New Owner- 1987 Coupe

[envy.]

*Correction- After looking at the title, it's a 1989*

Hey there folks,

I'm picking up an '89 Fox coupe within a week or two from a friend of a friend. (owner is on vacation, picking it up when he gets back) The wait is killing me, so I'm starting the thread early.

Summary:
-bone stock
-2 competent previous owners
-101k miles
-maintenance receipts dating back to when I was in diapers
-white 2 door manual... IMO a very sweet combination
-no rust (southern cars FTW)
-new timing belt, water pump, and a few other goodies all done this year
-interior is the only downside, at least they neglected my favorite thing to swap/fabricate/repair
-$600
-did I mention I'm excited?

I've been a good Vortexer and I've read the faq's, I do still have a few questions for the willing.

1. For putting Mk1/Mk2/Mk3 seats into the car, am I correct in understanding that I literally just cautiously bend the feet on the bottom of the seats inwards until they fit the .5" narrower fox seat rails?

2. Would any kind souls be inclined to share their favorite wheel/tire combos with me? I presently have in mind to use 14" OEM VW wheels unless someone knows a better way to go. Possibly 15" wheels if only for the (IMO) better tire selection.

3. Bonus: If you autocross your Fox, let me know a bit about your setups and what you've learned. I'm already planning on upgrading to gas shocks, possibly springs too. Hopefully someone chimes in with good autocross info as that's ideally the direction I'd like to go.

Sorry for the novel! I just couldn't contain myself Pics to come.

Thanks Everybody,
-Glenn

[novws]

Welcome. That Fox you're about to acquire sounds like a great place to start. If there was one area of the car that had to be bad, I'd want it to be the interior. Some perspective on your questions:

1. Yes. heat them with a torch and hit them with a hammer. You have to hit them hard yet cautiously. I have Corrado seats in one of my Foxes. They're a nice upgrade. They sit a lot lower, almost too low for me. But still well worth it.

2. I've had four Foxes and always ended up running 14s on them with a 185/60. I also like 13s and 15s, though. I'm running BMW e30 bottlecap alloys on one of my Foxes. They have a 35mm offset, which works well on these cars. They're not heavy and you can usually find them easily for cheap.

3. This depends and, also, everyone will give you a different answer. There are some coil over options, which others here can discuss better than I can. If you want a Fox that is still a fun, relatively comfortable street car, but that you can also autocross in street touring consider something like the following: Front Bilstein sport struts, Rear Corrado Bilstein Sport rear; Corrado Neuspeed Race springs; rear sway bar (Addco makes one, so does Black Forest); Max negative camber up front (which isn't much; adjustable via the ball joints); Front toe out 1/16". You can go a lot more radical than this. But this will be a fun set-up for the street too.

There are tons of other options regarding your questions. Just check the FAQ.

And post some pics when you get the car!

[kerensky]

2. I've had four Foxes and always ended up running 14s on them with a 185/60. I also like 13s and 15s, though. I'm running BMW e30 bottlecap alloys on one of my Foxes. They have a 35mm offset, which works well on these cars. They're not heavy and you can usually find them easily for cheap.

My favorite wheel for Foxes, seen here on snowfox's lovely white wagon:


They're made by Ronal, came in 15". Only place I know they came from were on Renault GTAs in the late 80's. I found a set awhile back for relatively cheap, but it took some looking.

[QuantumSyncro]

My favorite wheel for Foxes, seen here on snowfox's lovely white wagon:


They're made by Ronal, came in 15". Only place I know they came from were on Renault GTAs in the late 80's. I found a set awhile back for relatively cheap, but it took some looking.

The 14" version used on a lot of Audi 4k's is a very common choice too, just be sure that they're 4x100 and not 4x108....part #'s are different.

[kerensky]

The 14" version used on a lot of Audi 4k's is a very common choice too, just be sure that they're 4x100 and not 4x108....part #'s are different.

The 14" Audi Ronals are a bit different - they don't have the circular piece behind the 'spokes' that covers the center of the wheel. I do like those Ronals tho, they also go well on Foxes, assuming you get the right bolt pattern as you mentioned.

[envy.]

Quick update- I'm picking up the car after work today, pics to follow!

[QuantumSyncro]

The 14" Audi Ronals are a bit different - they don't have the circular piece behind the 'spokes' that covers the center of the wheel. I do like those Ronals tho, they also go well on Foxes, assuming you get the right bolt pattern as you mentioned.

Yes, the design is just a bit different, perhaps because the offset might be different...don't know for sure. I like the 15" but never liked the 'disc' at the back of the wheel, if I had some I would have to paint that area black.

4x100 14" Ronal spokes begin with part # 811, if it's anything other than 811 don't buy it. Too many people have gotten stuck with 4x108 wheels. Check every wheel for 811...

[envy.]

Ok folks, sorry for the delay on an update- I've been very busy with work. I'll be getting pictures up tomorrow. In the time since I picked the car up I've done a great deal of headache work. Here's a brief rundown.

1.) brought the car home to find that a group of wasps had made a home in the driver side fender. Problem? I'm terribly allergic. Took me three cautious days of RAID can sniping and old fashioned swatting until I was confident enough to pull the fender liner and remove the fist-sized nest. As much as I like the car, it wasn't worth anaphylactic shock.

2.) those pesky shift bushings, they crapped out on me. Still waiting on the arrival of the new bushings.

3.) I'm using the service manual and the vortex search function to hunt down the cause of a weird idle. Car goes through the rpm range under load with no problems, but acts like its missing when idling or coasting in gear. The hunt continues.

Thanks for the folks that have posted interest in my thread so far. I will do my best not to let you hang much longer. I may have tracked down a nice clean set of GTI teardrop wheels, one of my favorite Vw wheels. I think they will serve nicely.

I have spare time tomorrow, I will do my best to add photos to this thread.

Until next time,

Glenn

[QuantumSyncro]

...brought the car home to find that a group of wasps had made a home in the driver side fender. Problem? I'm terribly allergic. Took me three cautious days of RAID can sniping and old fashioned swatting until I was confident enough to pull the fender liner and remove the fist-sized nest. As much as I like the car, it wasn't worth anaphylactic shock.

Been there...done that. Fortunately both my big nests were underhood near the back corners.

Based on what happened with the 300SD earlier this summer...it sat for a long time in the driveway, the bees like to build nests on the sunny side of the car. This is consistent with the Fox too since it was parked in the yard for a year facing south so the front was really the exposed part. It's a bad time of year in the JY too for that reason.

A few pics of the new ride would be nice...

[envy.]

My wasp nest was in the driver fender, they were using the then vacant antenna hole as their front door.

Here are some pictures of the Fox

Somebody might want to blast me over the euro plate... but I put it on every car I daily drive, mainly because of what it says in your rear view mirror if you're driving in front of me




Not my real license plate



Here's a look at what little work I have been able to do to the interior, Mk3 floormats and a Mk4 shift knob/boot.



A work in progress... she presently sits like this in my driveway, awaiting shifter bushings and an Audi exhaust donut

[insanebuslady]

How do those mk3 floor mats sit? I've been wanting to replace mine for a minute now

Also to feel anything from removing that donut you're gonna have to get the larger Fox 2 throttle body, and even then it's a very very mild increase in power. Unfortunately the stock single-outlet manifold is very restrictive, as is the rest of the 1 1/2" piping.

[envy.]

Insanebuslady- I'm aware of that, those steps are in the pipeline in the weeks to come. I figured since I was already up under the car and all three exhaust bolts came out without a hassle that I might as well just go ahead and do it now since I picked up the Audi gasket for $4 at the parts store.

Secondly, the mk3 mats fit rather well- not perfect, but good enough for me since they were already sitting in my garage from one of my several Mk3's of yesteryear. I'm the type to do things like that if it accomplishes protection for my carpet for the price of $0. Since its a nice day and I have free time, give me a minute or two and I'll snap you a picture.

[envy.]

My apologies for the low quality of the pictures (I'm limited to just my cell phone for today), but it should give you an idea. I've always loved mk3 rubber mats- I last used this set in my Grand Cherokee.

You will see that the edges of the mats actually hug the contour of the floor tunnel rather well. It isn't perfect, but it was free for me.

Driver's side



Dog's side

[kerensky]

Very nice mats, looks almost like they were planned for it. I like the shift boot, too. Did it require any modification? I put an Audi 80 boot/knob in my sedan and had to spend a few hours sewing to make it work...

[envy.]

Kerensky- Thanks! I agree that those mats seem like a very good fit.

As far as the shift knob/boot, I just folded the boot around the plastic square that normally holds the "accordian" in place and then pinched the leather between that ring and the center console. With a little gentle convincing, it all fits in there. There is a plastic tab up inside the shift knob meant to hold the knob in place in a mk4, I twisted it on and it 'self-threads' against the shift rod. That part takes patience and force, but it does take a thread to it and so far it has held up robustly.

When I have more time I will try and find a more permanent way to modify it all together and I'll post up the steps for that for you guys if I come up with something. I love my shift knobs, and I'm known to switch them around frequently to find the best fit and feel. If I find my authentic cue ball shifter though (it's around home somewhere), I'll do that instead.

[novws]

The car looks like a good starting point and I like what you're doing with it so far!

[envy.]

Novws, thank you! I sincerely appreciate that. I'm trying to just grab my favorite vw parts and work them in here somewhere. I have a good friend up in Pennsylvania who is going to buff/clay bar/etc this paint in hopes that it will look good again. I just have to get the shift linkage together and take some time off at work.

I'm headed down to the junkyard in a few minutes to see if I find any treasures.

On a side note, the CIS lectures we got back in technical school may finally come in handy soon

[QuantumSyncro]

Novws, thank you! I sincerely appreciate that. I'm trying to just grab my favorite vw parts and work them in here somewhere. I have a good friend up in Pennsylvania who is going to buff/clay bar/etc this paint in hopes that it will look good again. I just have to get the shift linkage together and take some time off at work.

I'm headed down to the junkyard in a few minutes to see if I find any treasures.

On a side note, the CIS lectures we got back in technical school may finally come in handy soon

Clay bar will help but since it's a single stage paint there's no clear, so waxing frequently is a must unless you have a shop cut it and shoot clear.

Car looks like a twin to my 89 2 door, what option codes are present on the decal in the trunk?

Nice looking car!

steve

[envy.]

Steve- Thanks! Everybody's kind remarks are just throwing coal on the fire that is my motivation to get this car up to snuff.

As far as the detailing is concerned, I honestly have no idea what my friend Bill does to my single stage cars. He is very good with single stage paint. I am completely detailing stupid myself, and I'm ok with that. He charges me a fraction of what he normally charges customers and he turned my single stage tornado red jetta from the dreaded "tomato red" back into a seriously brilliant red.

As far as I'm concerned- I am screwed once I try to clean a car beyond vacuuming and window cleaning.

I picked up a cheap S-10 spoiler at the yard yesterday. That MIGHT go on my car, I'm still on the fence about whether or not I like that modification.

Question: I read somewhere on here about people using metal to 'box in' their rear beam in lieu of an aftermarket bar, anybody have comments on that? I have a talented welding friend who can do it for me and I'm basically waiting on first hand advice.


Order of operations from this point forward:
-New brake rotors and pads up front
-New motor mounts
-New shocks, *mild* lowering springs, and bushings all around
-Boxing in the rear beam(?)
-14" wheels with some nice wide rubber
-New front seats

If you want to see where I'm getting these ideas, go look at the "meaty tires" thread from the car lounge

[alaincopter]

Welcome! Nice looking Fox, and that's definitely a tasteful plan you have for it

[envy.]

Car looks like a twin to my 89 2 door, what option codes are present on the decal in the trunk?

I almost forgot about this question, I honestly haven't checked yet (because I didn't know) but I'll fill you in on this when I finish work for the day.

[envy.]

Today I got the new shift bushings in. Easy job, easier than I thought even.

However, I got ahead of myself and forgot to put Loc-tite on the bolt holding everything together. I was out cruising and heard a *ping ping!* and I lost all my gears. I spent the rest of my night gathering the pieces up off the road and putting everything back together on the roadside. Even better, I did it all while laying by a busy roadside with fire ants biting me.

You are darn right I Loc-tite'd the living crap out of that bolt. and now all is well again. Lesson learned.

[QuantumSyncro]

I almost forgot about this question, I honestly haven't checked yet (because I didn't know) but I'll fill you in on this when I finish work for the day.

I'll be interested to see what options it has. My guess is it has the same two / three options my car has.

thx
steve

[envy.]

Been a while since my last update folks- and Quantum I haven't forgotten about your trunk sticker request, I've just been ultra busy. Turns out, when you're the only reliable person at your workplace you get a big target stapled to your back and the hours add up.

today I swapped out my ignition switch ($25 from advanced auto parts) and did the front pads/rotors (thanks Rock Auto for the abundant cheap parts). New shocks are on the slate next, followed by wheels/tires.

[envy.]

Paging QuantumSyncro- there does not seem to be an option sticker in my trunk.

Has anybody bought shocks recently? I'm about to begin shopping for them... Has anybody found a good price recently or am I gonna have to hunt down a good deal myself?


Edit to add- I re-wired the radio when I did my ignition switch, only to be reminded that Sony X-Plod head units suck in a BIG way. No music for at least the next several weeks as this little POS just **** the bed.