reBuilding of the Pearl

[MurA1]

So as you all know I bought a 95 Golf GL back at the end of April. It had formally been a show car before the latest PO. But had gone downhill a little while he had it. I am planning on bringing it back to this state and well beyond.
We'll begin with the bigger mods that started this week...


Well, she (the Black Pearl) got washed and I decided to play with the coilovers. My first shot was a little too low for the way I drive, but would look perfect for a show!! I put 2 turns back into it tonight and it looks perfect.

Here are some pics:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y153/rocco_crossing/95%20Golf/slamming07009.jpg
Yes, thats tire tuck ABOVE my finger! Previously, there was a solid 2 fingers of gap.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y153/rocco_crossing/95%20Golf/slamming07008.jpg
This is slammed with the new turns. They are small trailer side markers, since the stock holes are shaved and the housings don't fit the way I like otherwise.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y153/rocco_crossing/95%20Golf/slamming07012.jpg
And this is barely a finger of gap! It should just barely tuck the top of the tire once it settles a little bit again.

[DSV]

I've been wondering what you would do with the front turns.

Any chance a badgeless grill is in the future of this car? Or perhaps even a blacked out emblem? I think either of those would look really sharp on your car. :tu:

[turboA4]

looks good rhett...i saw it down on duff the other day and it looks damn good in person!

[MurA1]

Thanks guys!! Yeah there will be some changes to the grille/front end of the car soon. I need to pay for the headwork for my Scirocco motor first I decided.

Then the front will look a little better and the inside will sound LOTS better!!

[SirRangeALot]

Or perhaps even a blacked out emblem?

That would look pimp! :tu:

-------------------------

EDIT: At first when I saw this thread I thought I would be reading about the Black Pearl. STOP BLOWING HOLES IN MY SHIP!! :D

http://www.barcade.com/media/images/2653_JackSparrow300.jpg

[MurA1]

Well, you are reading about the black pearl, just not the boat! I've only named a few of my cars and this one just kind of fits. And actually I could look like Captain Jack, but the gf doesn't like that style of facial hair.

OH, and if I could find another emblem, I would consider the blacked out.

[MurA1]

So I took it in to get it aligned today... that didn't go so well. They called me at work and said that the tie rods are so rusted they can't get them to adjust!! They had them glowing red hot and no luck. So it looks like I'll be dropping close to $100 on a set of those before the end of summer so that it can be aligned. I think I am also going to get a camber bolt kit so that the camber can be adjusted correctly too.

[DSV]

^ That sucks man. But, at least you can get it fixed and not end up having problems with it down the road.

[MurA1]

I think I'm going to get the R32 control arm bushings too when I do the tierods. A friend of mine did that on his MKII with poly on the front and the R rear. I might just do the R's for both to save some money. Should help a little, plus I think the pass side bushings are going anyways.

[turboA4]

man that blows...hopefully you can get that **** figured out!....

[MurA1]

I haven't shreaded a tire yet. I will be looking into the parts soon. BUT FIRST, I need to get it in and the exhaust fixed. I was headed to Minneapolis to see the GF and by Fort Dodge I had blown a HUGE hole in it right under the rear seat!! DAMN, its LOUD!! But I did get 28MPG out of it like that! So I'm thinking I might see what flows a little better than the HUGE SS Muffler I have. Too bad the current muffler sounds awesome, but doesn't seem to flow worth ****!

[OrangeDUB]

Personally I would like to see the turns go into the headlights, MK4 style vs having them stick out like a sore thumb (no offense)
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y153/rocco_crossing/95%20Golf/slamming07008.jpg

[MurA1]

My dad thought that too. But I actually like where they are for now, they are not parking lights, just turns so they are only on when I'm turning or have hazards on. Here is a pic of them off:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y153/rocco_crossing/95%20Golf/slamming07003.jpg

It goes in for the exhaust patch on Wed. They are going to look if there is anything stuck in the muffler too because I got 3 MPG better with the HUGE hole in my exhaust. Which milage was part of the reason I bought a dub!

[MurA1]

So I found out today, whats with the MPG increase with the exhaust. My muffler is 2" and the pipe is 2.5". So its choaked 1/2" at the muffler. Any thoughts on a muffler to go with?

[allisonbergie]

nice drop. how is its ride?

[DSV]

Any thoughts on a muffler to go with?

I'd throw on a Borla or Flowmaster. :tu:

[MurA1]

nice drop. how is its ride?

I wish it road a little better. My back is out and with it being so stiff I'm going to definately go see the chiropractor!

Mike, Doug at Magic was talking about a muffler that he can get thats similar to a flowmaster, that he has installed on a few 4 cyls that sounds nice. I might go for that. But I really would like to have a SS one as they look a lot better and last longer.

[MurA1]

Well, the modding has b-gun again. It started with an overdue oil change, LOL. Then I decided to get my HVAC controls to light. I found that the bulb was burnt and since I didn't have a bulb for it I bought some LED's the next day. While I was in the dash I replaced the clusted bulbs with LED's also. DAMN, my dash is starting to look awesome in Blue!! And the cluster is BRIGHT!!! I also found that one of the PO's had installed an input line on the deck, so I pulled it through the dash and ran my XM wires a little cleaner.

Tomorrow, I go and pick up my BLACK carpet to match the rest of the interior and some sound deadener. I am going to rip all of the carpet and factory deadening out. Then paint this stuff on (Elemental Designs eDead, www.edesignaudio.com.) Its great stuff, I have a few friends with it. While I have everything out nof the car I am going to run my 0awg wiring for the stereo and add at least one more set of RCA's for amps.

I will soon be finishing my rear plate lighting and some other wiring in the back of the car. And also some more speaker upgrades.

PS I will try to get LOTS of pics tomorrow of everything.

[Gee Tea Eye V]

wow sounds awesome man! make sure to grab lots of pics

[MurA1]

Here they are, I decided to repaint the trim also since it was all chipped and scratched. It was also originally tan. Turned out pretty good from what I could tell.

Current state of front:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y153/rocco_crossing/95%20Golf/deadncarpet005.jpg

Why I'm digging into this, YUCK!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y153/rocco_crossing/95%20Golf/deadncarpet006.jpg

Gutted, didn't dig into the doors as of yet, that will come later:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y153/rocco_crossing/95%20Golf/deadncarpet008.jpg

Some aftermarket deadener already, didn't peal it off, I just painted over it and sealed it down:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y153/rocco_crossing/95%20Golf/deadncarpet009.jpg

one layer done, another one or 2 to be layed this weekend:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y153/rocco_crossing/95%20Golf/deadncarpet013.jpg

Scratched trim:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y153/rocco_crossing/95%20Golf/deadncarpet014.jpg

Repainted:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y153/rocco_crossing/95%20Golf/deadncarpet015.jpg

Rustoleum Painters Touch Semi-gloss, Awesome isht!! Looks like brand new plastic! (or did when it was dry to the touch and left it behind in the garage.)

Oh yeah, and here's what a big garage looks like when I start tearing a car apart!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y153/rocco_crossing/95%20Golf/deadncarpet016.jpg

[turboA4]

damn that looks a million times better!!!!!

nice work!!! the progress is amazing!!!

[DSV]

Got to love it when you finally start digging into a car. I bet that sound deadener is going to help out a lot. Glad to hear you got your HVAC controls lighting up and that re-painting the trim worked out so well. We still need to get the Mk3s together for a photoshoot sometime... :D

[MurA1]

yeah its should come together nicely! I'm actually headed out to do more work on it now. And yes, we do need to get the Mk3's together for a foto op.

[MurA1]

So I had to dig a little to bring this update to you:

So when I bought my Golf it had a clunk in the front, and some UGLY details to it. Well, most of you have seen the progression of looks through the summer. Some good some worse. Since I raised the car back up for the winter the clunk came back, and has been driving me NUTZ. Along with what I believe to be a wheel bearing that has started to get mad at me. SO I finally decided to rebuild the front suspension! All new bushings, bearings and ball joints. It also needs tierods, because they are rusted SOLID.

I am starting this weekend with the bushings and bearings. I know I can get the tierods changed in an afternoon so they are much less of a worry to me. I ordered the parts from MJM Autohaus Monday morning, so we will see how soon the parts come. And then dig in hard and strong that night/day. I have Wed and Thurs off, so I am hoping they arrive one of those days, otherwise I will have to work around my real job. And I HAVE to be done by Monday because I start back to classes.

I will try to take a lot of pics and will try to keep this thread updated or dig out my original thread about the car to keep a full timeline of the car. I have a LOT of things to happen to this car before spring/summer hit this year!! keep your eye on me!! :D

[jettalvr41]

how much was all the deadner, and is it the rubbery type or the aluminum plated kind? i wanna do my entre jetta doors trunk floor wheel wells everything!

[MurA1]

Its $50 a gallon and painted on. 2 coats on the floorpan and 3 in the hatch area and I still have 1/3-1/2 gal left. I still have to do the doors and hatch and then I will debate doing more on the floor. But it HELPS a lot!!

edesignaudio.com is where I got it. They are a company out of Newton, IA and are all really cool guys!! And AWESOME equipment too!!

[OrangeDUB]

That sounds like a good idea while you have everything torn apart :tu:
It looks like you're narrowing down your knocking problem, hopefully the rebuild will remedy that problem... Good progress so far!

[MurA1]

Got my parts today. I tear into it tonight and hopefully be back together by saturday night.

[cadwiz]

edesignaudio.com is where I got it. They are a company out of Newton, IA and are all really cool guys!! And AWESOME equipment too!!
I think Sam got some stuff there and they treated him right cause he had a problem with his sub....

[MurA1]

OK, I got the suspension all done a few weeks ago and DAMN, its MUCH nicer. But my strut bearings where Bonrath, so when I put a new set of coils on it I will be getting a new set of those also. There are a few scary things that are making me want to get new coils, considering either Bilsteins or Vmaxx, but thats about a yr away at least. I will get my pictures up someday.

I still need to do the swaybar links and tierods, but I'm not too worried right now, as it drives good, I just want it done before race season starts.

[MurA1]

I think Sam got some stuff there and they treated him right cause he had a problem with his sub....

They are really good with customer service. Their products are pretty much top notch too! Some really neat stuff, and they do home theater too!