northeast_gti-t - mk3

[jv]

He's back for more 

[northeast_gti-t]

Thanks John 

I certainly am back for more  good to be back so will be updating my new thread once i get the mk3 so keep an eye out 

[northeast_gti-t]

So the story starts.......

I had been regretting getting rid of the mkiv for a little while and about three weeks ago i had a job to carry out on a none vag car which i did and i actually enjoyed working back with cars again,i had said that i wasn't going to be bothering with all of that again but....had a change of mind so a plan started in my mind  i would love a mk6 gti but thats out of the question financially  so i decided to look at older mkiv's again then getting shafted on a winning bid on a mkiv changed my mind so the plan was to look at mk2 and 3's on e-bay and if anything caught my eye well stick a bid in.I looked and had the odd bid on a few mk2 and 3's but a couple of weeks ago a mk3 caught my eye,so before work on the sunday night i put a bid in an hour or two before the auction end and to my suprise i eventually had the winning bid so i had my mk3 2.0 8v for the sum of £455  mot'd until july but tax ran out at the end of february tho,so after getting in touch with the seller i asked him to tax it for 6 months for me so total cost at £576 which i was happy with as from the photo's it looked tidy enough and i was prepared to travel from up north to down london to get it i was also aware that it needed a couple of jobs doing but i didn't mind that however.Well it had been a long couple of weeks but allowed me time to sort insurance out etc and yesterday at an unearthly hour began the train trip down to london the seller picked me up and off to have a look at the mk3 in question well after seeing it come out of the garage i was pleased yes it has the odd scratch a tiny dent and small rust patch but well it is almost a 16 year old car but still tidy for its age and the owner had looked after it during his ownership so after parting with my cash i had my golf again,a tankful of fuel and i set off on the 269 mile trip back up north,well at least it gave me a chance to get the feel of it etc i guess  and believe it or not i'm actually liking it alot after spending a few hours driving it  so at last i'm back in a 'GTi'  albeit the mk3 but hey should and will be a challenge.

[northeast_gti-t]

So here's some information on the golf....

It's Dragon Green,a 1997 p plate (which i'm deciding on transfering my personal plate to),3 door model done 159,000 miles and also pleasantly suprised at the pile of old reciepts,mot's etc it came with and even a spotless wallet and handbook  was missing the 'Gti' front and rear badges and the rear 'Vw' one (but being me i had already sourced the 3 in question )
Well the car has already had some coilovers fitted (make unsure) and i'm guessing is dropped at 50-60mm has been fitted with front and rear VR6 highline leather seats (also been given the front & rear doorcards),has air-con fitted along with a powerflow rear twin pipe backbox (noisy but not ott but might swap that at some point?) missing a cd player and has 4 newish tyres with good tread and all four the same and according to the reciepts has had a cambelt done about 10k ago also in 2010 it has had the clutch assembly replaced and a gearbox re-build and bodywise its not to bad at all really nothing horrific and stuff that can be sorted myself as i intend to stick to budgets this time around 

So onto the items that need sorted and it requires both rear wheel bearings replacing and rear brake pads replaced (seller included the parts with the car so money saved there  ) also when i had a quick look yesterday i will have to add rear brake discs to (ones on are quite badly scored due to the small amount of brake material left)

Also getting to know the car from my drive home i have some other faults that need addressing 

The hand brake warning light is illuminated all the time and the abs warning light doesn't illuminate with ignition on (noticed today the brake fluid level is at minimum).
Gearstick very loose/sloppy in neutral and when in gear.
The temp gauge sits at 70 when driving but at idle or in traffic moves up to 90.

So i have drawn up a list of work and parts i require to carry out :-
(In no particular order of being done).

1.Full wash,exterior clean,clay? and detail at some point.
2.Strip interior and clean headlining,carpets interior trim,glass and give the leather a good clean.
3.Fit the leather doorcards (fronts probable,rears alittle tatty so may keep the original rear cards?).
4.Golfgti forum stickers.
5.Possible a red pin-stripe adding to the front & rear bumpers and side trims. (ordered for tommorrow)
6.Get some 'Black Wow' for front/rear grey bumper trim,also side trims and roof spoiler.
7.Full service.
8.Paint wiper arms.
9.General body paint & tidy.
10.Genuine vw floor mats (found some and ordered tonight).
11.Smaller roof aerial (sourced from the note as it fits perfectly and free too! )
12.Front GTi badge.
13.Rear GTi badge.
14.Black rear vw badge.
15.Re-paint front black vw badge.
16.Re-furb and paint alloys.
17.Re-paint all brake calipers.
18.Instrument cluster & heater ventilation (Out of car and in processs of being worked on).
19.Set of new vw centre caps. (ordered)
20.New gearstick gaitor.
21.Drivers seat latch mechanism in-operative.
22.Cd player and fit & wire in front door speakers (some upgraded ones already placed in front doors).
23.Polish inlet manifold.
24.Tidy & clean engine bay.
25.Remove crappy sparco aluminium pedals.
26.Sort out all speakers & wire up properly.
27.Gti or Vr6 front splitter.(ordered)
28.Replace clutch & brake pedal rubbers.(ordered)
29.Try and adjust gearshift linkage at gearbox end if that don't solve the freeplay i have ordered a gearshift repair kit. (Repair kit delivered today)
30.Fit new rear brake discs & pads (t.p.s next week).
31.Replace rear wheel bearings.
32.Replace thermostat & coolant.
33.Fit new aerial gasket seal.
34.Fit new left & right hand foglight and blank lenses. (ordered).

[northeast_gti-t]

Abit of a list there but most if not all of the work will be carried out by myself so should keep me busy  got a week off soon so will make a start on some of the jobs to be done 

Well having got this far i have yet to add some pics of the golf 

So here's some taken today (not clean due to all the motorway driving yesterday  ) :












And the mighty 8v lump  :


Was pleasantly suprised with the mpg from my trip home too :


Will be looking to get one or two jobs done this week and can't wait to get it all cleaned out.

[northeast_gti-t]

Booked a night off work tonight so i could do one or two jobs 

So trip over to the dealers to pick up a new thermostat cover and 'o' ring then made a start on getting the thermostat replaced (wanted to get the job done before i start using the mk3 for work and with the weather being cold at minute),gave me a chance to check over a few things too gave the header tank a clean out and dumped the old coolant to be replaced with some G13,got the job done wasn't to bad really but worthwhile as i tested the old thermostat and it was opening way past 87 degrees and not fully closing  so now i have a temperature gauge that sits at 70 degrees ,warms up quicker and blows out nice hot air  result!



Also from pictures of other mk3 engine bays i noticed a sensor in the base of the airbox and found mine taped and sealed up  i assume this to be the air inlet temperature sensor,so had a look around to find the sensor and wire wrapped around the maf sensor and hidden away,well needless to say its now back in its correct location but needs the metal clip fitted at some point as thats missing,checked all the lights and tyre pressures (which were way out) that sorted i found that the drivers side sidelight has blown    so will have to fit a new bulb this week at some point other than that been a productive day and getting some more done fair way to go yet.

[northeast_gti-t]

Done abit more work on the mk3 yesterday decided to remove most of the dash to give it all a real good clean  also needed the cluster out as i had noticed the lack of illumination on the mileage/mfa screens  got myself two new bulbs and holders for the cluster and set to pulling all the dash apart,found plenty of dirt etc from all the years of other owners  and decided to see if i could fit a different wattage  bulb for the heater illumination only to break it  so got to order a new holder from vw this week i guess,well a result with the bulb replacement in the cluster as the two screens are now lit up and readable and the old bulbs were blown  also found a bodged speaker wiring set-up for the cd player  so have chosen to carry out a re-wire of the speakers and head unit,got a load of connectors earlier and set to and have converted the supplied iso lead and removed the oem wiring plug on the cars wiring loom so i can fit some proper connectors to them and then wire in the speakers into my converted connector hopefully job done.Centre console has been removed and cleaned up and fitted my new leather gearstick gaitor and also decided to remove the handbrake assembly and give it a clean up,need to start and remove the rear seat assembly and the door cards to start wiring up the speakers also plus with all the console removed once i get the front seats out i can remove all the carpets for a good valet and clean and then get the boot stripped out too and all the piller trim and headlining cleaned up most of the dash has been cleaned and will get put back together most of it done and its starting to look really cleaner now already looking forward to a week off then i can crack on with a few more jobs 

Pretty much work in progress at the moment so taken a few pics of the work :
Some of the cleaned up trim 



Rest of the dash 




Least it makes it easier to carry out fitting the gear linkage repair kit at least  and will get the oem pedal rubbers fitted when they get delivered along with my front splitter.

Converted iso lead done earlier.


closer pic of glovebox after some poorboys natural look treatment can't recommend this product highly enough!

Can see the difference between the cleaned dash and the not so clean centre console 

Well thats all for now further updates to come.

[northeast_gti-t]

Clutch & brake pedal rubbers arrived earlier today along with my splitter  so got up earlier this afternoon and went to get them fitted,also sorted my wiring for the headunit and half fitted it in all working apart from requiring the speakers all wired up now most of the dashboard trim etc is re-fitted so looking better already hoping to get the rest done once my bulb holder for the heater panel arrives at the dealers,had to pull out the remains of the old splitter from the bumper before i could fit the new one so looks like it was probably ripped off previously so despite it getting dark and snowy  i managed to get it all fitted will take some pics at some point and add them.

That's all for now....

[northeast_gti-t]

Just random pics taken earlier of how good the dash has cleaned up (its not as shiny as pics look as i prefer the matt finish with poorboys must be the plastics used  )



(Steering wheel & airbag still yet to be cleaned and treated).


Used Front Splitter Now Fitted (Got It For a Tenner  )


(See How Long it stays In One Piece I Guess!!  )

Thats All For Now....

[northeast_gti-t]

Well decided i ought to update really  my weeks holiday has began and so has the jobs to do on the golf well over the weekend its been virtually stripped out,new aerial sel fitted (noticed a water leak in this area,so hoping this cures it as the old seal was fcukd completely) plastic trims seats carpet and underfloor foam etc,both front vr6 doorcards are fitted along with the speaker wiring all sorted and two new door speakers it was only when i set about the full interior clean up did i realise how filthy it was  never had to strip a car out for years but i guess previous owners aren't or weren't as ocd as me  but i have enjoyed doing it all and put a fair few hours in now but tbh its been worth it with how its all looking now and it will be staying mint inside too  few jobs to do but mechanical this week as i shall be fitting some new rear wheel bearings and disc pads as well as new discs which i'll pick up from newcastle t.p.s during the week £34.90 for those so happy at that,both front seats need a good clean and i have sorted the sticking tilt mechanism on the drivers side  all coming together now needs the bumper and trims all cleaned with the 'Black Wow' then the red pin stripe applying so i'm hoping that will be done this week also.Busy week ahead but at least i can get alot of jobs done and get it washed too hopefully  well being me i have taken a fair few pics of the progress so better get them added i guess.

The Progress (To-Date).
(not in any sort of order as i can't be fussed sorting them on photo bucket  )
 


















And Taken From Todays Work.