Swainey32's Build Thread Space

[Swainey32]

Putting all my thought's and progress onto the one page, more for myself than anything.
So purchased a mk4 gti back in January 2011 with 8X000km in immaculate condition inside and out.




Few cheap fixes at the start:
Shift boot worn out

New one


Ugly antenna

new one


Average headunit so purchased from the US an AVIC z130BT

wiring mayhem

custom wiring loom that actually worked, than noone for having a direct iso interface :/

now how do I get it all to fit?

f it, take everything out so I can run the cables

whilst the dash in pieces, may as well install a reversing camera


and she's in, excuse the just terrible photography from back when I took these :S

sooo much blur, woops, honestly a very good system


That's enough for this post

[Swainey32]

Denvers for $150, hell yeahs, but unfortunately, gutter rash central
Two part metal epoxy to fill gaps after sanding

sand this down to 2000 grit

Prime

Putty filler

blaaaaaaaaaaaackk




Now she looks like a 4WD

[Swainey32]

Next of course for those cheap and easy extra 25 fw killer wasps, red calipers



Still looks like a 4WD

[Swainey32]

[Swainey32]

Coilovers yayyyy


Then some tint, not as dark in photo as in real life

[Swainey32]

For someone as OCD with car cleaning as me, I'm always surprised at how much grime comes out of car seats, ewww, I annually hire a rug doctor from coles with the upholstery attachments, this is what comes out

[Swainey32]

Then got myself a newsouth boost gauge for them OEM feels when the lights match

[Swainey32]

At this stage, I forgot to mention, Gav set me up with a nice Custom Code tune, makes such a difference off such a simple process.

Another bargain of the century, picked up some bora heated leather seats for $100 :O they needed some serious TLC, but for $100, what a ripper deal, after 2 weeks of treatment, yes you heard me, 2 weeks, the leatherique worked it's magic and softened the leather and reduced some minor cracking, and brought back that leather smell, mmmm delicious.

about 8 of these micro fiber clothes used to strip the grime out of what I deemed reasonably clean seats :/

Shiney, stiff, cracking

comparison of the two seats, on the right is treated, plush, low sheen and great to touch, like new with a lot of effort, but I don't mind

[Swainey32]

Next on the to do list:
- 42DD TBE
- FMIC
- Frankenturbo (maybe)
- more wheels
- re painting interior trim pieces

To be continued.....

[dylan8]

awesome work on the seats!
whats it worth to hire the rug doctor? have never looked into it?

Car looks clean

[Swainey32]

awesome work on the seats!
whats it worth to hire the rug doctor? have never looked into it?

Car looks clean

Thanks mate, I did some serious research for how to bring leather back to life, literally spent 1 hour a day on them for close to 2 weeks lol but still a great deal for the purchase price plus ~$80 in cleaning products. The leather sucks in close to 600 mL of the oil in 2 weeks haha

Rug doctor:
first time your hire
roughly $40-50 for 24 hours hire
+ $10 anti foam solution
+ $15-$20 for the fabric cleaner

Will get 2-3 hires out of the chemicals, so once you do it the first time, means it averages out to a few bucks in chemicals. One of those must do's once you know about the gross-ness of seats when combined with sweat/dirt/oils that accumulate over a year. These are weekly vacuumed seats haha. I first learnt this when someone spewed in my magna, so I hired this to fix it, and the water was close to black and I said I will always clean seats annually after this moment hahaha

Also a life saver when you have people over and they stain your carpet, particularly when I had house parties a few years back when the parentals went on a holiday haha

[JackF]

Hey mate, just wondering if you recall what products you used for refurbing your wheels (specifically primer and putty filler)?

Awesome work btw, loving the way the seats turned out!

[Swainey32]

Hey mate, just wondering if you recall what products you used for refurbing your wheels (specifically primer and putty filler)?

Awesome work btw, loving the way the seats turned out!

I used a product called "newtech spaceage repairer" although this is just a form of a 2 part epoxy you can get from bunnings.
I just used acrylic spray, can get from bunnings, autobarn, or for a higher quality go to an automotive paint shop for their specified one. Really just comes down to budget, the more expensive the can, usually the smoother the spray comes out.
I was fairly happy with autobarn's motospray, over a year old and not a single chip, but that's due to the primer.
Just start with primer (3 coats, 10 minutes apart) after wheel is clean and 100% smooth, then sand back with high grit paper, 2000-2500 until perfectly smooth, then spray the puty filler (2-3 coats 10 minutes apart) to ensure every minor scratch is filled, then a really high grit sand paper on this layer, then give it some time to dry, say overnight. Then acrylic colour (spray shop can give you exact colours if you want), about 3-5 really light coats so you don't get drips as you can't sand this layer. Let this dry over night, then do an acrylic clear, even if colour is "gloss" the clear offers more protection. 2-5 coats of this, 15 minutes apart, leave for about 5 days, then use a buffing compound to get rid of orange peel in the clear. Shiney new wheels.
This method is expensive :/ I spent somewhere near $150 to paint all 4 wheels, can do cheaper by skipping the putty layer, and going thinner on colour and clear. All about longevity.
In hindsight, probably should just got them powder coated for $250 but there's no fun in that haha


Thanks mate, was happy with the seats as well maybe I should do a write up on leather rejuvenation

[JackF]

Thanks for the reply mate, much appreciated.

And yeah, I'd definitely be interested in reading about how you did the leather!

[kdog]

Nice ride, I believe I've seen it at swinburne uni