Gmac's mk5 TR gti

[Gmac]

Thought I'd start a members ride thread!

I bought this car a few weeks ago from North Berwick and took it back up to Aberdeenshire.  This was bought as a replacement for an Imola yellow S3 8l that sold the week before!

I'll let the pics do the talking but just to say that I'm delighted with it!  Highish mileage at 113k but good points are that the interior is in tip top condition. Love the tartan seats!  Really nice car to drive and feels a lot more polished than the s3.

Comes with a couple of nice extras, Xenons, satnav (what model of headunit is this?) and also has cruise control. It doesn't have the MFSW, but i'm hoping this may be something that I can retrofit?

Got a list of jobs to do on it, but this was reflected in the sale price..

First big job is to get the cambelt and waterpump done as they are over due, last time seven years ago and about 55k miles ago. 

other things on the to do list....

Get VW to have a look at the front o/s wing as its bubbling badly and also the corrosion on both sills where they meet the front wings.  Hopefully Aberdeen VW will come up trumps, fingers crossed.
Get a friend who is handy with a spray gun and or machine polisher to hopefully get rid of a key scratch that is on both nearside doors!  Not noticeablr from about two meters away, but needs done.
Refurb the 17" 9-spoke rs4 style alloys. I'd go and buy some 18's now but the 17's have brand new Goodyear eagle F1 assym2's on, so not much point at the mo. but definitely going to go 18's some time, not sure what though!!! huge choice! ( what wheels were standard on an 05 gti???)
Change over the PCV valve - bought today from TPS
Change the DV - done yesterday, first successful bit of DIY on this car!
Change the fuel pump cam follower - bought today.
Fit a set of lowering springs - bought some H&R ones last week, yet to fit.  (will be looking for a how to!)
Do a service on it - going to get the garage to do this at the same time as the cambelt.  Although i'll change the spak plugs myself. Going for NGK BKRE7IX.

Other than that, just enjoy ownership!  May go down the route of painting the rear bumper upper black part to match the tornado red as there is a fair bit of dark plastic there!  Any still undecided whether or not to get the side trims done too?

here are some pics... Comments welcome, good or bad!  Point out any wee bits that might be wrong/could be improved/changed please!!

Looking forward to contributing!

[Gmac]

Have I stunned everyone in to silence?

A few questions in the thread that i wouldn't mind answered

[bluebert92]

in terms of colour coding all the bumpers its such an amazing upgrade! it sounds so silly but it transforms the car in my opinion!

[AJP]

Evening mate. Standard wheels were the Monza (five spoke pepperpot style) that were 18" 7.5J et51. You'll need 225 40 rubber for those. Good tyres are Michelin Pilot Super Sport. Tiny bit pricey but very grippy.

Can't tell you what headunit that is, but could be an RNS510 if it's oem.

See you've got the Xenons, they're on my list!

I've got the H&R springs. Work well with the oem dampers but only if the dampers are in good health. At your mileage, if you're assuming the dampers are original it'd be wise to do the dampers at the same time. If not, the shorter springs will quickly make the ride qualty deteriorate.

Good luck with the rust. I'm trying to find reports of a dealer that plays ball with this in my area. Not sure how much you've read up on it, but some dealers are cool, some not.

I've done the whole colour coding thing. It's a bit more involved than you'd like with the textured plastics as your bodyshop will need to make it smooth before the paint goes on. Which obviously costs labour. I did the whole lot (rear, sides and bought an ed30 front) and it looks bang on. I've replaced the rear with an R32 rear now. Looks even better.

@rashg60 this is still yours - we'll sort it soon.

As for ideas... R32/ed30 rear lights (same thing) look good on a TR car. You can go mad with power mods, suspension mods etc. It's a great car to mod. Have a look in the mods section on the site for a bit of inspiration.

[Nasir]

The sat nav is the very earliest MFD2. Probably the original one specced in 2005. I'd personally change those alloys ASAP, they don't suit the car at all.

[Gmac]

Thanks for the replies folks!

There seems to be endless possibilities on the wheel front and i've had a good look through the TR section and the wheel thread...  So far i've got ..
B7 RS4 reps
R32 zolder 18"
ATS race lights
Omanyt 18"
Monza II 18"
mk2 audi TT18"
Or the favourite at the mo is the B6 S4 audi ronals
Thoughts!??

[Nasir]

I'd go for BBS wheels. Possibly CH (quite common). Or perhaps the team dynamics 1.2.

[S800BRN]

Evening mate. Standard wheels were the Monza (five spoke pepperpot style) that were 18" 7.5J et51. You'll need 225 40 rubber for those. Good tyres are Michelin Pilot Super Sport. Tiny bit pricey but very grippy.

Can't tell you what headunit that is, but could be an RNS510 if it's oem.

See you've got the Xenons, they're on my list!

I've got the H&R springs. Work well with the oem dampers but only if the dampers are in good health. At your mileage, if you're assuming the dampers are original it'd be wise to do the dampers at the same time. If not, the shorter springs will quickly make the ride qualty deteriorate.

Good luck with the rust. I'm trying to find reports of a dealer that plays ball with this in my area. Not sure how much you've read up on it, but some dealers are cool, some not.

I've done the whole colour coding thing. It's a bit more involved than you'd like with the textured plastics as your bodyshop will need to make it smooth before the paint goes on. Which obviously costs labour. I did the whole lot (rear, sides and bought an ed30 front) and it looks bang on. I've replaced the rear with an R32 rear now. Looks even better.

@rashg60 this is still yours - we'll sort it soon.

As for ideas... R32/ed30 rear lights (same thing) look good on a TR car. You can go mad with power mods, suspension mods etc. It's a great car to mod. Have a look in the mods section on the site for a bit of inspiration.

17" Monzas (non diamond cut) were standard. 18" diamond cut were a factory option.

[Gmac]

So a couple more jobs done on the car....

Did the PCV valve and gasket....
Changed out the cam follower on the fuel pump, old one looked fairly worn!   

[S800BRN]

Solid effort pal!
Easy enough job on the cam follower?
I got a pal to do mine when I was offshore.

[Gmac]

Solid effort pal!
Easy enough job on the cam follower?
I got a pal to do mine when I was offshore.

Well it was easy until i got to the bit where i had to remove the second pipe, which on mine is the hard banjo type!!  In the end I managed to loosen off the fuel pipes connected to this banjo to get enough play to remove the pump without removing the banjo pipe!!!  Shat myself when the pump came loose though!!  Thought I had fooked the banjo pipe, but all ok!  Reason being i didn't have the 8mm triple square/spline socket bit that fits underneath the banjo!  Right tools and it would have been easy enough.  Ordered in the right tool now though, so i've got it for next time!

[Rippers]

Love that colour!

I had success with the rust on my front wings at VW, they wouldn't honour the sills though, hopefully you will have more luck. 

DV valve upgrade makes all the difference, the guys that done mine said it was the worst they had ever seen.  Got a nice punch from the turbo now.

I decided to stick with the 18 diamond cut monza a for my 2005 gti, had them refurbished and I personally think they make the car.

Again, love that colour.

[Gmac]

Not too much news other than it sounds promising for a replacement front wing!  The guy in Aberdeen, Phil, was very friendly and knowledgable.  He said the sills were no longer covered, under another 10 year warranty, so that's a no go.  But he seemed to be talking like he'd see the car again for the work.  Should hear back in a week.

Also it had the Cambelt and water pump done today along with an annual service!  Feels nice to have the belt job ticked off!  Cost me £391 all in too, pretty happy with that!

Changed the spark plugs myself last week too, put in NGKs. BKR7EIX's

Other than that, still looking to do something with the wheels, looking at possibly Audi A4 dtm wheels! 18". Also looking to do something with all the plastic on the rear bumper.  Hoping to have it dropped on H&R lowering springs this weekend!

Oh and the aircon, worked for about a 10 days and it's no longer cold.  My mechanic said there was only a tiny bit of gas left in.  So back to the drawing board on that one, obviously a leak somewhere, next time I'll be making sure some dye goes in.

Still loving it though!  It's been named Gogsie the golf! Haha.  The tornado red is a really nice deep red!

[K2 NYJ]

Good effort man car looks like it's coming in right direction

[Gmac]

Got the rear lowering springs on today, didn't have time to do the fronts though, that's tomorrow mornings job!

Pretty straight forward, followed a guide linked from this site to vwvortex and another on pelican parts.com

In other news I met with the warranty man at Aberdeen VW body shop and it all sounded very positive for the one wing with bubbling on it!  Should hear next week.  They wouldn't cover the sills though, he mentioned them being covered under a 10 year warranty, which with mine being an 05, I was too late. Bugger.  Not to worry.

Pics..

Happy with the drop!





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