Let me start by saying if you haven’t been able to meet Grayson, please head over to https://graysonsladder.org/ and meet the man that spurred all of this.
I met Grayson shortly after my wife began working with his mother Laura in a Chattanooga heart surgeons office. What always amazes me is even after being around him for several years, every time I see him, his laugh and smile are still just as infectious as the first time I met him.
I won’t spend alot of time covering what Alexanders Disease is, you can read all about that on the Grayson’s ladder site linked above. I will just say that I love this family, and will continue to support them and their cause in anyway possible.
On that note in 2019 I asked Laura if we could build a car to be raffled and the proceeds would go directly to their charity.. She gave me the ok, and we planned to have it ready for the 2020 Annual fundraiser…. see where this story is going.. 2020 didn’t allow an annual fundraiser, so the car got put on the back burner, which worked out ok.. we got a few more vendors involved, more unique items for the build etc.
What we built is a 1984 Rabbit GTI, fitted with a 1998 VR6 engine and transmission, and V9 supercharger for good measure.. Full build details are listed below…
We had a good shell that had a driver quality respray some time ago, we cut and buffed the exterior, resprayed some thin areas in the bay but really didn’t go nuts with shaving anything.. 
The most fun part for me was driveline assembly :
Techtonics 260/268 Cam Set with oversized valves and lightweight lifters, AFP engine management meant I would have port flashing ability, DBW throttle control, and a cleaner harness layout.
All powdercoat and polish work was done by Top Notch Customs Powdercoating
The VF9 Supercharger was a late edition that I came across, I added a headspacer from Schimmel, and the billet parts were polished by TopNotch, they also ceramic coated the exhaust manifolds to give them an OE gray look while keeping the heat down.
Motor component list:
- Stock AAA Bottom end
- TT 260/268 Cam set
- TT 1mm oversized Valve Kit
- 1.0 HG spacer
- Mk5 R32 Oil pump
- Eurowise Steel Pan
- 42lb Bosch Green Giants
- Mk4 AFP Management ME7.1
- VF9 Supercharger, 8lb pulley
Mounting the motor and trans into the GTI I used the S&P 300 Plus VR6 Kit
With it in the car I could get started on a laundry list of things like Wiring, Brakes, Suspension, Exhaust, Fueling, Etc
(Right)I needed a way to get a clean maf reading and some fresh air into the charger.. when the fender is on you cant see a thing…
(Left) The Techtonics Stainless downpipe and the backbone of the mk1 Vr6 mount kit in their new home
(Left) Motor sport bumpers built in house just for this car are now available for your mk1 if you so desire.. These are lightweight aluminum with speed holes for better cooling.
(Right) Making aluminum hardpipes to marry S&P Radiator the Vr6 Cooling system 
Speedhut provided the instruments for the interior, and Copelands cut us out a grill emblem based on the Graysons Ladder logo
Coolant lines and intake coated by TopNotch 
Time to move on!
With the engine bay pretty much wrapped up we move inside..
Kip Love trimmed out a set of Recaro LS seats for us in a black and white hounds tooth and a heavy grain bolster vinyl to match the door cards (provided by Omar AKA Slov-Werks)
The TR Tower shifter is a MK4 version that we modified to fit our mk1 routing the cables under the car to the 02j VR trans
Avid Wheels provided a set of AV-8 wheels in 15×7,
Quick Everett provided a set of 195/45/15 Toyo Proxies, mounted and balanced them for us and knocked it into alignment for us.
We had the raffle on April 26 at the Golf Fore Grayson Event, held at the Ooltewah Club in Ooltewah, TN
The Car will be picked up by its new owner on or about the 26th of May.. Thank you to all who participated or supported in this event!! We were able to write a check to Graysons Ladder for $22,500 from the ticket sales and a couple outside donations!
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