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Upgrading and Repairing the Bora

·479 words·3 mins
Table of Contents

After buying my Bora, which I wrote about here, I decided to carry out a number of repairs and upgrades.

The end goal was to resolve the issues I identified before purchase and de-chav it.

Modifications & Upgrades
#

  • Replaced rear shocks and top mounts with Bilstein and OEM parts respectively. Cost-free as these were from my Golf and had only seen ~100 miles.
  • Fitted Passat auto-dimming rearview mirror as an upgrade to the Bora auto-dimming mirror.
    The Passat version has an on/off switch which is nice to have, and dim, red downlights which are pretty nice.
  • Replaced rear axle bushes with OEM Skoda VRS rear axle bushes.
    The old ones were shagged, so this was a good opportunity to upgrade. This was a combination of a repair and an upgrade.
  • Removed the dual-driver subwoofer as I really didn’t need that sort of power.
  • Replaced the Philips double-DIN head unit with my own single-DIN Pioneer head unit from the Golf.
    The Philips unit had a shitty touch screen, no support for Bluetooth contacts, and a few other annoying issues.
  • Replaced the gold “JDM” gear knob and factory gaiter with my Audi TT 8N (Mk1) 225 Quattro gearknob and black/red-stiched gaiter.
Before and after swapping the head unit, gear knob, and gear gaiter.
  • Fitted a black radiator grille.
Before and after swapping the grille. Whoops, should’ve given it a clean for the second photo…
  • Replaced the awful gold-spoked wheels with my 18" Audi RS4 B5 wheels. A year or so later, I replaced those with a freshly refurbished set of 18" Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2 in anthracite gray.
Before swapping the wheels, and photos of both sets of wheels I ran over time. I also cleaned it this time 👀

Repairs
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  • Full service, including replacing the cabin/pollen filter which fixed the stench from the air vents.
  • Replaced aux belt & tensioner and front top mounts.
  • Replaced both driveshafts.
  • Replaced driver’s master window switches.
  • Adjusted front coilovers.

I was going to adjust the rear coilovers as I did for the fronts, but it turned out the adjustment cups for the rear springs had been removed to let it sit even lower. How fucking stupid.

Future Plans
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I have a few things planned, such as a 312mm brake upgrade on the front (currently 288mm). This is a nice, easy change and pretty cheap too.

I’ll also be installing 45mm lowering springs on the rear as the adjustment cups for the coilover kit are missing on the rear springs, so I’d rather replace the springs with something quality than get some used adjustment cups.

I plan to detail these changes in a post, or posts, of their own.

As always, watch this space!

I always welcome feedback on my posts, please contact me if you have any. I’m also happy to answer any related questions if I know the answer.

tigattack
Author
tigattack