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Sexier Than A Prius (Golf TDI Content/Build)

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#1 · (Edited)
My Golf TDI Progress Thread

Tried to clean some stuff up. Most of the excited updates are listed under my most recent update towards the bottom. Everything so far is focusing on exterior for the most part but I intend to try to have the interior going in 2016 followed by building the engine in 2017. Content may be a little picture heavy.

Most of my updates are posted to Instagram first: @panzer_TDI


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Back in October 2011 I thought it was time to get rid of my 6 speed 1.8T GLI (my first VW) and buy a "grown up car". I was pretty set on a Golf TDI and after a few months of searching finally found my 5 speed 2004 Golf TDI with 136,000 miles on the odometer in MD. I hung onto the GLI for a few months until I was finally able to get a reasonable offer and then I regrettably sold it. Pretty much couldn't beat the 45+ mpg of the TDI though and at the time I had no room for 2 cars.

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So I missed some of the comforts of the GLI almost immediately starting with the 3 spoke steering wheel. I swapped out the Golf 4 spoke for a 3 spoke the second I got my hands on one. Later in the year I was heading back from a restaurant with my ex and was coming into a turn a little fast because racecar. She had placed the to go box full of delicious steak on the dash and the sharp turn subsequently caused the box to began to slide towards me. Thinking of how much I loved steak I decided to save the box, mid turn, and have to correct my steering which caused the car to essentially Tokyo drift through a sharp back road and clip a mailbox with the ass of the car. I was gifted with a lovely dent on the rear quarter for this. I talked to the people at the house and later bought them a new mailbox.

Early 2012 I began to grow tired of the steelies and hubcaps so I got my hands on a set of Montreal II's for 90 doll hairs :thumbup: (I know... nothing impressive here). I also wanted to see what textured rub strips would look like so I slapped some plasti dip on there because I wasn't sure if I wanted to commit. I also bought Ocean tail reps around this time through Volx tuning. I wanted regular Ocean lights and not the smoked GTI ones and that was my only reasonable option on my budget at that time.

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I began to notice some fender rot around this time. I did some research and found out there was a TSB issued for TDI's because they used a foam material behind the fenders as sound deadening material. Allegedly if the foam was too long from factory it could absorb and retain moisture and salt later causing the corrosion. Took it to the dealer and they said the would cover it under the 12 year rust warranty. Around the winter of 2012/2013 I managed to find a color matched GTI rear lower valance for $40 while trolling the classifieds. Forgot the dudes name on here otherwise I would have gave him a shout out.

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So I scooted around with the car as was for a little while. I followed up with VW for those repairs and they told me they were approved and would get back to me. After not hearing from them (and being lazy) I show up probably 6 months later to address the claim and was told it was approved but for the previous year and was going to have to be sent for approval again :facepalm: ... Ain't nobody got time for that.

Always liked the idea of a Jolf (I liked the Jetta front ends better on the Golfs than the GTIs). So I kept talking about all these racecar things I wanted to do with the car even though I was broke at the time. Finally managed to bump into a dude with a silver Jetta that was rear ended and scooped the front off of him in late 2013. The silver is a hair off but its not bad... we will get to that later.

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Early 2014 I decided I wanted to get my hand on a project and kind of trolled the internet for awhile. I really wanted a German diesel Mk1 but wasn't having any luck. One day at work I happened to be talking to someone about my search for a Mk1 when a guy from another section interrupted. Turned out the guy was really into air cooled VW but had a 2 door 1979 4 speed German 1.5L Diesel Rabbit that was just kind of sitting :)what: what are the odds of this sh!t?). So needless to say I scooped that baby up but I won't go to far into it since this is the Mk4 section.

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:heart:

Pretty much took a break from the car for awhile until I finally decided to throw the Jetta front end on when the weather got nicer around summer 2014. This is where I finally decided that the Golf really needed attention. The Golf was just too quiet for me so I decided to hack off the muffler and leave it to dump under the car. Diesels are exempt from emissions testing in NC so I figured straight pipes would be nice but I intended to figure out a more permanent solution later.

I always liked the look of the Votex bumper and talked about buying one in the past but the price tag always shooed me off. I ended up talking to Wil at World Impex over the internet. He gave me a great price on an OEM bumper and being that they were based in MD (where I used to live) and that my parents lived in PA, I figured I could take a vacation and pick it up to save on shipping.

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Later in the summer of 2014 Kerma TDI had a great sale on their 2.5 inch stainless steel straight pipe turbo back exhaust so I scooped one up. I figured it was also time for some low and ECS was having a sale on FK Streetlines so I scooped up a set of those as well.

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Slapped the FK's on shortly after but I wasn't able to drop the car much because the front wheels were too close to the coils. I tried installing the exhaust but I was having a nightmare the the down pipe at the turbo. I tried being gentle and using plenty of liquid wrench but ended up sheering a stud off of the turbo with the nut and decided to just leave the other 2 be for now. I plan on upgrading the turbo over the winter so I will just deal with the exhaust then. I ordered 10mm and 20mm spacers from 42 Draft Designs and slapped those on. Roller from BFI Oktoberfest...

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While at Black Forest Industries Oktoberfest I saw a set of Mk4 tail lights on clearance for $80. The Ocean reps I bough from Volx Tuning had hazed so bad over the few years I had them (which I wasn't too surprised). I scooped up the new tail lights just because it seemed like something a little different. I originally wanted Hella Magic Colours but I will run these for a bit.

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Decided to test fit the Votex bumper. Fitment was... interesting. It wasn't too bad but definitely not spot on. I am sure someone with body experience can dial it in but I'm always open for any advice that anyone has.

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I ordered some glass lenses from Volx Tuning and decided to knock out a Joey Mod while I was at it. The lens swap was easy but masking for the Joey Mod was a real PITA... but I'm sure many of you know that already.

November 2014 I see an autotragic vr6 2000 Jetta pop up on a local Facebook page with 3 bent valves for $1,300 OBO. For sh!ts and giggles I poke into it and discover there's a set of GLI Recaro seats in that bad boy. I make an offer to trade my Golf seats plus cash but they tell me they will not part and will only sell the car whole. We go back and forth and they take a $900 cash offer for the whole car. I figured I could have my seats and also swap over the Jetta vents and probably make my money back parting the rest of the car. The car also has an OEM GLI front valance and Aristos! :thumbup:

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I thoroughly inspected the seats and I couldn't have asked for a better set. The bolsters are still solid and somehow the fabric on them hasn't blown out at the stitches (like you always see). They are a little dirty but its nothing a steam cleaner can't fix when I get the chance. I missed these seats so much so needless to say those bad boys went in the Golf right away. I was cheesing like a loser the first time I drove the car with them in but I am one happy guy.

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So now we are pretty current as far as I can tell. On another note this just happened...

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Up to no good...
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Update September 24th, 2015... Alright the ball is finally rolling after all of this time. After accumulating parts and saving up my overtime/holiday pay/expendable income it was finally time to get the ball rolling. Only problem was such a short deadline of only 25 before H2Oi. This will be my first H2Oi so I really wanted to have something to show. There has been an unbelievable amount of work with many man hours going into this but I will just generalize most of the process unless people have questions. I have been spending the past month working on the car until ~midnight but the real credit goes to my buddy, Cody, who is putting an unbelievable amount of his knowledge, skills and time into this. His attention to detail has been beyond any of my expectations.

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Picked up a new toy around May 2015 to distract me an add to the diesel collection. A 2007 v10 Touareg TDI with full in depth service history and a price tag I couldn't pass up on. I am starting to run out of space for Volkswagens :rolleyes:. Ultimately this later ended up being what I needed to I could down the Golf and get to work later on.

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I was in search of a grille which best matched the votex bumper inserts. I figured the Kamei grille would be my best bet and I managed to source one through the powers of facebook.

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Another test fit of the bumper before things get going.

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My headliner was incredibly saggy so I knew it was time to freshen it up along with the body work. I had my eye on this pattern for awhile, which was a little more costly than I wanted it to be. My buddy recommended using Loctite 300 adhesive since he did a suede headliner that has held strong for over 3 years now. Hopefully she holds. I stripped the foam off the board real well and took my time and it came out a little better than I was expecting despite the tedious and drawn out process. I also wrapped the A, B and C pillars and will post pictures when its all installed.

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Cody shaved the doors. Tacking a dime to the back of the holes and painstakingly filling them in slowly as to not warp any of the metal. The backside will be sprayed with wax to prevent any corrosion inside the doors.

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One of the biggest obstacles seemed to be shaving the OEM r32 rear bumper. The type of plastic the bumper was made from could not be plastic welded. I don't want to give away his trade secrets but he made it work. It came out very clean and I am confident his method will hold up well.

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He also shaved the rear hatch for me. There's also a r32 spoiler that will be going on as well.

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That nasty dent came out nicely. Majority of it was able to be slowly hammered out and only required a little additional work to finish it off.

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I spent an unbelievable amount of my life sand blasting my Aristos to be powdercoated by my buddy Kyle. Kyle also spent a generous amount of his time getting these done for me despite holding up his ridiculous r32 build he's been trying to get done before he deploys. I went with heavy silver with a clear vision top coat. Came out a little more "glittery" than I anticipated with the flake in the powder but all in all I think they came out good. I decided to go with 215/40 Nankangs and was expecting a little "stretch" out of them (although I wasn't going for the whole stretched look to be honest).

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Swapped in a dimple dash. I also have the full aluminum trim swapped over as well but I don't have any current pictures of that.

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Custom boser hood in the works. He even took the time to roll the edges giving the hood an incredible clean OE look.

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Slapping everything together so far to check for fitment. Starting to get an idea for how everything will look and I'm starting to get very excited. I also have GLI sideskirts to go on but I don't have any pictures on me right now.

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While all this crazy nonsense has been going on another guy has been working on some custom retrofits for me with Morimoto Mini H1's. He's also relocating the running lights/turn signals to the fog light slot. They're just waiting on the glass lenses to come in. They're looking incredible so far.

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Finally got around to throwing on my Diesel Geek Panzer Plate and sideskirts. I figured it would be an easier task while things were stripped down. After the car was lowered back down I was pretty surprised how low the pan sat to the ground. Even though it is a skid plate it kind of has me a little nervous since I wanted to drop the car a little more. We will see when everything is pieced back together.

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Resprayed Reflex Silver this past weekend. Still much work to do and very little time.

I don't know how much more time I will have to keep this updated with the work that needs to be done before H2Oi but I will do my best. I have had a lot of help and support from local enthusiasts trying to get this together which is always awesome to see. See you guys at H2Oi!
 
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#14 ·
great find and :thumbup: for a tdi

I recently did the 3 spoke swap http://www.myturbodiesel.com/1000q/b5/steering-wheel-removal-vw.htm this link has a video that helped me get mine off but it was VERY frustrating.

I used to have the problem of no diesel stations as well, so much of a problem that I almost sold the car, but now almost every station has diesel:laugh: they will come eventually.

If you haven't done a ventoctomy, however it's spelled, I would recommend that to get the ful potential of the tank:wave:
 
#15 ·
Thanks for the info :thumbup::beer:

I watched the guys at the shop take the 3 spoke off the wrecked VW and they explained it to me. Does seem very frustrating. I heard the 4 spoke is a real pain though because the parts that catch on that spring are metal vs the plastic ones on the 3 spoke. I have also heard of the ventectomy (sp?) and have been considering it. Everyone says it is worth it.


Glad to see there are a handful of TDI owners on Vortex.
 
#19 ·
For anyone seriously looking for a TDI I recommend Foobert's TDI hunt http://www.foobert.com/carhunt.html It searches craigslist all across the US for all TDI posts excluding dealerships that were posted in the last 24hrs. I checked that sight on a daily basis during my search. It ended up being a PM I received on Vortex that connected me with the seller though.

Another great site I used was http://www.crazedlist.org/ which lets you search multiple craigslist regions of your choice all at once. It only seems to work in Firefox though.

Just my 2 cents for anyone searching.

yea but once you get the feel of what you need to do it's pretty easy just dont get mad and break something haha

the ventectomy can also be very frustrating but you can get an extra gallon or two in your tank which can go a looooong way
I can't see why I wouldn't want to squeeze an extra gallon in. It would be nicer to get to wait that much longer between fill ups :thumbup:
 
#39 ·
:beer:

^this. Awesome find.
Thanks :beer:


Gas prices,

IMO Diesel is way better mileage.
In addition to that I am a bigger fan of the Golf / GTI layout. There is just more room.

Semi local :wave:

Nice find man. That looks clean as hell. And :thumbup::thumbup:for the TDI
:wave:
Thanks :beer:

The nice thing about reflex silver is that it hides dirt well. I have a long gravel driveway and you can just see how dirty that BMP GLI got.
 
#40 ·
I am taking the girlfriend out to Texas Roadhouse soon... mmm steak :beer:

Thinking about picking up some satin black paint while I am out for the grille. I kind of like the look. Has anyone painted their grille black and have any advice? I searched and read a few things but anyones input is always nice.
 
#49 ·
Grille paintage part one

The reason I am kicking this in two parts is because the rain has been really drawing this process out. Every time I am off work and am ready to throw on a layer of paint it starts to rain.

So the other day I took my girl out for some nice juicy steak and figured we would swing by walmart while we were in town. I picked up some items I felt were necessary for the project which included sandpaper, satin black spray paint, matte clear coat, some degreaser and some gloves... snapped a quick picture at check out because I didn't want to look like a creeper :p



When I got home I went to get out of the car and my phone fell face first onto the gravel driveway :facepalm: :thumbdown:



After getting over being all butt hurt about the phone I checked the forum to find out how to pop the grille off. Managed to get it off after some tampering... but then came the frustrating part. I searched all of the internets on how to dissemble the grille assembly but I really couldn't find anything (I have been considering making one). I knew it could be done because they could be ordered separated. I figure most people just paint the entire assembly together but that just seems no beuno to me. I am just too ocd to half ass this. So after two hows of pushing and squeezing tabs I managed to get it apart and I only lost one tab :mad:




So after all that frustration I moved on to the prep work. I went ahead and sanded the grille down until I figured it was good enough. I went ahead and washed it and degreased it and hung it from a hanger to dry.



After about an hour or so it all seemed dry so I went to take it outside to paint... that is when the rain started. :facepalm: :mad:. The past few days have been spent throwing layers on and wet sanding. I would spray a light coating, let it dry for 30min and spray a second coat. After that I would wet sand and repeat. After repeating that cycle about three times I have just finished putting the last coat on. I am going to let it sit for an hour or so to let it dry out and then start clear coating. Hopefully tomorrow I will have everything done and slap it on the car for some pictures.
 
#51 ·
ill join everyone and also say:nice mpg :beer:
i knew it was good but with this thread i see how nice it actually is
i have a 01 1.8 gti silver and im considering painting my grille cant wait for the pictures

cant wait to see process :popcorn:

p.s i also use tapatalk :beer:
 
#52 · (Edited)
Here are the finished pictures of the front. I took the bottom bumper grilles off to repaint them to match the grille because it looked off :mad: I think it will look much better when they match



Hit a little bump on my progression the other night:

So me and my girlfriend were coming back from my favorite restaurant and we were taking a back road back home where the speed is 55mph. We came up to a tight turn and my left over box came flying at me from the dash. For some reason I let go of the wheel to catch it and quickly grabbed the wheel again. This led me into a sequence of Tokyo Drifting and I managed to avoid from going into two ditches by the hair on my ball sack and tapping a mailbox with the back of my car. Being the gentleman I am I walked up to the house that owned the mailbox and told them I would pay for a new one and left my info. The overall damage was to my drivers side quarter panel and my bumper. Not enough to even bother to get insurance involved because it would just cost me more. The passenger side wheel was pulled off the rim but luckily I had a full size spare. Anyone think I can just get the tire remounted? I am going on base later today to try to get reimbursed for a $600 medical bill from 2 years ago so I could have something to put towards repair. So all in all I guess an accident means upgrade when it comes to the rear bumper. Anyone have any input on what would look good on a 4dr Golf? Don't know if I want an exhaust cut out or not because I don't know what direction I am going for an exhaust.

At least I didn't lose my precious TDI :(

 
#54 ·
I may just go with a stock bumper. Found one 3 hours out for $85, just waiting on pictures. I had a guy from NY tell me he would sell me a Jetta front end w/ GLI lip in reflex silver for $500 and I feel the itch to jump on that. He is having trouble selling it but I wont be able to get it until March
 
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