# Garth's 2nd TT Restoration



## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

SITREP: Here we go again&#8230;
You may remember my restoration of a purple 2001 TT that I bought a few years ago:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=262876

That thing needed some serious work and I worked on it over a period of 2 years before reluctantly having to sell it. Well things have changed again for me and as we're trying to fund raise for my son's ABA therapy (http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben), I've had to sell my BMW.
My brother was kind enough to give me a TT that he recently bought as a bit of a project. It needs wishbone bushes and a lambda sensor, but it's 'great' he said, I'm sure he even used the word 'mint' at some point&#8230;

Well, last night I went to collect it and drive 140 miles home in it. This gave me a good chance get to know what I was dealing with.
Just prior to picking it up, he's bought a 'refurbed' set of genuine TT 18" wheels with new tyres. These turned out to be crap replicas that had had a bucket of paint thrown at them. He'd also just replaced the wiper blades and fitted spacers (15/20mm). How bad could it be I thought?
FUCKING AWFUL! On the drive home I noticed the following bad points:
1)	The exhaust is blowing more than a cheap whore
2)	The wipers are so slow there's no point in using them, but that doesn't matter as the blades don't sit against the windscreen anyway. Bear in mind I was driving home in a thunder storm on country roads (The A1 was shut, GRRRR!) in torrential rain
3)	The clutch is very heavy and feels like it's on its way out.
4)	The wheel alignment is way off
5)	The wishbone bushes are shot, causing a massive clunk over any bump
6)	The number plate lights are blown and the housings are held in place with silicon 
7)	The 'refurbed' wheels vibrate like you wouldn't believe. There were about 1kg of weights on each one, so I suspect they're buckled. Plus the centre caps don't fit on them
8)	Engine management light is on. I suspect that is the lambda sensor
9)	ABS/ESP/Quattro are all off. I'm hoping it's just an ABS sensor, but who knows at this point
10)	I can smell oil burning. This, I think is a leaking gasket with oil getting on the exhaust manifold
11)	The temperature gauge won't go above 60, so either the temp sensor or thermostat (or both) have failed
12)	Service is long overdue
13)	The headlight washers (aliens) don't work
14)	The seats are filthy
15)	The drivers door is scraping on the sill and has rusted - badly
16)	The head unit was in SAFE mode (that was a nice three and a half hour drive with no music, listening to a blowing exhaust)
Good points:
1)	It's economical. I got a 37mpg average, which is nearly 10 mpg better than my purple TT
2)	The dash pod was replaced by Audi in 2005, so it has no dead pixels
3)	The door micro switches actually work
4)	Errr, that's it!
Holy cow, this is going to be an even bigger job than the last one and this time, it's being done on a shoestring budget 

So here it is, in all its glory:


















































































































Interesting spec on this, Factory sat nav through the DIS and genuine factory fitted phone kit (not Bluetooth) but no Bose.
I'm not planning any modifications at this stage (unless they're very cheap), just repairs, restoration and where possible, improvements. Settle in, this is going to be a big one!


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## Jez xbx (Oct 24, 2014)

does it go woof too???
But seem to recall it's now in excellent hands given your previous restorations!!
Good luck and looking forward to following this project in real time!


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## sussexbythesea (Apr 12, 2012)

Having finished reading the first thread over the weekend it looks like its in safe hands  
looking forward to seeing the progress


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## conlechi (May 6, 2006)

Something to keep you busy Garth


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## YELLOW_TT (Feb 25, 2004)

I'm sure you'll enjoy the challenge


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## paulw12 (Mar 31, 2015)

But this time you are starting with the best colour 8)


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## hang your idols (Jul 8, 2013)

Good luck with this one Garth,i know for sure it`s in good hands


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Thanks guys. Postman turned up with some goodies today
























So the first job needs to be a good service. I've got oil filter, fuel filter, pollen filter, air filter and oil ready. 
I also got a full set of wishbone bushes including defcon alternatives for smaller front bush, ball joints and a pair of front anti roll bar bushes and brackets. That should sort out the clunking and give a nice new feel to the steering  
Alignment is booked for Tuesday. 
Saturdays job is to drop the sump and clean the oil pick up just in case.

Temp sensor and thermostat ordered. Just need to get some coolant to finish that job.

Got to try and work quickly with this project 

http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

I got some work done on the tt this weekend. I started with thermostat and temp sensor, so stripped down the filthy engine bay.








As usual, the bracket that hold the dip stick was a twat. Both bolts holding the plastic cover on were rusted and completely stuck in place. The screw heads rounded off instantly meaning I has to drill them out (just like on the last TT!)








Then off course, removing the bracket snapped the deteriorated dipstick tube








Drained the old brown coolant








I covered the broken tube while I removed the old thermostat and popped in a nice new one








And of course the new temp sensor too








As usual I was in trouble again for stealing my wife's measuring jug (I have my own in the shed) to mix up some G13









http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

With the coolant replaced, new stat and sensor in, I set about the oil change. First job was to drop the sump to check the attainder in the oil pickup








Yep, blocked with sludge as per the norm. So cleaned it out

__
Sensitive content, not recommended for those under 18
Show Content









And gave the sump a quick clean (didn't go overboard this time) and added the new gasket sealant








With the sump back on, I cleaned up the disgustingly dirty oil filter cap and seal








Before I filled it with oil, I has to do a temporary repair on the dipstick tube (couldn't get a new one on a Sunday) taking it from this








To this









I replaced the old air filter, which obviously was filthy along with the air box

















And the pollen filter too

























I add to clean up the bay since it was all disgusting, so just have it a quick once over with APC while I waited for the paint to dry on the dipstick bracket I had repainted.
Before:

















So with the new oil in and everything back together it looked like this








The front cover is awaiting new screws so it's still off

http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

The interior was pretty dirty and smelled like old wet dogs, so I stripped it out, which my boy loved








To find the usual crap. I removed the food packaging, KFC wet wipes and dirty rag from under the seat to leave general dirt
























I'll show before and afters of the cleanup tomorrow as I finished too late tonight and it was too dark to take photos of the clean interior.

Whilst everything was out, I threw away the phone holder as is no longer useful and that left the connector redundant. I thought I'd put the space to use, so I stripped the connector out and glued in a USB port








Then covered the gaps with a piece of leather and reassembled the cover that it sits in









I needed to replace this 








as a) I have no cassettes and b) I use the phone in the car a lot and need something with Bluetooth. So I went all modern and got a blinding deal on a pioneer unit on sale. No CD or cassettes, only that modern USB and Bluetooth streaming stuff. As a result, the unit is nice and slim








Which makes fitting easier as all of this has to fit behind it








All fits in nicely








I didn't bother buying any fascia covers as its cheaper and better to make my own like last time, so I'll get round to it this week.

I don't like the TT gear knob, never have, so out came this
















All that gunk cleaned off easily so it looks good note if anyone wants to buy it?
I bought a really cheap a3 sport gear knob with worn leather and chipped chrome ring. Not a problem for my plan








I retrimmed the gaitor and knob and removed the rest of the chrome ring to paint it white to match my stitching
















And refitted it:








Much nicer 
That's the first of many things that will have the white stitch on black nappa. More to come soon...

http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

I managed to get the seats from really dirty:








To looking pretty good:
















I didn't spend too long on the drivers seat back as I've got a spare brand new leather cover for it. My brother bought it for me as a bargain eBay find 

http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## Spliffy (May 3, 2013)

Great job as ever Garth, and its the best colour  Looking foreward to the updates.


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## YELLOW_TT (Feb 25, 2004)

Top job as ever 8)


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## OuTTlaw (Aug 18, 2006)

Amazed how good those seats look, cracking job.


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## Delta4 (Jun 19, 2015)

Well saved, that tt was most certainly on it's way down hill.


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## NWDSdaz (Jun 10, 2013)

Top work so far. Will definitely be keeping an eye on this thread


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Thanks guys.
Top tip for the day: anything sold as "leather cleaner" as as much use on car leather as cold water.
Car leather is 'sealed' or 'coated' leather. This means that it has a protective coating on it (like polyurethane), which means there isn't a balm or conditioner on earth that is going to penetrate it. So what you're actually cleaning is more like rubber than leather. If you want a product that works, my suggestion is meguiars APC, diluted at 10:1. Use a softish scrubbing brush with that and it brings the leather up perfectly clean and matt again (assuming the leather is not damaged). Car seats are not trimmed in delicate alanine leather so you can actually use some fairly nasty chemicals on it to get rid of bad stains.

http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Tomorrow's job is to fit the new wishbone bushes and defcon alternatives, ball joints and arb bushes so that the front end loses the terrible clunks it has now over bumps. Full 4 wheel alignment will follow.
I don't have hydrolic press to push in the bushes so I'm getting my favourite motor engineer to do everything tomorrow. I don't have time to dismantle and take the wishbones to him, get the bushes pressed in then bring them home to refit unfortunately. I have plenty of other jobs to do though 

http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## paulw12 (Mar 31, 2015)

The polished bliss boys recommended this leather balm for coated leathers.
http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog ... -balm.html
Its easy to use, smells nice and seems to last, best bit it doesn't sit on the top of "plastic" layer & dry up chalky like autoglym.


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

I retain my stance. If it does not sit on top, its evaporating away because one thing it's not doing is penetrating the coating. The coating is there to stop things getting to the delicate leather. I have used this before and it does smell nice and is similar in its use to liquid leather conditioner, which I used to use myself, and still do, on un coated leather. Both of these products do indeed sit on top of the leather and do give a nice finish, but they also will speed up abrasion of the coating as you slide your arse about on top.

http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## Ian_W (Oct 19, 2008)

When I bought my S3 it had silver leather that was filthy, I used gliptone leather cleaner, hot water and a soft brush and scrubbed the seats, they came up fantastic 8)


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

That's a good approach to take. Hot water will make a big difference and the gliptone cleaner isn't bad, it just isn't powerful enough to clean heavy soiling. I still use it for regular light cleaning as it smells nice. It didn't touch the dirt on my seats though.

http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

The passenger window hasn't worked since I got the car and I tracked the problem to a broken swith. Luckily, I still had a spare left over from the last TT. It's amazing the stuff you collect these days 

So I stripped the door panel down to replace the switch. 
Old and new:








So that fixed that, but since I had the door cards off, I thought I'd do something about the scabby door handles. Obviously light leather and dirty hands do not mix well so I decided to retrim them to match the gear gaitor.

Before:








(that was after a good scrubbing too)

After :








My sewing machine was broken at the time so the stitching wasn't the neatest. I've fixed it now, so may redo these since they're a quick job.

While I was at that, I took the steering wheel off and stripped it 








Made some templates and transferred to new leather 








Cut some notches in the wheel rubber (I hate the lumps Audi leave from folded leather on their wheels, this is what BMW do on theirs) 








And made a new cover 








I decided to go for the new S line style oem stitching on this one rather than the typical diamond stitch you see on BMW and most after market wheels

This is my usual method:









And that meant I had to start the slow process of hand stitching the new cover on to the wheel 








And finished off it now looks like this 
















Sure, it's not a nice flat bottom wheel, but it beats horrible shiny, worn leather and it was free 

http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

The screws on the number plates were really rusty and given that I didn't want to spend money on new stick-on plates, I dug out some spare screws and caps I had in a drawer. Taking them from this 
















To
















Simple and boring yes, but effective none the less 
I also cleaned up all the engine bay plastics and got some stainless bolts since most of the original plastics fixings were broken and the screws were either missing or had to be drilled out 
Doesn't look bad at all now.
While I was at it, I replaced my broken dip stick and tube 
















I found a spare quattro badge in a drawer too









http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

The next job was to fit parking sensors since my wife really struggles to get the car in our tight driveway without them. An £11 eBay bargain turned out to be fantastic! 
I measured it all out and marked the best place to avoid hitting anything 








I protected the bumper and drilled the holes, but...








Yep, I'd checked the drivers side and forgotten about the stupid ballast on the passenger side, doh!
Never mind, some time with a drill and grinding wheel took away enough of the soft metal to still give me room:








Remember, these were one of the cheapest sets I could find but I went for what the seller called 'dark blue' and it turned out to be an almost perfect colour match 








My wife can get in the drive now!

http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

The next job was to replace the fuel filter as I always like to do this when the car gets to about 100k miles (this one is on 97k now). The old one was rusted in place as everything on this car seems to be 








£6 later and this was in its place 









Then I needed to put my gate opener somewhere and there is only one blank button in the whole car so I decide to use it. 
I took out the nav controls 








I stripped down an old cd player for a micro switch and button, then glued them together 








Soldered some wire to the new switch and joined that to the innards of the remote and fixed the new switch in to the nav controls 
















I fixed it all back together and now have an integrated gate opener for free.







Happy with that one

http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## DTH (Sep 24, 2015)

Will keep watching this thread - particularly interested in the gasket change as I think i need to do the same thing with mine. 

Dave


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## Sweetz (Sep 17, 2015)

Superb work so far, the leather work especially. I'll be keeping an eye on this for sure.


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

My original wheel alignment had to be abandoned due to completely knackered track rod ends and trailing arm bushes. It was miles out as suspected :








After the new parts, it was possible to get it a lot closer. 








Still not perfect, but there are some seriously crusty bolts that need to be replaced first as there is currently no way they'll survive bring undone. Still, it's almost there and with the wheel now straight and handling back to normal, it'll be good for now

http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## YELLOW_TT (Feb 25, 2004)

Is there nothing you can't do :lol:


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Weld... But I'm hoping to address that flaw at some point 

Thanks for the compliment though. I try not to think about can and can't, only what I am and am not willing to give a go.

But then I can't model with fondant like my wife can, she makes me look ham fisted in comparison!

Some of her work:


















http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## Sweetz (Sep 17, 2015)

Credit to your wife, those cakes are amazing!


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

adamchelseafc said:


> Superb work so far, the leather work especially. I'll be keeping an eye on this for sure.


Thank you. I may not be doing that much trimming on the TT for a while as I've agreed to retrim my friends MR2 project car completely including dash and centre console. That's going to keep me busy, but I'll post a link to the progress on that if anyone is interested?

His car will be going from black leather to this, with a little Garth twist 









http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

adamchelseafc said:


> Credit to your wife, those cakes are amazing!


Thanks, she is very talented. She runs her own small, home-based cake business:
http://www.thelittlecakeboutique.co.uk

http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## Jez xbx (Oct 24, 2014)

Every time i read your developing posts it's always a bit wonderfully depressing!

Wonderful the work you're doing and the care you're taking.

Depressing because you can retrim a steering wheel in the same time it takes me to remove a radio!

But I think I'll keep coming back for the top tips


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## hang your idols (Jul 8, 2013)

Garth top job like always


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## ryanmtt (Sep 13, 2010)

This thread is awesome Garth, I've read both threads restoration 1&2 8) I love the steering wheel would love to have the skill to do this to mine 8)


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## sallyday10 (May 22, 2012)

Great thread and I'm sure that car will be a credit to you once you're done.

I'm looking forward to your 'dropped door fix' as I expect many others are too!

Can I ask a cheeky favour? Whatever you fashion or fettle to fix yours, can you produce 2 please?

;-)

Mike.


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## Sweetz (Sep 17, 2015)

Garth said:


> adamchelseafc said:
> 
> 
> > Credit to your wife, those cakes are amazing!
> ...


Shame you're not local, would have some work for your wife.


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## Franuko (Oct 7, 2014)

P

Enviado desde mi iPhone utilizando Tapatalk


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## Gazza Lowton (Nov 11, 2015)

Garth said:


> I managed to get the seats from really dirty:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Looking pretty cool so far look forward to seeing ALL your hard work


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## westo3 (Jan 15, 2011)

Great job on the seats what did you to clean them?


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## westo3 (Jan 15, 2011)

sorry forget last post did not see previous page!!


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Thanks guys, I've done a few more jobs, just haven't had time to upload photos and post the updates. I should be able to update tomorrow though 

http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## #MythicBooster (Feb 10, 2015)

Hay dude just started to trim my centre console in alcantara what adhesive did you use on project 1? Can u remember the name of the product, or offer a good suggestion please. Just spotted this thread and now super excited to start reading project 2. Amazing work again mate and thanks 

Sent to you from The Mighty TT Yoda


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Thank you. I really need to pull my finger out and update this! I'm having surgery on Saturday which means I'm out of action for 6 weeks. That gives me plenty of time to update the thread!

To answer your question though, any high temp contact adhesive should be fine. Here's the first link I found on eBay :
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vi ... 08&alt=web 
Good luck and don't forget to share your results 

http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## JMich (Nov 20, 2015)

Am totally Gobsmacked Garth!! [smiley=mexicanwave.gif]

I only found your purple TT restoration project yesterday when I wanted to do some tinkering with my Mk1. Got completely sucked into your thread and took all day to work my way through [while getting sidetracked and following ideas, links etc etc]. What a great day it was!! Like others am overawed by your patience and skill and absolutely loved your end result.

This latest one seems an awful lot worse than the first but maybe it will be easier in a way with your past experience and knowledge of shortcuts and prob areas.

Huge thank you for fab threads [they must take up nearly as much time as work on TT :lol: ].

Every best wish with your surgery and look fwd to seeing you back up and running here.

ps. love the way your lad is growing into a real little man!


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## HeroicBroccoli (Jan 19, 2015)

A quick question about swapping out your head unit as I'm in the same position with my current TT (Cassette player and needed bluetooth and USB).

However, in the previous TT I owned the previous owner had already fitted an aftermarket stereo and the radio signal was terrible. I was lead to believe that this is because the Audi player has a signal booster built into it, did you have any problems like this?


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## forker (Jul 20, 2012)

I swapped my OEM HU for a Pioneer 4400 a couple of years ago and needed an aerial signal amplifier. Without it, apparently no radio; with it, good as gold. In my case the local halfords had one; not expensive or hard to install. It needs a power supply; see Garth's first car thread or others.

See this:http://www.halfords.com/technology/car-audio/stereo-fitting-accessories/autoleads-audi-aerial-adaptor-pc5-52

regards

F


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## Rob1788 (Nov 19, 2015)

Thats some brilliant work. ill be getting my TT this sunday, i cant wait to get started now.


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Thanks guys.

On the aerial front, it does need a booster. If you take a look at the photo of my connectors earlier, you'll see one on the seat.

http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

So the blowing from the exhaust is getting worse... Much worse. 
I already bought a used exhaust cheap of eBay which is in excellent condition, but unfortunately the car and downpipe are both shot. The downpipe is broken at the flexi joint so it needs to be binned. I just bought a pattern cat and down pipe to save cash. Hopefully they'll fit OK! 
New cats :








Don't have a pic of the downpipe yet.

As I'm sitting in hospital waiting for an operation, I'll be out of action for a while. Because of this, I'm going to get a garage to replace the downpipe.

I recently had all the hard brake lines replaced on the car as they were very corroded. My favourite motor engineer makes kunifer brake lines in house and they're a million times better than the crappy mild steel pipes Audi put on. No more rusty brake lines for the rest on this TTs life!

I've been trying to rid the car of the vibration and the obvious place to start was the wheels and tyres. The tyres, although brand new, we're cheap Haida so I suspected they'd be the problem. There was little point in firing new tyres to the old wheels in case they weren't round, so my brother (who will be getting this car given back to him at some point) bought a set of cheap wheels for me :








I experimented with some different centre caps I had :








Before deciding to spray the oem caps and add some new Hankook Ventus S1 Evo2 tyres. These seem to get the best reviews of all the mid range tyres and I got a set at a great price :









Once fitted:









Unfortunately the wheels aren't amazing replicas and as a result have absolutely no dish to them. This makes them look a bit small, so maybe next year when I have some spare cash, I'll replace them. Anyway, they were dirt cheap and serve a purpose for now.

http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

The number plate lights were broken and held in place with silicone :








So I removed them and sanded down the rust:








Treated the areas with kurust :








Primed :








Whilst waiting for the primer to dry, I checked out the new oem housings I find on eBay :








And spare leds I had left over from an old project :








I compared the brightness and colour :








Happy with them, I painted the Primed areas :








No need to be neat here as those bits are hidden by the light housings. The goal was to remove any rust and protect the metal for the future.

http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

The standard phone kit in the centre console was no use to me, but the mount could be used. I therefore ditched the phone cradle to make my own to fit my phone.

I started by tightly wrapping a piece of leather round my phone and stitching it on to hold on place. I then turned it over and covered the back of the leather in fibre glass train to make it hard. That gave me an exact mould of my phone to create the mount:








From there, I cut a hole and using body filter, I attached a charging cable :








With that in place, I needed to be able to access the phone to lift it out. I therefore shaped a cutout :








And started to make a frame with lollipop sticks and fibreglass 








I had to cut away a section of the original plastic part of the mount and then fill and shape it with body filler. After a few coats of matt black, it was ready to be fixed to my leather mould :








I finished it off with some more leather and stitching to fit in to the car. I drilled some holes to use the oem mounting points and had an active charging holder :








The photo was before I cleaned the sanding dust from the crevices. Quite pleased with the outcome

http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

My brother needed to l put his private plate on a car as the retention was running out. So we put it on the TT. Some pressed plates cost less than another years retention, so seemed like the sensible option! 








The TT certainly looks in better condition than it actually is mechanically at this point. Still, it's nearly there

http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

I tried to replace the Lambda Sensor to get rid of the EML light on the dash, but jesus it was in tight! I had the car on jack stands and used a trolley jack against a spanner on the Lambda... It lifted the whole car off the stands!








One thing is clear, is never coming out. I've got a new Lambda so I'll just fit it to the new cat and get it all on at once. It turns out, the Lambda itself is actually fine, it's the connections that have corroded so badly that one of the pins has crumbled away 
















Still, the new Lambda will save me having to mess about with it.

I also changed the spark plugs 









And stripped down the ridiculously creaky luggage cover. It's a common problem on the TT where there melted lugs that hold it together come away and the noise when driving is awful 








All of the melted parts were removed and epoxy resin used in place. Once the two halves were glued together again, I've got silence from it. Ahhh, much better 

I found some chrome valve sleeves and caps that I got with my S4 wheels, so thought I'd put them to use on the TT 









Right, that's it for now. I have to put my hospital gown on and speak to the anaesthetist now...

http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## Jez xbx (Oct 24, 2014)

As always Garth pleasure to read your progress
Best of luck today


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Thanks pal. It was a bloody long day. In hospital at 7am and didn't get out till 5.30pm.
I've got a few jobs to do in the TT, but I better leave it a few days otherwise my wife will kill me! Besides, I have to finish the MR2 interior for my mate. It's looking good so far though... 

















http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## forker (Jul 20, 2012)

spectacular; I spent the day hoovering leaves and walking glumly round a garden centre trying to be Xmas World.

That's a cute trick with the phone, but do you find it in the way? looks like it occupies space for the forearm or elbow. A phone holder designed for auto-trans cars?

I've no experience of that, although the forum-sourced sucker-mount pads that slip under the dash vents work great apart form the cat's cradle of wires.

F


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## Jez xbx (Oct 24, 2014)

Hey Garth,
Hope all went well today,
MR2 interior looks amazing!
Looking forward to your MR2 & TT updates 
Jez


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

forker said:


> spectacular; I spent the day hoovering leaves and walking glumly round a garden centre trying to be Xmas World.
> 
> That's a cute trick with the phone, but do you find it in the way? looks like it occupies space for the forearm or elbow. A phone holder designed for auto-trans cars?
> 
> ...


No, it doesn't really get in the way. The angle of the photo males it look bigger and more obscuring than it actually is.


Jez xbx said:


> Hey Garth,
> Hope all went well today,
> MR2 interior looks amazing!
> Looking forward to your MR2 & TT updates
> Jez


Thank you, surgery went well but I was in hospital all damn day, which was a pain. I'll be finishing off the MR2 interior this week as I can't really do anything outside on the TT for a couple of weeks.

I did manage to retrim an R32 steering wheel that I found really cheap to put on my boring passat though. 
From this 
















Via this 








To this 









http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## Jez xbx (Oct 24, 2014)

Hi Garth,
Just sold a boring Passat ;-)
Would you be interested in a Haynes manual if it's a B6?
Was going to eBay it but free to you!


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Wow, thank you, that would be great. Thank you. 
There are a few jobs I need to do on it soon, so the manual would be helpful for reference. 
I will pay postage 

http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## #MythicBooster (Feb 10, 2015)

Garth said:


> Thank you. I really need to pull my finger out and update this! I'm having surgery on Saturday which means I'm out of action for 6 weeks. That gives me plenty of time to update the thread!
> 
> To answer your question though, any high temp contact adhesive should be fine. Here's the first link I found on eBay :
> http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vi ... 08&alt=web
> ...


Ironically before I spotted this post from u it's the exact 1 I ended up with, nice to know my research stands up to the Garth system of restoration 

Sent to you from The Mighty TT Yoda


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## fixitagaintomoz (Apr 26, 2013)

Garth. I just had to go to my wardrobe and get a hat to wear, so that i could take it off to you!

The steering wheel has amazed me, not gonna lie!

I hope all is ok with your Son, he looks happy to be involved 

This thread is an inspiration, as was your last one, so keep up the good work


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## Jez xbx (Oct 24, 2014)

Don't worry about postage!
Is it ok to send to little cake boutique address?
Jez


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

fixitagaintomoz said:


> Garth. I just had to go to my wardrobe and get a hat to wear, so that i could take it off to you!
> 
> The steering wheel has amazed me, not gonna lie!
> 
> ...


Thank you, I do like to keep busy and try my hand at things 
I've done quite a few steering wheels now for family and friends and even sold a couple on eBay. I've still got a B6 S4 wheel (same as mk1 TT) , a B7 A4 wheel and my B6 passat wheel to trim and do something with too!

Jez, thank you that's perfect. You're a true gent 

http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## Jez xbx (Oct 24, 2014)

On it's way, should be there tomorrow
Have a sneaky feeling you will have more use out of it than I ever did!
I used it to remove radio and that was it!


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Jez xbx said:


> On it's way, should be there tomorrow
> Have a sneaky feeling you will have more use out of it than I ever did!
> I used it to remove radio and that was it!


You're a star mate, thanks. This turned up today. My son LOVED the bubble wrap you used  he made sure every single bubble got popped by jumping on it. 
If there's anything I can do to repay the favour, let me know 

http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## Jez xbx (Oct 24, 2014)

Delighted it's gone to a good home, hope it's useful.
And if you don't have to buy one thats a few pennies more for bubble wrap Ben 
If I get any more of that big stuff I know where to send it!


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Well, since I'm out of action for a while, my wife dropped off the TT with my motor engineer today with a new down pipe in the boot. 








He already has the cat, exhaust and new Lambda Sensor. 
I've also asked him to fit the new rear ARB bushes that are still in the boot as well as do the HALDEX oil and filter. Finally, he's going to give everything underneath a good coat of Waxoil ready for winter. 
I'll no doubt do a few of the easier jobs over the next couple of months, but anything major will have to wait until Jan now. 
I'm going to crack on with this MR2 interior now...

http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Managed to get the first seat base done for the Mr2 tonight. Using the sewing machine without your treadle foot is not quick and easy! 
Still, it's the most difficult panel and way more complex than the TT seats. This should stand me in good stead if I decide to retrim the TT

http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

__
Sensitive content, not recommended for those under 18
Show Content

















http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## Rob1788 (Nov 19, 2015)

Would love to have your skills Garth. Are you a mechanic, upholsterer, electrician or just talented lol


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Thanks mate none of the above actually! 
I started out with a degree in electrical engineering and then did a degree in computing for industry. I'm actually in Business Intelligence, which is far removed from cars, but I like to get my hands dirty 

I just hate paying other people to do things for me when I am capable of doing it myself!

http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## Jez xbx (Oct 24, 2014)

this is almost turning in to a life blog for you


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

It is indeed :-D
Well I had surgery on my foot 3 weeks ago and my TT went in to the garage at the same time to replace the exhaust, downpipe and cat while I was unable to drive. And it's still there :-(

The exhaust was very rusty and it was blowing near the join to the cat, so I got hold of another one. When removing, the cat was in the same state, so I bought a new cat. When attempting to remove, the downpipe was just as bad and the flexi was split, so I bought a new downpipe. 
While this was all going on, I figured now was the best time to throw in a new clutch and flywheel since they were very much on their last legs. So, all back together and... It's still blowing! So now it's got to be either gaskets or the manifold itself. New turbo and manifold gaskets have been ordered, so I'm hoping it's not a cracked manifold.

This car is quickly turning in to a serious money pit. It's a good job the motor engineer doing the work is a friend, otherwise the costs would be huge. Actually, they'll still be huge, just not quite as huge as they should be! 
Hoping to get the TT back this week, so it'll be a month after being dropped off.

Oh, and if anyone wants to see the video of the surgeon pulling wires from my toes with a pair of pliers, just ask :-D

http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Well, I finally got the TT back from the garage after Christmas. It had been away for a month while I recovered from surgery on my foot. In that time, it had the following done :
Brand new downpipe, cats, Lambda Sensor, clutch, DMF, slave cylinder. 
Used, low mileage cat back oem exhaust fitted. Haldex oil and filter plus three coats of Waxoil to protect it over the winter.

Obviously, that lot cost a fortune, but hopefully, it should be relatively trouble free for a while. Except of course for the broken rear spring (Grrr), so I think I'll fit a set of Apex springs soon to correct that and lower it a little as a bonus.

In the meantime, I've been busy trimming bits for other people's cars, so I haven't given mine much love. Now that I'm up to date with other's bits, it was time to crack on with my TT...

First job was to sort this out:








Ugly failed mirror glass is awful to look at, so i got a cheap pattern glass (remember this car is not "no expense spared" like the last one!). Looks good as I made sure it was a blue tinted one. 








It came with a realy cheap and nasty plastic back plate, so I junked that and removed the original. A bit of modification to get it to fit around the new connectors :








And all back on :









I also replaced the garbage windscreen wipers with some Bosch aero twin so that we can actually use the car in the rain!

I had to do something about the scuffs behind the drivers door handle as it looked like an animal had been clawing at the door panel:








A bit of a touch up later:








That'll do for now.

While I had the door panel off, I set about replacing the door handles that I had trimmed earlier. When I did them first time around, my sewing machine was broken, so the stitching wasn't good enough. I also decided to replace the stupid string pockets with some nappa leather to match the other stuff in the car. I'm pleased with the way it looks now 









I never spent too long cleaning the drivers seat when I did the rest of the interior, but even still, it was pretty clean before it went to the garage. After I got it back however, it was bloody filthy! 








There was no way I could live with that, so it was time to fit the new back rest cover that I've had since I got the car

So here's the old one removed next to the brand new oem one 









Of course, I couldn't put this next to a new back cover :








So out came the dye again and this :








Nearly done and looking much better :








Here's the comparison between brand new back and re dyed base








Pretty damn close 

I took the time the repair some damage to the foam :








And add some additional where it was a little thin








I even plumped it all up a bit with a steam gun :








This does a great job of pumping out flattened foam. I took a video of it in Acton to show just how much it comes back out.

It's all back in the car now, but typically, it's too dark for a finished photo, so that will have to wait until tomorrow now


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## Audiphil (Oct 23, 2012)

Extremely interesting thread, well done.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## YELLOW_TT (Feb 25, 2004)

Top work as ever 8) did you get your steering wheel recovered ? Still in two minds what to do with mine :?


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## #MythicBooster (Feb 10, 2015)

Good effort glad to hear you are back on your feet and looking forward to your future battles with this beauty. Enjoy it as always

#MythicBooster on my iPhone using the Tappy Crap. 
AC's Performance Parts
www.facebook.com/acsperformanceparts


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## fastblatt (Feb 1, 2010)

Just joined the forum and this is the first thread I have read. You are doing a lovely job but really are slinging some money at this! 
Mark


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## ryanmtt (Sep 13, 2010)

fastblatt said:


> Just joined the forum and this I'd the first thread I have read. You are doing a lovely job but really are slinging some money at this!
> Mark


You don't own a TT you support it 8)


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## fastblatt (Feb 1, 2010)

Lol. That's not good to hear with my pending new ownership!


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

ryanmtt said:


> You don't own a TT you support it 8)


This!

To be honest, I've actually spent very little comparatively speaking. All the work with exhaust, clutch, etc cost less than most people would pay for a simple clutch change due to mate's rates. Other bits were given to me.
Don't forget, the car was free so I've spent a lot less than most would spend on buying a car... Which would probably need more spending on it.

Mk1 TT's are sadly not very well built so as they hit 10+ years old, they start to fall apart pretty quickly unless they have been maintained by Hoggy! By maintenance, I mean lot more than routine servicing.

At the end of the day, working on cars is my hobby, so if I can do it for less than the cost of buying a cheap car, it satisfies two objectives 

My wife actually drives this TT daily, so I need something reliable and safe. I won't let my son ride around in something unsafe.


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## CollecTTor (Jan 17, 2014)

Garth said:


> Mk1 TT's are sadly not very well built so as they hit 10+ years old, they start to fall apart pretty quickly unless they have been maintained by Hoggy! By maintenance, I mean lot more than routine servicing.


I'm not sure what cars you're comparing the TT to, but all of mine have had great build quality compared to cars of the same age. I'm pretty sure Hoggy hasn't touched any of mine. :lol:


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

CollecTTor said:


> I'm not sure what cars you're comparing the TT to, but all of mine have had great build quality compared to cars of the same age. I'm pretty sure Hoggy hasn't touched any of mine.


My first few cars were Vauxhalls (2 cavaliers, a calibra and a corsa) were undeniably crap cars, but nothing ever stopped working on them. Even my fiat brava only ever had an exhaust that fell off due to rust.

I've owned over 20 cars (lost count at 22 I think) of varying ages and the 2 TTs are the worst built cars I've owned. I'm not saying they're bad cars (I like them), just not well made. No other cat I've owned has had so many 'known issues', like dashpods, crap sensors (temp, esp system), dv (which had to be fitted wrong at the factory just to work! Snapped rear springs, failed thermostats, etc, etc. You could claim these arebwear and tear items, but none of my other cars had these problems, yet every day a new posy appears on these forums about them. Hell, my second cavalier did way over 200k miles on original clutch with no failures or breakdowns before I lost touch with the guy I sold it to. Sure, it was rubbish, but at least it was reliable rubbish!

To answer your question, I'm comparing it to Vauxhalls, Other Audis, BMWs, Subarus, fiats, vws, Citroëns, seats.


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## 3TT3 (Aug 30, 2014)

my first car was a vw , my second was an audi 80(knew it from new,even tho it wasnt mine)
Of all the cars Ive had since, the audi 80 was right up there in the dodgy reliability/parts wearing stakes.
Then again no better/worse than most after a certain age.

My last vauxhall a mk1 tigra which is kinda similar in design/dimensions to a MK1 TT (from new)was about 3 years older than my TT is now  when it went to the great scrapheap in the sky.Mileage was slightly less than the TT.
The bits that were broken/worn on the TT when I got it,have cost me more than the tigra was worth at that time, to fix.

probably more than it would have cost to get the tigra back to full working order also.

The tigra from the outside looked almost new, but main thing was bodyshell was rotting,sills,not the end of the world,but arches and the whole rear end were mr rusty flake attack.Going fine , interior not bad at all, but it was rotting from the inside out.

The TT, and Ive seen enough of the components to know, isnt in that kind of condition structurally, altho the actual exterior bodypanels are slightly slightly worse in a pristine paint finish sense :lol:

TT mk1 interior as has been documented before , is fairly tough and even with a 'lived in look" has a certain style.
Hopefully , like an old boxer(human) the last thing to go will be the punch  ,(engine)

nb the wing mirror on mine (ps) I had to use ye olde superglue on some of those very thin plastic spars as they had broken,not the greatest design point on the MK1(mho)


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Aaaargh! This damn car. It's totally dead this morning. New battery fitted to my Passat this week as it was struggling to start, so I borrowed this for the TT...still dead. Looks like the starter motor is at fault. Great quality, well built car...

http://gogetfunding.com/aba-for-ben/


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## Jez xbx (Oct 24, 2014)

Garth,
I'm sure you're aware of this but recently there seems to have been a few faulty ignition switch posts?
Just wondered if that may be the cause of your misery?
Jez


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Thanks mate, it was actually the starter motor had jammed. I spent an hour at lunch time stripping out the battery, tray and then starter... 








Then tested my starter and battery at the same time.. 








A few taps on the starter with a hammer got it going again. I'll have to keep my eye on it in case it happens again, but for now it's working again


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Since I got the TT back from all the exhaust work, I haven't been happy with the fit. It was too far in the bumper and the back box was hitting the body over bumps as a result. 
So I decided to a adjust it myself. 
This is how it looked before :








At least since everything is new, there's no rust to contend with! 








I loosened that off and slid the exhaust back a bit. I thought this was going to be a bitch, but without rust it was the easiest job ever 
So all adjusted, it sits nicely now 








Nice and central too








No more banging either.

Yes, that car is supposed to be moro blue...


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## anthony_839 (Apr 9, 2013)

looks good but a little dirty


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## Jez xbx (Oct 24, 2014)

for once it didn't fight you lol
;-)


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

First time so far!


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## Audiphil (Oct 23, 2012)

Looks much better

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## 3TT3 (Aug 30, 2014)

Id be afraid of moving any bits of my exhaust too much,hard to tell how much real metal is there 

Audi starters(not on TT) Ive had a lot of experience of "sticky" solenoids,experience in the sense that, I got like 2 (breakers) starters before eventually paying money for a reconditioned unit.This was from the time when you could strip your own bits out for a few quid  .


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## gogs (Dec 22, 2010)

Another cracking restoration Garth 

So when's it for sale :-o

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Thanks mate, and it won't be for sale at all!
I'm planning to give it back to my brother in a year or two. I might have to ask him for a small contribution though, depending on how much I have to spend on it. I've had to sort out loads of problems so far and because the suspension is so wonky, I've just ordered new parts for that too. I'll be fitting this over the next couple of weeks.

The last TT was me just having a bit of fun, trying to make it as good as I could. This time around, I'm using lessons learned to get this one in good shape, without spending a fortune on it. Famous last words...


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## Jez xbx (Oct 24, 2014)

Sit rep woopsie!!!!!
Don't do a Garth restoration and give it away for nowt!
Your restorations are epic!
Don't undersell yourself!


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Normally I wouldn't dream of it, but a) It's my brother and b) he gave me the car in the first place. 
Sure it was a bit (OK, a lot) of a lemon, but it doesn't change the fact that he bought the car then almost immediately gave it to me. 
If he asked me to restore a car for him, I'd do it without hesitation.
Thank you for the compliment though 

I think this thread is about to get a few updates very soon too ;-)


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## Jez xbx (Oct 24, 2014)

Garth said:


> I think this thread is about to get a few updates very soon too ;-)


Ooohhhh more car porn!!!!!! Sweeeeeeeeet 
And if ever your brother isn't sure what an amazing deal he's getting
Send him here we'll soon straighten him out!
;-)


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

We shall see!

While I wait for various parts to be delivered...
I've never liked the silly little aerial on this car. It's for either GPS or the phone (or both), I haven't been bothered to check as both systems are completely defunct now. I checked it recently as was a little worried that it appeared to be perishing. The last thing I need is a leaky roof, so needed to sort it out. I didn't want to replace like for like, so I just searched for a cheap roof aerial on eBay. It didn't need to be GPS enabled, so I just went for an fm one as it was really cheap and looked pretty good 

As it was :









With the old aerial having a round hole and the new one needing a square one, I had to take a file to the hole :








And then protect the bare edges with some paint 








Then fitted the new replacement 

















I quite like it, but I may take it off to colour code it at some point to really finish it off. It'll do for £5 :-D


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## keithtd (Aug 22, 2007)

Garth I seem to remember you using some make of liquid metal. I've in your threads but can't find it, can you let me know what make it was, cheers.


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Sure, I used chemical metal :
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/...egoryId=255230&productId=223979&storeId=10001
However, depending on your application, you may find that super steel is better :
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/...egoryId=255230&productId=242097&storeId=10001
I used the latter to stick stainless steel to mild steel as part of brake caliper clips and it was amazing stuff


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## keithtd (Aug 22, 2007)

Thanks for the info, I'll try one of those.


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Well I washed the TT today for the first time since I got it! It was raining when I did it (my free time is pretty scarce right now) so couldn't dry it off for photos, but still thought I'd document the evidence to show that it was clean, if only once..


































Turned out quite nice I reckon. Moro blue looks good when is clean 

And of course, the inevitable scenario when you let your wife drive your car :-(








Something else for me to repair now...


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

The next job however, is to sort out the suspension. The difference in height between the rear springs is laughable. This is parked on a level surface and there's about 30mm difference left to right 
















I thought I had a broken spring (still a possibility), but on slightly closer inspection, the new rear spring on the passenger side looks to be a pre face-lift one. The previous owner had one rear spring replaced just before my brother bought it. Who the hell replaces individual springs? The correct one, on the drivers side is so rusty it looks like it's about to crumble, so anyone who cares about cars would have done them both at the same time.

New springs, shocks, top mounts and bearings, drop links all ordered. Crikey, the budget just got blown :-D
I reckon cookbot is about to get a call for some tie bars as I suspect the rear camber is about to go miles out!


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## A8VCG (May 9, 2011)

Garth said:


> The next job however, is to sort out the suspension. The difference in height between the rear springs is laughable. This is parked on a level surface and there's about 30mm difference left to right
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Good to have you back - (aka - Cuprabhoy) Not on here much these days however I will be tuning in again to watch this progress again.


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## pebisit (Nov 18, 2004)

Impressive, just bought another TT Mk1 after 11 years without, and this thread will certainly help me get it back to scratch .. amazing work, very talented


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## Jez xbx (Oct 24, 2014)

pebisit said:


> Impressive, just bought another TT Mk1 after 11 years without, and this thread will certainly help me get it back to scratch .. amazing work, very talented


You should read his other post!
;-)


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## #MythicBooster (Feb 10, 2015)

Jez xbx said:


> pebisit said:
> 
> 
> > Impressive, just bought another TT Mk1 after 11 years without, and this thread will certainly help me get it back to scratch .. amazing work, very talented
> ...


Ow yeah all 50+ pages of it, it's epic, which I still don't think does it any justice.

#MythicBooster On the "Tappy Tap Tap Crappy" Thing 
AC's Performance Parts
www.facebook.com/acsperformanceparts


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Thanks fellas 

I'm pretty busy trimming for other people at the moment, so the TT is taking a bit of a back seat. I have been collecting parts to replace the tired and wonky suspension...


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## Bartinili (Jan 17, 2016)

Wow, I am amazed by how casually brilliant your work is.

The blue is fantastic, I'm seeing red blue and silver TTs at the weekend and having read this thread I'm thinking just get the blue never mind it's the oldest, just do a Garth!

Keep up the brilliant updates!


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Thanks 

So, on to the springs... 
They started out bright, shiny yellow :








So I rubbed them down to take the gloss of them 








Why would I be rubbing them down? 
So I can prime them :-D








(that was first coat only) 
Then sprayed them oem black gloss.








Again, first coat only here. 
I didn't want yellow this time around as it won't go with my colour scheme. I'm also going for an OEM+ theme (and not Damien's definition where anything he chooses to fit is Oem+ ) 
I wonder if my warranty is still valid... 
:-D


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## CollecTTor (Jan 17, 2014)

Garth said:


> I didn't want yellow this time around as it won't go with my colour scheme.
> 
> I wonder if my warranty is still valid...
> :-D


If people are looking at the color of your springs, they're looking at the wrong thing. :lol: Of course your warranty is still valid, you're just in the period known as "can you warrant doing the work yourself?" :lol:


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

I know, but you can clearly see the rear springs through the wheels, as you can see here on my last TT :


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## CollecTTor (Jan 17, 2014)

Garth said:


> I know, but you can clearly see the rear springs through the wheels, as you can see here on my last TT


I've had Bilstein blue and H&R red and never notice. :lol: That said, I'm not much into "show." To each his own. [smiley=cheers.gif]


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Yeah, it's horses for courses. This is never going to be a racer, my projects usually involve more restoration than modification. For this one, I don't want much "show" either, hence trying to keep it looking oem.
If I were building a track car, I wouldn't care if it was half brown, half pink :-D


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## CollecTTor (Jan 17, 2014)

Garth said:


> If I were building a track car, I wouldn't care if it was half brown, half pink :-D


Let's go racin'!


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

:-D


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## ryanmtt (Sep 13, 2010)

Liking this a lot Garth 8)


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

I finally got up to date trimming everyone elses bits, so I got some time to work on my own car today 

I've been meaning to retrim my handbrake handle for a while since I've done a few for other people. I did mine a little differently to the others I've done so far. Pleased with the way it turned out too.









Next up was addressing the wonky suspension. It was pretty old and rusty under there 









__
Sensitive content, not recommended for those under 18
Show Content










Once everything was removed, it was clear that this has had a hard life 

















Miss matched rear springs 









Old and new 









I took the opportunity to rub down and paint some of the crusty bits while I was in there 
















Then all the new bits fitted 








Stealthy :-D

I need to sort out the brake discs and calipers soon to neaten them up too,but that's another job for another day! 
Hopefully I'll get the front suspension changed tomorrow if I get time...


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## Jez xbx (Oct 24, 2014)

Garth said:


> I know, but you can clearly see the rear springs through the wheels, as you can see here on my last TT :


I think you'll find its _you_ can quite clearly see it ;-)
Always a pleasure seeing your attention to detail!


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

:-D
You're probably right mate. It's the little things that drive me crazy! 
Thanks.


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## ProjectMick (Sep 29, 2015)

Great work. I'm so glad to see you painting your springs - I Keep looking at suspension kits thinking "but the springs are the wrong colour! Worth the extra attention to detail though for sure.


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## gav1 (May 5, 2015)

where did you get the spring pads from? mine are in similar condition to your old ones and I want to change them when I get round to swapping the springs.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

On my last car I got them from the Audi dealer. This time around, I stumbled on them on eBay when looking for front top mounts. The seller had bought them from Audi then sold his car before fitting them. Lucky bargain!

Thanks for the kind words guys


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## Mcmtt (Dec 1, 2015)

Nice work. Garth how do you find the the combo of the apex springs and Monroe shocks? I have h&r Springs with bilstein b4 shocks which the back seems very jiggly and rough ( every bush, rose bush and tie bars replaced) a lot of ppl in another thread said b8s should be used as b4 aren't designed for lower springs. B4 would be simalar spec to your monroes and apex being lower than the h&rs would be interesting to know?


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

I have no idea yet mate, I have only done the rears and not driven it yet! 
I'm told the monroe reflex are better with lowered springs than standard oem monroe shocks due to the special valving, but not had a chance to test it out yet. 
B8 are definitely better for littered springs than b4, but obviously they cost a fair amount. 
My car is being done to a tight budget and I only paid £150 for a set of 4 shocks, so made sense.

I'll post up in a few days on how the ride is. I'm in the middle of doing the front suspension now, but the shocks are giving me grief as they're totally rusted in to the hubs...


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## Mcmtt (Dec 1, 2015)

It's never easy! Hopefully yours work well mate think I just was unlucky and picked a bad combo a few ppl saying about the h&rs being jiggly and clunky.


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Thanks. I've just popped inside for a minute, since I'm replacing suspension on the drive, and it's started snowing! :-(

I need the car tomorrow so theres no option but to get out and finish the job regardless of the weather. Ask the old stuff is off, awaiting the new parts. Dammit!


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Finished the suspension off today... 
Started off with a really dirty, crusty set of struts, so I doused all the bolts in penetrating fluid:








I decided that I was going to do this the easy way this time and that meant using the spring compressors properly. Problem is they're too long to be useful in cars with anything approaching sporty suspension. The solution was to chop them down a little:








So I could get them on the springs 








I had to strip the old struts down to get the bump stops and dust covers 








One of the old bearings was fine, the other was completely seized, so it's good to have done this job now. All 4 shocks were completely shot too.

I stripped down the rusty brackets from the shocks and took a wire wheel to them to repaint. One set stripped, one obviously not:









Starting to reassemble the new shock with old bump stop








And all assembled with new top mount, bearing and cleaned up dust cover 








Yes, that's flakes of snow you see. This happened... 








So I didn't have time to hang about taking loads of photos after that!
So all back together with repainted backets and spring hat. 








The temperature plummeted by the end and the flakes of snow had turned to ice by the time I had finished! 








Shots of the ride height will follow in the daylight. Too cold out there now


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

So last time, I replaced the suspension in the pouring rain, this time in the snow. Mother nature hates me!


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

I decided to smarten up the brakes since they looked awful next to the brand new suspension components. I started out with these rusty looking things :








So I stripped the calipers down and masked up :








And two coats of rust proof primer, two coats of enamel primer, three coats of enamel silver and two coats of enamel lacquer later:








I decided to add some graphics (love them or hate them, it's up to you )








That was before I cleaned up the discs. 
And how they look behind the wheels:








Just need to do the front brakes this weekend now...


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

So, final tasks to complete :
1) Front brake refresh 
2) Adjust the drivers door alignment and touch up the paint 
3) A good clean and polish

It looks like I'm going to be leaving TT ownership early again. My wife uses this car daily and needs something that sits four people, so unfortunately the TT just doesn't work for us. 
The plan was to give it back to my brother, but he's too generous and has told me to just put it towards a bigger car. I've already put a deposit down on something bigger, so I have to sell the TT this month. 
Best offer over £3k takes it, or I'll part ex it at the end of the month.

To recap what I have done in the last three months :
New oem clutch and DMF
New shocks (monroe reflex) and springs (Apex)
Every bush replaced along with defcon/cookbot type wishbone sleeves. New top mounts, bearings, ball joints,track rod ends, trailing arm bushes, ARB bushes 
New wheels and tyres (Hankook Ventus S1 Evo 2), which are excellent 
Brand new downpipe, cats, lamdba sensor and used low mileage cat back exhaust 
Brand new genuine Audi leather drivers seat upright cover and refurbished base 
New Thermostat and temp Sensor 
Full Coolant flush and new g13 coolant
Full service with oil, fuel, air, pollen filters 
New spark plugs 
Haldex oil and filter 
Brake fluid change 
Full wheel alignment last week 
Retrimmed steering wheel, gear knob, gear gaitor, handbrake and door handles 
New floor mats, including boot
New pioneer head unit with bluetooth handsfree and music streaming 
New Bosch wiper blades 
Probably a million other things I've forgotten!

I shudder to think how much I've spent returning this car to a tidy state, but it's ready for its next 10 years now 

I'll even throw in a spare set of wheels with brand new budget tyres for track abuse (see first photos in the thread ) 
I'll add this to the for sale section as soon as it's ready and I have good photos to add...


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## YELLOW_TT (Feb 25, 2004)

Sad to see your leaving us again hope you will be hanging around and also still doing your fantastic leather work


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Thanks mate. I'm not leaving, just selling the car 
I think I'll hang around until I get told to leave


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## Jez xbx (Oct 24, 2014)

With your knowledge please don't leave!!!!
As someone said previously, you could always advertise for restoration work?
Your care and attention to detail would convince most!


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Thanks mate. If I had the time, I would love to tinker, but I'm finding my time in short supply at the moment. I was going to retrim this TT completely to add a touch of flair, but never got round to it. If I could afford it, I would keep the TT and just gradually improve it over the next couple of years, but sadly I need to put the money towards something else. 
I will hang around and help out where I can as this forum has been a big help to me over the last few years


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## pebisit (Nov 18, 2004)

Hi Gareth are you still doing the trimming, sent you a pm for some work I wanted doing if you can fit it in


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

I'm still doing a little, but scaled back due to time. I'll reply to your pm. Sorry, pms are very hit and miss on Tapatalk, sometimes they don't show at all.


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## Rsdal (Feb 8, 2016)

Hi Garth,

Can only echo what others have said about your wealth of knowledge and craftsmanship.

Any chance you could fit that trimming work we discussed via email ?


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Rsdal said:


> Hi Garth,
> 
> Can only echo what others have said about your wealth of knowledge and craftsmanship.
> 
> Any chance you could fit that trimming work we discussed via email ?


Absolutely. I haven't got the alcantara yet, but as soon as I do, I'll be emailing you. 
I'm waiting on a sample (which should have arrived last week!) as I have had conflicting advice on the closest colour to oem. As soon as that arrives, I'll know the exact colour to buy and can do all the alcantara work people want


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## Rsdal (Feb 8, 2016)

Thanks. I will await your email.


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## YELLOW_TT (Feb 25, 2004)

Garth said:


> Rsdal said:
> 
> 
> > Hi Garth,
> ...


When you get the alcantara in can you also let me know how good a match it is as if it's good I'll want a few bits doing mate


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Will do Andy. 
One of the samples arrived today, but not the other [DISAPPOINTED FACE]

Really, I could do with someone local to me with a qs to let me compare my samples to their car to make sure it's a perfect match. If anyone in our around Leeds owns a qs and wants a pair of door handles, knee pads, handbrake or gear gaitor (one or other) trimmed in alcantara for free, let me know! All I ask is for you to bring me your car to look in ;-)


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## #MythicBooster (Feb 10, 2015)

Hay Garth could you pm me a price for knee pads and handbreak in black with 2 lines of red sticking and a line of white as discussed before please mate, to match my steering wheel.










Thanks you are a legend.



Audi4U, VAG specialists
www.audi4u.co.uk
Discounted full laser Geo for TTForum members, when mentioning the forum.

AC's Performance Parts
www.facebook.com/acsperformanceparts


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## Dangerousdave (Feb 4, 2016)

Just read through this on my lunch, like your attention to detail.

Something really satisfying working through a long list of car jobs yourself.


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## YELLOW_TT (Feb 25, 2004)

Garth said:


> Will do Andy.
> One of the samples arrived today, but not the other [DISAPPOINTED FACE]
> 
> Really, I could do with someone local to me with a qs to let me compare my samples to their car to make sure it's a perfect match. If anyone in our around Leeds owns a qs and wants a pair of door handles, knee pads, handbrake or gear gaitor (one or other) trimmed in alcantara for free, let me know! All I ask is for you to bring me your car to look in ;-)


I'm not to far from Leeds in the north east but the qS won't be taxed until April if your not sorted by then let me know


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Ooh, North East you say? I'm from Newcastle and will be back up there visiting my parents at the beginning of next month. If I haven't got anything sorted by then I could give you a shout and call by?


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Dangerousdave said:


> Just read through this on my lunch, like your attention to detail.
> 
> Something really satisfying working through a long list of car jobs yourself.


Thank you, it is satisfying turning something sub-par into something nice


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## YELLOW_TT (Feb 25, 2004)

Garth said:


> Ooh, North East you say? I'm from Newcastle and will be back up there visiting my parents at the beginning of next month. If I haven't got anything sorted by then I could give you a shout and call by?


Sounds like a plan I'm in Hartlepool so not far from Newcastle


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Looks like I've got a buyer for this TT, so this week will be my last with it. Because of this, I had to crack on with finishing it off.

First job today was making the front brakes look a little more respectable. 
I started off with this:








They weren't too bad really, far better than they were on my last TT. The discs are only about 6 months / 2k miles old so just a little surface rust to contend with. 
I was busy today so no in-progress shots, but once all stripped, sanded, cleaned and sprayed, I added some graphics to match the rear calipers. I managed to curve them to match the shape of the caliper, which I'm pleased with 








Much nicer.

Then of course, I had to sort out this little mishap that my wife had a couple of weeks ago :








After some high build primer :








Smoothed and Primed (before blending) :








And all done :








Just needs cleaned and polished tomorrow


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## Rsdal (Feb 8, 2016)

Garth said:


> Will do Andy.
> One of the samples arrived today, but not the other [DISAPPOINTED FACE]
> 
> Really, I could do with someone local to me with a qs to let me compare my samples to their car to make sure it's a perfect match. If anyone in our around Leeds owns a qs and wants a pair of door handles, knee pads, handbrake or gear gaitor (one or other) trimmed in alcantara for free, let me know! All I ask is for you to bring me your car to look in ;-)


I've got a qs pole position Base cover if you want to compare the alcantara shade, texture . I could post ? But please ,please I would want it back .


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Rsdal said:


> Garth said:
> 
> 
> > Will do Andy.
> ...


That would be fantastic mate, thank you. I'm pm you my address


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## Rsdal (Feb 8, 2016)

Garth said:


> Rsdal said:
> 
> 
> > Garth said:
> ...


Haven't received no pm.


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Hopefully you have now!


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## Rsdal (Feb 8, 2016)

Garth said:


> Hopefully you have now!


Yep. Unfortunately I can't reply via pm so I will get it in the post for you weds or Thursday. No hurry for the return . When I get the bits done from you , you can return it then .


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Well it looks like the TT will be going to its new home tomorrow, so I had to do a few bits and pieces to it this week to finish it off. First up was the drivers door alignment and sill repair. Remember, the door had sagged and as a result, this is what the sill looked like :








Horrible!
So I adjusted the door to hang correctly and then set about repairing it and the sill. 
The bottom of the door looked like this:








Once I had stripped the paint, removed the rusty and treated it with kurust, I repainted it to give this:








Remember, this can't be seen unless you're lying on the ground, so it didn't need to be smooth, only protected from rusting again. 
And then after the sill repair, I had this:








(this was before the side skirt was polished)

I had the usual corrosion on the roof rails that every TT develops 








I couldn't leave them like that, so stripped back to bare metal








Primed 








And all painted, lacquered and refitted








Much better!

The lower grilles liked a little rough from stone chips 
















So they got the satin black treatment


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## Jez xbx (Oct 24, 2014)

Hi Garth,
My grills are looking a touch jaded!
What prep and product do you use to get them rejuvenated?
Cheers 
Jez


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

I then spent about 8 hours claying, cleaning and polishing the paintwork.
The paint was pretty rough, so after claying the roof, I collected this :








And then got this off one rear wing! 








Yikes! I did however manage to get the paint as smooth as glass though 
So after that and all the polishing, I was left with this 
































Since then, I have waxed it too, but ran out of light to take more photos. This was after I started 








Final photos of the car will come tomorrow when the sun comes back out, but I also gave the engine bay a quick clean too









I really hope the new owner appreciates it all!


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Jez xbx said:


> Hi Garth,
> My grills are looking a touch jaded!
> What prep and product do you use to get them rejuvenated?
> Cheers
> Jez


Rub them down, plastic primer then a few coats of satin black paint. Really straight forward. Halfords paint is pretty good for this


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## carblue9 (Oct 14, 2015)

Hi Garth, I have got hold of some more samples of alcantara from a different company, one of the samples is a very close match to my qs upholstery.
Would you like me to forward the sample on to you for comparison.
I have your address from a previous pm.
Cheers,
Barry


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Hi Barry, would you be able to take a photo against your seat? 
I've got someone to send me an oem seat cover to compare against my samples already, just waiting for it to arrive. 
It shouldn't make any difference where you get the samples as they will all be the same. Alcantara is not like leather whew you can get massively different textures and colours. There is a colour set and you can only get those colours. Anything else wouldn't be genuine and I'll only work with genuine Alcantara.

Hopefully the cover will arrive soon as I have the full set of grey colour samples of alcanatara to compare to it. 
Thanks mate


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## carblue9 (Oct 14, 2015)

No problem that Garth, I will take a picture tomorrow in daylight and email it on to you.
Cheers.


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## carblue9 (Oct 14, 2015)

pm with photo's sent Garth.


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## paulw12 (Mar 31, 2015)

Jez xbx said:


> Hi Garth,
> My grills are looking a touch jaded!
> What prep and product do you use to get them rejuvenated?
> Cheers
> Jez


I used Halfords satin black plastic paint, no primer needed, just spray on top. Has lasted really well. Going to try the main grill when weather gets warmer.


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## gogs (Dec 22, 2010)

Awesome work as always Garth 

Sent from my fruit device using Tapatalk


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Thanks Gogs 

Well, it went to its new owner today. A lot of effort (and money too!) went in to this car, so I'm glad it's gone to a forum member. No doubt he'll be on here to continue with it.

So after all the waxing and cleaning, here it was when it left me:








































































































And so, off it went with the new owner behind the wheel. 








I'm sure I'll miss it (my wife definitely will), so who knows, perhaps I'll be back in another one in a year or two...


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## ryanmtt (Sep 13, 2010)

Looks good garth 8)


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## kieronboz (Mar 8, 2016)

Quick snap from the journey home, same as all the above photos really but i thought it looked nice!

Gave my friends MPS a good fight but alas he is still more powerful, for now... 










Loving it so far.


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## gogs (Dec 22, 2010)

Cracking looking car Garth, congrats to kieronboz making a nice purchase 

I'm Looking forward to seeing the next one Garth 

Sent from my fruit device using Tapatalk


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

kieronboz said:


> Loving it so far.


That's what it's all about! 
I think what it needs now is some new plates and a remap. Get on it! :-D



gogs said:


> I'm Looking forward to seeing the next one Garth


Lol, it's funny. Last night my wife asked if I'll get another TT as a project, she also asked what I'm going to get for my next project car!

Unfortunately, we're trying to save for Ben so there's no spare money for project cars right now. Old cars are a false economy because it's cheaper to buy a nearly new car than to pay for repairs on an old one. This doesn't matter if you WANT to repair old cars or if you prefer them.

Right now, we need something reliable and big enough to comfortably sit 4. It has to be reasonably cheap to run, insure, tax and have a warranty. So I bought this after getting an amazing deal on it:








2008 one owner car with only 22k miles on it :-o
3 litre, 6 cylinder petrol but cheaper to tax and insure than the TT, better on fuel too and big enough for 4 adults. I couldn't turn it down as I managed to juggle around finances to make it cost neutral. I WON'T be modifying this one!

Sorry to post a photo of a BMW on an Audi forum!!


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## YELLOW_TT (Feb 25, 2004)

Garth said:


> . I WON'T be modifying this one!


As my mother always says famous last words :lol:


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## Boruki (Mar 2, 2014)

If I have to go to a practical car Garth, that's exactly what I had in mind! Maybe not in white though...


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## gogs (Dec 22, 2010)

I like it Garth 

Sent from my fruit device using Tapatalk


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

YELLOW_TT said:


> As my mother always says famous last words :lol:


I can't afford to, even if I want to!



Boruki said:


> If I have to go to a practical car Garth, that's exactly what I had in mind! Maybe not in white though...


They're excellent cars. This will be my third E92 Msport 3.0! Overall the best cars I've ever had. 
I asked my wife what car she would like if money was no object, she said another E92 like the first one we had, but in white. Imagine my surprise when I found this one the next day and for a great price. I did make her think she was getting a Vauxhall astra for a couple of days first though, lol.



gogs said:


> I like it Garth


Cheers mate. I will get another project at some point in about a year or so I reckon. I think a mk2 TTS might be an option by then. Saying that, another B8 S4 would be nice if I can find an abused one cheap enough! Then again, Z4s are getting really cheap now, as are the boxster S. Plenty of time to think about it! 
For now I'll make do with my awful Passat with its DSGarbage gearbox, but only because it's unsellable.


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## Hol (Apr 23, 2016)

Hi Garth. I am new to the Forum and I have to say you restorations are inspiring!

By the way are you still doing the leather re-trim stuff as I would like to smarten my TT Roadster interior up soon?


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## GARAGE HERMIT (Mar 7, 2015)

Garth said:


> Right now, we need something reliable and big enough to comfortably sit 4. It has to be reasonably cheap to run, insure, tax and have a warranty. So I bought this after getting an amazing deal on it:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


it wont be cheaper to tax it next year than a pre-2001 tt, 
just google "ved 2017"


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## [email protected] (May 19, 2016)

New to the forum, as looking to get my first MK1 TT, and I have read this build thread and the first one Garth, and it has made me want one even more! I am in awe of your dedication to the detail and the effort put into your builds. The missus was wondering why I have been glued to the laptop over the last couple of nights, I think she thought I was seeing another woman!! :lol: I am sure I will be back to this build and others on the forum for tips and tricks once I find the car for me. Cheers.


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## Jer1974 (May 8, 2017)

Great work. I have just spent the last few nights reading your two restoration threads and its given me loads of inspiration for my old rusty one.


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## Hetz (Aug 13, 2018)

Just read through this, hats off awesome work!


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## Pukmeister (Dec 27, 2017)

Inspirational work Garth, I hope to bring my own Mk 1 up to a similar standard as I always wanted a 3.2V6 DSG but could never afford to buy a perfect one outright.

I hope the new owner enjoys it and we get to see a 3rd TT restoration one day (make it a V6 !).


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## sussexbythesea (Apr 12, 2012)

Bump !

To bring this great thread forward so that I could find it and perhaps some others might want to have a read


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## Gary_L (Oct 19, 2020)

Just joined and this is the first thread I've read 

Will go and look at your other restoration thread for more inspiration.

Cheers!


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## YELLOW_TT (Feb 25, 2004)

Gary_L said:


> Just joined and this is the first thread I've read
> 
> Will go and look at your other restoration thread for more inspiration.
> 
> Cheers!


Sadly Garth I sent on here anymore


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