MKII GTI VR6

[VeeDub]

It might sound like PITA but its really not that bad

......... Yeah I said that. I broke my own rule. You probably have this rule also, the rule when your never to say "Its easy..won't take long" or "its a quick fix.." if ya say it - ya just jinxed yourself.That's the last time I ever do a dash swap. Hmm go figure, that the internet stuff about how to do the swap was all the easy stuff!!
The dash is in and all my small electrical side projects with it.

The stock dash in a MKII GTI


The Corrado dash


The icing on the cake....an OEM - VW - Cassette player w/CD changer capability !! (Keeping the 1990 thing going )

I couldn't pass it up it was only $5 @ a garage sale.
The dash was a lot of work but the results I'm happy with. Everything in the dash is functional. The duct work is what took most of the time.
I'm adding extra sound deadening to the interior now with some help from the G/F. Then putting the carpet and seats in and the interior should be done.

[Fred32v]

What a super neat upgrade, looks like it came that way.

[Basement Paul]

Sweet! Looks real clean. I love the stock look of the radio. Now you need the VW changer. Good luck.

What else do you have to do? Seems pretty complete at this point.

-BP

[VeeDub]

What a super neat upgrade, looks like it came that way.

The radio dropped right in, zero mods required for fitment. Its not wired up because the radio was found literally hours after the dash was buttoned up. The stereo stuff is going to be a winter project.

What else do you have to do? Seems pretty complete at this point.

-BP

I just finished adding some extra sound deadening the past couple of nights. The original GTI sound deadening is pretty weak. From seeing BMW's, Audis, and Benz's at pull-a-part Ive noticed they have super thick and a lot of sound deadening material.I'm guessing that is one of the reasons they feel so solid when just going down the road. I'm sure other luxury cars have this also. I just haven't seen Cadillacs, Lincolns etc... ripped a part at the boneyard because I'm always in the import section. The cheap route is to grab that material out of those make/model station wagons. At pull-a-part they charge the same for GTI hatch insulation as they do for the higher end station wagon insulation! Just cut it up and glue in place (Dynamat is way overpriced IMO)
As I mentioned above I even got my girl helping on that stuff
Any way....I got side tracked....i just have left: Finish installing the interior (maybe will take an hour), bleed brakes and clutch, install powersteering reservoir and coolant line (might have to weld on a few studs to the radiator core support to hold the line), main fuel pump, oil change, flush and fill cooling system and wash and wax. Other then getting the oil filter I have everything else sitting on the shelf! Actually I'm going to get on all that right now.

[Fred32v]

You sure know how to show a girl a good time.

[MostMint]

I just finished adding some extra sound deadening the past couple of nights.

you are adding sound deadener. The only thing I've ever done with that stuff is remove and pitch.

[Maverick]

I just finished adding some extra sound deadening the past couple of nights.

you are adding sound deadener. The only thing I've ever done with that stuff is remove and pitch.

Different strokes ...

[VeeDub]

you are adding sound deadener. The only thing I've ever done with that stuff is remove and pitch.

agreed - that does sound odd... adding material. But considering Ive driven a MKII GTI for over 10 years I'm not going to miss the squeaks and rattles!

[VeeDub]

I got the interior in. Only the headliner remains. That is going to be a winter thing.



The cat lost her favorite seat though and I need two more dining room chairs

I moved on to the fuel pump. That was easy except for, during re-assembly i saw that I broke the line when loosening it. As you can see it wasn't rusty at all, just real thin @ that bend...bummer

Here the line assembly: Pump to accumulator

The line is NLA and would have cost $78 from the dealer. This fix wasn't hard though. I threw out the curved piece on the far right that went to the banjo fitting. Cut the banjo fitting flush with a cut off wheel. Drilled out he old line in the banjo end. I then flipped what was left of the broken line around so the barbed end goes into the banjo end and then brazed it in place. I never have brazed before. So it was neat to try something new.
The 2 pieces fit together very well before brazing... basically it ended up like a press fit, very snug! The barbs ended up giving the braze a place to "fill in" .
Then with some fuel injection line and 2 clamps the repair is done.

Ive got $10 in the repair and learned something to.

[VeeDub]

Got to drive it for 50 or 60 miles a few weeks back. Its nice to have some torque! I discovered a pin hole leak in a flange coming out of the radiator. That and work have been keeping me from driving it and working on it. I ordered up the flange and it should be here this week. Looks like I'll get some Indian summer miles in!

[VeeDub]

On Sunday i started out fixing the coolant leak and the oil cooler leak, both of which were minor and cheap fixes. Than I moved on to flushing the cooling system. Bled the brakes and clutch again with a Motive power bleeder. Got air out of the lines so now that stuff feels good. I also seafoamed it.Tiresmoker came over and helped me me with the oil change.....the first one Ive done on the car! Ive owned the project for almost 10 years (in storage for 7 years or so) and finally had a reason to change the oil! It runs nice. I drove it to work the past few days without any problems.
Theres still stuff to do of course, but its on the road.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOuqKBoK ... ture=feedu

[VeeDub]

The best I could do combined - highway and two lane is 23.323 MPG Thirsty lil' sucker. I couldn't have driven any easier. I was hoping for a little better. The e-code headlights work great. They are 55/60 (stock wattage) but work WAY better than DOT lights. Hella says they are 5 times brighter than a DOT light and I believe it. The flutes in the glass and the reflector design make all the difference in these H4 equipped lights. All this light and it does not make oncoming drivers have a harder time seeing. If anything, its easier on there eyes because of the focus of the beams. If anybody out there can go with these "off road use only" lights.. do it... you won't be disappointed. I feel much safer. I can see whats beyond the the ditch on the side of me. Peripheral lighting is better than any car I've ever been in.

[VeeDub]

Happy Thanksgiving.
I went on a 100 mile cruise. The weather was great here today in N.E. Ohio. Went and got it weighed...


I was hoping for under 2300 lbs. My 91 GTI 8v is 2300 with full interior. Oh well. Still not to bad.

*EDIT* I just noticed on the ticket I was in the car when he weighed it! So.. without a spare tire and jack, 1/3 tank of fuel and no driver it is 2208 lbs. Nice!

[MostMint]

That thing is light. What do they charge for that service?

There's a scale just down the street from me by a gravel place. It's always on so you can go in there and weigh anytime you want.

[VeeDub]

What do they charge for that service?

$9.50 I would have went to the local gravel/sand pit (Best Sand) that is down the road but they were closed. That's the place where Tiresmoker and i have gotten our cars weighed before for free. I needed a destination for a drive anyway.

Went and got the emissions test (nervously ) and it passed!? The test performed was based on the original 1.8 L engine. I wasn't about to mention that it has a 6 cyl. in it. It was pretty darn obvious, by the sound of the car it was not stock. I'm pretty sure the guys there didn't notice or didn't care- or both. That was the only thing Ive been sweating. Ive put a lot of time and money in the car just to have some "test" keep me from having it on the road. How does a 2.8l pass a test meant for a 1.8l ? I would assume there's going to be more pollutants coming out of the 2.8L ?? I also saw a nice blue 69 Caddy cruisin -looks good BP