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Hi, first post.

Got a 2001 flash red 3 dr GTI (110K) about a month ago, just getting it ready for the road, already had to change the plugs, leads and coil pack as it was misfiring on cylinder 3, all fine now. Cars in good condition, Previous owner had the gear box fixed and a new clutch last year so hopefully going to give me a few years easy motoring, although the clutch is very stiff and bites really low compared to my Bora. (Another post another day).

Was wanting to do some mods, 16" alloys, G60 brake upgrade, Twin pipe Stainless back box(Not too noisy), lower with either coilovers or eibach springs, I am aware that many of these gti's are off the road and scrapped so dont want to spend a alot on a £1000 car that I may never get back.

Bought some nice 16" 4 x 100 vw alloys of ebay (7j x16 ET42), these where fitted to a lupo gti so never gave it a thought about any problems.
I have put 4 new tyres on them today (Falken 195/40/R16) so went to fit them and hit a problem on the front, the inside of the wheel is catching very slightly on the caliper/ carrier as it spins, I never drove it just tried to spin the wheel round.

The car did not have the standard bbs split rims on it when i bought it but vw bbs 473 with the same measurements as the standard bbs 6j x 15 ET45, running 195/45/R15's.

To summarise the differences between old and new are, New 16" Height , Old 15" Height, New 7J wide, Old 6J Wide, New ET 42, Old ET 45. New Tyres 195/40R16, Old Tyres 195/45R15.

Will fitting 5mm spacers fix this problem?, Am i understanding this right that the new alloys ET of 42 means they are 3mm closer to the hub and 5mm spacers will move the alloys 2mm further away than the old alloys where giving more clearance for the carriers?

Other issues / Considerations :

I have bought some g60 carriers, callipers and new 280mm discs and greenstuff pads to fit also, will this effect things, I am not sure if the carriers are just taller or are actually wider as well.

I was planning to fit either coilovers to lower 50mm front and back or eibach sportline springs to lower 50 front and 35 rear, Will i have any issues?

Thanks


dfh101

Welcome

You only use the carriers and discs on th G60 upgrade as the callipers don't have the right hose fitting for the 6N2

Clutch cable probably just needs adjustment - very common on these. Your bora likely had a hydraulic clutch pedal.

As for the wheels. The fact they are 7J will be what's causing your issue. Stick 5mm hub centric (important) spacers on and that'll be enough to clear it.

Lowered 50 at the front with 7J and spacers might rub a bit on full lock

Thanks for a fast help,

Yes I had read that about the g60 calipers, I had ordered a set of greenstuff pads for the standard calipers as well.

Is it worth doing all four corners with hubcentric spacers or just the fronts? I take it I will need 5mm longer wheel nuts as well?

Probably better going with coilovers as they look thinner than springs and I could adjust them till there is no rubbing.

Cars going for an oil and filters change service tomorrow, will get my mechanic to look at the clutch cable.


Thanks


dfh101

You could do all four if you wanted

5mm isn't much. The bolts are fairly long. Slightly longer wouldn't be a bad idea

The rubbing will be on the arches as opposed to the springs

Had a set of greenstuff pads on my gti & they did nothing but squeal, popped some pagid pads in & no squeal what so ever ...... The greenstuff pads need a bit of heat in them to not squeal & they produce so much dust.

Hi,

Getting new discs and pads fitted all round tomorrow, together with the g60 carriers on the front for the 280mm discs, so slowly things are getting done. Need to order wheel bolts for the new 16" alloys as the standard vw ones are radius and the after-market alloys required a tapered bolt. I took of a standard wheel nut for a check and the thread length is 25mm approx.

So would i order M12x1.5 30mm tapered for the fronts (Extra 5mm for spacers) and m12x1.5 25mm tapered for the rears or does more need to be added on for any reason. The depth of the hole on the alloy to the start of the taper on the alloy including the spacer is about 18mm, how much is required to go into the hub?

Thanks

dfh101

alexperkins wrote:You could do all four if you wanted

5mm isn't much. The bolts are fairly long. Slightly longer wouldn't be a bad idea

The rubbing will be on the arches as opposed to the springs

The bolts don't really go far enough into the hubs IMHO........ that is I need to helicoil some rear hubs because at some time the the bolts came a little loose and have worn the end of the bolt and stripped the first couple of threads in the hub. It's is also going to depend on how much bolt protudes from the back of the wheel. I would certainly check this carefully