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Hi all,
Took me a while, but I eventually now found some time to start a thread on my car. As (some of) you know I bought this car a couple of months ago in Melbourne and had it transported up to Darwin. From what I know I am the third owner of this car in Australia - it resided somewhere in Adelaide before moving to Melbourne. It is a 1988 built small bumper GTI 16V.
The previous owner did a large bumper conversion but thankfully kept all the small bumper bits (and more) so I could get it back to original. This is the car how I bought it:
I have since done a little bit of work on it, mainly cosmetic, but I had some 'slight' mechanical issues with it as well. The plans and what I've done to it since the purchase is as follows:
Mechanical:
- When I first got it, it would stall when coming to a stop at traffic lights or sometimes even on roundabouts (which was very dangerous); it took me a while to sort this one out - I cleaned the ISV, fixed an idle switch issue (the accelerator cable would not always release completely to close the idle switch), adjusted the idle switch, replaced the ISV relay, cleaned all the ground connections - all of this helped to stabilise the idling, but it would still stall occasionally, which would drive me completely insane, until one day I've noticed very small splits in the wires to the ISV and the coolant temperature sensor (I'd noticed before that the ISV would always buzz, but at different levels, as if sometimes it was only getting a limited amount of power) – I have fixed these and the engine has been like a dream since! (knock on wood!)
- The left hand side outer CV joint needs to be replaced, will do both sides at the once - already have the parts, will be getting them fixed very soon;
- The exhaust is a Milltek stainless steel system - the internals of the mid-section resonator fell apart and would 'ring' on acceleration, which was very annoying - got that section replaced with an aluminised resonator as a temporary fix, will probably get the whole exhaust system replaced sometime in the future;
- The battery decided to die recently so got a new Bosch unit;
- Will be replacing the springs with Eibachs (already got the parts) very soon; I should be getting a -20mm which should be sufficient in my opinion (I personally don't like them too low: comfort/practicality/legality > looks in my books, besides very low doesn’t really look that good in my opinion anyway) - the shocks are Boge, still pretty much brand new, replaced by the previous owner just before I bought it;
- Will be doing an oil and coolant service soon as I simply don't know when these were last refreshed;
- Invested in a Bentley Service Manual
Interior / Exterior:
- Small bumper conversion - almost done; still needs sill decals (received in the mail today!), front tow hook cover (received in the mail today!) and will also be changing the front lip spoiler to a CL one (the only bit of the original small bumper GTI trim I don't like - also received in the mail today!);
- Smoked front and side indicators - done;
- New Bosch Aerotwin wiper blades (front and rear) - done;
- Personalised plates - done;
- New locks all-around - done (had different keys for the ignition and doors previously);
- New ignition lock housing (the bearing in the old one was shot so the whole column was loose) - done (and what a big difference this made!) - thanks for the tips Ryan!
- Replaced the steering wheel with a smaller three-spoke one - got this on the forum - thanks Eric! Decided to stay with small spline;
- Fixed rear parcel shelf, as per Stiggy's write-up on this forum (thanks Stiggy!) - it had a crack in it, so had remove and replace the material from the underneath;
- Replace side parcel shelf support - broken tab - done;
- Lined the back of the rear bench seat to match parcel shelf - done (will post up some pics later);
- New stereo system - Pioneer head unit and speakers all-around;
- Genuine VW carpet floor mats - done;
- New gear knob (received in the mail today!);
- Replace foam in driver's seat backrest (one of the bolsters was almost completely gone) - done last weekend (a PITA of a job, especially re-installation), also replaced the plastic clips on the frame that slide into the rails – one was broken – the seat is a lot firmer now;
- BBS RS - got the rims, will be installing as soon as the car is lowered;
As you can see, most of this stuff is quite minor - credit must be given to the previous owners as they have looked after this car very well!
This is what the car looks like now
I will try to take some more pictures on the weekend. Again, should have it lowered and with the RSs sometime next week, I hope.
Dom
Took me a while, but I eventually now found some time to start a thread on my car. As (some of) you know I bought this car a couple of months ago in Melbourne and had it transported up to Darwin. From what I know I am the third owner of this car in Australia - it resided somewhere in Adelaide before moving to Melbourne. It is a 1988 built small bumper GTI 16V.
The previous owner did a large bumper conversion but thankfully kept all the small bumper bits (and more) so I could get it back to original. This is the car how I bought it:
I have since done a little bit of work on it, mainly cosmetic, but I had some 'slight' mechanical issues with it as well. The plans and what I've done to it since the purchase is as follows:
Mechanical:
- When I first got it, it would stall when coming to a stop at traffic lights or sometimes even on roundabouts (which was very dangerous); it took me a while to sort this one out - I cleaned the ISV, fixed an idle switch issue (the accelerator cable would not always release completely to close the idle switch), adjusted the idle switch, replaced the ISV relay, cleaned all the ground connections - all of this helped to stabilise the idling, but it would still stall occasionally, which would drive me completely insane, until one day I've noticed very small splits in the wires to the ISV and the coolant temperature sensor (I'd noticed before that the ISV would always buzz, but at different levels, as if sometimes it was only getting a limited amount of power) – I have fixed these and the engine has been like a dream since! (knock on wood!)
- The left hand side outer CV joint needs to be replaced, will do both sides at the once - already have the parts, will be getting them fixed very soon;
- The exhaust is a Milltek stainless steel system - the internals of the mid-section resonator fell apart and would 'ring' on acceleration, which was very annoying - got that section replaced with an aluminised resonator as a temporary fix, will probably get the whole exhaust system replaced sometime in the future;
- The battery decided to die recently so got a new Bosch unit;
- Will be replacing the springs with Eibachs (already got the parts) very soon; I should be getting a -20mm which should be sufficient in my opinion (I personally don't like them too low: comfort/practicality/legality > looks in my books, besides very low doesn’t really look that good in my opinion anyway) - the shocks are Boge, still pretty much brand new, replaced by the previous owner just before I bought it;
- Will be doing an oil and coolant service soon as I simply don't know when these were last refreshed;
- Invested in a Bentley Service Manual
Interior / Exterior:
- Small bumper conversion - almost done; still needs sill decals (received in the mail today!), front tow hook cover (received in the mail today!) and will also be changing the front lip spoiler to a CL one (the only bit of the original small bumper GTI trim I don't like - also received in the mail today!);
- Smoked front and side indicators - done;
- New Bosch Aerotwin wiper blades (front and rear) - done;
- Personalised plates - done;
- New locks all-around - done (had different keys for the ignition and doors previously);
- New ignition lock housing (the bearing in the old one was shot so the whole column was loose) - done (and what a big difference this made!) - thanks for the tips Ryan!
- Replaced the steering wheel with a smaller three-spoke one - got this on the forum - thanks Eric! Decided to stay with small spline;
- Fixed rear parcel shelf, as per Stiggy's write-up on this forum (thanks Stiggy!) - it had a crack in it, so had remove and replace the material from the underneath;
- Replace side parcel shelf support - broken tab - done;
- Lined the back of the rear bench seat to match parcel shelf - done (will post up some pics later);
- New stereo system - Pioneer head unit and speakers all-around;
- Genuine VW carpet floor mats - done;
- New gear knob (received in the mail today!);
- Replace foam in driver's seat backrest (one of the bolsters was almost completely gone) - done last weekend (a PITA of a job, especially re-installation), also replaced the plastic clips on the frame that slide into the rails – one was broken – the seat is a lot firmer now;
- BBS RS - got the rims, will be installing as soon as the car is lowered;
As you can see, most of this stuff is quite minor - credit must be given to the previous owners as they have looked after this car very well!
This is what the car looks like now
I will try to take some more pictures on the weekend. Again, should have it lowered and with the RSs sometime next week, I hope.
Dom
HAHAHA
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