MK3 Golf CL

[volksmanharry]

Question Re: the immobilizer chip;

Did imported Australian Mk3's ever actually have immobilizers fitted? It cost me ~$100 to have the ignition key cut, and I want to have the switchblades cut too so I don't need two keys. Will these keys work fine without a chip or will that immobilize the car?

Cheers

[Smeeeb]

Only VR6s did.

[camhaz]

CL's have a chip in the key. Split the key open and you will see it.

[volksmanharry]

I know the key has a chip in it, I've seen it and that's why it cost so much to have it cut. But I want to know if I use the just the blade without the chip will the car start? And the chip's glued in pretty firmly and I don't want to risk mutilating the key just to trial the ignition without the chip..

[camhaz]

The car will start but will only run for about one second before stopping.

[volksmanharry]

Been a while since I've posted anything, but time for a little update.

Got my hands on some aftermarket angel-eye style headlights from Max on here, distasteful to some I know but in my opinion they suit the silver and look better than the stock single chambers. Sorry for the crappy iPhone pics in advance btw.



Ordered some personalised plates too as you can see, nothing to match the car but my reasoning was that these plates I can have for the rest of my life and transfer on to all my future cars.

I also picked up a rear door handle thanks to Max's part out, to delete the passenger side keyhole and get rid of the el-cheapo ebay item I had in place.

After browsing the forums a fair bit more, I came to realise that while I thought the Golf looked cool, lowering it a bit would be a huge improvement. Considering I'm still in school and my budget reflects this greatly my only option was ordering JOM coilovers, the cheapest I could find from eBay. All the reviews I had read about them led me to believe that the ride quality wasn't incredibly bad and I could get a fair bang for my buck in the lows department. So on Anzac day holiday I got stuck in to removing the old struts and putting the news ones in. Didn't take any pics during the process as I myself saw the million and one DIY's all over the internet, but took a few before and after shots.

Before


After Installation


As you can see, the spoiler had to come off just to back out of the shed, so I decided to go for a drive around the block to test the ride quality. Well, I immediately drove back into the shed to wind the front up about 3cm, after feeling like I was driving over a never-ending railway crossing and scraping on all four corners of my block.

After winding up


As you can see, I lost a centre cap driving to school the following day so decided to take them all off until I find some other wheels, the Advanti cheapos had lost their appeal to me anyways.

I also found my paintcode after stripping the boot completely only to find it whilst changing the headlights -____- and bought a can of the silver to repaint my front grille.

After disassembly


After painting


A big mistake I made was not replacing the bushings for the front struts. For the first week or so the ride was great, but now it's almost as bad as when the car was lowered that extra 3cm. Is this telling me the bushings have gone and I need to replace them with VR6 heavy duty ones or is it simply the springs settling or something similar?

I also found a cheap set of wheels locally that I can get VW centre caps for - that won't fall off! Just waiting to get new tyres and will then get them balanced and have an alignment done at the same time.

[Water Boy]

Good work!

[i'm dubbin it]

good work man, keep the photos coming.

[Surfpig]

looks a tonne better!

[Smeeeb]

Please scrape mud flaps, would be so dope.