I’m really digging all your builds so I thought I would share a GTI build that took me a couple of years and has gone through quite a bit. The build started 7 years ago when my wife surprised me with a project car for my 30th birthday. It was a 1998 GTI VR6 with less then 65k miles.
Before:This is how it started, a really sorry looking vandalized GTI. It was torn up, the fiber glass body kit was horrible and busted, the interior was slashed, the wiring to the engine was all cut up. Basically a totaled vandalized VW that was left to rot… perfect for a project car 
Strip: So to start I knew that I had to strip this thing to a shell. There were way too many problems that needed to be fixed and in order to do it right I had to take her down to bare bones.
Rebuild: I knew exactly what I wanted to do with the car. Like many of you, I wanted to take on something different that really hadn’t been done before. I’m not sure if most of you know the differences between the body style changes of the GTI through the years. Basically the 3rd generation was a boxy front and rear and the 4th generation introduced a smoother front and rear. My plan was to have the best of both worlds. The front conversion has been done before but the rear conversion was much more intense and required significant body work, in other words… tons of fun.
First, we needed a donor car. The 4th (final) generation Cabrio was a hybrid. It retained the same proportions of the 3rd gen (4th was a wider track) and had the new 4th gen styling. So I was lucky to find a Cabrio that had been t-boned and I could reuse the front and rear, then sell off everything else to recoup the expense, I actually made a little money doing this
Then came the chopping. I decided to cut things off at precise body lines so I can realign things easier on the GTI
Slapped that on the GTI along with the rear hatch, eliminating the plate tub. and incorporating the rear hatch handle
While I was doing that, I was also tackling the engine and interior. The head went in to be rebuilt and I cleaned up the block.
A new alternator, bunch of new parts and a polished intake…. you get this
Suspension was then taken care of
Applied great sound deadening material from http://www.raamaudio.com/
The exterior was finished up, we primed and painted it Porsche Titanium silver
We finished everything else up with the exterior, the glass, molding etc. I had the interior redone
So, that was it. I spent the better part of 5 years from start to finish and I really enjoyed the car for about a year. Then we got hit hard financially and I was forced to sell it. Obviously after so much work, I didn’t want it to go to just anyone. Luckily, my brother-in-law decided to buy it. He started managing a great shop in Brooklyn and decided to put it back under the knife. At first it was going to be minor adjustments and fixes. But like any other project, things change…
Reborn: First off a wider body stance, so fenders from a 4th gen Jetta were welded on
Hmm… Not crazy enough, lets keep chopping
Some new metal fabricated side skirts
Finally, here is where we stand as of today. The shop is expanding and moving to another location so the project is on hold, but most of the body work is done, for now…
That’s it for now. I thought you guys would enjoy this build. Since the body is still evolving not much was done to the performance, but when I had it on the road it was an amazing ride. Tons of power/torque and incredible go-kart handling. The engine and tranny are in pristine condition. The car is a 98 with less then 70k original miles. Everything mechanically has been either replaced or updated to a better part. I had a ton of fun building it and I’m really enjoying where my brother-in-law is taking things. It should be exciting to see it put back together. I’ll keep you guys updated.
