I can't believe I actually have time right now to make a project log, it's feels so nostalgic to be able to do this.
This is my Campanella White 2007 Volkswagen GLI, got it from Acura last year when I still worked there.
The day it was brought home
Eibach lowering springs
There's only mild surface rust on some bolts and a few brackets on the bottom
Factory red calipers
A few months later one of the bulbs started to dim so I got some OSRAM 5000K to replace the factory Philips 4300K
Quite a few months later my brother drove it into a ditch
I put it away for the winter after this as I was not prepared to start working on all of that as this was when I was trying to get the rockers done for the truck. The truck wasn't finish, I ended up storing the Passat because it was too low for winter so I bought another car which the thread for that will be up once I actually do stuff to it, I kept it pretty well factory and some old dude wasn't looking changing lanes and hit me so it's at VW getting a new bumper, which is when I brought the Passat back out in the spring, and then the Passat died on a pothole down Court St. so now I'm driving the GLI again before I had time to fix anything.
Fresh out of the graveyard, removed the bug deflector too
Bumper off again for ghetto repairs until I can buy a new bumper
While I was in there, it's easiest to change headlight bulbs by removing the bumper and taking the entire headlight housing out, so I took advantage of that situation and changed the running lights from normal halogens to to amber halogens so they match the signals (normal on the passenger side, amber on the drivers side) not a huge difference side by side, but when the signal is on you can see that they match significantly better now
Tossed the broken fog light back in, the broken foglight grilles held in with zip-ties, and the bumper brackets held back in place with zip-ties, everything else bolted back in place so it's good enough for now.
Tail light also broke when my brother ditched it
So I bought a new one of those
I decided I would actually pretend I care about this car and paint some stuff, so this is before
After painting the side skirts
After painting the rear valance
And it seems like I lost the close up picture of the front valance, but it doesn't matter, you get the idea, it's not black anymore
Car started shaking driving to work, checked that out and the tread was separating, I was expecting it to happen eventually but I'v been keeping this car on the cheap because I want to get the other car done first for Eurokracy before I start dumping money into this thing.
The tire was well passed it's prime anyway with less than 1/32nd tread left anyway
While I was in there I decided to investigate while my brakes were grinding, I assumed there was barely any pad left or a rock or something, turns out there was NO pad left.
I ordered new rotors and pads front and back which should be in on Friday so I can get that sorted out this weekend. But in the mean time I'm just grinding away to and from work, I also stole the RS4 wheels off the Passat until I can get my tire situation sorted out when I'm back from Montreal.
Oh, and I got a parking ticket the other day where there was no meter or signs.. good ol Thunder Bay
Other than the stuff I was able to find pictures of, I also put in an AutoTech Intake which you can see the video of that here
Stage 1 from Unitronic, and now the headlights are not happy, not sure if it's the igniters or the ballasts but they only stay on for about 30ish seconds and then turn off, won't turn back on unless I turn the car off and back on, they also go out at random times, but I know the bulbs are brand new so that's ruled out, and my ballasts don't appear to have any signs of leaks or damage so I'm assuming the igniters, they're also the next cheapest part in line to replace at only $160 each.. and if they still go out, I'm looking at $300+ per ballast.. which means it's cheaper to redo the headlights with an aftermarket retrofit and actually have better light output for less than repairing the factory headlights.
What else is going on with this thing.. I changed the coilpacks to the Audi R8 red packs, replaced with OEM sparkplugs, coolant flush with G12 from the dealer.. I'm trying to keep this thing cheap until my other car is done, but I'm still not cutting many corners when it comes to OEM parts, the brakes are cheapo eBay specials, but I only use this to go to and from work so I'm not too concerned with how efficient they are, as long as I stop, it's good. Oh and Travis and I spend almost an entire day fighting with the trailer hitch removal.. who puts a trailer hitch on a GLI.. Saved like 30lbs of fuel economy right there.
Future plans, either going to try and repair the factory bumper properly, order the euro front valance, the euro foglight grilles (vented ones) and replace the fogs, or possibly source an aftermarket version of the Thunder Bunny front bumper and disable fogs in VAGCOM to get rid of that god damn warning light telling me my foglights don't work. If the struts blow before winter I'll get some coils, but for now it's sitting the way it is, exhaust is fine, intake is fine, I'm content with the tune, stereo is decent, I wouldn't mind tinting the windows, possibly look into that down the road.
The car is basically done, I don't really have much else to post other than wheels when the other car is done and I can start burning money on this thing, and possibly coils and window tint.
I just needs to get me to work and make me not want to drive head on into a rock cut, so far, it's doing it's job and quite well, I love driving this thing, stereo is decent enough I don't need to listen to that rear brake pad, and the car is quick enough I can do a pull or two and be content with how the car feels.
The other car will have a much more in depth project log once I get it back from Volkswagen after the repairs are done.
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I know it's probably not a popular opinion but I've always kind of liked the look of the MK5 Jettas and Golfs (Rabbits). I also have a set of FXR 3.0s and E46s sitting in my basement if you're looking for a set for cheap-ish.
Originally Posted by Nabs
