Saving A Full Spec 3 Door VR6

[LouieP]

Got the car back from the mechanic...yes, you heard right...the mechanic. My back has had enough of this thing. To sum it up, this is what was in the boxes in the previous post.

Rear end
Rear beam bushings - Lemforder
Handbrake cables x2 - Dorman

Front end
LCA bushing replacement - Front R32 Solid bushings / rear standard replacements - Lemforder/Rein
Complete Tie Rods with new boots - Delphi Technologies / Beck/Arnley
Ball Joints - Mevotech
Front Anti Roll Bar endlinks -  Vaico
Front Anti Roll Bar bushings - Delphi Technologies
Steering Rack Bushing - Febi Bilstein
Both Inner and Out CV Boot replacement - Rein

Engine Mounts
Black Forest Industries Stage 0.5 mounts w/ G60 transmission mount

Fluids
Brake fluid completely replaced
Coolant flush and replaced with G13
Power Steering Fluid replacement

Fresh warrant after nearly 2 years 

Unfortunately when the mechanic took apart the drivers side inner CV boot the whole thing came apart so a new inner CV was put in.

I was a little skeptical on getting poly engine mounts at first but after joining a few Australian Mk3 groups on facebook, it turns out a lot of them were running them in their vr and they said it was super smooth and the perfect match. I somewhat agree with them. They are amazing

First stop after picking her up. A natural habitat for a vr6


Day 2: Found an excuse to go to the gym 


Spring Jamboree was approaching that weekend so Saturday was spent pampering her. The paintwork on her has still not been touched as I had other priorities. I gave her a wash, clay and threw on an oily concourse show wax.


We made it and I was quite shocked but stoked that she took out second place in the MK3 category. There were many other cars out there that were in pristine shape however it certainly feels good to be rewarded for all the work that has gone into this car in the past few months

Spring Jamboree








A photo with two other winners. Mitch Cowies OEM+ MK4 R32 and Sam Hamilton's stunning ED30 both of which took first place in their category respectively.


My car was definitely one of the few older golfs that were stock and the drive to the show with sunroof open was music to my ears. Also have noticed that there are very few vr6's with sunroofs left in NZ

This car is still not close to where I want to have it in the next couple of months. Till next time.

[LouieP]

I've been daily driving this since getting it back and its been fantastic. A little expensive to run with current fuel prices and the lack of self control on the loud pedal.

The engine bay was filthy and I am very sure its never been washed before. Now that everything is sorted out mechanically, there was no reason to put the engine detail off any further

I started off by completely stripping out the engine bay meaning the battery was removed, all engine covers, the airbox and intake boot.

This is what we were left with, lots of sludge, dirt and grime:







All electric connectors were covered up with tin foil, plastic bags and a rubber glove. I placed an order with Volkswagen Classic Parts.de couple months ago for some bits that were not readily available and one of them was the screws that hold that hold one of the covers over the coil pack on.



Multiple degreasers and brushes were used to get the result needed and a total of around 4-5 hours. The engine bay was a a lot dirtier than I expected.

Bay put back together. Engine cover painted VHT Wrinkle black, some Bremi US spec MK4 12V leads and a new NGK coil pack since my current one had a crack that was causing some low speed misfires. Also threw on a hot air intake for the noise. If anyone has a heatshield or something similar please let me know.



Quite happy with the car at this stage however can definitely tell the shocks/springs are definitely tired. If anyone has a mild drop spring shock combo, I could be very interested.

Thanks for reading.

[brian]

Quite a transformation and well worth the effort

[Poonmobile]

Well done mate, car looked great at Spring Jambo and congrats on the award.

[superfueler]

Your VR6 looks great sir, well done so far. 

[Period_Correct_]

lovely car mate. less is so much more!

[LouieP]

Cheers fella's. She's definitely come a long way since the beginning of the thread. Still a couple more bits to finish off in 2023 and she will all be set.

I remembered I had a Borla muffler sitting in my shed for a few years after picking it up from an older chap with a corvette. I popped by mastermind Dean at Mister Muffler in Pakuranga and had him fab up a full 2.5" off the factory downpipe back to some double walled tips.

Car sounds phenomenal! Its not loud, its super deep, there's zero drone at motorway speed and the perfect gentleman setup for this gentleman's hot hatch.







If anyone needs exhaust work, I highly recommend him. His pricing is very reasonable too