Butt cold here as well in the DC area.. Wiped off the soot and carbon from the exhaust tips and hooked up the battery tender... Gonna be a while til the roads are free of sand/salt and dumbasses speeding on icy roads...

 

Installed shiny new wheels on a very very dirty car

 

Nice Wheels! I have a soft spot for Advans and Rays

 

Nice looking wheels. What specs did you go with?

 

Specs listed for the gt4 on their website...if i remember correctly... 20x9 et 56 20x11 et 51...

 

Thanks.

 

 

no mate... the shop scale was broken... but i can say that they are (a bit) lighter than the stock wheels...weighed by my “trusted hands” ;-))))))

 

Bought a Fabspeed Lightweight Competition exhaust.

 

- Installed strut tower plates (you need 2x VW M8x75 bolt (N-910-734-01), 2x VW M8 elliptic lock nut (N-908-866-02), and 58.5mm long bushings
- Intermediate service (at 2 years)
- New Ferodo DS1.11 pads in front
- CLEANED OUT RADIATORS - gus - DO THIS. Vacuumed last year. This year, soaked in Simple Green to loosen all the bug guts and washed out with water. A LOT OF RUBBER pieces and little rocks fell out.
- Straightened radiator fins that had been smashed flat by road debris. This was particularly tedious for the center radiator. The fins are incredibly close together and the metal is soft, bends easily. Surface area in the center radiator is HUGE, which is one of the reasons it works so well.
- Cleaned inside of front bumper cover. Sanded bottom of bumper lip.
Back in business, ready for next season.

 

Love mine!!

 

Great photos and info! Thank you!
Method for soaking radiators in Simple Green? Did you remove radiators? If not - how did you achieve "soak"?
Method for straightening fins? Are you using fingers? Small needle-hose pliers? Other tool?
Are the strut tower plates to beef up the OEM system? Did you have strut tower issue or was this preventative?
What rotors are you using?
How difficult is removing the nose? Special tools required? Can a "layman" do it (I"ve never taken a nose off a car before but I'm fairly mechanical and hubby is VERY mechanical)

Thanks again - very helpful!

 

Hello needmoregarage! Always like reading your posts!

- Method for soaking radiators in Simple Green? - how did you achieve "soak"? :
Set the bottle in spray mode and go over the radiator surface left-right-up-down. It won't drip out, but rather sit in the radiator fins. No issue - just let it soak in over night. Garage will smell like Simple Green, but that's all. Roll out of garage and spray down with garden hose. DON'T use a power sprayer - that will be the end of your radiator, as the water pressure will bend the fins. Regular spray setting is all you need.

- Did you remove radiators?
No. The screens in the bumper keep most of the big stuff out, even big grass hoppers, etc. Only smaller rocks, rubber bits, bugs make it through. Most get stuck on the front of the radiator fins, while bending them over a bit, which clearly impedes air flow and reduces radiator efficiency. Rinsing gets a lot of the crud out, and I didn't feel like I wanted to go the distance and loosen / remove the radiator to get in from behind. In another 2 years I might feel different.

- Method for straightening fins? Are you using fingers? Small needle-hose pliers? Other tool?
I used one of the small flat-head screw drivers and sharpened it to a knife edge. Then used it to get in between the fins and straightening them in the process of moving in-and-out. It will be obvious when you try. The center radiator fins are soft like aluminum foil. I was amazed by that. It must be (and turns out to be) incredibly efficient. No conventional needle-nose pliers will fit in between the fins. VERY little force required to bring it back straight. Be prepared to spend more time than you think. Worth it, though. It's a GT4, after all.

- Are the strut tower plates to beef up the OEM system? Did you have strut tower issue or was this preventative?
Saw the pictures - ouch! Entirely preventative. I understand that most don't understand why they make a difference. My intuition is the same, but nevertheless, the cup cars / clubsport use them, so intuition may be deceptive. Installation is an easy process. Your closest VW dealer has the bolts/nuts in stock. The bushings are cut from an aluminum pipe (cf. Home Depot ;-) The mount points are part of the stock chassis. I believe they decided not to have these plates in the stock car because it requires modifications to the plastic covers, i.e. they had to make different molds for a very limited # of cars = not enough "bang for the buck". If you lock closely at the pictures you will see the recesses in the covers to make everything lay flat.

- What rotors are you using?
AP Racing J-hook rotors. Combined with Ferodo DS 1.11 pads. Good combination. The front pads lasted the whole year (12 track days). I am not too rough on my equipment, driving with some "mechanical empathy". There are some guys faster, but they beat their horses pretty bad.

- How difficult is removing the nose? Special tools required? Can a "layman" do it?
Not difficult - no special tools - layman? Yes, absolutely. Two people make it even easier. Review this video. 981 / GT4 is the same.
Happy Motoring!

 

Nice choice, could you post a close up on the front wheel fitment from a couple angles?
Thanks!