MKV Build Thread by dustinwark

6 minute(s) of a 71 minute read

Well UPS decided to change the delivery date from Today (7/1/10) to next tuesday (7/6/10) for NO reason. Still says "on schedule for delivery date". To add to that good news I missed the Fedex delivery today and won't get that until tomorrow. So it looks like it will be another week before this stuff goes on. I figured I would post to vent and throw up a few new pictures. It shows of how massive the new rotors really are and a sneak peak at what my winter setup might be looking like.

7/2/10

Well package 3/4 came today (I actually was here to sign for it) and it is the calipers and assorted hardware to install everything. I am still missing a few bits, mainly the Hawk pads. I decided to do a test fit to tide me over until they are actually on. This will be the last update until mid-next week when everything else arrives.

7/12/10

Brakes are on the car after A REALLY REALLY LONG ASS TIME. I can't thanks David enough for spending probably close to 20+ hours of his personal time to help me with all of this and James for letting me use his garage again (this time for two whole days!). Also to Berk at DBC for coming though with the best customer service I have come across. Everything went very smooth aside from two problems that arose. 

We started on the fronts as there was more work to do on them (not just replacing rotors/pads, but the entire caliper assembly). We got the old rotors and calipers off and the new ones one very quickly. We then went to attach the lines and they had a male end (banjo) as did the brake pipe that came off of the caliper. Uh oh. So I give Berk a call and after talking with him (oem lines were supposed to work) he gave me a deal on some SS lines that he could overnight to me. Not the best situation, but I would be getting SS lines and I really had no other choice. 

There was nothing else on the front we could do at this point until the lines got here so we decided to do the rears in the mean time. All that had to be done was replace the rotors and pads. Easy right? WRONG! There are two bolts on each side that hold on the caliper carrier. These bolts require an M14 triple square bit to remove. Yeah not really something that is easy to find at a hardware store. I spent the better part of a day driving around the city to find one with no luck. The solution was to use a hex bit (6 of the 12 points would match). Although it was a pain the driver's side came off without too much of a fight. Switched out the rotor and pads and went to the passenger side. After the first bolt on the passenger side was removed is when things went downhill. It took the last 4 hours of day 1 before we gave up on trying to remove that damn bolt. We literally tried everything short of cutting it off. Which just so happens to be what we tried the next morning.

Next morning I decided it would be a good idea to find a replacement bolt before we cut off the old one. David and I drove around for a while with no luck. Great more bad luck. We stop by Jeff's (Indy VW shop) and he tells us to check the salvage yard down the street. We head over and are told the only newer VW in the lot is a New Beetle. The guy at the counter assured us that the rear caliper assembly is there. We walk out to it to find that the ENTIRE rear of the car has been sawzalled off. Sweet. As we are thinking of what to do we look around the car to see if there are any other bolts that might work. In the engine bay, sitting on an engine mount, is a bolt that will work perfect! We then walk around to find about 100 bolts in the passenger foot well. We grab 4 in hopes to replace all 4 triple square bolts with normal ones. 

On the way back to the garage we stop at my place and find the SS lines from DBC! Awesome things are actually going my way! Make it back to the garage and cut the bolt off, put the rotors/pads on, and get the SS lines on all four corners. Bleed/flushed the fluid with some ATE Super Blue Racing fluid and cleaned James' place. Took it for a test drive. Two things that I expected form my new brake stuff was noise/pedal feel from the slots and the brakes to be really touchy from all the additional power. After the pads have been bedded I can happily say that neither are true. The brakes are COMPLETELY quiet, even more so than my OE setup. The first inch or so of brake pedal travel feels just like the stock ones, then it hits. After decelerating from 60 or so I can say these brakes can make my teeth hurt they stop so fast! Not only do they work well, but the look great.