LJ - 20v 1.8T newbie

Look out here's another newbie in DBS


It's got 103k on the clock.
Full black leather interior, winter pack, heated seats, a/c, 6disc changer, Monaco alloys,

Had: full service last feb, and in the book: new alternator, starter motor, Cambelt, a/c recharge, rear disks and pads.

Been back into dealer to have throttle body cleaned and ecu wiring checked ALS epc/abs lights kept flashing up 4weeks in

Jobs to do: fix near side door lock switch, near side rear reading light unit. Fix center arm rest hinge..

Jobs done so far:
Fixed rattling in dash and checked wiring and all fuses. Fixed glovebox light wiring.

Checked and refitted heated seat controls and ESP switch
Also had no interior dash lights, so cleaned contacts on dimmer switch, all ok now


Dead pedal covers fitted (new mats now fitted from dealership)


Bought locking genuine VW roof bars, for trips to Cornwall


Bought some crystal indicator lenses and diadem bulbs



Looks much better now


Fitted bright white LED bulb kit: interior vanity mirrors, mirror, reading lights, puddle lights...
... One of which had got a bit hot..



Found a friend...


Planned mods: lower on coilovers, 18's (haven't found any I like yet or at a good price), gimp mask/bra, gauge pod and gauges, audi tt pedals and interior goodies, forge rec/atmos dump valve, new maf sensor, induction kit, cat back exhaust, remap....
All when funds allow... In no rush, so a bit a little bit at a time..

Tiiiidy! :-)

Cool

Bought this for 40notes off eBay ..

Rhd version of Bernt pod only seen these as Lhd USA version ...
Just need to order up gauges from new south performance to match the Oem gauges ..

Going to take a mould of this gauge pod before I fit it. Ordering gauges today

just a couple of bits done at the mo...

Replaced the tired grey leather gator


replaced the centre armrest leather to match and repaired the centre armrest hinge.

held with lots of staples..


broken hinge


inside of armrest when top taken off


Foam underneath leather


New hinge



top of new leather fitted well around the front


finished result


(looks closer to the original black leather of the seats in normal light..)

Good work!

Neat stuff! Out of interest who supplied the covers? I could be tempted for the guff.

ebay

(I'll find the link in a sec)

I got them from here.
prompt delivery too..

topgaiters

Sweet - ill make enquiries when my bank allows...


...off topic, anything worth configuring/setting up while I'm playing with the MacBook Pro?

needed to replace some bulbs as not bright enough and then near side sidelight blew and also the off side dipped beam went within a day during the heavy rain.

got these as bogof offer on. was going to order some osrams, maybe next time.


much better now

I like to see what's happening in the engine bay, and all that you get are idiot lights telling you when it's broken.

So started on my gauge install on sunday evening.

bought some R-Spec stepper gauges.


boost, water temp and oil temp. (will add oil pressure in future)

ordered up water temp sender adapter 30mm (1 3/16") for the top radiator hose.


to be installed here:


so cut hose in half, drained some coolant into suitable container below. then measured up size of adapter to insert and cut some more off the hose.
Used some teflon tape on the thread of the water temp sensor and fitted to adapter adapter, and put adapter into radiator hose. A pain to fit due to batt and power steering hose in the way, but once in secured with hose clips. refilled coolant reservoir to correct level and ran engine to temp to remove air bubbles in system. checked for leaks etc..
job done


Next is the boost gauge sender:
Tapped into the boost line from the manifold with a T-piece.(looks too big, but there is 12mm in the pipe.)


runs up to sensor via a inline filter. Installed sensor up behind the air box/MAF sensor out of the way.


Next task was to run the cables from the sensors into the cab.

so took apart the top of the dash and removed the inner dash panels to look for a suitable location/grommet to run the cable through. I didn't want to drill anything.

left hand side: potential to run alongside the ECU loom and into the engine bay, but it was too tight a fit. It would also mean removing air box and ecu bits the engine bay. no thanks.

but whilst there the pollen filter needed a little clean

and around the ECU...


Drivers side was then checked. a bit cleaner



found that the rubber grommet had lots of room left, so opened up a new hole in it to feed the cables through.

this also is easy to get to in the engine bay.


ran the oil temp cable at the same time and cable tied them along an existing trunking to the boost and water temp sensors.


oil temp cable secured out of the way for the moment.


next jobs:
installing oil temp sensor via a sandwich adaptor on the filter
prepping and painting gauge pod.
wiring in gauges and fitting up

Nice progress Dude

ordered up one of these today



Stealth-black sandwich plate adaptor 3/4 UNF 16

will arrive saturday ready to fit up the oil temp sender.

Got lots done today!!
Oil change and new oil filter
This arrived so fitted oil temp gauge sender

Also replace pollen filter as it needed doing. Prob the first time it's been done!
Nice new one in


As dash was apart made a small spray booth and sanded and primed the gauge pod

About 3 coats

Then applied 3 top coats


Took the rest of the drivers side dash out and made a loom for the gauges.
Took power from x75 and 30. Earthed to main earth point under steering column


Fitted gauges and connected all wiring up. Then put whoe of dash back together
Here's the result


And some video of them working

All tested today. No oil water or boost leaks. Operating temps are good.

the gauges look cool dude

Looking trick Dude

Done a few more bits to this in the new year.

First on the list was to sort the random alarm going off every time it rains!

Problem located to the rear centre brake light in the boot. All lose and the seal was not doing it's job. A common fault apparently.

So removed the inside trim, centre brake light and all of the locking mechanism.






all of the parts removed ready to be cleaned..


Found the culprit connection/sensor wire in the rear lock.


All cleaned and rebuilt. rear lens re-sealed to the body. job done!

Then I won a bonnet bra off the bay (from an evvo member)


As a daily driver, my attempt to reduce the amount of stone chips from the A370/A30/M5!

or slow red Golfs??

Two weeks ago, I had to park the car opposite the house... as my drive was blocked by another car..

the result.. is some twat hit it and drove off.



not happy. wasn't as bad as it looked. most polished out, but has gone through to the plastic in places..

Mr Scoops wrote:

or slow red Golfs??

with drivers in flat caps!!

Next... something came up on ebay that I've been hunting since I bought the newbie...

Mille Miglia cup 3/twists 18" 8J Porsche reps in 5x100 pcd et35 to bolt straight on!!!

As rare as hens teeth!!!!!

I bought them within 2 hours and picked them up from south wales the next day!



just been professionally cleaned, blasted and refurbished 6 months ago for £315 and had new tires on then. so have over 6-8mm tread all round.. WIN WIN!

215/40/18 front and 225/40/18 rears

Tried to make them blend in with the lounge so Mrs T didn't get upset...



but got busted by the new suspension that arrived the next day..