Grahams81 - VW Golf 2.8 V6 4motion - Wheels Sorted :-)

[grahams81]

I know it's not a SEAT but i thought i'd start a build thread for it anyhow

After we had our first child a couple of months ago the wife and i decided that she wouldn't be returning to work after her maternity leave, therefore we needed to get a 5 door car as she would be handing her company car back.

So i originally thought about a LC or LCR but found it quite hard finding a good example for not much of a budget.
I always fancied a mk4 Golf so started looking for a 1.8T GTI naturally as i kind of know them inside out having rebuilt my LC. I found some nice examples but then started looking at the 2.8 V6 4motion models, no where near as tunable as the 1.8T (unless you stick a supercharger or turbo on it) but they sound great and generally have much better spec then the GTI's.
I'm not too concerned about the poor mpg as the missus won't be doing many miles.

So i found this one on a 53 plate up in Newcastle, with 68k on it with FSH -

I went to have a look at it last weekend, it was up for £2650 which was already cheap for the year and the mileage, i didn't take the p*ss with a low offer as the car was in great condition HPI clear - also the guy told me he was only selling as he recently lost his job.
I offered him £2500 grand for it and he took it

The car is in great overall condition, however it does look like it's had a bit of paint on the passenger door, looks a good match but at certain angles it looks like the shades off a little. There's no other signs of damages and the cars HPI clear so i'm still happy.
Also the wheels look rather shabby.

The car is quite a high spec one -

2.8L 24v V6 - 204bhp
4Motion
Full Black Leather Interior
Leather Centre Arm Rest
Climatronic Climate Control
In-dash 6 disc changer with Tape deck
Real Imitation Walnut Trim
Winter Option Pack
Heated Seats & Wing Mirrors.
Auto Wipers
Auto Dimming Rear View Mirror
Headlight Washers
Rear Spoiler
ESP

So my plans are nothing too wild on this one... just some subtle mods, i'll leave the crazy stuff for my Leon.

First up is to clean the paintwork up (could do with a proper good clean and detailing session)
Also the aircon is stinky so i've bought a Aircon cleaner bomb thingy from Halfords - i'll stick that in tomorrow.
Next up i'm gonna get it up on axle stands and get under neath and give it a once over, then pull the wheels off and check the brakes over (little bit squeally)
I'm also planning on giving it a right good service before putting the car to work
Plans are - Engine Oil / Filter, Spark Plugs, Fuel Filter, Pollen Filter, Fresh Gearbox Oil / Haldex Oil & Filter

I've also got to look at the parking sensors as there not working at the moment (not too bothered but it would be nice if everything worked as it should)

I was pleasantly surprised how well the car handles, i was expecting a wallowy barge (it's a heavy car after all) i thought the ride was quite firm, I thought the car was totally standard but after looking at the front shockers there Yellow with blue springs & blue gators so im guessing there Bilstein... which is nice

I'm really over the moon with the car, the performance of the car is quite good...... not stupidly fast but an awesome sound track and bags and bags of torque.

Plans are already forming, the wheels are crap so i need something to fill them arches a bit. Probably going to order a set of BBS LM reps (not looking to spend more than the cars worth on wheels)
Also the tape deck and changer will be getting binned and a new Iphone compatible Headunit will be filling the void

Also it would be a crime not to put an exhaust on - nothing too loud as it sounds pretty good in standard form.

Thinking performance air filter and then a remap.

Thanks for reading

 

[poliq]

Looks nice Graham! Also the plans sounds spot on!
Remember you get a special tool to do the haldex filter, saves a lot of time as you can undo the filter only, but you probably already knew!

Oh, and £2500?! Can't believe how cheap that sounds

 

[ReDBull]

Nice family car looks good. How is fatherhood going? My little girl starts school next week, they grow up so fast enjoy It while there small!

 

[grahams81]

Looks nice Graham! Also the plans sounds spot on!
Remember you get a special tool to do the haldex filter, saves a lot of time as you can undo the filter only, but you probably already knew!

Oh, and £2500?! Can't believe how cheap that sounds

Ah good call on the haldex tool, forgot you need a special tool for the filter, may as well get one, it'll do for the Leon too
And yeh £2500, i feel like i should have been wearing a mask whilst robbing

Nice family car looks good. How is fatherhood going? My little girl starts school next week, they grow up so fast enjoy It while there small!

Cheers Mate, fatherhood is awesome - best feeling in the world when he smiles and giggles at me, i know what you mean about them growing up so fast - i feel like im missing so much working away through the week but i suppose i've got to provide to keep a roof over ours head.
It's hard work like, wasn't quite expecting it to be as hard work as it is, but it's worth it.

 

[cupra-barn]

Nice little family run about there Graham.

Sounds like a right bargain!

 

[grahams81]

Nice little family run about there Graham.

Sounds like a right bargain!

Cheers Barn, i'm still over the moon with the car.... Best 2.5 grand i've spent, although i may change my mind when i get the 2k turbo running on the Leon

Small Update.....

I've just ordered up some parts to give the Golf a service -

New Rear Discs & Pads (its got the 256mm vented on the rear which is nice but more costly than the solid discs.... Not too bad at £45)
The rear discs are badly corroded not worn but are squeely.

New filters - Oil, Fuel, Cabin.
New rear wiper
Oh and a rather tasty Green cotton induction kit
That should release the tasty noise of the v6 quite nicely...... I haven't told the wife yet but i'm sure she'll understand / not realise

Still need to order some oil, spark plugs and a haldex service kit.... It'll have to wait at the moment.

I also noticed something a bit worrying in the pile of receipts, a receipt for 1 rear oem coil spring to replace a snapped spring, as the car has been fitted with a bilstein suspension kit i have a feeling that i have 1 odd rear spring the more i look at the car the more it looks like its sitting a little unlevel at the rear..... Gonna check it out when i have it up on axle stands to do the rear discs.

I'll update with some pics at the weekend, thanks for reading

Graham.

 

[grahams81]

Just got back from a weeks holiday in Spain stopping with friends at there apartment, managed to pick the only wet week for 8 months, it absolutely p*ssed it down solid for 5 days

Before i went on holiday i started changing the rear brakes on the Golf.
My mate from work Gary popped round to give me a hand / lend of his caliper rewind tool.
Also me brother came round and got to work under the bonnet fitting the Green Cotton Induction kit.

So everything was going swimmingly until it came to winding the caliper back in - it was seized solid and wouldn't budge, then i dropped a bollock and pulled the outer dust seal back to squirt a bit of penetrating oil in...... then i managed to free the piston off but it was still quite tight so i then tried to get the outer dust seal back in but i discovered it has to be put in first before the piston

So i removed the caliper and stripped it down, i found that whoever had overhauled the calipers last or maybe new had managed to get the square section o-ring for the fluid control not seated correctly (turned 90 degrees)

I removed the seal and it returned happily to its original shape.

I then cleaned all the corrosion out of the o-ring seat groove, this allowed the o-ring to seat correctly and looked good.

I also stripped down the inside of the piston that allows the ratchet turning mechanism to push the piston out but stop it from turning. The inside had some burrs / tarnishing so i dressed it up and rebuilt it.

Piccy of the caliper after stripping it down -

I trial assembled the caliper to check the seal hadn't turned and everything was fine so finally reassembled the caliper with some fresh brake fluid.

I was a bit nervous of bleeding the system after seeing so many posts about people knackering there master cylinders trying to pump the pedal..... as luck would have it i found a Easibleed in the garage i bought years ago for another DIY job.

The Easibleed makes the job of bleeding a doddle, basically it forces fluid round the circuit by using air pressure on the top of the master cylinder reservoir.

Managed to get the drivers side back together.... i didn't have any caliper paint so i think i'll paint the calipers later on, probably silver or black just make them look clean but not stand out.

I've got to do the passenger side shortly hopefully the caliper won't be seized but i'm not holding my breath.
I also checked the rear springs and my suspicions about having odd rear springs were confirmed, so i now need to order a set of lowering springs as i don't think it's really a good idea to have one OEM one where the rest are Bilstein.

Whilst i was busy messing around with the calipers my brother fitted the induction kit for me, i strangely don't like the look of the engine bay with it fitted... i think i prefer it with the airbox ( i might try and fit the filter inside the airbox or at least try and have the lid etc in place to keep it looking OEM)

Normal -

Green Cotton Induction Kit -

However i think the filter looks i took it for a quick spin and realised how awesome it make the V6 sound - really gargles now and pulling up between 3000-4500 it sounds amazing.
The car also feels quicker but it could be in my head.

Still got to do the other brake and rest of the service but haven't had time yet.

 

[grahams81]

Well i got bored yesterday afternoon and it had stopped raining and dried up so i got cracking on the passenger side rear calliper.

I only started about 6:30pm so did most of the job in the dark, the missus took great pleasure in telling me i was a weirdo for working in the dark but i had an inspection lamp and the light from the garage.
Anyhow the passenger side caliper was nice and free and wound back fine.

After finishing off the brakes i took it for a spin and noticed the reversing lights only seem to work when they want to so i'm gonna have a look at that today, that obviously why the parking sensors don't work all the time....
Also the climatronic is stuck on max heat even when you put it on Low so i think the flap must be stuck

Apparently in the absence of Vagcom taking the battery off for 10mins will force the Climatronic system to do a reset and try and move the flaps fully both ways for referencing.... this may free it of failing that i'm gonna have to strip the centre console down to get to the controls..... ARSE !!!!

 

[grahams81]

Managed to get the climatronic sorted.... i found a user guide for the hidden functions etc and did a reset of the system which moves the flaps fully, after that it was tickety boo.

I was looking at the car the other day and thought it looks ok but really quite plain, and it's the wheels..... so -

I've put a deposit down on some wheels, i was thinking of some LM reps but as the car is going to be used all year round i thought after a winter with salt on the roads they would get corroded quite quickly being a polished lip so......i thought a nice OEM rim would be better.

After much thought i decided to go for a nice OEM theme and put a deposit down on some Touareg "Manhattan's" being sold on ED38.

Some pics -

The guys only just up the road in Durham so not too far from me

May have to drop the FK Silverline Coilovers on i bought for my Leon as they will fit.

I'm not gonna pick them up till next weekend as i'm working this weekend but as soon as i do i'll post some piccys up

 

[JonnyH10]

Very nice! Love Silver MK4 Golfs, hope to have a GTi soon myself. Would love a 4motion too actually, looks great inside and well speced. Those wheels should look great on!

 

[grahams81]

Very nice! Love Silver MK4 Golfs, hope to have a GTi soon myself. Would love a 4motion too actually, looks great inside and well speced. Those wheels should look great on!

Thanks Mate, i've always wanted a mk4 myself, just never got round to buying one.... until now.
Love the way it drives and for the prices at the moment you can't go wrong. Get a V6 mate, the sound is lovely.....

 

[JonnyH10]

Haha the 1.8t is cheaper to insure, so I'll be going for it. Plus I want a go at this tuning game, coming from a 1.2 lol. But yea, MK4's in general are great value now. Can't wait to get one!

 

[grahams81]

Just got back from a fortnight in Somerset and picked the wheels up, unfortunately i was too tired to stick them on...... i'll stick them on tomoro

Really happy with them, the tyres have done less than 1000miles and are like brand new
I know they won't be to everyones taste but i think there gonna make the car look nice and OEM but not overly modified.

Couple of pics -

 

[Bera]

Pictures with the new wheels?

 

[grahams81]

Pictures with the new wheels?

I'll stick them on tomoro

 

[ReDBull]

They're lovely wheels. What stud patten are they?

 

[EB-80]

Great wheel choice. I also run FK coilovers they are great imo.

It will deffos need a drop once the wheels are fitted though mate

 

[grahams81]

They're lovely wheels. What stud patten are they?

Thanks mate, there 5x130, porsche / Touareg / Q7 fitment, i managed to get the adaptors with the deal

 

[grahams81]

Great wheel choice. I also run FK coilovers they are great imo.

It will deffos need a drop once the wheels are fitted though mate

Yeh your right, i'm in two minds whether to fit my coilovers i bought for the leon project or just buy some H&R -50mm lowering springs.

Tempted more to get the springs as i paid like £450 for my FK Stainless Silverlines and i'll only have to by somemore later for the Leon.

 

[EB-80]

Yeh your right, i'm in two minds whether to fit my coilovers i bought for the leon project or just buy some H&R -50mm lowering springs.

Tempted more to get the springs as i paid like £450 for my FK Stainless Silverlines and i'll only have to by somemore later for the Leon.

Sick the coilovers on for now and worry about a project latter down the line would be my advice.

The Golf will look naughty tucked down on them rims!