The GTI went through some major surgery the week before Thanksgiving. I really enjoy the research and installation of upgrades on my car. At this point I have installed everything on the car myself minus the BAUN FMIC and BFI motor and trans mount insert. I have purchased a few more tools and learned a lot along the way.
My vacation started off with the plan to just upgrade the clutch to the RSR hybrid unit. Once I gained access to the flywheel however, I was not 100% happy with how it looked. I opted to place an order that Friday night for a new oem Sachs dmf from FCPEuro. The flywheel did not arrive until the following Tuesday.
While the trans was out and the car was demobilized, I made the decision to remove the turbo. I completed the turbo removal on Saturday night and installed the new EQT IS38+ the following morning. With all the room I had to work with since the downpipe and LSD were removed, it made my first turbo swap enjoyable. Just because o-rings come with a kit doesn't mean you should install them. There were 2 o-rings with the kit, one being the turbo muffler oring which was pinched upon arrival, and a coolant line o-ring that was not the correct size, that I had to replace. I have an o-ring kit that has come in handy over the years that made this issue a no nevermind.
Once the new flywheel arrived I installed that, the clutch, the trans and LSD on Tuesday night. The following day I wrapped up reassembly and made the modification to my stock exhaust to accept the beautifully built BAUN performance midpipe and V2 downpipe. Once everything was wrapped up I used
@GTI Jake suggestion of disconnecting the HPFP on first startup to help lubricate the new turbo. I did use some Liqui Moly turbo additive during initial installation but didn't feel like much got into the turbo. The car cranked about 10 time and actually started up with the HPFP disconnected. I then topped off the coolant and made a thorough inspection to ensure there were no leaks before taking her on a test drive. EQT does not claim that their wastegates are calibrated when you opt to purchase one from them but the one I received installed from EQT was at 3.7 volts per the COBB Accessport which made things easy. I did not do any sort of wastegate adaptation since I did not adjust voltage - I believe this to be correct, please let me know otherwise.
The new RSR Hybrid clutch bites nice and although there is significant chatter is is very nice to shift and a huge upgrade over stock. I am going to break it in for the suggested 1000 miles before I really get into boost, and man is that hard! I want to hear the new setup come to life!
I will be changing the oil for some fresh Liqui Moly 5w40 as well as a full coolant flush this week. I also contacted
@StorableComa regarding his coil grounding kit and one is on its way. The oem setup is less than desirable as we all know. When cold, I would have to hold back the ground post hardware with needle nose vise grips just to get the jam nut loose.
My PLAN is to enjoy the car and get out on the track a few times next year. CMP and VIR are on my short list. I would also like to help organize a forum meetup and meet some of the other members in the coming year. Until then, I don't see too many other mods that I am itching to do, yet.