2006 Volkswagen Thunder Bunny SEMA Concept

Seems like all i’ve been doing for the last month is researching and shopping for the brake upgrade for my 2001 Volkswagen GTI. It all started as my brake pads and rotors were wearing down and due for replacement. Though it’s almost eight years old, i don’t think the brakes have ever been replaced (i’ve had it for four years, and it only has 76k miles). I’ve been of the “might as well upgrade it when it wears out” mentality, and also had ideas for improving the appearance over the stock braking system. But it turns out that like with many other automotive upgrades there’s a ton of hype and misunderstanding concerning brake system upgrades. And besides usually costing the most, what looks good often doesn’t mean better performance. So it’s been quite a learning experience.

Stock Brake Sliding Caliper Painted Red

After some initial research i was going to simply upgrade to the 312mm rotors up front like on the special edition GTIs and Audi TTs, and get some more aggressive pads. But i’ve had an eye for starting to do some “show” on my car that up to this point still looks bone stock.

I think what really set this all in motion was running across some pictures of the Thunder Bunny sporting white calipers glowing behind gold rims. I’ve been scheming on white as an accent color for my green GTI, and thought something like that might work for me. But the factory brake calipers just don’t look good—partly because the sliding caliper and carrier mechanical design, and partly due to the rough cast iron finish. Even if i did put some kind of coating on those calipers, they would still be ugly sliding calipers with casting seams and an orange-peel finish. Not the kind of thing you want to show off in my opinion—might as well keep them as dull and unremarkable as possible. So that meant new calipers.

[To be continued…]

I actually did this a couple weekends ago, but hadn’t had time to write it up.

As before, these are the supplies i used—mostly stuff i found in the garage.

• Spray bottle with soapy water
• Rag
• 400 grit wet/dry
• 600 grit wet/dry
• 1000 grit wet/dry
• 1500 grit wet/dry
• Meguiar’s PlastX clear plastic polish
• Applicator pad

Before:

Notice the deep, scaly patches of haze that developed over the years—it almost had a fuzzy feel to it. This passenger-side lens was worse off than the other. So going into it i knew i’d have to hit it with the rough grit much more to erase the deep blemishes.

Masked and getting sprayed:

400 grit:

Nice and frosty. I spent a lot of time here just trying to get down to a “clean layer” of lens. The crackle and pitting was pretty deep.

600 grit:

Slightly more transparent.

1000 grit:

Starting to clear up. But i think i needed to go over it more at this level to erase some of the deeper sanding scratches.

1500 grit:

Pretty clear, but still some streaking and scratches. This lens had a lot more “fog” at this point than the first one.

Polish:

Clear and shiny. But still a tad cloudy. I probably need to redo it from the 1000 grit level.

Before and after:

Yeah, the sun changed the lighting while i worked on it, but the difference in the lens should be apparent.

This lens had pits on the inside of the lens—not sure how that happens. You can also see some of the sanding scratches i failed to remove.

Don’t forget to check out the Flickr photo set and slideshow, as well as the run-through of the first headlight.

My headlights have been developing deep crackly patches of haze and yellow cloudiness for a year or so now, and it’s been getting worse over time.

[The yellowing is exaggerated a little in this photo because my camera wasn't white balanced for the low beam and fog lights.]

Following instructions from a DIY thread at VWvortex, i figured i’d give polishing them out a shot.

First things first, i cleaned the headlight to get rid of bugs and road grit, then popped the hood and masked off the adjacent body surfaces (bumper and fender).

I started off with 600 grit like the DIY, but had to jump down to 400 to sand off the deep crackle haze that was on the headlight. After several passes, i had an even, frosty haze. The trick is to keep everything wet while sanding—i kept hitting it with soapy water in a spray bottle, then wiped it clean to check the surface for areas that needed attention.

600 grit clears up the finish just a bit, and smooths out some of the swirls from the 400 grit stage. Shouldn’t be any obvious spots or scratches. It might take a few passes to erase deeper imperfections.

After the 1000 grit pass you start to see the potential for this whole process. The swirls and sanding marks from the heavier grits begin to polish away, and the lens starts to appear clear and feels very smooth.

1500 produces a very clear lens with just a slight fog. At this point you shouldn’t really see any swirls or imprefections—it looks very clean and clear.

Finally, the clear plastic polish buffs away the fine haze from sanding, giving you that original crystal-clear appearance.

The results:

Not perfect, but almost as good as new. Compare to the other headlight (which i’ll attack next weekend):

I may go over it again with the finer grits to get it perfect. There’s still some fine crackling and some of the deeper pits that i didn’t get. After each step it’s easy to see how even the finish is, and you can just go back over it again if it needs more work, or even back down to a coarser grit if necessary. I’d really recommend removing the headlights if you have the time and ability—it’s really difficult to get a consistent finish around the edges of the lens while they’re installed.

[Also check out the slideshow of the steps on Flickr.]

Updates and notes:

Several people on VWVortex have mentioned using power sanders, buffers, dremels, etc. to do the job much quicker, and this “5 Minute Kit” was mentioned in another thread. Also just found this restoration system ($40) while poking around. I did it all by hand with stuff i had lying around. If i can find a buffer or polishing drill pad i might try that next time.

I used a Vroom applicator pad i got at Target to apply the PlastX polish. And i skipped the rubbing compound prescribed by the original DIY because i didn’t have any. I also skipped the 2000 grit because i didn’t have any of that either, but the 1500 grit pass came out very clean for me, and the polish cleared it all up nicely.

Chalky white sanding residue came off the lens as i kept spraying it down (because you’re keeping it wet while you’re sanding, right?):

It got in the cracks of the bumper strips, but it rinsed out easily.

I periodically rinsed and wiped off the lens and sandpapers so i could better see the area i was working and because the papers would get loaded with plastic from the lens and loose their abrasiveness.

[In part 2 i repeat on the passenger-side headlight lens.]

About half of those miles are mine (i bought it pre-owned).

I’ve owned it for two years and eight months. Which makes about 11,000 miles per year, or under 1000 per month.

I’m about half-way done paying it off.

The only modifications done so far are lowering springs, which my brother got me for Christmas. So technically, the only thing i’ve done to it is floor mats.

I’ve spent roughly $2500 on fuel, and spent over a month in the driver’s seat.

It’s been in the shop for anything besides maintenance only a couple times that i can think of.

I’ve been lucky enough to have only one moving violation in this car.

I’ll gladly go 60,000 more with it.

It was cold, cloudy, and rainy when i went out that morning so i was wearing the hoodie + jacket combo. We were sitting out on the patio at Chipotle for lunch when the sun decided to come out. After an hour or so there was not a cloud in sight. I was down to my undershirt because it was so hot—and i ended up with a slight sun burn.

Went to Target to waste a little time before having to go back to work. After getting a headache from squinting in the sunlight at Chipotle, i was browsing the sunglasses and found a pair that i liked. Only $17, not bad. Then it was pointed out to me that i pulled them from the Women’s section. Great. So now i have a pair of pink women’s sunglasses.

Which is kinda ironic, because at lunch we were talking about mens/womens stuff, and how women can pretty much use whatever they want—girls who use Mach 3 razors because they’re just better, for example—and it’s fine, but as soon as a guy does it… Actually, the glasses are cool, and you probably wouldn’t know what the sticker said unless i told you. And i do tell people.

Later it was a race in my parents’ car to pick them up at the airport, and then a race back to a party we were late for. Driving other cars always makes me realize how much i love my car.

And somewhere in the middle of all that i gave my two week’s notice at work.