Candy White 1.4 TSI from Finland

[rocco114]

hey mikko got your car looking great, can i ask what products you use polish , wax??

[Mikko]

My car has only been handwashed from the beginning, using two bucket method and with a lambs wool mitt. Always prewashing with foam (or using a pressure bottle) and rinse and being careful. Still, while the car is almost 3 years old now, there are some imperfections and there are places that could use a proper machine polish. I don't have the skills or machines to do this, though.

So, I've just washed it carefully, used CarPro Iron-X, VAlet Pro Citrus Glue & Tar Remover and Dodo Juice Lime Prime Lite to clean the surface, and topped that first with Poorboys White Diamond (fills the imperfections) and Collinite 476s wax. I waxed the car in February so the salt and grime has done it's job and the wax is beginning to lose, so I yesterday boosted it yet with Dodo Red Mist Tropical, which gives the deep shine seen in pictures.

[Mikko]

Did some soundproofing last weekend. Managed to do the trunk until I ran out of Silent Coat (and time). Will probably continue later by doing the same treatment to the rear seat area and front doors. I'm also toying with an idea of replacing the speakers and adding a small subwoofer under one of the front seats.

The car is more quiet now and - the best of all - I got rid of all the noises and rattles that had been coming form the trunk.







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I also changed the puddle lights to leds, which was a real pain-in-the-ass job to do but eventually well worth doing. Will look much better when the dark nights of the autumn come.

[Ericske]

Exellent as always....i'm still a fan !..

[Peacock8]

Did you take out the carpet/lining on the sides of the boot?

Ørjan.

[Mikko]

Thanks Erickse!

Yeah, I took all the panels and carpet out of the boot, except the plastic panels covering the C-pillars. Couldn't just figure out a way to completely remove them. I was able to open them slightly, though, and put some soundproofing behind so that was not actually a problem.

[Mikko]

A small update. Replaced the boot light with a led one (the left one in the first pic).








And then a bonus pic.

[W11LVW]

Love the mods you have done on your car.. Are the puddle lights in your mirrors OEM,, I have never seen them befor they look awesome..

[Mikko]

The puddle lights are an OEM factory option at least in Finland. They were included in the "mirror pack" that contains electric folding mirrors, automatic headlights, coming/leaving home lights, rain detector, extra interior lights and automatically darkening rear view mirror along with the puddle lights.

[B7Roc]

Very good looking car - and pictures!


I would also like to buy the LED number plate light and boot LED light.
Can you tell me where you bought these? Maybe the exact partnr?

[Mikko]

Boot LED is this one: http://www.ebay.de/itm/160910371349" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The number plate LEDs are OEM ones (from Scirocco R), I bought them here: http://shop.ahw-shop.de/1504-vw-led-ken ... 1k8943021c" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Both are canbus ones so no additional resistors needed.

[B7Roc]

Thank you for the links.
Have you considered to change the inside light to LED also?
I am considering it , and think it makes a big difference ..

[Mikko]

I did consider, but eventually decided against it. LEDs certainly look better, but on the other hand feel colder.

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Took a one step forward in dampening / soundproofing. Did the front doors yesterday. Couldn't get the "assembly carrier" out and as the speaker were secured with rivets, the outer part of the door was left untouched, for now. I'm still considering to replace the speakers and when removing the OEM ones will have access to dampen the rest of the door.

It was actually quite easy thing to do. Just pull the outer part of the handle out with small help by a interioir remover tool. The unscrew the five screws (red dots), pop out the plastic fasteners (yellow dots) and lift up. Then remove the cables from their connectors and the lock wire from the hook. I applied some SIlent Coat to the doors and Silent Coat and Sound Absorber to the door cards.

Did not do much for the noise, but the standard systems sounds suprisingly good, now. I'm actually quite suprised how much difference did it make. Well worth doing all the work then.

[Mikko]

Got my car hifi project finalised, at least for now.
I've previously added dampening and soundproofing to the boot, the doors and rear seat area including the 1/4 trims.




It took me two evenings to install this Volkswagen Plug & Play Soundsystem by Helix. It includes a dual 7" sub, a 5-channel amp and DSP, and a wiring harness that needed to be routed from the head unit all the way to the boot. I was first about to get this from local dealer, but they asked 1100 for it, including installation. Found one on eBay for 400 euros and decided to install it myself. Was again a real pain in the ass job to do that took me something like 6 hours to complete. Would not have done it myself if I'd known the amount of work it takes.

The DSP needs still to be coded for Scirocco, but the sound is already better than before. I'm still considering to replace the front highs and mids, though. Let's see how it sounds after the coding.

[luisgguedes]

Great idea! Where did you get the sound proofing mat?

[Mikko]

I bought the soundproofing mat partly from a friend that had some leftovers from his project and partly from a local car hifi store.

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Got the amp coded for Scirocco today. I actually had to purchase the coding dongle from a local VW dealer instead of letting them code the system. The dongle is on a workshop part number, but they let me to purchase it anyway. The price was a little steep at 122 euros, but now I get to update the settings if new version for DSP-code comes available.

Anyway, the coding was well worth it. The sound is more balanced, stereo image is better and bass more solid. Got rid of the subtle phasing as well. The mid range lacks little in detail so I'm still considering to replace the front speakers. Or maybe I'm just too used to listening to my super crisp Genelecs at home.

[rikkky243]

Installed.

I installed this one too and the interiors now are much beautiful, why don't you install also these?

[TahirM]

The car looks fantastic ! Which bulbs would you recommend for the normal lights?

[Mishaw]

I think Mikko has Osram Nightbreaker Plus?

Rikky: Give us more photos of your Rocco!!!The white leather interior is simply beatiful

[Mikko]

I think Mikko has Osram Nightbreaker Plus?

I had.
Replaced them with Xtec bulbs, which have natural light -like and a bit blueish tint in them. I have to admit that the output of these is quite poor, but it doesn't matter as I normally drive only on roads that have streetlight. I now have Nightbreakers on the high beams. The xenons were expensive (about 2000 euros in Finland), but leaving them out has been the only decision I've regretted in the specs of my car. And retrofitting is a little too much hassle.