Hi Guys

I'm just after buying this 98 GTI 6, It has been off the road since 2014,




I used to rally 205's and 306's back in the day so have worked on them,

This will be the first one that hasn't been stripped and will be used on the road,

Where do I start, I was told it got an oil and filter last week and a new battery,

My basic list of Jobs are

CAM Belt,
Water Pump
New Thermostat
Flush water system
Remove AC and fit Rallye AUX belt set up
Exhaust is blowing think it needs a center section,
Replace Brake Pads/Discs Master Cylinder and get Calipers Refurbed,
Rebuild rear beam

There is an annoying grinding churning behind the dash, it sound like a motor changing the air flow direction is this possibly a issue ???

The car is destroyed in over spray as it was stored in a shed with other cars that lads were working on, so it will need to be wet sanded and polished, there is a small bit of rust on the hatch boot around the window so I will have to tackle that
Someone jacked it under the drivers side in the wrong spot and damaged the floor so it needs a bit of welding there but thats about it,

Got it's first bath in 6 years


Can anyone recommend anything else I should look at replacing/upgrading while I'm at it,

This is a long term project I have set my self 1 year to get it all done and on the road,

Thanks
Trevor

Hi

I found a bit around the rear window I'll check out the rest when I get it up on Stands,

Are they pictures showing now, I can see them but it is my Google Account they are on,

I found a page saying to add ?.jpg to the end of the Google address and it should work, They are very big will have to look into another option,

Thanks

Looks like you’ve nailed it! Welcome along mate! Look forward to reading your updates!

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Team Running Engine again!
Team Negative Camber!
My Budget track engine build thread!
Now appearing at a Trackday near you!!

Nice big garage Trevor
Yes always good to have a good look underneath m8
Looks a really nice example

So I better try to update this, I have spent a lot of time at this but don't have a lot to show for it,

I decided to start at the back and work forwards as I wanted to stay away from the engine as long as I could

Exhaust was removed as was the Beam and the Fuel Tank,




Tank was in good shape and cleaned up well,



Beam was sent down to JP Ruth to be rebuilt, Had a few Issues on it's return but to be fair I am very fussy and maybe JP didn't understand exactly what I wanted, But we got it sorted in the end,



I put in new Pins, Hubs, ARB End Caps, Seals All new mounts Stainless bolts and even went for the Powerflex Inserts to tighten up the Back Mount,



Backplates for the Discs I tried to clean them using electrolysis but the result was not good,



I sent them to a local Powder coater but for some reason the coating reacted to the metal and left the finish very poor, I got them stripped again else where and painted them, but I'm not sure if I will keep them as I think the color is a bit OTT, I should have just bought 2 new ones and got them powder coated black,



I also fitted Powerflex Yellow Bump stops and a Stud/Nut Kit

But that was the fun parts, While all that stuff was out I decided to clean and paint the underside of the car, These don't come with any sort of underseal from new but someone had sprayed some sort of soft Tar like material on it, while it was a pig to remove the floor was clean underneath it, they had not done the boot floor and you can see there was a few crusty bits but nothing that required any more than a wire brush some rust converter,





So about 4 weeks of lying on my back using a mixture of chemicals and sanding tools I primed and painted the underfloor boot area and the front and back wheel arches with Raptor Black Liner, I used spray cans as I didn't think my compressor would be able for it and I thought it would reduce the amount of over spray,

During cleaning


When Painted, Sorry Pics are poor Phone struggles in poor lighting




That's all the Pics I have of that part as It turned into a huge chore and I just wanted to get it done, Cans of Raptor have very poor coverage I think I used about 9 or 10 or them to do 2 coats and I could have done with giving some areas a 3rd but I needed to move on as this section of the project took 6 weeks, I am not sure how good it will be it feels like it will flake off easily but I guess time will tell,

I bought a can of underseal and painted under the rear bumper and where the side skirts go, I also added Rivnuts to attach the skirts in place of the standard rivets that the factory used,

I also Cavity Waxed all the cavities I could access using Bilt Hamber UB and I sprayed the wheel arches and the Side Skirt area with Bilt UC the prevent any chance of corrosion,

Tank was reinstalled with a new filter and everything cleaned,
Beam was reinstalled with all new items as above and new Bilstein B6 Shocks, also new brake lines and possibly one of the last new Bosch Brake regulators available in the world it took me months to find this and I have not been able to find another one,



All exhaust guards were blasted and zinc primed and painted in VHT Silver




Few bits I got Powder Coated,



Spare wheel and its carrier, Fuel Tank brackets and the Rear Beam Support Arms,

Really good company in Athy that did all this for small money, there was an issue with the Disc protectors but that was my fault more than them, Anyone want there number drop me a PM, Might not be show winning quality but it is still a good finish,

They do Shot Blasting with steel I believe so not really suitable for light materials (like Disc Guards)

They did the front subframe and ARB for me as well, which turned out well,



So after all this I felt brave and decided to tackle the biggest job I plan to do on the car, The Clutch, I am changing almost everything no matter if It needs it or not as ideally I don't want to have to strip it to this level again, So the plan was to drop the gearbox and tidy it up, do the clutch/pressure plate and the Crank seal behind the Flywheel,

This was a big job on my own with 2 bad jacks but got it all done thankfully, I hope the new seal is ok it's one of these job you wonder should you have just left it alone :|



Tip for anyone don't paint the ends of the fork that goes into the bushes as it causes the fork to bind when moving, thankfully I worked that out before I put the box back in,




New items here are, Clutch, Pressure plate, Crank Seal, Flywheel bolts, Fork bushings and a seal for the input shaft on the gearbox,

I am on first name terms with my local Pug Parts guy by this stage,

I am replacing every nut bolt washer clip and bracket along the way, (that I can still get) It works out cheaper to replace than to strip clean and paint the old stuff, I am keeping it all and will do it when I am finished to keep as spares,

Back in and bolted up, the fork is a bit tricky on there as it's a pull clutch but thankfully it slid it after a bit of wiggling :Oops:



That's about the last large item I have completed,

I rebuilt the steering rack, new boots Tie Rods and Track Rods



Got some stuff Vapor Blasted




Rebuilt the thermostat housing with all new hardware



And got the Brake Calipers rebuilt and Powder Coated Yellow




Might not seem like 6 months work, But I spend every free minute I have either working on it or researching parts or ways to rebuild/upgrade it,

With 2 small kids and a shift work job and a wife who also does shift opposite to me time is a big factor here, I am also skint as well which doesn't help

Currently I am refitting the rear and middle section of the car, I am waiting for a few bits to be delivered and then I need to get the Timing belt done and can rebuild the front,

I purposely have not even looked at the rust on the boot door as that will be the last thing I do when it's running again, I have the NCT booked for early April to give me a date to work towards because if not I'll never get it finished,

List of Items to fit currently is:

(More a list for me)
Refurbished Rad, (new ones are scrap had to send 2 back as they were so poor)
Needs to source Silicone hoses to suit old style rad,
Drive Shaft Seals on Gearbox
Rebuild and fit subframe with all new bolts/nuts/washers, wishbones, Ball Joints Hubs bearings and new drive shafts,
New Rallye Air Con Delete Aux belt and tensioners
Powder coated Inlet Manifold with refurbed injectors and new regulator,
Refurbed Alternator,

:shock: that sounds a lot when written down, luckily I have 90% of the parts here as with Brexit getting stuff now will be tricky

I also want to fully Detail the car as it is covered in over spray from where it stood for 6 years, So it will get a full decon and 3 stage machine polish

Also the interior will be stripped and fully washed,

Anyone know a company that can retrim door cards and seats these are poor,

Hopefully It won't take as long for the next update,

Can't remember where I left off so I'll start with the brakes and Suspension,

All 4 corners got the calipers rebuilt and powder coated by BigRed in the UK,

New M-Tech C Hook Discs and Brembo Pads front with braided lines, Bilsten B8's with Eibach Lowering Springs, New SKF Bearings fitted into cleaned and painted hubs, New Wishbones and Drop Links and Ball Joints and and new drive shafts, Basically apart from the shell of the subframe and the steering rack every single component on the front suspension/brakes is new, I also got a nice Sutd/Nut kit on eBay as I hate wheel bolts and trying to line them up,







Rear has Brembo Slotted Discs and Pads with braided lines all the way to the caliper,

Bilstein Rear Dampers fitted here to a lowered rebuilt beam (to low but I'll get to that )

I went white with the spare wheel for reasons that will be evident later





Once all that was installed it was time to rebuild the front end, I had the Inlet off to get it cleaned and while I was at it I decided the engine needed a splash of color,

Injectors were rebuilt in the UK and new seal kit and Regulator fitted,



They Keep it OEM people will be getting sick now but I will rebuild my spare Inlet to OE spec and have it for when I get tired all the color,

I'm waiting for some more red bits to finish off the engine,

As I mentioned before the original Rad was checked over and cleaned by Kilcock Radiators as new ones are very poor quality, this was installed with new red silicone hoses and clips,

I replaced all filters did the plugs and fitted the original air box setup, also fitted the Rallye no AC AUX setup with all new idlers and belt,



Also managed to source a new old stock stainless direct fit system for it in the UK, which had the exact tail pipe I was after, (only trial fitted here I got it a lot neater in the opening that this)



The rest of the front end was just cleaned up and reinstalled with all new hardware,



So after all that which took minutes to write but weeks to do I was ready to fill it with fluids and see if it would start,

There is so many horror stories about belts snapping on these I was nearly afraid to start it, but after removing the plugs and disconnecting the injectors and turning it over a few times to move the oil about everything was connected and she started first turn of the key,

Again these are a nightmare to bleed the air from the coolant, we warped a head in a old 306 GRP A rallycar before because of this so with some tubing and a funnel an extension to the bottle and 3ft of extra water she coughed out all the air and seems to sit at 70-80 when idle with lots of heat in the cabin,

So that's where it sits now, I have been looking forward to washing it since Christmas and I gave it a good decon wash and a quick clay to remove some of the overspray that was on it, I got about 50% off will do it again might need to source harder clay, used Bilt Hamber Regular but it didn't remove all of it, will need at least a 2 stage polish as well,

I have it booked to get the TB and water pump next week and the Test is the following weekend, I hope thy don't find much wrong, Apart from the engine every single part has been removed cleaned and either refitted or replaced with new hardware, of course being French there was loads of plot twists along the way but sure isn't that half the fun of doing a project like this,



It's sitting a bit low at the back but will wait till I get the new wheels on it and see if it needs to come up 10-15mm then





Been waiting nearly 6 months for these to land



This was the last updated I posted to a car forum over here in Ireland,

Since that it has had it's NCT (MOT) and passed with flying color's,



Still have some jobs left to do to it,

The old style Rad lower hose is leaking from time to time, I am using a new Gates lower hose with a new O-Ring but it's still weeping, I cut the hose to join it to a Red Silicone BM lower hose that is designed for the newer rad so maybe there is a bit of pressure on it, They guys that did the TB and WP might have not have got lined up exactly, And one of the rear brake lines has a tiny weep, the braided line kit I got seems to have a funny taper as both copper lines going into them had a leak, these were the only leaks on the brakes after opening and redoing nearly all other lines??

I am waiting for my powder coated strut braces and Cam covers to finish off the engine, I have a Sparco Steering wheel to add and then I might change the head unit for one with Bluetooth,

I did a quick 1 stage machine polish to the car, the Roof and Bonnet are in bad shape and there is lacquer peel on both door's I was going to get the car professionally detailed but I think the money would be better saved to go towards a respray,

It's ready for road now once I solve these few leaks and get the new wheels and other bits bolted on, We are still in a regional lockdown here so I can't go to far in it but will find some local roads to blow the cobwebs out of it

Definitely picked the right wheels

Thanks I really like how it looks on them,

Yeah that be the rain mate

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Ph2 Black GTI 6!

EX black 6 owner
But now a Black caged rallye owner

Hunting for Go faster bits!


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Toyo TR1's

The AD08Rs on the front need a bit of heat in them in order for them to grip.

So what's probably happened is that you didn't get enough heat into the front tyres in the wet conditions to get them to work properly and as a result they would have had less grip than the rears causing the understeer

If you do not want to spend to much money but still have decent semi slicks, you can go for Nankang NS2R.

Next to these, I recently bought a near new set of Toyo R1R to compare.

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My car park:
'96 Sigma Blue XSi6
'98 Diablo Red GTi6
'99 Onyx Black S16

All RFS powered!

Plus various other Peugeots

Hi Trevor
Cars looking great m8
Just don’t change anything until you try it again on a dry day mucker

All the back to back testing we do on both my m8s 106 full race cars have to compare things like weather conditions like Heat / wind etc ...no two days are ever the same ...

The development on my own car with suspension and handling / braking and the front splitter are always done on dry days if possible as that’s when it’s mostly going to be used

The rain means big changes really if your looking for extra great handling and no - over or understeer ... it is a sort of thing you pick up through experience and lots of trial and error ...not everything that should work Does in the wet and somethings do that shouldn’t

You can read all the books on the subject and still not get results....people just find out what works for there own driving Style