Sounds like you have a donor, awesome.

 

This is such a fun idea. I love taking cars normally headed to their mechanical maker and giving them a new sit at life.
You definitely have the skill set to make this car shine I can't wait to see.

 

Well that fell through. It went for $2000. I was only willing to go $1500 as it did not make financial sense to go any higher.

Round 1 of boxes start to show up.




Don't ignore your cabin filter. This is only 37,000 miles.




Gross.



I'm sure the fuel filter didn't need replacing but now I know I won't need to do it for a long time.




Two questions for everyone. Where is this supposed to go? I can't find any spot where it hooks in.




Lastly, I have followed the YouTube videos on how to pair your key to the car. I have changed the battery, followed the video and on line directions a bunch of times but I can not get the remote locks to work. What I see differently is that this is a different key than in the video. Any ideas on how to pair this key?




That's all until more boxes arrive.

 

Here or the other side hook to the front and rear hooks in the trunk. 71116762181

http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/71116762181/





" If I remember right the older design ones cannot be paired that way "

 

Yeah, this style key (2004 and earlier) must be programed at a dealership - no way around that. Looks like you got it cut already - does it start and run the car?

What I did when I purchased a new (back-up) key for my 2004 MCS: paid through the nose @ $tealership for it so that it was matched to my car's VIN. But I didn't want nor expect to pay for an hour of service to hook the car up to the programming machine. I believe they wanted another $150 to do this. So I just took the guts out of my original keyfob (which still worked okay, but it was worn) and traded them with the guts of the new key. This is a very simple procedure. So now I have a new key that is fully remote for daily use, and a spare key to run the car if/when I need it - but I don't need it to open the doors remotely.

 

The key is origional to the car so I assume it will start the car. I'm still a week or two out from actually firing up the car for the first time. The issue I have is that the remote doesn't lock/unlock the car. When I picked up the car, the battery was DEAD and I have no idea how long it had been so. I am assuming that the link between the two has been lost. Oh well. I guess I will have to go to the dealer for at least one thing. I will need a spare anyway.

No pictures from yesterdays progress. I pulled the supercharger and did a service on it. The oil was in great shape and lots of it. It came out a nice amber color. I am really glad I pulled the charger off to inspect. I found a few small pieces of plastic on the inlet side of the IC. Some of the plastic intake pieces must have been sucked up. This was all cleaned out, all the bits and pieces of the charger look great. There were no nicks or scratches or gouges found at all. The shaft turns with appropriate resistance for a full 360 degrees. I think I got lucky as this could have turned out much worse. While out, I installed the 15% pulley and belt. Lots of cleaner to get what junk was built up off the engine. I was remotely tempted to paint the block but as this isn't a show car, clean was good enough for me. That, plus I really wanted to get everything put back together yesterday and not today as sometimes I have a short memory as to where certain bolts go. Lastly, I started replacing the squished AC o-rings. I still have a couple of those to go.

Now I am waiting on parts. I have to make a call this morning to get out. They are waiting on one stupid light that has to come from some where and I am going to have them send what they have and they can send that light on a future order because I am sure there will be a future order.

Todays list of things to do include installing the new axle and removing the rear bumper so that I can prep it for paint. We are waiting for a rear bumper for the "other" Chili Red Mini in my shop before we paint my hood and bumpers and his rear bumper.

 

I would be surprised if the original key doesn't unlock the door remotely - with new batteries in both key fob and car. I guess you've tried it every which-way but I think there's still hope once everything is up and running.

 

Lots of little things done. Packages finally are here with much needed parts.

First on the list was getting the bracket on. I am amazed at watching a top notch body and frame guy do his thing. I would have had no problem putting the bracket on. It would have worked fine and looked ok. This guy did so many little things to make it perfect. What he did with a hammer and dolly was crazy good and none of it anyone will see. His goal is to make it so not even body and frame guys can tell he was there.




He pulled on bent metal on the metal near the strut and got that all back into shape then we painted what we did. The original paint wasn't cleared but we did it anyway. I would rather have the protection than the match.







Other things, the axle is in, the A pillar trim is replaced, various plastic pieces are on and the big news is.....

IT STARTS AND RUNS!!!

I gave it a quick turn of the key and she fired right up. I only let it run for about 20 seconds but it was smooth as butter, no weird noises and the clutch felt good. I only moved it 10 feet back and 20 feet forward though. Shut it off before I did anything stupid.

Tomorrow the last piece I have been waiting on arrives and I start reassembling. Can't wait.

 

" IT STARTS AND RUNS!!! "


Great and congrats !!!

 

Not a lot done yesterday. I really took my time making sure the upper transmission mount was lined up properly. A few plastic intake pieces (still waiting on my air filter to show up) and the upper portion of the engine bay is finished up. Now to start on the front.





I did manage a local craigslist score. I picked up 4 straight R98 wheels, TPS sensors and caps in pretty good condition for $250. The tires are original run flats to the 2008 they came off of so they are shot. I will be refinishing them as there is some corrosion on the lips that just won't do. These will be my summer wheels. By the way, what are the difference between the R-90 and R-98 wheels? I can't see any difference. I will put winters on the S-lites.

 

Stock air filter ?

 

For now, yes, stock. I get all my filters and oil from Amsoil and I just made an order this morning once I checked my stock to see what I needed. The oil and filters should be here Monday. At some point after I sell my Jetta, I will find a used intake in the classifieds and swap out. Other future upgrades would be suspension and exhaust but right now I don't feel like spending more than I have to. I did the SC pulley now because I was changing out the belt and plugs anyway so it was easy to do now, harder to do later.

 

I filled the cooling system with distiller water, bled it and checked for leaks. So far so good. It gets up to temperature and stays a but below the half way mark. In a few days, I'll drain it again and refill with coolant. I drove it up and down the driveway to "clean up the rotors" and everything feels good. All the check engine lights went out without me needing to get out my scanner. The fog lights and horns are in. It took me forever to find where the temperature sensor went. I finally found it as I was stripping the old bumper apart.

I placed an order from another one of our forum sponsors (I'm trying to spread the love around) so an aero grill, center arm rest and a few other miscellaneous parts (missing or broken mounting pieces) should be on their way in a few days.

Next is paint. I will try to pull off the rear bumper today and get that ready to go. I am trying to hold off on paint until I get the aero grill and bumper modified so I can avoid scratches. Also still to go is power steering fluid change, motor oil/filter and transmission fluid swap. I need a good test drive before I do that. I'm not sure I can get it hot enough in my driveway to get a good drain.

As she sits.




By the way, how does the Borla race exhaust sound on this car? There is a local one for sale at a good price but I don't know how loud it is while driving. Since this is going to be my daily, I need something I can live with. I might just pick it up and try it for the price and keep the stock if it gets too loud.

 

This is awesome! Subscribed!

 

I was supposed to go to a car show today but the car I was supposed to go with was having transmission problems so I decided to work on the car some today. I loaded up the two sets of wheels and new tires and headed off to my buddies shop. After some dismounting, sandblasting, acid dipping, more sandblasting and minor touch ups on the wheel (no more curb rash) I decided on a matte black powder for these wheels. I mounted up the Yokahama Iceguard tires and headed home. I'm not usually a fan of black wheels but these seem to go well with the car.







The other wheels that will be my summer wheels will take a bit more time as they are two piece and require a little extra work to get them apart. We have something funky planned for them. It will either be awesome or it will suck really bad but regardless, they will be one of a kind.

I had a few minutes before the family came home so I drained the distiller water out of the cooling system and put the proper Mini stuff in and bled the system. The power steering fluid got a partial change (turkey basted method) and it got a fresh oil and filter change.

 

Lots of work but not too much picture worthy until now. I've been taking the summer wheels apart, installed a center arm rest, attempted a radio swap before I realized I need a HKenabler which is on back order currently and prepping the hood and bumpers for paint. Saturday, my friend with the expensive paint gun and years of painting professionally, came over and shot the bumpers and hood. We cleared the bumpers but didn't clear the hood yet as I am going to paint the black stripes on instead of going the vinyl route. While we are at it, we will paint the area behind the bumper grill black for the aero grill install. Hopefully all the tabs and slots are correct as I have no interest in pulling that grill out ever once it's in there.

Yes, there's another rear bumper for my buddies mini.







The color is close but the bumper is just a shade brighter than the old. I will have to rub out the car before I determine how far off the color is. this picture shows the shade differences the best. Any closer or further away you can't tell.




I really like how my powder coat matches the car with all the trim on. And I am not a fan of black wheels. This just seems to go. Say what you want about the S-liters, they may be heavy but they are really well made and have a finish on them more durable than many OEM wheels. Sandblasting barely touched the finish and it needed about twice the time in the acid bath to get them to bare metal.




I hope to finish paint this week and get it all back together this weekend. I am now just waiting on New York State to get back to me letting me know when I can get the salvage inspection done. The usual time length is about 2-3 months from application and I put mine in a month ago.

 

Just a few more hours to go.

 

 

Wow! It has really come a long way. Looks great!

 

Great work, man. Is the scoop going to be Black or Red?

 

Went for a little drive. It was awesome. The "service engine soon" light came on but no other issues. Temps were rock solid. Suspension is tight. When I got back I changed the transmission oil. Everything but recharging the AC, buffing out the scoop and installing the hood emblem is done. I am also waiting on the HKenabler to make its way across the pond along with the euro drivers shelf.

The salvage inspection is scheduled for the 19th of this month. It will take two weeks to get my title then it's going right on the road.

 

Looks good!!

 

It's probably time for a little update. A few things done since the last post.

Audio system finished with HKEnabler.

Drivers side euro shelf installed.

LED lights in the interior and license plate.

Alta intake and Invidia Exhaust installed. Removed after 15 hours straight in the car. I have since sold them.

Finished my summer wheels yesterday. Didn't go with anything too crazy. I was going to do something over the top but in the end, I just polished and clear powder coated the outers and did a dark bronze powder on the centers. Tires are continental DW.










I have put about 7000 miles on the car since I've had it on the road. I have not had one problem with it at all except the worn out steering column that is ordered and should be here next week. Next on the list is swapping a transmission from an 05 with LSD in, a Valeo single mass conversion kit and repairing/painting a front aero bumper that I have.

 

Nice , got some inside pics ?

 

I need to. I have to get a good wash and wax then do some real pictures. Yesterday was just too windy and it was pouring rain so that wasn't going to work.

I have a few possibilities on the interior yet. I have a set of seats out of my donor car that have the nice stitching and piping that might get swapped in and I have a three spike steering wheel off of another car that I'd like to swap as well. I have to do a search to see what's involved.