Hi All,
I've been a A2OC member for coming up to three years this month, and I really can't believe it's been this long. I've read reams of content on here, I love watching people's projects develop, and a number of you have been kind enough to reply to some DMs with support and advice. I don't tend to engage with social media or online communities, but, having completed a fair amount of work on my A2 recently using this forum as a guide, and after almost three years as a member, it really was just rude that I hadn't yet introduced myself or my A2.
I've got a 2004 90TDI in silver LY7W with 140,000 on the clock. I've had the car since 2015 when I was at university, and whilst my work has rarely needed me to have a regular daily commute, the car has done a lot of regular big milage trips to get home at weekends (weekly 500+ mile round trips). In recent years due to Covid and work the regular long distances have been a lot less, but I still love the car for its ability to do long distance journeys in relative comfort and return over 60mpg. Thinking about the engineering and thought that went into these cars always makes me smile - even when it makes maintenance a bit tricky - especially when someone asks me why I drive an A2 and if I don't fancy buying something newer. My usual response is along the lines of "find me another car with better MPG and less rust that I can actually afford". I've recently made the decision to treat the car (and myself!) to a mid-life refit, with the view to try to run it for another 100,000+ miles.
The car has a number of mods already. It has an all alloy intercooler, retrofitted DIS, and cruise control courtesy of Timmus. This forum is full of praise for Tom and his work, and in my opinion it is all thoroughly deserved. It's also had a remap to 105bhp. In order to not break forum rules, let's just says it's from a predictable source. I've recently added Brembo slotted discs and matching pads to the front. I like the look of these (drilled discs would be a bit much for my car in my opinion) and whilst the standard parts are great, I just wanted something a bit different. It's now running on five spoke Speedline TT wheels, a recent addition after having Seat Ibiza rims on since I've had it. The Seat rims ran very close to the callipers, which I didn't like. This seemed to make the discs corrode quite quickly due to weather, and two of the rims had got to the stage where they wouldn't hold pressure in the tyres despite being cleaned up twice.
I've started to do a fair amount of maintenance myself, learning from the forum and YouTube and building up confidence. I recently changed a wheel bearing myself (a bit scary for me!) added a new ball joint, ARB links, ABS sensor, discs and pads all round. I couldn't solve a brake imbalance on the rear which needed a garage to fix before they'd pass it at MOT. I have a sneaking suspicion the garage were running the heater on full for a prolonged period whilst working on it in recent cold temps, because now I appear to have a stuck heater flap. Looks like this might be an annoying job, but I've not had chance to diagnose it yet. At least its passed MOT though.
For the future:
I'm hoping to do a 6 speed conversion. Suggestions for an appropriate box for a TDI90 with a bit of extra horsepower very much welcomed. Currently thinking PPW? I'll get the oil pump chain done at the same time.
Also looking at a suspension rebuild. I'd LOVE a set of Bilstein B6s, but it will probably have to be B4s due to cost. Again, any thoughts or suggestions welcomed. The current suspension is a bit knackered, so I'm sure anything will be an improvement. Thinking of replacing the current pressed arms with more of the same. I understand the limitation of these with rust etc, but it looks like the current ones are original and I like the idea of being able to change the ball joints without doing the whole arm. If the current ones have lasted 140,000 miles, I don't know that the car will outlast a new set.
I'm looking at an OSRAM DRL/Fog retrofit as the car doesn't have fogs at the moment. Heated washer jets and mirrors would also be good additions. On the cosmetic side, I fancy an FSI spoiler, so looking out for an FSI tailgate in silver to swap over. I also like the idea of a colour-coded service flap, but I'll need to acquire some painting skills before tackling that.
If you've made it to the bottom of this post, thanks for your patience! It's a very long-winded way of saying hello.
Cheers,
Josh
I've been a A2OC member for coming up to three years this month, and I really can't believe it's been this long. I've read reams of content on here, I love watching people's projects develop, and a number of you have been kind enough to reply to some DMs with support and advice. I don't tend to engage with social media or online communities, but, having completed a fair amount of work on my A2 recently using this forum as a guide, and after almost three years as a member, it really was just rude that I hadn't yet introduced myself or my A2.
I've got a 2004 90TDI in silver LY7W with 140,000 on the clock. I've had the car since 2015 when I was at university, and whilst my work has rarely needed me to have a regular daily commute, the car has done a lot of regular big milage trips to get home at weekends (weekly 500+ mile round trips). In recent years due to Covid and work the regular long distances have been a lot less, but I still love the car for its ability to do long distance journeys in relative comfort and return over 60mpg. Thinking about the engineering and thought that went into these cars always makes me smile - even when it makes maintenance a bit tricky - especially when someone asks me why I drive an A2 and if I don't fancy buying something newer. My usual response is along the lines of "find me another car with better MPG and less rust that I can actually afford". I've recently made the decision to treat the car (and myself!) to a mid-life refit, with the view to try to run it for another 100,000+ miles.
The car has a number of mods already. It has an all alloy intercooler, retrofitted DIS, and cruise control courtesy of Timmus. This forum is full of praise for Tom and his work, and in my opinion it is all thoroughly deserved. It's also had a remap to 105bhp. In order to not break forum rules, let's just says it's from a predictable source. I've recently added Brembo slotted discs and matching pads to the front. I like the look of these (drilled discs would be a bit much for my car in my opinion) and whilst the standard parts are great, I just wanted something a bit different. It's now running on five spoke Speedline TT wheels, a recent addition after having Seat Ibiza rims on since I've had it. The Seat rims ran very close to the callipers, which I didn't like. This seemed to make the discs corrode quite quickly due to weather, and two of the rims had got to the stage where they wouldn't hold pressure in the tyres despite being cleaned up twice.
I've started to do a fair amount of maintenance myself, learning from the forum and YouTube and building up confidence. I recently changed a wheel bearing myself (a bit scary for me!) added a new ball joint, ARB links, ABS sensor, discs and pads all round. I couldn't solve a brake imbalance on the rear which needed a garage to fix before they'd pass it at MOT. I have a sneaking suspicion the garage were running the heater on full for a prolonged period whilst working on it in recent cold temps, because now I appear to have a stuck heater flap. Looks like this might be an annoying job, but I've not had chance to diagnose it yet. At least its passed MOT though.
For the future:
I'm hoping to do a 6 speed conversion. Suggestions for an appropriate box for a TDI90 with a bit of extra horsepower very much welcomed. Currently thinking PPW? I'll get the oil pump chain done at the same time.
Also looking at a suspension rebuild. I'd LOVE a set of Bilstein B6s, but it will probably have to be B4s due to cost. Again, any thoughts or suggestions welcomed. The current suspension is a bit knackered, so I'm sure anything will be an improvement. Thinking of replacing the current pressed arms with more of the same. I understand the limitation of these with rust etc, but it looks like the current ones are original and I like the idea of being able to change the ball joints without doing the whole arm. If the current ones have lasted 140,000 miles, I don't know that the car will outlast a new set.
I'm looking at an OSRAM DRL/Fog retrofit as the car doesn't have fogs at the moment. Heated washer jets and mirrors would also be good additions. On the cosmetic side, I fancy an FSI spoiler, so looking out for an FSI tailgate in silver to swap over. I also like the idea of a colour-coded service flap, but I'll need to acquire some painting skills before tackling that.
If you've made it to the bottom of this post, thanks for your patience! It's a very long-winded way of saying hello.
Cheers,
Josh
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Let me know if you do end up tackling the front yourself, I'd be interested to know how you find it.