My B3 SurfRat build thread

The virtual show-'n'-shine - show us what you've got, plus some details about it! Feel free to add a pic of yourself so we can put a face to a name!

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shaggy (nat)
B4
Posts: 379
Joined: Wed Jun 13, 2012 6:50 pm
Passat model: B4 Tdi Wagon
Location: Leyland, Lancashire

My B3 SurfRat build thread

Post by shaggy (nat) »

I've had a fair few VW's over the years, i've had a Mk1 golf, an early bay, breadvan polo, Mk2 jetta, Mk2 golf, Mk3 Golf estate, a 71 beetle a Mk3 hatch and yet another Mk3 estate but finally after years of wanting i've bought myself a B3 passat :ymhug: My cars aren't exactly subtle and have a marmite style but thats how i roll.

Couple of pics of my last few cars...

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I've always had an 'image' of the look i wanted 'my' B3 (White, chrome and dripping in retro toys :wink: ) and when i first saw Ratlookrob's passat a few months back it couldn't have been any further from said image but i instantly fell in love with it.... As luck would have it he put it up for sale and having just missed out on buying one I knew i just had to have it :hyst
Big love to Rob for holding out and waiting on me to sell my Golf (*)

You've all seen the car on here, soooooo, here's a pic i took of her a few months ago

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and a few i've 'Borrowed' off Rob :wink:

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She was looking a little sorry for herself when i picked her up tho, she'd been parked up in the sun, unloved and neglected for a few weeks. Her bright colours had cracked and faded and she was looking more grey than black. As we we're going to Cornwall in less than a week after i picked her up the plan was to leave her alone till we got back.... just give her a once over mechanically

I had said i wasn't going to do anything to her till after 'run to the sun'.....

Well that didn't last long

I had 3 days to get her looking 'respectable' so in the evenings after work i removed the astroturf... not as easy as it sounds. Not only was it bonded on it was screwed down with no less than 60 self tappers :O

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Sprayed the mirrors and badges satin black and the wiper arms and roof rails gloss black.... Feeling the murdered vibe

Removed all the stickers, bonnet lifters, headlight tints and gave her a damm good clean B)

How she was looking for her maiden voyage...

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Well, glad to report she made it there, and we made it back and under our own steam too lol.... 1140 miles in a week (In a car i'd only driven from Blackpool to Leyland in :o ) and we only had 2 breakdowns and one AA call out haha. Didn't get to go to RTTS but thats a different story... We decided to eat out on the first night and all came down with er.. illness :rolleyes: Oh thats after we arrived on site, signed in and picked up the caravan keys, found the van after scraping our way over every speed bump on site, pulled up outside said home for the week, and then beached the car and had to find a few people to help push her! Priceless :lol:

Well, what did we find out in 7 days.... She doesn't like heavy rain and standing water.... We we're on the A30 in monsoon type rain and we hit standing water. She left us stuck at the side of the road in THEE worsed possible spot EVER till she'd dryed enough to get a slow, miss firing, underpowered police escort a mile or so down the road to the services. Gave the dizzy etc a damm good coating of WD40, sat and had a bru for 20min and she was as good as new.

Went to a Dinosaur and wildlife park and some spotty face car park attendant pointed us to the very top of an insainly steep sloping carpark, with a proper poo handbrake! Parked up leaving it in reverse and went to queue... but that little niggle in the back of my head made me run back to the car and squeeze it into a space at the bottom of the hill when nobody was looking, just to be safe. Came back to the car at the end of the day, car park was deserted and this was the view from where i'd parked

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Er... yeah, we finally went to Newquay and it all ended in tears at the drive through :(
As a man i had to do the one thing no man ever wants to do.... i had to admit i was beat

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She died.... On a hill (What handbrake :rolleyes: ) and with my door about 6 inch from the collection point window! Took 6 of us to push her up out of the drive through and into that bay, B3 'states ain't exactly light :ph34r: As luck would have it i spotted an AA van so ran over to ask for a jump start (Thought it would have saved us a call out charge but on the flip side at least we didn't have to wait hours for someone) ;) Turned out we had a break in the charge system so unknown to us as we sat in the drive through the heaters, lights, wipers, radio, sat nav and boys dvd players we're happily draining the battery to the point where there wasn't enough juice left to power the fuel pump hence why she cut out. An hour or 3 with his probe and a multi meter and he found that the break in the circuit is in the dash some where so bypassed the dash ign light and the battery showed charge once again..

Tempory fix
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With the ign off the bulb lights so when parked i've to pull the fuse so not to drain the battery, once ign's on the bulb go's out.... Gonna find a new set of clocks but in the mean time in gonna wire it to a switch inside the car

Bad picture but how fking awesome is this.....
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Yes, that is the Red Arrows :wub: :wub: :wub:
Proper gutted that in my rush to get out the camera i got my big fat ice cream covered fingers on the camera tho :(

She really suited the wheels that we're on her but sadly we couldn't afford to by them off him :sad: I had a set of 16'' mille milga's that i could put on (The one's on my dragon green mk3) but as i needed to get some spacers and longer bolts and time was against us he let us use them till we got back (*)

We've had her for nearly 2 weeks now, found a few niggles but i knew most of her faults anyway, now we're back i can get proper stuck in....

Decided im gonna leave it matt black (for this year at least) Just gonna do it again with rattle cans rather than rollers it as i don't like the finish.
Ive got a stuck o/s/r caliper i think, hence why the handbrake doesn't work all that well.
o/s/f wheel bearings rumbling so i need to fit a new one
Slight blow in the manifold
Non of the lights in the boot lid (Reverse/fog/number plate lights) are working.. i've checked the bulbs and fuses but alls well
Need new heater controls as there broke and the heaters are now on a toggle switch, there either off or on high, hot and on the screen (Soon be summer tho eh lol)
Raise the rear and inch or two, reverse rakes gay as fk lol
and add my bike rack etc

I've fitted my wheels.. looks ok s'pose

If it had of been fitted with rusty old steels they would look good but nothing was going to look anywhere near as good as the wheels that were on. Looking at getting some Borbet A's for her soon, i've got the car i've always wanted and fingers crossed the wheels i've always wanted should work well too (Other than TSW venoms but i can't find any for love nor money )
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#PanzerWgn @NatHolloway
Its my Mums fault, she used to say "Grow up Stupid".....so I did

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