My Formel E Project..A45 MKJ

Chidz said

Love it apart from 2 doors to many  .

If someone told me ten years ago i'd be driving a 5 door Mk1, i would of fallen over laughing.. but after rocking the Jetta Mk2 - a forgotton hero, especially at the time.. and driving the Mk1 polo, another "undesirable" the more doors are growing on me…its a bit more of a challenge in my eyes! Not that i will use the back.. its too low!!

andy

Liking this, you've sorted this nice and quickly, wicked little daily 8)

Any more updates on this.

1.1 are becoming a rare sight now.

Heres a little taster for the next part of the project.


The plan is to lose the headrests, but keep the clips there in case i change my mind - covering round them with extra foam so the top of the seat is still level. My Dads a trimmer so will be a nice easyish job for him on my next visit!

Would value your opinions on the Westfalia Plaid, think it will be like marmite!

Also on the cards for this weekend is the Carb base gasket.. a previous owner had a new one fitted but its sooooo loose, and the fueling is rich to compensate, so it is returning appalling MPG!!

Till the next time!

Andy

I like it but not sure if it will be to 'in your face' if the whole seat is done in it rather than the centre section. In fact scratch that and go for it as I have not seen it done before, I like it when people try new stuff rather that do the tried and tested.

Just treated myself to three yards of the fabric.. it might be "in your face" but you only live once i guess!! I've seen the green and orange versions used on recaro type seats.. with black bolsters -but although i have a few recaros kicking around i think the flat seats are more in keeping with the car.

AndyBBT said

Bloody snow has put a spanner in the works.. that and the lower shock bolt on the drivers side.

Got these through from Hot Tuning t'other day..very cheap, theres probably a reason but this car is being done on a strict budget.

Replaced the top mounts with some Meyle ones from work.. not worth the arse ache if the old ones go, for the cost of it.

The rear bolt was tackled at half 8 Sunday morning.. lying on the drive in sub zero conditions on an offcut of carpet.. hacksaw in one hand and hammer in the other! It came out.. fortunately a mate was breaking his GTi so i pinched a spare bolt to replace the one i just cut. And it now sits a fair bit lower. Will get a pic up later.

Next up wheels/ tax / insurance, or interior overhaul…depends how much i want to use it!

Thanks for reading!

hey mate, recently i hav purchased the same coilovers like yours,but hasn't been installed yet, how does your car handles mate?after you had this set installed?were they any good??

cheers,
shane

Shane,
They were remarkably good for the money.. the car is fine on smooth roads, like dual carriageways, but shakes you about a bit round town - avoid pot holes, road surface joins etc…and speed humps are well out the question!
Mines sat pretty low, although there is more adjustment in the front should i want it (the bottom arm mounts are an 40mm off the floor, so thats not happening!).
You do know it if you hit a bump, and the old Sony CD head unit isn't a big fan.. randomly resetting tracks with every hiccup!

Aslong as you don't want to drive everyday and in perfect comfort then they'll be cool.. i took a few peoples advice and coated them in chainwax (from Halfords) the other day - i gather they are pretty fond of rusting on the threads, making future adjustment out of the question.

Good luck!

Andy

AndyBBT said

Shane,
They were remarkably good for the money.. the car is fine on smooth roads, like dual carriageways, but shakes you about a bit round town - avoid pot holes, road surface joins etc…and speed humps are well out the question!
Mines sat pretty low, although there is more adjustment in the front should i want it (the bottom arm mounts are an 40mm off the floor, so thats not happening!).
You do know it if you hit a bump, and the old Sony CD head unit isn't a big fan.. randomly resetting tracks with every hiccup!

Aslong as you don't want to drive everyday and in perfect comfort then they'll be cool.. i took a few peoples advice and coated them in chainwax (from Halfords) the other day - i gather they are pretty fond of rusting on the threads, making future adjustment out of the question.

Good luck!

Andy

thx for the info mate, and happy new year btw..=) to bad we dont see chainwax around here , guess wd40 will do just fine

who is re doing ur seats ?

My Dad runs his own trimming business in Kent, which is kinda handy. I do a spot on the side.. but more repairing knackered bolsters - my sewing isn't up to speed by any means, i'll get my Pa to do the tricky bits!

andy

hey Andy,
where did you get the fabric/upholstery mate?is there an on-line store address that i could visit..i'm looking for simple plain black fabric,
but they always offer me with leather. :cry: well i'm not a big fan of leather material.. :cry:

cheers,
Shane

We sell the fabric through our sister company VW Heritage.. the "normal" material can be found here.
http://www.vwheritage.com/vw_act_page.render_pageID_97_lang_EN_country_GB.htm
The Westy Plaid that i'm using is here..
http://www.vwheritage.com/vw_act_page.render_pageID_101_lang_EN_country_GB.htm

Speak to your local coach trimmer, they'll be able to help you with samples of fabrics, and order it in for you, even if they don't do the job themselves.

Hope that helps

AndyBBT said

We sell the fabric through our sister company VW Heritage.. the "normal" material can be found here.
http://www.vwheritage.com/vw_act_page.render_pageID_97_lang_EN_country_GB.htm
The Westy Plaid that i'm using is here..
http://www.vwheritage.com/vw_act_page.render_pageID_101_lang_EN_country_GB.htm

Speak to your local coach trimmer, they'll be able to help you with samples of fabrics, and order it in for you, even if they don't do the job themselves.

Hope that helps

wow..they were all cool andy..nice :wink: xcept the vinyl section though.. me don't likey either  ..
you ship overseas don't ja?

Yeah we can ship worldwide - order online we will drop you a mail with the carriage costs (you can cancel the order if these are too high, we won't charge you anything until you confirm the shipping).

There is a nice range of material there, the tweed fabrics are quite nice - similar to the material used on the bolsters for Gti seats.

cheers

Andy

Am just about to order some panels from you

AndyBBT said

Yeah we can ship worldwide - order online we will drop you a mail with the carriage costs (you can cancel the order if these are too high, we won't charge you anything until you confirm the shipping).

There is a nice range of material there, the tweed fabrics are quite nice - similar to the material used on the bolsters for Gti seats.

cheers

Andy

superb! i'll noted dat Andy.. thanx mate,to bad my car project haven't reach the interior section though, but as for a plan, i'm glad finding your e-store..i'll keep ja posted.. :wink:

cheers,
shane

birkin said

Am just about to order some panels from you

Make sure you mention the Mk1 Golf Owners Club - it'll save you a few quid
Don't panic if not, drop us a line Tuesday morning and we can sort it out before it gets processed.

Spent an hour or so changing the carb base gasket today.. have done worse jobs.. but it has been a complete pain in the arse on my polo, so not one i like doing. Got it swapped over, albeit minus the heat shield. Decided to leave that off - the fibre gasket beneath it had seen better days, and two places to seal against leaks is harder than one - i may learn to regret this decision!
Anyone with any thoughts on this, please do comment. The exhaust pre heat pipe is blocked off at the moment too - should i try and re -instate this, the metal pipe to do so is in the boot, so should be simple-ish.
Got the car running again with a bit of a mixture tweek - but still not right… bloody cars!!
Will have another go tomorrow if i get time - it's driveable but seems to be a little up and down, and once i finish revving it is reluctant to slow down again.
The old base gasket was knackered though, so i have done the "right" thing - just doesnt feel like it at the moment!!

Andy

Ok.. so limped the golf 1/2 mile or so back from my Nans driveway, where it had been staying nice and dry under her carport.

How i found the old carb base gasket. Loads of sealant, and buckled so it wouldnt sit flat.

Was really carefull fitting the new gasket not to over tighten it and buckle it again.. similarly when bolting the carb to the gasket the holes are very tight, and its sooo tempting to bend it about to get it to fit.. i opted to open the holes up slighly to save this happening.


Gave it a very quick squirt of carb cleaner, but will attack it all with Gunk at some point.


The rocker cover and belt cover is crying out for a hammerite refurb.. that will happen soon too!

Spent a biy of time Saturday morning replacing some vacuum hoses and one of the rubber bungs on the base of the airbox as all has seen better days. A bit of tweeking on the mixture and idle screws had it purring, what better test than the 50 mile round trip to work and back for the monthly Heretics meets.. it didnt miss a beat! My faith has been restored!

Heres a shot of it, sitting quite well in my opinion, with Anna's Lupo (she works at BBT too, also  built / drives a Golf+ featured Mk2 VR6)

Andy

It's looking really good from that angle.