MeTsU's 9N3 TDi - Sooty from South Africa

[MeTsU]

So here's a small update. Graft has been mad the last couple weeks / month or so, so I haven't had time to post updates. A big thank you to Nic for posting me my ECS Tuning stubby aerial a month or so ago. I'm sure everyone knows what they look like by now.

Please excuse Sooty in these photo's - looks rather scruffy being so darn dirty. This rain has been a bit of a pain lately, but at least we've had some rain I suppose. Firstly, here's a photo of what Sooty looks like on the track wheels - a set of 15" Golf 4 TDi wheels, as used in Polo Cup. This set used to belong to a Polo Cup car, as you can see, LOL.



I made some time to get around to finally giving my San Marino's a serious clean. I did a three step process to clean them up and finished them off by waxing them with SmartWax RimWax. I must admit, I'm rather happy with the level of cleanliness as they were rather stained. They are not perfect and being a perfectionist means I'll be doing them again soon, but I have a few ideas roaming around my mind.







I decided to use the left over black vinyl from my Volkswagen Racing signage on my windscreen to give Sooty a little over the top murdered look. It is kind of the look I've been moving towards over the past couple months, I just haven't had the time to get the correct Lamin-X tinting I would like to use, and seeing there's no stock in P.E, it makes things a little irritating.











Please excuse the rather scruffy photo's, I took them just as a reference. We applied the vinyl in a rush and it's been removed already.

[Polo96CL]

Looks good but did you actually get any light out of them lol?

[MeTsU]

Looks good but did you actually get any light out of them lol?

LOL, even with the high beams on, you could hardly see them. It was done just for fun hey mate. I literally removed the vinyl a couple hours after putting it on.

[MeTsU]

It's time for me to start thinking about suspension options... Unfortunately, there isn't a great selection of manufacturers here in South Africa. Time to start searching heavily.

[MeTsU]

It's been a very very very long time coming. After battling to find Lamin-x in Port Elizabeth and having a number of people tell kiao stories over the phone, I decided it would be easiest to just purchase online from Autostyle and have it sent down. I must admit, I was rather unimpressed when I open the package from the courier, only to find that one of the two rolls of Gu-smoke Lamin-x had been squashed. I would've expected them to have placed the film inside a tube document holder. So after placing the two sheets of film on glass and putting a weight on them for a couple days, they were ready to be installed. Please excuse the dirt.

Lens cleaned up, misted with solution and ready to apply the Lamin-x:


Before and After:


End result:

[Creedy]

Hi, lookin different... Nice car.. how dark are these with the lights at night?

Just wondered on instalation, did you take the lights out to fit the film around, or how did you fit around the edges please?

Thanks

[MeTsU]

Hi, lookin different... Nice car.. how dark are these with the lights at night?

Just wondered on instalation, did you take the lights out to fit the film around, or how did you fit around the edges please?

Thanks

Hey Creedy, thanks for the comments. I can notice little "streaks" in the light, but that is due to the film still needing to settle as well as the moisture evaporate after application. Apparently it takes approximately two weeks for it to settle, so we'll see. This particular tint - the Gun-smoke - apparently only restricts 10% of light. Due to the "streaks" I can't comment.

Installation wasn't too difficult. If you've worked with vinyl etc before then it's a similar principle, otherwise have professionals install it. I would've preferred to have removed the headlights and apply, but I placed the film whilst the headlights were still attached to the car. I didn't wrap around the edges, except for the top edge. The rest were cut with a very sharp, fine knife, on the edge of the curve.

[MeTsU]

It's time for an update. This arrived in the post on Friday morning:



As you will see below, it set in motion a mod I've been wanting to do for ages - dewiper. Please excuse the dirty car, I was too excited to dewiper, than to wait and wash Sooty, prior to doing the mod.

Start off by removing the cap and exposing the nut. Loosen and remove the nut, and spray a lubricant to assist in the removal of the wiper arm.



Remove the plastic nib on the tip of the metal wiper arm shaft, which will allow you to pry off the wiper arm a little easier. Note that it will be pretty difficult to get the arm off, so take your time.



Open the boot and remove the two screws that reside in the two handle sections on the boot lid panel. Start at one end by prying the panel away from the boot lid. Metal v-clips have been used, so a firm tug will be needed to remove the panel. Once removed, the wiper motor is exposed.



Disconnect the wiring harness that powers the motor, as well as the fluid supply pipe. Loosen off the three nuts and the motor will now fall away from the boot lid.



The rubber grommet will now be exposed. Remove the grommet and clean the area thoroughly. I used some of my Menzerna IP for my rotary and polished the glass by hand, to remove the stains and dulling from scratches.





I did a few test fits, and after deciding on the best method to seat the glass blank-off, I used Sika's Sikaflex-Drive (used to installed windscreens) as an adhesive for the blank-off.

Here is the final product. I still need to apply amount of Sika's Sikaflex-Drive around the small ring, to neaten up and ensure that it is 100% leak proof, but other than that I'm pretty happy with the new look from the rear.





You will also notice my new rear black badge, which I worked on when I did my front badge again, after it started to look like it had chicken pox, during the beginning of Jan 2010.

Ciao, Matteo

[vlad_pvs]

It looks really nice without the wiper. I'm going to do that on mine
Can you please give me a link where you bought the headlight films?

[MeTsU]

It looks really nice without the wiper. I'm going to do that on mine
Can you please give me a link where you bought the headlight films?

Thanks vlad_pvs. I'm not sure where would be the best place to get the Lamin-x tinting in Romania, but go to their site: http://www.lamin-x.com/.

Ciao, Matteo

[MeTsU]

Teaser photo - CAN'T wait for the weekend!

[vlad_pvs]

It's going to look good

[MeTsU]

So here's a little taster...

Before:


After:


Not quite the same angle or the same wheels, but gives a good enough idea. I forgot to take before photos in all my excitement. Took us most of Saturday to do, but we did a few extra bits and pieces too.

[MeTsU]

Here's just a few quick words before I shoot out to work.

I believe Koni have a really great piece of kit here. I am incredibly impressed with the quality and workmanship of both the dampers, as well as the springs.

Steve from Koni SA is a great chap and I'm really happy with the service I have received from him.

Height wise, this is going to be perfect for my application. I'm running with 20mm's thread left on the front and fully down at the rear. I'm going to keep the positive rake as this allows me to stick with a little over-steer. As opposed to having Sooty sit level and start to experience under-steer, the lower you go at the rear.

I started setup with the dampers set at 50% and I was really shocked as to how comfortable it was (more comfortable than an Ibiza Cupra). We started to notice a little rubbing over the larger bumps and after going into a couple corners more aggressively, it became evident that the spring rate is not going to be sufficient for my application. We set the dampers to 100% and tested again, better results but still a bit of rubbing when pushing. Even on 100% firmest, it's more comfortable that I imagined it would be.

So I'll speak to Steve and see what is available with regards to spring rate options.

[MeTsU]

So here are the photo's I've been promising to post. I wish I had taken more, a few of them came out really badly. It's a pity I didn't have a "camera man" around when installing these, as it was a mission to try clean my hands, snap a few shots and continue.

This is what was unveiled after removing the cover to the box:


Preparing to remove the OEM dampers and Eibach springs:


OEM dampers and Eibach springs removed - what a mission to get the hub loose:


New axial grooved ball bearing:


Assembling the front coilovers:


Front coilovers installed:


Rears removed and preparing for installation:


Assembling the rear damper:


Rear coilovers installed: