My build thread

Since I've been doing a bunch of stuff to my car lately, I figured it would be a good idea to have one thread that I could update as I go along.

Any positive or negative feedback appreciated.

2006 Jetta TDI - Reflex Silver - Purchased Mar 6, 2007 with 15k on the clock from Beasley Saab in Austin.

Here's what it looked like when I picked it up:


My 1st mod....DieselGeek skid plate. It's saved me more than once. A must have!

Had Eibach pro-kit springs installed in September. It helped get rid of some of that awful wheel gap.

October '07: Picked up a set of 17" Classix from a guy that bought them for his MKIV. Apparently he didn't know the MKV's had a different bolt pattern. He really shouldn't have told me this since I picked them up at a considerable discount. lol!

November '07: Rocketchipped with RC1+ at the Seguin, TX fly in/GTG.

In December '07 a friend of mine from the local board http://www.dfdubs.orgconvinced me to do a front bumper swap with his '07 Rabbit. About a third of the way thru, we figure out we're gonna have to swap radiator core supports too. Yeah, that was interesting. We got it all done though and most importantly, done correctly.

Here's some pics from the install:










February '08: Rubstrips and sidemarkers shaved and colormatched the bottom lip:

March '08: Sachs VR6/G60 clutch/smf, McNally Electronics dual boost/egt gauge, DieselGeek short shifter all installed my mtbr297 (tdi guru Steve Glover). I recommend him highly.



The car stayed pretty much the same Jan '09 when I installed a set of Koni Coilovers. They aren't the lowest ones out there, but the ride quality is amazing. They are dampening adjustable so you can set them to your liking.



How do you adjust these things again?


My buddy Cesar the MKV suspension master!


Just after we finished:

I had been cruising Craigslist every few days looking for a nice set of 18" Audi wheels. I'd like to keep the car as clean and OEM as possible while trying to give my own personal touch.

Picked up a set of 5 18" OEM Audi RS6 wheels. Specs are 18x8, ET43. A couple of them had some minor curb rash but a friend of mine cleaned up the rashes real nice with a die grinder. While they were being mounted with 215/40R18 rubber, I rolled the front fenders to keep any rubbing to a minimum.





Went on a photoshoot with some friends yesterday. Here's a preview...more as soon as I get 'em:

good job I like

I was going to say that I thought you got taken advantage of for agreeing to swap the Rabbit front, but then I saw the rubstrip shaving and color matching. Good job! All you need now is to replace the Audi center caps with VW ones, then it'll be perfect.

I have to ask, what are your MPGs with everything you have done? How do you handle speed bumps?? The car does look cool...very nice work. Do you have a dollar value worked up on total costs? Are you going to swap out the front seats for some GTI ones? Are you going to remove the rear black rubber and fill/paint that too...that would look really clean. Going to add some fog lights to the front?

Can you post a daylight picture of your guage / dash work so we can see what you did with the boost gauge?

Great job!

robbinsresort said:

Click to expand...

All I have to say to that is..... Money shot

Very nice shots RR. And keep the Audi centercaps! Well IMHO anyway. Your car is one of the cleanest around btw.

One of these days when my car is done being modded I will do a build/mod thread..... I will have to reserve a page or so just to get through it all lol.. Or maybe it would be better if I only list the final configuration, it would sure save some time.

Chris, that shot that Steve posted...they could use that for a poster of the VW hybrid!!

That is like a pro shot!!

Sweet car!!

Steve is going to have a bad boy as well...

CMB430 said:

I have to ask, what are your MPGs with everything you have done? How do you handle speed bumps?? The car does look cool...very nice work. Do you have a dollar value worked up on total costs? Are you going to swap out the front seats for some GTI ones? Are you going to remove the rear black rubber and fill/paint that too...that would look really clean. Going to add some fog lights to the front?

Can you post a daylight picture of your guage / dash work so we can see what you did with the boost gauge?

Great job!

Click to expand...

Thanks for the kind words. Always appreciate feedback of any kind.

MPG's:
15" wheels- 40 city / 42 hwy
16" wheels- 38 city / 40 hwy
17" wheels- 37 city / 39-40 hwy
18" wheels- TBD

Basically with alloy wheels (the 15's are steelies) you can count on losing 1-1.5 mpg for every inch you go. I beat on my car pretty good, so I'm sure I could do better if I'd keep my foot out of it.

Speed bumps:
I'll avoid them if I can, but unless it's a monster one, I can clear it no problem. I angle into driveways, business entrances, etc, even though I probably don't have to. The rabbit lip doesn't hang down that far. If I had a Votex lip, I'd be in trouble.

Total cost:
I don't want to know! I can tell you that when I bought my classix and sold the stock biolines, I was only out $100. Coilovers we're $900. The total for the RS6's and four new tires was $850. With wheels, especially OEM ones, Craigslist is your friend!

Future mods:
I don't think the GLI leather seats came in the light silver, but I'd consider it if the price was right. Colormatching the black strip above the rear diffuser is on the to do list....should clean up the rear quite nicely. LED tails are also a possibility. Fog lights won't work because that area is normally where I mount my front plate.

I'll work on getting you the daytime gauge pic. I'll post it here once I get it.

Steve and Randy,
Thanks for the compliments and encouragement. Looking forward to the Texas GTG - whenever it is.

A few more pics are back from editing, so time for some moar whoring!









edit 17Mar09: add rolling shots

Dang dude, they could use those pics in the car brocure..

They look good!

Chris,

Are you going to attend the TDI Fest by D.C. this year? I think it would be a good roadtrip for you and your car could do a lot of inspiring at the show. Just my $0.02.

The high oblique 3/4 rear shot is the best picture of a MKV sedan I've ever seen. Excellent. Echoing a previous post - I though swapping the OEM grill for the Rabbit/Golf was a mistake - but after seeing the effect of your further mods I can see you had the right "vision" all along.

Update

CMB430 said:

Chris,
Are you going to attend the TDI Fest by D.C. this year? I think it would be a good roadtrip for you and your car could do a lot of inspiring at the show. Just my $0.02.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the compliment. I'd love to attend, but it would be near impossible to swing the time off from work. My days off in September are Wed/Thu.

A couple of updates:
Had my rear bumper rubstrip colormatched:
(The car's a little dirty due to rain last night/this morning)


Custom painted engine cover:

I'll be painting the radiator cap and washer fluid caps black. Should clean up the bay nicely.



Paint work by Dorbritz. http://photobucket.com/DorbritzDesigns

wow, very clean car. i like it a lot. Great inspiration