Bought the car in October 09, loved it. 1998 T-Red GTI w/ DE leftovers. CEL came on the second I rolled out of the used dealer I bought it from, knew I was in for it This is a glimpse from the two years ago, to today with my car, so if you don't want to read, look at the pics.
The day I brought it home:
Strong VR, no mechanical issues, just needed an ignition switch and 02 sensors and was good to go. Deleted res on the exhaust gave it a great sound. At the time HS and barely a part-time job didn't give me much 'play money', but I managed the little things over time like smoked side markers and eventually smoked ecodes.
Center dummies fell off
Went through 2 Jersey winters so far, and the winter won. Rust got beyond bad, and got to the point of where it wasn't structurally safe anymore.
This was after hitting a nice pothole caused by the weak pavement after the snowstorm: :banghead:
Car sat for a week or so until I could drop the extra cash on a replacement panel and then labor (don't want to talk about the price) But I was far too attached to the car at this point.
All done:
Threw in my Jahre belts:
THEN the transmission went, could have avoided it, but my cheap ass didn't want to buy the bit to check the trans fluid, lesson learned But I got a used trans w/ a bonus B&M short shifter for a good deal and with the help of vortex got it all swapped and buttoned up, even got the billet shifter bushings while I was at it (SO WORTH IT).
Fogs filled with water, so this was a cheap fix to my lack of fog lights, and pretty much how the car sits today.
Now I'm hooked. Loved working on it before, but now I want more. Made the car last for another winter while I hoarded parts to rebuild the motor, along with coilovers and some go fast goodies. Also threw on some Passat bottlecaps and Inpro smoked tails. No point in installing suspension or go-fast stuff since that rust I was talking about? Got worse.
Floor is completely fked, holes everywhere and bending down on the driver side, pass side needed love too. Fenders / fender wells had holes, both rockers went bent to hell (covered by sideskirts) and rusted, hatch was rusted behind plate tub, and the gas cap started bubbling up.
:what::facepalm:
THEN I found a DIY thread for the rockers, which is how I got in contact with Bob (silentdub on here) and when I can't say enough about what this guy can do with bodywork. Truly phenomenal. Awesome guy and he did an excellent job on EVERYTHING. The pics speak for themselves.
So then I got it back home, ready to swap the motor from my recently purchased 96 GTI (brother's old car, he bought a 2011 GTI so I took his mk3 off his hands, lots of motor work done).
I figure instead of taking the time to rebuild my VR, why not take one that has already been rebuilt a few months ago and swap it into the red one? Makes sense to me, so I proceed.
Crane, meet motor:
Out:
That's as far as I got for now, I'll be working on it more tomorrow so I'll keep this thread updated. Plans for this season is to give it a nice T-Red respray and get the new motor running perfect. Next season is boost. My other GTI is in the background in the last pic, You'll see me at WF:thumbup:
:wave:
The day I brought it home:
Strong VR, no mechanical issues, just needed an ignition switch and 02 sensors and was good to go. Deleted res on the exhaust gave it a great sound. At the time HS and barely a part-time job didn't give me much 'play money', but I managed the little things over time like smoked side markers and eventually smoked ecodes.
Center dummies fell off
Went through 2 Jersey winters so far, and the winter won. Rust got beyond bad, and got to the point of where it wasn't structurally safe anymore.
This was after hitting a nice pothole caused by the weak pavement after the snowstorm: :banghead:
Car sat for a week or so until I could drop the extra cash on a replacement panel and then labor (don't want to talk about the price) But I was far too attached to the car at this point.
All done:
Threw in my Jahre belts:
THEN the transmission went, could have avoided it, but my cheap ass didn't want to buy the bit to check the trans fluid, lesson learned But I got a used trans w/ a bonus B&M short shifter for a good deal and with the help of vortex got it all swapped and buttoned up, even got the billet shifter bushings while I was at it (SO WORTH IT).
Fogs filled with water, so this was a cheap fix to my lack of fog lights, and pretty much how the car sits today.
Now I'm hooked. Loved working on it before, but now I want more. Made the car last for another winter while I hoarded parts to rebuild the motor, along with coilovers and some go fast goodies. Also threw on some Passat bottlecaps and Inpro smoked tails. No point in installing suspension or go-fast stuff since that rust I was talking about? Got worse.
Floor is completely fked, holes everywhere and bending down on the driver side, pass side needed love too. Fenders / fender wells had holes, both rockers went bent to hell (covered by sideskirts) and rusted, hatch was rusted behind plate tub, and the gas cap started bubbling up.
:what::facepalm:
THEN I found a DIY thread for the rockers, which is how I got in contact with Bob (silentdub on here) and when I can't say enough about what this guy can do with bodywork. Truly phenomenal. Awesome guy and he did an excellent job on EVERYTHING. The pics speak for themselves.
So then I got it back home, ready to swap the motor from my recently purchased 96 GTI (brother's old car, he bought a 2011 GTI so I took his mk3 off his hands, lots of motor work done).
I figure instead of taking the time to rebuild my VR, why not take one that has already been rebuilt a few months ago and swap it into the red one? Makes sense to me, so I proceed.
Crane, meet motor:
Out:
That's as far as I got for now, I'll be working on it more tomorrow so I'll keep this thread updated. Plans for this season is to give it a nice T-Red respray and get the new motor running perfect. Next season is boost. My other GTI is in the background in the last pic, You'll see me at WF:thumbup:
:wave: