Another non dak-dak thread...

[plusone]

Yeah....I was going to go Hydrographics until I got quoted a starting price of $800 That could be no matter how many pieces thought so if people are interested maybe a group thing could be in order?!

[Dan [GTI]]

So the usual ritual of wash, drive to work and lock away is still going strong (as is the car)


The AYC / ACD accumulator however might be on the way out, which isn't a massive problem as the system can run without it but it does require the pump to work a little harder. Just means I need a new pump assembly eventually.

Besides that the only changes in the near future is a larger rear sway bar and hopefully will see a little more power come late May.

[Dan [GTI]]

So today was about the small victory because I was able to extract a snapped exhaust manifold bolt (for the heat shield). Managed to drill it out all the way through and leave just the thread of the bolt which I managed to pull out without much resistance.


Picked up some bolts that should stay rust free for the foreseeable future so I am not in the same position in 6 months time!

[Dan [GTI]]

So like groundhog day it was time to once again play with the suspension, this time for the new Whiteline 24mm rear sway bar and different set of RSR springs to bring the rear down 5 - 10mm to lessen the rake angle. The rear sway bar confirmed once again to be the best bang for buck suspension modification with the car much more settles on turn-in and it helps rotate the rear on tight corners. Unfortunately when reinstalling the suspension I did not eyeball the alignment as well as last time, but it was overdue for an alignment anyways.

So dropped the car off to John Fowler Autosports for a once-over. My biggest gripes were steering numbness on center and turn in, excessive rear camber and lack of front camber. Approximately 1 hour later I was driving home in a car that felt far more nimble and sharp and wasn't going to destroy the inside of the rear tyres.

I also purchased a new set of wheels for the car, 17x8 +35 Evolution IX Enkei wheels. I have had a hard time finding a set in reasonable condition that were not outrageously priced. I stumble across these and went halves with a mate, I would get the rims, he would get the semi slicks.

The rims are straight and have no curb rash, they did come off a RallySprint car so large amounts of brake material and debris has accumulated over time, some of it has baked into sections causing the black to appear slightly brown. So once the tyres have taken off I will start prepping them for paint or powdercoat and will likely keep then a flat black.

[stefan]

tidy package you have there

[JRecardo]

I can't believe they allow these shitters on here

[Dan [GTI]]

We can't all splash huge amounts of money on rare AWD Turbo GX Liberty's... I can only aspire to that level of rarity and dedication.

[JRecardo]

Baha maybe rare in the same amount of dents and kg of dynamat

Looking forward to seeing the black wheels on, I think it will be a nice touch

[Dan [GTI]]

So another small update. So with two overseas trips booked for the next 6 months the parts have not been flowing quite as much as I would like, but that just lends itself to more DIY and tidying up some loose ends.

The first being the need to polish out some dis-colouration and cloudiness from the dash cluster lense. Majority of the time was slowly backing out the 5 clips that hold the lense in which were all tiny and looked very fragile. Once it was out it was a 5 minute job.


I also lashed out on a new wheel, a Nardi Classic 340mm, which happened to come up in a pop-up advert and that was all the encouragement I needed. It was one of those "I have always wanted one" purchases and it was the right price. So now the Personal Suede wheel has been shelved for anther day.


My biggest gripe about the wheel was the chrome horn ring. Why put something like that on a black wheel? So I fixed that problem with a few coats of paint.





So once it was all back together and installed I think it suits the interior very well.


Next on my to-do list:
- Have IX rims powdercoated (in progress)
- Change hotside intercooler piping (Plazmaman replacement)
- Check for a boost leak (suspecting the turbo inlet or hotside piping)
- Install oil temp and oil pressure gauges.
- Purchase a KAP industries extinguisher bracket.
- Put the car on TMS dyno for a health check.
- Stop making excuses, push the car out of the garage and finally take the car to the track.

[RUSSGT]

Looks amazing man! As for the bracket bro I'm having a sale of 15% off now called sale15. I don't have any evo ones in stock but if you grab one it will be sent as soon as it's in. About 2 weeks.

I'll send you a sticker too!