A whiff of what's cooking in the kitchen - 'Project Carbon'...

[OEM G60]

Awesome mate, love it! Love the subtle colour matching with the red centred wheels/seats/rear lights etc and carbon... Nice to see a good combination of showyness and driveability if you get me, i would do be doing the same, suspension mods are supposed to improve the drive imo too.
Do you know how much it weighs?

[Spyda]

i understand the wheel gap but I still don't like it.

Its a bit strange that so much time and effort is spent on the looks, especially wheels like that and then have mad wheel gap to (imo) ruin the look. Plenty of ways to mod the suspension so it works and looks good.

Still love the car, in daily spec or not, im just saying......

[walshydub]

Sorry to quote a picture from a few pages ago but that is a thing of beauty

[Valver.]

i understand the wheel gap but I still don't like it.

Its a bit strange that so much time and effort is spent on the looks, especially wheels like that and then have mad wheel gap to (imo) ruin the look. Plenty of ways to mod the suspension so it works and looks good.

Still love the car, in daily spec or not, im just saying......

You're missing the point. Just because the car 'looks good' doesn't mean it has to prescribe to a 'show car' setup. I haven't deliberately spent time making it look good either - it just does because things are done properly and no cheap parts are used. The only exception to this is all the carbon stuff, which is there simply because I like carbon fibre The other tasteful features are there equally for function as they are for form! I bought the PLS wheels because I could, and they don't spend much time on the car anyway. It was also a nice challenge to make 16x9s fit without obviously widening the arches.

There are certainly not 'plenty' of ways to mod suspension so it works and looks good on a Mk1. In fact, there are none outside of structural and design mods to recover wheel travel. Even raising the strut towers only cures part of the problem in the front end, as it introduces its own issues with arch and driveshaft clearance as well as significant geometry problems when you're in the last 15-20% of your suspension travel.

No matter what you do to any suspension system, its performance will always come down to the available wheel travel and geometry - none of which are good Mk1 starting points! Wheel travel is one of the first things VW improved with the Mk2 platform.

Anyone who lowers their Mk1 right down and thinks it rides well frankly doesn't have much idea. If you put a cable tie on the front shock piston and go for a 5 min drive with a slammed Mk1, you'll find the cable tie is sitting on the bump stop pretty quickly! You can't absorb bumps without any wheel travel... All that energy just gets transferred through the strut towers and into the structure. It's exactly how you progressively stress fracture an old steel shell and dilute the point-to-point responsiveness that makes a well setup Mk1 what it is.

So no, I won't be lowering it. If I wanted a slammed Mk1, I'd have saved myself over 50k on performance parts and built a cruiser.

Do you know how much it weighs?

I need to re-weigh it since making a few changes, but it sits around the 730kg mark with the 14" wheels on and no fuel

[gldgti]

I refrain from posting in build threads like this because it clutters up the goodness, but I gotta pay you my repsects and say thanks for building and sharing. Truely great - I'm if nothing else a form follows function guy, and after watching the video I found myself nodding and agreeing with your sentiments.

Thanks

[static1800]

Fantastic work Stu.

[DubSteve]

Beautiful car Stu, really like the way its done a really good well all round sorted car!

[cdogg]

is this car going to be at DOVW... I would love to check it out!

[Buller_Scott]

is this car going to be at DOVW... I would love to check it out!

+ 100,000,000.

[Valver.]

is this car going to be at DOVW... I would love to check it out!

It just might make a surprise appearance

I actually haven't even had a chance to drive it for over a month, so it's well overdue to make an appearance somewhere!

[mikinoz]

Most MK1, after a month, need RACV to make an appearance before you can go somewhere.

[GRN_VAGN]

So no, I won't be lowering it. If I wanted a slammed Mk1, I'd have saved myself over 50k on performance parts and built a cruiser.

Or bought a Volvo

Great work on the build, Bit bummed i didnt get a chance to see it while it was still in tas

[Valver.]

All detailed up ready for next weekend



Strangely enough, I took it out for a spin this afternoon and a German backpacker came over looking really stoked because it was the first Mk1 he'd seen after six weeks in Australia. He drives a modded Cabby with a VR6 conversion back home - respect I gave him the details for DOVW and he's going to come out for a look.

Mk1s definitely aren't a dying breed yet.

[dubmc]

my cousin is in europe at the moment...he told me in germany, austria, begium etc there are mk1/mk2's driving around everywhere...some just in original like condition and others with the works (wheels etc)...definately not a dying breed, perhaps just a growing one here in australia...there were about 6 in my local area last time i checked...when i was younger i dont remember seeing any whatsoever.

cars looking great by the way.

[mikinoz]

Stu I'd like to hear from you where you sourced the side trim if you are willing to share, PM is fine.

I love the stretch that you are getting on the Hankooks, they look to be holding up to it well.