An old friend came back to fifteen52 recently for a bit of spa-type refreshment.

Though the driveline and exterior facets of the old Cabby have been good as new for a while now, the interior has certainly been lagging behind. The torn front seats were replaced with a set of Mk2 GTI-sourced Recaro buckets, and we got straight to work modifying the seat brackets to work with the Mk3 chassis seat rails. Since the Recaros are outfitted with height-adjustable seat bases, we took the opportunity to wire them up at the same time we were fabbing the brackets.

Once the seats were securely situated, we drove the VR6 Cabrio over to our good friend, Tom Kelley, of Sarasota's Kelly's Upholstery. Since the Cabby had already been treated to new black leather and red-stitched shift and e-brake boots, our customer decided to continue the black and red theme throughout the interior. Materials were chosen and Tom got to work on the transformation. Faithful to the OE stitch patterns, Tom covered the seats and door panels in high grade leather. Rather than simply covering flat vinyl door armrests with leather and calling it a day, Tom spent time adding foam in order to mimic the "puffy" armrests found on some versions of the early model Cabrios (before some serious VWoA cost-cutting took effect).

As you can see, the effect is a true transformation and our owners couldn't be happier. What was once a fairly tired, wimpy and ratty VW is now a reborn and fully transformed VR6 powered beauty.

We expect to see the Cabrio back once again, but this time rather than cosmetic enhancements being on the agenda, we'll be paying more attention to respiratory fitness and strength training.

Time for some updates, right?

Our VR6 Cabby is on the road and in the hands of its new owners. We still have to paint the front and rear bumpers, texture the rocker panels and tend to some other minor details (like front turn signals, a grille and such), but while we wait on our body guy to make room in his schedule, and also for the few remaining back-ordered parts to come in, we're very happy the car is finally being enjoyed.

The Cabrio's owners are two of the most pleasant individuals we've had the good fortune to work with and we are so pleased to see how much they appreciate the car's transformation. We look forward to the next round of changes that will include an interior refresh and then a bit of forced induction after that.

Below are some pretty illustrative "before and after" photos.

The original convertible top wasn't in terrible shape - in fact the middle padding and headliner are still very nice - but it had begun to split along some seams and that's not good at all.

We took the car over to Tom at Kelly's Upholstery here in Sarasota and enlisted his help in installing a brand new OE vinyl outer skin. Tom has been in business for many years, and in fact he helped Brad recover in leather the cloth seats in his brand new 1995 Mulberry GTI VR6.

As mentioned, most existing materials and hardware were in good shape, so really all we needed Tom to do was replace one of the two cables and of course, the outer skin. Less than 48-hrs later and the job was done. Tom did a flawless job, as the "after" pics will attest.

These photos also offer a hint at what the finished car will look like with its Porsche D90 wheels and Euro-spec rear bumper.

Before:











After:

We've got a rear bumper, but the wrong front, so we're still waiting to have a complete car. Still, the hood and trunk lid are painted and installed, and the last of the mechanical odds and ends have been addressed. There are still a few exterior trim pieces to tend to, and we'll have that done for next time.

Next week the car is off to the upholsterer for a new top, and then after we get the Porsche D90 wheels mounted up tires, we'll get them on the car for an even more finished look.

So close now...

The Cabrio has been nearly completed for a couple of months, with the main hold-up being a wait on some European bumpers as well as a new convertible top.

The VR6 swap is complete and the car now runs, drives and sounds a lot less "girlie" than before. We already know that some people don't understand the appeal of performance-oriented Golf Cabrio, but all we can offer those people as an explanation is that there's something very special about the sound of a VR6 engine coming from such a harmless-looking vehicle, and the top-down experience is enhanced by an equal amount.

We still have a little wet-sanding to do as well as painting a pair of bumpers once they (finally) arrive. The car will soon make it over to the upholstery shop for a top swap and then it's time to deliver it to its very patient owner.

Pics coming soon.

The swap begins.

Because we have a 100% complete 52k-mile donor car under the same roof as our Cabrio, we can expect a very straightforward swap. Though the convertible Mk3 Golf goes by its own name (Cabrio), don't be fooled into thinking it's anything but all Golf underneath, though of the 4-cylinder variety. Luckily, both 4 & 6-cylinder chassis are pretty much indentical. This means that a 6-cylinder driveline swaps into a 4-cylinder chassis with basically zero modifications. And even though our Cabrio came from the factory with puny 10" front rotors, drums in the rear, and 14" 4-lug wheels all around, the GTI's 11" front and 9.4" rear discs and 15" 5-lug wheels bolt right on.

The VR6 cars used a different and beefier transmission compared to their lesser counterparts. The 5-speed 02A trans is of the cable-shift variety whereas the Cabby's 020 trans came equipped with a rod-type linkage. Of course we'll be swapping into the Cabrio that 02A and the fact that VW built the Cabby with the firewall passage required by the 02A's slave-cylinder means that these components will also bolt in with no fuss. Do you get the feeling that VW might have at some point envisioned a production version Cabrio VR6?

The VR6 cars were also built with a different suspension than the 4-cylinder versions. This "Plus" suspension was designed to offer the VR6 cars a wider front track and geometry configured to mitigate torque steer (back in the early '90s the idea of a 6-cylinder front-wheel drive hatchback with over 170 lb-ft of torque was pretty radical!). The Ginster Yellow GTI VR6 will also give up its Plus suspension components to the Cabrio.

Other items to be swapped will be the GTI's instrument cluster and associated wire harness, turn and wiper stalks, and some other odds and ends. After all that, it'll be time to paint the exterior and install the new top.

We have no deadline for this project, as we're also working on several other projects concurrently with this one. Still, we, along with our anxious customer, expect this project to move along quite nicely over the upcoming weeks. Keep in mind that unlike for our more northern customers, fall and winter are truly convertible weather around these parts.

Today we sold the BPD Primer Cabrio to a local customer.

To recap, our Primers concept revolves around the concept that customers can purchase from us a solid platform on which they can base a project. Our Primers have been gone-through mechanically and in most cases all bodywork is free from rust, dings and dents. From here a customer simply needs to decide if they want us to continue on under their direction or if they'd prefer to take the car to finish on their own.

Our Cabrio customer is a busy family man who does not have the time to build this car to his desired spec, so he has enlisted us to carry on with the project. Our customer has chosen to repaint the car in its original black color and he has decided he'd prefer a 12v VR6 under the freshly-painted hood. Lucky for him we have a 52k-mile GTI VR6 driveline in stock and this, along with the same donor car's brakes and suspension, will be swapped into the 4-cylinder Cabrio. He also has a few twists and turns he wants to add to the build along the way, so this blog looks like it has a lot more life left in it.

We plan to begin the second part of the build soon after next weekend's Waterfest event. Please follow along with us and post comments if you wish.