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7
What did you do to your mk7 today?
- Thread starter GTA5
- Start date
take your hood insulation off and remove that rear weather stripping at the wiper cowl, enjoys the noises.
jimlloyd40
Autocross Champion
- Location
- Phoenix
- Car(s)
- 2018 SE DSG
Your engine will get extremely dusty with that weather stripping removed.
Nineeightyone
Autocross Champion
- Location
- Pennsylvania
- Car(s)
- 20 CX5 19 GTI 10 MZ3
Yep, 90mm version.
First off, you need two 2.25" couplers, about 2" long.* These fit inside over the factory intercooler inlet and outlet and enable the twincooler hoses to fit snugly. In a pinch, you can cut the factory hoses to do this, but it is much better to keep them whole in case you can't make the twincooler fit.
No other hose modifications are necessary.
* One of these cut in half works well:
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B01M0OB...colid=FFUUF3LSVZSW&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
The tricky part is the brackets. They set the intercooler at a forward lean (if yours is like mine) and must be cut in half, and welded or drilled and then riveted back together.
I went with the pop rivet method and had no issues in over a year of use. Place the unit against the radiator support to see how it fits. If the top sticks out past the bumper at the corners, it's cutting time.
This was my first try at modifying the brackets:
View attachment 213875
Each bracket was cut vertically and re-attached at the same angle the came in - only 3/4" closer to the radiator. That was my mistake. I should have made them sit more vertically, as there was still a lot of room at the top in front of the radiator. That yellow thingy at the bottom is a piece of plastic I wedged in there, because the bottom was making contact there at the A/C condenser line.
Just outside that spot is ultimately where you want to end up, only the top and bottom of the intercooler roughly the same distance from the radiator.
Because I had to do this twice, eleventy billion rivet holes were the result. If I did it right the first time, I could have made it way less ghetto. And for the same reasons, I had to grind off an 1/8" of the bumper lip at the corners of the intercooler. They were hitting there and the unit wouldn't seat properly.
View attachment 213876
Notice that even though I only made the top of the bracket shorter, the bottom pivoted out and there is much more clearance at the A/c line than before. I painted the A/c lines black, for a cleaner look through the grille.
You have to move the horns to fit the hoses. Make sure the openings are oriented towards the ground, or the horns will fill with water and stop working.
You also have to muscle the bracket that holds the secondary air injection pump out of the way to clear the hose. I just used vise grips on the bracket and bent it far enough for clearance. No need to remove the pump.
The air temp sensor attached to the bumper must be relocated. The instructions say to put it in a pre-drilled hole in the twincooler bracket, but that puts it behind the hose and at a weird angle. I zip tied mine to the hose clamp - pointing forward, like it was from the factory.
View attachment 213879
Then through trial and error, you will have to trim the lower grille as needed.for clearance. It is a good idea to cover your headlights and fenders with painter's tape, where they could get scratched from installing and removing the bumper cover a bunch of times. Also ball up a glob of tape and put it on the pointy corners of the bumper cover. They can get damaged if you aren't very careful.
But you know what is the worst part of the whole affair? Removing the stock upper grille. It does not lift out like the mk7s do, it pulls out forward at the bottom. Mine would not budge and was bending to the point I was sure it would break. There are some kind of tabs at the bottom that are a bitch to get to. I ended up feeding a ratchet strap through the grille and pulled until it came flying off. The bottom tabs all broke, but at least I can remove the upper grill with ease now.
Should you do this to your car? If you have the tools, the time and most importantly a second car, it is very doable. Especially with all this free training.
I only have one car that works, so had to rush the first bracket mod, which eventually led to the second.
Take your time and you should have better results. If you have a Mk7, I think these fit without too much hassle.
Thank you much! These instructions make it WORLDS clearer on how it has to be done, luckily I do have another vehicle. Regarding the upper grille, my wife is a master when it comes to removing it -- she's consistently been able to get the grille off with a little downward pressure on the grille combined with some wiggling to free it from the lip on the bumper. I've been monitoring my IATs on the stock IC, and there's definitely a considerable amount of room for improvement, so I'm looking forward to the additional cooling benefits -- it's likely going to be a week or two before I get to dig into this job, but the clear instruction is super helpful. Thank you again!
sterkrazzy
Autocross Champion
- Location
- United States
- Car(s)
- Turbo. Blue.
Had an oil change done and had them install the powerflex dogbone insert for diesels. So far the powerflex insert seems perfect for what I was trying to do. There's not really any noticeable vibrations, they're there a bit, but if you're familiar with the vibrations a dogbone insert introduces the vibrations with the diesel insert is very minimal. On the other hand it's very noticeable that there's less engine slop. It feels a lot tighter and it's so much better.
They were also supposed to install a rear sway bar, but my driver side rear shock is leaking so we put that off for now until the dealer can fix it under warranty.
They were also supposed to install a rear sway bar, but my driver side rear shock is leaking so we put that off for now until the dealer can fix it under warranty.
How are you liking the RSR clutch? I'm guessing with the amount of abuse mine is getting with the tune, 200tw tires and as many as 20+ autocross launches a month, it's living on borrowed time, though I'm not getting slip yet with 20k, 15k tuned on the car.
Crazy about rear shock leaking. DCC?
Get a Southbend Stage 3 Daily.
Isn't that a SMF setup? If so, can't. STH doesn't allow it and my car is built to STH/TT4 rules, whichever is most restrictive. It's the price you pay if you autocross or do time trials. It limits what mods you can do.
I'd love to do a SMF, but can't, same with FMIC, have to do stock location. Camber solutions I can't use camber plates and hubs or LCA's. If I made the rules, I wouldn't make such arbitrary decisions, but I don't make them. That's the breaks.
And my stock clutch will last FOREVER. lol
great. Something else to worry about
sterkrazzy
Autocross Champion
- Location
- United States
- Car(s)
- Turbo. Blue.
Honestly dunno how I feel about the RSR clutch lol, I'm not sure if it's the clutch or just how the transmission behaves. It's getting better with some mods though. The apr short shifter I put in this weekend helped, and the dogbone insert feels like it's helping. It's not a bad clutch. I just think I'm kinda paranoid over it because of how well I busted up my oem pressure plate and flywheel.
And yup, driver side rear DCC shock has a leak with only about 16.4k miles.
dammit
Dude, we all bought VW's. It's no wonder we're all not a nervous wreck with worry.great. Something else to worry about
But, knock on wood, so far, both the 18 S and 19 Rabbit have been rock solid except the whole 19 0w-20/tune issue.
Back in the day, my new 92 GTI 2.0l 16V tried to put the engine through the hood on week two due to an engine mount not tightened and the 93 Corrado VR6 spend the first year I owned it at the dealer more than I drove it. Kept the Corrado for 10 years and their isn't a singe system that didn't die. Loved both cars though. lol
Face it, owning a VW will always be an exercise in mental self torture.
That’s some luck. Jeez
Yes it is SMF. Ok, I understand. Too bad, it's really a terrific clutch. The stock location IC is ok, just a massive bitch to install, budget 8 hours for yourself doing it at a relatively leisurely pace.
