Bora R32 Build Thread

[beale187]

Long time coming (and expected to take a long time to finish!) but it's time to switch the "pipes and slippers" Bora 4motion into a ball tearing Bora R32.

So I picked up this beast about a year ago after my previous 4motion was written off. One owner, very clean besides some slotted rotors and the Evolo alloys she's stock.




In stock:
Oettinger body kit
Forge R32 CAI
R32 brushed aluminium trim
Bora 4motion (donor vehicle, long story)
BBE 3'' exhaust with Magnaflow R32 style muffler and twin pipes

Yet to get:
R32 donor
Coilovers
Suspension refresh kit
Wheels (undecided yet but leaning towards some Oettinger RZ's)
Dieselgeek shorter shifter
Time, tools and knowledge to do the job!


So the first thing I thought I'd get onto was the horrible woodgrain trim. I managed to source some brushed aluminium trim from the UK out of a 5door GTI 20th anniversary.



Here's a tip for anyone looking to remove a MK4 stereo without the removal tool. Cut up an old ATM card, works perfectly!



With that out of the way it was time to strip the lower end of the dash to remove the radio cage.



For anyone doing a similar swap the radio cage side trims can be removed by doing the following.



There is 4 pins on the backside of the trim. 3 pins have lip which clip into small claw on the radio cage. The pin without the lip locks in behind a tab. You can try bending the tab but I found it easier to insert a small screwdriver at the back of the radio cage and push the pin up to clear the tab. Once clear gently slide the side trim towards the bottom of the cage.



Other than that everything just clips straight in.

Before:


After:


Now onto the doors. Started at the rear passenger door, removed the door card and changed the handle / speaker assembly complete, unfortunately I busted one of the plastic clips on the back doing this.

So rather than risking breaking any more clips I found to change the inner door handles only you can do the following.

1. Remove the door card
2. Unhook the cable attached to the handle.
3. Extend the handle as far back as it will go
4. Pull it downwards and the top of the handle will pop out, then pull it up and the bottom will come out. Then just wiggle the spring out. Installation is reverse.





The inner door grabs simply pop on and off with a flat blade which is inserted at the lower edge.

Before:



After:

[RolfGolf]

That's some great cosmetic progress right there - the brushed aluminium really gives the interior a lift. Looking forward to seeing how this progresses!

[Schalke04]

I’ve got short shifters for sale if you’re interested, pm me of you want more details

[beale187]

That's some great cosmetic progress right there - the brushed aluminium really gives the interior a lift. Looking forward to seeing how this progresses!

Start with the easy stuff first

[beale187]

I’ve got short shifters for sale if you’re interested, pm me of you want more details

thanks mate but I actually pulled the trigger of the Dieselgeek kit last week.

[beale187]

Not much happened over the weekend, usual domestic crap got in the way. I did however take delivery of this, ladies and gents welcome to the place where MK4's come to die... My backyard haha

[thestu]

Sub'd

This is juicy!!!

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[jmcc]

This looks pretty promising! can you fit the r32 front and rear bumper to it?

[RolfGolf]

Always sad to see a Mk4 R32 getting scrapped - what's the damage to it? (Front looks to be in good shape ...)

[beale187]

This looks pretty promising! can you fit the r32 front and rear bumper to it?

Yes AND No. I'm planning on sticking with the Bora front and rear but I'll be fitting my Oettinger body kit. But it is possible to fit the R32 bumper but it would require either modding the top half of the bar cover OR changing bonnet, grill, guards, headlights, loom (xenon) to Golf ones. On the rear although the width across the boot is the same I don't think the depth is (the distance between the rear of the boot to where it meets the qtr panel) because of the Bora's longer trunk. This would also mean you have to get the R32 zhorst or similar as well to match the bar cover.