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Old 03-20-2020, 04:55 PM   #61
GolNat
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Coilovers installed and she is riding amazing. Nice balance of sport and comfort. KW knows how to valve a shock. The car doesn't crash over harsh surfaces and just soaks them up. Need to dial in the rear as it is sitting too low but will give it some time to settle. Alignment is scheduled for Tuesday. After that I will buff the paint and hopefully go out and get some good DSLR shots now that it is warming up. Should be able to find lots of places since everyone is staying home.









On the look out fro Euro LED tail lights to finish the rear and meth injection.
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Old 04-13-2020, 05:56 PM   #62
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Installed Black Forest Industries stage 1 mounts over the Easter weekend. I had bought the transmission mount a while ago used and have been on the look out for a used motor side mount but one never came up. Decided to just buy a new one for the one side after seeing that the engine was rocking so much it was starting to wear a hole in the intake tube.



Should have done them sooner. The stock ones were not tore but the added stiffness really helps get the power to the pavement. Added very little NVH if any. I got the most added NVH when I put the dog bone insert in with the stock mounts. The mounts are beautifully made. It's a shame the transmission one gets covered up by the battery and intake.






Also got out the DSLR for some front yard pictures. I really need a polarizing filter.





Going to transition into summer mode shortly.
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Old 04-21-2020, 06:35 PM   #63
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^ now that's a great looking mk6!
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Old 04-28-2020, 06:35 PM   #64
GolNat
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^ now that's a great looking mk6!
Thank you sir.


Scored a great deal on a Valentine One radar detector and did a hard wire install over the weekend. The only bitch part is the stupid A pillar trim which does not have to be removed. It is a real PITA to get it put back on but once you get it, all future A pillar installations will go a lot smoother. Struggled with it for like an hour one night and left it until the next day out of frustration. Came back the next day and got it in a few minutes. I tapped into the fuse box with a fuse tap and cut all crimp connectors off and soldered everything. Also added an on/off switch in my cubby because this detector does get chatty which I will go into further explanation below.


Stupid J clip is at the bottom of the picture. You basically have to push the clip into the hole with a long object from the side/bottom while the A pillar is up against the dash and windshield.






Install







The mirror mount is very solid. $36 on Amazon. I was hoping to be able to get it closer to the mirror but that's about as high as I can get it. Mount it as high as you can for best results. I have seen 2 other detectors people had that were mounted down by the dash which is not as effective.





The radar detector as been working great but I can understand why some people have issues with it. Due to it not having GPS you can't tell it to ignore certain areas that may have other radar sources like automatic doors and traffic signals. I didn't realize how many new traffic signals around me use a newer form of radar to trip red lights rather then the plates in the road. I always wondered what the little black things above the traffic lights were and now I know. So every time you come up to a light with one of these the detector will go off. With a GPS enabled unit you can tell the detector to ignore these areas however Valentine offers a bluetooth module that you can get to add to a Gen 1 as long as your unit has had the software/hardware update. Valentines website is not up so I can't get all the info on the bluetooth adapter but this article outlines it pretty well. Still does not look to be location based but radar type based. This would be a great help as most police radar is Ka and the false alarms I am getting from doors and traffic lights are X and K band. So overall I am pleased with the Valentine One Gen 1 and am glad that they have adapted with the times and offer software and hardware upgrades to people with older units. For someone looking to buy a used unit I would consider the areas that you travel and when you will want to use the detector. The cost of a used unit plus updating and adding bluetooth might not be worth it compared to a new Gen 2 or other detector brand. I have ordered a bluetooth adapter so that I can reduce the amount of false alarms and turn the display off so it is not visible.

There are ways to change settings with an older one by diving into the menu. So for example I could turn off X band since it is not used in my state.


https://www.valentine1.com/v1-info/h...dar-detectors/


Also at night you need to remember which location the different radar bands are as the letters are not illuminated. As you can see in this picture the Ka and X band are active but the letters do not illuminate so you just need to remember where they are. If the top 2 (L and Ka) are active LOOK OUT is what I go with.





These are what the traffic light radar things look like. I have read that they also allow emergency vehicles to change the light from red to green when they need to get through an intersection quickly.





It did save my ass the other day when I wanted to do a little highway pull on a section of road I don't frequent much. My K band alarm was going off from the light that I had just passed but once the Ka alarm sounded I took it easy and sure enough there was an officer scanning the road about 3/4 of a mile up.

Last edited by GolNat; 04-28-2020 at 06:44 PM.
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Old 05-14-2020, 04:36 PM   #65
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Did some small things over the last few nights.

My hardwired radar connection has been doing great but had one issue that really bothered me. It would come on when you turned the key to accessory and then when you turned the key to ignition to start the car it would turn it off and on again (which is what I would expect). Well it bothered me due to the start up noise it would make and the fact that I don’t like power cycling electronic stuff more then I have too. So I started digging through my old electronics stuff from school looking for a 555 timer to make a delay to start circuit when I thought I could probably just order one. Yep sure enough I could get 5 mini delay boards for $14 From eBay. So I wired that into the radar detector and it now waits about 10 seconds before powering on, perfect . It’s got a surface mount 555 timer and a nice 10A relay with adjustable time delay





A few weeks ago I discovered one of my OZ center caps had flew off somewhere. Okay I’ll order a new/used one. A single cap was $25 (cause carbon fiber bro). I then saw a set of 4 OZ non painted center caps for $26 and thought I‘ll just get them and then I can paint match them to the car. Instead of paint I decided to go with vinyl wrap. Oh great I can do my side markers at the same time. So I vinyl wrapped my center caps and side markers.





The vinyl wrap is 3M 1080 and was super easy to work with

I also downloaded an app to compliment my Valentine radar detector and it has been an excellent addition to po-po detection. It’s called V1Driver and gives you all the features of more modern radar detectors but done better. I’m still playing around with it but I am enjoying it so far.

Have some minor suspension stuff coming in. I'm wanting to add a new head unit for Carplay but......I really want to upgrade the turbo so putting money aside for that.

Took some summer mode pics too (before new center caps and wrapped side markers). Got a polarizing filter but need to practice with it.



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Old 06-04-2020, 03:08 AM   #66
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Some more minor stuff. Replaced my ugly license plate holder with one from a Volvo. It is a much more compact design that fit's my narrower license plate. I was concerned about it not fitting because my plate is made out of porcelain and it a lot thicker then a standard plate but it fit just fine. You can see some of the bronze color a little so I might remove it and paint the tabs that the studs are on black to blend it in a little better.

Before with the black plastic bracket.



After with the Volvo bracket. It's subtle but I like it.



I am also in the process of replacing the LCA bushings. There is nothing wrong with mine but someone listed a set of anti-lift caster brackets BNIB for a decent price so I grabbed them up. At full price I would probably wait but for 35% off I figured why not. A popular mod while doing the LCA bushings is to replace the stamped steel arms with aluminum ones from a Passat. This was a very large improvement from the MK5 GTI LCA that were very heavy but not as much of an improvement for MK6 GTI's. It is still a weight savings and I like to press the old bushings out and have the new ones ready to go to save time. The anti-lift brackets should add about 0.5-1 degrees of caster to improve turn in and steering response.

Arms are all cleaned and bushings have been removed. Got the pair of LCA's off eBay for cheap. They came off a 2006 Passat. I forgot to include the brackets in this photo but they are Super Pro ones (I'll add a Google image).



Google image of the bushing but you can see that the LCA will not be centered in the bushing and this is where the added caster comes from.



I have a K04 turbo upgrade fund going as I want more power. Waiting for a used one to come up for sale.
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Old 06-15-2020, 09:39 PM   #67
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ALK kit is installed and front LCA bushings have been replaced with Super Pro poly ones. Car still needs an alignment but I decided to get a subframe bushing kit before I get another alignment. The subframe on these cars has a lot of slop which over time can cause clunking noises and mis-alignment. I also did not replace my subframe bolts back when I did the clutch and they are torque to yield bolts so not reusable 0_0


The bushings came out easily once I stopped trying to make everything straight and pretty. Just get er close enough and push it out.





Make sure you use a lot of lube. You get a tube with the ALK and a tube with the other LCA bushings so that's a tube per arm. I used about 75% of each tube on each arm.





Original GTI LCA weight with bushings.




Passat LCA weight with bushings.





Installed on the car.





Also got another used shift knob to try. This is one of the most popular ones and I understand why people love it. Raceseng Slammer shift knob. Super high quality and heavy AF (600 grams). I need to get used to it. It has brought to light some of the short comings in the OEM shift assembly and I don't think that is helping. I can see a Diesel Geek shifter in my future as well.




Started installing the subframe deadset kit Sunday night and had some troubles. The subframe is a real PITA to deal with. I may have cross threaded a bolt when I put on the LCA bracket. I ordered a M10x1.5 tap to try and repair it. If that doesn't work I'll Helicoil it. Worse comes to worse I'll but a used subframe mount off eBay for $70. Once installed I can get it aligned and ready for the twisties.
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Old 06-16-2020, 12:47 PM   #68
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Excellent work! The radar detector information was really good too. Surprised that the Valentine One is still around these days, it came out when I was in college which is coming up to 20 years ago.

The LCAs should be a really nice improvement too. Looking forward to your driving impressions.

Getting carplay into the mk6 is easier now than ever before and there are some OEM look replacements available. I think there’s even a radio that VW used in the Chinese market which is PnP and offers it.

The mk6 is such a great platform. I really enjoyed mine and it’s fun seeing you build yours.
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Old 06-30-2020, 10:49 PM   #69
GolNat
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Excellent work! The radar detector information was really good too. Surprised that the Valentine One is still around these days, it came out when I was in college which is coming up to 20 years ago.

The LCAs should be a really nice improvement too. Looking forward to your driving impressions.

Getting carplay into the mk6 is easier now than ever before and there are some OEM look replacements available. I think there’s even a radio that VW used in the Chinese market which is PnP and offers it.

The mk6 is such a great platform. I really enjoyed mine and it’s fun seeing you build yours.
Appreciate it!!

I actually think I picked Valentine from all the years of reading my dads old Car and Drivers and seeing the Valentine ad. It burned an image in my head and it just happens to be one of the top detectors. The Gen 2 Valentine is even more badass with more range and better filtering. If I drove more highway I would probably upgrade. I have since paired the V1 with V1Driver which is an iOS or Android app that adds GPS lockouts, low speed muting and frequency display. Not something I use on my daily commute but great for long highway drives or hooning around.

LCA's were a nice improvement. More so when you really push the car. I don't notice it much with normal driving. I ordered toe plates that just came in this weekend so I can dial in my toe that is off after installing them. I'm thinking once I get that dialed in It will enhance the ALK some more.

Yes I have seen the Chinese OE units and for the price they are a great deal. I think I will either go with one of them or a Kenwood unit with wireless CarPlay.

It really is a great platform. I will admit at times I wish I would have done some more research and gotten a MK7 just from a tuning ability. They respond better to performance upgrades. With the labor and money I have put into this car I'd have more HP. They were out of my budget at the time but I could have kept this stock (yeah right) and waited a bit for MK7's to get cheaper. Uh well. I find myself looking at MK7s and then remember I'd have to do another clutch...nope lol

I scored a used Borg Warner K04 from a forum member. 11k miles on it and in great shape. I might send it out for a port and ceramic coating before install and I'd also like to upgrade the intercooler. Just need to order an install kit and really I should be good to go. Just need some time to do it.







With a Unitronic Stage 2+ tune it should be cranking out 330-350HP.
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Old 09-04-2020, 09:00 PM   #70
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K04 is officially up and running!!! Install went pretty smooth with the exception of the turbo outlet pipe hitting the timing cover. Ended up having to clock the compressor housing a bit and it's still pressed up against it. I'll keep an eye on the coupling. I noticed today when putting the fender liner back in that I have 2 8mm triple squares left. Not sure where these went but I think one is for a bracket that is no longer used and the other I'm not sure. I'm going to review the install instructions and see if I can figure it out.



Install Tips:

-Not all K04 hardware kits come with the "thicker" washer that you need in order for the return coolant line to clear the plug on the CHRA. Luckily the guy that I bought the K04 from included it.

-It's very important that you have 2 washers on the oil feed, coolant feed and coolant return lines. One below the banjo and one above. So you need 6 of these washers. 4 are not as wide and I used them on the coolant lines. The 2 wider washers went on the oil line.

-Before installing the K04 check the orientation of the the outlet to make sure it matches the IHI. I had to pull it back off to adjust it. I thought tightening up the exhaust manifold would move it out enough but it didn't.

-I used about a gallon of coolant to get it back to the full mark. Make sure it's pink. My local Import parts shop gave me blue coolant which is BMW/Mercedes. Honest mistake as the part # that was written on the bottle was correct but the PN of the bottle was not.

-Install time was about 10 hours I'd say not including having to clock the housing. 1 hour of that is searching for **** that gets lost in the sub frame 😑.

-You can drive the car on Unitronic Stage 2 software it just won't run well at full boost.


Don't have many pictures. It's a pretty simple install as long as everything comes apart and nothing is seized.



I did end up cutting the bracket for the coolant return line. Made it fit better.



Unitronic UniConnect+ Software.



The car ****in moves!!!! It's in such a none dramatic fashion that it is deceivingly fast. Above 70 into the 100's it just keeps pulling.
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Old 09-07-2020, 03:02 PM   #71
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So cool! Man, your GTI is pretty built up now! What's left to do?
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Old 09-08-2020, 08:56 AM   #72
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Man I really wanna reflash mine. Wife even gave me the go ahead but it's just like, it's a daily do I really need it.
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Old 09-08-2020, 11:03 PM   #73
GolNat
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So cool! Man, your GTI is pretty built up now! What's left to do?
I did not plan on taking it this far when I bought it. It's just so damn easy to get power out of this thing. The MK7's are even better.

I just picked up a used but basically BNIB Unitronic intercooler cause it is getting heat soaked pretty quickly now. Certainly need more stopping power now so I am keeping an eye out for a BBK or maybe Golf R setup. Water/Meth is after the intercooler as far as go fast parts are concerned.


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Man I really wanna reflash mine. Wife even gave me the go ahead but it's just like, it's a daily do I really need it.
Yes you most certainly do

No one needs more power but I don't think anyone has ever said I could use less.
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Old 11-01-2020, 11:43 PM   #74
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Just been enjoying the K04. It's loads of fun to be running with Scat Pack Challengers and Chargers.

Unitronic Intercooler waiting to be installed. Not too worried about it until the spring time.



LED Tail Lights



On the lookout for a BBK. Might go used Porsche caliper route. Water Meth still on the table and might try out a new tuner (Stratified).
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Old 01-14-2021, 07:45 AM   #75
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Caught Covid over Christmas. Took the quarantine opportunity to install my LED tail lights. Went for some nice long drives.



Picked up a used (never installed) Aquamist WMI kit. This is gonna take some time to install but looks to be an exciting project. I will need a new tune so I will also be picking up a used COBB Accessport when I have the funds and when one comes up for sale.



Also piked up a Diesel Geek Short shifter.

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