Olympic Blue TDi Sport - heater dials, painted calipers

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Ben90
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Drives: Olympian Blue Polo TDi Sport
Location: Kent, UK

Re: Ben90's Olympic Blue TDi Sport - RARB

Post by Ben90 »

Thanks Tom! It's definitely one of those things that should have been fitted years ago :shock:

@ Rover - Cheers, I hope you've got one ordered! I kept an ear to the Brisky for sale section but that lasted about a week, I got impatient and bought one new :P I hope you notice the same difference I did. I've heard that if the car is lowered (I'm on stock Sport sus) the improvement won't be as dramatic, but a definite improvement nonetheless :) Look forward to hearing how it goes.

I've heard tales that on a wet roundabout you can actually get lift-off oversteer 8)
rover220
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Location: stafford

Re: Ben90's Olympic Blue TDi Sport - RARB

Post by rover220 »

Mines sat in the garage. Picked it up for £45 so was a bargain really.

Im already on kw v1 coilovers but will fit it anyway and see if there is any gain.
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Ben90
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Posts: 494
Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2011 11:54 am
Drives: Olympian Blue Polo TDi Sport
Location: Kent, UK

Re: Ben90's Olympic Blue TDi Sport - RARB

Post by Ben90 »

Cheeky beggar, that's a steal! The car will feel half a tonne lighter in the bends despite being 7kg heavier 8)
rover220
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Re: Ben90's Olympic Blue TDi Sport - RARB

Post by rover220 »

Fitted my rear arb, immense mod.
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Ben90
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Drives: Olympian Blue Polo TDi Sport
Location: Kent, UK

Re: Ben90's Olympic Blue TDi Sport - RARB

Post by Ben90 »

I decided to clean the EGR today. Fairly simple job, you just have to be methodical. The hardest part was not dropping any tool bits down the engine bay!

Before:
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Using a vacuum to lift the valve while cleaning it, ensuring it seats properly
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Done:
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It's not perfectly clean, but that's the result after about 25 minutes of scraping and brushing followed by half an hour of Mr Muscle oven cleaner doing its stuff. The ASV got a good clean as well. Paired with the CCV mod I expect that'll keep the EGR clean for a long time. 8)

I also leaned that baking soda is really good at removing soot from carpets, if hypothetically you were to get some on your shoe and hypothetically tread it through the house :oops:

UPDATE: I went for a good blast on the a-roads, whilst getting to them I noticed the car is livelier in low revs making urban driving more enjoyable. The most surprising bit was seeing 58.2 Mpg on the display when I got home. That's well above average trip mpg for me, especially considering I wasn't even thinking about economical driving. :lol:
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Ben90
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Posts: 494
Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2011 11:54 am
Drives: Olympian Blue Polo TDi Sport
Location: Kent, UK

Re: Ben90's Olympic Blue TDi Sport - RARB

Post by Ben90 »

Some packages arrived today:

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Note: the print on the left hand box does not indicate its exact contents.

Fitting commences tomorrow!
rover220
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Re: Olympic Blue TDi Sport - It's like christmas!

Post by rover220 »

like! look forward to the update
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Ben90
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Drives: Olympian Blue Polo TDi Sport
Location: Kent, UK

Re: Olympic Blue TDi Sport - Armrest

Post by Ben90 »

The long awaited armrest arrived from China on wednesday! Massive thanks to Alan (Beijing polo) for his brilliant communication throughout 8)

Out of the box the armrest felt very solid and well made. The support-surrounding plastics are a bit thinner and stiffer than stock but it's no detriment to the overall quality once fitted, the upper section is just as VW intended. It required a bit of fettling to the centre console mounts to fit the metal anchor bracket but it is totally hidden from view once fitted, just a bit of trimming of excess carpet. Now it's in I can't imagine the space without it. It's brilliant for motorway/A road trips as it feels like an armchair. Gear shifts are totally unimpeded and actually comfier since you just slide your forearm to the gearstick to shift. Using the handbrake is a bit trickier, I'm still getting used to it. I normally have it folded vertically for urban driving since you don't get much time to rest your arm anyway!

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The compartment is dead handy. I reckon Ipod connectivity through the armrest is a definite possibility, I would do it in a heartbeat if mine weren't dash mounted. The plastics are slightly darker than stock, but it's barely noticable at all.

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Ideal space for the ultimate driver's drink 8)

Now for the subwoofer. It was my first electrical install in a car besides the Xcarlink (which was simples) but I did a ton of reading beforehand and was able to get all the bits I needed like mini fuse taps etc, and fit it myself.

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Alpine SWE-815 fitted.

Audiophiles look away now - I've kept the weedy 20w stock stereo :lol: I'm happy enough with the way it sounds and just wanted a bit of bass where the stock system severely lacks. To fit I had to splice into the stock speaker wires since there was no pre-out, fortunately the sub accepts speaker level inputs with no distortion. The result was just what I wanted, clear and audible bass with a good bang-for-your-buck enclosed in a small unit which doesn't take up my entire boot, since I need the space. I would definitely recommend this active sub to anyone on a budget who is happy with their system but just wants a bit more bass out of it :)

That's all for now! Next up - heater control knobs.
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Ben90
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Drives: Olympian Blue Polo TDi Sport
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Re: Olympic Blue TDi Sport - Heater dials, painted calipers

Post by Ben90 »

Tiny mod today, some heater controls arrived. Franko found these and fitted them to his 6r, I thought there would be no problem in a 9n3 since they share the same heater controls underneath. They clipped in no problem but the blower speed dial was a bit wobbly. This was easily sorted by a whittled wooden dowel stuck in the back of the dial holding it against the concave light diffuser that it's clipped to. The result looks good IMO :)

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Yes I know my facia panel is wrecked :( I hate how delicate this part of the dash is.

I also decided to paint my calipers. It went well and turned out good, apart from the fact the garage last tightened the wheels up to about 1000 lb/fts with the impact gun :evil: They came off in the end.

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Before/after wire brushing with the dremel.

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Done :D

It's a bit lighter than the bodywork which isn't ideal, and it looks lighter in the pictures. That'll change once there's a permanent layer of brake dust on there though 8)
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Ben90
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Posts: 494
Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2011 11:54 am
Drives: Olympian Blue Polo TDi Sport
Location: Kent, UK

Re: Olympic Blue TDi Sport - heater dials, painted calipers

Post by Ben90 »

Only 6 months later, I finally found two warm dry days where I didn't need the car to fit the Votex roof spoiler!

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Attached with Tigerseal. It's been baking in the sun all day so well on it's way to curing, I'll leave it until tomorrow to finish up though.
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Eddie9n
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Re: Olympic Blue TDi Sport - heater dials, painted calipers

Post by Eddie9n »

Really like this car, nice subtle oem+ mods are definitely the way to go. I wish that I had a votex rear spoiler, that's all I need to complete the kit :/. Oh, and I'm liking the blue calipers, I ended up doing mine black as I couldn't decide on a colour!
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Ben90
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Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2011 11:54 am
Drives: Olympian Blue Polo TDi Sport
Location: Kent, UK

Re: Olympic Blue TDi Sport - heater dials, painted calipers

Post by Ben90 »

Thanks mate. Yeah I couldn't decide on a colour either. Red's been done to death, I was thinking yellow or copper but they might make my tiny stock calipers stand out like an erection in spandex :lol: Silver would have looked good too and subtler still.

They're still available from the seller I got mine from mate! Dirt cheap and genuine with all the screws you need for fitting the 3rd brake light :) there are non genuine ones about which don't have these.

Properly fitted, proper photo. Really pleased with how it makes the back end look. The roof really needs that bit more length to make it look its best. 8)

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Eddie9n
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Re: Olympic Blue TDi Sport - heater dials, painted calipers

Post by Eddie9n »

I was actually looking at getting the spoiler off that guy. I'll have to see once payday arrives, now I know that they're decent :). I know what you mean about the back requiring a bit more length, the standard spoiler thing doesn't really cut it.
Retrofr3ak
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Re: Olympic Blue TDi Sport - heater dials, painted calipers

Post by Retrofr3ak »

Got any more pics of the spoiler, different angles? Looks great from that pic.
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Ben90
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Posts: 494
Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2011 11:54 am
Drives: Olympian Blue Polo TDi Sport
Location: Kent, UK

Re: Olympic Blue TDi Sport - heater dials, painted calipers

Post by Ben90 »

Yes mate, just cleaned the car today and took a few more pics of different angles.

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