Make a donation

Author Topic: Shadow Blue MK5 GTI DSG - Premature Midlife Crisis  (Read 5211 times)

Offline pudding

  • Global Moderator
  • Just look at my post count
  • *
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 2
  • -Receive: 670
  • Posts: 8228
Re: Shadow Blue MK5 GTI DSG - Premature Midlife Crisis
« Reply #15 on: January 08, 2022, 12:42:38 pm »
Great job, especially with just T-cut and a tin of elbow grease  :happy2:  Need to do mine as well at some point.  Summer job I think!


2007 ED30 | 2009 TDI 140 | 2016 BMW 330D

Offline jorjmkv

  • Can't Read PM's Yet!
  • *
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 0
  • -Receive: 0
  • Posts: 4
    • Email
Re: Shadow Blue MK5 GTI DSG - Premature Midlife Crisis
« Reply #16 on: January 08, 2022, 07:07:05 pm »
Well, its been a while! Work got busy, baby got more baby-like and Christmas hit hard. Ive done very few modifications in total to the car so far, but its also due a few parts very, very soon!

So to date we have:

RamAir Oversized Intake


PCV Delete


CV Boot failure fixed


Replaced Cam Follower


Personal Reg Added


Double Din Headunit w/Apple Car Play from AliExpress - £150 and comes with all the toys!


New Chrome interior switches


Dynamic Indicators


Carbon wrapped some interior pieces


Front Grill Refresh - Noticed this was very grey and the red trim was very pink, so decided to get the PlastiKote out




New cut out foglight surrounds



Funnily enough I did not realise the MOT was due 11th Jan and there are a number of items I need to get sorted, so this has been a bit of a shocker to the system right after Christmas!

- Replacement rear offside caliper
- Rear Discs & Pads
- Replacement Rear Trailing Arms
- Full Service

After the MOT hopefully goes through without a hitch, I do have a list of items to fit to the car which im super excited about, more so because it will refresh the car a little:

- New near-side wing
- New wing mirror covers
- GFB DV+
- Removing all wheels and cleaning/undersealing
- Paint Calipers
- DSG Service
- Timing Belt & Water Pump
- Boost and Oil Temp Gauges w/ New South Gauge Pod

Beyond this, money-dependent, I want to get a full exhaust system and map to bring out the best in the car. It may take some time and I do want to DIY as much as possible, so we shall see :)
Looking very nice! what’s this plastikote you’re on about? Is there any prep involved? Also would you recommend? Getting bored of forever trying to keep the plastic grills looking fresh

Offline RayRoocroft55

  • Taking part
  • ***
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 1
  • -Receive: 1
  • Posts: 27
    • Email
Re: Shadow Blue MK5 GTI DSG - Premature Midlife Crisis
« Reply #17 on: January 09, 2022, 05:05:07 pm »
Looking very nice! what’s this plastikote you’re on about? Is there any prep involved? Also would you recommend? Getting bored of forever trying to keep the plastic grills looking fresh

Plastikote is basically a spray thats more like rubber. you can prep surfaces with a plastikote primer if it needs it for bonding such as glossy surfaces, but for the plastic grilles that have quite an etched surface I just sprayed 3 coats on and it bonded perfectly. I left it at least 8 hours between coats so it was fully dry (I believe it says dry in 2-4hrs) but just wanted to make sure it bonded.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, yesterday was supposed to be rear trailing arms, a new caliper, new rear discs and pads, a service, and multiple mods, but oh BOY did the car fight!

it's apparent that the car has been parked over a wet surface such as grass that has corroded the rear far more than the front of the underside of the car. Ive seen this before on a fiesta I owned where the owners parked on grass and with the underneath in constant contact it had corroded significantly.

so, first things first, I added new LED sidelights from eBay yesterday. today, I turned up at my cousin's house on the drive and noticed smoke coming from the front of the car!! opening the bonnet, smoke poured from the front right light and noticed it was the sidelight bulb!





Thankfully we caught it in time - i can't imagine an electrical fire would be the best thing to have on a car!

So we cracked on, removing the rear caliper first and the pads basically disintegrated away when we removed the assembly. the caliper was definitely binding, to the point the disc had turned blue.



Unfortunately just after this we tried applying the brake pipe to the new caliper and realised the threading in the new caliper was completely cross threaded and unusable! At this point I was ready to have a small panic as the caliper was £125, with no access to another, and with a completely borked old caliper 50 miles away from home.



Many hours later and by torchlight, we managed to fabricate our own brake pipe and clear the old caliper of rust and other build up, temporarily at least freeing up the caliper!



This process took around 3-4 hours, so by this time we are talking around 5pm and the car had been fighting the entire time - bolts seized, things not coming apart that should, etc. We had to now change the rear trailing arms and oh boy - 3 hours later we had them changed, but again not without the wind, rain, hail and the car all against us! They DEFINITELY needed doing though - here is one example of the absolutely shredded bush I had:



Thanks to the top work of my cousin, 12.40pm turned into 8.20pm but more importantly the rear brake and 2 trailing arms that were definitely going to fail the MOT were changed. We didnt get around to all the mods I brought with me (DV+, Cat back exhaust, anti lift kit being a few) but most important things were done.

Offline RayRoocroft55

  • Taking part
  • ***
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 1
  • -Receive: 1
  • Posts: 27
    • Email
Re: Shadow Blue MK5 GTI DSG - Premature Midlife Crisis
« Reply #18 on: January 10, 2022, 02:10:35 pm »
R8 coil packs arrived  :party:



I attempted to fit my new cat back exhaust to my car - unfortunately i never realised just how much my driveway has an arch, therefore the clearance when jacking up the car in the centre is minimal :( looks like ill have to wait!

I am on with wrapping interior parts with cf gloss wrap. Originally had them matte but they blended in too well.... if thats possible. Wanted something that popped a little more in the interior. Tricky business and time consuming but I think the end product (along with a few other goodies) will set off the aged interior well.







Offline mjmallia

  • Won't Shut up.
  • *****
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 2
  • -Receive: 47
  • Posts: 515
Re: Shadow Blue MK5 GTI DSG - Premature Midlife Crisis
« Reply #19 on: January 10, 2022, 04:00:40 pm »
Getting heat into the wrap is the secret.

I gloss blacked mine with a red pin stripe to carry the GTI theme.....as well as the grab handles



Mike

South Coast

S3 8L ---- Golf Mk4 GT TDI ---- Lupo GTI ----  A4 B6 Sline ---- Golf Mk5 GTI

Offline RayRoocroft55

  • Taking part
  • ***
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 1
  • -Receive: 1
  • Posts: 27
    • Email
Re: Shadow Blue MK5 GTI DSG - Premature Midlife Crisis
« Reply #20 on: January 10, 2022, 04:14:26 pm »
Getting heat into the wrap is the secret.

I gloss blacked mine with a red pin stripe to carry the GTI theme.....as well as the grab handles

That looks fantastic buddy, did you do that yourself? It takes a lot of patience thats for sure! Although the finish on mine isn't going to be perfect, i'm glad i've given this a go myself.

Now to figure out how the hell to get the dsg surround out!  :grin:

Offline mjmallia

  • Won't Shut up.
  • *****
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 2
  • -Receive: 47
  • Posts: 515
Re: Shadow Blue MK5 GTI DSG - Premature Midlife Crisis
« Reply #21 on: January 11, 2022, 09:08:17 am »
Yes did it myself......time, patience and a decent hairdryer (don't tell the wife)

Once you get it evenly hot, it will stretch nicely.
Mike

South Coast

S3 8L ---- Golf Mk4 GT TDI ---- Lupo GTI ----  A4 B6 Sline ---- Golf Mk5 GTI

Offline RayRoocroft55

  • Taking part
  • ***
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 1
  • -Receive: 1
  • Posts: 27
    • Email
Re: Shadow Blue MK5 GTI DSG - Premature Midlife Crisis
« Reply #22 on: January 11, 2022, 11:39:27 pm »
Yes did it myself......time, patience and a decent hairdryer (don't tell the wife)

Once you get it evenly hot, it will stretch nicely.

Well, the finish (although not perfect) was actually much better with a hairdryer than without :grin:





Next i think i need to figure out a black interior haha

Offline RayRoocroft55

  • Taking part
  • ***
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 1
  • -Receive: 1
  • Posts: 27
    • Email
Re: Shadow Blue MK5 GTI DSG - Premature Midlife Crisis
« Reply #23 on: January 11, 2022, 11:43:31 pm »
Today I decided to fit the cat back exhaust prior to the MOT due tomorrow morning. Although the fitment wasn't perfect (We have blowing from several clamps - sigh), it actually sounds pretty darn good.

I dont have any after pictures right now, purely because everything was purely for testing after fitment and ive got to have the garage sort the alignment, but here are some in-progress pics:







Offline RBS

  • Always Involved
  • ****
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 0
  • -Receive: 46
  • Posts: 400
    • Email
Re: Shadow Blue MK5 GTI DSG - Premature Midlife Crisis
« Reply #24 on: January 22, 2022, 11:56:52 am »
Nice work :happy2:
Love the blue color😍

Offline RayRoocroft55

  • Taking part
  • ***
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 1
  • -Receive: 1
  • Posts: 27
    • Email
Re: Shadow Blue MK5 GTI DSG - Premature Midlife Crisis
« Reply #25 on: February 01, 2022, 09:22:55 pm »
OK so, I realise I haven't updated this thread in a while and there have been some pretty big changes!  :jumpmove:

So when I last left off we were fitting the cat back exhaust ready for the MOT. Although I would recommend the Gravity Performance exhaust based on the quality of the components individually, placing them together without a ramp was an absolute pain in the a*s. Instead of the straight swap from standard to new, it took a couple hours longer to get everything aligned, but also to sort any blowing that was occurring due to an imperfect exhaust system. Alignment of the tips was also an issue, both in the fact that they both went over to the left side of the vehicle (the hangars dont have stoppers so they free roam) but also that the tips point in toward each other when the clamps are fully tightened. Ive since had this sorted by use of........... DIY solutions lol.





The MOT came and I failed on three things - Rear number plate (knew this), upper rear brake light (didnt know this) and broken rear coil spring. Earlier in the thread I think I mentioned I had a full suspension setup of B4 bilstein shocks and 20mm drop eibach springs to fit, so the garage did this and sorted the other parts. Cue a fully awesome MOT passed car!

The lowered suspension was exactly what I wanted - a lowered car but retaining the ride of the golf, without becoming too crashy or wallowy. granted, i do have to avoid more potholes and steep slopes (My daughters nursery happens to be on the worst gradient ever) but I love the stance.






So it was at this point my cousin texts me mentioning that his partner has a set of alloy wheels for sale. I have a slow puncture and will need a tyre either way, but the temptation to go aftermarket wheels was far too great. I purchased the wheels and got new tyres placed on (Bridgestone Turanza's) and I purchased a set of spacers.

When fitting the wheels, two things were realised. One, we needed spiggot rings as the hub diamater was 57.1mm instead of the 73.1mm accepted by the wheels. Two, the wheel spacers I just spent £160 on with extended bolts would no longer fit - FUUUUUUU!!!

Well, when we fitted the wheels with the spiggot rings, we realised they naturally sit 9mm further out than stock, and therefore I didnt even need the spacers. Win! Im so pleased with the wheels, they set off the FFB (Fun Family Bus) so well.








Since the fitment of the wheels, I had a chap round to do a carbon clean of the engine. Apparently this cleans out deposits in the intake and helps fuel economy and performance. Whilst at it, he did offer to put a stage 1 map on, and for the price I couldn't argue, but it appears it may have done more harm than good.




During shifts above 3.8/4k, being a DSG this was pretty much instant and the power delivery continued through, but there is a 0.5/1 second delay where it hesitates and goes "should I go full throttle? yes I should" then carries on. Bearing in mind my foot is fully down the entire time and the paddle is flicked, this sudden hesitation is unsettling. Thankfully, the chap is coming to revert the map, as I believe it is an issue with the map and not the car.

So we arrive to today, where I have a huge amount of parts to fit to the car which I won't list here to spoil the fun, but here is a quick fit of the carbon fiber rear spoiler to compliment the mirrors and door inserts I have coming  :party:




Car without the spoiler for the time being - everything will be fit at the same time :)



Offline GilesWoodward59

  • Always Involved
  • ****
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 1
  • -Receive: 4
  • Posts: 81
    • Email
Re: Shadow Blue MK5 GTI DSG - Premature Midlife Crisis
« Reply #26 on: February 01, 2022, 10:55:53 pm »
Amazing what a different set of wheels can do to the appearance of a car. Enjoying the write ups!
Edition 30 - No. 1233

Offline fakie1977

  • Always Involved
  • ****
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 4
  • -Receive: 21
  • Posts: 206
    • Email
Re: Shadow Blue MK5 GTI DSG - Premature Midlife Crisis
« Reply #27 on: February 02, 2022, 01:18:41 pm »
Nice to see another Shadow Blue out there. People tend to either love the colour or hate it but I love mine. Love your new wheels but I have tried to keep mine as original as I can and still have my 18 Monza II. When it was time to refurb them I stuck with the original colour too.



I have since upgraded my front and rear brakes to the R32 set up so I have blue calipers now though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk