1997 VW Golf VR6 mk3

[djiceman 131]

So on Saturday 14^th September 2013 I sold my 2008 Vauxhall Astra VXR Nurburging as I had bought a project car a couple of months ago and thought that I’d just pile all the money I got into that and live happily ever after, in the meantime I thought my wife and I could live with one car… Oh how wrong was I… On the Sunday (Day 1 of sharing a car) we both had plans, I was going out and she was going shopping… Who gets the car?

 

After 5mins of talking, I decided I’m going to have to buy a runaround so started looking for a cheap fun car, I looked at a couple of Mazda MX-5’s on AutoTrader and eBay but every time I contacted the seller, they were already sold.

 

So I text my pal Liam and asked him to help me look, he promptly started telling me to look at other cars, pretty much 30 seconds after we had spoken he sent me a link to a Golf VR6 for £1995. I completely forgot about this little gem of a car, so I contacted the seller, guess what, sold.

 

This pretty much continued for the whole of Sunday (I didn’t end up going out, the wife won the chat and went shopping)…

 

As I was starting to give up on finding a VR6 within 1000000000000000000 miles, I stumbled across an advert on eBay, 1997 Golf VR6 full service history from new, £1100 and 10 miles away… Dropped the guy a message and waited…. And waited… and waited… Eventually he replied, its available and ready to view, Monday at 8pm. PERFECT.

 

So I get on the phone to Tiny87, explain all the details to him, he seems happy apart from the fact the price is so low… So we go along and view it, looks very nice, runs nice, everything is nice… There are a few things which indicate why the price is so low. It’s on budget tyres (anyone heard of Nexus?) and the rear right is nearly bald, the front left tyre valve is leaking air too… The drivers seat is very worn (I also found out quite hilariously on the way home that it was collapsed as well lol), fog lights aren’t working, heater control lights aren’t working… Basically, small niggly bits that a few hundred could sort out…

 

So after a quick conversation with the guy I ended up driving home my new purchase, what a purchase it seems to be too!! The power of these 2.8 VR6’s is absolutely amazing, it literally pulls from 0rpm right through until it hits the red line!!! Unfortunately as it has been raining far too much, the budget tyres are scaring the s**t out of me as the wheels are spinning through 2^nd, 3^rd and part of 4^th gear, so I’m taking it easy.

 

Now that part of the essay is over, here are the pictures from the advert (no pictures from me yet as the weather is bloody awful):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My plan was not to modify it at all and just run around in it until I had finished my Mini project… Once I’d driven it home I was on eBay and VR6 forums buying A LOT of stuff to repair the broken bits and to “help” the car…

 

Ordered:

Front MTEC dimpled and grooved discs

Front EBC Red Stuff pads

OEM rear discs

OEM rear pads

Goodridge braided brake lines front and back

Front and back Recaro seats

RAMAIR cold air filter

FK Automotive Coilovers

Smoked front fog and indicator lights

Bright white side light bulbs

Bright white number plate bulbs

100w Mtec bright white dipped beam bulbs

100w Mtec fog light bulbs

Aero flat wiper blades

Pressed number plates

Front and rear satin black VW badge

4 x Dunlop Sport tyres

4 x 6.5inch Pioneer TSW speakers

 

I still need to go to VW to get the dash bulb replacement so the heater controls light up at night but that’s not important lol.

 

Every project I’ve ever had I’ve said “this is going to be a slow project”, this time I can confidently say that everything listed above should be fitted in about 3 weeks.

 

Plans:

Erm everything above LOL.

Manifold

Powerflow custom exhaust

Replace all dash bulbs

Fix/Replace headlining

Replace steering wheel (oem or other)

Refurbish BBS alloys

Replace rear view mirror (it’s very small)

Replace sun visors

Get wheel arch and sill rust sorted (summer 2014)

 

I think that is all my plans to be honest, no doubt I’m going to have a lot of conversations with my friends Liam, Sean and Matt about turbo’ing this thing as they know someone who has a turbo’d VR6 that’s running 400bhp on standard internals.

 

Current spec:

1997 ® VW Golf VR6 mk3

2792cc 2.8ltr VR6

5 door hatchback

172bhp and 173lb/ft

Top speed – 150mph

0-60 – 7.6seconds

133000miles (dead on)

MOT April 2014

TAX November 2013

 

 

Overall I’m very happy with this but also very sad I don’t have the Astra VXR anymore, it was a long and hard decision to sell it but we all have to move on and I have managed to do it and still be happy!! Oh and the sound of the engine…. WOW!!!

 

Not sure if I should bother saying thanks for reading as I doubt anyone will still be reading at this point LOL.

[Lukey. 381]

Nice starting point for any direction you want to take it. I have a cat back 1 box powerflow mid/scorpion oval backbox exhaust for sale if your interested, its cheap as the backbox entry pipe needs a couple of inches cut off and a new little bit of pipe welding on, which would only cost a few quid really.

[djiceman 131]

Cheers pal.

Thanks for the offer mate but is prefer not to have to do any work on the exhaust.

[jez_monkey 1]

Nice sounds like you're going to be busy for the future lol

[djiceman 131]

Haha yeah definitely!!

[Lukey. 381]

Cheers pal.

Thanks for the offer mate but is prefer not to have to do any work on the exhaust.

Ha no probs, always worth a punt, keep this updated with what you do

[yakuza racer 16]

looks nice!

[djiceman 131]

Cheers guys, gonna have to get the coilovers on sooner rather than later though, the rear is bottoming out when under hard load....

[Therusterman 59]

Remember seeing this on eBay, glad its gone to a good home, look forward to seeing how you get on with this.

[djiceman 131]

Cheers pal.

[VR6Pete 1,455]

looks a great car mate got any plans for the engine?

[richierich37 236]

Looks good man, nice wee write up too, keep busy and you'll enjoy the car!

Sent from my iPhone using mind waves!

[djiceman 131]

Cheers guys.

Not many engine plans at the moment, one lesson I learnt from owning an Astra VXR is that handling and stopping should always come before power.

I'm open to suggestions for more power though as I know nothing about these engines yet.

[djiceman 131]

So all this happened last weekend…

 

First up were the bonnet lifters, this went smoothly, nice and easy to do as always and the only part that was awkward was fitting the small metal retainer.

 

 

 

 

Quick mod number two, de-wipered the rear window.

 

 

Another quick mod up next too, switch the old VW badges for new ones, front and rear.

 

 

 

While I was doing the above, my pals decided to make a start on the brakes and suspension, as mentioned before the rear shocks had collapsed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While I was out in the car a few days before we started the work someone stepped out in front of me whilst I was driving in a 40mph zone, I noticed at this point that although my ABS kicked in, I wasn’t experiencing much braking power, I knew the rear pads needed replacing but it was only once the calipers were off that my pal found that both of the rear calipers were seized. Managed to fix that with a hammer and some grease (tbh I have no idea what he done to fix them, I’m just guessing lol).

 

While my pals were doing all the technical stuff, I was cracking on with the engine bay, pulling out the old air box and pipework and fitting the immense RAMAir filter. I’m still struggling to find a place to route the cold air feed for it as there doesn’t seem to be any space down the front by the grill as the pipework would foul the belts, which wouldn’t be good.

 

 

 

Just as I finished this, my pals were ready to make a start on the front brakes and coilovers… Oh what fun we had trying to get the top nut off of one of the shocks… It was decided that we’d build the brakes up and then I’d go to a garage to get them to shock the nut… This is where the fun really began, new front discs on, new pads out the box, oh bugger they’re the wrong ones… That then leaves me with two things still wrong, I have no brakes at all as all the system is bled and no front brake pads. One whole week later ad I’m still waiting for the correct pads to arrive which has royally pi**sed me off tbh but these things happen for a reason.

 

Once it was decided to just put it all back together and get on with the service parts, indicators and fogs.

 

Got the oil drained, oil filter out, spark plugs changed, cabin filter changed, new oil in and new HT leads on. Fired it up and let it run for a bit, the sound of the RAMAir filter is absolutely amazing, I’ll get a video when I go and get the brakes fitted as it’s currently sat outside my pals house due to no brakes.

 

So cracked on with the indicators and fogs, when I bought the car, the kid I bought it off said the fogs weren’t plugged in, that’s why they wasn’t working, didn’t really bother me at the time but once I got the old “fogs” and indicators out, I soon noticed something very wrong….

 

In place of the fogs were blanking plates, again this didn’t bother me as I’d bought new ones, whipped out the indicators and that’s when I started to realize something about this car isn’t quite right…. The indicators cabling had been cut and rewired using electrical tape and what looks like a dodgy lamp adaptor on the end. The fog light cabling on the other hand had just been cut and left dangling behind the bumper.

 

So after a quick chat with a VW dealer, I ordered some new adaptors and new cabling for both fogs and indicators, again these will be fitted when the brake pads arrive.

 

So once the car was all put back together and parked outside my pals house, I went home and sulked a little bit and stumbled across some morette’s for sale, so I bought them and some HID’s.

 

I’ve got other bits and bobs to do like fitting my sub, new aerial, aerial adaptor and still to fit the new interior but this can all wait until the brakes and suspension are sorted as they aren’t urgent.

 

I’m hoping to get the brakes and suspension sorted this week or weekend and then I can crack on with the rest including a massive clean, the car is an absolute mess, the guy who I bought it off only bought it to drive across Europe with some pals and he literally never cleaned it, so as it currently stands, it hasn’t been cleaned for about a year.

 

Still to be done:

Front suspension

Front brakes

Sub

Morette headlights

HID headlights

Smoked indicators

Smoked fogs

Wiring for fogs and indicators

New aerial

Front and rear seats to be replaced with Recaros

Pressed plates to be fitted

Surface rust to be looked at

 

 

That is all for now I believe; no doubt I’ll update it if I have forgotten anything.

[Big J 283]

Love a good build thread like this, keep up the good work mate.

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[djiceman 131]

Love a good build thread like this, keep up the good work mate.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

 

Cheers fella.

[Lukey. 381]

Good progress being made, it'll be tip top in no time

For the cold air intake you can remove the charcoal canister (blocking off the vacuum tube that goes to the pcv/inlet) and route it where that inhabited.

[djiceman 131]

Cheers Lukey I'll look into that!

After just over a week, my red stuff pads (correct ones) arrived, dropped them to my pal last night so he can fit them one day this week for me!!

Also found the latest MOT for the car too, there's a few things that need replacing but nothing too major, front wishbones and bushes but more importantly on there as an advisory is both front sills under the arches are rusty, so going to see another pal about getting that sorted.

The exhaust was on the mot advisory page too for rattling, this will be sorted when I get my custom exhaust.

[Dub21 0]

Hi there sounds like you are really busy with all the mods but I bet it will handle and stop better are you getting used to the power difference in the vr6 you can't beat the sound of v6 ticking over you are making a good job can't wait to get mine now

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[djiceman 131]

Cheers dude, tbh I haven't really driven it, I've done 200miles in it since I got it, which was about 6 weeks ago lol.

My VXR delivered the power differently to the VR so I think the only time I'll need to get used to the power is when racing cars on the motorway, I'll have to pick my fights more carefully lol.

I'm going to get 17" alloys and front and rear anti roll bars, then I think it's pretty much done for handling for now. Then it's just power I'll be looking at, will probably go turbo but I've got a lot of research to do before I spend my money tbh.

[djiceman 131]

Right after many a month of not having the Golf working due to either the weather or how busy we both have been, my pal and I have finally got the fat bitch moving lol.

Pretty much all of my original list is done barring a few issues, but after having it stripped to pieces and building it back up my to do list has grown extensively.

So here are my current lists:

To be done:

Recaro seats (front)

Smoked front indicators/fog units

Rewire indicators and fogs

Pressed numberplates

Carpet mats

Pollen filter

Front coilovers

Rear wheel bearing

Windscreen

Morettes

HIDs

Front and rear anti roll bars

Front wings need replacing

Side skirts need replacing

Alloys & tyres

Front wishbones need replacing

Turbo

263 cams (stealth racing)

Remap (stealth racing)

HiSpec big brake kit

Heater control light bulb

Wheels spacers

Arches rolled

Sub

Roof lining to be re-glued

Done:

Sidelights

Windscreen wipers

Goodridge braided brake hoses

Rear discs and pads

EBC red stuff brake pads (front)

Mtec drilled and grooved discs (front)

Numberplate bulb housing

Numberplate bulbs

Mtec headlight bulbs

Side repeater housing

Mtec fog light bulbs

RamAir Cold Air Filter

FK Coilovers

Gloss black VW badge (front and rear)

Bonnet lifters

Rear wheel bearing kit

Oil filter

HT leads

Fuchs Titan Sintofluid oil

Numberplate lenses

Smoked side repeaters

NGK iridium spark plugs

Hammerite silver paint (callipers)

Motul DOT5.1 brake fluid

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[deanrw 2]

my first vr6 was the same colour as that look really nice when polished up. keep the good work up

[djiceman 131]

Cheers pal, that's one of the things I need to do, it hasn't been cleaned since touring Europe around March this year for a month.

It shall be cleaned this weekend.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[djiceman 131]

Ok so here's the current situation....

 

My pal Liam and I have been struggling to get one top mount nut undone. It seems as if it has fused itself with rust to the strut and wasn't coming out no matter how hard we tried. So in the end Liam decided it was time for us to give up and for me to find a garage with a impact gun and ask them to shock it off, now I've done this before and spent a whole day looking for one to do the same with my VXR Burg so i knew it wasn't going to be easy. So I posted a message up on FB and asked if anyone could help, Liams mate Matt said he had an impact gun and he'd sort it for me if I could get to him in 30mins.... So I drove carefully for 30mins to get to his house where he spent an hour trying everything he could possibly think of to get the strut nut undone with his impact gun. In the end he got his flame thrower out of his work van and set fire to my car....

 

 

This worked really well tbh and we managed to get it undone with just hand strength after the fire.

 

So this week I have ordered:

New top mounts (due to fire damage lol)
One new rear wheel bearing (broke retainer clip when changing them a few weeks ago)
Gear gaiter
Hand break gaiter
Windscreen scuttle panel (due to someone picking the rubber off mine)
Side skirts (to replace rusty ones)
Armrest
Black covers for my Morettes

 

I have also been and spoken to a pal of mine Daniel H who works at DP&P about ordering me two new front wings and repairing some rust patches on my rear arch. Once the new wings are in and painted Daniel H is gonna book me in to fit them and repair the rear arch.

 

Oh I also fit my Recaro seats (picture below) and a bulb on my heater control panel (no picture as it doesnt really make a difference tbh).

 

 

My pal Liam is fitting my front coilovers and the rear wheel bearing while I'm away for a long weekend next weekend and I'll fit all the new parts as and when they arrive. Haven't really done much else as I've been fixing a few niggling problems with my "daily" Ford Fiesta.

 

Also for all of you OCD freaks, I'm hoping I have the time to clean it this weekend as it still hasn't been cleaned since it toured Europe LOL.

So here are my current lists:

 

To be done:

 

Smoked front indicators/fog units (awaiting fitting)
Rewire indicators and fogs (awaiting fitting)
Pressed numberplates (awaiting fitting)
Carpet mats (awaiting fitting)
Pollen filter (awaiting fitting)
Front coilovers (awaiting fitting)
Rear wheel bearing (awaiting fitting)
Windscreen scuttle panel (ordered)
Morettes (awaiting fitting)
HIDs (awaiting fitting)
Front and rear anti roll bars
Front wings need replacing (ordered)
Side skirts need replacing (ordered)
Alloys & tyres
Front wishbones need replacing
Turbo
263 cams (stealth racing)
Remap (stealth racing)
HiSpec big brake kit
Wheels spacers
Arches rolled
Sub (awaiting fitting)
Roof lining to be re-glued (ordered)

Done:

 

Sidelights
Windscreen wipers
Goodridge braided brake hoses
Rear discs and pads
EBC red stuff brake pads (front)
Mtec drilled and grooved discs (front)
Numberplate bulb housing
Numberplate bulbs
Mtec headlight bulbs
Side repeater housing
Mtec fog light bulbs
RamAir Cold Air Filter
FK Coilovers
Gloss black VW badge (front and rear)
Bonnet lifters
Rear wheel bearing kit
Oil filter
HT leads
Fuchs Titan Sintofluid oil
Numberplate lenses
Smoked side repeaters
NGK iridium spark plugs
Hammerite silver paint (callipers)
Motul DOT5.1 brake fluid
Heater control light bulb
Recaro seats (front and rear)

[djiceman 131]

Quick update for you all, coilovers and rear bearing are booked in the diary for 6th December and bodywork repair is booked in for 9th December!!!

Should be looking pretty decent for Xmas!!! 

Edited November 28, 2013 by djiceman