eiriksmil's cars

[eiriksmil]

Yeah, these hatches are so ugly and weird they are pretty and cool. Or something like that lol. I've never bought one with a blown anything, never hear of a HG failure or head/bottom issues. The 16vs usually have a valve tick, but those are adjustable (and have adjustment clearance and intervals from factory).. Like I said, only have had some small accessories fail. You'll blow head gaskets and crack heads on the TDs (diesels) - doing more than stock power Heads, HGs and gear boxes are also a frequent Turbo/GTti issue when running more than stock boost, plus turbos, but that's a given

All in all, in standard form these cars are more or less dead on reliable in my experience. A carbed 993cc 6v will probably go on burger fat for lubrication.. But then again, they're as technically advanced as a sledgehammer A 16v or an unmolested GTti is my advice.

Wired up US light configuration for the winter sled with side markers the other day.. So I have something worth of news-ish:

 

[eiriksmil]

You'll blow head gaskets and crack heads on the TDs (diesels) - doing more than stock power

All this diesel talk made me want one..

So me and my buddy went out yesterday and co-bought a 1.0TD. Far from nice, but nice from far.. Needs a real vacuuming and clean inside and a refresh of the rear brakes as they are stuck.. We got coilovers, I have a few sets of usable wheels laying around and I know a guy who's been trying to get rid of a custom twin turbo manifold for a while.. If we go down that route, apparently the end result is about 100-110 bhp plus a ******** of torks.

And when we're done with this car the gearbox will end up in my GTti. Some random Yaris driving pics in slippery snow (soon about to clock 200k km. The last 60k miles have been over three years).

Oh, and today I was hanging out at a dude's garage. He's got about 20-25 cars, he was a little unsure. My sanity is still in check, I believe.. More or less

 

[eiriksmil]

My buddy had a good look at the diesel this weekend.. The rear brakes are shot, the fuel tank and fuel line is toast, sounds like we'll part it.

Some 'new' rollers for the blue car (I like periodically correctness)..
BBS Mahle RAs, 7Jx15 ET13.

 

[eiriksmil]

Funcargo's weekend in notes:
- rolled past 200k km (~124k miles) on Thursday
- did a nearly 600 mile road trip Friday to Sunday
- upon arrival in Oslo the serpentine belt snapped..

Left the car at a gas station, gonna throw in a new belt tomorrow. Note to self, do the PS belt and a coolant flush soon. State inspection next Wednesday, need a new cat before then.

 

[coop500]

Fantastic wheels! Where'd you find them?

 

[eiriksmil]

Thanks man..! A buddy of my buddy (former blue Golf owner) in Cali used to have em.. Can't wait to mount tires and offer them up to the car.

Funcargo is up and running again.. My decently low mk3 Golf brought parts and tools. Quite ironic:

Flushed and replaced the coolant while I was at it. Took a while getting the last air bubbles out but damn it was worth it.. It's idling a lot smoother now than I can remember it having done in a while.. Doing it ghetto style outside a gas station (at work)..! Who needs a lift anyway lol.

I'll be watching the coolant level as it does seem to consume quite a bit.. No smoke out the exhaust and no signs of coolant traces in the oil. Granted, it gets its legs stretched quite often (80 mph highway = 4k rpm), maybe it's natural..

 

[eiriksmil]

I mentioned we bought a diesel, to save or to part.. After an initial inspection, we had a leaky diesel tank, shot axle and rear brakes, bad fuel lines and a hell of a lot of rust.

Time to die sucka!

The car had a pretty mint blue interior so I'm snatching that. It was pretty nice under all this filth anyway. One careful owner and a couple of careless ones.. Cigarette butts, old McDonalds wrappings and the smell of beer and wine inside the car. What you get for picking up cheap cars from drunks lol

Toying with the idea of a mustard flat yellow car with a blue interior.. The red 16v will never be the same again lol. At least the GTti has a spare gear box now.. We'll continue the part out tomorrow, small stuff like the engine and gearbox, rear bumper, doors left

 

[eiriksmil]

It's been a long week, this post is gonna suck but I'll make it worthwhile..

Diesel death

Its last drive

Collected a somewhat better Charade..

Observations of the day:
Drive shafts/axles are different from three cylinder turbo diesels to three cylinder turbo gassers.
Diesels have much larger diameter wiring, top one is stock GTti:

As I already have upgraded plug leads, why not have upgraded ground wiring from the battery
and starter motor wiring.. Snatch all parts you can
Another observation, a Yaris can fit half a Charade in parts

Moreso.. The diesel was bought for its gear box as the stock box in the GTti had failed pretty hard last year (not for its rad blue interior, which I may add is pretty rad and very blue).. Another observation, synthetic gearbox oil is expensive.. The PO of the GTti must have thought gear oil in general was pretty expensive, as the box showed to have less than a quarter of the amount oil it should have.
Together with an extra additive to reduce friction, the oil did wonders.. For now, I'm happy to say that it doesn't sound like total destruction going on anymore..

I'm a lousy video recorder, but a very happy camper..

 

[eiriksmil]

Went up to the workshop to clean it up a little today. It's overfilled with cars and parts at the moment.

When I was satisfied I turned my attention to the red Mk3, drained the coolant and pulled the rad support. Soon ready for the yard.. Brings a tear to my eye Driveshaft, coilovers, motor and transmission will be pulled shortly.

Ready for tires

 

[Katiegan]

Went up to the workshop to clean it up a little today. It's overfilled with cars and parts Charades and Charades at the moment.

FTFY.

 

[eiriksmil]

It's a conspiracy..

 

[Ronald6]

Its fun watching what you're doing to those rabbits. A friend of mine in high school owned a rabbit and we had many hours of good times in it.

That bug is immaculate. Only 40k miles. Wow.

Keep up the good work 👍 👍

 

[eiriksmil]

Thanks man! Just a correction, Rabbits were Mk1 Golfs, later cars were called Golfs (with the exception of the Mk5).. Having said that the blue Mk2 is pretty close, built at the same plant as the late square-light Rabbits Old VWs got soul for sure.

Some Funcargo updates.. Had no license plate lights for a while.. Figured the sockets had corroded a little, they sure had. Cleaned em up

Did the plate lights while I was at it.. Work was slow, industrial dishwasher usually do the trick on car parts lol.

Had the bi-annual state inspection/smog today. Passed with flying colors..
An hour later it was haulin ass and wheels again

I need to replace one of the bulb sockets as it's no good. Damn, serpentine belt and a bulb socket in two weeks, this car is turning into a maintenance nightmare. lol I'm spoilt by having this car..

 

[eiriksmil]

Threw some proper wheels on the winter wagen today.. Came out pretty good.

 

[eiriksmil]

My buddy has been wrenching on the GTti the past days, he's awesome.. New struts out back and a new CV joint on the drivers' side.. The CV joint was for an Applause and while the splines are identical the mounting face to the hub was not; a lot of milling was involved to make it fit. Single wiper became stock twin wiper.. The car is ready for a new state inspection - can't believe it

The winter wagen Mk3 has falle. Apparently I've hit something creating a slow leak in the trans and the trans is toast. Good thing I have a spare one to swap in, unless I kill it off.. I'm a little unsure whether it's on the operating table or the death bed at the moment.

The Funcargo passed the aforementioned state inspection like a dream and yesterday wheels and coilovers were back on. Dirty car, ****ty cell phone pics but here it is, a little lower out back than before in the process

The fun is back in FunCargo..!

 

[eiriksmil]

It's been a fun weekend..
Golf makes Funcargo look like a donk

I had to park in a lot.. I resent mall lots like there's no tomorrow but at least I found a Yaris.

Hit a car show to catch up with some guys and meet new people.. A photographer buddy of mine snapped a couple of dope shots.. Check out flickr.com/henhau, quality shots.

I drove my GTti today, first drive of the year. Still some traces of oil in the coolant from last years frost plug mishap, no traces of coolant in the oil which is far more important. Did a good 110 mile drive out and about, even took it to work:

For the first time I've driven this car (of a total of three, lol) nothing broke today.. Seems as the small issues are being ironed out one by one.. Transmission is not making any noise of matter and I'm starting to learn/trust the car. State inspection on Wednesday, when/if the car passes (I see no reason it shouldn't, but you never know), the fun really begins. My buddy also drove my car today.. I'm still a lousy videographer and I'm starting to wonder whether I have a slight degree of Parkinson's but atleast yiu get an idea of what the car is like.


Oh, and if anyone ever would be silly enough to question whether all my cars actually are mine.. Here are at least three of them together at storage unit two at 1am.. 'Til next time, I'm out!

 

[Katiegan]

Hit a car show to catch up with some guys and meet new people.. A photographer buddy of mine snapped a couple of dope shots.. Check out flickr.com/henhau, quality shots.

Loving these shots! Car looks really clean. 👍

 

[eiriksmil]

My photo buddy did a good job of hiding the cracked windscreen and dents.. It's okay for a daily with 203k km (126k miles) though, gotta get some bodywork done this year for me to fully appreciate it. Glad you like it..

The GTti failed its second state inspection on Wednesday and it's third yesterday It's not that bad.. On Wednesday I had forgotten to pull the tints on the front windows off, yesterday he did a proper inspection and found a bad brake line and discs that should be milled down. It's been hell of a week, but the car will at least be road legal after Easter which I'm really happy about. I can do a recap of the project real quick (also for me not to forget easily) to describe why I'm actually happy at this point..

I had taken a peek at this car twice before the day I actually bought it. Once it had no motor. It was left outside for a year and looked more and more sorry for itself. When we picked it up on a trailer the starter didn't click and I couldn't get it running with a new battery. The intercooler hoses were no good, the airbox was missing, half the interior was missing and the rest was in a box. Some rust here and there, including a large hole in one rocker. It was a project. I decided I would either part it out or restore it. I didn't want to mess with it if I couldn't get it running.

- The wiring was a mess. The main engine harness was cut and solded new at some points. The alarm was solded new. With a gallon of fresh gas and some temporary plugs and wires it started up, only to die out.. Redid the vacuum hosing and it ran rough.
- Had the rockers replaced and quite a bit of floor rust welded
- Undersealed the front and rear arches and welding points inside out
- Removed the styling.
- Removed some tacky interior bits.
- Replaced all of it with either stock GTti or 1.3 nanny-spec parts.
- Had to source the stock IC piping, bought an air filter, new plugs and wires, nothing major really.
- Alternator didn't work.
- A freeze plug ejected and caused a nice little oil and coolant mixture for a while.
- Removed a load of snapped M6 bolts around the body and re-threaded a lot..
- Swapped suspension from cut lowering springs to stock (I do this in about an hour now, lol).

There has also been all the tiny bits of fitting gauges, going through every nut and bolt on the car to see if they were fastened (for instance gearbox bolts were not sufficiently torqued..!), trouble-shooting all previous mods that didn't work, all small things that takes time to go through.. I seriously believe I can mount all body parts on a car like this in about an hour if I have all the parts and tools ready. That's not hard.. It's all the tiny details that takes a year.. But again, it has been really important for me to get everything to work and function, that was I know there will be less hassle and frustration down the road

At the end of last year the exhaust was welded up and fitted properly by my exhaust guy.
The car failed state inspection on several points:
- Bad CV joint
- Toast suspension bushing
- One leaky damper
- Non-working hand brake
- Tint
- De-cat exhaust
- Single wiper

All of this was fixed during the last few weeks, together with the gearbox oil change and uprated ground wiring together with some other bits and pieces, plus the documentation for that the car is actually sold new without a catalytic converter. Hat holder and boot trim was fitted on Sunday.. There have been a lot of things to complete this car you won't ever notice if you didn't knew, which also is how I want it to be. I want it to look like a stock car that's been tastefully modified, not a half-finished pseudo boy racer car..

At this point, the GTti needs;
- A state inspection, with the brake line and rear disc milling, I have a guy for that (I call it the grand finale of the project stage 1).
- A working rev counter, I have a guy for that too.
- A fan switch, so I can actually drive in traffic without having a panic attack.
- Paint on the hood and rockers, a full wash and a thorough cut, buff and wax job.

Then I'm gonna throw my coilovers and some nice wheels on and (hopefully) enjoy it a little this year. I'm really closing in on a turn-key GTti cruiser in good condition. I've done 200 (trouble free!) miles on this car since Sunday, which is more than it's done the past six years, to my knowledge. Add the initial condition and where I'm at today, I feel I got the right to be smiling..

About 1 1/2 year of GTti ownership in pictures;

From this

To this

And now this

I'll do a proper photo shoot when the car is where I want it to be and I have some time on my hands..

 

[adam63]

My photo buddy did a good job of hiding the cracked windscreen and dents.. It's okay for a daily with 203k km (126k miles) though, gotta get some bodywork done this year for me to fully appreciate it. Glad you like it..

The GTti failed its second state inspection on Wednesday and it's third yesterday It's not that bad.. On Wednesday I had forgotten to pull the tints on the front windows off, yesterday he did a proper inspection and found a bad brake line and discs that should be milled down. It's been hell of a week, but the car will at least be road legal after Easter which I'm really happy about. I can do a recap of the project real quick (also for me not to forget easily) to describe why I'm actually happy at this point..

I had taken a peek at this car twice before the day I actually bought it. Once it had no motor. It was left outside for a year and looked more and more sorry for itself. When we picked it up on a trailer the starter didn't click and I couldn't get it running with a new battery. The intercooler hoses were no good, the airbox was missing, half the interior was missing and the rest was in a box. Some rust here and there, including a large hole in one rocker. It was a project. I decided I would either part it out or restore it. I didn't want to mess with it if I couldn't get it running.

- The wiring was a mess. The main engine harness was cut and solded new at some points. The alarm was solded new. With a gallon of fresh gas and some temporary plugs and wires it started up, only to die out.. Redid the vacuum hosing and it ran rough.
- Had the rockers replaced and quite a bit of floor rust welded
- Undersealed the front and rear arches and welding points inside out
- Removed the styling.
- Removed some tacky interior bits.
- Replaced all of it with either stock GTti or 1.3 nanny-spec parts.
- Had to source the stock IC piping, bought an air filter, new plugs and wires, nothing major really.
- Alternator didn't work.
- A freeze plug ejected and caused a nice little oil and coolant mixture for a while.
- Removed a load of snapped M6 bolts around the body and re-threaded a lot..
- Swapped suspension from cut lowering springs to stock (I do this in about an hour now, lol).

There has also been all the tiny bits of fitting gauges, going through every nut and bolt on the car to see if they were fastened (for instance gearbox bolts were not sufficiently torqued..!), trouble-shooting all previous mods that didn't work, all small things that takes time to go through.. I seriously believe I can mount all body parts on a car like this in about an hour if I have all the parts and tools ready. That's not hard.. It's all the tiny details that takes a year.. But again, it has been really important for me to get everything to work and function, that was I know there will be less hassle and frustration down the road

At the end of last year the exhaust was welded up and fitted properly by my exhaust guy.
The car failed state inspection on several points:
- Bad CV joint
- Toast suspension bushing
- One leaky damper
- Non-working hand brake
- Tint
- De-cat exhaust
- Single wiper

All of this was fixed during the last few weeks, together with the gearbox oil change and uprated ground wiring together with some other bits and pieces, plus the documentation for that the car is actually sold new without a catalytic converter. Hat holder and boot trim was fitted on Sunday.. There have been a lot of things to complete this car you won't ever notice if you didn't knew, which also is how I want it to be. I want it to look like a stock car that's been tastefully modified, not a half-finished pseudo boy racer car..

At this point, the GTti needs;
- A state inspection, with the brake line and rear disc milling, I have a guy for that (I call it the grand finale of the project stage 1).
- A working rev counter, I have a guy for that too.
- A fan switch, so I can actually drive in traffic without having a panic attack.
- Paint on the hood and rockers, a full wash and a thorough cut, buff and wax job.

Then I'm gonna throw my coilovers and some nice wheels on and (hopefully) enjoy it a little this year. I'm really closing in on a turn-key GTti cruiser in good condition. I've done 200 (trouble free!) miles on this car since Sunday, which is more than it's done the past six years, to my knowledge. Add the initial condition and where I'm at today, I feel I got the right to be smiling..

About 1 1/2 year of GTti ownership in pictures;

From this

To this

And now this

I'll do a proper photo shoot when the car is where I want it to be and I have some time on my hands..

I've been looking through your posts about the Gtti and I must say that you've done a really nice job with the car, but I must say it looked a lot more sexy with that orange paint and that custom hood from the previously photo you posted

 

[eiriksmil]

Thanks man.. I would've loved to rock it exactly the way it was in its first build form. Sadly the car just wasn't in that condition anymore when I picked it up. The 'new' color looks kinda daft compared to the orange one in pictures, but irl it pops nicely in the sun and looks a lot more oem.

Having said that, I can't wait to get my coilovers and some wheels on and get the whole car one color.. It looks extremely sorry for itself right now, but it's not a lot of work to get it right.. Speaking of work, remember how I said it's all the small bits taking up time? Tucked a couple of wires yesterday, connected up the windscreen washer line and stole a clip off the red parts car to route it nicer than it was stock.. Mounted some aero wipers a buddy of mine was gonna throw (will be better than what was on there atleast), in order to do that I had to use one wiper clip off the red parts car and one I found inside my workshop.. Disconnected the wiper/turn stalks to track down why I have no wiper washer. Figured it out, and removed the cluster while I was at it.. Then I can deliver it to a guy who does rev counters to make mine work, while it's out I'll replace a bulb and the odometer (which neither is working).. All the small things

One step forward and two steps back

And yes, it looks about 1/10th of its potential now..

Snapped a pic of the primadonna garage queen while I was at it.. Or not haha.

 

[eiriksmil]

I had forgotten this.. A couple of cars saw daylight Saturday:

Here's a shot of the bay from Sunday, note the little line and wire mess. Both have been tucked and hid better now, all blue vacuum hoses will be changed out for black together with the red coolant hose. Gotta do something about the valve cover as well, but I'm not stressing it as long as it works..

Disassembled two clusters and started using some headlight restorer on the best cluster glass. The one in the GTti was scratched to hell and back, this is from something I had lying in the garage.. Will need to sand it a little too, I don't know if I captured it in this picture but irl there's a clear difference 50/50.

A group of us are heading to Sweden on Friday through Saturday for a large indoor car show. We're bringing the Funcargo and a buddies' Skyline R32. Neither will show, but I ditched the Rotiforms as they're rubbing a little out back with a rear passenger and I'm not going on a 700 mile round trip with rubbing tires.. Found my Borbet Atiwes in the garage and threw them on, now it's not gonna rub at least.. Gave the wheels (and car) a bath, had some Armor All on the tires. The tires are a little too small for the car.. But I kinda like the style.. Someday I'll have this car on air and build a set of wide 15" TH-lines for it. Seriously one of my favorite cars I've had.

 

[Katiegan]

Shame you had to take the Rotiforms off, I really liked those on the Yaris. Still, the replacements look cool and the colour suits the rest of the car. Make sure to take plenty of road trip pictures!

 

[eiriksmil]

Oh, don't worry.. They'll find their way back on when I throw the Atiwes back on an 80s hatchback

 

[eiriksmil]

Rainy, grey day makes for half an hour of cluster ****. Literally.

Okay so the odometer is replaced, the pin/wheel was connecting bad.. Definitively turned back sometime earlier in its life. It read 119k km, the donor cluster read 119k km also so there you have it.. Hopefully it'll be good now. I have to check with a GPS how much the speedo is off by.. Threw the old odo into the donor cluster to keep things in place.. Turned it to zero while I was at it, it'll make for some rainy day fun sometime.

And removed the rev counter needle and face for the speedo shop to have a look at it next week.. I'm not messing with that

The gas gauge is more or less at the same point as the donor cluster. The white face is a little off on measurements, so I'm leaving it as it is. Unless I swap out the hardware with the donor cluster, the difference (full tank = 3/4 quarter full on needle) may be bigger when the ignition is turned on.

 

[eiriksmil]

700 miles in 18 hours.. Spending half a day at an indoor car show and getting properly drunk in the process. My elbow still hurts from riding a bike inside a hallway. Don't ask

Getting ready to meet friends Friday 7am

Pit stop on the way back this morning, Skyline needed more gas..

A roller my buddy shot through the sun roof somewhere in Sweden

Damn I'm itching to get my GTti done now..

 

[eiriksmil]

Picked up an oil pan for my Mk2 today.. Currently the car marks it space pretty good...

Chose a good driving road on the way back.. Drove the piss out of my daily for 20 miles through nice corners.. Nearly 900 miles on it since Friday morning

I other news I seem to finally have scored a modified ECU with an usb port for my GTti.. Which makes me a happy camper seeing ~200 bhp possible in the not so distant future

 

[eiriksmil]

This thread can't be on page two..

Xenomorph USB ECU for the GTti recieved..

 

[eiriksmil]

Collected my Mk2 from winter storage today.. Some teasers.. Test fitting wheels..

Wolfsburg Mk1 wheel

Gotta drop the oil pan and change it, do an oil and filter change, get longer bolts for all wheels and remove the helper springs out back, deep clean the seats and vacuum the carpets, wash and wax it and fit the fender molding.. Then it's ready for a cruise..

 

[eiriksmil]

One more shot from last time..

I think the color of the wheels really complements the car.. Gotta spend the rest of this month earn my green and take my exams, but I'll be back harder than ever at the start of next month.. Believe me..

 

[Katiegan]

Wait... so you're doing all of this whilst still in school?