Ok, so I'm going to search until I find a 225Q with relatively low mileage. Here's my to-do list... (off the top of my head; I only have a few mins). I'll try to do as much all at once as possible to minimize down time.

1. Timing belt / water pump

2. Power mods: head, header, turbo, intercooler, intake, tune, exhaust, WMI/plumbing, FP, injectors, rods and *possibly* pistons.

3. Cooling: Royal Purple coolant additive (the stuff of legend) with an aggressive C:W ratio, lower psi radiator cap, POSSIBLY a hood vent if I can find one that's not hideous, intake-duct mod, silicone radiator & coolant hoses throughout.

4. Heat shielding: LOTS of wrap (in the case of the DP/exhaust, stopping at the point where the DP/exhaust goes about 6" underneath the car), a turbo blanket, lots of intake insulation.

5. Fluids: DOT5 brake fluid, Royal Purple oil (of course).

6. Interior: seat modification (you'll see), gauges, WMI safety light, as much simple weight reduction as I can handle. A minor rollcage would be nice...

7. Exterior: Paint, body, wheels, headlights

8. Brakes: Stockers for now, simple pad upgrade Researching something comparable to my STi brakes (wonderful, wonderful brakes)...

9. Suspension: Coilovers, rear bracing.

 

Don't take this the wrong way, but heres my take:

A. Find a car first.

B. Why find a car with low miles to pretty much rebuild the entire thing?

C. To do all that work would cost more then the car. Why not get a "real" sports car to begin with. It would truely suck if you crashed a car and lost $10k in mods with it, since mods really cant be insured.

 

i agree with jakej

 

maybe he just likes the hottness of the tt...

 

Respectfully, responses below...

A. Finding the car is not the issue. It will take some doing, but I've passed on enough of them to know I'll have no trouble...

B. I like low interior & electronic wear.. Also, higher resale value is good in my book. If I have the ability to find a lower-mileage car, why not do so?

C. As per the promise made to myself when I sacrificed my original TT, my next one will be everything I wanted in the first one. I am interested in a beautiful, unique and comfortable street car. If I wanted another "out-of-the-box" high performance car, I would be re-buying an STi...which is a plan of mine for when I have a very disposable income

Also, mods can (but will not, in my case) be insured.

 

One more thought, why not get a MK2?

 

Put "Buy a panzer plate" on that list. Just smacked bottom pretty hard today. If it wasn't for the plate I would be missing my oil pan.

 

Don't want to get flamed for saying this, but I've yet to have a Mk2 turn my head as quickly as a nice Mk1. I just think it was a bolder design, and I fell in love with it the moment I first saw one at the dealership.

How did you hit the bottom? I'm really not a huge fan of skid plates (probably because I'm always under my cars and it's just one more thing to unbolt).

BTW, what part of S Florida are you in? I'm in Sarasota

 

welcome back to the forum dude. got your pm the other day, no time to respond. i agree that the mk I is a better looking car, and for the 'why not buy a real sportscar' comment, i too would rather have a TT that was built as i thought it should. im house shopping now, once i can find a place i'll start focusing on the TT project. sounds like a hell of a list, should keep you busy for a bit.

 

I hit a manhole cover as my suspension bottomed out. The plate also stiffens up the front end ALOT! Noticeable difference. I live in lake worth. Near west palm beach.