Bäsemödel: 1.8 TSi Project

[Bäsemödel]

I'm outside Philly and would love to find someone who could do the passenger mirror dip in reverse for a reasonable fee.

I'll do it for you. I live in lancaster. Could meet up friday morning if that works for you. Just make sure you know your needed security codes.

 

[cldlhd]

I'll do it for you. I live in lancaster. Could meet up friday morning if that works for you. Just make sure you know your needed security codes.

Thanks. How do I go about getting my security codes. For it to work properly I guess I have to the different power mirror module? In off Friday but I took off to go to my son's field day. I'm in Bucks county and according to Google maps I'm 99 miles away so not too far.

 

[cldlhd]

So today's big project was to install these GTI skirts!

I ordered them from ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/172135084034?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

They came from californian but were made in taiwan. The quality is probably 7/10. They're nice construction and only one small tab broke while I was opening them up.

They arrived clipped together with the hardware in a separate bag. I unclicked them and did a test fit. I took some pictures of the GTI skirts to see where they landed on the car and used that as my reference.

Installation was a 4/10 in difficulty.

Because I'm fairly OCD, i wanted to get things lined up perfect. I had a roll of gaffer tape so I used that as a straight edge and also used a silver sharpie to mark where I wanted to drill the pilot holes for the screws. I also made small dots on the receiver of the skirt to show where the heads of the screws would land. If you dont do this, you'll likely end up with the skirts installed too far back or forward. I taped the receiver up on the car and dotted out where I wanted the screws to land.

The tape on the car also served to prevent tear-out when drilling the hole. There are 12 holes to drill plus one self tapping screw in the center. I didnt drill a pilot for that one.

Once I made the marks, I drilled and 1/8th in pilot hole. First one was scary! No going back! Left side took a bit longer as I did that one first. Second side took half the time. If you set up a straight edge of some kind to get yourself a guide line you'll be much better off.

Once the screws are in, you can slide the receiving side on to the heads of the screws. I tightened them down once everything was in place. Once the receivers were installed, I clicked in the skirt itself.

Fitment was 7/10. I'm happy with the look they add and for $100 I think the fitment is pretty good. A lot depends on how you mocked it up and drilled the screws. If your rockers are perfect and have no dings or bulges you'll be in good shape. Mine had a small one on the front passenger side which prevented the receiver from sitting completely flush. Only noticeable if youre on the hunt for it.

Overhall, happy with how it came out! Interested to see how they will hold up!

Looks good but I'd be a bit hesitant to drill holes down there especially in areas where you get road salt.

 

[Bäsemödel]

Looks good but I'd be a bit hesitant to drill holes down there especially in areas where you get road salt.

Yeah winter is going to be interesting. Been thinking about how I could caulk the gaps shut or possibly unclip them in the winter. Not sure yet. I also should have painted over the holes first but that's something I didn't think to do.

 

[cldlhd]

Yeah winter is going to be interesting. Been thinking about how I could caulk the gaps shut or possibly unclip them in the winter. Not sure yet. I also should have painted over the holes first but that's something I didn't think to do.

I was thinking that also but the screws probably would have buffered up the paint. Maybe something like silicone?

 

[Bäsemödel]

I was thinking that also but the screws probably would have buffered up the paint. Maybe something like silicone?

Yeah I wouldnt think it would hurt anything to add some around the thread when screwing into the body.

 

[Matt15GTI]

Since you're local, you should visit Smith VW in Delaware and get tuned. Even a 1.8t with a 87 octane APR tune would be sweet! They are a very mod friendly dealer and have been around for 50 years.

 

[Bäsemödel]

Yeah I'm thinking about tune options... Probably going to go with JB1. Save money for other things.

 

[Bäsemödel]

VWR Springs!

So today, with the help a of a friend whose dad is a driving instructor and BMW enthusiast springs went on! Two E36 track cars behind us in the pics I must say, a full shop, lift and air makes this job go much quicker.

I did a ton of research before starting the project. Bought all the hardware i thought I would need from ECS and got the springs from a board member. Its one thing to read the threads and watch the videos but doing it makes it all make sense.

I noticed one unique thing right away. My car didnt have the six inner axle bolts in the front and thus I couldnt remove them. All the GTIs and Rs i saw had them and that was the DAP suggested method for install. However, seeing that amy car was different, that shifted my plans as I didnt want to undo the axle hub bolt for fear of causing an ABS issue.

We decided to do the rears first. Super easy. Took half an hour total. Made sure to put the springs back in their factory indents and all was good.

The fronts, as you may know, were much more challenging. We started on the passenger side and did the sway bar end link, the triple square bolt on the spindle holding the strut tower in, the three bolts on the ball joint that connect to the control arm. We then spread the spindle clamp with the spreader socket; well worth the purchase. We removed the strut as much as we could but reached a point where we had to start pushing up on the strut rather than pushing down on the the rotor/spindle. We also elected to unbolt the sway bar bushings to have more room to wiggle things.

We ended up using a jack with a piece of unistrut wired to the strut to push it up; sort of a 2x4 method. It worked great and we got the strut out quickly after that. New spring, bearing and strut mount. Then we reversed the process, placed new bolts in the place of the ones we removed (where possible) and moved to driver side. Driver's was a bit more challenging because the axle is shorter. We tq'd all bolts to spec according to the DAP how to video.

All in all, it took us 4 hours of going at it to get it done. I really like how it sits and drives. An increase, probably 15%, in feel when going over bumps and cracks on the crappy PA highways. The car feels more connected to the road and, on nice roads, it ride quality has improved significantly. Cornering is much more sure and planted.

I have encountered on odd thing on the way home. On the drivers side, when going below 45MPH and going over small bumps, I hear a hollow rattle/knock sort of sound coming from that area. All bolts are confirmed tight and the strut mounts were installed properly with springs seated properly. Haven't noticed it above that 45MPH range. I notice no drivability issues. Any thoughts on what might be causing that?

 

[cool_username]

So today, with the help a of a friend whose dad is a driving instructor and BMW enthusiast. Two E36 track cars behind us in the pics I must say, a full shop, lift and air makes this job go much quicker.



I did a ton of research before starting the project. Bought all the hardware i thought I would need from ECS and got the springs from a board member. Its one thing to read the threads and watch the videos but doing it makes it all make sense.

Looks really great. Thanks for the quick how to as well, it'll be super helpful when I do mine.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[paulkromz]

looking great bud!

 

[Bäsemödel]

Mirror caps!

Went to visit family in NH this week. My brother and I knocked out the mirror caps. We used plastidip which was great to work with. 4 coats, one every half hour and then an overnight dry. Came out great! Very smooth matte finish. Interested to see how it holds up. It picks up fibers easily so I'll probably use a sponge for cleaning purposes. Thinking about doing the edge of the doors...

 

[cldlhd]

Looks great and thanks for the pics. Is the black mirrors a grass is greener or a wanting what you don't have kind of thing? I remember when a lot of cars ,especially cheaper ones, came with black mirrors regardless of car color and it was considered a step up if they were body color. So if they came black would you want to paint them?

 

[Bäsemödel]

Looks great and thanks for the pics. Is the black mirrors a grass is greener or a wanting what you don't have kind of thing? I remember when a lot of cars ,especially cheaper ones, came with black mirrors regardless of car color and it was considered a step up if they were body color. So if they came black would you want to paint them?

Haha probably... I just wanted to try using plastidip really. Plus, I really liked the look of the black mirror caps pulling the other black elements of the car together. It was a basically free, totally reversible mod so I figured I didn't have much to lose.

 

[cldlhd]

I'm not judging, it does look cool I was was just curious. You know some cars had black bumper covers also.....