thank you for the kind words, thanks for the Dynax tip also, I've used Bilthamber hydrate 80 on this car and been pleased with it so could imagine the wax being good also Another radio arrived this week, as mentioned previously the illumination wasn't working on mine. I wasn't confident enough in my soldering to change the bulb and with the travel restrictions I wasn't able to take it anywhere local. When this popped up for sale fully tested the price wasn't a huge amount more for sending mine away to have fixed so went with this as I want to get the interior back together asap. The seller does offer a bluetooth retro fit for my gamma unit pictured earlier in the thread which I'm still tempted by. Problem is I really like the basic look of this unit I did enquire about using this alpha unit but the bluetooth needs an activation button which I believe is the cassette eject button. Wheels arrived also, I ordered these before Christmas so took a good while to arrive, think this is the first set of brand new wheels I have bought since 1998 I always wanted to keep this car on steel wheels and 15" seems the ideal size for tyre availability and brake fitment but I've never really been 100% on the look of G60's / Passat Winters, think the design looks great in 14" but it doesn't scale up for me. I saw these a few years ago whilst browsing ebay.de and did some digging, they're MK3 / Corrado winters 6.5 x15 ET43, still avaialble new (think they were £160 for 4). There is an accompanying centre cap but I prefer the open design, I'm still undecided to leave them totally open or try and find a basic black centre cap and 5 plastic nut covers. These wont be going on whilst its a 1.3 so will go on the garage wall for the time being.
When I had my GTI I used to hunt down GTI engineering parts which I really enjoyed, one part I could never find was the gauge mount which takes place of the switch blanks. browsing the mk2 forum one evening I chanced upon a great build thread for another white MK2, the owner had worked out that GTI Engineering had used a VDO marine gauge surround to mount it. With this in mind I started looking on ebay there was a good selection but was concerned that 30 years of sun and salt would have taken its toll. Found this NOS one for not much more than the used ones, really like the gauge itself just need a boat to put it in .The mount needs opening up a touch for the gauge to fit but should be straightforward enough, looking at it now it would be an ideal part to 3d print as its a very simple shape. The handbrake light needs cutting up to fit but the aforementioned thread explains this in really good detail, sourced a replacement light. Next up was the gauge to go in it was a toss up between oil temp or pressure this came up first so temp it was. As the gauge sits so close to the main cluster I wanted them to be as close in style as possible, went for this one as its ambient rather than back lit so it should sit nicely same story with the needle which is not illuminated this will allow me to paint it the same colour as the ones in the main cluster. Hoping to have a custom face made for it using the same font as the cluster, sketch below showing what I'm after, the VWMS section is a decal which goes on the back of the glass. Gauge opened up, I'll be repolishing the glass (plastic) and refinishing the bezels before it goes back together.
Joined the Oettinger Classic FB a few weeks back, noticed this post from a period catalogue kudos points for the Oettinger gauge face. Made a start on my gauge, Used a 320 flap wheel on my Dremel to get the worst of the rust off Coat of etch primer The face wasn't too scratched but it did have some strange crazing, sanded it with 1200 up to 8000 then polished it with Quixx Satin black top coat Made a start on my 9" servo 120 flap wheel to get the worst of the rust off 2 coats of Bilt Hamber Hydrate 80 Nearside thread was a bit chewed up cleaned up well which was a relief You can see in the last pic the amount of pitting to the surface, some high build primer arrived earlier so I'm hoping this will smooth out the surface prior to top coat Cleaned up the 1.3 cooling fan New decals for fan and alternator, ebay seller GtiLine made these up for me as most of the ones off the shelf are for the bigger engined GTI, really pleased with them and great service. Wheel and gear knob arrived back from the trimmer.Went with a charcoal Alcantara and stitch I decided to have the GL wheel done rather than the GTI as I quite like the idea of keeping it basic looking. Whilst it was in I had combined gear knob and gaiter done at the same time, the oe combined VWMS always eluded me at the time although strangely they seem more easily available now than 20 years ago but they're often worn. As lockdown eased I was able to get out and collect my seats, was another good morning out and chat with a fellow enthusiast mentioned it before but this is the part of the project I like the most. Seems a shame to take it all to bits but needs must, annoying part is I'll need another 2 rear benches (4 in total) to trim the 2 Recaro's and thats with doing the back faces in grey vinyl.
managed to finish my servo used a 2 k solid black so hopefully it should be pretty durable, Made a start on the my dash panel, got some new tools for the job, suction mounted vice Model saw, must be an age / nostalgia thing but I cant resist anything with the Tamiya logo Need to trim the handbrake light down to fit around the gauge, pretty straightforward with the saw and file, spot the mistake, upside down should be ! not i, I do have a spare light so can redo it but I'll wait till its all built up first to see if I like it Few other bits arrived Bonnet catch hardware Timing belt cover sticker and black grille badge, undecided about using this its 3d printed and the finish isn't quite what i was looking for. [ Made a start on refurbishing some front end components Grille trim looks ok from a distance but up close there some poor touch up work, i've flatted it right back to repaint (pics to follow) Took the lower panel off and was disappointed to find it a bit frilly in places, rather than try and repair it then replicate the textured stonechip I sourced another, wrong colour but it is in excellent order Thought the old wax coating would come right off (like the engine bay) but it took ages to get off, Id estimate about 2hrs to get it clean enough for paint Managed to get some time to look at the Recaro's, was planning on using regular MK2 bases with them (welding tabs per the guide on a previous page) but after looking at it they would sit way to high, I did find some guides which were more comprehensive (http://www.gti16.com/usr/coco/golf_bases_recaro/golf_mk2_bases_recaro.html) but to be honest the fabrication was beyond me and the thought of trying to explain to a fabricator put me off. With that in mind I set about trying to source some oe electric bases I know from experience that they do sit higher than I would like but the direct fit appeals, few in Germany but the sellers weren't particularly helpful when it came to payment or shipping, managed to source a set from LA and should hopefully be arriving in the next few weeks. Side trims arrived a few weeks back, thats not a houndstooth dog basket I was trying out having the whole front of the seat done in this material as a back up in case I cant use the oe bolster material, I've since collected a 3rd interior including door cards so that should help with the fabric. (no pics as it was all a bit last minute as we were going on holiday the following day) I've always liked Fishnet Recaro's, think they look great from inside and outside the car and the design gives me more options for retriming as they should use less material than the regular LS ones. Looking online I was surprised how much they were being advertised for, a set popped up in New Zealand of all places for a reasonable price and they arrived a week or so later, great for me as they have grey netting which is still taught and I can reuse.
Thanks Phil, found it a really enjoyable project. Few small updates, more opportunity to do stuff with the long evenings and higher temps but then more demands from the family with days out / holidays Painted my replacement lower panel, quite involved on reflection. There was some corrosion on the edges so i used a flap wheel to get it back to clean metal then feathered the edge of the old stonechip. Treated the metal with hydrate 80 then a base coat of zinc primer, I do not have a compressor so couldn't use a schutz gun to match the factory stonechip, in the end went with a product called Motip Medium solid in an aerosol doesn't really match to be honest but it does give a texture so it's not too noticeable. Managed to find a supplier who can mix me alpine white in a 2k activated aerosol, always struggled with lacquer previously so this single stage can is a real help. Happy with the final product its fairly hidden on the car so any imperfections should go unnoticed. Cleaned up the 2 sets of lower panel bungs / clips and picked the best to make a good set New bonnet catch, its a Forst part but quality seems excellent, for some reason i struggled to find a RHD catch for a while so getting this and in the correct sliver finish was a nice surprise. [ As mentioned previously I'm keen to use as many Corrado parts as possible for the engine swap so been looking at the steering, Reservoir and bracket, this doesn't seem to fit very well in the MK2 bay is this normal? (I'm using the two threaded studs next to the washer bottle and cant get the bracket to line up) Cooler pipe this passes through the front crossmember
theres 2 version of the bottle bracket, the early version is same as used on the G60 so fits ok, the later corrado has the studs in a slightly different place so it doesnt fit as nice
Had some free time yesterday so thought I would put some time into the car. General lack of time meant I didn't do anything with it in 2022, this made me revaluate the whole project, plan now is just to get it tidied up and mobile, maybe in the future with more time (and space) I'd still like to VR swap. I had painted the rear panel as it was looking a little tired so first job was to wet sand and polish, the pictures flatter it, truth be told there are a few issues in the paint (blending between old an new) Fitted all new clips and brackets that I have collected over the past few years Fitted my body colour badges, I know these will divide opinion I had re-dyed my bumper a couple of years back so washed that off and refitted the foam seal around the boot lock deal has deteriorated so waiting on a replacement to arrive as well as some new screws for the numberplate lights.
