GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk3 => Topic started by: EvilScotsman on 10 March 2007, 12:39
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Ok I decided to take off me arches cos I like the cal look (smooth lol.)
A complete shock awaited me when I removed the o/s/r arch....rust!!!
Heres before:
(http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i306/BlackWagon/DSC00359.jpg)
After:
(http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i306/BlackWagon/DSC00423.jpg)
The Arch of Horror:
(http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i306/BlackWagon/DSC00421.jpg)
(http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i306/BlackWagon/DSC00422.jpg)
Oh well, I suppose as well as full new brakes on the front end and a service its now going to have to get re-sprayed :angry:
Oh and an exhaust. and tyres soon. Its turning into a bloody money pit! Glad the parts are cheap.
I might just paint the body kit tornado red same as the car and refit it after getting that arch cut out and replaced. Any views?
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The front end is on stilts too! Is that normal?
And i forgot to mention it needs all the bushes replaced too......
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Somebody has done a very bad bodge on that arch! Shouldnt be any glue stuff!
Need some new metal in there mate!
Hoping I dont find something similar when I do the same to mine!
What door mouldings you putting back mate?
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I dunno len, the swages in the body are quite wide so not sure if the cl types will look right?
My options are, cl sidestrips, no sidestrips and get the holes filled - leaving the channels as they are, or painting the full bodykit to match the car and refitting it....whatdya think mate?
and yeah im gonna get a rear quarter panel and get it cut out and welded in properly. I know a great panelbeater called "Tiv" who's got a few miles on his speedo like me (so he's not the fastest lol) but he does a great job. Undetectable as far as ive seen so he's my next port of call :cool:
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I want the same as Carl has got on his. The GL ones but cant find em! Local VAG dealer dont keep em in stock so cant see if they the right ones! :angry:
Dont think it will look right with nothing in the channels.
Oh and NO your height aint right mate! Even mine is about an inch lower than yours and mine is high!
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I know a couple of local scrappies personally so i'll go and have a look at some - will let ya know. I have found some breakers who want more than half price for a secondhand part for a mk3 like its gold plated just cos you need it, but these guys I know are sound so should be cheap.
If i find a couple of sets and theyre cheap enough I could try posting some down for you lol that'll give the postie something to think about!
your right it needs something in there anyway.
How could the front get higher than normal? I can imagine springs sagging but not getting taller lol
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my mate had this on his mk3 and found the garage had replaced the springs with the springs off of a mk3 diesel, worth checking or getting a couple from the scrappy
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Good thinking mate. I'll check this out.
I want to lower it anyway but havent got the spare cash yet, :cool:
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If your going to get it re-sprayed flash the side parts off so its completely flushed.
Might look cool.
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Yeah I thought about filling the side channels completely but dont know if the door channel would hold up to constant closing without cracking filler etc.
Might get a rubber strip bonded in then fibreglass it smooth. I found the steel arch panel at beavers body panels for £13! then inner is the same price. Would probably only take an hour or 2 to weld in but i'd have to paint the whole car.
The cost of the respray is whats bothering me, if i can get a decent job done for £200 or £300 quid its not so bad.
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I just done mine!
No rust! Sorry but good result for me.
And I think I have sourced the body mouldings I wanted so its all good.
Phew! I was thinking mine might be as bad as yours!
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glad it wasnt mate, lucky!
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Sure that makes him feel loads better Len PMSL :D
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Yea I know! I did say sorry!
:smug:
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ah well here's a pic of my gti to get you going :grin: :grin: :grin:
(http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/9672/dscf0008bl5.jpg)
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I am scared to take mine off now :undecided:
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Go on patch you know you have to! :grin:
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yeah, do it! Matt, nice motor mate! Len, nae problem lol :smiley:
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EvilScotsman: gutted about the rust man! that's quite a fair amount, I'd guess it must have had some damage before and poorly repaired! Glad my arches were rust free when I did mine, but that's no help to you. You can get a new rear quarter panel welded in, someone else had that done after some crash damage.
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ach its just the outer lip has rusted away, its an old car i suppose and other bubbles are coming through elsewhere, but they're not too hard to sort.
The arch is £14 for a steel replacement, the only pain is painting it.
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Are you sure thats a real GTI? I thought all GTIs had smoked side indicators, front fogs and lower suspension. Thats missing all of them and the arches have been stuck on ?!?! I might be wrong so correct me if i am.
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Mine didnt have smoked side repeaters!
Things like that depend on year and 8v / 16v.
Main thing is under the bonnet anyway!
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Yeah early GTi's had orange side reps
(http://www.anniversaryregister.brum.net/images/Ofs3qrtr.jpg)
External appearance was also criticised by many, the rise in car crime leading VW to produce a hot hatch that looked distinctly tepid. The standard fit Le Mans alloy wheels were as bland as boiled rice and the only other distinctions were the black plastic wheel arch kit, subtly different headlights, slightly deeper front spoiler, two bar body coloured grille instead of the black three bar of lesser models and darkened rear lights.Things didn't look promising with initial sales slow and very few cars registered on a 'J' plate. As an incentive, a few months later VW made standard the factory fit electric sunroof and windows for the 1993 model year.
Nothing much changed with the 8 valve model until it was quite significantly revamped in October 1994 for the 95 model year. Externally the only changes were the wheels, now the slightly more attractive 10 spoke 'Long Beach' style and the front spoiler which had become the shallower L/CL/GL model. The interior seat fabric was now 'Cockpit Cloth' as opposed to the original bobble prone 'Jacquard Classic'. The really significant improvements were the now standard fit ABS and driver's airbag as well as an electronic engine immobiliser. There were also subtle and much needed tweaks to both suspension and engine management which, while never officially announced, improved things somewhat. Sales improved and these later M reg onwards car are quite common, many originally being sold to company car fleets.
A year later the last changes were made to the model before the launch of the Mk4 in 1998. Subtle as ever the 8v now benefited from the famous bee sting aerial, previously a 16v distinction and front fog lights became standard. Also, in keeping with the rest of the VW range, the side repeaters changed from orange and rectangular to clear and oval with the wing recess reshaped to suit. It was about this time when Bosch Simos took over engine mangement duties from the venerable Digifant first seen in the 1988 Mk2.
A not very well known fact is that while Wolfsburg was preparing for production of the Mk4, supplies of the Mk3 Golf were maintained with imports from South Africa. Many 'R' and extremely rare 'S' registrations are of this type with no obvious indication of their unusual origins except the chassis number which has the letter 'U' as its eleventh character symobolising Uitenhage as plant of manufacture, not 'W' for Wolfsburg. It would be interesting to see if build quality is up to German standards as it is widely acknowledged in the USA that Mexican built cars do not match up to the Prussian perfection we normally enjoy.
By the end of its run the Mk3 GTI had developed in to a superb car for stress free mile-munching. Safe, refined, prestigious, enviromentally friendly and reliable with a dash of speed, a truly great vehicle.
Every dog has its day and this was certaily the case with the Mk3 GTI when VW prematurely stopped production of the Mk4 GTI with the 1.8 litre 125 bhp non-turbo engine due reports of poor driveability replacing it with a 2.0 litre 8v lump virtually identical to that used in the Mk3 GTI, need I say more?
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wow thats really interesting. I knew the changed a few things on the later models but i didn't know all that. :cool:
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I took the arch off the front pass side wing on mine yesterday and is rusty as 5h1t!
Cheep pattern part has been used at some stage in its life :sick:
So from a easy re-spray to find, paint and fit a new wing :angry: