1996 vw golf

[stitchdup]

This was originally started back in 2019 before the new ferry arrived at my previous job. It has had work done sporadically but never really moved that far along but now with various parts from the aftermarket and 3d printing i can actually build my old golf. When i started this i didn't have anything but the body as i'd used it under a uscp wagon so i made do with an alfa coupe chassis and bmw compact interior but all that is getting put in the parts box and i'm using a second hand started kit as a donor for the chassis and interior. I'm sticking with the original body as i dont fancy doing all the changes again at this time but since i have another 5 fresh kits who knows what the future will bring. Unfortunately i dont have any pics of my old car but i know where it currently sits and it wrecked from not being used. I did look to buy it back but all my good parts are gone and the carbs are more corrosion than metal at this point. So my aim is to build it as i would if i still had it which isn't too far from what it was, just nicer finishes as i viewed it as a project but never really had an end goal ten. This time i do, abf16v, 6 speed box, boxster brakes, bags, base model body trim and interior and a shaved engine bay. Hers a recap of what had been done. I was converting the alfa engine to look like 1.8t but i messsed it up and got details mixed between it and a tfsi but i now have a correct clearly scale engine. 

and all i've kept

 

[iamsuperdan]

Two door conversion too! Nice!

 

[johnyrotten]

Great start, always nice to re-create something you had. 👍 

[stitchdup]

So with the fresh chassis, a little bit of thought and a saw, I've now emoved the front from the chassis and swapped some parts from the fujimi engine plate to the printed bay i've ended up with something much closer to an actual mk3 front end. Its no glued yet but the basics are there and some scratching will fill the gaps. I'll be trimming the the front legs later.

and i spent a couple of hours removing the last of the gti trim which was tedious and boring but i strangely enjoyed it. I removed the floor from the interior to help with lining things up at the front, and sincethe saw was out the bumpers and boot lid came off too.

and the engine i'll be using. you might see the vr6 while i'm building it but its just for mock ups as its all sorts of wrong

theres a lot more to come with this one.

 

[rrb124@sbcglobal.net]

Fun to follow. I had a 2015 and 2019 Golf GTI in the real.

[beeRS]

That is some serious work going on there. Great job so far. 

[stitchdup]

done some more on the floorpan/chassis. first i've removed the kit interior floor as it served its purpose. next i built up the tranny tunnel to look a little more like it should, though since i didn't want to remove whats already there i've angled the sides towards the back as its mostly hidden anyway. 

next up i trimmed the outsides of the engine bay a little and added some flat sides and the upper body reinforcing. this will add more strength to the join between the 3d printed bay and gives me excess material to file down for fit. as you can see its getting closer but this is just a mock up body to check alignment. I've left them long at the back as it gives me the correct start for the inner door panels and i'm sorely tempted to pen the doors, but that needs a lot more thought as the door is also the window edge. i might have a plan but it needs refining some.

and to finish up i've started modding the suspension cross member to look more right on the top. i removed the bottom from another crossmember then filed both to fit together

[stitchdup]

I went for it. I've cut up an extra body tp rob the roof corners to reinforce the window edges and added strips to the inner door edge. this will all get filed back. because i want to hinge the doors i've also removed the front wings and will be removing the engine bay from the chassis and fitting to the body. this should get me pretty close to a bare golf shell minus the floor. i took my time to do this side and i dont expect the other side to be any faster due to the screen edges

[Zippi]

That's a lot of surgery going on there Les.  Looking good though Buddy.

[stitchdup]

a little more done. next is building up the door inners

 

[espo]

Some major plastic surgery going on here. 

[stitchdup]

got the rear halfs of the inner door shuts fitted, Next is redesigning the front half as it currently wont fit a dash and thats no use. i only need a couple mm extra space but that would throw everything else off. I might make up a false firewall under the dash so i can hide some reinforcing 

[johnyrotten]

Very nice work so far.

[stitchdup]

not much to report. I've had family visiting the last 2 weeks so i've been out most days. I did clean a scale production vw vento to steal the bonnet, lights and grille from but i've not cut it yet and might knock it together as a quick curbside if i find the right wheels

[stitchdup]

since i have my mk3 kits out, and since i needed the grille and bonnet for the golf i've started building the vento alongside the golf. it only has an engine because i needed somewhere for the bonnet to sit, this is staying curbside. colour will be ford wedgewood green from the 98 ford mondeos. wheels probably wont be bbs 

 

[stitchdup]

I got some paint on the vento this morning. i'll let this set up overnight then mask for the trim and rubber. I'm going for the early look on this one so it will be black trim to match the og gti rather than the later body colour trim. The interior will be black recaro seats with the jocky plaid from a mk5 gti and maybe vw lupo 3l or audi tt steering wheel. I'm not usually someone that fits bbs to a vw but i'll make an exception for this so it fits the theme i'm going for. I'm trying for a modern classic look which means sticking with oem style parts. The era of golf tuning i was into was all about stance and small changes the average person could easily miss rather than the bodykits and stereo thats more popular today. there are a couple of spots where i missed a little mold release but luckily they are on the black trim so i think i can fix it without fully repainting, so cross your fingers as the mars red is finished

[meechum68]

Les, your plastic surgery skills are fantastic, I love the door jams and slick why you made it a 2 door. Such a great build and seeing how you do somethings is nice!  

 

[johnyrotten]

I like the ideas for the interior, my old mkv gli had the plaid interior and European spec under seat storage and dash cubby,loved that car. Even the wife's jetta has a type r steering wheel. It's the little things.👍👍

[slusher]

Real nice shade of orange!