Fat Head Build Thread

So i thought i would start a build thread for my .:R

I spent valentines day 14th Feb, giving the love of my life all the attention i could offer, then i took her home and waxed her down after paying for it of course then took her for a ride...

Im talking about my new car of course

Bought it for £6000 which was a good deal i thought considering the specs

Golf Mk4 R32 3.2 V6
Deep Blue Pearl
Sun Roof
£1200 factory radio upgrade (not sure what model)
3 Door
Full Leather Konig Seats

So it is top spec apart from the factory sat nav which i don't like anyway

As most of you know you won't be able to find this spec in this colour for £6k so i got lucky... i think

The guy i bought it from had the wheels refurbed for me as well (cost me £100 extra)

Drove it home, on the way i stopped at the petrol station as i intended to have a day of driving, and up pops a message saying "Oil Sensor Workshop"

I immediately thought ahh [email protected]!k, then it went away so i ignored it

Anyways.....

Got home, then set off to VW dealership to go buy some goodies (filters, plugs, touch up stick, oil)

Literally 2 minutes down the road, on the dashboard it says STOP!.... so naturally i do, notice the temperature is off the scale and think.....maybe £6k wasn't a bargain after all!!!!!

Manage to crawl it back home after letting it cool for a bit as i was just round the corner, as soon as i stop the car just pisses with coolant everywhere and engine is smoking... i call the dealer and explain the situation, he comes round to my house, gets the car taken away to a VW specialist and said he would fix the problem for me

I was absolutely gutted, the car of my dreams, what was meant to be one of the best days of my life so far, and it was on the back of an AA truck

Was in the garage for the next 4 days getting fixed, waiting for parts etc... They change the thermostat, but then realise the water pump had gone

Get the car back and all is well... so i thought

Then i start to notice little things going wrong with it

The cooling fans on the front weren't spinning when the aircon was on, then spinning really fast to try and keep cool, arghggghhgghhhh!!
Also the engine was making a funny noise, like one of the belts or something, the aircon compressor was making a right racket and the steering sounds like a groaning noise!!!

Spoke to the dealer and he sent it away to the garage again, they changed the alternator pulley, topped up the power steering fluid, and replaced the auxiliary belt and said they wouldn't fix the other problems because they weren't major, they said the cooling fans were working, but just not 100%, and the air con is working... just making a noise, and they said the engine noise has reduced

The initial feedback i got from it was... the dealer was paying so doesn't want to spend much fixing it, so i decided to take it into my own hands, just because i wanted a good job doing

I actually found out that the Full service history the car has, was a lie! VW had not seen it since 2006!

So told the dealer and he said i can have a chance of having my money back, as a one off deal, and i refused, still knowing it was a cheap car, even with the faults

I flushed the oil twice because it was like sludge! not a good sign but i will give it all the love i can, changed the spark plugs, oil filter, pollen filter, left the air filter because of future plans

I bought some cooling fans from ebay £40, took a few hours stripping the whole front end off, changed them, and the radiator swell as it came with the fans attached and it looked in good nick, put the front end back on and voila! the fans work perfect! i was chuffed

The next day i changed the oil level sensor to get rid of the oil sensor workshop on the dash, and it has never returned since, jobs a good un, and i replaced the alternator belt tensioner to try fix the noise, which it did! sweet

Now the only problems are the air con compressor making a noise, which i have heard is also causing the noise of the engine and power steering, but we will see when we get to changing it.

I bought an air con compressor for £41 posted from ebay tonight, so when that comes ill see what the crack is

One other problem i have noticed is the paint on the wheels that the dealer had refurbed is chipping off and looks like a poor job, looking at them they didn't even take the tyres off to paint them.... hmm waste of £100 as i will need to get them redone at some point

Then i made a bit of a stupid mistake, I bought some black vinyl from ebay to stick to the B pillars in-between the windows as i thought it might look cool, did one side so i could compare, left it a few days so i could make my mind up

Decided i didnt like it, also, why would i want to cover up a beautiful colour anyway

Peeled it off with great care, took me about 15 minutes, and along came the laquer with it!!! DOH!!!!! so i have to get that repainted at a cost of £ but its my own fault so fair enough

Sooooooo.....

So far the list of things done/to do are:

Clean the oil..........Done
Change filters..........Done
Spark Plugs..........Done
Cooling fans..........Done
Oil Level Sensor..........Done
Air Con Compressor..........Purchased but not yet done
Power Steering...........Hopefully connected to Air con (i have heard stories of other people with the same problems)
Wheels repainting..........Not yet done
B pillar repainting..........Not yet done

I still think it is a diamond in the rough, and with a bit of love and attention it will be as good, if not better than other R32's out there, theres not much else that can break on it

Knowing i am coming up to the point where the car is running sweet, i decided to look elsewhere for a few mods

Last Wednesday i forked out £525 for a Milltek Non Res Cat Back including fitting from the one and only Awesome
They will give me a ring when it comes in stock this week, can't wait!!!
Will post pics/videos when done, even though most of you know what they are like anyway

Tonight i purchased a neuspeed short shifter for £47 from ebay, came from a cupra R, but i believe they are the same
Will post pics when i get it

Oh and one more mod that i did that i forgot to mention, i went round the car with cardboard, tape and vaseline to get rid of creaks and rattles, filling in holes and noisy bits sounds like a solid new car