Very small fix, but a little detail for the bonnet....The missing rubbers have arrived and are installed...
The weather is looking good, so hopefully can do the underneath of the bonnet on Sunday with some deadening and sound proofing...
Done some 'proper' work today. My daughter, the supposed car owner data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7, texted me at 8am to see whether I was awake as the weather is nice and she thought we can do the bonnet...So a quick coffee and here we go...
Problem: The bonnet has lost its sound proofing, and besides it is also a bit tinny and sounds like a gong, so lots of vibrations. And finally there was some damage to the inside metal work.
So a first for me and my helper, plan the job and how to take off the bonnet....
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/img_0386-jpeg.1150285/
And a better view of the damage to the inside...
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/img_0388-jpeg.1150289/
Looks simple enough, disconnected all the windscreen washers hoses, and nozzles heaters, then it must be two bolts either side. And just incase it slips, let's put some doggy blankets underneath to avoid scratching the windscreen.
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/img_0389-jpeg.1150287/
That was easy. So we sanded it down, and painted and lacquered the damage. Then put on some Silentcoat sound deadening material to strengthen the bonnet.
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/img_0409-jpeg.1150290/
And finished it off with this sound proofing material from Newton Commercial. It was applied using a good helping of 3M Scotch-Weld 1099.
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/img_0411-jpeg.1150292/
That was a pretty easy job.
Weight gain:
Sound deadening -> 1.065 Kg
Sound proofing kit -> 1.01 Kg
Total for this job -> 2.075 Kg
Nett weight gain -> 2.075 Kg
Whilst waiting for paint and lacquer to dry I thought we may as well do another little job in-between.
Problem: When moving the steering wheel there is a grinding noise from the wheel. It is inside the cabin and not related to the steering rack or power assisted steering.
First remove the steering wheel. It is likely just to be dirty behind there. Pop the rubber horn cover. Then disconnect the ground from the plate. And remove back plate and also undo that connector.
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/img_0398-jpeg.1150299/
Then there is another bit of plastic. Pulling it doesn't make it go. I don't want to yank it too hard incase it breaks but with it in place I can't get to the steering wheel nut.
Then I remembered I bought this interior toolkit, and voile it did the trick and I got it off without damaging anything.
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/img_0399-jpeg.1150307/
Once that is undone there is this 24mm nut, and you need a deep socket or extension for it. Out of habit I've put some tape around the exposed connectors.
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/img_0400-jpeg.1150314/
TIP: Don't undo the nut, leave a little thread on it so that you can place forces on the steering wheel to pull it out. Otherwise it may hit your face data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
Once out, I can see the problem. That ring and the contact look pretty dry.
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/img_0404-jpeg.1150315/
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/img_0405-jpeg.1150316/
So a bit of contact grease, and bingo.Nice smooth and silent steering wheel action with no more grinding noises.
I also looked into why the from door left speaker isn't working. I took out the lower dash and noticed this by the high pass filter for the components. So I thought let's connect them again and happy days.
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/img_0413-jpeg.1150317/
Oops, nope this is still not working. I'll just have to do a rewire so I can trust the cabling in there, and can remove a tonne of redundant cabling.
Finally had the time to double wax/seal the refurbished BBS wheels. Just taken it for a spin (as my daughter doesn’t have her driving license yet data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7).
Wheels looks great in my opinion. And those Bridgestone Turanza tyres are fantastic.
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/114cbeff-ac5b-4087-962a-e23dd32c233e-jpeg.1152273/
A little bit of background to the wheel change...
We really didn't like the original wheels...
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/img_0430-jpeg.1152514/
But the BBS wheels that I got as part of the deal were in a pretty bad state...
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/img_0424-jpeg.1152515/
So we had them refurbished at BJV Engineering in Flaunden who came well recommended. Home - Wheel Refurbishing
The tyres I selected are Bridgestone Turanza in size 195/50R15.
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/img_0275-jpeg.1152520/
The original wheels were 14".
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/img_0439-jpeg.1152524/
Pretty amazing looking at the weight difference. The BBS with the Pirelli before refurbishment was 16Kg each, the original 14" wheels were 15.3Kg each. But my new combination is only 15Kg each.
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/img_0425-jpeg.1152525/
Before I put them on, I gave it two helpings of this nice smelling wax...
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/img_0427-jpeg.1152526/
In comparison with the old wheel...
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/img_0442-jpeg.1152527/
Weight gain
Refurbished wheels and different tyres -0.96Kg
Net cumulative weight gain 1.115Kg
And the finished article once more data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/img_0463-jpeg.1152528/
No GTI should have any other wheels than BBS, they really make the car.
I had the time to do some minor corrections;
First the front suspension strut covers were missing...
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/img_0488-jpeg.1155234/
I know who care right...Well I do, it annoys me when I see these things uncovered. So I ordered some plastic.
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/img_0489-jpeg.1155235/
And voila here we go, a nice and complete'ish engine bay...
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/img_0491-jpeg.1155236/
I also fixed the driver seat automatically going into boy racer position. The issue was the seat back adjustment knob which simply doesn't fit this car. I ordered the correct one and it works great now.
Weight of two covers 0.035 Kg
Correction for seat adjustment knob - 0.085 Kg
Net cumulative weight gain = 1.065Kg
And then I had some time to 'attack' the roof. As per earlier picture it was pretty bad. Yesterday I machined polish but that didn't work so well.
So thanks to Amazon deliveries I got some wet sandpaper and for the first time ever I've wet sanded. I was a bit apprehensive considering I have never done that before, and have no idea of how much paint, clear-cut is left on the car....
Scary moment! I started with 1,000 GRIT and worked my way up to 2,000 GRIT paper.
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/img_0501-jpeg.1155240/
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/img_0502-jpeg.1155241/
The dark patches is the water/soap mixture from wet sanding, but seeing what it looks like, I was bricking it by that stage as it looked pretty bad, but felt smooth like a babies bottom data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
So I continued and did some polishing with my DAS-6 machine. First Poor Boys SSR 3.5, then 1.0 and finished it off with Poor Boys Black Hole. Then buffed it before applying Natty's paste wax.
Ok it is not perfect, but it is a million timesbetter than what it was, and I don't feel the urge to drive it to a body shop.
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/img_0503-jpeg.1155242/
All in all, I'm happy, Daughter is happy, my wife noticed the difference. Well worth spending a few hours on it.
Always looks bad when wet sanding data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7