Forums » Grassroots Motorsports » My new daily driver 1 2

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  Nov. 21, 2010 3:28 p.m. ratghia Reader

  I got this 1997 Mk3 Jetta GLX (VR6) and some cash in trade for the GTI. I got accepted to the college I want to go to, but it's in Erie (about 7hrs away) and the GTI just isn't the best car for long freeway trips. The Jetta has some little problems but all in all it is a good car.
  

  It has an air filter right off the MAF so I want to swap that out for a better intake. I also need to change the post cat O2 sensor. The interior also needs cleaned up and it might need rear door panels if they don‘t clean up enough. The driver's seat also needs to be recovered because of a few small tears. Everything just needs a good cleaning. I already have everything to do a general tune up and hopefully after that the car will be running even better.

  
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  Nov. 21, 2010 7:24 p.m. pigeon Dork

  Nice. Congrats on getting into the college of your choice. Gannon? My FIL grew up in Erie and has a lot of family there - I've averaged 2 weddings a summer there for the last few years.

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  Nov. 21, 2010 8:57 p.m. ratghia Reader

  pigeon wrote: Nice. Congrats on getting into the college of your choice. Gannon? My FIL grew up in Erie and has a lot of family there - I've averaged 2 weddings a summer there for the last few years.

  I'm going to Edinboro so I'll be just a bit south of Erie. I really like the area and it's far enough away from home to be away from it all but it's close enough I can go back for a weekend if I want.
  

  I've had the Jetta for a little over a day now and I can say I really like it. It isn't really fast but it has a decent amount of torque and pulls pretty well. I already took the thing that is on the hood that makes the headlights look slanted (I have no idea what it is called) off and the car looks much cleaner now. I've probably put about 200 miles on it in the past day and so far it's been great.

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  March 20, 2011 9:03 p.m. ratghia Reader

  Well it time for a major update. When I first got the car it felt low on power and was throwing a cel for the SAI pump and the rear 02 sensor. I found that the intake air temp sensor was giving a false high reading and messing with the timing. It was also running rich because of the SAI code. I got the temp sensor from a 1.8t that isn't a closed element and doesn't heat soak. I also ordered a real shielded cai for the car. The 1.8t sensor doesn't fit into the intake manifold like the factory one does so I mounted it in my cai. After a few day I found out that the car had a nice magnaflow catback.

  I got a set of 262 cams that should give it a bit more power throughout the rev range but not loose too much down low. I got them on sale on black friday for $200 shipped from Autotech. I also ordered a C2 chip for the cams that deletes the rear O2 and the SAI so my car no longer has a cel and runs much better. Hopefully I'll get the cams in soon to use the full potential of the chip.

  I've had it apart for the past month getting it ready for inspection and just installing all the random parts I‘ve gathered for it. It needed all 4 rotors, pads and a front wheel bearing. While I had it up in the air for the wheel bearing I also replaced the dented and cracked oil pan (car was down low) and found that the oil pump was cracked. I added an oil pressure gauge to be able to monitor if anything like that ever happens again. I am pretty sure the old owner did that though as I never laid it into anything that hard. I also put a phenolic gasket on the intake and ported the lower section of it. The runners weren't smooth and had a lot of bumps in them that I took out. I had a set of light weight pulleys that I put on too. I also had to replace the stock cat because it had a crack in it so I went with a 42 Draft high flow replacement.

  I added a euro vr6 lip spoiler to replace the missing factory piece. hopefully for summer I'll get wheels and maybe add some boost if everything works out. I plan on autocrossing it for a full season this year as well.

  
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  March 21, 2011 6:52 a.m. White_and_Nerdy Reader

  Nice! Once of my favorite sounds in the world is a VR6 with an intake at full song. It ranks just below a Ferrari V12 and an NSX.

  Yeah, they eat wheel bearings for breakfast. Coils, too, so if the engine starts running rough check that first. They're also a bit heavy for autox, but still fun. Better on a bigger, more open course than a tight twisty one.

  I was going to ask if the car had an oil pressure gauge built right into it, but then I remembered that it has oil temp instead, plus the usual idiot light.

  - Justin

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  March 21, 2011 8:31 a.m. ratghia Reader

  I actually had to replace the coil when I first got the car. I figured it would be a little heavy for autocrossing and not quite as good for it as the Mk1 GTI or the 96' miata I split the season with last year but we run on a fairly open lot so it shouldn't be too bad.

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  March 21, 2011 8:59 a.m. EvanB SuperDork

  Would you like a parts car for $400? 94 GLX, black with black leather interior, roof rack. Doesn't start most of the time, I think it's the ignition switch. It's my roommates car and he wants it gone.

  http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/200x-classifieds/anyone-need-a-vr6-engine-d...

  Formerly jdmae92

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  March 21, 2011 9:17 a.m. Jay SuperDork

  Aww, you ditched the "angry eyebrows"? You never see those anymore. I remember back around 2000~2001 probably three quarters of all modded Jettas/Boras out there had them. It was a bit silly at the time but I think it's a pretty good look.

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  March 21, 2011 9:22 a.m. minimac SuperDork

  Aaron-keep up the good work. It's shaping up very nicely.

  "If you can make a girl laugh, you can make her do anything" Marilyn Monroe

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  March 21, 2011 9:27 a.m. pres589 Dork

  One of the best things you did was to remove the "angry eyebrows".

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  March 21, 2011 12:56 p.m. ratghia Reader

  The eyebrow thing was held on by 2 pieces of double sided tape and it more or less just fell of when I went to open the hood. I think the car looks cleaner without it so I never bothered with putting it back on. I need to clean the engine bay but it looks much nicer now with the intake polished and the plastic piece removed. I'll try to get some pics once it stops raining. Tomorrow it goes for inspection so with a little luck it will be back on the streets soon.

  
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  July 12, 2011 8:29 a.m. ratghia Reader

  I've just been doing nothing to the car just enjoying it lately. Then one night I walked out to it and realized all the oil was under the car and that I had ground a hole in the oil pan by bottoming it out 1 too many times.
  

  I had wanted to do a full rebuild at some point and this just gave me the excuse to do so since the car was already down. I've been dailying a 96 Miata for the past week while taking this apart. I hope to have the car done by the end of this weekend and should be getting most of the parts in today. When I get time and everything in I'll come up with a spec sheet of what I'm doing to the engine but I’m hoping I can crack 200whp.

  
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  July 12, 2011 8:35 a.m. docwyte Reader

  Well first thing is to raise your ride height! In addition to hitting your oil pan, those cars don't really handle well if lowered too much.

  200rwhp on that motor may be difficult, most standard bolt ons with that motor will get you around 170-175rwhp. Without doing a big valve head or really wild cams I'm not sure you'll attain your goal...

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  July 12, 2011 8:41 a.m. N Sperlo HalfDork

  A few little problems? I think you meant you have a few little projects. Looks good and good lock with the projects.

  Wasn't there a show called "Eerie Indiana?"

  - N. Sperlo -:-:- "Never take life seriously. No one ever gets out alive anyway." ~ ~ A strong tail wind can't hurt either...~~ K0HOF

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  July 12, 2011 9:06 a.m. mad_machine SuperDork

  can you get a sump guard for it?

  Be careful of your words, for someone will agree with them. Be careful of your conduct, for someone will imitate it. -Leih Tsu

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  July 12, 2011 9:41 a.m. ratghia Reader

  I do plan on bringing the car up a little, but handling never really bothered me since I have a Miata next to it in the shop. I am going to buy a skidplate for the car and I also have some spacers and new mounts that'll get me another 1" of clearance between the pan and the ground.

  For the engine I have a lightly opened up and smoothed out head with a ported lower intake manifold and exhaust manifolds. I'm going to be running a high lift 268 duration cam I just haven't decided what one yet. I also have pretty much every bolt on you can get. I agree that 200 will be hard to hit but a solid 180-190 should be achievable.

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  July 12, 2011 9:42 a.m. SyntheticBlinkerFluid HalfDork

  Car looks good.

  Always wanted a Mk3 Jetta. My friend had a '98 GLX that had a few quirky issues. I was considering buying it off of her, but she traded it in on a new Kia Soul.

  '95 Jeep Cherokee / '80 Mazda Rx-7 / '68 Corvair Monza Coupe

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  July 12, 2011 10:50 a.m. docwyte Reader

  Dunno about that. I had every bolt on out there on my '93 Corrado SLC. Schrick 268's, lightly ported head (worthless without bigger valves), exhaust, schrick manifold, etc and made 170rwhp.

  I hope you do hit 190rwhp, but I doubt it...

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  July 12, 2011 4:49 p.m. ratghia Reader

  I hope I do as well, but in all honesty its just a number and with cams, higher compression and head work he car should have more power and be a little quicker regardless of what that number is. At the end of the day when it stops feeling like enough power I can go turbo. I’m trying to over build everything enough that when I do go turbo in the future I wont need to change anything.

  I got a big box of stuff in today. All I'm waiting on is a clutch, a box full of hardware, motor mount spacers, and my cams. Today I got a really good deal on some Eurospec 268 cams.

  
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  July 12, 2011 4:50 p.m. 92CelicaHalfTrac SuperDork

  docwyte wrote: Well first thing is to raise your ride height! In addition to hitting your oil pan, those cars don't really handle well if lowered too much. 200rwhp on that motor may be difficult, most standard bolt ons with that motor will get you around 170-175rwhp. Without doing a big valve head or really wild cams I'm not sure you'll attain your goal...

  It'll be REAL difficult, especially since it's a FWD car.

  SCAVENGE THE SEA FLOOR FOR NUTRIENTS

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  July 12, 2011 9:34 p.m. AngryCorvair SuperDork

  Aaron, enough car talk. How are you doing in school?

  if you're gonna be a bear.... be a grizzly bear!

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  July 12, 2011 10:39 p.m. ratghia Reader

  I graduated High School last month and this fall I'm starting college at Edinboro University and majoring in 20th century European history.

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  July 13, 2011 9:03 p.m. sanyarcosean Reader

  Your doing a great job Aaron! cant wait to go for a ride when its finished!!

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  July 14, 2011 8:49 a.m. CanadianTercel Reader

  European history, cool! I guess the VW explains itself now.

  Also, gentlemen, behold, the only man to have driven a miata for a reasonable amount of time without selling his other car.

  I'm with Jay, you need a solution that fixes those eyebrows back on your car.

  Tercels and Formula Vee is my life!

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  July 14, 2011 10:21 p.m. ratghia Reader

  I honestly really do like the Miata and my only real complaint about the car would be that it could use a little more grunt. I used to hate the car but ever since I replaced the timing belt that was so stretched that it was was off by half a tooth the car runs so much better and feels completely different. The day that I broke the pan on the Jetta was when I was about to do the timing belt and water pump on the Miata and I ended up doing it between midnight and 5am so I would have a car to drive that day.

  Yesterday I got the full bottom end built and reassembled the head and have it on as well. Tomorrow I should be getting my cams and clutch so I'll have everything I need to finish the build. With a little luck tomorrow night I'll have the engine and transmission back in the car and ready for me to attach all the accessories, wires, and cooling system parts. Hopefully I'll have fire by the end of the weekend or at least before I leave for Vegas next Wednesday.

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