Reload EP145 - Trading Up with Gethin Evans

Hi folks and welcome back to another episode of Reload Podcast.

My name is Connor McCann and I am on my own.

So between illness, work, life things in general, we've been reduced to just myself

and I can assure you it's as weird for me as it is for you.

In fact, it's probably more weird because I am sitting on my own with a microphone.

But all those things aside, we still have a great episode for you guys today.

So a few weeks back I sat down with our friend, Gath Nevens.

He was lined up for a PVW feature for his Mark VI Golf R, which was pretty cool.

I always love to see Karshm over here appearing on magazines and stuff

and getting a little bit of recognition for what we're actually doing over here.

So I really enjoyed that and getting to be a part of it as well, obviously, as I've talked about.

But yeah, there's so much more to the story.

Like going right back to his Mark III Golf with that dyno run as well

that some of you may know when you'll hear about and how you trade it up

from buying a few cars into the Golf R and everything that came along with it.

So it's a very cool story.

So with that said, I will leave these be and let's just get on with the interview.

Cheers, folks. Goodbye.

OK, so I'm sitting down with our friend, Gath Nevens.

Welcome, Gath and we do on before good few years ago.

And I want to say you and Nigel, I think we interviewed together for dub shed.

Being one of the main men with dub shed and GT and I.

That's we concentrated heavily on the shows, not so much on the cars

because it was a lot to get through.

And then it sort of come to me recently.

I was like, hang on a minute.

We've actually talked about his cars or specifically his current car,

which to me is a car, obviously the Mark VI R, which is phenomenal.

But to the on train that you walk past, I think that's a lower golf,

which is very much your style, in my opinion.

You're not big and shoddy in in your face as a general rule

and that comes through in your cars.

Yeah, no, look here.

Thanks for having me on.

It's been that's good.

Like I really enjoyed listening to you guys and not to thank you.

That's funny.

It's like having your your mates in the car with you once a week.

I actually say that about all podcasts or in the workshop.

I like I'm a big fan and Lisa loves that she can't have a podcast on

which is doing anything.

It's when she's driving where I can be working on something

I can still listen to everything that's said and just kind of whatever

where your brain works with it.

But I find it handy if you're in the garden room at night

and you're kind of just working away.

It is just like someone's there.

Yeah, you know, that's right.

Listen to it mostly now.

I get used to being what was driving, but not driving as much.

But it's like having your mates there, but not the distraction of having your mates there.

Yeah, yeah.

No, we're not going to be talking in the podcast.

Come on, go get an ice cream or something.

Yeah, it's not the first time to.

I guess it's a bit weird.

Listen to Nigel.

Next thing the phone goes, it's Nigel.

I was like, that's strange.

I've actually had it where

I was putting petrol into the borough one day

and I could hear my own voice.

I was like, what?

And it was Jack was driving past with it on in the van

and then spotted me.

It was like podcast inception as here myself

and he was seeing the guy that he's listening to.

Sounds like Jake.

Yeah.

So, no, on the cars, yeah, I suppose.

Look, yeah, I've always been, I suppose,

out less as more approach to things,

probably more so the older because I don't like.

I don't like flunk.

Yes.

I think that's better than our single as well, isn't it?

It's not our stylist.

Yeah.

But yeah.

It's the walk, slow, carry a big stick,

kind of approach, isn't it?

Yeah, it is.

That's funny you were saying there about

it's the car you'd walk past and think of it's just a lower gulf.

I got exactly that down at Vege back in the summer.

Oh, really?

That was TJ said to me about

somebody was looking at the car and he said to him,

like, did you actually go and look at the car?

And the boy went back and looked at the car and he was like,

oh, yeah, yeah, I get it now.

I've looked around it.

Yeah, like as we get into the details of it later on,

like the car is all about the details

and it's when you actually take a proper look.

And as I said, probably to like the casual observer,

say your average person that comes to Dub Shed

with their family for a weekend just to peruse nice cars.

It's one of those cars that will get overlooked.

But it's the if you know, you know, which is quite cool.

Yeah.

Before we get into it, though,

we'll wind back a little bit for a car that you're probably

well, one point definitely would have been better known for,

which was the the mark three.

Yeah.

Mark three, VR six turbo,

especially in this country, probably one of the very first

of the VR six turbos, I would say.

When did you get that car?

Well, I suppose just before that,

I had bought another mark three.

I bought a black one and it was a 90

92 or 93 K reds.

And it was we evolved TTI and I bought it

not long after we get married and headed away for a bit.

Then I went back to it after a while

and got it up or got underneath it and stuff

and started hooking in around it.

And it was absolutely rotten.

It's shock or mark three.

And we'll take all the slag in Connor.

You and I are both mark three guys and even we can make the jokes.

But this thing was bad.

And I was like, no, that's not going to work.

That car couldn't have been that old.

No, it wasn't at that stage.

Yeah, it was well, it was.

It's a 92 car, 12 or 13 years old at that point.

Yeah, so that's like a 2013 car being stone rotten now.

It's well, I suppose mark seven.

This is maybe not far away.

It's funny just off of that tangent here,

but like the gulfs get a particularly

or the mark threes get a particularly bad name for us.

But I can tell you every single generation suffer with it.

I'm convinced it's the odd numbers.

Mark ones rotted really badly.

Mark twos weren't as bad.

Mark threes rotted badly.

Mark fours weren't just as bad.

Mark fives or rob boxes.

Mark sixes don't seem to be just as bad

and somehow Mark sevens are more rotten than Mark sixes.

And I'm like, what is going to hunt strange for sure?

But no, so the black one,

that was kind of the first sort of dip in the toe in the mark threes, I suppose.

And decided not too much work on that.

It was only in the valve started, you know, really getting into the whole scene

at that point and the VR six was at that time

like it was the sort of bail and then all.

So optimistic, me thought, right,

let's take another look at this black one

and we'll learn how to make it work.

So I went down to McEever's in Ghana.

Heard he'd had a VR six in for breaking.

So I went down to see him and he ended up selling me the whole car.

And it was a 97 silver high line that had been hit.

So then I had the two cars.

I was going to make one out of the two and I got back into the black mark three.

I was like, this ain't going to work.

Like it's just too bad.

So I ended up then I went and bought in the meantime,

I had the engine all pulled out of the silver, the silver car.

And I had it all pulled down and painted the block, polished them on a fold.

And I had an engine sitting there ready to go into something.

And I remember actually going to Castle Well, that must have been 06, 06 or 07.

I can't remember, 06, maybe.

I remember taking on a trailer behind a van,

a works van to Castle Well and selling this engine.

But that's because I just bought the Mystic Blue Mark Three

like a month before and it was a proper VR six

with a load of history and had like a color, 82,000 miles on it,

which was, you know, very low back then.

And off a guy in canal and I'm trying to think

like we're digging way into the memory bank here corner.

And so yeah, I got at home, Castle Well, trying to sell that engine.

Then I took into the blue mark three and there's a few

rusty bits in it that needed a dress like it wasn't rotten by any means.

But it's usually scabby, but it's just the usual.

First thing I did was the floor pan.

So I stripped it all down, had it on our friend's ramp.

Stripped it all down, masked up the bits and basically did it

with a bit of black bodyshoots underneath.

And then things just started to start at the sparrow.

And you'll see that sort of pattern emerges.

I was going to say, yeah, there's a pattern in those.

Yeah. So that's a story I told.

Oh, we've got foggy from back then, like, but basically

the car was off the road then from, I bought that in 07.

And it was off the road for, I think, two or three or two years,

maybe and ended up basically in a complete stripped down to a bear shell.

I mean, everything by the dash was out and a full respray.

What was then bonner on a refinancing on the bonner?

Yeah, I ended up working there in salaries and stuff.

And I really actually learned a lot about body work at that time

and prepping stuff for paint.

If you can get in with something like that, it's a godsend.

Like, it's wet and cold to be able to do that.

And like, you know, as it happens, Andy and I are really good friends,

even to today, like I was going to say, people rears head again in the story.

We do have to work together ourselves.

Like, and that was really good from that point of view.

So, yeah, that that just went full sane, like full.

At that time, women, the whole thing painted

was took into it and flattered the whole car and flattered it right

with like up to three thousand grit wet and dry.

And buffed it like the paint in that car was like it was like glass.

Yeah, that's one of the first like when I first got to know you in that car.

It was always like to me, that was a show car.

You know, it was a high end car and it always looked good.

We well kept and that was a big thing was the paint finish on it.

It looked like it's swimming up.

Yeah, yeah.

The only thing we didn't do at that time was engine bay.

So it still had had to be our six in it.

Did I put the other one in it?

Can't remember.

But anyway, we had had polish manifold and stuff that got

like a paint with the gearbox and made it look sort of.

Well, it was nice back then, like, but then there was smooth bear.

Nothing. Yeah.

And I got what else did I do?

Retrimmed mark for the car was and stuff in it and a cage.

I was the 10 put orange cage on it.

Yeah, and that was slightly not less as more Goddys on the one.

I say face with Goddys in that era.

They were the first wheels, were they?

That's when I first got to know you.

No, the first wheels I had were RH cup readers.

I don't remember those on.

They were the very first ones.

And they're the first ones I had on when I went to the castle.

Well, first kind of unveiling.

I don't know.

We built building on it to them and all of your stuff.

I always like the down stuff.

Yeah.

So the R8 cup readers was going to brand you.

I bought a sport and spares.

Back when you could buy wheels like that off the shelf.

Yeah. Yeah.

But they were fake splits, but they were still cool.

But they didn't last long.

So I think around that year, that was 2008 was the first castle.

Well, it went to a following year.

Then we got some Goddys for it.

And they were the wheels.

I love those a lot.

Goddys and Raven air suspension.

Yes.

That sort of went over the 0809 winter and the cage.

Then was then it wasn't the weight because you tied in.

I want to say it on the ride tank was like floating on the stop bar in the rear.

Yeah, that's right.

Yeah, kind of made me bosses for it and you could spin it and stuff.

It was quite cool.

It was. It was.

So where did the turbo come in?

Because while the Yankees were big in the turbo and those things long before we were,

nobody really was here.

And I remember you doing it and being a big deal.

Yeah.

So I got the Goddys and stuff from the orange bits and pieces in 09.

Then the winter of 09 and 10.

I think I supercharged it with a Vortic V1 charger.

So that lasted a short time.

That might be that season.

And then the side was going to turbo it, which it did just turbo it on.

I think it's a precision turbo with just a head spacer.

It was like 300 odd break.

I think that's the setup of Nigel Putnam's Crattle.

OK, yeah.

Well, I drove that car and it pulled well.

Yeah. So I ran that then for

maybe two or three years, like 2013, I think.

2012, 2013.

Sorry, I might see me in dates.

But I ran that for a bit and had another change of wheels in that time.

I changed the colour of the Goddys.

I was going to say, I want to say you had a few changes of wheels in that time.

Yeah, I changed the colour of the Goddys, painted them gold or something silly.

So then I bought the AC snitzer type ones, which were my favourite wheels.

Everybody says the Goddys, but the snitzers were my favourite.

No, I agree with you, as much as I love the Goddys on it.

If you told me you were putting the snitzers on a Mark III, I'd laugh at you.

I was like, no, that doesn't work.

And when you see it on it, like it looks so good.

But it also sat right.

You know, that was a big thing.

It did. Yeah, it did.

It sat so well.

It probably sat better on those than it did on the Goddys.

Definitely did.

The Goddys were, the Goddys were way the wrong offset, like on the back.

She was a camber out on that thing.

I was like, minus four and a half degrees.

But then back then that was kind of the thing to you.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But the snitzers definitely sat better.

And like they're an epic way.

Like, have you seen the price of those today?

Yeah, they're insane.

They're ridiculous.

Aye, you go back to the 2012 price of the wheels, you'll laugh at me.

Absolutely. Yeah.

No, that's one wheel I would actually love to run again on it.

So yes, a bit of seller's remorse with those

and something else that we've talked about earlier on.

So yeah, ran that till I think it was 2013.

And I pulled it off the road then and decided then I was going to go with big guns

and put a 24 valve turbo set up in it, a proper built engine.

Which it did.

So pulled it off the road, I think it was off the road for over a year.

Did a smooth bay, not a smooth bay, but a clean bay.

It's high up, yeah.

Yeah.

So you could literally run with the bonnet off

to assure something that was presentable.

And showing off what you've done.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So I sourced a mark for four motion

with the Leroy BDE engine on it.

I remember going and getting it in Corian one night.

Me and Mark Rollerford brought it home and broke the car.

I was renting the workshop at the time.

I'm full of scrap.

But anyway, pulled the mark for and broke it

basically had had the engine gearbox for nothing.

So so that's sort of I'm laughing at myself

because I obviously own the four motion Bora.

But like the price of Mark for four motion commands now

back then, what's that 12, 13 years ago?

Yeah, you could have bought one with no MOT

that was like not in bad condition.

Yeah, for like 600 quid.

Yeah, part of the car out and you'd a free engine.

Yeah, you'd everything you wanted out of it.

I think that car was more than that.

I think it was fifteen hundred quid.

What was it?

But I still broke it and got out and got your.

Yeah, I have my conversion for free

because that's the way we'd look at it.

I don't want to make money on it.

Just give me my parts for free and you're laughing.

And I even kept the Haldex.

But I think doing that was important.

You bought the right car to that broke well.

Like there was your car and stuff in it.

And all those three Mark four bits

that people were going mad for at the time.

Aye, all the wee odds and ends

like your sunglasses holders.

Yeah, all that stuff.

So broke that into a shell, a bare shell,

scrapped the shell anyway.

And then I was left with what I needed and I pulled it down

to the bare block and it got everything.

Every new boat.

I remember I've picked for summer of.

I walked into your shed one night

and it was all like like a search on the table.

It's spread across all the RP bolts and stuff.

You're like, yeah, this man's got the town in this.

Yeah, so full sand on the engine.

What did they use?

Wasner pistons and powder rods, all the RP hardware.

Had the head done.

I didn't get the head opened up or anything.

I just had it.

I like refreshed.

Get refreshed and you thought springs

and stuff like that done.

Yeah, I spent the winter basically building the engine

and fabricating pipe work.

So I made all the intercooler pipes, the down pipe,

all that stuff.

When I say I made it, I cut them all the shape

and I clamped them all with jubilee clips,

drilled holes in the jubilee clips, marked them.

And I have a guy near us at home here

and he is an epic TIG welder.

Like he works in shorts,

but he's real attention to detail now.

And he welded everything, he purged it

so there's nothing on the inside and stuff we got.

They're a real good job.

That's a smart move.

Now, obviously, you don't want to tack it together yourself

and contaminate the welder.

I do know my limitations.

Yeah, well, that's good.

They were not.

And welding is one of those things

that I am not a welder like.

I can make something stick, but...

Well, you must be very not a good welder

because some of the things

I've seen you tackle over the years.

You're saying about knowing your limitations?

No, I'm not scared to take something apart.

I have a look and see how it works.

But you know when you can't do something?

Oh, yeah, yeah.

The...

I have tried painting and paintings.

Just not for you?

But having to do the prep?

Yeah, to a point.

That's good.

I'll let it take over.

That was my analysis with when I was working on the...

I could take stuff to a point

and then somebody just needed to finish it.

That last 10% to get it ready for paint.

Well, yeah.

Takes the pressure off him, though.

I did the donkey work.

That's it. You don't know the groundwork.

That's it.

So you get, obviously, rebuilt over the winter.

You take it back out.

It's now this beast of a 24-valve turbo.

Yeah.

You've went from...

What horsepower were you making on the 12-valve?

I think it was like 340 or something, I think I made.

It was funny.

I got the car together, so...

That shed we had at the time.

It was great crack.

I was there for too much.

I was there three nights a week and every Saturday.

And it was soaring the marriage to that point.

But it was good times.

Like, Michael Hughes was there every time I was there.

And he was like my wingman at that time.

But Michael, once I got the car built and running,

Michael, he went out to run in.

So Michael spent, like, I think, two weeks.

Just driving around?

He was up the Antrim Coast.

He was on the Antrim Hills, everywhere.

And we did about four oil changes in that time, as well.

This is all just to break the engine in before the battle.

Yeah, he'd come back.

I was like, do you want to pit stop?

But, yeah.

So I think, were we getting it ready for Ultimate Dubs

at that time?

Probably coming out of the winter, if what we were.

Yeah, we're getting ready.

I mean, it was just before that.

Because I remember the night before we were going

to Ultimate Dubs, it was a Thursday night.

I can't remember if it was me or Michael.

It was maybe me.

It was at Fort Field Guards there in Carrack.

And I pulled in to get a pair on the car, get some super.

Come out, somebody had driven in the back of it.

No way.

Yeah, and I just had, I had just had the bumper.

No, they're driven in, they're backed in the front bumper.

Oh, fuck.

And I just put a new, it was a US bumper.

I put on and stuff like that.

So I had to come back 10 o'clock at night,

take in the rub and down the bumper and repair it.

Because we were like...

Before you went Ultimate Dubs?

Yeah, we were on the boat the next day.

So I think that was 2014 or 2015 or 2013.

Flip here, who cares?

It was when it was.

So on the way to Ultimate Dubs, is it mapped at this point?

Oh, yeah.

You're all running around.

Yeah, running, running sweet and running.

That was good.

What about that point?

You were heading for Ultimate Dubs.

You get reversed in two.

You've just done your 24 while.

I knew it was at that point too.

Porsche Cups.

Yes, I forgot about those as well.

Yeah, so Snitzer's went about to set those Porsche Cups at that time

and put different brakes on it too.

Because it was rolling on 312s on it, up to that point.

And then I put a set of those Porsche 996

Crer2 calipers with 3, 3, 4 mil discs.

Asked the R32 disc.

Uh-huh, yeah.

So it upped the brakes and all of that

because it was going for more horsepower and all of that.

So I had no idea what it was making.

But it was running.

Yeah, it was running and it was fit like.

So I think we were doing something like Balamena car festers.

We were at Balamena for something anyway.

But we went to AutoTune to the dyno that day.

But it made, that was a couple of months later,

it made five, five, three, six or something.

That's ridiculous.

Yeah, it was a good crack.

And I think I've said this in the podcast before

that there seems to be this kind of horsepower

wars in the last 10 years where like everything

is about having the biggest number and the biggest figure.

And drivability seems to be sort of out the window now.

And people talk about like, if you say,

I have a thousand horsepower GTR, it's not a big deal.

We're 10, 15 years ago, a cover car in a magazine

would have had 600 horsepower.

You know, I know, even Connor, like, you know, and I remember you seems like

no time ago, a few had 300 horsepower.

You were the man.

He had that happen.

And that 540 horsepower, say, in your car at the time was like

everyone was talking about it.

You know, that was the thing.

It was like, holy shit, this is ridiculous.

And those people didn't believe it.

There was people that were astounded by it and everything in between.

And I remember being in convoys and stuff with you and seeing it go.

And I remember you and Nigel, we knew the RS6 going against each other.

And out hunting.

Yeah. Yeah. Out of the tolls down south.

That thing was absolutely rabid.

I suppose we should probably talk as well about the infamous video.

East Coast Customs, I want to say.

I think they're all the old plush.

So you guys ran a dyno day.

Yeah, yeah, we ran a dyno day.

Anyways, it was that 2015 or something.

I think it was November time.

I had I had an O2M set up in it, but I had diesel gearing.

So the car was really long geared.

Now, it was deliberate in a way because I was still running front wheel drive.

Yeah.

And it didn't really help the tracks like that car.

See, see for the torque it had, it wasn't a particularly wheel spinning car.

But like it did, it was doing their 60 mile an hour second gear.

Like it's going round.

So probably what I'm probably for the worst part wasn't overly rapid off the mark.

But once it could go on like once again in the boost, it was really high end.

It was moving like big time.

So with that mind, it was geared for theoretical 235 mile an hour.

If you do the calculations on gear ratios and all that.

So, yes, this had this idea of the dyno day.

Let's do a top speed run and put this theory to the test.

Not really thinking about speed rating and the tires or anything like that.

So I also want to say you're running your splits at this point as well, aren't you?

Well, that's me caution to the wind like, yeah, but yeah.

So that did a dyno run anyway and decided to down down one sixth.

And the tire popped delaminated.

It pops spectacularly, too.

It did.

It delaminated on the dyno and it looked particularly worse than what it actually was.

Yeah.

I think the fact that Gavin had placed a camera

like pretty much at that wheel that exploded from right away.

Yeah.

And it couldn't have happened better because he could have put it on the other side

and that that's the side of what it went.

And the fact that it was so up close, it looked really dramatic.

Yeah.

But the comments on that literally went viral.

Like, yeah, that was that was one of the original virals.

Like, and then the hashtag I know getting started doing the rounds.

So embarrassing.

But that that video comes up every year, too, as well.

It does.

It feels and dyno feels.

And there's always experts in the comments about stretch tires

and yeah, and literally it's down to the fact that it wasn't the right speed rating.

Yeah, that's all it was like.

And interestingly, like it did zero damage to the outside of the wing.

It obviously it sort of pebbled ass the inside of it.

Yeah.

And took out my arch liner, which made it look a lot worse

because it only was plastic everywhere.

And the fact there's no bumper on it, I don't think.

Yes, the front bumper was off to let it drop into the roller.

I think was. Yeah.

So the front bumper off, so it looked worse than what it was.

The rim itself, there was no damage, none whatsoever.

I still have the tire.

I'll have you. Yeah, I'll show you for you.

So, yeah, it looked worse than what it was, but it was funny.

The comments like, well, rim destroyed, car destroyed.

Usually from people that don't build anything.

No idea what happened.

They can really like.

Aye, that's I sort of forgot about that video until we started to talk

over this and come back into my head again.

I try to forget about it all the time, but it's funny.

But I would imagine most people listen.

This have probably seen that video at one point or another.

Like, yeah, probably because it went everywhere.

Yeah, it's bound to surface.

Like, if your phone's on there, it's bound to surface today.

I was going to say, it's not either of this than to us.

So after that, then you enjoyed the car for a bit.

I remember doing shows with you.

That was the time we really started running about with you guys.

Yeah, yeah.

And then it came off the road.

Yeah, I wasn't really any changes after that, because like

our Matthew was born in 2014, like in family life was getting.

It's time to settle down and actually enjoy the car.

Yeah. And I suppose I cut myself on to it.

I spent too much time at cars and not enough time with my family.

And yeah, all that.

So better getting the priorities right and all that.

So, yeah, 2016, that's the last time it was in the road.

But see, at the same time, like I felt like I kind of

like I'd done all the shows and kind of run my steam away

about the car, but didn't want to.

I take it off the road as such.

Well, no, I did want to take it off the road,

but didn't want to like get rid of it.

So I suppose at that point, I sort of made this statement, right?

I'm taking it off the road because I'm going to do a four drive conversion

and take this to 800 horsepower and I'm going to do this.

So what's that?

That was my intention at the time.

I have all the Haldex stuff and all the Sync Grove stuff,

including a new boot floor plan.

Yeah. Pan all sitting there to do it.

But I just I haven't either the time or the motivation

or the interest to me, quite honest.

And I think you and I have talked about this at several points over the years.

Like, I think as I've got older to all that horsepower

and all that hassle of putting food driving, what really do I need it for?

Unless you're going to be doing dry days or hammering the shed out of it.

We live in Ireland, there's nowhere to do drag racing.

See, this is the thing.

Like when Danny was over for dub shed,

like he came back and was talking on their podcast, saying about like

he now understands why we talk about like a lower horsepower figure is better

because our tiny roads and small, you know,

yeah, big horsepower cars work to a certain extent here.

But what do they work here? They work on the motorway.

Yeah. Yeah.

Where every five miles of motorway bridge and you're going to get caught, you know.

Yeah, that's right.

I much I think Nigel falls into this camp, too,

where a back road be a road blaster is more my bag like.

Yeah. Yeah.

OK, there's a lot that we said for it.

And but no, I think, you know, we've spent more time at shows

and that's it.

Track days and track days and all that over the years.

So I mean, look, I still have the car and it is tucked away.

But I don't think I've been doing for life version on it.

And I don't think I've been going for 800 horsepower.

I think when the kids are up and away about

at that point, I'll probably take in the putting on our 32 year

or even the 3.6 or something like that and just keep it naturally aspirated

and keep it nice and simple. Yeah.

Because at the end of the day, as we show car, it's not a it's not a B road blaster.

If you're if you're four wheel drive in that car now,

it would be to say that it's four wheel drive.

Even no other reason.

Yeah.

Hold on.

Because it's what are you going to be said at the show when I'm around?

I'm the death trap.

Let's face it.

That's it.

We're older and more mature.

I haven't had that feeling of kids or something.

Oh, I don't think we're those things or trying not to anyway.

Well, I tell you what, like, see having slightly more modern cars and new cars

and seeing how much better built they are and safer they are and safer to

get a bit more horsepower in gets easier.

Yeah.

That sort of puts things in perspective a wee bit as well.

Especially when your time is limited.

You know, like you're running your own business now.

You have a lot less time as well.

It's you're getting time wise.

You're getting more bang for your buck with a modern car.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

You kind of lay low for a little bit when that car come off the road.

And I just throw it.

Not probably not.

I'll be a year.

Yeah.

And then you picked up on the other mark three.

Yeah.

Which and I quote, you told me this is I'm going to build this to get my eye back in

before I get back into the other mark three.

Yeah.

This was a bit of a teaser into building the other one I want to say.

That's right.

No, I think after I put the mark three away, I just built the workshop and stuff at the house.

Giving up the place was running down the road.

Just to be around home a bit more.

And I think at that point I actually said, right, I'm going to shelve this for a year.

I want to shelve the cars for a year.

Concentrate and work, concentrate and family.

Get the priorities right.

And they wrecked me and destroyed me.

I was so agitated like I just needed to be.

Because you don't have your hobby.

You don't have your interests.

I needed to be fitter or something like that.

Yeah.

So I fell in with this mark three and it was all up in your degree.

No tricks.

Yeah.

Over and done firmly.

About five directions or that.

Or five.

Yeah.

And it caught me.

It was unusually like because it was it was bbm, bright blue metallic.

And I had never seen another mark three than that that paint code.

Because that's a mark two color really, isn't it?

It's a mark two color and the car was on a K-Redge.

Which again, 92 mark three.

So very early one.

No, sorry.

It was the J-Redge.

It was a J-Redge.

And that really struck me because you see so many late mark twos that are J-Redge.

And I say, that's really different.

So it's probably one of the earliest mark threes.

Yeah, registered.

Yeah. So long story short, I bought the car.

Like 800 quid for or something.

It was cheap enough.

Body was rough fish, but actually sound.

There was actually no rot in the car.

Aye, a bit scabby, but yeah solid.

Yeah.

So I got at home and spoke to Andy Bonner.

And he had actually moved out of his place and into the back cave as we talk about.

And it was business stone building.

They started to paint in, but I stripped the car down.

Did the same old crack again.

I welded a couple of cells into it and they prepped and painted it.

And that car still nothing about today.

That is, yeah.

But I had the wee theme in mind.

I wanted to make it like a proper 90s throwback car.

So I got just this all coming back to me.

It had already your car.

I was in it.

I got another three fogs.

Yes.

So it was like a smoked fog light.

There was some smoke fog lights in the carers.

What else?

DTM exhaust.

Yes.

That's the other thing.

And I set a 17 inch old Zeb Polaris.

So it was a proper wee throwback machine.

Yeah.

So it was just a wee 812.

It was that 90s style.

And with today's better touches as in like it stands better.

It stands properly.

Yeah.

And I love that, you know, because it still had that throwback era,

but it was done with today's taste.

Yeah.

And like there's still, I have a picture.

I think it's up there.

I don't know where the picture is.

Anyway, there's a picture of mine.

Mine and Mark's Carado.

I took those.

I was down at Appetite.

I take those.

Yeah.

Like, and I see to that state that car looks so sharp.

But then it moved on.

I did have a plan on mine.

I really wanted a Mark 6 Golf R.

Okay.

Right.

That was my plan.

So my plan was to build this car, sell it, buy something else,

sell it until I could work myself into the price of a Mark 6 R.

So build your way up.

Yeah.

So kept the Mark 3 for a while.

That was Titanic Dobs at the year.

Was that 2017?

Probably about then.

Maybe 2018.

Titanic.

Yeah.

It was Titanic Dobs.

That was when I sort of, that was it's first out in this.

Yeah.

Sorry, 17 it was.

And then I think that February, Richie approached me about,

well, I don't know why he approached me because he's,

that would give me the upper hand then.

And you know, this was two farmers trying to.

Somehow I did sort of came out of somewhere that Richie wanted to buy the Mark 3

and I wanted them selling the Mark 3.

But neither of the two of us wanted to look too enthusiastic.

Stefan and I sat at your kitchen table for what I think was about three and a half hours

while you was passed it out.

And I think it was down to about 250 quid.

At that point I was going to give someone the 250 quid to fuck off.

That's like, I need out of this house.

Yeah, it was funny.

But anyway, Richie bought the Mark 3 anyway.

He regrets selling that.

Yeah, I'm sure he does.

That was a good car.

That was a cracking car.

And then what did I buy after that?

Oh, I bought a B5S4 because that was another box I wanted to take off.

And that was something you and I talked about for years because I love those.

Yeah.

The only thing that puts me off them is the front suspension.

Aye, the front suspension.

The A4 should put you off them.

That's horrible.

No, we'd seen this S4 on the pod.

Every year I went with a black one.

And that thing was an animal.

See up the strip.

So I got the chance.

I'd found this S4 and actually asked the boy what he'd sell it.

I was in the south.

I was in a Garo play with two hybrid KO4s on it.

KO3, sorry.

On BC coinovers.

Carb was ticking the right boxes.

Carb ticked all the boxes.

Nice.

So I bought that and I was completely underwhelmed.

Do you think it was seeing this animal of a black one?

Maybe.

I don't know.

Or maybe that thing of you've built it up in your head.

It's just something that isn't...

I don't know.

It's like a lot of oudies.

I think they're very clinical and very...

So yes, they do.

You hear exactly what you expect them to do.

But they lack that wee bit of spice or something.

I don't know what it is.

I think that's kind of nice.

I'll talk about that for years about his RS6.

That it was fast, yes.

But it wasn't fun.

Yeah, yeah.

Totally.

And that's why I guess things for under break.

Yeah.

It should be fast.

It should have been like, well, that's his class.

And it shot flames and all sorts.

But no, it wasn't for me.

So three months.

I got me with that.

And sold it to a friend of Robin's.

And then I bought a Mark 4R32.

You did indeed.

Which he knew all about.

Yeah.

I lifted that car out of England for you.

You got commissioned.

I was changing jobs and I had one day off.

I finished on the Thursday and I was starting on the Monday.

And the Friday, you had been talking about getting a guy to lift it out of England.

The whole setup just looked dodgy to me.

And I remember missing you one night.

Something happened to the guy.

There was a very preventable thing.

And I missed you.

And I was like, do you want this guy bringing your car home?

I was like, yeah.

And I was like, I don't want any money for this.

I was like, pay for the flight.

Pay for the boat.

I'll go and get the car for you.

I have a day off.

And I flew over.

Alex from Fiddler lifted me in the van.

And he drove me up maybe about an hour and a half.

Up to was a Harrowgate, maybe.

Lifted the car off the guy.

And I hammered that car the whole way home.

I thought I got caught speeding.

Turns out it didn't.

You got the half three boat that day, didn't you?

So you had booked me the seven o'clock boat or whatever it was.

And there was a boat at half three.

And I pumped it into the sat-nav.

And it was sent out with our 10 pass three.

So I phoned them and said, could you, if I either had had 10 pass three,

no, no, you're not getting on.

And I was like, what's the latest three o'clock?

I was like, Jesus.

And so I just kept her lit.

And I had to stop for petrol.

I had to stop for food all within this time period.

And I just kept the shoe on it, kept her going.

And about two miles from the boat, it took a wrong turn.

And then, so at the time I realized it took a wrong turn

and then I had to double back on myself.

That was wasting more time.

And I rolled up to the gate and they were closing the gates.

And I rolled up and they just waved me on through.

And I was like, oh my God, that was so good because

like where's the nearest village, Stranraar?

There's nothing to do.

Yeah.

I spent the night in Stranraar on a van

when the boat was cancelled.

And I can tell you there's nothing to do in Stranraar.

To sit on that car for another four hours

so the next boat would have been brutal.

That was a nice driving car though.

I was, yeah.

That car, that was a car of some value.

So I am a...

It's actually a part of them now, yeah.

I am a sucker.

I am a sucker for buying something that needs a bit of work,

like or has an issue that I know I could sort that.

I know the feeling, yeah.

So that car, there was something about the Haldex in it.

But I brought it home, changed the oil, changed the filter

and the Haldex was perfect.

Nice.

Needed a service.

It was grand, like.

So it was a really good car actually.

Ways were dodgy colour of silvery white.

I just the standard Aristos on it.

Yeah.

So I put a set of speed lines on it.

19 inch speed lines with machine faces.

Stead flat face speed lines.

Which was a big Mark 5, Mark 6 thing

but not so much Mark 4 at the time.

Yeah.

And that looked good.

That car actually really carried them off well.

So that, I put a set of BC corridors on it too.

Put an exhaust on it and sold it.

It didn't last very long.

I sort of scratched the edge of that too.

Sort of six or eight months in a way again.

Yeah.

So that was, but all with the long-term goal of Mark 6.

So I sold the S4, bought the Mark 4

and I had the Mark 4 at MLVW.

Yes.

That year.

And then I did those bits and pieces of work over the summer.

And then I sold it.

Did I sell that in September that year, I think?

And then I found a cheap edition 30.

Of course.

In Ballet Claire.

That was local.

Yes.

What are you like 30 miles, 20 miles?

I know the 15 miles from here.

Yeah.

So bought that completely standard car

and I was like, yes, this is, I always wanted one of these.

I loved that car.

Yeah.

It was really good.

Didn't really paint or anything.

It was good.

But that's sort of all the standard modes on that.

That Mark 7 DTI performance pack, front brakes,

the welly cooler, high-pressure fuel pump,

internals and all the tune for a map.

And it made 376 horsepower.

That's, that's impressive.

It was a lot of fun.

That was DSG.

That was a smashing car actually.

And this goes back into what we were talking earlier about

like the Turbo 12L VR, male-less horsepower on that.

And what did you have to do?

You're a couple of bulldog mods and get someone to put a map on it.

You know, there's a lot to be said for modern stuff.

Yeah.

That was, that was such good fun on that car.

It's had a BC coil over just now as well.

So kept that a while.

So really liked it.

What wheels did you have on that?

Just the standard CHs?

Yeah.

Or just the 30 wheels, yeah.

Yep.

I did try a set of, I bought a set of Paul Evans' old wheels actually.

Oh, what did you call them?

Fiske.

Yes.

Are they Canada or the American?

Yeah, they're American wheels.

Put a set of those on, but that just didn't work.

No.

They're really nice.

We had like a three-piece split.

Just didn't work.

I don't even remember seeing them on the car, so it obviously didn't.

No, I have a picture of the wheels on the car outside my workshop.

And that was it.

And then I took them off again.

I was just, I was like, that's not gonna work.

That's a total no.

Total no.

Look way better than the CHs.

Aye.

I really actually was no notion of selling that car.

And there's a guy from the south and he pastored me.

I mean, he totally pastored me to sell it to the point where I named the price.

And he said, yep.

Happy to.

And he bought it.

That was that.

That was August, 2019.

And I thought, right, I'm nearly there.

This is the time I could maybe get my car.

I want the Mark VI Golf R.

Me being me, sucker for something that needs work again.

Found a cheap Mark VI R in England, in Manchester.

And the car had a gearbox problem.

It was stuck on first gear, first and reverse.

So basically the guy, real nice guy.

I'm still in touch with him today.

And they follow each other on Instagram and stuff.

And they're like an enthusiast guy, is he?

I know he's a car guy.

He had the car.

Basically, he doesn't have hands on him for fixing stuff.

Like it was always a, it was actually, what do you call them?

Manchester looked after the car.

Does matter.

Tuning company.

Yeah.

I just can't remember.

But anyway, he sort of was at his, what's the end of the car?

Didn't know what to do, where to go, how to get it fixed.

So he said, I'd sell it.

Just need the finance cleared on it.

So Mark and I, Mark and I headed off with Laura's,

we take one at a time and a car transporter and down the Manchester.

And we're planning to do the trip Monday.

Of course we got traffic on the M6 and a two hour delay.

Oh no, we're heading back for the boat.

We're heading back for the boat now.

And but anyway, down, left the car, got on the transporter,

paid the guy back up the road and made the boat go on at home.

So yeah, car lay down the yard here for a week or two.

And got it into the workshop, tried to see what the faults were.

And it was basically throwing up a mechanical fault.

So right, that was, it's not Megatronics.

It's something in the game.

I was going to say you're hoping for something obvious,

like the Megatronics is easy.

But in between times, me trying to get ahead of the game.

I had phone trainers.

I said, if you got a gearbox for Mark,

six go far, yep, I have 400 quid.

I says, right, I'll have it.

Happy death.

So maybe in May, that was the problem.

Sorry that once I get time,

I'll swap out the gearboxes.

So I had the gearbox sitting and I think four months past,

at least four months past.

And I got got the whole thing swapped.

And just something wasn't right.

It was like slushing it out of gears

and it wouldn't really take the gears right or rev right

out and stuff like this here.

Because DSG in those cars should be like a sharp change,

you know, like smooth but instant.

It should be.

So I got, I got it all in the car.

No, it was all working.

Got the car MOT, but just, just wasn't right.

So I pulled the gearbox back out.

And then this is a rookie mistake.

And if anybody takes anything from this podcast,

take this of your swapping gearboxes.

Check your code on the gearbox.

Because on the gearbox, it was written golf mark six R.

Yeah.

By trainers.

Hi.

On the white pan from a mark six golf R.

But I don't know the gearbox was actually from an A3 quad

road TDI.

Oh, well, yep.

That works well up.

Everything fitted up, but it was never going to work.

A, it was the wrong gear.

And B, the mechatronics weren't working much for the ECU.

So that was that.

That was 2020 and COVID just hit.

And I was like, well, I'm not buying another gearbox.

I'm just going to take this thing apart here

and see what I can see.

Because no matter who you talk to,

A, it was COVID, nobody wanted to do any work.

Yeah.

And B, DSG, no, don't touch DSG.

No, sure, they're non-serviceable gearbox.

You just have to throw them in the bin and buy a new one, blah, blah, blah.

And I was like, nah, there's bound to be something you can do with this.

If it's mechanical failure, something has broken in there.

Someone put this together.

So yeah.

So I'd look with a lot of time in their hands, it was COVID.

And we're at home and all the rest.

It's not like you had any shows to go to or not.

No.

So pulled it out and lo and behold, there's a selector fork.

The selector forks in those gearboxes have got we bearing sliders on them.

Okay.

So I think it's like a Teflon.

It's like a Teflon housing with ball bearings on it, basically.

And it wraps around the selector fork itself.

And one of the bearing sliders had collapsed

and had jammed the selector fork against the casing.

And that's why it wouldn't shift.

And that's why it was stuck.

And reverse is in a completely separate gear.

And that's why you could select it.

You could get reverse, but you could only get first for everything else.

So I sourced a second hand fork and buy a new fork.

I could buy new bearing sliders from like Russia or Lithuania or something like that.

Why is it always those countries?

I know.

I have another story about that.

Anyway, I got a second hand selector fork new with the bearing sliders on it.

And put it all back together.

Cutting a very long story short here.

Oh, you're good.

This is interesting because nobody touches these.

Certainly not DIY people.

I'd never touched one before either.

Pulled it all apart.

And as I say, there's actually a filter in there,

which is deemed a non-replaceable item as well.

But you can buy the filter from Eastern Europe.

And it's got like a magnetic strip on it and stuff for catching them either.

So I actually found the ball bearings.

Oh, so I had gathered the ball up.

I had got them, yeah.

So yeah, changed all that and put it back in the car.

And she was a good one.

That feeling must have been...

Oh, that's great.

And the smartest man alive.

Some achievement though, but no, that was good.

Had you done any gearbox work before?

No.

Because I had an OTA apart at time or two for way back in the early days of the Mark III.

It was pruned out like, well, first of all it was breaking shafts and then it was stripping gears.

So yes, I had been in an OTA before, but...

They're very basic compared to...

Aye, but even like an OTA-M, I didn't tackle that.

I got polymer carbon built my OTA-M for me because it needed shim and all of the casing.

That's the thing that weirds me out about them is the shim and an OTA-M for torrents.

Well, see, to be fair, like the DSD box, you have the shim.

So I put new Mark VII R clutch packs on it.

And you're supposed to shim those.

It's actually really easy to do.

So like I bought a dial gauge and was able to pick the right size shim.

So you basically buy, you buy a pack of shims from TPS and they're all different thicknesses,

10 different thicknesses.

And then you shim your clutch packs to...

Whatever the dial gauge tells you or whatever, the torrents.

Stick your shim in and circle up.

And that's it?

TZ, that's actually easy.

That's good, yeah.

That's easy anyway.

Like dial gauges or buttons to buy these things.

Oh yeah, that's right.

That's good, it's interesting.

Yeah.

So then I suppose the car at that point was driving good.

And it was time to do a few more mods on it.

So did the belly cooler mod, which is a common mod with those cars.

Like for more air flow, for cooler air flow for your induction.

Am I right in saying that's like a Toyota Sport intercooler?

That's a universal core.

That was made popular by a certain form member called Welly.

Yeah, that's right.

Yeah, I think he's on the TT forms as well.

Yeah, Toyota Sport is kind of the go-to one leg,

but as long as the barn plate cooler, you're all right.

So yeah, put that in.

Opto auto tune for a map.

And it made like 360 odd.

And what are they, a factory?

3.270.

Okay, yeah.

So it wasn't quite as good as the Dyson 30.

It was easier, I suppose.

And then you're also carrying extra weight with the Golf R being

a bit heavier with the four-wheel drive.

I, yeah, but I don't, I don't, I don't notice it.

Like I noticed more, something more belated.

I even have more confidence in grip and go.

Yeah.

That's actually, I always liked the Bora.

Like I tell you something, like I hear you guys talking about in the podcast,

like about, you know, the four-wheel drive versus front-wheel drive.

So now, and I get it.

I love the fight with it.

I love the fight and wrestle with the four-wheel or the front-wheel drive car.

But they are always cocking on egg when you think about it.

Yeah.

Do you see that thing there?

See, like I've proper, proper suspension setup.

And I have all H&R anti-roll bars of Super Pro bushes throughout.

I've got KW suspension, which is set up as good as it can be set up for the

height it's at, but honestly, goodness that thing.

You can't properly eat that thing in the back road.

Yeah.

So like this car is, we're jumping ahead a little bit,

but this car is stanced statically, but it's properly stanced.

Yet it still performs perfectly.

Like it's, like I've been on road trips with you up through Scotland,

winding back roads and stuff.

And it's absolutely glued to the road and it's an animal.

I know, I'm always getting told off for going too fast as well.

But you know, that's because we're all driving shit boxes that are old.

That's my cruising speed.

Leigh can keep up with me.

That's because, yeah, Leigh's female Getham, though.

Leigh, fell on, Ricky.

They're the ones you see going on.

Ah, the rest of us are quite slow.

So you hit your first map.

You're a bit underwhelmed then.

Aye, that was the start.

I've gone back and forth a whole lot.

Like between that and gearbox map.

But I have to say the guys out there are absolutely fantastic.

There's no drama.

And it's quite funny because they have a,

they're a really big name for TDI tuning in here.

Yeah, yeah.

But you've always brought petrol stuff to them and fill as well.

Yeah, a hundred percent.

I think they're good.

They're good at what they do.

Definitely.

But yeah, I suppose that we're jumping ahead a wee bit.

So yeah, I got the car on the road and did a couple of shows out here, I suppose.

And then that following winter, 2021,

it was December, decided to address a wee bit of rust.

Surprise, surprise.

A golf.

With the rust?

Yep.

Yeah.

So there's a wee bit of rust on the inside of the back panel.

And it was annoying, mate, because the right house,

they're almost like, that's a car of 10-year-old.

Like, that shouldn't be like that.

Yeah, even though this is something you don't see from outside the car at all.

Yeah, yeah.

So pulled out the heat shield and dropped the back box off and started to

take on that wire brush.

Next thing, you know, all the undercarriage is completely off the car.

Completely stripped right to the engine bay.

So like, this is COVID time, as you say.

Things are a bit slower.

It was just before Christmas, December.

I remember seeing you put the pictures up.

A camera was on Instagram or was on our group chat

of the underside stripped.

I remember thinking, Jesus, what is he doing?

Yeah, I did.

Honestly, I got completely carried away with it, completely carried away.

So yeah, completely stripped it out.

All the undercarriage took it all apart,

sent it all off the powder tech to get powder coated,

rebushed it all with super proof stuff,

painted the Haldex, painted the prop.

And I did the whole underside of the car with a UPOL Raptor

in body color.

So it was tended to the paint code.

So yeah, I spent the next couple of months doing that.

That took me through to March.

And it was like, I better do the undergarage here as well.

So pull the front wings off.

So like, where's we like,

honestly, they see all the spot wells in that car.

That's where the problem is.

Just we like, we pen heads of Ross.

Every spot rail, the spot well,

was starting to blister.

That's weird.

So I took in the all with wire brush and we

die grinder stuff and ground out what I could look.

There's some of it is starting to come back,

to be honest.

Like I traded it all with that gentle light,

roughs, but I say a country,

you never properly get rid of it.

And this is something that was done six years ago.

And I call it, did you drive?

Yeah.

Yeah, it's not, it's,

it's your car.

You take the shows.

I think it's not.

It's a show car because you actually use it.

It's kept my workshop.

Like it's not kept in the kitchen room.

They got there.

So yeah, wings off and our guards did all them

all back on those feet again at the end of March.

And I was like,

I'm going to have to paint this thing now.

And they actually stopped painting at this stage.

He was, he was started another business doing

painting and buildings and stuff,

doing something completely different.

And, but Derek, who used to work with Andy,

he agreed to do the job for me.

And he had actually taken my old workshop,

which was actually Andy's old workshop before me.

It's all of our ancestors.

So, Derek agreed to do it.

So long as I left the car ready to paint.

So I stripped the car glass out, tear out,

doors off, bonnet off, tailgate off, wings off.

Just basically a rolling shell with the engine,

obviously it still drove.

So left it.

That was funny.

I think he's only half way down the road,

driving down the road with no bonnet doors, nothing on.

So took it down to him.

And it's spent from there till June that year,

just before you were traveling.

He painted the whole shell on all the panels.

The reason it wasn't that I had completely cried away,

are you sure?

The car had been to the Euroburgring and stuff.

And the guy, he wasn't a show car guy.

He was a guy that loved to drive his car.

Look, there was something in there every single panel

that needed a dress.

Now it was nothing serious,

but it was like a scratch or a chip or something.

So that's what drove me there.

That's what I could use.

Yeah.

And make it 80,000 miles on it.

Yeah, I ended up painting the whole thing.

And literally outside and underneath.

It's one of those things you think to yourself,

like, where do you stop?

But you didn't stop.

No, that was the thing.

But I just kind of, at times, I just have to,

that's like full sand.

Yeah.

There's no half measures with you.

Do it once, do it right.

That sort of attitude.

So yeah, got it all built and ready for your traveling.

That's a nice set of BBS CK-14s, which for a 19 be it.

Which is a rare enough find, like,

because most of them are like a 19 be it and a half,

which doesn't just sit as nice,

because they're just not the right offset on those cars.

So yeah, Ron, that was that.

Ron, that for a couple of years, maybe.

I remember going to Euro Treffen that year,

when it was just out here to park around the back of the,

on the grassy part.

Yeah.

Just on where it raises up.

And I could look around it and I was like, Jesus.

And I remember thinking,

I think that might have been the first Euro Treffen after COVID.

And you'd taken about everything and that looks so good.

And then remembering the whole London side is done.

I'm thinking it's such a shame.

People's looking at that car going, that's beautiful,

but they don't know what's underneath.

You know?

No.

Because it's, I don't think you're the type to carry mirrors

in the car and put it in ramps.

Absolutely not.

No, I know by you.

I know it's done.

Yes.

And that's what's good for you.

Like, I don't really mind what people think.

Yeah.

Whatever, but that's the way I do.

And that pleases me, like so.

Yeah.

It's an exercise in keeping yourself happy.

Yeah.

Plus you're, but like me, you like doing the things.

Yeah.

You probably got as much, as much as you probably think,

yeah, I went too far.

You enjoyed the process and you've,

you can take that box and say, yes, I've done that.

100%.

Yeah.

It's the achievement.

Yeah.

So you can stand back and look like,

even like last night, the front desk were warped on.

So I had to replace the front desk.

And like, that's the first I've touched that car.

I had it down in Cork.

Cork.

Yeah.

I trailered it down to Cork because it was a MOT and the warp desk and stuff.

But I, I literally have another chance,

but I had it on there last night.

I was like, 15 or what?

Like, I know every single into this thing.

Yeah.

There's sometimes I think that, like with my own cars,

the Mark II, when I took it to cleaning fest last year,

I had 40 mile under the belt before it went to Scotland, say.

Yeah.

I remember driving up through Scotland,

thinking to myself, like,

I get these weird feelings, I guess.

We're like, I'm driving a car that I've bolted together.

Like this thing was a bar shell.

I've built the engine.

Well, I stripped the engine and built it from the head gasket upside.

Yeah.

But suspensions all put together.

Like I designed the brake kits myself, the suspension.

You know, and you think to yourself, like,

I've been responsible for every nut and bolt in this car.

And now it's hurt run across Scotland at speed limit.

You know, when you think to yourself, like,

this was me behind this.

And it's weird.

Yeah.

Sometimes I look back.

They were like, I think I used to do some sketchy things.

Like, you know, and they didn't know they were sketchy at the time,

but things failed and things happen.

But do you know what?

You got away with it.

Like, I know.

I can say I learned from them.

Oh, 100%.

Yeah.

And I know now, like the car I have up the workshop,

they're like, I know that I've,

I've checked and double checked the work I've done.

That comes with both the age and experience.

I find though, you know, you're old enough to understand

the risks of what you're taking, as opposed to when you're young,

you don't or those risks don't even come into your head.

But also you have the experience of something having gone wrong

and you go, okay, well, I'm not doing that again.

Or I know where that went wrong.

But also it comes down to your own abilities

where you can look at something, go, well, what failed?

Where some people might go, well, that broke and try again.

You know, yeah.

But it's the old saying of the definition of madness

is doing the same thing over and over

and expecting different results.

Yeah.

That's true.

So yeah, that, I suppose the only real change.

Well, I suppose there's been a few changes.

A few more changes to that too.

So yeah.

Last year, took an ocean.

The base ease I had on it weren't new.

There were second hand and they were just,

they felt tired.

You know, they were a bit knocking stuff.

And you know, you can put,

yeah, you can put new pillable amounts of stuff in them.

But I just, this is true.

And everybody laughs at this.

I accidentally bought, I said,

a KWGP for a beverage woman, Black Friday sale.

How do you accidentally buy those?

So I was like, right.

So what I was going to do, I was actually going to,

I was going to buy them through Blackline

and Gavin knows this story and I apologize again.

So I was on this website.

I'm not going to name the website that sold them.

And I wanted to get through to the basket stage

so I could see the total cost included in shipping.

Yeah.

And then send out the Gavin.

Can you get me these?

Yeah.

Only the step, like say it was,

say it was eight steps.

I thought I was at step seven,

but it was actually a step eight.

So you basically bought them?

I accidentally bought them.

But anyway, that's as true as I'm sitting here.

So pronounce the name of those coilovers again.

Gepfeffert.

So what are these?

So Gepfefferts are basically KWs.

You can buy them in a KW V1, V2 or V3.

Okay.

Minor V2s.

So they've got adjustable damp one.

But they've been specially re-engineered, shortened.

To run low.

They're very, very well made.

I've met the guy behind it.

Oh.

I met him in Germany last year.

I'm such an enthusiastic guy

and really nice and really behind his product.

So is this an in-house KW thing

or is this an aftermarket thing?

It's an aftermarket thing,

but it's endorsed by KW.

Okay.

So they're buying them off KW directly?

Yeah.

So they're all branded.

They're dual branded KW.

Gepfeffert.

That's interesting.

Yeah.

So look, I would not buy them again, personally.

Not for me.

If you want to run really low,

definitely that's a suspension for you.

But honestly, it's too low for me.

Am I right in saying you had it wound up

fairly high to, obviously, to get the height that you wanted

and it was actually more comfortable to wind them down lower?

Yeah, that's right.

Yeah.

So they're designed to run low.

But like the backs, for example,

that, you know, the spring set up on a mark six,

mark five, mark six, take a separate shot on the spring.

Yeah.

The spring perches in the back,

like even with that wound full up,

still too low.

So I got some,

I got some spacers machined out of polyurethane

and I sort of made me set up in the back.

Uh huh.

And just to get it.

That's pretty cool.

Yeah.

So yeah, did that.

And I bit the bullet down and I set up EBS LMRs.

Which looked fantastic on it.

Which I absolutely love them.

I love them.

I wish I could take them on the next car,

but they're just not going to work.

I thought you were mad taking the last BBSs off of CKs.

Yeah.

And then when I seen what you've done,

I think it was dub shed, did you unveil them?

Yeah.

And I was like, shit, that looks good.

That, and then you drop it that little bit more again.

I was like, that looks really purposeful.

I dropped it for clean fest again last year.

That's right.

And then I settled again over the winter.

It's like everything about the suspension

just wants to get lower when you're not looking.

Well, when I was doing those breaks

in the ramp last night, I raised it 20 mil all round.

You wouldn't see.

Well, I've seen it all the wood on the ramp to get on and off.

I had to build the ramps up.

But no, it has to go through.

That's perfectly safe and legit,

but it just physically wouldn't go under their ramps.

Aye.

Aye, it's fine on drives.

Fine, as you said, they're not going to fall out,

but it makes life a lot harder

when you're trying to do things like throw it on the ramp.

Yeah.

I find like the TT, like my TT is on,

well, I tell you the word here, the Stance Plus cool overs.

It's not massively low.

It sits nice, but it's not tiled.

Yeah.

I can't put it on the ramp by putting blocks under it.

You know, it's, and it is a bit.

The TTs aren't the easiest thing to put the ramp either.

Oh, really?

That's short.

Aye.

So they were.

I just assumed that because I don't think I've ever had a car

that went on the ramp properly anyway.

I like markings on the floor for gulfs.

I work off those marks for every car,

like so I know somewhere a bit longer at the front.

That's quite a smart idea actually.

Yeah.

Just lined up with the tires.

I like that.

Usually lined up with the back wheel.

I usually do it when I'm reversing under the ramp

on an eyeball where I am in regards to the post.

Yeah.

But I like that now.

We start doing that.

Yeah.

So I like the, the BBSs that are on it now,

the LMRs like, so I get to chat with that guy in Holland.

What's his name?

Armroot.

Okay.

I'll take your word for it.

He does, he does a lot of nice, tasty wheels,

like a lot of the classic wheels.

We buy the grader wheels.

Uh-huh.

Oh, like Buys, refurbs, sells on kind of thing.

Yeah.

Real nice guy.

So bought them from him and they're actually in their

completely original state.

They're a 501-14, so I'm running them with wobble bolts.

Okay.

Yeah.

But they're in original carbon black.

That actually causes me a bit of a,

a bit of anxiety to the grave.

Not that I'm speaking flippantly there

because it doesn't make me anxious whatsoever, but

I want to split them and redo them.

But also your torn,

But they're completely original.

That's why I don't want to touch them.

Yeah.

So, uh,

It's the old thing of like it's only original ones.

Yeah.

Like one of them's got like 2B tiny chips in the spokes.

And I'm like, uh.

Ah, it's a hard call.

But yeah.

And then you sort of torn as well by like,

you obviously love the finish of them and how they look.

Yeah.

But do you refurb them and they look exactly the same?

Or do you purposely do something slightly different

so you're getting the advantage of having spent the money

on a slightly different look?

You know.

Yeah.

I know.

And then he divided them doing that.

Exactly.

Yeah.

It's hard to know.

Yeah.

Oh, tell you not to get more of this.

Well, I'm one of the best models I've done that car.

An APR RSC system.

Well, see, that's what I wanted to talk to you about

is I know you've had at least two exhausts on it.

Yeah.

I had a mil-tech on it.

And I just, just due to the nature of the way

that exhaust sits straight down the middle of the car.

It's very susceptible to drone.

Like, see, your normal Mark V, Mark VI,

you've got this case that sits across the back.

It's much easier to work around drone and stuff,

but because that's pretty much straight out the middle of the bumper,

it's harder to get around.

You put your fans lab coat on for a bit, didn't you?

I got the white coat on for that one.

Decided I would make a J-pipe to keep it in simple terms.

It's a, what's the right name of it?

I can't remember it.

Sounds like Hendrik, but it's not.

So this was the first I'd ever heard of this.

Was you doing this?

And explain the basic principle of how it,

like even were the design of it?

Yes, basically, it's a bit of a pipe on the side of the existing exhaust.

And it basically is to disturb the noise.

So it tees off, but also, so it tees off in an instant 90

and runs along the side of it for, what, about two foot?

Yeah, but it dead ends.

So you have to have a certain length

and certain volume and all that.

It's like tunable.

Yeah.

As I say, it's supposed to disturb the noise to prevent the drone.

Did it work?

It actually did work to an extent.

It didn't eradicate it completely, but it did work.

It reduced it?

It definitely reduced it.

Like, you know, that you'd have got that drone from, say,

I don't know, two and a half thousand RPM to three and a half thousand RPM.

That's interesting.

Which is quite a broad.

Yeah, it's a big.

That just happened to be at like 70 mile an hour,

80 mile an hour and you're sitting in the motorway

and it's like really frustrating.

There's never droned 40 mile an hour.

Now it's always your cruising speed.

Oh, Jesus.

So I did that, but I just wasn't.

I got the chance to end up buying an APR system.

I found a guy in Germany selling them and he had two left

and like there were dates stumps.

I don't know, dates stumps like 2012 or something.

So we'd been in stock a while.

So he's doing really good data.

So actually I bought a system and Phil drew a system and

we we reckon they're probably the last couple of systems it was.

An existence on the shelf and existence that are brand new.

But hands down the best mod both from a drone perspective and see

the sound that car makes for a four cylinder turbo.

Yeah, it's absolutely class.

Well, I've been behind you when it takes off.

Yeah, it sounds great.

And to be honest with you,

like most of the modern turbo four cylinders sound awful.

I know, but that car sounds good.

It does.

Yeah.

So yeah, that's a.

I can't really think of a better car that exhaust could have went on to.

You know, you think of like the full rebuild and everything pristine

and that's one of the last ones on the shelf.

Yeah.

It kind of it's fitting that it goes to a car like that.

No, I felt it was still on the shelf at his house.

It's what's for the last ones on the shelf.

Yeah.

Tuning wise though, you didn't stop.

No, no, I didn't stop.

You're a man for power.

I just felt a lot halfway as well.

But yeah, sort of, sort of kept going on that

tuning journey without tuning just.

Were you chasing power figures?

Or were you just chasing wanting a bit more speed?

No, I wasn't.

I was chasing.

I was chasing power delivery and chasing.

I just liked it coming in and out at a certain point and.

Driveability more than anything.

Driveability.

Yeah.

That that combined with gearbox.

The gearbox has taken a fair bit of work to get not the gearbox itself,

but the tune, the tune to match the ECU tune.

So the DSG is mapped to suit whatever the engine's mapped to.

Yes.

Okay.

So basically the crux of it is you've got your shift points,

which is one part you can tune.

And then the clamping pressure in the clutches as well.

And that needed sorted out.

And there was some, there was some clash between the ECU software and the TCU software

that wasn't allowed in the clamping pressure to be.

Increased above 12 bar, but I get a bit technical for you.

I like the technical side of it.

So it got wrangled at sorted at the end.

But yeah, I decided then at some point that I decided to go for a hybrid turbo.

I missed that bit out.

I was going to, that was my next thing too,

because you're, I know it's not even the standard turbo.

Yeah.

Well, that was some, that was at some point before the respray, I think.

Yeah.

Anyway, but I got a friend of a guy, Christos from RTMG.

They're a Greek company.

He lives over in England.

Okay, sort of runs the UK bit.

And I bought a 460RS, RTMG turbo, hybrid turbo of them.

Put that on.

Track slag downpipe onto it.

Track slag downpipe, three and a half inch downpipe.

Yeah.

Which is a monster of a downpipe when you see it off.

Ah, that's class.

So well made too.

Their stuff's really nice.

Yeah, really, really good.

So yeah, look, the crux of it is.

I got there in the end, 435 horsepower.

Oh, also fit at war, meth injection.

So he says casually.

That's the top.

So that's without meth.

So the 430s without the meth.

Yeah.

And what do you estimate with meth?

A clock, it could be 15 horsepower.

But it's safer.

Aye.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's more there from a safety point of view.

And how you find in the meth?

Because I know a few of the four guys are running it.

And liking it.

But obviously it comes with its own things of like sourcing it.

Mixing it, you know.

Aye, the mixing of it is funny.

Because you could over read on it.

You know, about how the meth weighs more or it's less dense than water.

And so you have to mix it accordingly.

But generally a 50-50 mix seems to be.

By volume or by weight.

I started doing it by weight.

I had the scales and all that stuff.

That's what I was going to say.

It's 50-50 by volume.

I just can't read each other and keep it topped up.

And does it use much?

Obviously not driving the car a bit.

It'll use it if you're keen on it.

Aye, so it's mapped to come in at certain points, is it?

Yeah, well there's a controller for it.

So it comes in at a certain boost pressure.

Okay.

And you can turn it off if you want.

Yeah.

Okay, that's good, yeah.

Yeah.

I tell you what, like you do notice it,

like especially there in the summertime,

seeing it's warm.

I keep my intake temperatures up on the polar display

and you can definitely see it.

You can see it.

You see the difference again.

You can feel it.

That's interesting, yeah.

And then...

It's only a simple setup, so a single nozzle.

And is it just a nozzle into the undercooler piping?

No mines in the throttle body spacer.

So it's just after the throttle body.

And it just sprays in water-mouth mix.

Yeah.

All students coolant temperature in the cylinders.

Now I use distilled water, so it's not tap water.

Okay, yeah.

Because that's corrosive.

Tap water's corrosive?

Can be.

Ah.

Well, not necessarily corrosive,

but it could leave like a lime-skilly scum.

Those engines aren't direct injection, are they?

Yeah.

They are.

Does that help at all with carbon build-up?

Well, yes.

Yes, the water-mouth does, it should.

Yeah, that's supposed to keep them cleaner.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

That's interesting.

And is there problems like sourcing the meth?

Can you get it easily?

Is it hard to get?

Connor, I bought a barrel of it,

or I bought a 25-liter drum of it two years ago,

and I've only just used the last of it there.

Oh, God.

I'm like, you've been using the car, so...

Yeah.

I mean, that's pretty good.

I love the massive miles, but...

No, it's not your daily driver, but...

Yeah.

I would say that's done me two and a half thousand miles,

will be.

Well, I mean, if you were going to use what?

It's a barrel of two and a half thousand miles.

If you bought a barrel a year, you wouldn't bore in.

No.

No, like that.

It was nightly good or something.

Oh, Jesus.

Aye.

No.

Yeah.

Do you fuck me?

It's been more nab blue over the year.

I know.

You were driving the diesel.

It's a fella feel, like.

Yeah.

That's cool.

Obviously, the car's for sale,

but I'm sure you'll be sad to see that grow.

It's for sale, but it hasn't been for sale.

That's what I was going to say.

I haven't really made much of an effort to sell it,

to be honest, but then...

For a man that sells cars.

Yeah.

I haven't seen any for sale ads online or...

Here's the bottom line, right?

So, it hasn't been ready to sell,

because at any of those discs,

I had to get the disc custom made,

because it's rolling.

It's an RS6, C7 RS6 brake set up in the front,

but it's a 380 by 34 mil disc,

which is a custom disc.

And the only place I could get it was a car

called RB Racing Roaders in England.

There was a bit of turn and fro,

and I was late getting back to him,

and he was late getting back to me,

and all of a sudden, a few months passed,

and then eventually got them.

GMA was very good.

It's even more at the end of July,

that I'm only getting fit in them there yesterday.

So...

Getting the time to do it.

It's like two months past, but...

Are you not pressed to sell the car?

I couldn't sell the car the way it was,

because over 50 mil an hour,

the brakes were absolutely horrible,

so discs were warped.

So it's brand new set of discs on it.

In terms of actually selling it,

I don't want to sell it,

because I absolutely love the car.

But I've had the chance to buy a 911,

which I've always wanted,

and I know the car and what it's history,

and that's one I cannot miss.

It's the right car.

It couldn't have come at a worse time.

I'm trying to start my own business.

So, but the guy that's selling that

has been very, very good,

and very understanding,

and he knows exactly where I'm at,

and knows what I need to do.

So I'm very thankful for that.

But yeah, it's going to have to go,

like I have to sell it.

It's going to 3MOT here in a proper first sale ad,

coming the next week or two.

Nice.

So somebody is going to get an exceptional car.

They're going to get quite a unique car.

And I'm usually the sort that closes the door on a car,

and said, I've done the thing with that.

It's gone.

I don't want it back,

but that's the one car.

If I ever get the chance to buy it back,

I would like to buy it back.

You take it back?

Yeah.

Like that's, and that says a lot about the car.

Like, and the thing is,

they're a rare car.

Like you think how many Mark 7Rs,

and they've done them on lease dealies.

Yeah.

Is it 600 or 660 of those cars?

It's funny, if you ever speak

to any of the Mark 6R guys,

like that's a common thread.

And it's quite frustrating.

No, it's just the Gulf Ours.

It's one of the Gulf Ours.

The Gulf Ours, you see them everywhere,

blah, blah, blah.

Yeah, the nerd in you will say,

but no, it's a Mark 6.

There were only 800 odd ever sold in the UK.

Yeah.

It's quite a rare car

when you know your stuff.

Yeah.

If you know what you're looking at,

and again, like the circle fully back,

if you know you know,

that's how you deal.

I remember Graham Thompson telling me,

works on the news,

he says that the first week

they released that lease deal

for the Mark 7 Gulf Ours,

there was 800,

roughly 800 of them sold

within a two week period.

And that's what Volkswagen sold

over years of the Mark 6.

I know, I've always thought it was quite ironic.

It's fucking wild.

Yeah.

Anything else you want to say about it or?

No.

Did you miss it?

No, I'll miss it a lot.

Do you know what,

like it's banana in there,

and that's,

I haven't done anything with it all summer.

And it's just banana in my mind

to get it sold.

Aye.

And I was working out last night,

and I was like,

I'll bring my heart to sell this here.

That's the problem,

if you drive that thing

again, you're going to want to keep it.

Aye, I know.

So, okay.

I hear a bit of an interesting thing

to do with the 911,

if you were a previous car driver.

Well, I have a few plans afoot, but

that's what's them spiral.

That's one you can't mess

about with those cars too much,

like, because they are an

appreciating asset.

Well, that's the thing.

I was going to say a few of them

I've seen in America would.

Yeah, they're a slightly different

sort of class, like.

Aye.

It's a different ballgame than the Gulf.

I bet we're growing up,

and mature perhaps, I don't know.

About time.

Well, if anybody wants to catch up

what you're up to,

look back on what you've been up to,

work them or find you.

Catch me on Facebook or Instagram.

Instagram is

Geffen underscore GTI and I.

It is, I think.

Yeah.

Close enough.

You said you've started your own

business as well.

Yes.

You're selling cars.

I haven't, indeed.

Yeah, so 23 years,

I was in the business of selling

tractors for John Deere dealer.

We got bought over a couple of years

ago, and just with the changes

and all that, I decided

to take a different road.

So I've always had this notion

of selling cars for myself.

So that's what I left to do,

and I've started my own business

called Emotive,

based from home.

So it's quite the difference

from traveling the Lisbon every day.

It is.

But glad I made the move,

and as it happens,

I'm back selling tractors again,

but for myself.

So tractors and cars,

I'm a one-stop shop for both.

So that's both your loves, isn't it?

Yeah, yeah.

So if anybody wants to check that out,

where do we find you then, Fred?

Your Emotive Ni on Facebook and Instagram.

Excellent, to keep it easy then.

Yep.

Lovely.

Well, here, thank you very much for your time.

No, thanks for having me.

Cheers, Casper and Goode.

Reload EP145 - Trading Up with Gethin Evans

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