Quick Mk3 Update...

OK, not much progress yet to report.

Got rid of the 17s as they were catching on the coilovers, and threw on some 15 OZ's that were sitting in the shed.

Invested in a set of Vento headlights as they give out a lot more light, which helps especially if you lives out in the sticks like me!

I only finished fitting them in the dark, so apologies for shite phone pic quality...better pics to come when shes been properly mecahnically fettled and given a decent make-over!

More updates to follow as we get this old girl roadworthy!

Later,
RV.

VAG Variant Vehicle....ehhhhh....V-Arrives!

So, there I was, on the lookout for a cheap VAG estate for Melanie to lug her work gear and our dogs around in....

This ungodly abomination was uncovered....

No tax, no NCT, no taste.....but cheaper than a Lidl Sunday Special that's been reduced-to-clear on Wednesday, so we brought her home.

BHP in theory is 65, but in reality is probably somewhere in single figures or at best the low-teens, but she came from her previous home in Clonakilty in De Peeeeeepel's Reeeeepublick to Blaaland on less than a tenner, so smiles all round.

1.9 straight black-stuff-burner, in reasonable mechanical order.

First job is to de-scene it, respray the rattle canned matt-black bonnet and fit a 2nd hand rear bumper to replace the damaged item, and fit a set of Vento headlamps and grille....The bonnet is a Vento item, hence the ugly gaping wound above the front grille. Cos vento estates are coooooool, man.......I am indeed, down with the kids, but not in a Jimmy Savile kinda way.

If anyone would like a cheap set of quad lamps for a mk3 golf, let me know.





Scene stickers removed, stupid vertical disc holder binned, dog drool cleaned off all windows interior and exterior, 2nd hand front fog blank fills the previous gaping hole in the front bumper.

To-do list to make her NCT-ready:

Full service kit, replace all fluids and all filters
New glow plugs
T-belt, water pump and new stat for peace of mind.
Fit a set of 15’’ wheels and remove these ridiculously big 17s.
Rewire rear number plate lights....god only knows whats wrong with that.
Replace gear linkage bushings kit - gearchanges feel like you're up to your elbow trying to clear a particularly stubborn turd from a U-bend with a toothpick.
Some NCT-friendly German plates....haters feel free to flame, but be warned...the VAG-ninjas will be outside YOUR window at 11pm tonight......have your affairs in order.
Do something about the ridiculous ride quality....it feels as if the shocks have all been replaced with lengths of steel bar......it has coilies up front and lowering springs in the back, cos that's how they roll on Cork's pool table-like roads.....like.....I thought I was gonna lose a kidney on the way home!

Cheap and cheerful, and maybe slightly practical too, dare I say it.

Stay tuned for more Wolfsburg hilarity (ever think you'd see those two words in one sentence??!!), as I delve deeper into the mechanics of this beauty.....

Later,
RV.

PS -  shitload of tasty mk2 Golf GTi parts collected this past weekend...stay tuned for an update on that project soon!

Man with Van...Part two!

OK, this van bug has seriously bitten me!
Just imagine being able to hop in on a Friday evening, head off for the weekend and not have to worry about bad weather pitching tents in our wonderful Irish rain!
The solution? A campervan of course!
Having pored over campervan forums and enthusiasts sites and having trawled the classifieds for a number of weeks, I decided a VW T4 Transporter was the way to go.
While the short-wheel-base (SWB) ones were handy for everyday driving, the long-wheel-base (LWB) ones were ideal for campervan conversions...so, preferably post 1996 facelift model, preferably with the torquey 2.5TDI engine and preferably a LWB one; only when I started to search did I realise that these yokes were like rocking-horse shit, with hen's teeth sticking out of it, sitting atop a crock of gold under a rainbow...on a night with a blue moon! Yes, fucking rare! this was gonna be a tough one to find!
Added to this, if I found one, I had to ensure it wasn't an ex-builder's hack, that had been beaten to shit with zero-to-no maintenance or tlc of any kind! EEK!
So, the search continued, with nothing showing up.
Then, one evening, I got a text message out of the blue last week, from a gent named David in Wexford....
''I hear you're looking for a T4...?''
''Yeah, they're hard to find though.''
''I have one parked in the mate's shed, I'm only down the road, sure come and take a look''
To say I did a little dance-of-delight was an understatement!
Went down, checked her out, and all the boxes were ticked: 2000 registered van, LWB, 2.5tdi...what more could I ask for?
The deal was done, and back home we came with the new wagon, here's a few pics:

Apologies for the phone pic quality; better pics will document the fit-out as the next few months roll by.
This is a keeper, with the plan of fitting her out with the whole nine yards, as a campervan:
Sink/Hob unit.
Storage units
Fridge
Fully carpeted throughout
Side windows
Rock and Roll Bed
Fully soundproofed and thermally insulated
Front swivel seats
Electric fit out for rear
Full respray outside
maybe, just maybe, if we can get this done by next summer, who knows? a pan-european roadtrip could be on the cards!

Can't wait to get my teeth into this!
Right...must go...I've got a campervan to build!

laters,
RV.

Mk2 Golf......started...or 'here we go again!'

OK, so, one of our local forum VW lads called to the house Sunday morning, made an offer that couldn't be refused, and the Corrado G60 is gone to a new home!

Ah well, there is such a thing as having too many projects on the go...but do we ever listen? Ehhhhhhh..........NO! HAHA!

So what do I do now, for my oil-under-the-fingernails fix?

Get up off my ass and tear into the 8valve Mk2 GTi project, that's what!

So, had a few hours to kill yesterday evening, and the pictures below can tell the rest!

Job done, time for a large coffee and a couple of smokes!
Seats, carpets, door cards, rear trims all removed to be scrubbed clean of dirt and old mouse-shit - door cards are saggier than an 1980's glamour-model's tits, so they may be for the bin if I can find decent replacement panels.

On the outside, rear badges are off for some tlc and refurbishment, front lower valance is more bent than an Irish politician, so that's for the bin, and the four lamp grille is making way for something that's really gonna upset and boil the piss of VW purists!  Watch this space!

TO-DO:
Wheels are sourced and in the shed, waiting for their refurb; nice and simple OEM+.
exterior's just gonna be left as-is for now, cleaned up and made presentable while still retaining the patina; this one's for driving, not for shiney-shiney trophies.
Exhaust system and Weitec coilovers are sitting in a friend's shed...actually they're still on his car, which has been attacked by rust, so gotta get those removed and transported home.
Interior will stay standard, just some decent ICE and additional gauges to make sure all remains well under the bonnet.
All exterior trims are gonna be refurbed, so I'll do a handy how-to on that for people who fancy giving it a go.
Engine will remain standard, with all belts, fluids, ancilaries and service stuff renewed or replaced.
Right, that's enough to be going on with...check in for more updates soon.

Drive safe,
later,
RV.

More mini Corrado progress!

Just a small update, rather than pay ridiculous money for replacement badges, I resprayed the front and rear 'G60' badges with white primer then three coats of VW Tornado Red.
I then handpainted the black surrounds and centres using Humbrol satin black enamel paint - didn't turn out too bad, in fairness...pic is a bit shit as it was taken under an arclight in the dark!

 

I also re-vinyled  the rear tailgate plinth in carbon 3D vinyl from 3M - here it is with the German font plate laid on for ilustrative purposes only. As it's such a nice day today I may refit this to the car when I get home!

Or I may just drink cold beer and say 'fuck it, it can wait'...got to have your priorities straight, y'know?

Stay posted, as this car's coming close to completion!

Later,

RV.

Corrado progress...at last!

So, finally got the finger out last week and did a few bits with the Corrado!

First up, refitted all the lights and modified the later model debadged grill to fit - left the front indicators smoked with the Lamin-x film as it'll tie in nicely with the smoked side repeaters to be fitted.

Next job to be done was to restore the second-hand chin spoiler that's been lying in the shed for the last couple of years. First job was a rub down with red scotch pads, then a clean with white spirits, then a few coats of Halfords Black bumper paint - great stuff that gives a nice textured OEM finish...

Next on the list was to clean up the bodywork, in advance of tackling it with the DA Polisher and mops, to try and bring the paintwork back to life. As you can see, two years of sitting out in the elements has done it no favours, and it had become an arachnid wildlife colony!

 As you can see, the horizontal panels (roof and bonnet) have become very dull - this will be rectified, don't worry!

 This female spider wasn't too happy when I raised the electric spoiler for the first time in a year, disturbing her and her hundreds of cute little babies! Arachnophobics look away now!

So, onto the cleaning... fisrt step was a couple of applications of snowfoam, left to dwell for 30mins. All products were supplied by Larry in www.cleancar.ie - what a gent and a pleasure to do business with!

Next step, wash down and rinse and detar the whole car, as this helped remove a lot of glue from trims, badges etc too.

Next, soaked her up with snow foam again, rinsed and clayed the whole car, using clay bar and speed detailer...

Finally another coat of suds and a good rinse off.

 Didn't turn out too bad at all; she's ready to be attacked with the polisher next, so we'll see how that turns out in the next installment.

So, while I was on a roll, I decided rather than fork out on new badges, I'd refurbish theexisting ones, to save a few bob, for more important things, like petrol!

All were rubbed down with red scotch pads to give a good surface key, then painted with hycote primers. The G60 badges were primered in white and have gotten three coats of VW Tornado Red, and will be finished with the surrounds done in Hycote satin black once the red has cured enough to mask over it.
I also used some 3M carbon vinyl wrap inside the rear panel badge roundel, as it was badly discoloured - didn't turn out too bad, I think..

And yes, I did manage to snap off the 'C' from the rear 'Corrado' badge, as some numpty had glued it to the car...this will be fixed during refitting!

Right, thats all for now.

Later,

RV.

Slammed - nuff said!

Needs more batin' with  lowering stick at the front to finish it off - will give the coilovers a few days to settle in before the trip to Inters on 22nd.

Thanks to Joe for doing a great job on the rear axle flip.

laters,

RV.

Project St-Inca - cab refit, lots of sweating and swearing!

 So...progress is being made…Saturday  I set about getting the cab of the van finished, to console myself that the wheels and suspension weren’t finished in time for this year's Limerick show…

Friday night, me and Dylan resprayed all the interior trim pieces in sexy satin black Hycote…

Here’s how it all looked Saturday morning….

Stripped out the old paint-stained seats and lobbed ‘em on the rubbish pile – also ripped out all remaining trim and scrubbed it all with plenty hot soapy water, then treated them all to a bit of vinyl dressing before refitting.

I scrubbed the shit outta the carpets and remaining trim and then moved onto the refit…new cup holder centre console, Mk3 Golf VR6 front seats (which I was assured were a handy fit – they weren’t, due to the steel beam running across the front of the load floor; lots of sweating, straining, cursing and brute force sorted that), refurbed door cards, refurbed overhead shelf, roofliner, door handles , the whole nine yards! Hell I even threw a non-sunroof Mk4 Golf interior rooflight into the headliner while I was at it – I was on a roll!

9 hours later (OK, there were a lot of coffee and smoke breaks which probably accounted for about 3 and a ½ hours!) this is how she looked…time for a little reward after working in the hot sun all day, and what better than Clonmel Chardonnay with which to do it, eh?

So now, it’s a much better place to be than when I picked her up...gone are the old smells of neglect and the seats are much more comfortable and supportive on a long drive.

Next on the list – get the rear fit-out done in time for me and Dylan’s road trip to Inters at the end of June!

Project St-Inca; full frontal tidy up...and some more cheap child labour!

Quick update..

Refurbed/resprayed satin black on the grilles, front badge and fitted the ibeefa spoiler on Saturday eve, prior to going to the charity run…tidies the front up nicely and takes the unfinished look away…

So last night, made a start on the wheels…haven’t had time to get tyres off, so cut the valves off to deflate them, and bought a multi-pack of masking tape to ensure I don’t get paint on Cian’s tyres!

First job was to detar, using a scrub brush and chemical guys ‘tardis’…then rinsed and used chemical guys ‘very cherry’ to remove any remaining dirt, so that any grit wouldn’t be rubbed into the metal while sanding, also removed all the balance weights to get clear access at the rims….why oh why do some numptys hammer weights onto the front of alloy rims….SWEET LORDY JEEEESUS WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY?

Here’s a couple pics of clean-up, using cheap child labour….

And the first wheel starting to get rubbed down with 180 wet ‘n’ dry paper….

All that nasty corrosion that was sitting under the balance weights is starting to smooth off, so its just a smooth surface I’m going for, before I lay on some light primer, then lash on a few coats of smooth spray hammerite, which gives a lovely gloss, self-levelling finish…

More pics to follow after sanding gets finished tonight hopefully, if this incessant pissy weather ever fucks off and lets the sun shine through!