It's Sam's Second Build

[It's Sam]

Hi there, welcome.

Spoiler: Read this if you're new!

So yeah, "Sam's Second Build." There was a first.

I need to take a minute to fill you in.

I was looking for a new car around this time last year (~Nov 2018), and wanted something fun to drive, had good looks, and wasn't something you'd find your typical boy-racer driving.

So me, being your typical boy-racer, settled on the MK7 GTI. I wanted to make it a fast street car with the looks to match, but nothing too over-the-top for what it is.

I found the perfect one, a 2015 Autobahn in Carbon Steel Gray with the DSG. It was awesome. With the modifications I had done to it, It was a blast to drive.

But then this happened like two weeks ago:

She backed into me at full throttle, pushed me into the curb, pivoting the car on the wheel, swinging me into the car next to mine. Basically the back of my car was compressed beyond reasonable repair. Replacement parts alone were approaching $20K.

I wasn't in the car and it was parked legally, so I would be pretty hard to pin any fault on me. Geico basically paid for a newer car, giving exactly what I paid for the wrecked one. Perfect scenario? Sort of.

So, sad story over, one week later I picked up this:

(Excuse the bad smartphone pics, we've had too much rain this past week.)

It's a 2017 SE, also a DSG. This one has the performance pack (So it's cooler). Based on what I and the dealer gathered, it was property of VWoA, and used as a loaner/company car for an employee for 10 months back in 2018. So, basically, brand new to me.


Now that the backstory is out of the way, It's time to start the log. I want to put my old stuff back on, obviously, but perhaps take a different route with some things I had planned based on my new color scheme and spec.

My thinking process with modifying cars always involves taking into account the potential cost of fixing something that's done wrong. I like doing things myself. It saves time and money, and it's just fun to actually do the work yourself. At the same time, the risk of me completely destroying something is also much higher. As I pick through mods and decide on brands and models and everything, I want to make sure that I won't be totally underwater if I spend thousands on parts only to then have to spend double that on an engine rebuild.

My point is, I want to have fun, but I want to be careful. Conservative? For sure. Still fun? absolutely. This build definitely won't be the coolest one on here. Probably not even a very entertaining one. But it's here to try to show a way to make a fun car a little more fun without pushing the limits too far.

So my plans are as follows:




Engine:

Tune- COBB Accessport, EQT OTS Stage II, EQT DSG Tune

HPFP -

Fueling Kit -

Engine Mount(s)- APR Dogbone insert

Intake- APR, CF Pipe

Turbo Inlet pipe- ECS

Downpipe- APR, Catted

Catback- AWE, Track

Intercooler- ECS FMIC

Ignition- OEM Audi RS7 plugs, RS3 coils


Suspension/platform:

Wheels- Neuspeed RSe10s , 18x8.5

Tires- BF Goodrich Comp-2, 235/40

Coilovers-

Rear Sway Bar- H&R 26mm w/Moog Endlinks




Exterior:

Tail Lights- MK7.5 OEM Euro

Lip Spoiler- Aerofabb Extension

Amazon Dynamic Mirror Turn Signals-

Front Splitter- Maxton V2

Rear Diffuser- Maxton

Front/Rear VW Emblems- Gloss Black, Paint-Matching Inlays

Front/Rear GTI Logo- Black, Red Inlay

Black Mirror Caps


Interior:

Infotainment- Badgeskins Power Button

Shifter Boot- Undecided

DSG shifter- Undecided

Amazon Shift Paddle Replacements- Black

Boost Gauge- APR, driver's side vent

Fueling/AFR Gauge -








Stay tuned!



.

 

[It's Sam]

Today I had a chance to really clean the interior and take a look at the new situation. I also messed around and did some OBDeleven tweaks.

Really cleaning the trim pieces and the leather makes so much of a difference. Getting that oily film off of the steering wheel and the shifter makes the car feel like new (literally!):

Do you like clean Engines?

]

Also got a chance to do what is (in my opinion) the best modification to the MK7 Golf platform:

And, while messing around with OBDeleven, I was able to make my Engine Start button pulse. It's kind of cool:

See it here: https://imgur.com/5xUKY3H


Biggest thing is, I got a chance to see what condition the car is in and see where and when I should start.

The future is bright!

.

 

[jimlloyd40]

Congratulations. A nice outcome. Make the IC one of your first mods.

 

[It's Sam]

Congratulations. A nice outcome. Make the IC one of your first mods.

Thank you! My issue is that I neglected to consider an intercooler when building my other car, so my knowledge of my options is rather limited at the moment. I'm slowly gathering more info and building an idea of what I should get. However, winter is basically here right now and the air is uncomfortably cold, so I probably won't go through with this until sometime next spring.

Any recommendations are always appreciated, especially ones that don't break the bank...

 

[It's Sam]

11/14/19

Boxes and boxes and boxes arriving almost every day this week. I had to order some supplementary parts for my downpipe and intake. When my previous car was being held at the auto body shop, the owner (a friend of ours), swapped all of my parts before it was taken away by insurance. Very kind of him, and very fortunate for me that I didn't lose what I put into the car. The only issue was that I neglected to mention some little odds and ends that are easy to miss. For example, the extension cable for the O2 sensor, the coolant hose re-route, and the rubber gasket for the intake were either lost or missed completely. Right now, I'm just waiting on them to arrive so I can put everything back on.

Along with those, I picked up a few extra items...

OEM Lights from another great forum member, BFI Stage 2 mount should be interesting...

Either when it was being removed or when it was sitting in a bin, one of the mounting tabs on my intake snapped off. It was a pretty clean break, so gluing it back together isn't impossible:

Best part of a silver car? You match the graphics on screen a little better:

 

[Sandman GTI]

11/14/19

Boxes and boxes and boxes arriving almost every day this week. I had to order some supplementary parts for my downpipe and intake. When my previous car was being held at the auto body shop, the owner (a friend of ours), swapped all of my parts before it was taken away by insurance. Very kind of him, and very fortunate for me that I didn't lose what I put into the car. The only issue was that I neglected to mention some little odds and ends that are easy to miss. For example, the extension cable for the O2 sensor, the coolant hose re-route, and the rubber gasket for the intake were either lost or missed completely. Right now, I'm just waiting on them to arrive so I can put everything back on.

Along with those, I picked up a few extra items...

OEM Lights from another great forum member, BFI Stage 2 mount should be interesting...

Either when it was being removed or when it was sitting in a bin, one of the mounting tabs on my intake snapped off. It was a pretty clean break, so gluing it back together isn't impossible:

Best part of a silver car? You match the graphics onscreen:

FYI, that is a white car.
Pure white as it matches mine!

 

[It's Sam]

FYI, that is a white car.
Pure white as it matches mine!

...I think it's silver, but I have a tendency to be wrong.

At least it matches better than CS Gray

 

[It's Sam]

11/15/19

Lights got installed! Being super careful not to destroy the harnesses when running the cables made the process take some time, but in the end it was worth it. And, in my opinion, the OEM lights doo look slightly better than the replicas, especially in terms of brightness. That is, each "segment" of the light is very uniform in terms of brightness and shape, with no light bleeding and no mismatched brightness throughout the assembly. Comparing these to the replicas, there's a slightly more premium and (believe it or not) OEM look to them, which I dig.

Starting out:

I tried snaking the harness between the body and the trunk lid, but doing it with the rubber hoses still in place was a pain. I ended up removing them and breaking them epicly. They hang down a little now, but it's not something that drives me crazy. I'll get around to a solution in the future.

Dremel w/cutting wheel made quick work of the oem harness

Installed!

Better in the dark:

(better pictures needed, sorry)

.

 

[It's Sam]

11/18/19

Intake system, Accessport installed. The intake was easier than expected to put back on. My glue job seemed to work very well, as the tabs that broke off before are rock solid after a shot of super glue.

I held off on installing the turbo muffler delete, and I ultimately decided to remove it from my list. Remembering how long it took me to install the first time and knowing that I wanted to be quick in the garage pushed me to decide against it. Hopefully someone else can make better use of it.

Installing the Accessport to the ECU and DSG was per normal, but I need to figure some stuff out with Cobb and MAPerformance. The AP was uninstalled properly form my last car, but some maps, including the ones from MAP, are still married/licensed to the other car. Hopefully it is simple enough as receiving a different tune, but otherwise a little frustrating.



Intake fixed and ready to go!

Inlet pipe installed:

Image of installed intake missing, coming soon.
.

 

[It's Sam]

12/2/19 - Black Friday claims another victim

Short but sweet update. Nabbed some fair discounts on some of the things I had been looking at. Biggest thing was the AWE catback. I know the car doesn't really need it with a downpipe, but personally I like knowing that I have a complete system with big tips and a meaner bark.

Also grabbed a Maxton diffuser from ECS while it was on sale. I was mixed when It came to diffusers. The full replacement pieces look nice and fit very well, but I really liked how this one just sticks out the back a little bit. It looks more aggressive despite being bolted right under the stock bumper.

...and to close it out I ordered the Aerofabb extension. I really like it in pictures, I'm hoping I'll like it more in person. Looking forward to that install.

Also, I feel like I got scammed on eBay. I ordered some black emblems a few weeks back and still haven't gotten further shipping updates. It's still "in the system," and the seller mysteriously pulled the listing recently. ?

 

[jimlloyd40]

Just contact eBay. They usually stand behind the buyer and the seller doesn't want to lose his eBay account.

 

[It's Sam]

12/8/19 - I realize I have no space in my house

Once stuff starts piling up, you realize how little room you actually have.

I was having a hard time figuring out how I was going to install my exhaust given the circumstances. Our garage is just big enough for me to fit, with about 3 feet split up between the front and back, so that was a no. We live on a main road and our driveway is sloped, so outside isn't much of an answer either (combined with the fact that it's freezing in New York and I hate it).

I did find a solution to all of this, and it's a rather cool one. Coming soon...™

 

[It's Sam]

12/24/19 - Added Downforce

It is cold, it is dry, and it is salty outside. I deeply disapprove of it. However, today was a little warmer, so I gave my car the first real wash it deserved. I took most of the afternoon once I finished up work, and It was definitely worth it.

Over this past weekend, I had a chance to install Aerofabb's spoiler extension. I like:

Excuse the horrid photo. It's also dark outside at 3:00 this time of year. When spring rolls around this thread will get the proper pictures it deserves.

Over the next couple of weekends, I'm deeply hoping to install the exhaust components and the diffuser. Soon...

 

[It's Sam]

1/2/20 - New Year, New Sound...

Over this past weekend, I had a chance to install my exhaust. Having done a downpipe install already on GTI number one, number two was likely going to be a little easier.

And, surprisingly, it was.

The main issue was location. It's too cold to do the install outside, especially when you have no idea how long something might take or what the weather may bring. Our home garage is just big enough for a Golf, but that's it. No room for a jack or ramps, let alone sasquatch me.

But, there was a solution. Work was lighter during the week leading up, so I had the chance to do some cleanup. I do a mixed bag of IT work, but our company handles a lot of AV devices (including TVs, mounts, and large media racks). Our office has a large warehouse space with a large garage for receiving, and when it's on the emptier side, It's the perfect place for a car:

So, with plenty of wiggle room, a set of stands, and some jams in the background, I got to work.



...Actually, The car had to cool down for about 20 minutes after the drive from my house, so there was some waiting.

After I ruled out hand burns as an outcome, Things started happening, and rather well comparatively.

For starters, the clamp coonnecting the downpipe to the rest of the exhaust was very easy to remove. The last time I did this install, the nuts were so rusted out that they had to be drilled out, which, in a word, sucked.

This time, a little extra oomph got things movng, and it was smooth sailing onward.

I was tired and didn't feel like taking pictures, but the stock downpipe twisted out with a little encouragement and no other modifications. The O2 sensor was pretty easy to remove once the downpipe was out, and the new one went in without hesitation.

Then came the rest. The exhaust hangars on these cars are a pain, but a small screwdriver and some twisting gets stuff out.


All was good, catback went in, now only the tips were left. The right one went in no problem, fitment was great. The left one went in, the alignment was a tad off, I loosened the clamp, and it fell apart. The thread on the clamp must have come faulty or had gotten debris inside, because nothing would go back in. Trying to drill out and repair the thread was pointless, and a tap bit ended up sacrificing itself in attempt to remedy the situation.

I drove home with one exhaust tip, but the sounds the car made up for it. Man, it sounds good. Just deep enough to be loud but mature, and a controllable amount of drone on the highway. And all the crackles, pops, and burbles make it dangerously fun to drive.

The next day I ran to AutoZone to grab a temporary exhaust clamp (the local shop didn't have a big enough size), and there are real replacement clamps coming Friday.

The AZ clamp is a little iffy, but It stays pretty well hidden.

I love the look of the black tips on against Reflex Silver, just the right kind of contrast:

I do think It's time to take a little break from big things, though. I need lighter wheels and tires before the car tries to put any more power down. I made that mistake with my last car, and I'm headed down the same path with this one. I'm saving towards a goal which will get put towards a set of coilovers and some wheels and tires.


No matter what, this car is ridiculously fun.

 

[It's Sam]

9/21/20 - Picture Dump

It's been a hot minute. Here's some new stuff:'


Long overdue, 18x8.5 RSe10s wrapped in BFG g-force Comp 2 235/40s

Fitting much better than stock Austins

Yikes, that's some gap. Going to have to do something about that soon...

Assorted goodies. Turns out the MK8 is more polarizing that C&D seems to think

Upgraded to some much needed colder plugs (NGKs from the RS7). RS3 coils make no difference but what the heck, they were on sale.

Now it's dirty with a hint of rice

DeAuto LEDs for the footwells and trunk. Stock was good but a little too dark still. New ones are insane, and they can change color. Hardware puts the stock ones to shame.

Let there be light

Good summer cleaning, loving the wheels.

Added some flair. EQT said badge adds 11 HP