LittleReDuck's MK3 20V T

[LittleReDuck]

After being a lurker on this forum for the last two years I though it about time to start registering some of the progress with my Golf...que Dub Rides tread! 

This first series of posts will be a quick overview of the progress over the last two years with as many pictures as I could find of my favorite rust bucket.

So in September 2012 my RX8 blew an apex seal and faced with a 3.5K rebuild I decided to sack it off and go for something a little more practical and more importantly didn't require the funding of a small country to run and play with. I had driven a house mates MK3 8V GTI when the weather was poor and was pretty impressed and not only the car but how cheap I could find them!

Of course being me as soon as I heard you could have a 2.8L V6  the 8V idea was quickly scrapped! So fast forward a month and I was off to Wisley to collect my Ebay purchase.





This is her just after a clean. Spec to date was this -
- 2.8 VR6 with 110,000 on the clocks
- Polished and painted manifold.
- Uprated leads
- Straight through 2.75inch stainless exhast with decat and single backbox (Loud)
- BBS RX2's
- Full mushroom leather interior with retrimmed doors and parcel shelf!
- Enough horrible LED's to sink a battleship
- HID low, main and fog beams (Really not a fan but that was what was in it)
- Upgraded door speakers and tweeters.



I won't bore you all with the plans but they were far reaching and ambitious! The issue as I was finishing off my Masters so funding and time were really low on the ground...hence I was bodging and fixing things with what I had in the garage...Ghetto Engineered.

First on the mod list was to do something about the mismatched smooth grill. I got some German newspaper and paper mache'd it to the grill. Looked pretty good for about a week but apparently newspaper is really susceptible to UV light and despite proper lacquering it went very yellow and soon got swapped for a standard grill.





The standard grill looked horrible so I pulled it all apart, sprayed it white and drew all over it during a moment of boredom...I actually quite liked it!
I also sprayed my lower grills white to blend them in and grabbed a bonnet bra to hide some horrible scuffs on my bonnet.



The next tweak was one I haven't seen run on a Golf front end as yet! a B3 Passat splitter I grabed from the breakers. Opinion is often split on it but I like the fact its pretty unique.



The next issue to attach was ride high. With my funding very poor I decided to sell my RX2's, purchase some steels and run a sleeper look until I could get coils and nice rims again. So the RX2's went for a nice price and I picked up some Audi Pepperpots (Not steels but the price was right) to sit on.  This allowed an almighty slap with the lowering stick which left my here at GTI Festival (Toddington Services)



The main issue here was that it was simply too low...very scene not very practical.  So I wound them back up a bit!

This takes me up to September 2013 when I got a job and began commuting 85miles a day in the beast. I drove each one with a beaming smile on my face until one day it ate all its coolant, I filled it and a day later it had done it again. It was running like a dog and then I got thick Mayo on the oil cap...I'd done the head gasket, alongside a huge overheat on the motorway the VR died  .

End of Part 1! I'll find some more pictures and start writing up this years adventures!

[LittleReDuck]

I had every intention of breaking the Golf and taking the money to another venture but I got wind of two engines for sale. Both 180bhp 1.8T's with full loom, ECU's, clocks and keys.
Started doing some maths and realised that it was a genuine option for an engine conversion, it would have to be done in spare time and on a minimum budget (those with engine OCD i'd stop reading now).

So I tottled off to look at the two engines and ended up taking both with all the extra's for £300...Bargin.

The plan to was run the entire car on standard managment with the MK4 clocks and a few choice upgrades. The engine selected was a 180bhp AUQ from a Seat Leon, checking the engine number show'd it had done 80K at the last MOT and was from a 2002 model car.

And so it began...que pictures of build...
















And after some initial teething issues Archie (As it has now been named for its previous arch gap) was back...sleeper look still was a go as he is rocking a Golf CL badge on the rear and have a very well hidden FMIC!



After a couple of weeks I still couldnt get the clocks working and they were draining the battery every time so if it was driven anywhere I had to pop the lid and detach a terminal...not ideal. The decision was to give up on the MK4 clocks and go back to the previous VR6 clocks. Apart from a few flashing lights they worked a million times better and caused me to question a few initial decisions with this build!



So roll around GTI Festival this year I returned to Toddington Services with the car looking like this...how two years has flown by



Spec to date is the same as before but with...
- 180bhp AUQ Engine
- 3' downpipe
- 2.75' pipework FMIC
- Silicone TIP
- Silicone upper and lower breather pipes
- SAI/N249/PCV/EVAP deleted
- CGY 16v box with VR clutch and G60 flywheel
- Drive by Wire conversion

There is still quite a few teething issues that need ironing out but the car is now perfectly functional and a little rocket!
I purchased some Schmidt VN Line reps cheap to add some width to the stance. 9J et35 fronts and 9.5J et38 rears running budgets up back and Bridgestone Ponzeta R's up front. This combined with stripping and remounting the smooth grill leads me to where the car stands today.

More updates to come as its now a part of me rather than just a car!

[LittleReDuck]

Tiny update with a mod i've been wanting to get done for an age. Bonnet lifters!

Thanks to Spikenipple on here for the perfectly fitting bolts.

Followed Shady's guide and took about 5mins. A vast improvement!

[LittleReDuck]

So a couple of weeks ago I picked this up relatively cheap



Believe it or not that picture is meant to say ASD.  Basically after a lot of research I opted for a CDA code 16v box when doing the original conversion but upon daily driving it was just too highly strung with the rev's being way way to high at motorway speed.  I got back on the internet and found the ASD box from a MK3 Derv was a lot longer ratio'd and a nicer drive so...out with the old and in with the new!



While the box was out the entire shift tower was swapped for one in a much better condition. The aim was to run the MK4 shifter but I just couldn't get the parts together in time. The one in the picture is the old one.



Initial feedback is that the box is much much better with a lot less up and down the gears around town. I can happily drive at 30mph in third without being on boost. Admitting to get hard boost out of it you have to be a lot more aggressive with the loud pedal but it suits my driving style perfectly. I have yet to take it on a long run to determine fuel saving differences.

While the car was in the air I seized the opportunity to replace both rear disks, bearing and pads as the previous were ruined and barely working. Also replaced the front left wheel bearing but annoyingly bent the hub while 'guiding' the bearing in with a hammer...another part on the list to replace.
Finished with new pads and disks upfront too. Big thanks to OEMandMore/Bonney for providing all the disk etc

[LittleReDuck]

Suffering from a huge amount of exhaust knock on the tunnel over the last few days 
Jacked the car up to notice that the entire system has moved and doesn't fit very well, I think warn rubbers are to blame for the issues but for the mean time a new sleeve was cut into place and the system zip tied up to hold it straighter.

I'll get some exhaust rubbers from Euro's over the next few days and see what that does...failing that time to weld a new straight pipe onto the back box that is at the correct angle.



Also notice while under the car that the down pipe is missing a gasket (obviously not put in when installed) and that is causing a fair amount of blow as well as the pipe fouling the bulk head a little. Sourced a new gasket so this will need fitting later on too...

Fix one issue and three more appear...got to love the MK3   

[LittleReDuck]

New front right hub now fitting and tracked back up correctly.

New bearing on the rear left as the replacement was still making noise.  New brakes are sharp to say the least now they are bedding in!

Almost ready for Stage 2 

[LittleReDuck]

A few weeks of trouble free motoring followed by it running like dog and not boosting!

Pulled onto the drive and a mate asked if the intercooler pipe at the front was meant to be detached...

Turns out the boost clamp had broken and poped the hose off. I've bodged it with jubilee clips so its drivable and ordered some heavier duty clamps to replace all the existing ones with. Problem solved! 

[Screech16v]

Great work mate reminds me a lot of my 1.8t build,especially the comment about engine ocd ers look away 

[LittleReDuck]

Great work mate reminds me a lot of my 1.8t build,especially the comment about engine ocd ers look away 

Thanks man. I'm working on the cleanliness side of things!
I'm finding that time is the limiting factor at getting further with it at the moment! 

[LittleReDuck]

Couple of photos a mate took while rolling out to Santa Pod for GTI Festival earlier in the year. That grill has now been retired and the car lowered! This was also before the gearbox swap and brake fixing!