jasond
LVC Member
Hi -- been lurking for a few months. I always loved the looks of these cars and knew they had a great chassis, so I bought one last summer to replace my VW TDI that I just turned in.
This is an '02 V6 Sport with 76k miles. Overall very clean, no rust, was obviously mostly garage kept. Paid $1000 for it, and drove it home. After reading all of the threads here, I decided to undertake a program of a kind of preemptive maintenance where necessary.
Started with loose steering. Diagnosed that to be bad outer tie rod ends, but there were a bunch of bad boots. Replaced front sway bar bushings (PITA), outer tie rod ends, front upper control arms, front sway bar links. Threw on a set of Eibach's and Monroe's that I scored of e-bay for $200 shipped while I was at it. The rear got upper control arms and rear toe links (these parts were expensive). No play in the lower control arms (front or rear) yet -- but the bushings look crummy, so I will probably get those done later on. I am into the suspension a grand, so no more on that for now.
Brakes - pads and rotors were all worn right to the limits, so ordered a full set of drilled/slotted pro-stops w/ ceramic pads from Rock Auto. Painted the rotor hats, since I hate the way those always rust. My son wanted to paint the calipers, so yanked those and sent to have them media blasted at a neighbors who does such work. Also replacing the caliper bracket boots while I am at it.
Car has a bad clock spring, that part is sitting on the seat, and on my to-do list.
Engine wise it runs great, but it leaks a bit. Having read about the problems with the VCG's and the coils, I am going to yank all that apart, change the gaskets, install NGK's, set of six new coils, inspect/change the PCV valve while I am under there. Will also flush all fluids since I do not know their condition.
As far as the tranny goes -- PO said it was throwing a code, but I am not sure what to do with that just yet. I don't like to dig into tyranny's too much, so I will likley use a local shop that I like for that. At a minimum, I will have him pull the pan and service/inspect/make recommendations for anything that might be done to make this car a DD.
Appearance wise, planning a THOROUGH detail/buff/wax, etc. Need to refinish the headlights, considering adding halo's while in there. Car will be lowered 1.25", and will eventually get 18's and some window tint. Nothing crazy.
Anyway, that is where I am at with this car now, so I will post some updates as the project comes along. I have ready the entire "Owners Manual" thread, so if anyone has any suggestions about making the car into a reasonably reliable DD, I am all ears.
This is an '02 V6 Sport with 76k miles. Overall very clean, no rust, was obviously mostly garage kept. Paid $1000 for it, and drove it home. After reading all of the threads here, I decided to undertake a program of a kind of preemptive maintenance where necessary.
Started with loose steering. Diagnosed that to be bad outer tie rod ends, but there were a bunch of bad boots. Replaced front sway bar bushings (PITA), outer tie rod ends, front upper control arms, front sway bar links. Threw on a set of Eibach's and Monroe's that I scored of e-bay for $200 shipped while I was at it. The rear got upper control arms and rear toe links (these parts were expensive). No play in the lower control arms (front or rear) yet -- but the bushings look crummy, so I will probably get those done later on. I am into the suspension a grand, so no more on that for now.
Brakes - pads and rotors were all worn right to the limits, so ordered a full set of drilled/slotted pro-stops w/ ceramic pads from Rock Auto. Painted the rotor hats, since I hate the way those always rust. My son wanted to paint the calipers, so yanked those and sent to have them media blasted at a neighbors who does such work. Also replacing the caliper bracket boots while I am at it.
Car has a bad clock spring, that part is sitting on the seat, and on my to-do list.
Engine wise it runs great, but it leaks a bit. Having read about the problems with the VCG's and the coils, I am going to yank all that apart, change the gaskets, install NGK's, set of six new coils, inspect/change the PCV valve while I am under there. Will also flush all fluids since I do not know their condition.
As far as the tranny goes -- PO said it was throwing a code, but I am not sure what to do with that just yet. I don't like to dig into tyranny's too much, so I will likley use a local shop that I like for that. At a minimum, I will have him pull the pan and service/inspect/make recommendations for anything that might be done to make this car a DD.
Appearance wise, planning a THOROUGH detail/buff/wax, etc. Need to refinish the headlights, considering adding halo's while in there. Car will be lowered 1.25", and will eventually get 18's and some window tint. Nothing crazy.
Anyway, that is where I am at with this car now, so I will post some updates as the project comes along. I have ready the entire "Owners Manual" thread, so if anyone has any suggestions about making the car into a reasonably reliable DD, I am all ears.
