Jim's Mk3... again

Hi all - been a bit absent from all things VW for a little while, mostly due to an 18yr old almost writing off the [parked up] VR and then having to go through the ballache of fixing it all up, and then finally selling it a few weeks ago. I'll miss it for sure, I already do a bit, but I was tired of stressing over people keep damaging it. When I've got my own driveway/garage, I can have a nice car again.

Anyway, VR went & I bought a Saab 9000 as a winter snotter. What a mistake. I absolutely hated it, despite a good stereo & 265bhp remap. I think I'm only ever going to own Mk3's from now on, everything else just pisses me off too much I know mk3's and I fit inside them comfortably, and they're cheap. So I chopped in the Saab for another... you guessed it.. Mk3. Of the 21 cars I've owned, I've had 4 mk3's and loved them all. I've got a good feeling about this one, a bit rough around the edges but I'm planning on hanging onto it for a while. Few pics here straight from the for sale ad:

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I've got a set of 4x100 15" TH-Lines I took in PX for the VR, so I knew I needed an early/low spec Mk3 to fit those, but this seems to be just an 8v Gti minus a roof with 4 stud wheels

The mk3 gets a bit of a slating on edition etc, fine by me, just makes them cheaper. I think this one's got a bit of potential & I'm looking forward to making a few changes from a pretty standard base. Pretty practical too - the back seats go down, I can get my fishing stuff in, and the pooch is gonna love riding in the back of this on a sunny day

Got a few little plans over the winter to keep me busy, and then get some cheapy coilovers, & stick the TH's on in the spring.

I like mk3 dude, and i saw the damage when you posted up on edition. stupid kid.

looks promising mate, the th lines sound sexy too

Cheers Dash - Yeah I'm looking forward to spring already. Although the TH's are 15" so it'll need to be pretty low to pull it off. Already started with a bit of mild sprucing, hoping to pick up a few goodies for it at the weekend, can't wait, will update with a few pics if all goes to plan

Oh and been out with the roof down today, it stays pretty warm in the cabin even in this weather - makes a much better winter cabrio than my mx5 or S2000; & no, I don't care if I look like a prat

I did wonder why I'd not seen the VR about! what happened dude?

Jake

I parked it up near the museum as I was going on holiday for a week the next day, so it was in the lay-by bit opposite those old black & white houses, relatively safe I thought....

Checked it the next morning to find one of the wings battered & damage to bumper/door - and (amazingly) a note with a number, basically apologising that he'd had to swerve to avoid a cat





Was a right old mess but we finally managed to sort it out privately and there was no structural damage to the car, his insurance would've crucified him for it & probably written the VR off. It looked absolutely mint after it came back (from Shocking Coachworks, near Bovingdon) but had already picked up another scuff before I sold it a week later, it's Russian roulette parking anything nice around here!

Hence, the Cabby

Picked up a grey leather cabby interior at the weekend & made a start on transferring the lot in Got the seats, rear bench/headrest & rear doorcards in so far. Replaces some very crappy blue cloth with torn bolsters & broken adjusters etc. Drove into work on the leathers this morning, much more comfy!

They'll need a bit of conditioning & 'feeding' but they look alright for the money (£165). Should have a pot of Grey leather balm arrive through the post today to help with that. Got loads of interior plastics with them too, but I'm quite liking the blue plastics / grey leather combination, will get some pics up later.

Forgot to throw some pics up of this, I did manage to get the interior in; was a pretty easy job. I like doing interiors because the progress is so fast, so I don't lose interest in the job halfway through Found a few quid in change rattling about under the seats too.

I also recently:

Got some cheapy aero wipers as the old ones were shot (although the wipers don't settle properly, they sit a few inches high, I need to look into that),
Got some free floor mats from a neighbour
Had a slow puncture fixed
Topped up coolant
Gave her a quick clean





Finished Got my blue speaker covers on there, I think the grey/blue works fairly well. And I've got a glovebox now too, the old interior just had a shelf. I'm debating whether to change the plastics around the gearstick/handbrake to the grey stuff too, maybe when I buy some new gaiters, these ones are looking tired.



Few pics of the Schimdts, offset is around the 20 mark, 8j fronts 8.5 rears, so should be ok with a bit of rolling, and will hide my rear drum brakes & dinky front discs nicely





In the garage today for a bit of a check over and also to see whats up with this clutch/flywheel, otherwise she's been pretty well behaved this last month or so. Although she handles like an absolute pig, so early next year I'll be looking at coilovers, bushes and anything else that can tighten up the old boat a bit, and then get these wheels on.

win.....

I heart split rims.

getting there , going to look amazing

wheels = SEX

Cheers peeps, identified a decent coolant leak and a couple of little issues at the garage last week but should be all sorted in a few days. In the meantime I bought a cab 3.5 steering wheel and dials with pretty much spot on mileage on them too, mine have lost the Mfa display and a few lights so it'll be nice to sort that out. I'm going to attempt to swap over the dash lights and button lights to blue led's so it all matches too.