Mag decision time

All I did today was drive around looking at mag wheels, I was getting tired of my standard 13" steelies and decided it was time to commit to something, anything.
I've had my eye on 2 rims in particular- the old school bbs with gold studs and the black Jap style work equip replica wheel but after much deliberation settled on something completely different! Strange right, I've been biding my time carefully considering all the options and then choose something not even being considered.
I won't give away what I've bought just yet but I can tell you I've gone for a Euro look. I've paid for the wheels R2800 and ordered the Federal 195/50 R15 semi slick tyres which arrive on Monday so you'll just have to hold tight till then.

More mags

Wow the more you look the more you find and the more confused you get- silver, black, grey or white? Jap style or euro?
I'm a fan of all the car cultures and can't quite decide which rim will look best, I've also got a colour scheme and theme in mind so changing the rim changes my whole concept- complicated right?
Anyway I'll tackle that issue when the time comes, up next is suspension.
Zaine

Kermit gets slammed!

Suspension was a challenge- do I set it up for track, for road or a compromise between the two. The car will probably be used most days on the road and then only once a month on track days. Now I'd love to put on a set of 10 grand coilovers but besides being unaffordable I can't justify spending the same amount of money on the suspension as I paid for the entire car!

There are plenty of cheap coilovers available under R6,000 but from what I've read and heard they're not worth it in terms of the handling capability they provide.
I'm very much a trial and error kind of guy, I like to learn by doing and that sometimes means making costly mistakes.
I eventually decided I wanted to go with Eibach springs on standard shocks because I've used Eibach before and they are supreme in terms of quality and ride.
Now to decide what height to go for- 40mm or 60mm?
There's a lot of people with different advice on which works better on a MK1 golf so I made up my own mind and decided on a 60mm drop. The problem with that was Eibach no longer makes a 60mm kit for the MK1 so I looked at the 2 next best options- Bilstein and Koni.
I managed to source a set of Koni springs from Wheel Tech for R2,800 plus fitting and alignment. Unfortunately for me when they stripped the old ones off they found all 4 shocks were completely worn, this is getting expensive!
Oh well might as well take advantage of the situation and install some proper shocks. After speaking to a few people with some track knowledge who take part in the clubmans class races it seemed that Ian Glass of GT Shocks was the man to talk to. I gave them a ring and after explaining my intention they suggested their track shock would work well with my set up but they didn't have any in stock! In the meantime the car is lying stripped taking up space on Wheel Tech's lift.
But being the good chaps they are at GT Shocks they kindly offered to make me up a full set which would be ready in a few hours- talk about excellent service!
Everything paid for, collected and eventually fitted I hopped into Kermit and went for a spin, handling is awesome, almost no body roll but as expected with such a short spring and hard shock there is some bouncing on bumpy public roads and it is quite firm but I have a feeling it'll work well on the track.
Surprisingly enough I have not yet struggled with the body touching or scraping anywhere probably because of the standard wheels and lack of body kit/spoilers.
Overall the set up feels and looks great, the ride is firm but bearable on public roads and cornering is exceptional, job done.
Zaine.

Mags, Mags, Mags

Mag wheel choices are always difficult, with there being so much out there, there's a lot to consider:
1. Size
2. Design
3. Colour
4. Weight
5. Price

I've pretty much narrowed it down to a 15" mag cause the semi slicks will be slightly cheaper and I'm going for an old school look.

Nowadays replicas are a common thing in any market and it's no different in the wheel world. You can pretty much buy a rim that looks almost identical to a 3 piece high end wheel at a fraction of the cost. I say 'looks identical' simply because that's all it is- just a look.
Replica wheels are generally 1 piece wheels with a staggered fitment meant to imitate the genuine narrow and wide wheels. Somehow they just don't do it for me but you know the saying- 'beggars can't be choosers' and if cash is tight then there isn't much choice.

Everyone has different tastes but I firmly believe that a certain type of wheel suits a certain type/shape of car and if you don't get it right it's just look wrong. A wheel that looks stunning on display at the fitment centre may not look great on your car.
I feel that the wheel must look like it could have been a factory option and that it should enhance the look of the car yet blend in or be part of the overall look.
Zaine

VW MK1 - Project Kermit

Having watched many TV shows about restorations/modifications such as Overhaulin, Rides, Desert Car Kings, Street Customs and Pimp My Ride to name a few it seems customary to name your car/project. With the car being so GREEN there was only one logical choice - Project Kermit and being a hatchback with the single round headlights it kinda looks like a frog anyway!

Heres a breakdown of the expenses so far:
1. Car cost R10,000
2. Supa Quick - Water pump, dipstick, flush cooling system R2,154
3. RSi Body Works - Body touch ups R2,484
4. Supa Quick - Brake master cylinder, distributor cap R 1,653
Total R16,291

As you can clearly see on the front bumper there is a nice chunk of paint missing even though I've just had the body touched up and the reason for that is on the same day I got it back from the touch ups the brakes failed and I went into the back of a Corsa bakkie, fortunately it was at low speed and no cars were seriously hurt in the incident.
You may also have noticed there's no stickers on the car, I had them all removed as I'm a big fan of the 'Clean' look. For this project I want a blend of new and old school, I like to look at whats been done and then formulate my own ideas, it must be unique and not follow the thousands of other golf's out there - I would never copy someone else's idea but I have been known to set a few trends over the years.

The Beginning

Well here it is- a stock standard 1996 Vw Citi golf MK1 Chico 1.6 and my goal is to turn it from this 4x4 curb clearing economical student favourite into a lean mean track day machine that'll be used as a daily driver as well.

Now its important to know that I'm not a mechanic, nor a race driver but like every other average guy out there I love cars and going fast.
I've been into cars my whole life and love taking something ordinary and making it extraordinary, unfortunately this also costs a fair amount of money so I will be attempting to do this on a budget giving you a breakdown of all expenses involved.

This particular car has 187,000km's on but has a full service history, having said that after spending R10,000.00 on purchasing the car I've already spent more than half that on repairs and broken down in the process. It just goes to show a full service history does not guarantee a reliable vehicle if the mileage is excessive.

I have a good idea of what I'll be doing to the vehicle but like with everything in life it's not set in stone:
1. Suspension
2. Mags and tyres
3. Graphics
4. Exhaust
5. Body stiffening
6. Engine mods
7. Interior mods

Next time I will give a breakdown of expenses thus far and new pics with the lowered suspension!
Zaine