Golf TDI

In late autumn 2006 a familiar car appeared at AVK and caught Peksi's eye.

Fellow FFp member Ville Maaronen's former Golf had taken a beating and was waiting for a new life. This is the car:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1456694 http://www.vwvortex.com/artman/publish/article_899.shtml

The first couple of photos are courtesy of Autovahinkokeskus.

Back home, the glow of a bonfire is a good place to inspect the damage. The tailgate is a little warped... a small crease in the side, a slightly twisted door...

The garage lighting reveals a little more damage, including the top of the left C-pillar, both A-pillars and both sills, which need replacing. Plus a few other little things. The front end is, of course, smashed to pieces too.

Naturally we start by stripping the interior. We have already found sound replacement doors...

The previous owner had fitted 19-inch chrome wheels. One became a hose reel, but a new replacement wheel was found.

Sound body panels were collected throughout the winter. Among other things, we bought a front-damaged mk5 GTI shell from Sweden. Its roof went to another project; this car got both sills and some side panels.

The GTI side panel removed and cut at the right points.

And that is where it will go.

It usually doesn't take long before the side panel is tacked into place.

Fully welded now. The dents in the upper section have also been pulled straight.

Small repair sections were also made for the outer A-pillar panels.

On the right only the sill panel was replaced—a smaller section than on the left. Also from the Swedish GTI.

The rear bumper also comes from the GTI.

The front bumper is from a mk5 Jetta. Some chrome up front.

This is how the car looked when it went to the painter.

Preparation and painting took a while, but eventually the car returned to our own garage lift and assembly could begin.

One of the first jobs was fitting a detachable towbar.

Wiring the towbar involved quite a bit of electrical work. The factory towbar connects to the CAN bus and has its own control unit, among other things... other electrical extras were installed too. A pile of wiring diagrams on the floor.

The dashboard was replaced too; the original had been borrowed for another project earlier in the winter. The replacement is supposedly a little darker, although it looks much the same.

The headlining was replaced with the black GTI version.

Rear speakers from the GTI were installed in the Golf too.

The dashboard is nearly assembled here. The aluminium trim is also from the GTI.

A CD changer in the centre console.

A GTI multifunction steering wheel was chosen as well.

Finally the seats could go in. From the GTI, of course...

With the interior together, the glass was bonded back in. Then the front wings, lights, bumper and the rest of the front end... and at last it was time for the first test drive.

A satnav was added to clutter the dashboard so we wouldn't get lost on the way to Mantorp—as if we hadn't been there before...

The rear silencer, and therefore the tailpipes, came from the GTI.

Matt is fashionable now, right...? We tried temporarily finishing a few details in matt black.