunset Road by tolucophoto, on Flickr

Just wish it was clean! [facepalm]
 
#476 ·
My new house (I say new... moved in April!) has an odd shaped drive.
The kerb slopes upwards, but the drive slopes steeply down as there's a manhole cover. Then it straightens out.
This means the centre of the car bottoms out slightly on the highest point.
Not only does this stop me from going much lower, it catches on the centre exhaust bracket frame. Also means I can't fit any skirts.
I had a look under the car and noticed the bolts that hold the bracket to the frame point down further than any other part.



I decided to shorten them. They still grip with plenty of threads but don't catch the drive anymore.
Although now on my winter wheels (which make the car drop about 15mm) the whole frame scrapes on the drive.
Unfortunately there's nothing else that can be done, short of raising it up higher on the back.... NAH!
 
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