th3_f15t - '07 GTI "Project Evie"

[th3_f15t]

Being a weather man by trade, and a lover of Golfs, the opportunity to get a snap of both popped up yesterday...




Taken on my mobile phone, not too bad considering.

[th3_f15t]

A small pre-September update to share while I prepare for the final interior upgrade. Firstly, my amp was sent back for testing but returned as working perfectly so need to double check my earth lead and other wiring. Secondly, I have my replacement steering wheel back from the re-trimmer's;



And also picking up these on Monday;



Genuine R32 leather Recaro front seats, for a 3 door, non-heated (so no messing about with wiring/coding) and 30 minutes down the road from me. Fate, it seems, favours me this past month. More to come within the next few weeks.

[th3_f15t]

Another small update with some bits I’ve been hording lately, awaiting a time when they can get fitted.

Audi S3 rear brake set up (I have Ferodo pads to go with these, but aren’t at hand for a cheeky photo);


Whiteline anti lift kit;


And some Forge carbon canister silicon pipes. Purely for engine bling;


Tomorrow I’m hoping to fit my new R32 Recaro seats, steering wheel and leather door cards. Depending on time/mood, I may attempt to wire in my new front speakers also, but may do that in the new year instead when I have more free time.

[th3_f15t]

Sadly, it looks like that there will be no more updates, certainly not big jobs, for the rest of this year. I’m away now for 2 months, then it’s Christmas so the chances of getting out onto the Golf are slim at best. To round out the year, I think it’s fair to say in summary that a bloody lot has happened in just one year but with anyone who’s modifying their car, the more you do the more there is to do!

So to sort of close off this year’s modifications, I’ve tried to take a few photos of various bits I’ve done. Needless to say, most are crap and not good enough to make it onto the web but here’s a few to enjoy for now.

First one I got was the other night when it was nice and foggy at night;


Next up was one taken tonight with some heavy editing to try and reduce the effects of the orange lights I was under, not very successfully I may add. Least favourite of the 5 uploads tonight but better than a lot of the others I took;


Half an hour drive later, found a spot with some white lights but they ended up being too bright one direction and too dark the other;


However, I knew roughly what I was doing for this next shot. I need to go somewhere darker and use white LED lighting inside the car, but still quite happy with this shot;


But the money shot of the evening;


That last one is by miles my favourite image of my car, ever! Need to refine some others and practise my skills a bit but I’m starting to get the hang of image editing properly as well rather than use pre-set filters and adjustments.

That’s all for now…

[th3_f15t]

Finally managed to take my Golf out for a spin around Dartmoor this morning, didn't get to stay out long as the weather was due to turn bad around mid afternoon so just went to scout out the roads and see what they're like now I'm running Bilstein B14 coil overs. I also wanted to grab a picture of some wild Dartmoor ponies too, but sadly I got distracted by the driving experience.

I've toyed with the idea all year about whether to keep my Golf as it is so it's a half way house between daily driver and weekend toy, or to replace the daily duties with something more suited and turn this into an all out toy. But after today's drive I've realised keeping it almost as she is will be the way ahead for the foreseeable future.

The roads through Dartmoor, for those who haven't been lucky enough to visit the moors, are second only to the views along the way. Long, undulating roads with tight corners but in the weather I had today you can see the road ahead in places) for miles so over taking and cutting corners was the order of the day. Despite only running coil overs, the chassis handled everything I threw at it without a problem. My OEM mk6 R brakes coped with the punishment well too, really showing why investing just a few hundred pounds into them was one of the best ideas I've had so far.

After touring across Dartmoor and enjoying the views along the straighter roads, I came out onto the A38 and cruised back to Plymouth in complete comfort. The B14's transforms from an inspiring and confident suspension kit to a better than stock comfortable ride along the A roads. Also, the R32 buckets proved their worth today by holding my firmly in place while throwing it around corners and comforting me further along the A roads.

Today has been the first day in over a year (I think) that I've really been able to go out and enjoy my car fully for what I've modified it for. To be my ultimate driving machine. Didn't even get many pictures as I was having too much fun, but I did snap 2 just so it's not all text on this page of posts.




Provided the weather holds out next weekend I'll be going out with food to last the whole day and with a full battery on my SLR for many pictures out on the moors. Until then...

[th3_f15t]

I got back up to Dartmoor today for a short while and in between showers, I managed just a few more pictures;




And some ponies;




No more Dartmoor shots until I venture back this way for a holiday now. I love that place.

[th3_f15t]

Grabbed myself a set of LED sidelights, seeing as they're all the rage right now.

Before:


After:



Need to get some whiter dipped and full beam bulbs now to finsih the look off. Also going to fit a set of LED interior and number plate nights.

[th3_f15t]

Finally,after months and months (and miles and miles), I've sorted out the air bag light. Got a couple of resistors pre-made off eBay and fitted them up. Initially, fitted them wrong and got a second error message about there being a short to the earth wire, so battery back off, switched it up and then re-cleared the faults and done.



Also finally put on my first in the UK sticker;


Slowly getting through the list of things that "need" (read "want") to get done.

[th3_f15t]

So I'm happy with my stage 1+ and was focused on not doing any more to the engine until I had chassis, brakes and interior mods all sorted. Then this came up for a silly cheap price;



I now have an S3 intercooler, which I plan to fit along with a Neuspeed hi-flow intercooler pipe (sourced) and K03 hi-flow turbo discharge kit (pending). I'm not bothering with an induction kit as from research the K03 is fine with the stock intake and a panel filter but may invest in a HPFP internals upgrade or APR/Loba pump (should one appear cheap enough).

Oh, and a full BCS system with R32 rear of course... Stage 2 by 2016 looks likely at the rate I'm going. Getting the current list of parts fitted before 2016 however, doesn't!

[th3_f15t]

Got round to fitting my Forge CC pipes today;




Nice bit of engine bling. Needs a good clean up, some red coil packs and wiring harness, plus a few bits of paint here and there to tidy it right up. Mostly it's all hidden under the engine cover but in case a cheap induction kit pops up for sale, despite the last post saying I won't bother with one. Revo or VW Racing intakes are the only ones I'd opt for and they'd have to be at just the right price to temp me.