From Dream Car to DIY Project

• Sivert • 16 views • 1 min read

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I own a 2012 Golf GTI Edition 35 and the plan is to put it back to stock. I am not chasing Stage 1, 2 or 3 power. Norwegian regulations and roads make that impractical, especially on a car with 180,000 km on it.

Previous owners modified plenty, so I built a parts spreadsheet (opens in a new tab) to track costs and work out what to do first.

docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Ovy9Uojq8e7FKukA-bvZ7PxlI5nbN1kzKd7FDK1rAlE/edit?usp=sharingedition35.comShared spreadsheet

Getting it back to stock breaks down into a few jobs:

  1. Exhaust leak
    We need to get under the car and see how bad it is.
  2. EVAP system
    A new EVAP canister should sort it, and the parts are on the way.
  3. Battery
    Old and worn out. Straightforward to replace.
  4. ECU tune
    The ECU is running something strange and the mixture is rich. The stock tune should fix it.
  5. Rusted hood hinges
    Heavily rusted and need replacing.
  6. Interior cleaning
    Mostly stock, but the seller never properly cleaned it. A deep clean will probably turn up more to deal with.
  7. Rust
    Small spots that will get sorted at a repaint. For now we document them and keep an eye on whether they spread.