I just copied all of my progress from the other site to here so you guys wouldn't have to go back and forth, so, sorry if the literature seems confusing or random.



This is still a work in progress, so don't judge too quickly. There is not a drop of body filler on this and it still needs minor metal work around the tops of the tail lights but I figured you could get a peek of the things I have been working on.


Before.



During.







After.





Like it or hate it, I think it looks fuckin' evil!! I also shaved the marker lights but I am waiting on coilovers to fix the fenders 'cuz the tires keep getting into them and bending them all up. I removed them both and had them close to perfect but the car is too low and got into them again. Hopefully by the time you guys see this car in person again it will be pretty close to ready to paint.....allthough, the wife tells me if I buy her a R32 I can have this back! If thats the case this may never see paint! HAHAHA!!

So I figure I would change this from the tailight conversion thread to
an official build thread for my wifes jetta. Things will probably be
VERY slow going due to the fact I dont have any money, and it is
fuckin' freezing here! Car repair/upgrading is just not that fun in the
snow! I do have some coilovers coming that will be installed in the
snow due to the fact that the cut springs just wont cut it anymore. I
also have some stereo equipment waiting on wood to build a custom box
for the back of the car. I have a 12" L5 and 2 matching 10" comp vr
(ironic the comp vr's are going in the vr!) Anyway, I will try to post
up pics of my plan of action in the next few days, that is if I can get
my amp back from this guy who said he fixed it. Future plans include
finish work for the tailights and fenders, stereo install, window tint
(Im getting pretty good with that too), and eventually shaved handles
with poppers. Then its on to paint. The interior needs to be touched up
too. If anyone is reading this that plans to recover their own door
cards/headliner, be sure to get a GOOD ADHESIVE!!! The crap you get
from discount/auto zone sucks!! the door cards are starting to peel as
well as the headliner!! Get a good adhesive from a upholstery shop or
you will be recovering your CRAP cards again in less than a year.

So I ordered some cheapo coils and they sent me
the wrong stuff, so now I am trying to get them to send me another set
without the springs and modify them to work. I am sure I can build
something to get them to work if I have another set of sleeves. The
ones I ordered were supposed to have 4" of adjust and the ones they
sent me only have about 1 1/2". Anyway, I finally got my amp back from
my buddy and now I am wanting to start (improving) on the system. I
currently have a 12" L5 in a free air box. This is it here.



This is PLENTY for the wife, but I want more. I also have 2 10" comp vr's with a 450 watt amp, as seen here.



I
had this setup in my golf with SUPER deep boxes if anyone remembers.
The amp has a remote gain adjust knob that is placed in the drivers
compartment. I would like to crank the square up as loud as it can go
without distortion, because it is controlled with a switch on the
dashboard. That way when the wife drives it, she can leave the square
off, and adjust the 10's to the level she likes with the dial. And when
I drive it I can turn on the square and crank up the 10's to where I
like it. I am thinking of 2 different setups. One is putting the 10's
perpendicular with the square. I think building the boxes would be
easier that way, like this.



Of
course they would be straight up and down. The other option is putting
the 10's at an a 45 degree angle from the square, like this.



I
am leaning more towards the angled option because I think that would
sound/hit better. I dont think I will doing any crazy fiberglass work
but I do want to make it nice. Add a cover panel to level the trunk
compartment and display the matching amp in there. I dont want to hear
how this is going to weight my car down drastically or blah blah blah.
I know all that crap, and I dont care. I have a vr so a little extra
weight is ok in my book. Also, if you start trying to tell me to run
1/2 ohm on the square and 2 ohms on the 10's or whatever, dont waste
your time. I dont know how to wire it to run 2/4/8/.5 ohms. I always
wire it direct. +to+, -to-. What I would like to know is am I going to
have charging problems when all this crap is installed? The kicker amp
is a 450 watts, but certified at 500. The other amp I have is an
audiobahn a8000t single channel rated at 400 rms (I think). I currently
have NO capacitor but do plan on getting one before all this is ready
to rock. Should I consider getting 2 caps? Is there an alternator
upgrade for the vr's I should know about? The swap came from a 97 jetta
with power everything. This alt. is currently running a non abs crank
window 2 door 89 jetta. The only power option I added is a power
sunroof motor. What do you all think?



So it stopped snowing/freezing rain today and I
managed to get the front coilovers on. I still have to do the rear, but
the front is WAY better! Maybe now I can repair the fenders and not
worry about them getting mangled again. It does sit a bit higher now
but when it all settles in I will do the final height adjust. Now if I
can get the rears in and get the tires there to stop rubbing everytime
I put someone in the back seat I think I will be cool......for now. So
after the rears go in I think everything else will be on hold until I
get to Florida. Its just too damn cold here! Even if I wanted to do
some body work I would be afraid of the cold tampering with my work. It
is also hard to weld on body panels when they been sitting out all
night and they are about 30 degrees. The heat dont take well on cold
panels like that. I will be in the market for an alarm with door
poppers so I can shave the handles too, but a little time to get the
money is really all I need.




I am running 215/40-17, and trust me, I have been
working these fenders for some time now, between rolling them and
shaving and trying to straighten them. UGH! This picture should you the
amount of roll I got on em'.



And
the rears have been worked a little too. Its just too soft. Hopefully
now the springs are on the front I can fix the fenders for the last
time and get it somewhat ready for paint prep. I still want door
poppers and need to finish the tailight conversion but one step at a
time. I am hoping that it warms up a little in the next few days so I
can work on it. A coolant hose connector broke on it 2 days ago and
leaked all the coolant out. I have to go to the dealer to get more
today. I fixed the connector and topped it off with water but there was
just not enough anti-freeze in it and all the water in the radiator
froze and the car started running hot and not pumping
coolant.......Ohio fuckin' sucks!! I cannont wait to come back to
Florida! Do you know it was 4 the other day?! 4....as in degrees!
Yesterday they said it was a low of 0! February cannot come soon
enough. Sorry about the fit. LOL



So I thawed all the ice, replaced a couple coolant lines, filled it
with coolant and got it started. Everything looked good until it got to
normal operating temp, that was when the radiator started to steam. The
steam didnt smell like coolant....just hot water. So I shut it down and
let it sit a little then restarted it, and the same thing. At that time
I decided to jump the cooling fans to suck all the water out of the
fins in the radiator, and when I did I got a fairly big puff of water
go all over everything, including my self. That was about when I saw
it.....the coilpack viewtopic.php?f=3&t=221#.
It was arching internally and between two posts as well as over onto
the coolant hose! Holy crap. I knew it didnt run well in the bad
weather but I thought it was the Air filter sucking in water (by the
way I fixed, I found a $30 yellow APC filter at advance on the
clearance rack for $2! I bought 2! Its yellow but I dont care) So if
you havent seen my wtb post, I am looking for a coilpack. I dont have
the money to do the coilpack alternative yet, I would need to buy new
wires and I dont have a lot of money with the move coming up. I think
most you guys are running dizzy but some one might know where one is.
Thanks!

I got the rear springs in and its like a totally
different car. Def in need of strut tower bracing in the front and rear
and even a rear sway bar, but it handles much better and doesnt rub
front or rear so far. Changed the radiator but the one I put in was
leaking at the side where the tank meets the fins, so I fixed (sort of)
the old one and re-installed it. I recently had the bitter cold take
the rest of the life out of my wiper motor so I will be needing one
soon, but for now, rain-x it is. The van took a turn for the worse and
ended up with catastrophic engine failure so the jetta is the only car
we have now. That being the case, I will probably drop the wife off at
work tomorrow and work on the heater box to get that working better.
The foam on the flaps has worn off and I replaced it with some cloth
but I think the adhesive didnt hold well so cold air is passing through
when it shouldnt. If anybody has had this problem I am sure you know
what I am talking about, if not, and your heater sucks, let me know and
I will tell you how to fix it, as long as your heater core is good. So
it looks like my last month in Ohio will be a busy one....30 days and
counting!!!



So I think I figured out what I am doing now. The
van will get some cheap maintenance and the $$$$ focus will be on the
jetta for now. Upcoming work will include a corrado radiator,
considering the one in the car has been poorly repaired. Shut up, it
worked for a while!! LOL! The coil pack is still shorting out when wet
so I am going to replace that with MSD units. I would like to do the
oil pan and oil pump. The wife will be getting me an air compressor for
our anniversary so body work and prime will be under way soon enough.
Now I have a decent suspension I can set the final ride height and
straighten out the fenders for the 3rd and final time. From the extreme
cold weather the 1/2" crack in the dash has shot its way across and
split in two places so that will need to be fixed. I saw an mk2 golf
downtown with a couple flats when we were here looking for a place to
live so Sunday I might go see if its still there and try to pick it up
cheap. I just missed a $200 86 gti with a blown motor, and extra good
motor to replace it. Damnit! Oh well, I am supposed to be meeting up
with the PHD (Panhandle Dubs) On Sunday so maybe I will have some good
local connects. We'll see. I am going to start ordering parts on monday
and taking pictures as work progresses.



So I got the last of the parts in today. I should
have a good half days work to do on the jetta now. I got the msd's in a
couple weeks ago, the wires and bracket, came in a week after, the oil
pan, pump, and hardware for the coils, and the radiator finally showed
up today. I also got some oil to do a change on that while I do the
pump. The pan I got was a little banged up but not bad enough for me to
let bother me. I got it for $13 at the junkyard and just brought it
home and banged it back into place. I'll probably start work next week.
I'll have the wife take the van to work and make a day of it. Here are
some pics of the crap I got.







I think the next round of work will be timing chains, clutch, flywheel and tranny fluid. Should be a fun one!



Did some work today. Got the MSD's in and the oil
pump replaced, and its a good thing too! Look at this f*ckin' oil pump!
Bottom out much?!









I have the car in the air doing the oil pump,
and notice 2 6" long bubbles in the front tire, and later that night
the sunroof broke. What a bitch!! And as far as the coils go, YAAA!!
Its always great when you put parts in your car and can tell power
gains by the "seat of the pants" test!! I was rollin' in first gear and
mashed the skinny pedal and the 17"s started breaking loose!! Its real
nice, now the car is healthy enough to drive aggressively, I have a
donut on it. How cool!! Whatever, I got 2 tires coming from the rack on
Tuesday so that problem will be fixed!!

sexy!!!

I think you are doing a killer job. The tails look great. I think the white one did use the Mk3 trunk top rear section and that does look great.

I always like to see pics of the new goodies a car is going to get.

My bro lives in Orlando, but not a part of any club. He drives a 2003 GTI VR6 Indigo blue, here it is next to my old VR

Nice! Thanks for the replies! I'm feelin' the love!

Got some work done today. The MSD's are installed and the oil pump has been changed, and its a good thing too. Look at this oil pump I pulled out!!

Whoa, that is a nice break.

The MSD looks good.

Yea, the scary thing is I never bottomed out in the 3 years I have been driving the car so it was most likely like that when I got the motor!

I saw your jetta agian tonight at the mall. Always a chick driving it.

Its my wifes car (lucky bitch), I drive a....... vanagon. LOL! I love it though! Got to have something to tote the kids around in. I got the corrado radiator in today and put the grille back on so it should look a little better. Now I just have to get rid of that donut!

That is some nice progress you have going on.

Got my rotors in today! I also picked up some new tranny fluid and I am going to change the brake fluid while I do the brakes. I just need the pads now, and if I have the money I want to do the e-brake cables too. That should take care of all the fluids. Oh, wait, I am still waiting on my synthetic windshield washer fluid!

Got all the brakes done and the fluid changed. I bedded the brakes last night and they got spongy, so I re-bled them this morning. I will have to let the wife drive around a while and re-bed them to make sure I am getting optimum performance out of them. I also did some ride height adjustment and alignment adjustment. Some more tweeking is necessary but I am headed in the right direction. Next up is chains and clutch. I will get pics up soon!

The rim covers most the rotor but you all know what they look like, the 2nd pic is more to show what the car is looking like right now......sick , but it runs SICK!!! Thats how I like it though!

Looking good bro. I ended up busting out the grinder and torch and making some shit. Hit me up tommorow or tuesday bro. I got the cupkit in the front and cv's in yesterday before I HAD to leave to hang out with tiffs family.