Dubster's 1.8t conversion build

[dubster99]

Hey guys as some you may know I'm Anthony from Adelaide and have finally go around to doing a build. I have had my golf since 2012. Its been a long 3 years with the mods slow to start with and but surely getting to where I want it. Came with the 14" wheels and cream interior. Interior was pretty clean but as the norm with the mkiv the handles were peeling!

Here the first picture I took when I brought her home!


And heres how it sits now







So far I have done

Suspension

Kw V1 coilovers
Ecs stage 1 refresh kit

Wheels

Porsche twists 18 x 7.5, 18 x 10
Replica Zolders 18 x 8

Interior

GTI sports seats
All balck trims for dash
GTI door trims
Black carpet and seats belts
Net optic trims sanded into brushed look
R32 steering wheel
R32 gear knob
Leather handbrake
Us spec centre console
Bora air con vents
20% tint

Exterior

Genuine R32 front bar
Genuine R32 rear bar
Rear wiper delete
Badgeless grill
Spec d tuning angel eye/depo headlights
LED tail lights

Engine

20v AGU 1.8t
Stage 1 Oettinger tune

Coming soon

Stage 3 custom code
3" down pipe
2.5" custom exhaust
F4-t franken turbo
Bora sports clocks
Central locking DIY
Shaved hatch with popper hatch mod
Brembo 4 pot front brakes with braided lines
Short shifter
Fmic
Later...later on shaved bay!

Will have more update and pics soon! Let me know what you think and enjoy!

[dubster99]

Heres a clip of the golf after the engine conversion

[dubster99]

So after looking through some other build threads here and on other forums from around the world I decided I wanted to change the look of the golf. I actually bought the kw v1s and zolder reps from a forum member but I actually never installed them until about a year later as I wasnt confident enough to install the coilovers and well the wheels on the car without coilovers looked ridiculous so I went to search for an easier mod to start off with and these popped up locally new. Jumped on them and went ahead to fit them. Some people hate them but I quite like the look. ( I tried the joey mod and melted my other headlight casing)



Then it was the tint time! I didnt know what % to get but a friend showed me her car and 20% looked sweet so that was booked in and down next!




Tail lights were next from a forum member in Qld so there were posted down and I installed them with ease. (Google comes in very handy when your a noob!

Daytime


And night time



Found the head unit from my old car and fitted it. Got stuck when installing because of the excessive wires so went and got a harness and made life so much easier and also bought an antenna adapter too.



So some time went by, moved house and kind of got sick of riding high abd 14" wheels squealing around most corners so I bit the bullet and decided to install the coilovers. Did a little bit of research and decided to do the rears first as they looked easier.



Was going to do the fronts but waited until my ecs order for front suspension refresh kit came in. In the mean time I bought the R32 front and rear bars fron bugracer and got the front repaired and painted. Always loved the r32 look so when I seen them I couldnt resist. Cost sn arm and a leg to repair being plastic but the paint shop got it down. Also did the washer cover shave too. Funny enough as soon as I got home my ebay badgeless grill came in the post and fitted that too.





So a couple of weeks later the ecs order arrived and I went to work installing new bushes and the front coilovers





Its amazing the difference of the top strut mount bush



And all done!



Didnt know what else to do at this point, so I just enjoyed driving it around. Then I went and got some matte plasti dip

[dubster99]

Found a R32 wreck in perth and bought some goodies


Joined vwvortex and realised they had a different centre console! I didnt like the cup holders above the radio so this a perfect idea, I also ordered a black leather handbrake to match.


Couldnt resist this off ebay, now people who see me out know who I am


Renovating my mums house at the time and had to pick up an oven and range hood. More lows!


So after a couple of months i was at a cross roads. Wanted to have a little more power as the 1.6 wasnt cutting it for me, fuel economy was awesome but thats as far as it got. Considered selling it and buying a GTI but I had spent a bit on he golf and didnt exactly want to strip it to sell it. Also realised at the time that aus delivered GTIs did not come in this colour, so i weighed up my options for either selling or keeping and after some research I ready stans thread on his 1.8t conversion! Talked to him about how he went about it and rang around. Half cuts werent cheap and not near SA so i went looking on pickles. Found a GTI but was in Vic so didnt know how to get transport or even it was worth it. I decided to wait for something a little locally.

A few months went by, kept an eye out for local wrecks and one night decided to look on ebay. To my suprise the wreck from pickles was up for auction. Untouched from what I could see from the pictures but still in Vic. Contacted the owner and discussed how we would go about getting it from Vic to Adelaide. Rang around a few car carriers and got a quote for $609! Would have been more expensive if the car didnt run but since it was only rear end damage it still drove. Was a bit of a gamble not looking at it but bit the bullet and bought it for $1300. Here it is.





Came with a stage 1 Oettinger tune which Gav looked at them he was down that year. So I stripped off and sold pretty much everything i didnt need.

[Lito]

Love it!

[JustCruisn]

Anthony! Don't ! We have neighbours.
I love that bit.
Sounding good

[RolfGolf]

Good to see the progress you've made all in the one thread Anthony - and the list of future mods. The car has come a long way from the 1.6 it used to be. Have you sorted the rattling yet? Will catch you soon for a chat mate as I'm back in town.

[rizzla]

This thing looks boss!!
Makes me want the R32 front and rear!

[dubster99]

Cheers guys!

Lachlan now yet mate! Ive got parts coming from ecs then i can put it back together. For you guys who dont know, new years eve the car made a rattling noise so its been off the road since. Heres what its sounded like

[dubster99]

Heres the 4 pots I have to rebuild and paint.


Another picture from one of my first cruise with the adelaide vw guys


Refreshing the 20v engine (new water pump, timing belt, stage 1 ecs cluth kit with lightened fly wheel


Taking engine out of wreck


And into mine


Transplanting engine wasnt so hard, engine wiring all comes out with engine, all plugs different so you cant get confused where they go.

[eri_12]

Great work
Those clutch kits are good

[dubster99]

Thanks eri! Yea i didnt know how good these were so i thought to only go stage 1 first.

[dubster99]

Been busy with work and the golf so havnt had time to update. So much catching up to do! So since the last update,

Sold majority of the GTI but couldnt move the trims, seats, carpet and trims so I decided to swap out my hideous cream interior with all the black trim!
Also fitted the leather hand brake, us centre console and custom fitted the petrol cap button















Found time to fit my R32 steering wheel! Feels so much chunkier than the stock 4 spoke!

[dubster99]

Been researching about interior trim, as mine was standard is was all peeling and was too plain. Couldnt justify the price for R32 trim so after a little bit of searching on ukmkiv and found out about net optic trim. Can sand it down to look like aluminium trim but so much cheaper! Found some on ebay uk and bought it straight away!

It arrived and went straight to work with the wet and dry sandpaper.













Also gave the handles a coat of paint to freshen them up



All done! Clear coat to seal if and installed it.

[dubster99]

Found a cheap genuine rear bar! Had it shipped down from queensland! Even though it was black I couldnt help myself so I fitted it. A couple of weeks untill volkswagen day and I got it painted! Straight after the whole car got a cut and polish!