Operation Bora Body

[dylan8]

Thats not too bad for the strip! im currently in the process of straightening mine back up

[PranK]

New headrests. Previous owner lost them, I've been looking for these since I bought my car.



Another pic of my racks.

[Golf-Sam]

imagine how hard it would be to find them in beige .. looks awesome !

[PranK]

imagine how hard it would be to find them in beige .. looks awesome !

Thanks!

Fixed my rear LHS strip today;



Also tok this. Not sure whether to put the Oettinger 'Sport' grille back on or not. Better decide before I fill the hood notch.

[RolfGolf]

Another pic of my racks.

Nice rack(s)!

- someone had to say it!

[RolfGolf]

Does anyone know if the Bora lower front valance fits the Golf?

[PranK]

This update has been a long time coming. I umm'ed and aah'd about writing it for ages.

Last October we had a catastrophic failure.





What happened was ...
I noticed a bit of steam coming from under the bonnet. It was a hot day and I was in traffic, at first thought I was just over heating. Then I smelled the oil. I pushed the car a little bit to get it off the road and when I checked under the bonnet there was just tonnes of sludge coming from the expansion tank. Everything was boiling and it was 50% oil.

Note: What I find out in the future is that my temp sensor was broken (so temp on the dash was fine) and also my radiator fans weren't turning on. Explains a lot about how it happened.

The car went to a local mechanic for analysis. They determined that my oil cooler had ruptured internally and, because of the flow of the water, the oil had literally been sucked out of the engine and into the cooling system.

They suggested I sell the car for scrap, and I almost did.

Then, I decided to give it a go myself and see what I could do. My main concern was that the engine had no oil at all and I didn't know if there was internal damage.

Anyway, I had an ECS cooling system refresh kit that I'd been meaning to fit;
Billet Gruvenparts crack pipe
Thermostat, thermo housing and seals
Temp sensor

So, those along with the new Oil Cooler and a new bellyfull of nice oil and she started, first go (after several months).



Of course, the cooling system was full of gunk. I did 5 or 6 flushes, then stupidly added my G12++ as I thought it was clean enough.

Also, I was finding it hard to open and close my expansion tank lid. Seems there was a reason for that.



The car was running. But there were a few things still wrong with it, mainly that it was now 3 months out of rego.

Which meant new plates. This means that the car was no longer matching numbers (I know its not a classic, but I liked having the original plates).

[PranK]

So, it was time to focus my attention on the horribly clunking front drivers suspension. I was pretty sure it was the strut top mount, so I bought a new rubber mount and bearing.

Seems it was a little bit worse;




So, thats now in and much much better. BUT (and maybe a q for dylan if you read this) I wasn't able to torque the nuts on the strut, they tightened all the way up to the top of the strut. That didn't happen last time.

Also, I replaced the ABS/G sensor behind the glove box. The braking problems I've been having since I bought the car (early ABS engagement) were gone!! OMG it pulls up so well! Its *never* braked like this!

But, then my reco sensor died, so I bought and fit another reco sensor just this last week and so far so good. ($500 new or $140 reco.)

Again, I can't explain how much better my brakes were after the sensor fitting. The ABS actually works but waits till there is a skid, which is not what it did before. As it is a lateral sensor, my theory is that it thought the car was travelling faster than it was, hence the early ABS.

If you need to replace this sensor, take the glove box out, its much easier.

So, now we're at current day.

The drivers side wheel is making an absolute racket! The guide bolt snapped off inside the disk and while the disk is on centered (no wobble) I think I may have bent the dust shield so will check that over the weekend.

ALSO, I found that my fans have not been working. I can make them turn on and off by bypassing the switch, which is good, it means they work! So, considering I need to drain the (still mud-like) coolant from the radiator to replace the switch, I bought myself a 2nd hand radiator, new O-Rings, new switch and 2 new bottles of G13.

So, this weekend all those things will go in. I'm a bit excited about this.

Also, I bought all the bits to build the fan-saver resistors fix thing. So, I'll put that in at the same time.

Once all that is done I'm hoping the car will be happy. If it is, then I'll start to move into a preservation/restoration mode. I'll make sure gearbox and haldex are ok and just try to maintain things. I don't think anything else is really 'broken' as such. She's done 240k now, I'd love her to reach over 300k.

I also have a little Mazda SP23 now also, I'm hoping I can keep the two for a bit longer so I have no real pressure on these weekend fixes. I don't need it on Monday. Thats a big help.

Ok, I think you're all up to date.

[PranK]

Does anyone know if the Bora lower front valance fits the Golf?

It does not.

[Gez110]

Far out, you've had a battle. How di you rate the ECS coolant refresh kit? Which one did you get.

[PranK]

Yeah, she was the perfect steed for 5 years and now everything is failing at once!! haha! So happy I have another car to drive at the moment.

This kit is the closest to it; https://www.ecstuning.com/Volkswagen...ing/ES2718487/

Mine was from a few years ago and had a Gruven Parts billet crack pipe (The Ultimate Crackpipe - All VR6 - Gruven Parts) and came with genuine coolant but this new one seems pretty much the same. It was great, its a daunting task (for me at least) but in the end it wasn't too difficult, just can't be scared. Super easy to put it all back together. Nice to know you have everything there and you wont need to leave the car half finished while you wait for a part.

Considering the state of my thermostat and temp sensor, I recommend you do it sooner rather than later (keep in mind my car was ~240k's when I did it, so had a fair few kays behind it.)

[Bora Sport]

Boy you have had some issues. My 2001 Bora is well over 300,000k's and still on the original clutch, chains etc. So it is a bit of a time bomb I know but so far so good. I had to replace the yaw sensor a while back, and the indicator/cruise control stalk. I did the fan resistor modification a couple of years after I bought the car in 2004 and haven't touched them since.

I really like the Oetinger grill. I think it makes the Bora Sport look so much better than with the standard bar grill. I've always been impressed with the braking too. I believe they are still a good looking car even though mine is now 15 years old.

[PranK]

Ooooh Bora Sport I'm so happy that you have a 300k+ Bora! It can be done in Australian conditions!

Really, after this little spat, my car will have had (over the last 30,000ks);

All new corner ABS sensors
New front disks and pads
All new suspension and suspension bushes, suspension mounts etc.
New lateral ABS sensor
Temp sensor / thermostat / crack pipe / expansion tank and cap

In progress (car is on ramps out front);
New radiator (fitted and running with clean, fresh water - so nice not seeing oil in my coolant)
New thermo switch
Fan resistor mod (done and waiting to fit)
A/C compressor clutch coil (causing havoc with my fans fix)

To do (all pre-emptive, everythng else is fine);
Haldex service
Box oil change
Small oil leak under engine, need to diagnose.

So, I'm hoping that within a few months, I'll have a car that feels good and strong and happy to go another 60k's to 300k.

The issues I've had with the car (imo) come down to 2 things; no fans and broken temp sensor. It got super hot and I had no idea. Just so happy the block feels strong.

God that list looks small, I'm sure theres more.

[dylan8]

I heard someone calling?
good to see you are still at it!
What did you use to tighten the top nut down? I'm looking to buy the proper tools shortly as I've had issues from rattle guns being used and I'm never sure if its done up enough with the old spark plug socket and allan key trick.

mines at ~280k km now, still original clutch, brakes were only changed as the rear caliper wound itself right and and caused excessive pad wear on the rear left (other 3 pads were only half way through there life). other than self inflected issues from being too low, iv had the same coolant leak twice (tiny slow leak), and the good old door sensor module thing failure on every door now its been a dream. loves a good thrashing and cops the 3-5min drive to and from work every day like a charm.

[PranK]

Dylan, yes I am... A sucker for punishment.

I tightened using the age old spark plug socket + allen key like you said. It never got even close to a torque tightness before it just stopped on the top of the strut. Was very strange. The car feels fine, its still to settle as much as the other side but its definitely not loose or clunking or anything, feels like it should.

280k's! Yeah baby. We need a 'never-tired Bora' club.
Your's sounds solid like Bora Sport's. I have bought some new micro switches for the front doors so I can finally get puddle light and interior lights working properly. My drivers door rattles like a ****ty corolla so I'll tighten everything in there while I'm there.

3-5min? God damn. My girl does 45 - 55min each way in Sydney traffic. But, when running, she does it effortlessly.