83 Gti set to get full resto

jezzer said

Did you fit a new aperture rubber seal? These can be a problem for closing the tailgate. Are there holes around the edge of the rubber to let the air out? Did you fit a new rear panel?

Yeah, new rear panel, new seal with no holes. I was thinking about poking a few holes around the seal tbh, I'll give it a try

I have managed to get the tailgate to shut but it takes a good slam.

Done a 7 hour round trip this morning to pick up some small bumpers from Dublove , was nice to meet you Craig

Tailgate shut and new bumper trial fitted, I thin it looks pretty good.




Also been sticking more 'rattlemat' down.


Came up with the idea of using some sound deadening tiles I had left over from my drumming room, going to use them behind the rear panels to help with road noise. I'll cut them to shape before fitting the panels.

Yeah mines the same on the restoration I'm doing. I fitted a new back panel as well. Mine shuts with a slam, but was better after putting holes in the rubber. It was sold to me as an original by Chubnuts so can't understand why they weren't in there. I think once it's bedded in it'll be fine.

Thats good to hear that the holes helped! I bought mine as an original from VWH, but how can you tell?  What spacings did you use for the holes?

Black bumpers look very nice 

 Those rear wheels look huge 

Bumpers look mate, aye!

I'm in two minds about the wide wheels now, I think I'll have problems when the turbo kicks in! The back end will bog down on acceleration and I reckon I'll end up damaging the arches and the tyres. It's just not worth the risk. This axle mod was always just going to be an experiment but I'm now swaying towards 1" lips on the back and 0.5 on the front. Another deciding factor is I think the wheels are slightly pointing in at the front, not sure if this is normal or if the axle has moved when I welded it  It's the same on both sides, you can just make it out in the first 2 pics I posted earlier.

They should ponling slightly in buddy. Get a straight edge on your stock beam and measure e/e then on the shortened one taking off the amount took off? Or draw the angle out on a bench along the straight part of them beam in middle, then the stub axle angle to that line? And cross check? 


Good progress as per 

Lol you've just answered the question I asked in Running gear section. I wasn't sure if something had moved or not but when I looked back at the pics before I modded the beam it looks the same, Toe in

Take it the rear suspension still needs winding down? If so then I think the wheels will look good.

Did Jon say anything about his r32 on big wheels?

Jon wheels are different et to mine so he was able to take more off the beam without coming to close the suspension, it's all about et's which I know nothing about

I'm with you on that one, Extra Terestrial I believe it stands for 

Coming together nicely Andy, at this rate it'll be on the road by Feb!

That's looking so nice Andy, love watching this go back together!

As mentioned the seal should bed-in so don't over-fettle it just yet!

Ref the rear wheels, have a word with Elv-APX  or via CabrioAnna as I know he doesn't come on here too much. He had rubbing issues on his rear wheels when the turbo kicked in but sorted it just with a change of tyre profile from memory so you may be ok. Maybe it's worth finding out the hard was as it's a great mod you've done on the rear beam and it looks spot-on  

Finally, good use of them foam in the door panels. Maybe worth checking it over time that it doesn't hold any damp though??

Just a stunning project though mate, can't wait to see it in the flesh!

pazwaa said

I'm with you on that one, Extra Terestrial I believe it stands for 

 

ew said

Coming together nicely Andy, at this rate it'll be on the road by Feb!

It seems like its dragging to me, I spend more time scratching my head than anything else  It's getting there though, can't complain!!

Hairyarse said

That's looking so nice Andy, love watching this go back together!

As mentioned the seal should bed-in so don't over-fettle it just yet!

Ref the rear wheels, have a word with Elv-APX  or via CabrioAnna as I know he doesn't come on here too much. He had rubbing issues on his rear wheels when the turbo kicked in but sorted it just with a change of tyre profile from memory so you may be ok. Maybe it's worth finding out the hard was as it's a great mod you've done on the rear beam and it looks spot-on  

Finally, good use of them foam in the door panels. Maybe worth checking it over time that it doesn't hold any damp though??

Just a stunning project though mate, can't wait to see it in the flesh!

Thanks for the kind words mate  Never thought about the foam holding moisture, good call. I won't be glueing them in so they can be removed easy enough.

Ref the the wheels, I think I'm just going to go for the 2" lips on the back and get some 1" for the front just to be sure. They'll still be plenty wide enough. The thing is with the 3" lips, I wouldn't want to stretch the tyres any more than they are already.

Almost forgot, I got the fuel filler and tank fitted today. I still need to get the heat shield refurbished, I'll fit that later

Oh man!

Melteddrummer said

Almost forgot, I got the fuel filler and tank fitted today. I still need to get the heat shield refurbished, I'll fit that later

That is a fantastic photo!! A pristine refurbished shell with an immaculate paint job with an assembly of like new parts fitted. I dream of the day I can do this  awesome Andy   

Holy poop batman!!        The underside looks better than a lot of topsides - wow….. just wow!!  

Ref the wheels again Andy, Elv didn't stretch the tyres to stop the rubbing, which surprised me, just a slightly different profile/size, so if you fancy keeping the bigger lips it would be worth checking with him

Looking good isn't it!! I've already taken some paint off though, taking the axle on and off. You can see it between the axle mount bolts in the above pic  

Ah I see what you mean about the tyre profile. I suppose with a smaller profile, a little bit stretch and a bit of camber it could be possible!

I think with bbs alloys, some deep dish is the way to go, looks great. 2" on the back would look amazing and be a bit more practical that the 3".

Hi andy just to let you know I was only running standard lips with 195/45/15 toyo t1r with koni adjustable shocks eibach springs still caught on hard excelaration I have rear disc brakes not sure if this widens the track or not and running 270 bhp 1.8t hope this helps