GTI gets pwnd by SmokinDav - MKV inside

I'm just following my muse. I'm not really sure how I've ended up in this place. But I do know what I like, and what I like is variety. It is like being able to date whoever you want, whenever you want without the pressure of having to find the perfect girl and settle down. You get to remain the carefree car bachelor forever!

My very first car was a hot hatchback, a 1984 Honda CRX 1.5L and it's seems I'm circling back towards the fun to drive small cars. It may turn out that I'm not going back far enough as the 2004-2009 VW GTI MKV cars could possibly be too heavy and not fun as well.

If you've followed some of my antics over the years on corner-carversdotcom you might remember the E36 M3, the '97 Mustang Cobra, the '00 Porsche 911 and most recently the '14 Mustang GT - all of these cars were run at track days by me. Road America, Mid-America Motorplex, Watkins Glen, NOLA Motorsports Park, Texas World Speedway.

Now I've gotten bored with the '14 Mustang GT, plus I'm trying to cut down on the budget and run something a little cheaper as we are moving towards buying a beach condo for a fun investment. And now for the introduction:

2007 Volkswagen GTI 6-speed manual. Also known as the Mark 5 (as in 5th generation) or MKV for short. Quick specs are 200hp 2.0L direct injection turbo charged 4-cylinder, open differential :( , 3,100 pounds, which seems way too heavy. She's going to have to go on a diet.

First thing is to find out if the thing can stay cool and not over heat at the Texas tracks in the summer. If it can't stay cool in stock form it's gone.

Pictures - I pick it up Saturday.

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Brief update - I pick the car up tomorrow (yesterday). As part of the deal the seller has replaced the windshield. The car does have some things that I want to address fairly soon.

The most important of these will be a fluid changeover (except coolant as it is new). So a trip to O'Reilly's was in order. $100 later we have a bunch of work to do.

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Rotella 5w-40 fully synthetic. Magic VW power steering fluid (hello feedback! Forget electric power steering). 75W-90 synthetic gear oil. Motul RBF600 brake fluid. And some cleaning products - wheel cleaner and engine degreaser.

Another neat aspect of this car is that it will probably be my son's in a few years. He's 13 and just got straight A's for the semester. He also has worked very hard on his basketball game and made the 7th grade team on his own merit (unlike the kids who play football, apparently they are bowed down to and granted an automatic spot on the team. That is some Texas sized bullcrap right there). So, unless there are major kid issues in the future (and I don't see that happening) this car will be his when he turns 16.

All of which means that he will be assisting in all maintenance and modification of this car. Thankfully, because I'm getting old and my back hurts. :)

Buying cheap cars is fun because it's usually a cash deal and you get to walk around like a boss with a pocketful of Benjamins on your way to do the deal. Plus, you finally feel justified to carry your pistol.

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Dub Nation!

GTI ownership day 1

10-year old car, 135,000 miles and the engine hasn't been cleaned in - ever? Until today.

My helper and future driver of this car doing work:

Drying off the engine with a leaf blower.

Dried and ready for dressing.

All I have on hand is some interior spray so I tried it on the engine. Next time I detail the car I'll get some Griots Engine Bay Dressing or Stoner dressing.

Engine looks nice.

More work yet to do. Things need to be set right.

Door gap - why? More to follow.

Stanced, yo!

Hey, why doesn't this door line up when it's closed? What's with the gap? And, more concerning, why didn't I notice it when I was inspecting the car before purchase? Slipping....

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Ok, upon closer inspection it's not as bad as I thought. I had thought maybe the car had been hit or someone had pried open the top of the door because they locked the keys in or something. Thankfully, as you can see if you look closely, the striker plate has shifted. Now, you may also notice that this appears to be a Triple-square twelve point bolt. I have Torx, allen, regular sockets - but no triple bits. Retard Germans (yes, the GTI's were built in Germany for USA market).

My son and I were able to get it hand tight with a torx bit, but a trip to O'Reilly or Ace Hardware to look for triple square bits is on today's agenda.

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Re-aligning the striker plate and tightening it up appears to solve the door gap mystery! It was totally loose and you could move it back and forth easily.

OCD - Oh Clean Dub

Exterior cleaned. Paint looks good for 10-year old Texas car. Pretty sure it's been under a porte cachere (see example at my House) or garaged. There are a few minor paint boo boos that will be corrected with a buffer and some compound. Or wet sanded, re-cleared, polished, waxed, if needed.

Car is way too low - that will be rectified today.

Also, there are some headlight / fog light issues that must be addressed soon.....

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It was like 80F last night in Kingwood, Texas, and this morning I woke up to 35F and the pool system was in freeze protection mode! :( I didn't even know it had a freeze protection mode! Hah hah fun times with the new house.

Made a trip to O'Reilly's. Picked up 6-18mm triple square bits. Recycled some oil.

And sometimes it's just the little things that make your day. A set of $6 valve stem caps makes me smile for some reason. This is just a fun little car - even my wife likes it and she is not a fan of the hatch back look. Back seats have tons of room for the kids - 5'1" daughter, 5'4" son.

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Those wheel lug bolts have to go. Lug stud and nut conversion on the list of things to do.

While at O'Reilly I had the nice lady pull the codes. More to come on this.....

I suspect this is why the coolant is fresh? I need to look up what this OBDII code means.

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I'm pretty sure I know what this one means. Good thing I already have the special wrench I will need to swap the part....

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GTI Pwnrship day 2 - Atoning for Sins

A few things about me and how I function - I have an issue with patience - I don't have any. I also have LBST. Low Bull E36 M3 Tolerance. I also wonder sometimes if I am atoning for the previous owner's sins or my own as I work through issues. Maybe both?

Today was both an exercise in patience and also tolerance, as you will see.

Before we get started we will start at the end of the evening and the wine - you need to know that you don't have to spend a lot for a nice bottle of red wine.

Another thing you need to know is that electric stoves suck and anyone who cares about cooking and food should avoid them. I think people that buy electric stoves are generally clueless individuals that probably also drive tan Camry.

On to the GTI content. Since this car is overlowered I knew that getting it up on jack stands would be a bit of work. Normally, I would drive the car up on a couple pieces of wood but the tires on this car are so bad that all it did was spin (I think the painted floor also had something to do with it) as I tried to drive it up on the wood.

The back up plan involved the factory jack. Finally, I got it up on all four stands. Looks like a GTI exploded under my porte cachere.

With a complicated task ahead of me I will often refer to YouTube or Google or enthusiast forums for help. But changing the oil on a VW should be straight forward and without any obvious gotchas. I forgot that this is still a German car.

To remove the oil filter housing you need a 36mm socket. Why 36mm? Why not go 37mm or even 38mm? I mean, it's a plastic housing that requires almost no torque to remove or install. Perhaps it needs to be 36mm because anything smaller and it would break the plastic housing? Here's and idea, Germans, use a regular spin on filter like every normal car uses and save the cost of the housing. Dumkopfs.

So that was the first trip to O'Reilly's during this project. To buy a $11 dollar 36mm 1/2 -drive socket to remove a plastic oil filter housing.

Tolerance -

Oil changed - check. Next on the list is to raise the ride height by about 3/4" and see how it looks - the goal is level control arms. First, this WRD coilover kit is cheap, cheap, cheap. Any kit you can buy for $400 is guaranteed to come from the great land of dog eaters. I see Bilsteins in my future.

There are other issues with WRD, and also whoever installed the rears. The fronts were ok.

What do you see here? Rear adjustable spring perch that is unadjustable without taking things apart? Me too!

This is....interesting. Remember to be tolerant.

Forget that - I'm going to be intolerant of this stupidity and install the spring perch on TOP of the spring like 99 out of 100 kits do, so that it can actually be adjusted while installed on the car.

I'm pretty sure I don't need the rubber grommet on top of the spring perch, so I left them both on the workbench so I can find them easily if it turns out I done screwed up A-Aron.

Patience -

Hey, let's wrap this project up and go have dinner and that glass of nice red wine that isn't too expensive but tastes like it is.

"NO!" Said the floor jack from the year 1999. I won't jack for you anymore. Fix me.

Sorry, I don't have time for that plus it's 39F outside and I want to wrap this up. Quick phone call to O'Reilly's and I happily find out that yes, they do have low profile aluminum floor jacks, and even better they are on sale for $99.

I've always wanted one of these, so even though I had to make another trip to O'Reilly I am going to chalk that up as a WIN.

Tomorrow I will probably finish with the fluids change by doing the transmission and power steering.

After that - investigate suspected source of leaking boosts.....

Looking good! The MKV is a very nice car to live with daily. Not sure what you'll think of It on the track in comparison to your multitude of former toys.

Nice car.

Just a few comments:

I love the look of these things. I've been a VW owner before though and as I'm sure you will find out... it ain't no E36 M3. Still. Do like.

It cannot stay cool in August at TWS in stock form. That's crazy talk. It's a puffer audi/VW. They overheat after 10 laps at the glen in winter. The VW fanbois have this one dicked though - but I don't know what the actual solution is. It can't be that much money though because these guys show up in summer with extra monster energy drinks and hats with the tags still on to spare .

I used to have helpers that age. Good times! They turn to real azzholes fast. Enjoy it while it lasts. They don't come back around for a while.

Merlot? Sweet holy hell man! That is a Korn Vagon. Treat it like an Italian, expect it to act like one. This is why people think VWs are temperamental.

Looks like a fun project. A good friend of mine had one of these that was a blast, but had some issues. Apparently the subframe bolts loosen up and cause a suspension knocking sound? They're also some ridiculous design. I remember him having to replace them with a more standard looking bolt.

smokindav wrote: 3,100 pounds, which seems way too heavy. She's going to have to go on a diet.

There's close to 100lbs to be found in passat/tiguan aluminum control arms and uprights.

The subframe bolts stretch. It's a known problem. There's a fix.

cmcgregor wrote: Looks like a fun project. A good friend of mine had one of these that was a blast, but had some issues. Apparently the subframe bolts loosen up and cause a suspension knocking sound? They're also some ridiculous design. I remember him having to replace them with a more standard looking bolt.

It's on the list. I'm bummed, though because there are 3 MKI Audi TT's for parts on Craigs, but I need a MKII. :(

red_stapler wrote:

smokindav wrote: 3,100 pounds, which seems way too heavy. She's going to have to go on a diet.

There's close to 100lbs to be found in passat/tiguan aluminum control arms and uprights.

I'll let you know. If it don't stay cool it's gone! I don't want to mess around re-engineering the whole car when there's plenty of others that will stay cool at TWS in the summer time.

First shake down will be in January at MSR Houston. Not hot weather, but will still give me an idea about the stock calipers (with track pads) and stock cooling.

Huckleberry wrote: Nice car. Just a few comments: I love the look of these things. I've been a VW owner before though and as I'm sure you will find out... it ain't no E36 M3. Still. Do like. It cannot stay cool in August at TWS in stock form. That's crazy talk. It's a puffer audi/VW. They overheat after 10 laps at the glen in winter. The VW fanbois have this one dicked though - but I don't know what the actual solution is. It can't be that much money though because these guys show up in summer with extra monster energy drinks and hats with the tags still on to spare . I used to have helpers that age. Good times! They turn to real azzholes fast. Enjoy it while it lasts. They don't come back around for a while. Merlot? Sweet holy hell man! That is a Korn Vagon. Treat it like an Italian, expect it to act like one. This is why people think VWs are temperamental.

I was chasing my buddies for awhile with their 500hp Corvettes. But, at some point you just have to be happy with a speed and then work around in that area developing the car and your own skill. There will always be a faster car/driver - being happy with me station in life is a personal goal that I am working towards. I think I'm almost there.....

84FSP wrote: Looking good! The MKV is a very nice car to live with daily. Not sure what you'll think of It on the track in comparison to your multitude of former toys.

36mm socket? I thought that was a bmw thing. Stupid mini.

cmcgregor wrote: Apparently the subframe bolts loosen up and cause a suspension knocking sound? They're also some ridiculous design.

The idea being that you can shift the subframe to correct camber / caster issues since the strut is clamped into the upright/steering knuckle instead of bolting to it.

Those 12 point bolts for the door catch back out on ever VW that I have ever seen. Also if you are getting a clicking noise check the ones that hold the door stop in place at the front of the door 90% of them are loose and they creak and pop for it.

Last day of work for 2016 - at the office. Very cold and windy in Houston, but sun is out.

I have a few days this week with nothing to do except golf and play with the GTI.

I find it best if I maintain momentum on a project or soon I just grow complacent and accept things that I should not accept.

So, the punch list for this week:

• Transmission oil change - tonight
• Clean, dust, vacuum, windows - interior
• Wheel lug bolt to stud conversion
• When VAGCOM arrives, work on clearing codes
• Investigate intercooler inlet and outlet hoses for previous owner sins/shenanigans
• Attempt to remove a few clear coat scrapes with rubbing/polishing compound
• Fix lumbar adjuster, driver's seat
• Pull nail from RR tire and plug

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• Fix 3-ton floor jack
• Bleed brakes, new fluid, Motul RBF600
• Re-attach front plastic undertray that previous sinner removed
• Clean glue residue from headlights and fogs that previous sinner used to attach some sort of headlight covers
• Register car in my name, transfer title, Harris County inspection
• Replace antenna - old antenna gasket is bad/gone, new attenna/gasket assm. came with car from previous sinner

January - new wheels/tires - Bilstein PSS9 or PSS10, sell WRD garbage - New suspension bushings - Corner weight and alignment

February - 3" turbo back, catless - Air intake - Tune -275hp to the front wheels on 93oct

"Barum Tyres, one of the Most successful tyre manufacturers in Central Europe".

Sorry, never seen Barum tyres before. I have a MKV when they came out but sold it and went back to a MKI. It was a fun ca and made good noises but it felt really heavy.

GTI Ownership Day 3

I was going to change the transmission oil today but I’m a little sore from yesterday’s thrash on the ride height adjustment so I decided to attack some sin from the previous owner.

The snowflakes of the group may not remember but back in the day if you had a “hot ride” you put GTS headlight covers on it. Apparently, the previous owner of my car is either a Gen X’er or a snowflake that is going old skool.

The problem is that the previous sinner on my GTI glued the covers on – they are supposed to just snap on and off, somehow. I don’t really know, I’ve never used them or had them on my cars. Anyway, the sin of glue residue is left behind for me to deal with.

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Even the fog lights weren't safe from this guy.

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Stoner makes some good products and I went top shelf at O’Reily’s and bought the best. Won’t hard automotive finishes. Will remove goop, grime, tar, and glue residue. Just spray it on and wait 60 seconds then wipe. I did about 3 applications of the Tarminator and then I tried some Goo Gone. I liked the Tarminator better and did a fourth application. Some of this glue is gooped on pretty thick so I am going to have to do a few more applications to get the rest off. You can see the results though – the stuff works, just take patience….

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While waiting the mandatory 60 seconds for the Tarminator to do it’s thing, I decided to fill the extra time with some Mother’s. Back to Black Trim Restorer. This is my first time using this stuff. I have had good luck with the Turtle Wax trim restorer but that is wipe on only and I wanted a spray to easily do the front honeycomb grill. I think it worked ok – I want to try a few more applications and see how it turns out.

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Here’s a pretty good shot of before and after – see the darker and lighter areas?

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The things you notice after you get the car home and spend a few days with it. Note to self, never go look at, or buy, a dirty car again as you cannot see all the blemishes. In my case, the seller replaced the windshield for me so I guess he had a good excuse not to get the car wet.

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At least it’s a Philips and not a flat head???

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Nice watching with interest.

Small Steps, Every Day, To Perfection.

Getting ready to jack the car up and get her back on the stands for a transmission oil change I notice this....

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Stone already figured it from a previous picture - oil blowing out the intercooler hoses.

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Draining the transmission. Nothing to report here.

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An oil drip on the dust cover of the one-way drain valve for the oil filter housing - this is a bad design in my opinion as it introduces yet another way for some German idea to go terribly wrong and drain the engine of it's oil while hammering down the Autobahn at 120mph, or the West Texas roads where the speed limit is 85mph or whatever you feel like.

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I'm trying to work differently that I normally do. Normally, I would ingnore the grime on the bottom of the engine because cleaning it could be an all day job. Now, I am going to hit it with a little degreaser every time I have the car up in the air and just get it spotless a little bit at a time.

Before:

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After:

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The grease and grime on the transmission will take a couple rounds of degreasing. The oil pan look suspiciously newer than many other bits under there. And the seller kept mentioning about hitting a huge pothole and some of the things that had to be fixed - all minor he assured me.

I'm starting to wonder if we have a 2+2 situation here where things will eventually equal 4.

Before degreaser:

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After:

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This WRD suspension is complete garbage and quickly moving to the top of the "must do something immediately" list. I don't know how stiff the springs are, but I can say that the shocks have no compression or rebound control upon the springs.

I won't go so far as to say the car is unsafe to drive, but it's close.