Picked it up today and I must say it obviously looks a lot better than it did, that's for sure! Plenty planned this week as I clean it up and put it back together, of course I'll post as I do bits and bobs.
In the meantime, here's some pics from when I picked it up:
Looking good and looking forward to seeing it back together. You're going to have fun cleaning all the dust out of your engine bay
Thanks bud. I'm picking it up this weekend so I'll be putting it all back together next week hopefully, I booked the week off work to do it! I'll be sure to give everything a good clean, I'll make sure the foam airbox is minty fresh. Pictures will be uploaded soon
That looks lovely! Always had a soft spot for the mk4 32. Friend of mine bought one new, took it to the Nurburgring every year for about 8 years and the car simply didn't care!
Know what you mean about the brake discs, they're eye wateringly expensive, though places like M-Tec are doing them too now, so you may be able to find them somewhere. Failing that, if there is enough meat on the disc and they're oe, you can probably get them skimmed.
Thanks Monkey!
I believe it's got MTEC J hooks on it now and I'm thinking of going OEM 2 piece (ATE or Zimmerman).
Also looking into it, I need to get some 17z pads for the 18z calipers as they're a better size for the OE 334mm discs.. any experience yourself with that sort of thing bud?
A couple of months ago I decided to sell up my fancy (to me) 18 plate Hyundai I30N as it was simply too expensive for something I seldom use. After selling up, I considered a few cars but eventually got the idea of buying an R32 as they seemed to be a good car and something that has stopped depreciating in value.
I was looking at Mk5s to begin with but ultimately thought that they were a bit boring for my tastes, so set my sights on finding a mk4. I thought I had found "the one" when I'd found a super modified example which had been well looked after, that one however slipped through the net but I then found the one I now own for sale shortly afterwards.
It's an 04 model in DBP (LC9Z) with a few tasteful modifications and a great history/service record. It had been won in a raffle provided by a popular company and the winner unfortunately (for him) could not afford to insure the car, so had put it up for sale.
In terms of mods, it has the following:
Bilstein B14 coils KW control arms Neuspeed front and rear ARBs Forge short shifter kit Lupo door mirrors on Mk4 bases Alcantara headlining and flocked pillars Repainted Aristo alloys with spacers fitted all round Milltek non resonated catback (sounds sexual) Porsche 996TT (18z) 6 pot front calipers And a remap which needs removing/replacing IMO (super sharp throttle response)
Overall, it's a very tidy example but of course needs a bit of work. I noticed for example post test drive and on the way home that the brakes juddered under braking at motorway speeds.. I later found that a front disc is warped and needs replacing! Anyone who knows how expensive Mk4 R32 brakes are will feel my pain I'm sure.
I had the chains checked using VCDS and they're well within tolerances which is good. I shouldn't have to worry about replacing the chains, tensioners, guides etc. for a little while yet.
I've since done a few little jobs to the car like treating all the leather, replacing a few broken bits inside and adding a battery tie down which had gone missing at some point.
Anyway, here's some pictures of the car.. If anyone is interested I'll continue to update here as I do bits to it.
Here's a few more pictures of progress at the body shop. Worth noting, I managed to find a good cut of a panel for the inner fuel door area thanks to Brendon Moss.
I've got new vinyl stickers, arches and a few other fitting here that I need to drop down to them to finish the car off too.
Few bits left to do and then the car will be prepped and put in the booth for paint!
So.. there has been some updates from the body shop.. First of all, here some before pics and some crusty finds.
Rear valance
The rear valance was basically made of filler and I'd instructed them to cut it out and weld in a new panel, here's what they found once cutting it out.
Fuel door area
I'd also instructed them to cut out the fuel door area and replace it with a new panel, as it was starting to go around the rubber seal around the fuel cap, they cut it out and found the following unfortunately... We're still discussing on how to go about fixing this as they're aren't any off the shelf panels available yet.
In case you can't tell. It has been poorly repaired in the past and even has some form of sealant moulded in with the welds.
And now for progress:
Rear valance repaired
A new panel was welded in as well as using some of the new panels for the corner sections.
Rear badge
Bubbling around the VW badge meant that it had to be removed and ground back to clean metal.
The windscreen scuttle panel
Rust in two places needed to be addressed, under the seal under the drivers side and the usual rust around the wiper spindle. This has been ground back to clean metal and the new panel provided was not required. Channel behind the windscreen seal has also been tidied.
Drivers door sill, underneath sill sticker
I had noticed some bubbling under the sill sticker in this area, so I'd asked them to take a look. Here's what they found:
Drivers door
Unfortunately, I also had some nasty scabbing on my drivers door. A section has been completely cut out and a new section has been welded in. I was a little bit bothered that they kept the rubbing strip on but I suppose it is what it is..
That's all for now, there will be plenty more welding and bodywork updates to come.. In the meantime, does anybody have any advice regarding that nasty fuel filler area?
I managed to find a few vacuum leaks doing visual checking, the worst of which was the O ring on the Idle air screw. I'd only noticed this as I'd fiddled with the Idle screw and come back to it a few days later to see that it had moved on its own! Fixing this seems to have made a fair difference to running. I think I'll do a test with a smoke machine to see if there are any more leaks that need addressing.
I also removed the carpet since the last update to get an idea of how much welding the car needed and unfortunately found more areas that need to be sorted. It's in for welding work now and potentially a full respray + underseal. I'll post up some pics as and when I receive some updates!
May I ask where you sourced a replacement rear valance? and is it the whole rear end repair section, or just the lower section below the bumper you've got?
I've got just the lower visible section for below the bumper mate, as well as the rear arch sections where they wrap around.
I got them from heritage, the middle section looks good but outer bits look like they'll need a lot of fettling to work.. may not use those bits.
They're 15s. Running 8J on the front, 8.5J on the back so a fair step up in width from the 7J Ronals. Offset is a very low number, haven't calculated it properly yet but they seem to fit the car very well.
Minor update for the weekend, I managed to fit the RS's to the car and they do look excellent, although I know the stretch/width isn't to everyone's taste... I also fit some McGard Locking wheel bolts with black tips for some added security.
Aside from this, I've heard from the trimmers and my Interior should be done by the end of the month so that's exciting. Currently waiting on some good replacement arches but I'm still looking for some good roof gutters!
Also waiting for some quotes on welding, sent off a few emails today.
Tidy mate, the exhaust looks good. Is the back box quite visible when viewed directly on? I quite like the OEM style with it's small box.
It's not an overly offensive size mate but I suppose it's down to preference. I've had comments saying they're a lot bigger than first thought but personally I think it's a fine looking system; they do look daft on a small bumper if you go for the straight system over the slanted though imo.
