1994 called, they want your mk3 back

[hinrichs]

Nothing really exciting has been going on, drove the car a few times here and there but then one of my front leader lines went. Fixed that last night and did a few minor things.

New tails from the junkyard. Went with oem ambers to match the front. Eventually maybe I will get something better, but these are fine for now. Also really need to get the dealer stickers off the back.

60418012929--73CE08F6-52C8-4356-819D-7E79A732FFB2 by minthinrich, on Flickr

Picked up an oem steering wheel. Thought it would be cooler, kinda dont like it, kinda do like it. At least the horn works which is a plus compared to my other one.

IMG-0483 by minthinrich, on Flickr

Also got some center caps for the wheels. They are silver plastic, so I painted the wheels. I will get them powder coated soon I think so there is a better finish on them, or I will just blast them and then paint them again the correct way. I want a different shade of silver since I am not really happy with how it looks. They are better in person however.

IMG-0481 by minthinrich, on Flickr
IMG-0482 by minthinrich, on Flickr

[saturnstance]

So stoked on the progress. Since you're only an hour from me when I get my Sh*t together I have to come check this out.

[DawsonLiri]

Steelies are way better of those Porsche wheels, sorry never a fan of those.
I kinda wish you went down to the 15 route...
Anyway must be crazy using the same car but from a different spot!

[hinrichs]

Really nice looking mk3, always had a soft spot for white low spec 5 doors , what's the motivation behind the RHD conversion?

A guy local to me built his UK mk1 golf to US spec exterior and at one point nearly did a LHD swap to make it look like a US import but never did, is it just a rarity thing?

Most of the world is LHD

My good friend did this swap 10 years ago when I was huge into the MK3 game, and I always wanted to do one myself but never had the time or space to pull it off correctly. I didnt really plan on doing it myself after all these years, but parts came up for sale for what I thought was a good deal, and I jumped onto the bandwagon. It was more a challenge for myself to see if I could really do it. I have done almost everything close to this before, but never even pulled a motor myself. So I jumped in head first and I am very proud of myself that I got this done with no help. I have been reaching out now for the tiny details but thats more wiring and all the little issues that are very hard to track down. So I guess being different is what I wanted to happen. Funny part tho is just looking at the car, it just looks like a standard 5 door golf you can pick up for next to nothing that was abused by a 16 year old new driver.

If I would want to do this again, I would probably just import a fully running car rather than swap all the parts. It was not as easy as getting a front clip like most people have done where its all together and you can doccument everything you pull apart. Missing parts, wrong harness, you name it, I probably dealt with it.

[JordonVW]

Really nice looking mk3, always had a soft spot for white low spec 5 doors , what's the motivation behind the RHD conversion?

A guy local to me built his UK mk1 golf to US spec exterior and at one point nearly did a LHD swap to make it look like a US import but never did, is it just a rarity thing?

Most of the world is LHD

[Fruttolo]

exactly what i am going for. I will be saving up for another set of very period correct wheels, but feel like they will clash with the full texture bumpers. I have been looking for some texture tops in white.

vette salad shooters pls

[hinrichs]

Love to see you're having fun with this. Reminds me of 2008-10.

exactly what I am going for. I will be saving up for another set of very period correct wheels, but feel like they will clash with the full texture bumpers. I have been looking for some texture tops in white.

[Miroteknik]

Love to see you're having fun with this. Reminds me of 2008-10.

[hinrichs]

Good ole tiffany blue definatly takes me back! Your making an insane amount of progress on this!

Thanks man I am trying, some goodies are coming today which I sure hope fit correctly. Getting super annoyed with missing parts for this swap. The funny part is when you just look at the car its nothing special till you really notice the swap was done.


Last night I painted the other wheels, no pics cuz they are the same. But I did pull this down from the shelf in the garage. I am going to redo the lettering to something funny, just cant decide which yet.

IMG-0382 by minthinrich, on Flickr

[Graphitemk6]

Good ole tiffany blue definatly takes me back! Your making an insane amount of progress on this!

[hinrichs]

Threw on some paint last night. Did I clean the backs of the centers? Nope...do I care? I was more worried about the bare barrel so those went black.

IMG-0374 by minthinrich, on Flickr

Some index cards and a light once over with a wire wheel and it was time for primer.

IMG-0369 by minthinrich, on Flickr

Had to go with one of my favorite colors. Kinda wish it was darker, but whatever I will probably change it soon enough anyway. Next is some center caps which I think will make these look a lot better.

60316416309--5750F280-62BB-48F4-BE51-2D746AB6F69D by minthinrich, on Flickr
IMG-0373 by minthinrich, on Flickr

This look brings me back to the simple vw times before the scene was ruined.

[hinrichs]

well would you look at that

I really like the steelies for this, it brings me back to when the "scene" was less hype and funnier times

I guess this really is a throwback build in a way. I just couldnt think of anything that would match the look of this car any better. I do have a set of wheels that I have always wanted that I am going to save up for, still very period correct.

Wow, great job with the rhd swap, this thing is too rad! Keep it up!

Thanks, it was a lot of work and still is but its fun to drive.

I don't check the forums in a couple months and you've bought this and done everything to it? Damn man! Love the progress and I love the fun vibe the car has - including the stickers. I miss having a ton of stickers lol.

I have been keeping myself kinda busy with this one. Started as a super budged build to hold me over on the m3....yeah that snowballed fast haha. Haivng a vinyl cutter sure makes life easy, if you want anything lemme know.




So I just had to throw the wheels on last night. Mainly wanted to do a test fit before any kind of color to make sure I liked them. Here is the first fit, without a fender roll out back. Should have gotten a front fitment pic, oh well.

IMG-0355 by minthinrich, on Flickr
IMG-0354 by minthinrich, on Flickr

Really not all that bad. I didnt want to touch the rears since they were never rolled and in half decent condition other than some minor bumps and scrapes. I wanted it lower tho, so out came the hammer and I got to work. Rolled and dropped back down.

IMG-0358 by minthinrich, on Flickr
IMG-0357 by minthinrich, on Flickr
IMG-0359 by minthinrich, on Flickr

Happy with the rear fitment, funny part is the guy who I got the wheels from totally guessed on the offsets and I am glad they fit so well. The front needs a notch to lay out correctly but they fit almost perfect.

I also had some cool parts show up. Not sure if I put up a pic of my euro tdi seat covers but they might go on soon. I love the other ones I have, but they are a little beat up so these should fit and look a lot better. Also got some NOS green rhd floor mats. Kinda funny as they came from my friends car originally who I got the swap from. I am starting to get good at finding a lot of the parts he sold off before he gave up on the project.

IMG-0314 by minthinrich, on Flickr
IMG-0353 by minthinrich, on Flickr

[rightfullrudder]

I don't check the forums in a couple months and you've bought this and done everything to it? Damn man! Love the progress and I love the fun vibe the car has - including the stickers. I miss having a ton of stickers lol.

[Fruttolo]

I really like the steelies for this, it brings me back to when the "scene" was less hype and funnier times

[Miroteknik]

well would you look at that