Emad's MK4 GTI

[ybkopa]

Hello, this is my 2003 MK4 Golf GTI. It is my first car and something I don't plan on selling... unless someone were to offer a GT3RS :cool:. It was purchased on the 29th of May, 2020 with around 178,000 km's. It was mostly a stock car except for a JOM-style front lip, muffler delete and a set of 18" CSA Hotwire's (yuck). Here are some mediocre photos of when I first got it.




Shortly after purchasing it I had purchased a set of crystal smoked/red taillights from the UK. Here's a photo of the car on a trip down south, much lower with all the weight in the boot lol.


The next thing on the list was to paint match the front lip. Luckily I have a brother who works at a smash repair shop who painted it for me.


I was never a huge fan of the wheels the car came on especially the condition they were in and the paint was peeling but I was still hunting for some wheels. In the mean time I decided to get them re-sprayed in a Honda 'Tiger Eye Pearl'.



Not too long later I came across a set of 3pc SSR Alcyber's. They weren't in the best condition with two lips that had a lot of curb rash but it was a great deal. They also came with all 4 centre caps!

The specs are 17x7.5 +44 and 17x8.5 +44 and unfortunately they're '5x114.3'. When I decided to take them apart, I found the barrel and lip were welded which meant taking it to a local mob who sorted it out for me. This was around September I had the wheels taken apart and I placed an order for 2.5" lips from threepieceus which till this day I am waiting for :( (24/12/2021). Complementary barrel on barrel photo!


Time went on and I decided to get some new plates.


A few weeks later and I had my first incident whilst the car was parked at university. The y-piece connecting to the expansion tank decided to piss everywhere. Thankfully Seb from EuroRevolution sold me a replacement whilst I ordered a set of flanges from iABED -- which only took 3 days to arrive from Canada! Faster than getting express post from Sydney to Perth and it was the same price. :cookie:



TargaWest 2021 had come around which meant to put a high-vis shirt on and volunteer as an official. Here's a photo of the car at the Bullsbrook stage.


It is now October of 2021 and I finally pulled the trigger on a coilover setup. I opted for a set of ST XA coilovers. Now the car looks much nicer and feels much better.


Shortly after installing the coilovers I had parcel's coming from everywhere! A Littco L280 setup from the UK, 034 motorsport mounts + intake spacer from the US. CNC machined aluminium, adjustable top mounts from Russia. JustEngineering 'stage 1' tubular control arms from Canada. Reconditioned Saab Red injectors from Latvia and a ported manifold from Gavin.


Now because I haven't spent enough money on the car in the past few months, I decided to purchase another set of wheels. This time it was a set of OZ Racing Superturismo's from a GC8 WRX Version 6 (yay 5x100). It was for a good price and I couldn't say no -- same with my other set of wheels, there's plenty of issues with fitment. First of all it has a 1mm smaller hub so I'll have to get that machined sometime unless someone can recommend a DIY method? It could do with a paint refresh and the lug holes are only M12. I have ordered a set of M14 -> M12 studs which I'll run unless it's better to just get them re-drilled?


More presents arrived, this time a set of Ocean Tails from Germany! This set took 2 months to arrive but that's okay because it looks much cleaner. I'll be rocking these set of taillights until another set of taillights arrive soon ;)


There was a few days left till 'Day of Volkswagen' and I wanted to take the car to its first show. So that meant taking some parts out of storage and doing some work. First up was getting my AGN valve cover painted. Originally I planned on having it in a polished finish but I might have to leave that for another one!

I decided to paint it in a Lexus RC350 tricoat red metallic.


At the same time I also decided to get my side skirts painted. A few months prior I had ordered a kit from Switch Happy Euro in the UK which has been sitting in the shed for a while now. I went for a GLI Jetta front lip, 25th rear anniversary and side skirts. The front & rear valance will get painted sometime soon once I get my bumpers + bonnet resprayed with the new FK badgless grille ;)


The side skirts were installed 1AM the night before the show. Sikaflex was used with some screws on each end. I'm not too happy with how it's done but it'll do for now, at least they line up with the body fairly good!

Here's a photo of the car parked up at 'Day of Volkswagen'. Thanks to Horsepower Inc for the great shot!


Show was done and dusted, some nice cars rolled up, my favourite being Phil from Eurospec's 1.8T swapped VW Up that's a little too fast :emo_baghead:

Boxing day sales started and Coolerworx had some great deals that I couldn't resist. So I bought a short shifter!


Unforunately I can't upload any more photos so I'll end the first post here!

I think for now I'm done buying stuff and maybe I should actually install my pile of parts onto the car :rolleyes:

[ybkopa]

A few days ago my parcel from Japan arrived. Been waiting for about 2 months now but it's well worth the wait!


First up we've got a set of stubby mirrors with blue tinted glass. I saw a catalogue on Yahoo Auctions so I added that to the order too

I also managed to get some R32 xenon's for a very good price, unfortunately they were picked from two different cars. One is in a very good condition with no visible defects. The other headlight has got some rubbish in the lens and as seen in the third picture the housing needs to be re-finished.

[ybkopa]

I had some free time to get another part installed and this time it was a fuel pump. I'm not shooting for crazy power so I decided to stick with an OEM unit so I got a brand new Pierburg unit for a fairly decent price.


I don't think there was any issues with the fuel pump that was in the car but I thought might as well replace it before the car gets tuned

[beale187]

Emad welcome brother, great write up so far and some very tasteful mods you got going on here.

[ybkopa]

Emad welcome brother, great write up so far and some very tasteful mods you got going on here.

Thanks Michael, I appreciate it

Some more updates. I've drained the coolant system and started installing the coolant flanges, thermostat + housing etc;. I've also taken off the intake manifold which will be sanded and then polished. Thanks to my younger brother who is putting in the work whilst I'm at work

[ybkopa]

Some more progress! Today I removed the downpipe, the intake and intercooler piping to the turbo. The turbo is nearly removed with the top exhaust manifold bolts out and only the bottom ones left (they're a pain to get to). While I had the downpipe removed I thought I'd tackle the shifter as it was a much easier job.

Required a bit of modification to make it fit but it's nice and snug! Looks awesome

[dylan8]

I like where this is going.

get the centre bore opened correctly. good way to ruin a set of wheels by hacking at it.
alternatively, the OZ are prob weak offset. so running some 20mm+ spacers you could carefully step the centre bore down to suit the wheels.

Keen to see how you find the coolerworx shifter, looking at an alternative for my mk3

[ybkopa]

I like where this is going.

get the centre bore opened correctly. good way to ruin a set of wheels by hacking at it.
alternatively, the OZ are prob weak offset. so running some 20mm+ spacers you could carefully step the centre bore down to suit the wheels.

Keen to see how you find the coolerworx shifter, looking at an alternative for my mk3

Yeah I'm definitely not DIY'ing them. Maybe if they were some cheap wheels but I don't want to risk it.

Can't tell you how the coolerworx shifter is so far as the car is still on stands but it does feel weird to pull a lever up then go into reverse

[ybkopa]

I've progressed a bit further into the build. Unfortunately I just don't have much time but I try to get a few hours of wrenching when I can.

The new turbo is in alongside the ported manifold. Unfortunately I had the engine mount still in and there was very little space to get the turbo out and in. So my valve cover is scratched up but once the engine mount was removed, it was so much easier.



The intake manifold is still a work in progress. I honestly see why people just paint it, what an absolute ****e job. I'm going to temporarily run the manifold as is and continue getting it polished later as I need the car out the garage.



I'll be driving the car for a few weeks, making sure there is no leaks and also get the timing belt + water pump replaced then it gets tuned!

[ybkopa]

The Littco L280 TIP is huge, I had no choice but to cut the metal coolant pipe that was in the way and instead used some hose.

After that issue was tackled, all that was left was to do was connect all the remaining hoses. Primed the turbo and then fired the car up after a month of it sitting. Didn't notice any leaks other than the turbo coolant return line which was fixed.

I couldn't take it for a drive as the car wasn't going into reverse. I guess it's something to do with my Coolerworx shifter install. I did have a quick read and apparently the shifter cables can be "locked in" which I did not do...