th3_f15t '07 GTI

[TForrest94]

Alright mate

It was danoy who had the vagcom the other day I think

And where did you get your piston rewind tool from? Just got a set of r32 brakes and think I wanna strip them myself

Tommy

[th3_f15t]

Thanks for that mate, will drop him a message to check.

I got my tool from GSF Car Parts for about £30 I think. For front brakes you could use a normal G clamp and a block of metal as the prison doesn't thread on like the rears.

You'll enjoy stripping the brakes and getting a great idea how they work. You'll need some patience mind, and definitely do the health and safety bit of gloves and mask, especially while cleaning. Brake dust is nasty. Also watch some videos on YouTube as they will give you pretty much all the guidance you need. Naturally I'll help via messages if you need help.

[Andy]

dont know how i  missed your build thread :ashamed:Excellent up grades you have done and when i did my r32 brakes right round i used the orig rear flexi and the r32 flexi on the front with the dust shields

[th3_f15t]

dont know how i  missed your build thread :ashamed:Excellent up grades you have done and when i did my r32 brakes right round i used the orig rear flexi and the r32 flexi on the front with the dust shields

Cheers for that. I'm going to source a new caliper to replace my defective one, powder coat it and rebuild it then get it all fitted with without dust shields as they're a pain in the arse!

[th3_f15t]

A good weekend, plenty of sunlight and a small, but in itself massive update. Alloys are all fitted and look much better than I first though they would. My girlfriend and I both agree that colour coding the side skirts wouldn’t suit as much as leaving the trim black, so I think it’ll stay as it is on the sides, perhaps a gloss black but yet to decide. Opinions are very welcome in terms of colour coding options. Feel free to comment or PM me! Also gave her a much overdue scrub and polish, managed to remove a lot of the concrete damage from my work’s car park but still a bit more restoration required.







One of Evie and my girl’s GTI;

[Andy]

looks a lot better..needs lows now

[GTI-Ross]

looks a lot better..needs lows now

Yep, really need lowering. Looks higher than OEM in that pic 

[th3_f15t]

WRC edition suspension.

Honest.

[th3_f15t]

Another update for you all. Remember the broken badge-less grill I got? That has been replaced and I got to keep the broken one, so had a go at using some of this on it;



Taped up the crack to hold it together while I fibre glassed it together;




It’s held together pretty strong, however I didn’t get it quite perfect and think it’s beyond much help;


Going to offer it up and see how it fits, if it’ll go into a grill then I’ll look at using some filler on it and re-spraying it then donating it to my girlfriend’s GTI. If it fails, it’s a good bit of practise I guess as didn’t cost me anything and better to mess this up than something I really need.

This weekend was Essex Vee Dubber’s annual show at Battlesbridge in Essex, so me and the girlfriend took a trip there on the Saturday. It’s mostly a bugs and buses club but a few water cooled cars out on parade, some pictures of are below. Full album can be found here - http://s687.photobucket.com/user/mikemaher205/library/Essex%20Vee%20Dubbers%202014





We then discovered that there was a show and shine on the Sunday, and after a little chill out at home, the words “let’s do the show and shine tomorrow. I’ll get the bucket” were uttered, and my our Saturday night turned into this;
#


Bit of hot soapy to de-grease my plastic trim bits, and a lot of scrubbing later;


Only got the interior done in the evening, we woke up early to prep the cars Sunday morning, then finished off with a final polish at the show;



Didn’t win s**t but a good weekend out none the less.

So anyway, actual updates… Well I’m picking up a full leather interior next Saturday, got a leather armrest on order which is fully refurbished. Also got some shiny bits coming too, for some added bling. I’m buying a second steering wheel and that’ll go off soon to be customised, once I’ve finished drawing up my designs. I reckon some new rear speakers will get chucked in as well, once I can dig out a good guide but think it may be a case of driving around with interior parts missing for a few weeks while I sort it all out! If anyone has a good guide for rear speaker replacement in a 3 door, I’ll owe you a beer.

In other developments, bored of my 345mm brakes already, looking towards an upgrade to 4 piston Porsche brakes in the next year or two, after some other bits. Also going to try and source some Eibach or Koni coilovers on the cheap to sort out the ride height and handling, liking the sound of Koni more as they offer a softer ride and seeing as I’m not much more than a fast road user, seems perfect for my needs, but more research is required.

Been looking into getting a BCS Power Valve full exhaust system too, again in a few months I may look to getting one and officially going Stage 2. Yet to be justified but getting there. Sent off some e-mails for quotes on re-spray jobs too, nothing back yet sadly.

Other than that, nothing much going on. Selling off parts as I’m a bit homeless and don’t want to be storing stuff in my room at work so keep an eye on the classifieds! That’s all for now, enjoy.

[th3_f15t]

So a full list of recent parts acquired;

Various tools
Full leather interior (seats, armrest and door cards)
New Mk5 GTI steering wheel and airbag (for re-trim)
Dash cover around clocks
Edition 30 front splitter
De-badged JOM front grill

Still to acquire;

Front and rear speakers
Black backed headlights / Xeon look (undecided)
Wiring loom for heated front seats + centre console

On top of coming to the end of my first Open University course, intense work load and professional training courses due soon, finding time to sort this will be... difficult.

[NEIL GTI]

Brilliant MK5. Paint work looks in great condition

[th3_f15t]

Brilliant MK5. Paint work looks in great condition

Thanks mate. Few scratches and car park dents. Planning a respray in 36-48 months to refresh everything.

[th3_f15t]

Interior Rebuild Part 1

Seeing as this is going to be a mini-build thread on it's own, it gets a proper title and everything. Part one mostly involves actually picking up the bits I need and learning how to do the jobs ahead.

Firstly, I needed to make room as hiring a van was ridiculously expensive. Ripped the back seats out to make space;




Didn't have an M10 spline bit so couldn't remove the 2/3 back rest. Took a trip to meet a fellow forum member (mk_boy85) to pick up a full leather interior and new steering wheel and airbag. Luckily for me we had to take his car apart to get the panels off so I've learnt how to strip most of my interior in preparation for the rebuild.

All loaded up;



We met at AKS Tuning, and had a chat with Alex. He's a natural salesman, looks like all my chassis work will be going to him end of the year! H&R coilovers and anti roll bars, plus some engine mounts and bushes I reckon. Plus a TTRS brake upgrade.

Next phase is to clean everything up and make it look factory fresh, along with sourcing some new audio all round. Thinking of wiring the rear speaks to a multi-channel amp so they can get some extra power to them and the option of running a sub at a later date is then there. Front audio might wait a bit loner as it's far easier to do than the rear set up. Also going to look at putting extra sound dampening in the new door cars to help comfort and aid audio.

First though, MOT is due so no new mods until it's all done and then insurance (yes, we mustn't forget the legal side to all this).

[th3_f15t]

So the list of parts has grown a little bit to include a full set of speakers and an amplifier;



Using 2-way front and rear and running them all off an amplifier rather than the head unit, so a major re-wiring job will be needed at the same time as replacing the interior with leather seats.

Also booked my car into AmD Tuning to have Bilstein B14 coilovers and TTS/RS3 top mounts fitted next Saturday;




Contacted PSI Tuning who added the ECS Tuning coilover kit to their website for me within 24 hours, pretty cool of them. AmD are offering free fitting so all in I've managed to finally sort the chassis to suit my stage 1+ engine tune. I'll update once the coilovers are fitted but the interior will probably be delayed till August when I have a week off work.

[TommyR]

Good choice of coils!