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Atl-atl's "documentation" thread. The end of one is the beginning of another!

45K views 229 replies 45 participants last post by  Vstone2262 
#1 · (Edited)
Hey all. I just sold my Golf R and picked up a TT. There were a number of reasons for this but mainly cash-flow hah. The build thread for the R is here. I like to call my build threads "documentation" threads because I wind up posting all sorts of shenanigans related to my car hobbies and lifestyle, more than literal car build info.

I absolutely loved the Golf R and had a blast building and driving it but wanted something with which I could go a little more crazy. Bluewater Performance in Denver did the turbo build on the Golf, UM did the custom tune and I did all the rest! The TT will be very similar except that I plan to do a full motor build and make significantly more power with the TT as well as do some weight reduction and other "things" I didn't do with the Golf because it was so new and I felt like I shouldn't mod it beyond the point of no return. I have two major goals for the TT, 500 wheel horse on 91 and sub 3000lbs. It will be used for everything from canyon carving to test n tune drag racing to possibly some auto-x or road course.

About the TT.

Its a 2000 180 quattro 5 speed, black on black, 1 owner! I specifically sought out a quattro 5 speed due to the gearing. After 2 years with a black Golf R driving it 36,000 miles I swore I would never buy a black car again. So naturally I bought another black car within 3 days of selling the Golf. :screwy: The TT came to me with lots of paint chips, a couple door dings, a "custom" stereo install with 2 10" subs and an amp that controls it all via a cheap aftermarket head unit, a CEL due to the secondary O2 sensor and a faulty low speed fan relay. The suspension is stock and clunky front and back. I was told by the previous owner it has a Revo chip, intake and Borla catback with duals. Its hard to know if it really is chipped because it feels sooooo slow compared to the Golf and it spools at about 500rpms haha. I need to get a boost gauge. Ill probably leave the engine alone while I mess with other things first. The intake is some weird carbon fiber looking green woven canister with two flexible tubes coming out of it and disappearing into the fender. No idea what it is, it has no markings. The exhaust is a Borla catback, the downpipe appears stock.

As for mods, here is a general list that is only a start and will definitely evolve over time.

Suspension
  • Adjustable rear control arms <font color=red>Ordered</font>
  • Coilovers <font color=red>FK Silverlines (for now)</font>
  • Camber plates <font color=red>Later</font>
  • Whiteline caster adjusting bushings.
  • Swaybars?
Brakes
  • Brembo calipers
  • Stainless lines all around
  • Two piece rotors
  • Stud conversion <font color=red>Ordered</font>
Interior
  • Diesel Geek Sigma 6 shifter
  • Boost gauge
  • Cage
  • Harnesses
  • Front seats, Recaros? Rear seat delete
  • Weight reduction <font color=red>Underway</font>
  • Remove the aftermarket stereo equipment <font color=red>Done</font>
Exterior
  • Full debadge <font color=red>Rear done</font>
  • Fix dents/dings/paint chips
  • Blacked out headlights
  • Badgeless honeycomb grill <font color=red>Done</font>
  • V6 wing? Wingless?
  • V6 front bumper lip?
  • BBS RGR 18x8.5et35 with custom powdercoat <font color=red>Done</font>
  • Falken Azenis 415 225-40-18 <font color=red>Done</font>
Engine
  • Curretly Revo chip, Borla catback with duals and some intake.
  • Possibly re-chip depending on what the boost gauge shows.
  • Wideband ECU conversion
  • 2.0 stroker
  • Custom turbo setup
  • Intercooler? Thinking about air to water.
  • Exhaust? Most likely full custom.
  • Panzer plate <font color=red>Ordered</font>
  • Battery relocation

Day 1 picked the car up, washed it and headed straight to Bluewater…and nobody was there. waaaah waaaah. Don't mind the Wisco plate it'll be registered in Colorado. I just need to find somewhere to register it that doesn't do emissions testing.



It was super dirty as it had been sleeping in a parking garage for the last couple months.




Bye bye Golf R, you will be missed.





91 octane...yes 91 octane, no meth, 5000 feet above sea level, GT2871R. Thanks go to Gabe and Hollywood at Bluewater Performance and Jeff at United Motorsport.





 
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#5 ·
On Friday (before I even owned the car) I picked up a set of low mileage FK Silverlines for a very good price. Apparently these things go looooow so the Panzer is probably jumping to the front of the mod line. Forgot to grab the adjustable end links from the guy though so Ill pick them up next weekend. Also ordered a full set of adjustable rear control arms from Bluewater. I'm trying to wait for camber plates to come in and a full set of poly control arm bushings but I don't know if I can handle the wheel gap/floaty-ness/squishy-ness for very long.

 
#6 ·
You should do search on Panzer plates and the quattro TT. I remember the topic coming up in the past, and something negative about them. Might be worth the look before spending the money. I'm on air, and the wheel doesn't move as far forward as other VW's.
 
#7 ·
Thanks for the info. Ill definitely look into the panzer thing. Maybe Ill put the suspension on before the control arms and see what it looks like. Either way its really clunky and I don't mind doing a little preventive maintenance that also gives me some adjustability.
 
#8 ·
Let me know if you need any help/tools/space/etc on those mods that you plan to do yourself. You know I've the stuff needed to tear this mother down and build her back up.
 
#11 ·
Your golf R looked sweet! curious to see what your going to do with the TT

That intake box your talking about is a mossback VTDA or something like that.

And if it's chipped and still slow..it's probably just that slow lol. Seems like you have some big plans. I think a re chip would be a waste unless you bought maestro . just my .02
 
#15 ·
#13 ·
The intake is some weird carbon fiber looking green woven canister with two flexible tubes coming out of it and disappearing into the fender. No idea what it is, it has no markings. As for mods, here is a general list that is only a start and will definitely evolve over time.
My friend is a TT guy and by your description I would say you have the Twin Tube Dynamic Airbox. Some pictures of it in the link below...

http://forums.audiworld.com/showthread.php?t=1871414

Bill
 
#18 ·
Thanks for the comments guys.

Based on the pics from google I think the intake is one of those TTDA things. Ill try to get a pic. Are they desirable? Are they any good? I have no problem switching it out for something that performs better. I might have to do a downpipe and a couple other little mods to get the car to a reasonable-to-drive point while I start compiling the real horsepower parts. Its just such a dog right now and when the suspension/wheels/tires go on it'll feel way underpowered for its abilities.

A coworker of mine lives up in Avon and said I could register the car there so I might have to take him up on that.
 
#19 ·
So heres a pic of the intake. Anyone want this thing? I'm thinking about changing things up a little.





Also here's a pic of the Borla tips. They are crooked and need realigned. I didn't notice until just now but I think that rear valence is the V6 piece. Does that seem right? This car started as a single exhaust 180 so I guess the PO did this when he did the catback.

 
#25 ·
I started tearing the interior apart today. I have actually been getting a lot of interest in this stereo stuff so Its on the way out. The sub enclosure was a PITA to get out and must have weighed 50lbs without the subs installed. In total I bet I removed 100lbs just by taking out the aftermarket stereo junk. I also think I'm going to remove the rear seats while I'm in there and do some sort of slightly nicer looking carpeted rear seat delete like the euro kreations one.

Monstrosity



All empty and covered in sh*t from the fiberglass enclosure. So far I have removed the wiring up to the front seats. The factory amp is underneath your right arm if you are sitting in the back seat with your arm on the rest. The installer tapped into the factory amp wiring to install the crossover and wire in the new speakers. I don't think there are any factory wires going to any of the speakers now. This leaves me with a true "what do I do" scenario. Part of me wants to rip out the stock amp and rear speakers and simply wire the fronts straight to the headunit. In other words go as minimal as possible on the stereo which me slightly more racekar. Not sure what I'm going to do but Ill sleep on it tonight and finish removing the wiring this weekend. If I remove the amp and speakers as well as all the rear seat related parts there will be a serious chunk of weight removed from this puppy, I kinda like that. Gotta even out the cage somehow. ;)



Bad picture of the factory amp with the tapped lines and aftermarket crossover removed.



Euro Kreations rear seat delete I'm considering. Going to email the guy and inquire about its weight.

 
#30 ·
Well I finally got it all pulled out of the car. Pretty sure its sold already. People on craigslist apparently like car audio stuff. :confused:


Amp, subs, crossover and all the wiring. The electronics alone are probably 40lbs. Add the fiberglass/mdf box and the carpeted mdf trim piece and were talking at least 100lbs.
 
#31 ·
Here's the wiring I'm left with. The speakers are aftermarket and they were wired through a crossover that was connected to the amp I removed. I'm confused by the way the system has been wired. Some of the speaker wires were snipped and reconnected to the crossover but not all of them were done this way. The factory wiring wasn't used because the stock connectors for some speakers are unplugged and when I disconnected power to the amp no sound came from any of the speakers. Im worried ill have to rewire all the speakers directly. Thats not a terrible thing but its a lot of time spent pulling the interior and putting it back…again. :banghead: I guess Ill wire one of the speakers directly to the back of the head unit and see if sound comes out. It sure as hell better! Half of me really wants to rip it all out for full racekar status but I want this car to be a cruiser so Ill be keeping some of it. I guess Ill wire one of the speakers directly to the back of the head unit and see if sound comes out. :screwy:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/a4saloon/12281034943/" title="Untitled by a4saloon, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3694/12281034943_6b11060873_b.jpg" width="768" height="1024" alt="Untitled"></a>
 
#33 ·
Thanks!





Update:

Audio stuff is sold. I put the interior all back together instead of watching the most unfortunate of ball games yesterday. :facepalm: I need to wire up some speakers because I have a 10 hour drive to pick up my new wheels/tires on the 15th. ;)
 
#34 ·
Pulled my engine cover to confirm which engine is actually in my car. Its an ATC which I guess I'm happy about, 9.5to1 and 20mm wrist pin rods. This thing is such a pig I think I have to do rods and a bigger turbo immediately. I don't know if I can wait to build a stroker. The damn thing just doesn't even get out of its own way. Luckily since its an ATC motor Ill be able to reuse the 20mm rods when I go stroker. Also it keeps throwing an O2 sensor code almost immediately after I clear it so I need to replace the second sensor and get this bish past emissions before doing any motor work.





 
#35 ·
So this happened to one of my keys. Thankfully I got all 3 keys. The "cut" part of the key is actually fine. Its the "elbow" of the key fob that broke. Can I replace just that part? What do I do here???

 
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