Bora R32 Build Thread

[beale187]

fronts doors all got done as well, new locks and carriers across all 4 doors now complete.

Also for anyone wondering, what the white things are circled below. They are "anti theft" lock covers to prevent picking the locks from the outside.

[IanPGonzaga]

nice one! this job is a ballache! haha

[dylan8]

getting some serious love! Hopefully see it at Nats this year!

[beale187]

Tidying up the engine bay a little managed to source an Audi 8L S3 Coolant Cover.

Previous owner did a charcoal cannister delete but never bothered to route the vapor line from the junction. Which resulted in a fuel vapors coming into the cabin (gotta be honest, I didn't mind the smell *sniff*) but I was more concerned that those vapors may possibly ignite with the heat just being trapped in the engine bay.

Sourced some fuel line (10mm outer diameter, 8mm inner from memory), an old elbow and decided to route it down and under the washer bottle out of the engine bay and into the atmosphere.








Once the elbow and line were in I was able to fit the S3 Coolant bracket and cover.

Part Numbers:
Audi 8L S3 Coolant Cover - 8L9 103 928B 01C
Bracket - 8N0 103 946A
Locking Screw - 8N0 103 531



Also installed some Porsche 911 oil and coolant caps.

[beale187]

* Black Hood Conversion - U.S. spec *

So some late night drinking led me to accidently buy a set of black U.S spec Jetta GLi Door seals

After that I spent probably 8mths or more down the rabbit hole trying to locate all the other bits and pieces needed to black out all of the hood lining trims with only OEM parts.

Sent the hood lining, pillar trims, sunroof shade and overhead console off to get trimmed - asked the trimmer to match (or as close as he could) to the OEM material that was on the US sunroof shade.





First thing to be done was the sunroof shade. You can either do this by removing the glass or do it when the hood lining is down.
I've always found it easier to do by removing the glass.

Put the roof into the tilt position and gently pry off the plastic trims




Undo the 6 T20 torx screws


pop the glass out the top and slide the shade forward to reveal the 4 phillips screws.



undo those and remove guide pieces.


once they are out of the way you can slide the shade forward and out through the top.


Now that I no longer needed power to operate the sunroof it was time to disconnect the battery and strip all the seats out.




Begun by removing all of the pillar trims and plastic sill trims. Pop the belt caps and remove the bolt and pry the pillars off.





On the B pillars I used a little blue tape to mark the position of the door seal orientation using the "cut out" section of the seal.


With the pillar trims out of the way, begun removing all the grabs, visors, lights basically anything connected to the roof. Most of these parts are held in by phillip head screws







rear lights require a small flat blade to depress the metal retainer, same as the vanity visor lights.


the hood lining was now only being held in by the door seals so it was time to gently pry them off.


With the old hood lining off I noticed my trimmer had not replaced the shade glide. This stops the sunroof shade material from rubbing on the hood lining. Carefully pulled it off (using dental floss) and glued onto the new hood lining.







With that all done it was time to reinstall.

[beale187]

this was also the perfect time to fit a new antenna seal (P/N: 1J0 035 350 C)



installed the sunroof shade and glass


When removing and installing the hood lining it will only fit in one specific way without bending it. Through the back in that exact position



once in, i used a little tessa tape to hold all the loom in place and fed all the wires through



installed all the grab handles first to support the lining then it was time to fit the door seals. All pretty straight forward except the drivers door which requires you to remove the bonnet release handle and trim. Pull the handle up and using a flat blade pull the lock out





then you can just pry it off.

Pull all the door seals and replace, I found it easier to use a plastic trim tool.

Job Done!


seats back in. Battery reconnected.


Picture below shows all the part numbers required to do this swap. The numbers NOT in brackets are what I visibility noted, those numbers in brackets are the complete OEM numbers which include the specific colour for each part indicated by the last 3 digits/letters.



I'll also put them below in text in case this **** ends up like Vortex and the images drop out in the future.

REAR ROOF GRABS - 6N0857607T 71N (6N0857607AAB41 with coat hook)
FRONT ROOF GRABS - 6N0 857 607 M
A PILLAR SLIDER - 1J0 868 331 A
A PILLAR SLIDE GUIDES - 1J0 868 337
BELT CAPS - 1J0 857 731 C (1J0 857 785C B41)
OSR MOTION LIGHT (6PIN) - 1J0951172D 1UQ
NSR MOTION LIGHT (4PIN) - 1J0951171D 1UQ
VANITY LIGHTS - 3B0 947 113 B41 (3B0947109AB41)
MINI VISOR - 3B0 858 555 CD (3B0858555C B41)
SUNROOF SHADE (8D0877255D 54A)
SUNROOF ROTARY SWITCH - 1J0 959 613 G (1J0959613G B41)
SUNROOF CONTROL PANEL - 1J0 947 105 K (1J0947106B41)
NSF VISOR - 6X0857551E 3H8 (3B0 857 551 S3H
OSF VISOR - 6X0857551E 3H8 (3B0 857 552 S3H
VISOR CLIP - 3B0 857 561 B (3B0857561B B41)
VISOR CLIP CAP - 3B0857563 47H (3B0857563 9B9)
AUTO DIMMING MIRROR (DONNELLY BRAND) - 3B0 857 511 C (3B0857511C 01C)
NS REAR VIEW MIRROR BASE - 3B0 858 547A (3B0858547A 9B9)
OS REAR VIEW MIRROR BASE - 3B0 858 548A (3B0858548A 9B9)
REAR VIEW STALK CAP TOP - 3B0857594 (3B0857594A 01C)
REAR VIEW STALK CAP BOTTOM TOP - 3B0 858 548A 01C (3B0858548A 9B9)
REAR VIEW LOOM - 1J0 971 411A
NSF DOOR SEAL - 1J5 867 365 F (1J5867365G NUK)
OSF DOOR SEAL - 1J5 867 366 E (1J5867366D NUK)
OSR DOOR SEAL - 1J5 867 367 G (1J5867367G FKM)
NSR DOOR SEAL - 1J5 867 368 G (1J5867368G FKM)

** EXCEPTIONS **

If you do not have "automatic anti dazzle" type rear view mirror then you will require this.

P/N: 3B0 857 511 A 01C






Some MK4's were also not equipped with "Interior Motion Sensors" so the rear lights required with be these type.

P/N: 3B0947291BB41


ALSO.... if you look at the first 3 digits from any of these parts numbers it indicates which vehicle in the VAG range these originated from. So, if you're chasing black hood pieces but don't want to pay the "GLi, 20th Anniversary TAX" most sellers put on these "limited" bits look outside VW and MK4's. For example, the lights above P/N: 3B0947291BB41 - the "3B0" actually indicate this is a Passat part.

The visors, "6X0857551E" = "6X0" is a SEAT part.

AND it can also work in vice versa, The belt caps for example "1J0857785C B41" although originally used in a "1J0" MK4 Golf/Bora/Jetta can also be found in the Skoda Octavia VRS, Fabia, VW Polo GTi 9N, SEAT Ibiza etc... making them a little easier to find and cheaper.

[beale187]

Suspension Time - and it's a biggy
* Installing R32 EU Spec shocks and springs *
* R32 Knuckles, LCA's and driveshafts *
* Complete refresh of the front end suspension *

So I'd been rolling around on stock R32 shocks and springs for about 6-8mths and although they were a big improvement of the stock Bora stuff at the end of the day they were a little tired. So I sourced a set of new VW Racing shocks and springs which are made by Bilstein and were fitted as standard to EU Golf R32's. Also decided it was time to tackle the R32 knuckle swap and give everything a refresh along the way.

Here's the haul.


Starting with the LCA's.

Pressed out the old bushes, washed them with a rust converter, gave them a light sand, then washed them again with wax and grease remover, masked them up and hit with them a fresh coat of matte black engine enamel.




great tip for masking up unusual shapes and not having to trim the tape with a knife is to mask the area with the tape overlapping. Then rub the tape with a little sand paper. The sand paper with cut the tape for you, on the edge perfectly.


all painted up.


came up great.


Purely from a price point, I opted to fit SuperPro poly bushes. I was a little concerned that the rear bush was a 3 piece as the top and bottom spacers looked pretty piss weak. BUT after comparing the thickness of the stock bush compared to the SuperPro I was satisfied.

Stock V SuperPro (note the top / bottom sleeve spacers and separate to the caged bush itself)


Done

[beale187]

Next up was the knuckles.

So first decision to make was whether to continue running Bora (nut type) driveshafts OR go with the R32 driveshafts (bolt type) as this will depend on whether you need to either swap the axle ends OR press in new hubs. I already had R32 driveshafts on the shelf so I opted to throw them in.

LEFT Bora (nut type) RIGHT R32 (bolt type)




Comparison of the hubs - note the inner section. Nut sits inside the hub, bolt sits flush up again the flange

LEFT Hub Bora - RIGHT hub R32


once that was decided it was time to refresh the hubs the same as the LCA's. Paint, New bearings, new hubs.

started by hammering out the old hub with a 39mm disc



remove the circlip from the backside of the wheel bearing


then press the old bearing out using a 65mm disc


again rust converter first, light sand, mask up and paint.








Then off to the press




Figured with the knuckles out of the car it was probably a good time to install the new balljoints. Counter hold the ball joint with a 5mm torx bit and tightened to 45nM

[beale187]

Next up was assembling the front struts.
The AU spec R32 shocks need bump stops and dust boots.
The EU R32 Bilstein shocks come with internal bump stops and dust boots already fitted so that was a small win.


slide the spring over the strut ensuring the spring end buts up against the groove of the strut.


slide the spring plate on, then alloy bush, bearing, top mount, mount plate, then lastly retaining nut.


Compress the spring and tighten 21mm nut to 60nM


Now it's ready for install.

[beale187]

Figured I'd start with the rear as it's much easier.

Quick comparison of the springs and it's evident that the EU stuff will sit lower given there are less coils.

R32 EU Spec - R32 AU Spec - Stock Bora 4motion.


Overall drop was 20-25mm
(10-15mm from stock to R32, and a further 10mm once the EU Spec was installed)

Undo upper shock bolt - 60nM


Undo to lower shock bolt - 110nM


Compress spring and yank that bitch out.


New hardware


Done.

[beale187]

Fronts had to be done in 2 stages. Struts and springs, then the R32 knuckle swap.

Undo top mount nut - 60nM


remove sway bar link - 90nM, brake lines and abs wiring from the strut.


new links


Undo strut to knuckle bolt 60nM + 90' and insert knuckle spreader bit


Pulled the strut out, had to swap over the brake line/abs bracket. Litte bit of anti-seize inside the knuckle to stop the strut from seizing in there.




Done.


Quick comparison height wise
R32 EU v R32 AU

[beale187]

Bora knuckles V R32 knuckles.

Note the R32 position of the ball joint sits lower. This helps bring the driveshafts closer to parallel when the vehicle is lowered.




And the Bora arms V R32 arms.



Note the tapered end of the arm allows for wider track and more camber adjustment.



I was all over the place trying to get this done in one day so i may have missed a few steps here but they would've been covered previously when I installed the front struts.

First step was to undo the inner CV joint whilst the knuckle and brake caliper were still attached. I didn't get a pic of it but I normally take a small flat head screw driver (marked in red) and slip it between the brake caliper and the carrier and into one of the disc vents. This stops the wheel from turning whilst undoing the inner CV joint.


6x M10 triple square. Torqued to 70nM.


Removed the knuckle


Removing the control arm was fairly straight forward, 18mm bolt / nut at the rear (70nM +90')
and 1 at the front (also 70nM + 90').

Problem with the front one was it kept hitting the sump before I could fully extract it.


So I was forced to lower the whole subframe to get the clearance needed and pull the arms out.


Tie Rods.
On standard Golfs / Bora the tie rod ends face downwards and angle towards the rear of the vehicle.





When installing R32 knuckles it's necessary to flip them upside down - THEN swap them left to right so they angle towards the rear. Note the angle changes when flipped upside down.

[beale187]

This unfortunately is where I came unstuck, I fitted the rod ends into the knuckle but there was a stupid amount of play.


So as it turns out when I stripped the knuckles from my old R32 the knuckles have metal sleeves in them, which in my case were still stuck on the R32 steering rack.


sleeve removed.


Pressed it back in the knuckle and that fixed that set back.


Got the knuckle back in the car, note the tie rod end now faces UPWARD.

[HaydEn]

Awesome stuff man!

Great detail, makes for a great read.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[beale187]

Awesome stuff man!

Great detail, makes for a great read.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks mate, I'm hoping to get it to the track some time this year and look at ways of adding a bit more power in the future.

But there's no point adding power if I can't go around corners and stop when I need to! So suspension and brakes come first.