Can we get a rewind........
Discussion
17 years.....back to 2003, when I was 22, I finally bought the car I’d saved up years for, a Golf VR6.
Now if that hasn’t put you off, grab a cup and I’ll try and give you a rundown on my VR6 ownership story, that still runs today
Not any old VR6, one that had been fettled by GTI Engineering with a “super plus pac” engine conversion. It was an absolute weapon, far better than the Corrado VR6 it replaced, which was an total raft.
Anyway it wasn’t perfect, at only 8 years old it needed paint, I fitted Recaro interior and new suspension, new original wheels before selling it back at a vast profit to my friend that I initially purchased it from. He pestered me for months as he regretted selling it once he seen it “fixed”
Here’s it at inters in 2004, the only pics I have of the car in decent shape, excuse the scantily clad female
The Grey car was sold on and its replacement sourced Manchester area if my memory serves me right
Satin Silver with Full black leather and Climate control, I had this car for 3 years, before moving onto an R32
I ruined that car with some silly mods after the pics were taken, however my affiliation with VR6s continued, I had several over the years, I bought both the silver and grey cars back at later dates but sadly they were both too rotten to save. Good old Scottish winters
Anyway I have been on the lookout for another VR6 for a while, it had to be 3dr largely original, in either silver or grey, ideally with climate control and not hanging with rot. Anyone that knows mk3 Golfs will know this is no small ask.
Then I was sent an eBay link to this.............
I was sceptical, it’s been off the road since 2012, but spoke to the seller and got a good vibe, mot history shows no failures for rust, it ticked all the boxes, except it was missing Recaro interior, and I hate the original seats........
Whilst having lunch outside a customers premises, I spied a mk3 Golf shaped object through the fence of an independent local dealer, I had to investigate. Upon walking up to the fence I instantly knew the car, it was the only one in the area in the colour, with the votex kit fitted and it had Recaros. As a small twist of fate I worked with the original owner of this exact car when I was 16 and it was this car that ignited the VR6 love affair. I was buying it, despite it being an absolute shed. It was also the car that originally had the wheels fitted that went on my 1st grey car. It had dealer fit options fitted new and the originals came in the boot in boxes
£500 later the car was mine. An absolute bargain, I’ve sold the votex kit to a chap in the states as I hate it, and now I have a free donor car.
That’s my two cars parked at work.
The plan is to restore the grey car first, and potentially do the blue one afterwards, I have spare subframe, rear axle etc that I intend to refurbish and fit to the grey one, and if the blue car isn’t totally ruined that will be done next as it’s a low miles 2 owner car with full history
I’ll keep the post updated as I go
ETA
Breaches ROP No.13
Now if that hasn’t put you off, grab a cup and I’ll try and give you a rundown on my VR6 ownership story, that still runs today
Not any old VR6, one that had been fettled by GTI Engineering with a “super plus pac” engine conversion. It was an absolute weapon, far better than the Corrado VR6 it replaced, which was an total raft.
Anyway it wasn’t perfect, at only 8 years old it needed paint, I fitted Recaro interior and new suspension, new original wheels before selling it back at a vast profit to my friend that I initially purchased it from. He pestered me for months as he regretted selling it once he seen it “fixed”
Here’s it at inters in 2004, the only pics I have of the car in decent shape, excuse the scantily clad female
The Grey car was sold on and its replacement sourced Manchester area if my memory serves me right
Satin Silver with Full black leather and Climate control, I had this car for 3 years, before moving onto an R32
I ruined that car with some silly mods after the pics were taken, however my affiliation with VR6s continued, I had several over the years, I bought both the silver and grey cars back at later dates but sadly they were both too rotten to save. Good old Scottish winters
Anyway I have been on the lookout for another VR6 for a while, it had to be 3dr largely original, in either silver or grey, ideally with climate control and not hanging with rot. Anyone that knows mk3 Golfs will know this is no small ask.
Then I was sent an eBay link to this.............
I was sceptical, it’s been off the road since 2012, but spoke to the seller and got a good vibe, mot history shows no failures for rust, it ticked all the boxes, except it was missing Recaro interior, and I hate the original seats........
Whilst having lunch outside a customers premises, I spied a mk3 Golf shaped object through the fence of an independent local dealer, I had to investigate. Upon walking up to the fence I instantly knew the car, it was the only one in the area in the colour, with the votex kit fitted and it had Recaros. As a small twist of fate I worked with the original owner of this exact car when I was 16 and it was this car that ignited the VR6 love affair. I was buying it, despite it being an absolute shed. It was also the car that originally had the wheels fitted that went on my 1st grey car. It had dealer fit options fitted new and the originals came in the boot in boxes
£500 later the car was mine. An absolute bargain, I’ve sold the votex kit to a chap in the states as I hate it, and now I have a free donor car.
That’s my two cars parked at work.
The plan is to restore the grey car first, and potentially do the blue one afterwards, I have spare subframe, rear axle etc that I intend to refurbish and fit to the grey one, and if the blue car isn’t totally ruined that will be done next as it’s a low miles 2 owner car with full history
I’ll keep the post updated as I go
ETA
Breaches ROP No.13Edited by Big Al. on Monday 12th October 17:22
MDMA . said:
If I have my way, my grey one will be too MDMA . said:
I remember driving a green 3 door, must be 20 years ago now. It made a noise that felt very outof place (in a good way).
IIRC lots suffered with bore wear I think. Maybe due to poor quality fuels. It’s been a long time since I looked.
5harp3y said:
That's an absolute bargain as the seats are worth £500 all day long
mk3 cloth recaros are unbelievably comfortable
looking forward to seeing this thread develop
also, if you sell any VR6 bits please let me know as i need a few bits for the engine in my mk2
It certainly was yes, it’s actually a free car now as I got £500 for the body kit mk3 cloth recaros are unbelievably comfortable
looking forward to seeing this thread develop
also, if you sell any VR6 bits please let me know as i need a few bits for the engine in my mk2
What bits are you after?
Today I managed to get the car on a ramp and I’m pleasantly surprised at its condition underneath
It needs
Sills repaired at jacking points as they have been slightly crushed and this will annoy me
Two new wings
ARB links
Exhaust (replacement in the boot)
Some brake pipes
To test it needs the above work minus the wings, but I have decided that it’s being done properly with help of my “other” donor car, which I bought purely for the wheels.
I plan on stripping the front subframe, rear axle, front hubs etc off the red shell, get it all blasted, powdercoated and built up ready to fit to the grey car when it’s in the body shop having the minimum amount of paint possible, as the paint is original and I want to keep as much original as I can
This is the first of MANY orders
I ordered some inner steering arms, TREs, lower ball joints and some other stuff from euros, I collect that on Thursday.
First job tomorrow, go see my body shop guy to see about getting it done ASAP
It needs
Sills repaired at jacking points as they have been slightly crushed and this will annoy me
Two new wings
ARB links
Exhaust (replacement in the boot)
Some brake pipes
To test it needs the above work minus the wings, but I have decided that it’s being done properly with help of my “other” donor car, which I bought purely for the wheels.
I plan on stripping the front subframe, rear axle, front hubs etc off the red shell, get it all blasted, powdercoated and built up ready to fit to the grey car when it’s in the body shop having the minimum amount of paint possible, as the paint is original and I want to keep as much original as I can
This is the first of MANY orders
I ordered some inner steering arms, TREs, lower ball joints and some other stuff from euros, I collect that on Thursday.
First job tomorrow, go see my body shop guy to see about getting it done ASAP
Just to give an idea of the level I hope to achieve with this, here’s my old Anniversary that I converted to a VR6 one weekend back in 2013. I regret selling it massively
Because the mods deleted my only pics I had of my First VR6 in my first turn if ownership, here’s it when I bought it back looking very neglected in 2011. It was rotten and sadly broken up
Incidentally the recaros I fitted to my first car actually found their way into the anniversary, I sold them on to a friend when I broke the grey car up and he never used them. Sadly I believe the silver car was scrapped without any thought to the rarity of it and the bits on it
Because the mods deleted my only pics I had of my First VR6 in my first turn if ownership, here’s it when I bought it back looking very neglected in 2011. It was rotten and sadly broken up
Incidentally the recaros I fitted to my first car actually found their way into the anniversary, I sold them on to a friend when I broke the grey car up and he never used them. Sadly I believe the silver car was scrapped without any thought to the rarity of it and the bits on it
I have got a 96 vr6 that has got a 1.8t conversion, I bought it 5 years ago with a broken gearbox with the intention of fixing that and having a fun car. It turns out the car had been neglected for years and had plenty of rust. I have got the parts to finish it and I got half way through but a house and another kid have got in the way.
I will finish it next year hopefully. Although I do want to move too so it may wait another 5 years.
I will finish it next year hopefully. Although I do want to move too so it may wait another 5 years.
Gtom said:
I have got a 96 vr6 that has got a 1.8t conversion, I bought it 5 years ago with a broken gearbox with the intention of fixing that and having a fun car. It turns out the car had been neglected for years and had plenty of rust. I have got the parts to finish it and I got half way through but a house and another kid have got in the way.
I will finish it next year hopefully. Although I do want to move too so it may wait another 5 years.
Life gets in the way I guess. I will finish it next year hopefully. Although I do want to move too so it may wait another 5 years.
I’ve had a 1.8t Mk3 absolute riot, it was rotten funnily enough
English expat said:
We had two Mk3s at the same time 10 years ago. Mine was a mystic blue 3dr VR6 and the wife’s was a 3dr 16v. The valver was fully polybushed and was a riot to drive. My VR felt so much more “adult”. It didn’t corner as well but was effortless in comparison. We both miss them still.
Your wife sounds like a woman of fine taste 
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