VW Golf GTi Clubsport S

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Hackney said:

Nick, I might delete a couple of posts as in danger of derailing the thread.

My point isn't the relative merits of each car or a detailed comparison.
It's that selling a 2 seat 2 door track car because you have a child, then buying a "fast barge", that's the same size; then selling that (because its too big, too fast), to replace it with another 2 seat 2 door track car, is both a waste of money and doesn't meet the original need.

Just seems odd, that's all.

Hi can I ask a favour and request that you delete these posts. I’m not wanting or feel I have a need to explain my buying decisions to anyone. My decision and buying need is solely mine and mine alone to make. My rational (Not that it needs to be explained is stated at the beginning of the thread. Many thanks.

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Stephen-t4am8 said:

Fantastic read.... I will be following with interest.

I see you have no front tailored mats, but that's probably because you just sold them to me!

For the info of other readers, I've a 5 door Clubsport, with the bucket seats currently being imported and the OP kindly supplied me with his surplus to requirements front mats.

I will be very interested to see the end product with the finished seat cover.

Keep the updates coming.

Thanks so much mate. It’ll be a long thread. I’ve loads of things to do and loads of places to drive it too. One day I’m hoping to tour Europe with it. Need to be in a few years when the baby is a toddler lol.

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Skornogr4phy said:

I did sell the car, and bought a Subaru Legacy Spec B. Not as focussed for sure, but it's a good daily runabout. Needed to free up some money for other things, and it's almost as fast in a straight line.

That was an epic car. Was / is an amazing drive. Once that exhaust has got some heat in it it popped and farted all day long. Glad you are enjoying your Spec B.

Edited by st33ly on Thursday 25th July 08:34

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Small up-date. If anyone is interested. This has been annoying me from day one due to it catching my eye every time I've driven it especially in the two recent bursts of sunshine we've had. So after looking at a few how to guides and watching a few Youtube videos I thought id tackle the instrument binnacle. I was very nervous removing the central dash gloss black plastics. You need to pull proper hard to get them to pop. Once removed I set about with pre-soaked 2000/3000 wet and dry then two stage polish with the brilliant RUPES Ibrid nano. Sealed with finger applied Colinite wax. It worked a treat. Pictures below. Needless to say no more scratches.

Winner.






I cannot speak highly enough of RUPES polishers. I bought this haul at the beginning of the year and its next level compared to my DAS6Pro.

Edited by st33ly on Thursday 25th July 08:38

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nickfrog said:

Awesome attention to detail, I can't stand scratched clear plastic like that.

Thanks nickfrog.

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toasty said:

Great result on the scratches though you might have saved some trouble using a dab of polywatch. It worked a treat on my old M3 which had a scratch in a similar place.

Hey

Thanks for the reply. Before i stripped it all I used the RUPEs while it was fitted to the dash. I was ultra careful not touching the pad with the mat plastic trim using masking tape helped. However it never gave me the result I was after. So thought best to strip it. The whole centre dash section comes has to be removed to remove the instrument cluster. Just so happy I never broke any plastic clips / trim. I’ll look into the amazon link as I have to do the good lady’s polo also. My CTEk battery charger arrived today so I’ll hard wire that into the glovebox shortly.

Thanks for all the kind comments guys.

Cheers.

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Small update.

Hard wired a CTEk trickle charger. It looks nice and neat and easy if I want to leave it on charge. I can plug it in through the glove box or bonnet.




Also gave the engine bay a snow foam/ de-grease with some Bilt Hamber products then treated to Aerospace303. Came up a treat. I might purchase the inlet manifold cover but really don't want to pay £50 for a wee bit plastic but it does finish it off nicely.



Just waiting on the Jack pad kit to come and i'll install that next.

Some more to follow.

Cheers

Edited by st33ly on Thursday 25th July 08:43

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Bloody photobucket. Anyone got any ideas where I can upload photos for free without to much hassle?

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Finally up-dated the stupid Photobucket blurred / water marked photos. Hope this tidies the thread up guys. Thanks to those that contacted me to say use Imgur. Its straight forward to use and set up a account.
Cheers

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melvGP2 said:

Fantastic thread, love these Golf’s; a real driver’s car and the rarity just adds to the ownership experience. Small world but a very good friend of mine was the original owner of your Megane, pics attached of when I owned my Clio 197 Cup before selling for a 2013 Mini GP.



That Megane was fantastic, very well specced with the right options.

Hey Melv.

That is the very car. Was a fantastic car. The confidence it gave you was unreal. Reminded me of my R26.R but with more power and compliance. I can't remember your friends name but he sold it to me and bought a 996 in gourds red. Does he still have it? Not had much time to do anything on the Clubsport as been working so much and any spare time spent with my wife to be and baby daughter. Will be heading back to Loch Lomond with the car. Especially since i'll be getting married up there. Heres the single photo I got the last time LOL



Thanks for all the interest guys.

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Jacking pad kit finally arrived. Will get this fitted asap.

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Basically stops me having to use the pinch weld to jack the car up. On my previous CCS the sealing cracked and broke away, exposing the bare metal underneath despite using a soft pad. So this will save it. Hopefully.

Edited by st33ly on Tuesday 13th August 21:57

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So another update. It's poly bush time. Which makes an already brilliant handling car that little bit tighter. Never realised how expensive poly bush kits are. For the rear alone £500. Will attempt to do the front next year. 8 bushes per side. Going to get a few things powder coated satin black to match the factory OEM look. I'll up-date once ASAP with photos of them pre fitting.






cheers

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Very small update.

The Superpro rear bush kit arrived after dealing with Ewan @ Clarckmotorsport. Its taken some time to get to this stage. Between stripping everything then pressing the bushes out, vapour/snadblasting the components then powder coating in satin black like factory. Only issue I had was the first powder coater stated he could do satin black then when I went to collect he had them in a mild gloss black which looked pants so of to another powder coaters. Ive ket the hub and lower control arms in mild gloss black because it offers the best protection. Ive also kept the factory stickers to stick back on them so it all looks like factory. Even got all the bolts electroplated. Should look really good.





I have degreased and cleaned the rear underside then put a nice layer of Bilthamber Dynax on. Amazing stuff.


I'll take more photos of the rebuild stage. Love doing this stuff.

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All the parts are back from the powder coaters. Next step get all the Superpro bushes in and then button it all up. Hopefully LOL.

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Hey Rob

It's simple to apply and you get great coverage. I use a piece of A4 card to temporarily mask areas. Just do light coatings and after 24hrs it dries a ever so slightly tacky matt finish. If you need a thick coat do multiple layers. It honestly pisses one waxoyl and other products. £13 for 750ml and it lasts ages.

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Oh sorry forget to say that all this work is done on axel stands/jack. Wish I had a ramp.

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rob_benton said:

What’s Dynax like applying to the under side ? Is the spray quite controlled? And did you have to use a ramp ?
I’ve been looking at doing this to my mk7 as there’s bits of surface rust on the rear sub frame.

Thanks

Rob I forgot to mention that if you do remove the rear frame you will have to buy new bolts. They are stretch to yield bolts so have to be replaced once removed. A few places sell them but to be honest it’s easier to just buy them from VW. The guy at my local dealership is brilliant. Gives me great discount due to the amount of times I go in asking for parts.

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Another small update. I was hoping to have this all buttoned up beginning of last month however relying on other people is increasing my timescales considerably. However I am slowly cracking on. Rear shocks have seen small rust dots dremlled off and then zinc primed following multiple coatings of satin black. I delicately removed the factory labels and once the paint had cured for a week used a hot dry iron plus paper towel to re-stick them back on. Also bought a white paint marker to re-mark the original markings on the shock. Turned out really well in my humble opinion.







I coated the electroplated bolts and fastener with a silver type galvanised paint. Looks OEM to me and should provide an extra layer of protection.





Lastly rear subframe alignment kit from ECS arrived from the states in three days from ordering. Spoke to a guy using online chat and he was so helpful. Worked out £12 cheaper than the Tyrol kits in the UK and looks for OEM to me. Comes complete with new bolts as they should not be replaced due to being torque to yield. Postage and VAT were more expensive than the bloody parts.



I will up date ASAP on any further developments.

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So another small update if anyone is interested. I managed to get everything back from the powder coaters and got the new superpro poly bushes installed. Has taken ages to get to this point however I had a few spare hours over the Christmas period so started building a few things back together. Looks fantastic now and is fully poly bushed.







Rear end should be buttoned up next week ready for its service and Apple CarPlay installation at VW Edinburgh.

Cheers