Joined
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1,396 Posts
*UPDATED on 11/07/2018 All pictures/posts fixed
I'm going to mix this thread with a storyline, build, parts, progress, a couple different cars, and hopefully a good read. Where to start….I guess from the beginning and will do my best to keep things in chronological order. I've been at the MK3 thing for many years now and owned my first one in 2004. I'm not one of those that see these cars as a "fad" or a "thing". I love them and will most likely always own one. I currently have two MK3s and a MK2.
I'm not new here but have not been on here for a couple years due to many infractions in the past. I've never actually had a decent thread about this car because I could never stay on here long enough to keep one.
It's pretty ironic because I missed the structure of this forum and have a greater appreciation today for the way it is set up, which is something I never thought I would say. Many that will see this might know the car and me. I've always had a thing for MK3s going back to the 90s. Hopefully some if not many of these people will pop up in here…and hopefully some new people too
I've owned around six now and continue to daily one (not for much longer though) but this thread will be about one in particular and the car has been on this forum since 2007 iirc and owned by a few people.
In 2013 I stumbled on a FS post by chance (none of the pics work anymore of course)
These were the pictures that got this all started.
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5797192-Surf-Green-Golf-Sport-SoCal
DSC01975-1 by LG7N
DSC01974 by LG7N
DSC01979 by LG7N
Was sent some current pictures of the car after contacting owner through Vortex.
sIMG_4129 by LG7N
sIMG_4123 by LG7N
sIMG_4138 by LG7N
sIMG_4153 by LG7N
Committed to buying car. Sent money order. Shipped non-running Surf Green turd 2864 miles to Vermont on a open carrier at the end of March 2013. I had little money and was washing dishes at the time. I saved, borrowed a little, and somehow made it happen. I had no idea what I was doing but I winged it and it felt right. For me when I buy something it has to feel right. Everything I have acquired has followed this rule.
The car has been all over California since the 90s into the 2000s.
Pineapplegti circa 2007-09 iirc
16240_n by LG7N
5594_n by LG7N
IMG_2260 by LG7N
IMG_2258 by LG7N
IMG_2184 by LG7N
IMG_2254 by LG7N
IMG_2253 by LG7N
IMG_2182 by LG7N
2010-2012 in pretty basic form in California.
IMAG0184 by LG7N
962_n by LG7N
400_n by LG7N
The building used in the movie Kill Bill way out in the Mojave Desert
Prior to 2008 the car was owned by someone else in CA. Somehow (might have been through FB) I talked to someone who had worked on the car in the early 2000s. He said the owner worked for Rod Millen @ Millen Motorsports in Huntington Beach….so I called there looking for the owner and sent an email. To my surprise I got a response a couple weeks later as Millen would not disclose any personal information, but somehow word got to the PO. UPDATE 10/23/2017 still bugging owner for OG photographs...
Which I got in November 2018
Email:
Hi Eli,
Great to see the pics of the car and to hear of your plans.
I bought the car in Feb 2003 and had it till 2007(i think or 2008).
I bought the car from Scot in Palm Desert. I had just started working for Rod Millen in Huntington Beach.
I saw the ad on Rally Classifieds and drove out to check out the car in Palm Desert. Scott wanted to convert it into a rally car and was halfway there before he had a baby an decided that rallying was a nogo. We went out for a test drive and he blasted the car across a gravel lot and I was sold. Most of the work had been done by Ron of VW specialties in Huntington Beach. He was literally across the street from our shop.
The car when I bought it had
> Raised bilstien suspension for off-road
> Quaffie Limited Slip
> Original 8v cross flow engine
> e stAPR CAM
> APR exhaust
> final drive from a diesel canadian golf - very, very short gear ratios - you could start the car in 3rd gear
> APR Chip
> APR Intake
> rotors were cross drilled
> enkei wheels yoko AVS 100 + stock wheels with rally tires on them
> interior was stripped and ready for a roll cage
> The sunroof was already welded up
The car was loud as hell inside (no interior) and If you drove the car for an hour, you could not hear anything for a couple of hours. But it was awesome...
It was beatifully setup with a soft front end and stiff rear so you could rotate the car by lifting off... classic 3 wheeling around corners like the Gen1 golfs.
The steering was very difficult with the quaife LSD and short gearing, it had huge amounts of torque steer, the steering would literally try to tear your arm off in a steet cornering setup, but it was perfect on gravel.
I used the car as a daily driver for 3 years. I did a rally school and a number of rally crosses with the california rally series. I would drive to the rally cross and do the rally cross on Yoko AVS100 tires and was still competitive. I was often faster than a few of the WRX's. and 4wd cars. Mostly thanks to the quaffie liited slip + gearbox. I also did an auto cross in the car with the same setup....long travel bilstein suspension and all.
I replaced all the wheel bearings put in a new clutch at 90k. I also had to weld the engine cross member (i broke it).
P1020126 by LG7N
Oh and apparently the car is in the system as "born" on 10-20-1994 at the Puebla factory and was delivered to Volkswagen Pasadena of California on February 10th 1995. The first owner was from Palm Desert California. So I am the sixth owner and I'm in contact with the third owner. Two more to go. I'll reach the original owner I have faith.
So there is some history on the car. It arrived in Vermont in the beginning of April 2013. I drove up 100 miles to unload the car at my parents @10PM at night because I had no where to put it. As I said I winged it. This is where I worked on the car for close to the next two years and started out with hand tools, a little bit of knowledge, and very little money. Those close to me have since told me they thought I was crazy at the time
The car was a huge f#[email protected] turd but much has changed.
OnTruck1 by LG7N
Delivery by LG7N
QuickRinse by LG7N
I'm going to mix this thread with a storyline, build, parts, progress, a couple different cars, and hopefully a good read. Where to start….I guess from the beginning and will do my best to keep things in chronological order. I've been at the MK3 thing for many years now and owned my first one in 2004. I'm not one of those that see these cars as a "fad" or a "thing". I love them and will most likely always own one. I currently have two MK3s and a MK2.
I'm not new here but have not been on here for a couple years due to many infractions in the past. I've never actually had a decent thread about this car because I could never stay on here long enough to keep one.
It's pretty ironic because I missed the structure of this forum and have a greater appreciation today for the way it is set up, which is something I never thought I would say. Many that will see this might know the car and me. I've always had a thing for MK3s going back to the 90s. Hopefully some if not many of these people will pop up in here…and hopefully some new people too
I've owned around six now and continue to daily one (not for much longer though) but this thread will be about one in particular and the car has been on this forum since 2007 iirc and owned by a few people.
In 2013 I stumbled on a FS post by chance (none of the pics work anymore of course)
These were the pictures that got this all started.
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5797192-Surf-Green-Golf-Sport-SoCal



Was sent some current pictures of the car after contacting owner through Vortex.




Committed to buying car. Sent money order. Shipped non-running Surf Green turd 2864 miles to Vermont on a open carrier at the end of March 2013. I had little money and was washing dishes at the time. I saved, borrowed a little, and somehow made it happen. I had no idea what I was doing but I winged it and it felt right. For me when I buy something it has to feel right. Everything I have acquired has followed this rule.
The car has been all over California since the 90s into the 2000s.
Pineapplegti circa 2007-09 iirc









2010-2012 in pretty basic form in California.



The building used in the movie Kill Bill way out in the Mojave Desert
Prior to 2008 the car was owned by someone else in CA. Somehow (might have been through FB) I talked to someone who had worked on the car in the early 2000s. He said the owner worked for Rod Millen @ Millen Motorsports in Huntington Beach….so I called there looking for the owner and sent an email. To my surprise I got a response a couple weeks later as Millen would not disclose any personal information, but somehow word got to the PO. UPDATE 10/23/2017 still bugging owner for OG photographs...
Which I got in November 2018

Email:
Hi Eli,
Great to see the pics of the car and to hear of your plans.
I bought the car in Feb 2003 and had it till 2007(i think or 2008).
I bought the car from Scot in Palm Desert. I had just started working for Rod Millen in Huntington Beach.
I saw the ad on Rally Classifieds and drove out to check out the car in Palm Desert. Scott wanted to convert it into a rally car and was halfway there before he had a baby an decided that rallying was a nogo. We went out for a test drive and he blasted the car across a gravel lot and I was sold. Most of the work had been done by Ron of VW specialties in Huntington Beach. He was literally across the street from our shop.
The car when I bought it had
> Raised bilstien suspension for off-road
> Quaffie Limited Slip
> Original 8v cross flow engine
> e stAPR CAM
> APR exhaust
> final drive from a diesel canadian golf - very, very short gear ratios - you could start the car in 3rd gear
> APR Chip
> APR Intake
> rotors were cross drilled
> enkei wheels yoko AVS 100 + stock wheels with rally tires on them
> interior was stripped and ready for a roll cage
> The sunroof was already welded up
The car was loud as hell inside (no interior) and If you drove the car for an hour, you could not hear anything for a couple of hours. But it was awesome...
It was beatifully setup with a soft front end and stiff rear so you could rotate the car by lifting off... classic 3 wheeling around corners like the Gen1 golfs.
The steering was very difficult with the quaife LSD and short gearing, it had huge amounts of torque steer, the steering would literally try to tear your arm off in a steet cornering setup, but it was perfect on gravel.
I used the car as a daily driver for 3 years. I did a rally school and a number of rally crosses with the california rally series. I would drive to the rally cross and do the rally cross on Yoko AVS100 tires and was still competitive. I was often faster than a few of the WRX's. and 4wd cars. Mostly thanks to the quaffie liited slip + gearbox. I also did an auto cross in the car with the same setup....long travel bilstein suspension and all.
I replaced all the wheel bearings put in a new clutch at 90k. I also had to weld the engine cross member (i broke it).

Oh and apparently the car is in the system as "born" on 10-20-1994 at the Puebla factory and was delivered to Volkswagen Pasadena of California on February 10th 1995. The first owner was from Palm Desert California. So I am the sixth owner and I'm in contact with the third owner. Two more to go. I'll reach the original owner I have faith.
So there is some history on the car. It arrived in Vermont in the beginning of April 2013. I drove up 100 miles to unload the car at my parents @10PM at night because I had no where to put it. As I said I winged it. This is where I worked on the car for close to the next two years and started out with hand tools, a little bit of knowledge, and very little money. Those close to me have since told me they thought I was crazy at the time



