'97 Golf Mk3. No more, no less.

[sirdapper]

Just read your almost endless timeline, hah you got me interested mate! Your build is really growing on me though, I just bought my first car (2000 volkswagen cabby) so this gives me a lot of inspiration for my vdub.

[Nico]

any updates ?

[Matt IoW]

like what ya done. The standard tinted lights look better imo tho. These hella's just remind me of horrid lexus style lights.

[Nico]

Glad you like it, thanks



Thanks! Just checked out your white GTI, is it still around?

Naaaaah stripped it... it was toooooo much rust for me.

[stancefag]

that looks great ! keep it up

Glad you like it, thanks

nice build.

Thanks! Just checked out your white GTI, is it still around?

[enes_ca]

that looks great ! keep it up

[Nico]

nice build.

[stancefag]

Alright, was lurking on the Forums and felt like updating my thread although I didn't achieved that much progress. There were some minor technical issues I wanted to have sorted first. Since I started to work lately I'm dailying the car now and don't have any problems so far


First we swapped the compressor of the A/C. Was damaged because the PO apparently had no fluids in the system.
The only pic I have was taken before anything happened...



Well it obviously works again now.



Then we noticed that the distributor flange was leaking:



Exchanged that too. Car is running so much smoother since then.


Since everything was working again I decided to change the look up a bit.
Was looking for a used OEM VR6 lip for ages and eventually ended up with bidding on a "slightly worn" one on eBay. Seller was obviously talking shit



Several cracks and covered with something similar to shiny PlastiDip and tons of mud at the rear. Got mad at first but I'm cool with it now, I'd have raped it anyways. Plus, it was still kinda cheap and it's no repro, which tend to burst very easily.

Cleaned it and gave it some fresh paint. Didn't know what to do with the cracks exactly, was too lazy to glue them (which would have looked like shit anyway). Ended up with tieing it together with some zipties, because that was hip in 2008.







Removed some stickers to clean it up btw.


Always liked the GTI grills (with two instead of three bars in it). So I got one.







Wasn't supposed to be colour-matched, actually planned on getting a randomly coloured one to paint it flat black. But I coincidentally found this one and decided to give it a try. Wasn't too sure about it first but I like it now.


You may have noticed that my front fenders were fucking around Those rust bubbles were starting to bug me, so I went and got some replacements.



Deleted the inner fenders when I mounted them



Well those are pretty clean, already shaved which I planned anyway and... perfectly not silver. They'll be painted after I got them widened.


Since those 3pcs. Schmidt rims I showed above will require GTI axles to fit (which will be done, but not this year anymore) I thought about getting some transitional wheels.



Once again, some Schmidt Modern Line. These are 9x16 on 215/40. I plan on going with 215/35 later.



I'll get my arches rolled soon, so I can finally fit some 'real' wheels. Can't wait

That's it for now, more to come later.

[Tubaman]

Sweet. Have a B5 S4 wheel in mine,

[stancefag]

It would certainly look cleaner without the stickers

It surely would. But unfortunately both bumpers were scratched by the PO, so I used stickers to cover those scratches. They will stay until I can afford a new paint job.

Sorry to hear about all the crazy regulations though!

Thanks, it's a real PITA. Most of my friends don't give a shit and do illegal mods. The problem is that you can be punished with deprivation of the license, when you have it less than two years. I got my license in February this year, so...

I'm in Hamburg staying with a friend for a while now, and it amazes me as to how clean and rust-free all the MK3's are here versus the US.

Haha, that's interesting! Didn't expected that actually. Mine has some typical issues on the front fenders (which will be fixed when they'll be pulled), but otherwise it's quite mint.

Enjoy your stay!

_________________________

BTW I was able to grab this super rare Votex leather steering wheel off eBay recently. The upper part needs to be reupholstered, but I'm happy to have it nonetheless.









It's totally compatible to my car, so I can swap the air bag over I'm sure it'll look good after some TLC.

[bennkishh]

I'm in Hamburg staying with a friend for a while now, and it amazes me as to how clean and rust-free all the MK3's are here versus the US. Sorry to hear about all the crazy regulations though!

[T3rd Ferguson]

Thank you. I can see your point, but I was going for a 'cleaner' look so decided to remove them. I even planned to shave the Golf badge too, but kept it eventually


Now I'm all about bringing the rear down, I don't like the rake.

It would certainly look cleaner without the stickers

[stancefag]

Sweet golf. I would have kept the "family" decals...Just because they are cool in my mind.

Thank you. I can see your point, but I was going for a 'cleaner' look so decided to remove them. I even planned to shave the Golf badge too, but kept it eventually


Now I'm all about bringing the rear down, I don't like the rake.

[Tubaman]

Sweet golf. I would have kept the "family" decals...Just because they are cool in my mind.

[stancefag]

Finally some minor progress... Got the coilovers installed.

This is NOT how low you can go with these, but for the TÜV (road legality testing organization in Germany) I had to raise the car a bit to get it legalized today. The inspector ripped my lip off when he moved back from the lift, though...





























I'm going to drop it some inches more once the wheels are fitted. That's it for the moment