96 vr6 1st ever project build thread,

[bennyk 1,238]

Bit of a midweek update,been spending every minute I possibly can doing bits to the car,got the doors and tailgate painted on Monday evening as I was desperate to get them back on the car,as I hate having panels laying around the workshop because they end up getting damaged,in basecoat; Then laquer; One of the shortened recess; Then Tuesday 10 minute job to bolt them back on before work; Doors bolted straight on and fitted perfectly because they had dropped, so before all the painting etc I got them all adjusted up and closing nicely. These turned up £8 off of eBay ; Then started the small task of flatting and polishing.... Which is going to take a while! Decided to do 1 panel at a time so I don't completely loose the will to live doing the same thing for so long! So I got a box of 3M 1500 discs and some 2000 wet or dry and started on the roof, basically I DA the whole panel with the 1500 then block out big imperfections that are left with the 2000, so it looks like this; Then cue the polishing; Sorry haven't got any pics of the finished roof, I have done a quarter though and that looks like this; Also looks like I may have located a US rear bumper so watch this space! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited February 19, 2014 by VR6Pete

[Lukey. 381]

Lol the ns c pillar is the first thing I polished all the way up too

[Nazza27 35]

Seriously well done on this man! 

 

The rear recces has come out perfectly imo. really does look as if it is meant to be like that. And that colour is lush! 

[bennyk 1,238]

Nearly there with the polishing now,so started to fit it back up,got most of the rear end fitted up apart from the bumper as I'm hoping to get a US spec one, as I'm fed up with having bits of golf everywhere I go (home and work!) and I'm getting impatient and want to see what it's going to look like! So here's a couple of before and after pics;

And a couple of others;

Edited February 15, 2014 by bennyk

[bennyk 1,238]

Another little update, got a few more little bits done over the last few days including using lots of this basically anywhere I can get it including doors, boot, chassis legs, sills, rear quarters ; Been collecting a few new bits over the last couple of months including these Also got 4 new bumper guides,moulding clips, aerial base, and loads of other bits n bobs. As you can probably guess I wanted to put the side skirts back on so started by re double siding the support strips and getting them stuck back on; Then all back on with the new strips and cleaned skirts that had about a 10 kilos of mud and crap behind them; Also got a set of these to fit whilst the rear quarter trims are off, fitted perfectly in the factory holes; A close up of the number plate and boot badge; All the glass is going back in tomorrow, decided to get a new quarter glass for the drivers side as the rubber was falling to bits. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited February 19, 2014 by VR6Pete

[Nazza27 35]

Looking really good there man! 

 

Surprised you didn't go for colour coded side skirts. but thats my opinion...haha. 

 

Keep it up dude  

[bennyk 1,238]

No it needs breaking up a bit! I'm sure it'll look better once the bumpers are on with the black lower spoilers, couldn't decide on which tailgate glass to put back in because I couldn't decide on spoiler or no spoiler! Thought the black spoiler might break it up a bit, but decided on no spoiler in the end..... Hope it all looks good when it's back together now!

Edited February 18, 2014 by bennyk

[VR6Pete 1,455]

looks amazing mate hope your going to be support the club and attending some of our events

[bennyk 1,238]

Definitely will be there on a few I hope mate, be good to put a few faces to the names!

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[bennyk 1,238]

Remembered to take a few more pics of the progress today and also remembered when putting the skirts on that it had these protective strips along the top of the side skirt into the door shut;

It was bugging me so tried TPS but they're obselete... Well it was worth a try! So straight on eBay and found this stuff anti slip waterproof tape for boats, skin friendly apparently!

Worth a try so ordered some it was only cheap,cut a bit to size warmed it up as it's quite thick stuck it on and I think it looks ok;

Aerial was looking a bit sorry for itself;

So a new seal and a bit of matt black aerosol later;

Also got these cleaned up and fitted,managed to remove them carefully without bending them and they went back on quite nicely with a few new clips;

Then got home to a note from TNT through the door saying they'd left a parcel next door which turned out to be this:)

It should've been delivered to work but they got the address wrong somehow,don't think my neighbour was to impressed! It's in pretty good condition just a bit of paint fracturing,all the important bits are fine though. Going to try and get the bumpers painted Saturday after work I hope.

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Edited February 25, 2014 by bennyk

[bennyk 1,238]

Another update, as you probably noticed went with the glass from the GL tailgate, ummed and arred for ages because I wanted the oe look but I just didn't like it, so no spoiler;

Also got a top tinted front screen as it was only a few quid extra, so I thought why not;

Then got the xenons wired in as neat as possible, all hidden whilst the bumpers off and got the side markers wired in,not the neatest I must admit but it works;

Tried the US rear bumper on and it fits spot on;

So got it prepped,it was a fully painted bumper but the top had been painted black at some point and it'd had a crap repair with filler done at some point so DA'd it all out, heated it right up with a hot air gun and got it straight with no filler in the end just a nice coat of 2k primer;

Then stayed after work today and got the bumpers painted,prepped ready to go;

Basecoat close up ;

Then clear coat;

These turned up in the week,found someone breaking a black highline on eBay and he did the whole set of black pillars for £75 posted, bargain! Was after a set now so I wouldn't have to rip the whole interior out again when I found a set;

And started fitting them in between coats of paint on the bumpers and got this far;

That's about it for now, looking forward to getting the bumpers on in the week now so I can start to see what the finished products going to look like!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[daveyboy 897]

Lookin good mate. I need to graft my side markers into my front bumper somehow. I've got a couple of ideas in mind I just hope they work or I'll be left with 2 holes in the side of my bumper lol

Sent from my LT26i using Tapatalk

[bennyk 1,238]

Yeah not sure how your going to do that without it looking like a bit of a bodge. You planning on having the bumper painted again once you get them fitting? Could send you a couple of close up pics to help you get them in the right spot if that would help?

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[daveyboy 897]

Yeah not sure how your going to do that without it looking like a bit of a bodge. You planning on having the bumper painted again once you get them fitting? Could send you a couple of close up pics to help you get them in the right spot if that would help? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

that would be a massive help. Could you put a tape measure next to the marker holes from the edge of the bumper and from the bottom so I can get them in the right place yeah im flushing the number plater recess too so my bumper will be getting repainted.

Keep up the good work on yours though its looking cracking

Sent from my GT-N8010 using Tapatalk

[Lukey. 381]

I wished if put my ballasts there, I put my led indicator resistors there an after I got everything back on had the thought but couldn't be arsed taking it all off again lol. Looks like you're nearing the finished product now, you're doing everything first that with hindsight I would do next time. Good work.

[bennyk 1,238]

that would be a massive help. Could you put a tape measure next to the marker holes from the edge of the bumper and from the bottom so I can get them in the right place yeah im flushing the number plater recess too so my bumper will be getting repainted.Keep up the good work on yours though its looking cracking ;)Sent from my GT-N8010 using Tapatalk

Yeah I'll do that on Monday for you mate,at least if you're painting it you can basically cut the hole then 'mate it have it' which is one of my boss' favourite sayings! Lol

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[bennyk 1,238]

I wished if put my ballasts there, I put my led indicator resistors there an after I got everything back on had the thought but couldn't be arsed taking it all off again lol. Looks like you're nearing the finished product now, you're doing everything first that with hindsight I would do next time. Good work.

There's no where else to hide them! Though at that moment when I stuck the ballast on with some really strong double sided tape I did think that if it dies I'm gonna have fun changing it! I have a bad habit of rushing stuff and always feeling the need to get things or projects done as fast as possible and end up doing things more than once and I'm doing my best not to do that with this one. Though I have just been offered a few go faster bits at a really good price, so it might not be finished and on the road as soon as I thought anyway!

[Therusterman 59]

Hope the ballasts don't die any time soon!

[bennyk 1,238]

I'll have to stick another ballast on top of it lol! The xenons were only about £15 off of eBay so they'll probably only last 5 mins and I'll get bored and go back to standard bulbs anyway!

[daveyboy 897]

Yeah I'll do that on Monday for you mate,at least if you're painting it you can basically cut the hole then 'mate it have it' which is one of my boss' favourite sayings! Lol Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cheers mate that'll be a massive help

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[Lukey. 381]

I did put my ballasts on the legs with tape when I had an A3 and the sticky pad you get with them failed quite quickly and took out the ballast. I would drill and tap a small like m4 bolt hole to mechanically fasten them

[bennyk 1,238]

Tbh I might end up changing the headlamps if I can't find another n/s hella surround, might buy some new standard ones and smoke or Joey them and if I do that I'll get rid of the xenons, because I can't stand xenons with out the beam deflectors, coming towards you at night blinding everyone!! One of my pet hates!

[bennyk 1,238]

Started thinking about fitting the front bumper, so wanted to get a number plate on there but obviously without any visible holes and easy to remove for any shows etc,so knocked up this bracket at lunchtime;

Thought that attaching it with self tappers would be a bit crap because if you screw them in and out a few times chances are it'd end up falling off with me driving over it! So used a couple of rivnuts so I can use m6 screws and it should last a lot longer;

Bracket on;

Number plate on;

Then popped the spoiler on and slid the bumper on;

Also have won a complete us spec rear bumper reinforcement on eBay for £30 inc postage:) so I'm waiting for that to turn up now.

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Edited February 25, 2014 by bennyk

[Nazza27 35]

that looks mental mate! Love it. 

[bennyk 1,238]

Thanks mate! I'm nearly finished with the fitting up now, got the rear bumper on with a couple of screws to see what it looked like, as I'm still waiting for the US bumper reinforcement to turn up and got it outside to turn it around so I can polish the other side in better light. Took a couple of pics in the sun;

Note the wheels sitting in on the front and the backs poking out

Looks a bit orange in some of the photos....it's not! Probably something to do with all photos being taken on an iPhone!

Then jacked the car up and got the front splash guards in after trimming them a little bit around the tops where I've rolled the arches;

I didn't like not having the black trims(probably got a name) not being there and the euro ones didn't fit so I got a belt sander and made them fit:) before;

Trimmed a couple of bits, before at the bottom;

Then after, much better;

Then spent ages getting the bumper to fit nicely so I could finally get the grill in with the nice shiny new badges;

Whilst I did all this I swapped the wheel spacers so I now have 40mm front and 35mm rear, so it now sits much better.

Then decided I really don't like the US front splitter/spoiler it's a big battered and I can't find a decent replacement one ! So I'm hoping to try to make my early euro one fit tomorrow, apparently it's possible. We'll see!

Edited February 28, 2014 by bennyk