91 VW Cabriolet Etienne Aigner : BUILD Thread

[JKerrDesign]

It sucked to hit that deer, but in the end, the car is much better looking for it.
How much did you get from the deer's insurance company?

:-)

For future reference, goosler is the person who can produce the EA decals.

Awesome work.

I want directions on how to do that polish please. Want to do that to my rims as well.

Yea, nothing from the deers insurance company, or my own... (cut rate insurance sucks)

but now i am covered just in case bambi decides to jump again, and it covers my top, vandalism, etc. So i feel safer for it...

First let me say that it would be much easier to work ont he wheels without tires on them... you will get a cleaner final product also.
As far as the polish goes, a friend of mine polished them. First step is stripping the wheels down with aircraft stripper (you can get a can at wal mart, usually in the automotive section near the bondo).
Once everything is stripped, you can start the polish. In a perfect world you will have no pitting in the wheel, so all you would have to do is strip and buff. When there is pitting, the only way to get the pitting out is to sand it out, so you would have to start around 320 grit sandpaper (dry) and work your way down to 3000 (wet).
At that point you use polishing compounds to bring out the final sheen look you want.

Thomas finished polishing the wheels last night, so hopefully getting the tires on her today, and then doing any final touch-ups in the next week or so while we wait for a final compound and buffing pad to come in...

I cant wait to see these things on my car!

[JKerrDesign]

Awesome project! I especially like the polished wheels.

I've got a red (bordeaux) EA Cabriolet that I'm hoping to do about the same work as you've done here. Thanks for giving me a great preview of what I'm in for!

Ha, yea man. It is a lit of work, but the end result is definitely worth it... Nothing like doing the work yourself...

When you get into the build, post a thread up. Id love to follow

[CajunSpike]

Check out post #19 for polished castelletes on a car.


http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...9#post76203619

[JKerrDesign]

Check out post #19 for polished castelletes on a car.


http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...9#post76203619

I am pretty sure those are D90's (Porsche Wheels)... very similar

[CajunSpike]

Yup...just mark that one in the 'didnt get it right' column...lol.

[JKerrDesign]

pretty much same idea though... those are a little bigger, but same effect... i cant wait lol

Also, ordered my Heater Core and all of my coolant hoses... (break the bank)... guess ill be eating ramen all next week...

[klcorrado05]

Looking good. We are buying burgandy aigner for my little brother this weekend.

[rabbitnothopper]

pics from the progress...

details on how you polished those??!

[JKerrDesign]

details on how you polished those??!

see post#36... a buddy of mine polished them, but i give a basic run-down of how it was done...

[JKerrDesign]

Looking good. We are buying burgandy aigner for my little brother this weekend.

glad to hear it man... keep em alive! you plan on taking any of them to any shows? h2o perhaps? lol

[klcorrado05]

We are going to have a booth at sowo and may make it to h2o. If we go to h2o we'll probably drive the mk4 because its the most reliable thing we own. You coming down to sowo?

[JKerrDesign]

We are going to have a booth at sowo and may make it to h2o. If we go to h2o we'll probably drive the mk4 because its the most reliable thing we own. You coming down to sowo?

i thought about it... ill be in nashville two weeks prior for work, but if i get my wheels right i might make the trek... who knows

[JKerrDesign]

shot before tires go on...

tires are now on, and the wheels need some more work...
ordered some clear for the wheels, since the aluminum is pretty soft, should be here this week...

[JKerrDesign]

clear should be here tomorrow for the wheels.

making a trek to the junkyard this weekend to see what goodies i can find, for this and my 91 GLI... wish me the best! the anticipation is killing me lol

[JKerrDesign]

Wheels are getting cleared today... putting them back on tonight, along with my rear coils...

might have time to do the front lip also, but thats tbd with my final paper for grad school due this week

my car needs a wash BAD, so might get that done tonight as well... pics to come.

[tinker6468]

Nice and shinny!! Me likey

[JKerrDesign]

a few quick shots taken this morning after getting the wheels on...

i tried putting my rear coils back on last night, and had a bitch of a time, so had to leave the stock suspension on the back still... i think i might bite the bullet and invest in some nicer suspension. it will be the smarter way to go, and it will make it more fun to drive...

time to start looking

[CajunSpike]

Awesome work sir. Car looks beautiful.

[JKerrDesign]

Awesome work sir. Car looks beautiful.

I still ahve some odds and ends ont he outside, including decals and my front bumper lip/lights, but she is coming along...

Thanks for the feedback... shes getting there lol

[Mk1WolfsburgCabby]

Soooooooooo clean. Bump for a fellow MD'er. So jealous of the progress.

[JKerrDesign]

went to the 'yard this weekend, and actually found myself a cabby! too bad she was hit pretty bad.

Did manage to score a pretty nice set of rain gutter trim, and the windshield washer housing cap I was missing.

Picked up a crap load of badges (im a badge whore), and some other tiny things.

All-in-all I would say it was my best day of yarding, prob since I went to 4...

Now that I get a two week break from classes, and daylight savings is hear, might be time to dig into the engine and start replacing my coolant system and heater core...

Ill hopefully be able to take a bunch of pics later this week, once I get my bottom lip, bumper lights, and other stuff on...

[fornetti14]

need more feedback and ideas in the engine...

I am planning on just replacing the hoses, seals, etc, and keeping the 8v in it. Not sure if anyone has done similar, but if there is some affordable performance I may be able to get out of replacing small nonsense, then I might look into it.

I replaced the old (cracked) exhaust manifold on my '90 Cabby this winter and I'm very pleased with the performance and sound of the Tri-Y header. Otherwise, my motor is all stock.
I did swap over to manual steering since my pump was bad and the old rack was leaking. I had a nice manual rack from a '83 GTI anyway.

I'm also interested in how you polished the wheels. This car looks nice.

[JKerrDesign]

I replaced the old (cracked) exhaust manifold on my '90 Cabby this winter and I'm very pleased with the performance and sound of the Tri-Y header...

I'm also interested in how you polished the wheels. This car looks nice.

Where did you get the Tri-Y header? My exhaust is new, but i need to do SOMETHING because the dumbasses who put it on let it lay against the bottom of my car so she rattles... not going to replace the whole things if i dont have to...

Also, I posted as much as I can remember about the polishing. A buddy of mine polished them, so I could do my best to get a run through from him, but I think i already know what he is going to day...

Sand, polish, sand, polish, sand, polish, repeat

[JKerrDesign]

Since more people are asking about how the castellets were polished, here ya go:
First let me say that it would be much easier to work ont he wheels without tires on them... you will get a cleaner final product also.

1. Strip the wheels down with aircraft stripper (you can get a can at wal mart, usually in the automotive section near the bondo). This is when having the tires off is important, so you can make sure to get all of the clear of you can around where the rubber goes. It also helps to not have to work around the rubber, and the wheels is a ton lighter.

2-8. In a perfect world you will have no pitting in the wheel, so all you would have to do is strip and buff. When there is pitting, the only way to get the pitting out is to sand it out.
220 (if the pitting is super bad) 320, 400, 600, 1000, 1500, 2000, 3000.

9. then any polish and a polishing rag. Some polishes will still be abrasive, so just make sure you work down from more abrasive to less abrasive. Polishing aluminum is tough, and once you get scratches in it you might as well start over.

10. Clear if necessary

... its all about TLC... be patient, and DO NOT rush it.

Again, I want to say that a buddy of mine polished my wheels, so I can not speak ont he ENTIRE process, but I know this is the basics.

**Another suggestion I may have, is take the tires off when stripping if possible. HOWEVER, when you start to polish, it would be best to make sure that new tires are on, and that they are mounted AND BALANCED. especially if you are not clearing the wheels. Aluminum scratches very easily, so depending on where you take them to get mounted (suggesiton: do not go to walmart) they may mis-handle them and ruin your work (speaking from experience)...

All-in-all they turned out pretty sweet, and I ended up clearing them with eastwood clearcoat for metals ($25 a qt., and it was plenty).

[fornetti14]

Autotech makes the try-y header and they are about $300 new. Add$50 more for the extra brace.

They pop up on the vortex and they go for about $100 used. I went the used route (locally) so all I had to do was repaint it.

[JKerrDesign]

These are a few more pics I took after the wheels went on. Hoping to get some time for her this weekend...

[JKerrDesign]

Just wanted to throw pics up here of the daily. Just got her 6 weeks ago so havent done anything to her yet, but she will be due some tlc after the cabby is there.

[DubLuv1]

I like

[JKerrDesign]

Couldnt ask for better weather these past and next few days. Supposed to be 82 today1! (Too bad im working)

Placed an order for the rest of my coolant parts, and should have everything here that I need TODAY!

Gearing up to work on her saturday... stay tuned...

[JKerrDesign]

Put the front lip back on, as well as my stock bumper lights. I have smoked ones, but I need to re-wire them first and I was a little hungover from St Pattys day festivities...

All of my coolant parts are here, so I will hopefully begin tackling that soon.

Hopefully will be able to take some pics this evening.

[JKerrDesign]

Cleaned her up a little, and took a few shots tonight...

Still need to put my EA Decals back on, and the chrome stripe in my trim (and a few other things)...

But, these will do for now...

[Irish_Grenade]

Who drives such an ugly little girls car..
Get the stickers on the side for your hand bag car..
I will have the beetle together soon to set beside it to give your car some class..

[JKerrDesign]

ttt for comments (since this last ass hole had such great things to say) lol

[CISinjected]

Very nice!!

[CISinjected]

weird double post