been on here a while so i'm finally doing a build thread for my 8v.. I bought it a few months ago after never owning VW or anything remotely fast and without having a car for a few years so it was really good buy for me! The plan is all mods as cheap as possible and to learn and just enjoy it! I really like euro looking golfs so there's a bit of my inspiration there.. Here's some pics and what i've done so far...
1996 GTI 8v in dragon green with about 130,000 miles, for sale about 2 miles from my house for £500, got for £450! All standard except a SS backbox. Very clean interior. unfortunately someone had keyed every door!
Pics after a good clean (i miss the summer now it's rainy november!)
the only problem I could find was a blowing exhaust so got that welded
a trip to the scrappy to get a mirror cover, then spray black and spray the badges
Did an airbox mod
Bought a K+N panel to go in but upon delivery I realised I'd bought a BMW filter! No idea how I managed that. So after selling that I got a K+N cone for £15
Had to make it fit onto the MAF bit so made a part from a lorry's fuel filter.
made a heatshield but it's a bit DIY, gonna try and make one that fits in a bit better soon I think
in and painted with some heatproof paint
another snap of her! Now decided to call her Becks (cos she's green ha)
next job was a service (never done this before but wasn't too bad)
changed oil, plugs, ht leads, distributor cap, rotor arm, cabin filter, fuel filter.
noticed a spot of rust at the bottom of the d/s wing. when i went to poke it to inspect my finger went straight through!
so trip to the scrappy again for a wing for £20 from this gti (rip)
also saw this!
now with black badges and rear wiper delete
rear brakes were squeaking so i took it to a garage and he said i needed new pads and discs (and bearings cos they always stick to the discs when you take them out) and quoted me £250. Screw that I thought so bought some pads and a how to on my laptop and fitted em. Will get some good new discs soon..
calipers are so rusty, def need a refurb/replacing ha
tried attacking the key marks with tcut to no avail so i did my first bodywork experiment, sanded the laquer and tried re-laquering but it turned out not well! Spoke to a mate who has a bodyshop and he quoted £1000 for a complete respray. Not sure if it's worth it but will keep in mind! Gonna just buy a new door from ebay instead of respraying my bad job, will be easier
4x new tyres, orange tinted the repeaters and joey modded the headlights. got a cheap VR splitter too. tried joeying the fogs but smashed one in the process, hence tape!
next buy was some JOM coilovers. while fitting I jacked up on the d/s sill and it caved in a little darnit :/ coilovers fitted though! rides much better now. thing it's maybe a bit too low cos it's quite bumpy but I like the look. Just need some spacers now. Not bothered about new wheels for a while, quite like the long beach ones. Gonna wait til the right ones come along..
before i got the height right
and sorta slammed! the first thing i did after fitting them was smash the corner off the vr splitter!
next an attempt to fix the sill as MOT looming and i found a hole under the floor.. i do a bit of welding at work but not as thin as cars so this would be a good challenge
cut the bent bit out and cleaned the hole
made a new sill (free is cheaper than buying one!)
found it really hard welding it in, think I've still gotta learn how to get the right MIG settings. practise makes perfect though! completely smashed the vr splitter coming off the jack, so back to the 8v one in the mean time..
covered the weld with fibreglass, then filler and then some grey primer. It's under the cover so green paint isn't urgent atm. fibreglassed over the plug holes underneath and then undersealed..
all ready for MOT! got some nice german pressed plates but I'm gonna have to swap them to get my test done this week
finally some new bits to fit this month
a £40 ebay chip. It's soldered though :/ so I'm gonna have to take it to a tuning shop when I can afford it to get them to solder it into the ECU. Looking forward to getting this in!
Also a momo steering wheel from ebay for £10! gave it a polish, gonna hit it with some leather refurb and it should come up nice
That brings it up to date! next plans are MOT...
