Matt's Steel Grey 5door GTI

[FrameSet]

03/01/17

I've almost lost touch with the GTI recently.
Haven't had much to spend on it and keeping it clean in this weather (especially on a farm) is impossible.

However it hasn't had any issues and I did have a few 'spirited' drives over the weekend which made me realise how good these cars really are. 

So, after an evening scanning through various builds on the forum I've got the bug again! Needless to say after Christmas I still don't have the budget though!

Either an exhaust, map or h&r springs will be next! 

Finally, a couple of weeks ago a mate an I changed our fuel filters. Bit of a bugger to get the hoses off as I doubt they had ever been changed. But, once we had done one we knew how hard we had to pull, push and persuade with the next one! Here's what was in my filter: 




Thanks for looking!


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[FrameSet]

08/01/17

Have been looking at how to make the GTI a little louder without spending shed loads on a cat back or sports cat/ downpipe. Decided to knock out the precat after reading a few threads about it. Pretty straight forward job besides the exhaust clamp nuts being rusted beyond belief. got the angle grinder out in the end and found some new clamps!







Would've been much easier on a lift but managed with the axle stands!

Can't say the car sounds any different what so ever (which I didn't really expect) but defiantly feels like it picks up quicker when you floor it. 

I think a cat back might be in order. Can't justify spending £1000 on a TBE just yet as I don't really plan on going beyond a stage 1 anyway.

As we were in the workshop my mate and I also changed the crank angle sensor (i think!) on his GTI. The car wouldn't go above 4000rpm and had a terrible idle. Seemed like a misfire but after changing the coil packs and plugs we found that this sensor was the problem! All back together and working now though! 

Also gave mine a long awaited bath today!











The rust on the wings has got worse over winter too despite coating them in loads of wax.   May have to get them sprayed soon!

Oh and I have just payed for my personalised plate!  Undecided if I'll go with pressed plates or the gel ones this time around, any ideas or pictures welcome to help me decide!


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[Palmer02]

Nice

Quite like the wheels that color but thinking of refurbishing mine back to std

[FrameSet]

Nice

Quite like the wheels that color but thinking of refurbishing mine back to std

I would prefer mine to be diamond cut (standard) but they were refurbed before I bought it :( it seems fairly costly to get done otherwise I would be on it!


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[ryan-g-91]

The rust on the wings has got worse over winter too despite coating them in loads of wax.   May have to get them sprayed soon!

Go to VW and say its a common fault on the mk5 and they all are rusting & get them replaced for free! That's what i did with no questions asked. Saves you spending money you may not have to! 

[FrameSet]

The rust on the wings has got worse over winter too despite coating them in loads of wax.   May have to get them sprayed soon!

Go to VW and say its a common fault on the mk5 and they all are rusting & get them replaced for free! That's what i did with no questions asked. Saves you spending money you may not have to! 

When did you do this? I thought they were only covered for 10 years so mines out of date now! Happy days if they will do it however!


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[ryan-g-91]

I had got mine done last year! Said to me they were doing them as so many have had the problem and its well documented that they have!
May as well try your luck, whats the worst that can happen? Hopefully save you some money! Just say you know many have got replaced and its the foam on the inside of the wing that rusts them. 

[FrameSet]

I had got mine done last year! Said to me they were doing them as so many have had the problem and its well documented that they have!
May as well try your luck, whats the worst that can happen? Hopefully save you some money! Just say you know many have got replaced and its the foam on the inside of the wing that rusts them. 

Thanks! I'll have to call in to the dealers soon! Worth a try!


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[FrameSet]

Progress:
 


However as I've got a shorter front plate I need to do something about the grill as I'm not running the plinth.

Took a drive up to my local body shop but they wanted £100-200 to fill the holes in the grill and respray it.

Anyone tried one of the eBay grills? Or know how much VW charge for a us spec (with no holes)?

Or of a body shop in Essex that will do it for £50?!

Cheers, Matt.


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[Palmer02]

Progress:
 


However as I've got a shorter front plate I need to do something about the grill as I'm not running the plinth.

Took a drive up to my local body shop but they wanted £100-200 to fill the holes in the grill and respray it.

Anyone tried one of the eBay grills? Or know how much VW charge for a us spec (with no holes)?

Or of a body shop in Essex that will do it for £50?!

Cheers, Matt.


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Which grilles are we talking about not sure if I've seen the us ones

[ryan-g-91]

Ones off ebay are grand! I got a debadged one, clips were a bit brittle but its good for the price, no holes either. 

[FrameSet]

The rear private plate arrived today so didn't waste anytime getting it on.



Have ordered an eBay replacement smooth grill for £30 and will probably just sticky pad the new short plate to it. I've tried magnets before but found they marked the grill, may go with suction cups in the future!

For now I'm running it like this until the new grill arrives




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[FrameSet]

Have had the plates on for a little while now. Ended up buying an eBay smooth grill for £30ish. Build quality and fit is good but it had a feel blemishes.













Either way, it's better than the old one with holes in it!








I need to do some tweaking to get the gti badge to sit square but otherwise I'm happy with it. Glad I went for a short plate. I mounted it lower than standard. Wanting to show off some of the smooth grill without covering up too much of the lower open grill.





Thanks for looking. More mods on the way!



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[gunnellgti]

Car is looking awesome ! 
I too purchased the smooth grille from ebay and had almost identical blemishes to the ones you have, informed them and they refunded me and let me keep the grill. Can't say fairer than that   

[FrameSet]

Car is looking awesome ! 
I too purchased the smooth grille from ebay and had almost identical blemishes to the ones you have, informed them and they refunded me and let me keep the grill. Can't say fairer than that   

Cheers mate,

That's good to know, perhaps I'll give them an email!


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