48 replies to this topic

[Andy]

Also looked at lanogaurd to do mine as it gete good reviews

[ritey]

Impressive rebuild, I fear the cost of all those replacement parts. Time to re-mortgage and start mine soon I think 

[Gti Fly]

Great work on the DIY resto project.

Protecting the underbody is a great idea .

Never heard of lanoguard before this, so I googled it. Apparently it is made from sheep products and it therefore smells of sheep?! One forum thread said that the smell of it can attract rodents?! Dunno how true that is,. What are your comments on it now you've used it ?!!!

[dsgnr]

Ha, so I live in the middle of the countryside, surrounded by farms. The smell is very similar to a farmy type smell, but this only lasts for a couple of hours whilst its wet - left it overnight and the smell was gone. I would recommend putting clothes on that you don't wish to wear again though. The overspray you get sticks to everything, and I cant quite get the stickiness out with a normal wash.

 

The car is now back on the ground. But after 10 litres of brake fluid, ABS bleeds, everything bled, I still have very little pedal and hardly any stopping power. The rear discs look like they're making contact as the discs have pad on them, but the front discs haven't been touched at all. So I'm pretty sure the front callipers have had it (they're past their best).

 

So I think it might be time to just replace the whole lot instead of servicing them.

[VelovetAndy]

That suggests that the front caliper is all but seized. Odd that both are . Take a front caliper off, pop a block of wood between piston and the opposite side , but with a small gap and gently press the pedal. You will soon know if the piston is moving .

Oh, my Lanoguard arrived this morning. Thanks for the tip about clothing. When I come to use it I will press my worst set of overalls into service and then write them off .

[dsgnr]

Yeah, both front callipers definitely not moving at all.

 

New callipers are on back order so I'm gonna get those ordered up - The price difference of a rebuild kit + time vs new callipers probably isn't that different anyway.

 

So whilst I'm waiting, I have the comfort blinker retrofit to do, fit the new battery box and fix a slight blow in the exhaust at the join from the mid pipe to the cat to sort out. 

[dsgnr]

The car is now off the axle stands, but on the first attempt at moving the car off the drive, I noticed there was no brake pedal. The rear pads were biting a small amount, but the front callipers weren’t compressing at all.

 

Upon investigation of pipework, just to make sure I wasn’t leaking etc, I noticed there was a split at the check valve on the vacuum pipe running from the brake servo to the intake manifold.

 

Replacing this, didn’t fix the issue (I thought it would have at least an improvement), so the car was raised back up on the axle stands, and even more brake fluid was purchased. At first, I thought there was an issue with either the callipers or the master cylinder. However, after doing the VCDS output tests, then another few rounds of the ABS bleed procedure, the front callipers were finally biting. Only after 16 litres of brake fluid purging…

 

[dsgnr]

Now I actually have brakes, the car is ready! Last final things I did were fit a new coolant bottle to replace the old one, and fitted the new battery cover trim that I purchased at the start of this project.

 

I will be giving the car a full decontamination wash to remove many months of grime before booking the car in for an MOT which is now due. The engine bay will also be given a good clean and dressing.

 

I also ordered some electrical terminal removal tools, but they were very poor and wouldn’t work with the VW system, so I’ve purchased some proper ones and just waiting for those so I can fit the comfort turn signal relay.

 

[Gti Fly]

I must be the only person in the world that fitted the comfort module relay and hated it ! The mk4's stalk doesn't have the same feeling as later Mk5 onwards cars. Something to do with the microswitches or springing, can't remember exactly!

[dsgnr]

I must be the only person in the world that fitted the comfort module relay and hated it ! The mk4's stalk doesn't have the same feeling as later Mk5 onwards cars. Something to do with the microswitches or springing, can't remember exactly!

It's one of the things I missed going from the MK5 R32 to the MK4. If it's a bit awkward to use, I'll just remove it and sell it on.

 

new PS4's, wheel alignment (Hunter) and MOT is booked for Friday. It'll be its maiden voyage and it looks like the weather will be nice too! 

[dsgnr]

The car went in for its MOT today! This was the first time driving the car further than my driveway, and the front alignment was so far out, I had to turn the ESP off so the ABS didn't kick in on the fronts. On the drive, I was listening out for unexpected noises and it all seemed to be fine! I really do rate the B14's. I thought the ride would be significantly harder than before, especially since I have all new bushes and some were also polyurethane. The firmness is more or less the same as stock and isn't crashy at all. It did put a smile on my face.

 

The Lucifer system all the way through is really nice. It's pretty loud when you floor it, but standard driving round town it's pretty sedate with some more hints of the R32 burble.

 

The MOT expired in January, and had been off the road for the last 7ish months - it did get the Covid MOT extension, which was pretty wasted on me since the car was off the road anyway! Of course, the whole car is brand new and went through with flying colours. All the mechanics were under the car taking photos and asking me questions about the "journey".

 

The car was also treated to new Michelin PS4's all round and a wheel alignment.

 

Unfortunately only the front wheels could really be aligned. It looks like I really need to get some rear adjustable control arms since the rear camber is 3 degrees out, and the toe is a little out as well. I think the rear could come down a little lower so its more inline with the front.

 

Overall, I think the car sits nice, and it'll be even better when I get the height sorted all round. I definitely think I need some spacers on the rear, but I cant decide on whether to go for 20 or 25mm on the rear. I would also like to get the back box lined up correctly. The off-side pipe seems to sit in more and I spent a considerable amount of time trying to get it to line up! Once lockdown is over, I'll be booking the car in for a remap (probably with Stealth).

 

Anyway, here's where we're at today! The car was treated to a Bilt Hamber Auto Foam, Valet Pro Citrus and Tar remover (to remove any Lanoguard overspray), Iron X Fallout Remover, and also a quick single stage with my DA and a green pad with Menzerna 3800.

 

Edited by dsgnr, 06 March 2021 - 08:58 AM.

[VelovetAndy]

Excellent work and it looks stunning.

[MagnusV6TT]

Stunning

[Bertie74]

It looks amazing. All that hard work has paid off..you should be proud.

[dsgnr]

Thanks! Yeah, I'm not really driving it at the moment, just because I don't want to tear the new rubber too much. I'll be getting some adjustable arms toward the end of the month, I just cant decide on the Cookbot over the Forge ones. I know Forge's reputation and their customer service is second to none, but quite a lot of people seem to be running the Cookbots as well!

 

I need to purchase some decent density foam pads for the interior - the new bushings coupled with the exhaust now resonates a good amount at low revs (mainly when pulling away)   The exhaust itself isn't that loud, I was really expecting it to be really really loud. I'd say it's still quieter than my old MK5 was which only had the non-res Milltek cat-back!

 

Overall though, the car feels pretty solid and I'm sure with the alignment fixed at the rear, it'll feel even better! Almost in time for lockdown to be over so I can take it out!! 

[Gti Fly]

Do you still have the spare wheel replacement big black foam moulding fitted ? That absorbs lots of exhaust back box noise. If not, stick it back in ?

[dsgnr]

Do you still have the spare wheel replacement big black foam moulding fitted ? That absorbs lots of exhaust back box noise. If not, stick it back in ?

There's literally nothing under the boot floor unfortunately. I had thought about purchasing a steel spare wheel for emergencies but haven't gone any further than just thinking about it so far lol

[Gti Fly]

U can stick some sound deadening mat there. The same stuff you stick to car doors when building speakers etc. That made a big difference to my cars road noise and exhaust noise

[dsgnr]

U can stick some sound deadening mat there. The same stuff you stick to car doors when building speakers etc. That made a big difference to my cars road noise and exhaust noise

I think I might have some dynomat left over from when I was doing some stuff on my MK5 that I could probably stick in there.

 

A lot of the resonation is coming from the dash area unfortunately. I think the middle vent toward the windscreen is the culprit. Holding it down seems to do the trick at least. 

 

I gotta change the discs and pads on my other car at the weekend (6R Polo) since that's due its MOT at the end of the month as well, so I doubt i'll get anything more done on the 32 for a few weeks.

 

I ordered the hardware required for the rear adjustable arm bits from TPS when I picked up the discs and pads for the Polo, but actually ordering the arms will need to wait till payday unfortunately.

Edited by dsgnr, 09 March 2021 - 03:23 PM.