::WINNER:: August Car of the Month :: DocWalt
When I bought my GTI I had been riding my motorcycle or driving my dad's old Pickup. I drove my brother's base model Golf when he first started driving and I really enjoyed hammering on it. I decided to look for my own and as we know, we can't let our younger brother out do us, so it had to be the GTI
I had been searching Craigslist for a while, finding lots of really crappy cars, but I finally stumbled on the GTI I bought in mid-state NY. I spoke to the seller and he seemed to know his stuff (turns out he didn't, but oh well) so I drove up that weekend to buy it. Everything checked out, no rust at all, but a pretty terrible front end and completely blown front suspension. I drove the 5-ish hours home and laughed the whole way as I bounced and skipped down the road.
Over the next couple of weeks I got parts together and fixed everything that was initially wrong with it, including headlights that didn't work, broken exhaust, the blown suspension was replaced, etc. I drove the car for a few months until I started losing coolant as a massive rate...
I didn't realize it, but all of my coolant was disappearing into the oil. I replaced the head with a known good one and it came with some mild cams... So started the mod bug and I haven't been cured yet!
My current engine build is:
2.1L stroker using diesel crankshaft
Cast 10:1 pistons (essentially stock with the pin bore moved up 2mm)
OEM 16V rods
Ported & Polished 2.0 16V head
TT 288* cams
Ferrea Intake & Supertech exhaust, both .5mm oversized and undercut stems
TT HD valve springs
Lightweight lifters
ARP head studs and rod bolts
Supersprint Stainless Tri-Y header
High Flow cat with TT 2.25" stainless catback
Modified factory airbox with K&N filter
ABD Intake tube
Euro 50mm intake manifold
Megasquirt 2 on a 3.57 board with some mods for my setup, MSExtra firmware
VW G60 injectors (265cc stock @ 3bar, ~280cc @ 3.5bar on my setup) @ 100% IDC (I need new injectors...)
Rebuilt 2Y GTI trans with Peloquin torsen LSD, "diesel" 5th gear for cruising MPG on the highway (and less drone)
Suspension/Brakes:
KW Variant 1 coilovers
ST Swaybars
Mk3 10.1" brakes, Carbotech AX6 pads for track use
Enkei RPF1 15x7 wheels
Interior:
Recaro SR-D driver seat, Recaro LX-B passenger seat
Kenwood HU with Infinity front speakers and Polk rears
ABD trim, including shift knob and extended pedal covers
AEM UEGO wideband
VDO Oil Pressure gauge
OEM floor mats
Helios cluster (gauge cluster from a rare special edition Jetta GLI, tach reads to 8000 RPM and is a direct plug and play for late model GTIs)
Awards:
Some stuff at NG that was awarded because it looks like a POS
I've had some cars that many people consider "fun" but nothing puts a smile on my face like this GTI on some back roads. I've had some fantastic times and met lots of great people, but I've also wanted to set it on fire a few times...
