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I have a ton of poo poo going on and I'm about to finally break ground on my new garage, but yet every day I find myself browsing craigslist. Normally I'm just looking for auto parts or tools, but I was browsing the cars for sale for a friend and came across something very interesting. This was the exact CL title "1999 VW Volkswagen GTI Drifting Race Car Supercharger Drifter"  Looking at the pictures (no engine bay shots) I came to a few conclusions: 1) Mid-engine, RWD, supercharged 3.8L engine swap 2) It has the cluster, PCM, ignition, and shifter from a 04+ GTP, so that was likely the donor vehicle 3) Fuel cell up front, engine/transaxle in the rear with a plexi window behind the front seats 4) Roof scoop for cold air and/or water intake  5) Whomever did this should not be allowed to install a light bulb 6) Hopefully whomever did this at least had decent mechanical skills 7) Someone dumped a lot of time or money into the body work but picked a terrible color scheme. Rear fenders are flared way out with the bumper to accommodate the wider rear track, everything is molded in as well as the roof scoop. After sitting in the sun for the last two years, there is no cracking/peeling on any of the fiberglass/bondo work. Went and checked it out today. In the rear, the job is excellent. They grafted the GTP subframe to bolt into place in the back of the GTI. Welds are all professional looking. Likely done by a shop. Uses the GTP control arms, struts, bearings, axles, etc in the rear. Engine looks weathered, but has been sitting for 2 years and the roof scoop dumping water on it doesn't help. Wiring is gross. Wires all over the place, wires twisted together, no tape, no connectors on junctions, extra connectors doing nothing, crap just hanging around. Need to take a closer look at the fuel cell and battery mounts under the hood. Looks like it was done by a different person. Coolant lines run along the exhaust tunnel to the front to a large aluminum radiatior. Power steering lines as well, no A/C lines but it has a compressor. Was told it used to run and then shut off. Would no longer crank, seller not sure if battery or something else. The seller (pawn shop  ) was ready to get rid of it after having it sitting in their lot for so long. I picked it up for $800. Was about 150 miles away, but I have AAA so I can buy/sell cars to flip so just cost me my gas to go there and check it out.Just got it back home a couple of hours ago. Already got it running. Not bad for $800. http://youtu.be/5YKJmYCG4WQ Need to rip out the interior and start over on that front. Not sure what I'm going to do about the exterior yet.
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Aug 16, 2014 23:17
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The roof scoop was letting rainwater get above the headliner, which would then make it's way down to the division window and down into the carpet. First order of business was to gut the interior to get a better look at the wiring and to dry out the inside. This is the level of the electrical expertise we are dealing with:  Anyway, got the interior out. Might replace the carpet, may not, depends on how it cleans up. Not sure if I'm going to repair this job or start over with a new harness. Lots of poo poo wrong here. Also, looking for opinions. They built a rear shelf over the engine, and installed two radiator fans on it (2 fans running off of a single 14ga wire!!!). I'm sure the roof scoop and fans generate some air flow through the engine bay, but the air filter is basically behind the driver seat and is closer to the ground. There is no floor pan around the engine, it's all open on the bottom and I feel that's where most of the air flow is coming from. I want to block off the roof scoop (to stop water from getting in) and then have a parcel shelf above the engine. It will probably get warm back there but I don't think it's any worse than a hot engine bay would be under the hood of a car or the interior parts on a hot summer day. Having a shelf with no fans would give some cargo space which is currently non-existant. But then I would have a roof scoop that does nothing. Found $2 in change, total cost now $798. It runs, started every time. Shocking.
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Aug 17, 2014 03:14
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Image dump!     Letting the inside and carpeting dry out some. Any thoughts on the rear shelf idea? Also the gas pedal wires (drive by wire) are long enough for me to remove from the car and stand 5 feet behind the car with the pedal in my hand. The fuel cell has been fitted with a stock pump and sending unit from what appears to be a Chrysler product judging from the connectors.
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Aug 17, 2014 15:56
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I'm amazed this person got this to run. I was wondering how they defeated the anti-theft system (non-trivial on this year) and then I see the BCM still there next to the PCM. So they didn't defeat it, they just brought it along. Steps to start car: Turn on rocker switch for ignition Turn (Pontiac) key to 'on' position Push start button (will not start if Pontiac key is missing) There is some sort of LCD next to the start button. Not sure if it's some sort of OBD readout or one of the info LCD's from the GTP. Currently doesn't power on. Need to figure out why the VW system isn't getting ignition power (windows don't work). VW headlights, taillights, door/vanity lights, keyless all work. GTP cluster works with tach and speedo but ECT and fuel level don't seem to correspond correctly. Turn signals, headlights, MIL indicators don't seem to be hooked to the cluster.
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Aug 17, 2014 16:36
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R38?
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Aug 17, 2014 17:19
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          Any ideas on what looks like the trip computer thing? The firewall consisted of a foam panel with foil backing, a thin layer of fiberglass, a layer of fabric insulation, and then the carpeting. I think at least one layer of the firewall should be non-flammable, right? Fabrication on the front end all looks great, either a shop fitted the engine and this idiot did the rest or maybe the project changed hands once already when the first person ran out of money or something. There is no way both parts were done by the same person.
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Aug 17, 2014 22:52
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Tommychu posted:How do you feel about Megasquirt? Eh, not the biggest fan. Would make the wiring easier, but would leave a lot of things on the table. This will be easy to have the gauges, trip computer, pedal, all that working with no headaches. You don't see a ton of GM's running MS, because the factory ECU's are so tunable - and this one is no exception. Speaking of the trip computer, turns out that is the factory 04 GTP driver information center, just disassembled. It stores odometer, trip, distance to empty, mileage, as well as some OBD parameters (trans temp, etc). Will be useful to have. I'd like to see the mileage stored, I did a VIN history and the donor vehicle was a 2004 GTP that was scrapped in 2006, so it is likely a low mileage swap. Of course, it could have been pieced together too, I'll never know for sure.
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Aug 17, 2014 23:43
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Ordered some pigtails at work today so I have something to mess with tonight. Also printed out about 50 pages of connector views and diagrams. Need to get to the junkyard to get more connectors and some VW interior bits. From what I can gather the interior parts from a MkIV Jetta are the same? Can anyone confirm this? Unfortunately I won't be able to go until next weekend. I think the engine harness can be saved, just everything between the VW poo poo and the harness needs to be started over from scratch.
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Aug 18, 2014 17:56
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So what color should it be? Was originally red as you may have gathered from the pictures. Probably going to be dipped as it is cheaper than wrap. First condition: Color is terrible now, it has to go. Second condition: No lime green.
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Aug 19, 2014 00:53
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I'm still up in the air as the car has to be mechanically fine before I mess with it cosmetically, but I kinda like the matte orange color. Also, a comical side note. The wheels on it are universal 5 lugs, using the smaller 5 lug VW pattern on the front and the larger 5 lug GM pattern on the back. Smart guy!
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Aug 20, 2014 00:08
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Took the BCM connectors apart and removed all the unneeded wires from the connectors. I double checked what was there versus what I would deem necessary, and shockingly it was correct. Also, removed the 'driver information center' display from the car and figured out the wiring for it. It stores the mileage, trip, and avg speed. It can also display volts, boost, trans temp, compass, outside temp, as well as some other parameters and warnings. Since I did a VIN history with GM on the car and realized it was scrapped very early in its life I suspected it was going to be a pretty low mileage swap ... I was right. Donor car was a 2004, car had a branded title in 2006. DIC shows only 24,000 miles. Score. Pics in a few.
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Aug 20, 2014 03:08
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Kotaru posted:Whats that Vortec in the background for. I promised my brother in law the the 5.3L that came out of the Colorado for his El Camino. I sold that engine but quickly replaced it before he noticed it was missing. Will be a thread for that once it gets tackled. It's going to be a ways away though. As for the GTI, here are some pics.  Working DIC display, showing current stored mileage.  One of the BCM connectors after removing the rats nest (just power and ground on this one)  The other BCM connector. This one has data communication to PCM, OBD, DIC, and cluster, power, ground, and the security wires going to the ignition switch.  I snuck off to the junkyard at lunch today and got pigtails for a few things. Pictured is the ignition switch.  New PCM pigtail (one of three)  This is one of the most  moments I've had thus far. The single large pin is the main ground wire for the PCM and all sensors to chassis. They wallowed out the connector and soldered the individual wire to the pin on the computer. And then 3 inches up they twisted it to another wire. No tape, no connector. I think the connector can't be saved, which means I'll keep the ground wire on the new connector and remove all the other wires and then transplant the wires 1 by 1 to the new connector. Better than soldering them all, I guess. Also have a new pedal/pedal position sensor assembly and a proper pigtail for it. Probably won't need the pedal but I have it if I do. The local junkyard had a 04 Grand Prix last week and that row was gone today. No other local yards have any 04+ GP's  . Also scoped out some Jetta interior parts, going to pick them up as time allows.
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Aug 20, 2014 04:03
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CountOfNowhere posted:Good luck! VW = Varies Widely Got a console from an Mk4, it's different than mine but that could be from the PO frankensteining something to fit. Also got a glovebox from the same Jetta and it does not fit. All mounting points are the same, but the Jetta gets a larger (on the inside) glovebox for some reason and it will not fit into my dash. Awesome. Found another Mk4 Jetta in the junkyard and it did have the right glove box but it was broken. Every other Jetta (10+) were all missing the gloveboxes. They must be made of paper. I did get some nice black manual cloth seats that bolt in, some interior trim pieces, sun visors, and a few little pieces that were missing/broken. Since I'm going to have to open the hood to fill up, I also replaced the terribly rigged hood release mechanism and cable with some from the junkyard. Works well now. Back to the wiring, I'm thinking of mounting the ignition switch in the console, Saab style. Otherwise still untangling the rats nest I have inherited.
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Aug 24, 2014 17:26
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Have a real firewall 2/3 done, not much time since last update. Once I have the firewall done, going to mount the computer and fusebox and get to work reconnecting things. Will be exciting to have a firewall that is made of non-flammable materials! Also, about to re-start my garage build thread. Should be breaking ground in the next week or so on the foundation. The building itself is arriving tomorrow! 30x40x14 
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Aug 30, 2014 02:22
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Updates! I decided to make the firewall out of two pieces, so that I can run the wires into the cabin between the two halves. Extending the wires to put them anywhere else would be a major undertaking and they're better off inside the cabin anyway for heat/weathering/accessibility. I mounted up the fuse box and PCM, then re-installed the seat to make sure there isn't any issue with clearance. In the pictures the seat is slid back all the way and when reclined it touches the top bar of the firewall before it gets close to the PCM or fuse box.    Looks better so far. Still need to tie in a couple wires and fix a few connectors yet.
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Sep 5, 2014 23:53
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ultimateforce posted:I might have missed it, have you done a burnout in this car yet? No, between the standing water sloshing around, gas pedal only working *sometimes*, and the clusterfuck of wiring I decided I was going to fix all that first. I did drive it up my street but that's it so far.
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Sep 6, 2014 13:52
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Couldn't find any black paint, but I did find some undercoating. Figured it would work just as well if not better. Need to make up the endcaps still, but I got the easy part done and that allowed me to mount the fusebox and PCM.  Next I put two layers of sound/temp insulation over what I could on the firewall, while leaving the bolts exposed so it doesn't need to be removed to remove the firewall. Going to possibly have another layer of insulation and then carpet or maybe just some carpet over what I have now.  I don't have any pictures, but I fabricated a bracket to mount the ignition cylinder close to the factory location on the column. It's probably 3 times the size of the VW cylinder but all that stuff is MIA and the GTP cylinder will play nice with the BCM/PCM so that's what I'll use. Also traced back the wires and used my new pigtail for the pedal sensor. That should take care of the gas pedal non-compliance issue from before.  Going to tie in the serial data lines into the VW OBDII port instead of having a second OBD port. Then I need to figure out what the hell the rest of these wires up by the column are. Should be fuel level, radiator fans, cluster, driver info center, and the VW ignition wires ... nothing is labeled of course.
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Sep 7, 2014 02:40
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some texas redneck posted:It's not that hard to bypass the "security" features in the GTP ignition switch, if you want to eventually go back to the VW ignition switch - which should keep it looking a little closer to stock. Bypassing the security on a 2004+ GP and 2004 specifically is a non-trivial matter. Best bet is to license it with HPTuners and disable the codes, then wire up your own switch. This doesn't work on every car though, and I'm not going to be a guinea pig to find out. Also, the wiring, cylinder, and switch are all missing from the car so it would be just as much to put a stock unit back in. Corolla is still kicking it in my yard. Engine is in the garage. It needs a lot of TLC. I regasketed/painted the engine and was planning on re-doing the harness and kept working on other things instead. Edit: Forgot to post the update ... While wiring the ignition switch, I was checking current draw on the VW system. With the battery wires hooked up, it drew .85A initially, and then dropped down to .3A. The ignition wires however, were drawing about 7A with nothing on in the car. That seems a bit to much for what should only be the VW BCM. Guess I'll need to start pulling fuses and see what is stealing my amps. FuzzKill fucked around with this message at 19:03 on Sep 7, 2014 |
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Sep 7, 2014 19:01
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Figured out the 7A draw. Automatic headlights with ignition  After 30 seconds of YouTube knowledge, that was bypassed. B+ draw is .5A initially and then ~.3A of which 95% is the central locking system (probably the keyless receiver plus whatever current the VW BCM draws. Ignition draw is .85A initially and then the same .3A after a couple seconds. Not bad. Got it to crank with the key after making a few temporary connections, still need to hammer out a few more things. Need to wire in the cluster, driver info center, paddle shifters, BCM power, and OBD data to all of the above. Then I think all that is left is the fuel pump. FP has two 14ga red wires going through the firewall and spliced to the pump/sending unit pigtail. I have no idea which is power and which is ground, and the pump is not a GM unit, and not the VW unit so I'm not sure what to lookup for the connector pinouts. Going by the connector, I would guess it's a mopar pump but that is just a guess. Hopefully with some brake cleaner I can get a part number off the top without having to remove it from the 'fuel cell'. Also need to check if the ohm range is going to jive with my cluster or not. One would hope that it would, since you could put literally any pump into the cell.
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Sep 9, 2014 01:01
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revmoo posted:0.3 seems high, shouldn't you be targeting like .05 or so idle drain? It does seem high, when I remove the central locking fuse it goes down to .03-.05A ... not sure if maybe it is staying 'awake' or what the issue is but it should be drawing something since it is listening for the key fob or door press/lock cylinders/etc. But not .3A worth of listening. Going to leave it live for a longer amount of time and see if it goes to sleep. Anyway, I tracked down the fuel pump, it's from an early 2000's Dodge Caravan. Awesome. Not sure why they went with that pump, but I did find it does seem competently mounted in the fuel cell. I am going to bring home a few pumps and see what is going to fit best. I am getting no reading from the sending unit on the current assembly, otherwise I would leave it. Pump candidates: 01 Grand Caravan Flex fuel (assuming the sending unit is in the correct range to work with my cluster) the flex fuel will be a higher volume than the current pump and is dimensionally identical to what is in there now. Will go right into the cell with no issue. 04 GTP pump. Obviously the correct flow/pressure/sending unit. Not sure if it can go deep enough in the cell to be able to pick up the last couple gallons. Otherwise a shoe in. Also not sure if it will fit the current lock ring. 02 Chevrolet 1500 (flex) pump. Slightly different sending unit, but close enough in range to work correctly. Right pressure, flow etc. Very tall pump so I know it can reach the bottom of the tank. Not sure if it can be made to fit the current lock ring setup on top. I did get it running after tracing down the wiring for the Dodge pump. Still need to make the connections into the fuse box permanent as mentioned in the last update, I had to get a bunch of crap into the garage tonight which worked out well since I can start the GTI (and move it out of the way) with some alligator clips for the time being.
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Sep 11, 2014 04:10
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Amp draw seems to be better now, starts @ .17A and drops to .02A after a few seconds so I guess that's good. Don't think I changed anything though Fuel pump is resolved (I think). The hat size on the Caravan pump is so large that the GM pumps would pretty much fall into the fuel cell. The Dodge sending unit resistance is wayyyyy out of line from what I need. I took a sending unit resistor board from a GM pump and made it fit onto the Caravan pump assembly. Not quite the same size board, but close enough to make work. It needed to be just in the right position to read throughout the whole sweep, so I melted the plastic carrier a little bit to try and lock the board into place. I did it that way because I can't think of any adhesives that would work well bonding to plastic and being submerged in gasoline. Hopefully get the new unit installed tomorrow. Getting rained out tonight.
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Sep 12, 2014 02:54
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Got the new pump installed this morning. Had to tweak the float, of course in doing so it hits the side of the tank now so I'll have to take it out and tweak it again. But it works and the gauge reads correctly from 1/2 to E (float can't go above 1/2 yet) I loomed up most the wires I ran to the ignition switch and cluster. Started cleaning out the interior of the car.  Made my various fusebox connections, bcm, fan(s), fuel pump, sending unit, cluster power, grounds, tapshift, etc. Connected the serial data wire from the ECM to the BCM, cluster, and to where the driver info center will be. Taped up/loomed those wires. Checked everything over again, and verified functionality (read: does it start). With that all done (and working!) I can finally put some interior back in the car.  Sound insulation first  Then some carpet and seat(s)     Be jealous of my paddle shifters. Things to do still: Insurance/registration Driver info center/radio Wire data to OBD port so I can tune/read ECM Figure out center console options Finish firewall corners and top, carpet firewall Seal off roof scoop Find column shroud that will better fit over new lock cylinder location Change oil Flush/change coolant (currently water!?), it started to run hotter than it should have Things that will probably (maybe) get accomplished tomorrow: Change oil Driver info center OBD port
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Sep 13, 2014 03:37
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It is the GTP cluster so it all works as it should. Downside of that is that everything save the e-brake light and check engine light are over the data bus. That made the other parts (gas, temp, tach, speedo) simple, but now I need to wire in the VW turn signal, headlight, and etc to the GM BCM or the cluster won't indicate that information to the driver. Edit: Older clusters would have 15-20 wires going to them, this has 5 or 6 wires only.
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Sep 13, 2014 16:07
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Trying to flush out the coolant, I think there is a blockage in the engine. Before the chemical flush, I got a lot of small chunks and flakes of rust colored crap out, mostly from the radiator. I did as much as I could with the hose and then added the chemical flush and ran it till it got over temp again. Coolant didn't start to flow through the upper hose until it was already way over temp. Once I saw the flow I let it run for a minute more to see if the temps would come down but there wasn't enough flow (the radiator never changed temps) Got a little bit more stuff out after the chemical flush but I'm not satisfied that the issue is resolved. Going to pull the thermostat housing I guess and see what it looks like.
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Sep 13, 2014 18:24
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Old thermostat didn't look terrible but the new thermostat seemed to fix the flow problem. Ran it for much longer this time and it didn't even get hot enough to turn the fan on. This led to the discovery that the radiator has a slow leak. gently caress. If it was the stock radiator I really wouldn't care but it's a very nice thick aluminum radiator. I'll try and see if it can be repaired and probably look for a condenser as well while I've got the rad out.
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Sep 14, 2014 01:44
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Torque management is a bitch! Need to license the PCM with HPTuners so I can disable it as well as tune and erase some codes.
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Sep 14, 2014 19:53
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Germans have the worst harnesses. If I'm not mistaken, this is the same generation that can suffer from the coolant in the taillights problem. Anyway, this is the inside of the headlight harness. Figures why half the lights don't work.   I'm amazed the headlights haven't caught on fire to be honest. Next up, blower motor only worked on high. Figured easy fix, blower resistor. What I wasn't expecting:  Why would you put the resistor in the bottom of the blower box if there is any way water can get into it? How does water get into the blower box? Since presumably it was sitting under water, the contacts rusted out and became one with the pigtail. So now I need a new blower resistor pigtail as well. Oddly, the blower box was dry when I dropped down the resistor In other news, I made a new fascia for the driver information center, now with less meaningless/dangerous rocker switches and start buttons.  Also pressure tested the radiator and could find no leaks. Maybe it was leaking from a hose or was just steaming water from earlier? While I had it out I made new radiator mounts and fitted a dual fan assembly from a Dodge with roughly the same core size to my radiator. Now I can hook up a high and low fan and have better core coverage on the radiator.
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Sep 22, 2014 02:14
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I did something I've never done before. I downgraded my brakes. The whole front subframe from the donor car are bolted in the back of the GTI, so I have front struts, spindles, bearings, and brakes. The stock GTP front brakes are giant (by VW standards) cast iron single piston calipers. Which makes my rear brakes larger than the fronts. No good. There is a solution! Kind of. The 'track' GTP's or people obsessed with weight reduction figured that you can run Grand Am brakes. The Grand Am uses a slightly smaller rotor, same surface area pad, and has a slightly smaller caliper piston bore. But the GA calipers are aluminum and the rotors are a bit thinner so I believe it ends up being about a 20lb drop. With a slightly smaller piston, it should improve pedal feel as well as make the bias not as terrible as it was.  Stock setup.  New vs. old pads. Overall pad is larger, but contact area is about the same  New vs. old rotors. Slightly smaller, slightly thinner  All done Anyway, got everything installed, it still locks the rears up wayyyyy too quickly. So I'll need to do something else about the brake bias. Also got started on the corners of the firewall (that I've been avoiding) and the rear parcel shelf/engine cover.
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Oct 12, 2014 02:23
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Bajaha posted:Wait, does this mean you can add 4 wheel steering to this crazy project? Yeah I could, the rack and pinion was removed and replaced with a piece of box steel with female threaded ends. So I still have inner and outer tie rods in the back, as well as having fully adjustable camber/caster/toe just as you would in a typical front suspension. I made a decent score today in the junkyard, found a 2004 GTI that had just been set out a few days ago. So I changed my seats (again), got a new seat belt reel for the passenger side, new passenger side door panel, and the car had a good condition carpet so I grabbed that as well. Still need to find a good condition door panel for the driver side, the carpet/felt lining on the one in the junkyard was all torn up. The new seats fold forward and up with one handle for easy backseat (or engine) access. The other seats I had were from a Jetta so they didn't scoot forward as far and didn't look as cool. They also have more side and back bolstering.  New (left) vs Old  Installed Hopefully get the other corner of the firewall done and sealed tonight, we'll see.
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Oct 12, 2014 22:06
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I was productive today! I got the rear shelf covered, so that's ready to go. I finished both corners of the firewall and sealed them up. Once that was done I was able to reinstall the final carpeting over the firewall to cover the fusebox/ECM/screws/etc. After that I reinstalled the plexiglass divider that goes above the firewall and the rear shelf. So it's pretty much done. There's a few interior things I want to do, but the only thing holding it back from driving right now is the tires. Probably get some on it in the next couple days. Oh. And the roof scoop. Crap. I don't have any pics from today's progress, it was dark out and I had put away my worklights before I remembered to take pictures. I'll get some daytime pictures tomorrow.
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Oct 13, 2014 04:20
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One day I'll get home before dark ... Anyway, got some more small things. Got a new sunroof switch/dial. Mine was getting finicky (that's how you can tell it's a VW!) Got a center console that I may be able to frankenstein into place. Also got a few odd VW clips and etc that were missing. Also got a new hood latch and hazard switch that I forgot at work for the second day in a row now .... one day I'll remember. I'm supposed to get out early tomorrow so we'll see how that goes.
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Oct 15, 2014 00:01
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It's road worthy now with the firewall done, just needs tires. Going to use my truck and go get some tomorrow. Then just need to register it. Timelines are hard with so many different things going on. But looks like it'll be on the road just in time for sub 100° weather.
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Oct 15, 2014 17:10
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Pictures! Don't mind the open hood and bonus tools. I'm going to end up re-making the plexi window, as it broke in the top corner when removing it and I think I can do a better job.   New seats, partition wall up   What to do about that hideous color ... It is still a lot louder in the cabin than I was hoping, but it is nice to be able to run the engine without simultaneously baking and choking myself. Tires tomorrow! Registration sometime!
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Oct 15, 2014 23:56
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Bought 4 tires, got 2 mounted. I got some Continental extreme contact 225/40/18 for the front and Dunlop sport something or other 255/40/18 for the rear. Should give some grip ... Turns out the front spline drive lugs are different than the rear. The rear uses Dorman/Gorilla/generic spline drive M12x1.5 (6 spline). The key from my Genesis works to remove them. The fronts are spline drive as well, but they are some obscure (to me) 7 spline. I checked at work (Advance), then went to Pep boys, Napa, and Zone. All were 6 spline. I ordered a master locking lug removal kit at work - we'll see if it has the right one in it. I managed to get one off with the socket + hammer trick. Turns out it is 1/2-20 thread. I'm somewhat confused by this, as I think the GTI came with wheel bolts originally and they would almost surely be M12-1.5 as well. Someone got a wheel stud conversion kit for it (a good idea), but how or why they make one that converts it to a standard thread instead of a metric one is puzzling to me. Also, the work and headache involved in getting the one lug off wasn't worth the payoff. I was using my cheap tools because I didn't want to damage any good sockets or extensions with the hammer. This ended up causing more headache, as the extension broke off in the socket that was just sledged onto the lugnut. I ended up having to weld another lugnut on top of the socket and then use that to remove the lugnut socket lugnut combo. Not something I want to do another 9 times (If I can even get the lugnut out from the socket now)
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Oct 17, 2014 01:47
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Got the other 2 tires on and got it registered! First (legal) road test will be today!
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Oct 26, 2014 15:54
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Figured out (mostly) what was loose in the front end. The strut mounts were completely shot. I have new ones, but I've put off installing them until I got my new wheel stud conversion kit here. That arrived today, so with any luck I'll get the new struts and mounts installed over the weekend. I really don't mind wheel bolts that much, but they are going away now because: 1) I don't have the handy wheel installation helper tool 2) The bolts I bought are stock length but a pain in the rear end to get them to bite at first when trying to hold everything together 3) The brake rotor retaining screws broke on both fronts, so in addition to trying to line up the wheel you have to keep the rotor aligned and firmly pressed to the hub gently caress that. STUDS!
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Nov 7, 2014 02:59
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 17:08 |
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So, wheel bolt discussion aside ... I installed quickstruts on the front of the GTI, seemed to take care of most of the play in the suspension. I installed one side with the (new) factory spring, that was a mistake. Without the weight of the engine there was a massive wheel gap and it was hard as a rock. I figured it might not be too bad with a full tank of gas up front but I was wrong.  Anyway, I took that side back off and switched the lowering springs onto the new strut assemblies. Parts were falling off the old struts as I was removing them, on one side all the ball bearings from the strut bearing scattered about. Everything suspension wise was original (aside the lowering springs)   Got it all done and back together and went for a little shakedown drive to get some lunch. The engine felt great, I had reflashed some timing changes since the last time I drove it and it definitely feels peppier. However, I was forced to turn around as the car has now developed the worst brake squealing I have ever heard in my life. I was too embarrassed to drive any further. People were looking. It was terrible. I drove it after I did the brakes (all 4 corners) and it was fine before  . I'll have to rip the wheels off and see what the hell is going on. No obvious signs on the rotors of anything scrubbing.
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Nov 15, 2014 22:01
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