There aren't many good guides out there on how to fix this issue, I found one on the Internet that didn't tell me fuckall about how to fix it. Mine is for the later type door lock, also fitted to Passat's.

So I decided to have a crack at making my own. Bear in mind this is the first time I've done anything like this, and the photos were rushed as I had to be out, so excuse the poor focus on a few!

Right, let's get started.

The tools you will need are-

1xTORX 25 screwdriver OR socket+ratchet

Patience!

Maybe a small Flathead screwdriver

Spare parts

So your door lock is spinning when you insert the key, not working, jamming or the lock has come out of the door, you need to source a secondhand lock mechanism, or order the broken part's from VW. You won't know what is broken until you remove the lock from the door, so lets take the lock out of the door first and identify the problem.

Start by finding the screw that holds the handle and lock to the door of the Polo, it's the same for passenger and drivers side of the car-

Remove the screw arrowed with the TORX screwdriver, then grab the handle and push the handle towards the front of the car and it should unclick and pull out.

I suspect you will be greeted with a handle with just the lock in it, or a mashed up locking mechanism. The parts that are broken will have fallen down inside the door, so you can remove the door card by gently prying the bottom corners away from the door, popping off the door handle cover and removing the 2 screws. Then remove the door card and unplug the mirror adjustment buttons. You can then get inside the skin of the door and remove the broken parts.

This is what I was Greeted with inside my door...

I had to source a new door handle for my Polo because the part arrowed was bent out of shape-

These are the comparison between the broken and second hand/new parts-

And these 2 parts were missing...probably somewhere inside my door.

Right, so you need to establish what parts you need to replace, and order them from VW, get a repair kit off ebay or get a second hand lock off the same year Polo as you own.

To remove the lock barrel from the handle, insert the key, and turn until you can pull it out of the handle, you will see 2 little tabs once it is lined up. Remove the sleeve from inside the locking barrel seating area as shown-

Give everything a good cleanup, remove any dirt and grease, then reapply grease to the locking barrel and the sleeve pictured above.

Now re-insert the sleeve into the door handle lining the little notch up, as shown below-

Next, replace the lock barrel into the sleeve in the handle- line up the tabs so that the lock barrel slides through the top of the sleeve, as shown in the picture below. You need to line it up with the red line-

Then turn 90degrees as pictured-

Next you need to place this part so that the notches in the bottom of it, line up with the raised part of the lock barrel-

And line the top of it up with all the raised parts as shown, It should follow the red line-

Next place this part ontop of everything on the lock barrel, it only fits one way, so you can't fuck it up, although it is abit tight to get it on-

And place the spring into the whole assembly, with one of the tangs twisted towards against the top of the lock.

Then place the top tang of the spring inside the the part you have just placed on top Like so. (ignore the part underneath the spring, I put it in the wrong way in this photo)-

Next place the paddle mechanism ontop of this, and line all the slots up, it only fits on one way. You might have to be quick with this part so the spring doesn't pop out.

You need the last part you will be left with to slide onto the bottom of the paddle mechanism to hold it all together. You need to be pushing down on the paddle to do this, It should now look like this-

Thats it, finished!

To replace the door handle, slot the front of the handle into the front slot first, and push forward, then slide the rear part in. Then slide the whole arrangement back, replace the screw and test out to make sure it works!

If anything else needs explaining, I will try to explain to the best of my ability!

Hope it helps!

L041 - Black

L90E - Alpine White

L94E - Oak Green

L97A - Diamond silver

LA3A - Mars Red

LA3G - Classic Red

LA3W - Red Spice

LA5E - Maritime Blue

LA5T - Medium Blue

LA5U - Royal Blue

LA5W - Blue Lagoon

LA5Y - Helios blue metalic

LA6U - Capri Green

LA6V - Lhasa Green metalic

LA6W - Fresco Green

LA6Z - Calypso

LA7S - Stonehenge Gray

LA7U - Pearl grey

LA7W - Reflex Silver

LA9B - Cool White

LA9V - Brilliant Black

LB1B - Sunflower Yellow

LB1D - Mellow Yellow

LB1M - Harvest Moon Beige

LB2A - Sundown Orange

LB3Y - Colorado Red Pearl

LB4V - Samoa

LB5B - Aquarius Blue

LB5N - Indigo Blue Pearl

LB5Q - Speed Blue

LB5R - Deep Blue Pearl

LB5S - Blue Silver

LB5T - Steel Blue

LB5W - Pacific Blue

LB5X - Blue Spirit

LB6U - Mint

LB6W - Pine Green

LB6X - Alaska Green

LB6Z - Montana green

LB7Z - Satin Silver

LB9A - Candy White

LC35 - Titian Red Pearl

LC3L - Hot Chilli Red

LC3T - Indian Red

LC3X - Matchstick Red Pearl

LC3Z - Terracotta

LC4P - Purple Violet Pearl/Mulberry

LC4T - Twilight Violet

LC5F - Blue Graphite

LC5L - Mystic Blue

LC5P - Dusty mauve

LC5R - Marlin Blue

LC5S - Appassionato Blue

LC5U - Aqua Blue Perlescent

LC5X - Ink Blue

LC6M - Bright Green Pearl

LC6P - Dragon Green/Emerald Green

LC6V - Green

LC6W - Rave Green Pearl

LC6X - Baltic Green Pearl

LC7V - Blue Anthracite

LC7W - Papillion Silver Helios.

LC9Y - Luxury Black Helios.

LC9Z - Black Magic Pearl

LD1B - Yellow

LD1D - Double Yellow

LD1W - Wheat Beige

LD2B - Snap Orange

LD5Q - Shadow Blue

LD6S - Northern Green

LD6T - Electronics Green

LD6W - Venetian Green

LD6X - Reed Green

LD7U - Offroad Gray

LD7V - Silver Gray

LD7W - Platinum Gray

LD7X - Platinum Gray

LG3L - Red

LG5A - Vapour blue

LG5T - Dark Blue Pearl

LG5V - Galactic Blue Pearl

LG7V - Desert Wind

LG9R - Silver Arrow

LK5S - Riviera Blue

LK7Y - Storm Grey

LN5Y - Windsor Blue

LP3G - Flash Red

LR1V - Bolero Beige

LR1W - Birken Pearl

LR5U - Antibes Blue

LR5V - Fjord Blue

LR5W - Luna Blue

LR6X - Marais Green

LR6Y - Waterworld Pearl

LR7R - Cairo Gray

LR7T - Coucou Gray

LR7Y - Silver Atmosphere

LR8V - Nocturne Aubergine

LR9A - Campanella White

LW5Y - Bright Blue Pearl

LW5Z - Jazz Blue

LY3D - Tornado Red

R902 - Arctic White

----------

The first rule is - BE PATIENT! There is certainly no point going through a lot of hard work only to balls it up near the end.

The second rule is - you do not talk about fight club.

OK - the second rule is actually: Always read the instructions on the cans of paint you are using. These give you the vital coating and drying times!

The third rule is - DO NOT remove things like mirrors from your car to colour code if you need to use the car! If you want to do this properly it will take a few days or so to build up layers of primer and paint.

Oh yeah.. and no solvent abuse kiddies!

---------

Right, so you've got the bits you want to colour code - You've taken a note of your paint code as listed somewhere in your car handbook or on the body of the car.

Let's go and buy stuff!

What you will need -

A selection of wet and dry paper - fine grits are best - around 800-1200 is ok

An alcohol based solvent to clean away all the back to black you've put on the trim over the years. (Halfords Surface Cleaner is fine)

Plastic primer or plastic FILLER primer.

The latter is espcially useful if colour coding a boot plynth or mirrors on a mk3 polo as per my example. This is due to the textured nature of the plastic that we want to get rid of. No need to worry about the COLOUR really

Top coat - mixed or bought according to your paint code of course!

Other bits and bobs -

Mask

Dustsheet

Masking tape

Sanding pads - you can get these from B&Q (and other places) They are soft flexible pads that are easy to sand with - good for contoured items!

It starts - my boot plynth on the car:

STEP 1 -

Prepare your work area and the item you will be spraying.

Mask up if need be!

Use the solvent to clean away all the silicates and dry the item.

Use wet and dry paper to start getting rid of the texturing on the item - use a heavyish grit at this stage. You don't need to get rid of every little dimple. This is what the filler primer is for!

Clean off the item and let it dry.

STEP 2 -

Think about mounting the item on something to make it easier to spray. I screwed my boot plynth on a bit of wood to help!

Take your primer and apply a relatively heavy coat. Don't worry too much about the finish at this stage. Check the drying times and apply one more coat. Get into all the little grooves and make sure you've covered it all.

LET THIS DRY - for roughly 24hours. I used the heater cupboard to help.

STEP 3 -

Using a light grit (1200 or so) start to sand away the top of the paint finish to produce a good finish. You may find that to get a smooth surface you get paint filling in the gaps in the textured plastic. This is fine, just don't sand off too much!

Once you're happy - rinse the item and let it dry. Don't spray over something covered in paint dust!

The item in the first stages of being primed.

STEP 4 -

Apply as many more coats of primer as you think the item needs. You can give a very light sand in between coats (once left to dry) but this is not ALWAYS necessary. I built up a lot of layers onto my boot plynth: 2 cans of primer to be precise. A bit excessive!

Make sure you give the paint time to dry and clean the item off properly after any sanding.

Once you're happy with the primed product - you're ready to top coat!

It should be looking a little like this now :)

STEP 5 -

Top coat: The paint is very different to primer and requires more care and attention when spraying. Take your time.

BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN COMING TO THE END OF A CAN - it tends to splatter out all over the place!

Apply a first relatively heavy layer to cover everything well. Let it dry as directed on the tin and do one more coat. Leave this again for 24hours or so and give it a nice light sand. Note any sections that are not covered too well and make sure you get the little bastards next time. Apply a couple more coats in a lighter fashion. Sand between if you feel the need, but as stated above I have not ALWAYS found it necessary. Give a very light sand and clean before the final coat.. and You're DONE!

Almost finished

Let the item dry for a couple of days and re-fit to your car. Sit back and admire your handywork!

The comparison -

The final finished item.

Please feel free to PM me or comment if i've not done something right of you have any hints or tips!

Josh.

Backrests of seats

to get the backrests to fit in place you will need to swap the metal backings for the polo ones as the mk3 golf items are too wide

working round the material, unclip the material from the metal backing. it is clipped in place by long plastic sections at the edge of the material

once all the material is unclipped then remove the foam/material from the backings

now transfer the material/foam from the golf backings to the ones from your polo seats. clip the material in place all the way round and that's them finished

Bases of seats

the bases of the seats are a straight swap, although you will notice that the polo bases clip in place by a flexible metal bars which clips into two little metal cylinder things on the car and the golf seats bave two metal brackets which screw on to the car

basically you have to pull these metal brackets off of the metal bars on the golf seats and then you should be able to clip the seats in place in a similar way to how the polo ones did, the brackets can be pretty hard to pull off, but after a lot of pulling and twisting they do come off eventually!

i found this to be the easiest way to fit the seats, by doing it this way, everything fits in place and works as it should, although i did notice that the bases ofthe seats sat a tiny bit further back than the polo seats but they do look perfect and you notice no real difference when sitting on the seats

light in oven gas mark 7 for 10min's

then slowly prise the glass off (very carefull shit )

once off, mask the middle out with masking tape, and sand the areas you want to spray

that spray with high heat matt black (or what ever colour you want)

then let to dry.

when dry de-mask it and stick the glass back on, i used silicone sealer.

then leave foe the silicone to dry, i had my dinner then

i also did my indicators, by spraying bit by bit into the midle where to bulb goes untill i was happy.

then slat them all back in

If any one try's this using this info, I'm not held responsible for any thing thats not right

Kam Says: Fixed the images

The following is a short tutorial on how to modify the clocks yourself. I'll begin by explaining how to remove your original clocks. The usual disclaimers apply: If you plan on reselling your car or are worried about damaging important sh it its probably best to spend your money on a Lockwood kit or something. Don't blame me if this all fu cks up!

STEP 1:

Remove two screws at top of instrument panel surround. If the steering wheel gets in your way, lower it using the adjustment handle on the left hand side!

STEP 2:

Rip out the panel surround.

STEP 3:

Remove two screws at top sides of instrument panel that are securing it. You might need a torch to see them since its pretty dark in there.

STEP 4:

Rip the ugly bastard out and disconnect the plug at the rear of the unit. You should be left with a gaping void.

STEP 5:

Time to get freaky with an Allen key. There are four screws on each corner of the unit which hold the plastic front in place. Undo them and remove the front panel.

STEP 6:

The black fascia of the unit is attached to the cream part by means of a series of clips. Undo all the clips and remove the black fascia.

STEP 7:

What we're aiming to do now is remove the needles to get at the metal clock template. Using a pair of pliers, gently grip the black circular part of each needle and pull - but be careful dammit!

STEP 8:

Needles removed, you need to unhook the metal clocks template from its various slots then gently lift it out.

At this point in the tutorial you have two options. You can either use your own scanner to scan your clocks and mess around in Photoshop with them or you can use my template, below:

Its not an amazing scan, i'm sure you can do better, but it will suffice for those of us with poor eyesight.

STEP 9:

Print out your newly photoshopped clocks onto some high quality paper. Hell LAMINATE it if you really want. Go crazy.

STEP 10:

Attach the new paper clocks template onto your existing metal clocks template. I used very thin amounts of blu-tack but you can do whatever you want.

STEP 11:

The needles. They are white. Attack them with a red permanent marker!

STEP 12:

Refit coloured needles using pliers

STEP 13:

On the top of the black fascia that you removed you'll see a big green strip of plastic. This is what gives your dash that rancid green glow. Remove the strip, find some blue (or whatever colour) plastic laminate (you can buy it from WH Smiths and stuff) and cut it to the exact same size. No fit that on top of the black thing thus:

STEP 14:

If you're a read hardcore bastard you can also change the colour of the indicator lights by messing with the little piece of plastic you can see at the top of the picture (below). Its a bit more difficult though as its an awkward shape and you need to etch the 'full beam' symbol into it aswell.

STEP 15:

Refit and test! Put all the sh it back together, plug the cable back into the rear of the unit and give it a test.

http://img451.imageshack.us/img451/318/06-03-19_17-18.jpg

As you can see in the picture above, I refitted NoWorries' old clocks so it looks like my car has gained another 10,000 miles overnight! Because I had a spare set of clocks I could afford to be reckless, you probably can't so be f ucking careful.

Over the coming weeks i'm going to try and refine my design and also properly take apart NoWorries' old clocks to see if there is a way to modify the colour of the LCD screens (i'm sure Tej actually did this). So i'll update this tutorial as and when.

Hopefully this basic tutorial has given you the confidence to go and attempt something creative today. On the other hand it may have ruined your only set of instrument clocks! Oh sh it!

Good luck!

My clock templates:

Again everything quoted here is not my doing so dont blame me if you brake something i just created them templates i can do a custom one if you want some thing doing or give it a go your self

hope you enjoy guys

and please post photos if you do this.

the best thing about this guide is you can change your clocks as much as you like just print out some new ones =D

thanks Proxy

Warning: If your car has had a respray by someone who is a bit lazy you could be in trouble! Some people just mask off the trims when really you should remove them, paint the panel then re-stick them. This can have a couple effects on your car. You could remove the bump strip and there is a defined line where the bump strip was. Its possible to flat these back and polish them out, but it leaves another possible problem. The paint work underneath could be a different colour to the exterior paint work. I had this problem with one of my cars. Was two different shades of red! So your removing them at your own risk!

So here is what I've found to be the best way over the years.

First off you want the remove the bump strips. Many people suggest boiling the kettle and doing this. I did this once with my red car and it quite swiftly turned pink. Had to polish it all the time cause the paint just seemed to fade quite quickly and badly in that spot. So don't use boiling hot water, either heat up the water a bit in the kettle and then use it. Or just let the hot tap run for a bit until water is nice and hot. Put the water into a jug or something that makes it easy to pour out with one hand.

Pour the water onto the whole strip that you want to remove. Then working from one edge just lightly press down on the trim and pour warm water on it. You should start to feel it peel away, keep pouring water on it and move a long the trim. Keep pouring water on it to un-stick the glue.

This method works really well on mk2/3 Polos because the rub strips are quite big, therefore its easy to get a hand on them. For smaller trims you might be better off using something like dental floss or an old credit card to unstick it. Just be careful you don't use anything that could damage the paint underneath

Once the trim is removed it will most likely leave you with some black sticky tape stuff. You can use thinners or petrol to remove it, if you have an eternity to spare. I would suggest buying a Fudge Wheel (no really, thats what its called). Its a small rubber wheel thing that looks (and smells) like a piece of fudge. They cost about £5.00. Halfords don't sell them unfortunately. Anywhere that a paintwork/bodywork specialist should be able to get you one. Or have one in stock ready to take away!

Before you start removing the sticky stuff make sure you've dried off the car.

All you do with this is attach it to a drill. You will need a reasonably powerful drill to use it. Something most people will have in there household. If you don't, go buy one. They always come in useful! All you do with this is let the drill do all the work and rub the wheel over the black sticky stuff and it should remove it with ease. The best part is it won't damage your paintwork so long as its used correctly. I think you'd have to be pretty lame to damage the paint with it cause they seem pretty idiot proof.

Once you've done that, give the car a quick wash and make sure you've got all the sticky bits off. When I did this on my mk2 it took about 5-10 mins to remove the bump strips themselves. Give it a quick dry, then it took another 10-15min more to get the glue off.

Before:

After:

If you've got any questions feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer them. If you do it, would be good if you take step by step pictures. Its something I never did so I only really have the before and after pics. Would be good to show some step by step stuff.

If you fancy fitting a mk1 golf, scirocco, polo, derby etc etc steering wheel to your car then you need to convert to a small spline and also if in like my situation where you purchased a boss for a mk2 polo but wanted it to fit a mk3 etc then you will also need to do the same.

start off by removing the horn from your old wheel, usually just pulls off and you disconnect the connectors from it.

next step is to remove the 24mm nut in the middle of your steering wheel BEFORE YOU DO THIS MAKE SURE YOUR WHEELS ARE STRAIGHT as it saves alot of messing around. You will need a ratchet extension, to allow you to get to the nut.

Ok so once youve got the nut off, pull the steering wheel and it will come away showing you a splined shaft, what you then need to do is pull the collar off the shaft to expose the smaller splined shaft underneath it..I've put a red line on where you need to pull the collar lip. I used a gear pulling tool to do this, you can buy them from halfords for about £9.

you tighten down the puller and it should pull the collar off the shaft, you will then see the small spline underneath

Then fit your boss, steering wheel and your done. Its suprsing how much better a small steering wheel feels.

Hope this helps

Mitch

Small yet effective mod for the 6n

Part number 1J0 857 465 Y20)

Just replaces the useless drivers grab handle with a cool sunglasses holder.

Screw out the 2 screws and put the holder there.

Its that easy, hope this helps!

Arran

It really works.

Boot Button/Lock:

1. Remove the boot plinth by unscrewing the 4 retaining screws.

2. Remove the interior bootlid cover by popping out all the retaining clips.

3. Pop out the metal rod joining the button/lock to the boot catch.

4. Unclip the button/lock assembly from the bootlid and take it all apart by removing the ‘C’ clip (now is a good time to flush out the lock barrel with some sort of spray cleaner if it doesn’t always work properly regrease and rebuild)

5. With a junior hacksaw or Stanley knife carefully cut the surrounding plastic from the button/lock slider/holder.

6. You need to find a hardware store and get 2 small 90 deg brackets, some nuts and bolts and some of the smallest self taps they sell.

7. With a tap and a hammer tap back the backward pointing corners of the semi-circular hole in the bootlid so that they are facing upwards at 90 degrees and so that the hole is larger (The reason for this is so that the button/lock can operate at 90 degrees allowing the key to clear the boot plinth when locking and unlocking.

8. You will also need to grind out with a slitting disc a 90 degree angle from the strut inside the bootlid for the button/lock to catch rod to clear:

9. Put the rebuilt button/lock into the bootlid until it is flush with the bodywork and measure where the hole of the 90 deg bracket lines up to and mark it both sides.

10. Carefully drill a hole on each side of the button/lock slider/holder with a tiny drill bit then cut the ends off the 2 screws so that they do not foul on the sliding action of the button/lock they need to be flush with the inside of the slider/holder.

11. Line the button/lock outside the bootlid again and mark 2 holes on the outside of the boot lid where the brackets line up.

12. Drill 2 holes and then nut and bolt the button/lock to the boot lid with the brackets on the inside.

13. Cut the button/lock to catch rod in half 50/50.

14. Bend a 90 degree bracket to 45 degrees with 2 pairs of pliers.

15. Nut and bolt 2 long straight brackets 1 to each side to make a long 45 degree bracket.

16. Drill 2 holes in the end of each about 15mm apart.

17. Next get 4 nuts and 4 bolts.

18. Slide the bolts through the ends of the bracket and drill a 2mm? (measure the width of the rod cause I can't remember) hole through each bolt right against the flat of the bracket.

19. Bolt the 2 half rods together with the holed bolts so that the 45 degree bracket is pointing towards the back of the car.

20. DON'T put the interior bootlid cover or parcel shelf back on until the connecting rod is adjusted and tested so that it locks/unlocks opens and closes!

Boot Plinth:

1. Source another MK3 Polo / MK2 Golf boot plinth (I got mine for £2 from the scrappy).

2. Remove the original boot plinth by unscrewing the 4 retaining screws.

3. Sand down the original boot plinth with 120, 240, 320 to get rid of the texture.

4. Measure the button/lock hole in the original handle exactly score it out on the scrap handle next to the hole on it.

5. CAREFULLY use a hacksaw, Stanley knife or soldering to saw, slice or melt the 'blank' out if the handle.

6. Sand down the 3 cut edges with 120g paper and try it in the original handle to check that it fits ok.

7. Cut away the bottom button support on the original boot plinth but leave a 1-2mm strut joining the bottom of the original hole as this acts as support. The part you have cut out is going to be the hole for the relocated lock/button.

8. The blank you have made should fit well enough to stay in the original handle. Line the blank up in the original hole on the original plinth and support it with superglue at the back so it doesn’t move out of place.

9. Heat up a soldering iron and get some cable ties. The soldering iron is going to act as your plastic welder and the cable ties as your solder!

10. Put a mask on. Soften the plastic around the join and melt a small channel between the parts with the soldering iron and feed in the cable tie/solder into the area and sort of spread the melted plastic into the channel (search plastic welding on you tube for more information)

11. Use bodywork filler (P38 is best) to skim of the plinth and fill the channel on the front side of the plinth, sand the filler down with 120, 240, 320. Go over with filler again if there or pits or scratches from the courser papers, get a good smooth layer and you can use the 320g to make it smooth without damaging the filler.

12. Use high build plastic primer to prime the plinth. Get a good few coats and then smooth with 800 wet.

13. once its smooth, paint with plastic primer and then paint with mottled satin black paint or colour code it.

- Jimmy

Renault 5 mirrors fit nice and close in to the body, for a better look.

Also, i did rush them, so its not as neat as it coulda been,

And the adjusters dont work (will do them another time)

It may take some trial and error to drill the holes in the correct place, but itl all be hidden anyway.

Okay so..

1. Remove your mirrors and interior cover (obvs)

2. Take your R5 mirror and cut of the outer circle on the threaded part, aswell as the two plastic studs sticking out ( to make the base flat).

I also trimmed down the edge of the mirror base that goes where the window is so the base will sit flatter on the window, there is a line on the back which i followed.

3. Line the mirror up and Drill a hole for the threaded tube to fit into further up the door. (Mine is abit rough as i dont have my dremel atm)

4. Try and fit the mirror in place, if it doesent fit correctly then you need to make the hole longer over to the side where it needs to go. Its a bit of trial and error tbh, but it will all be hidden once the mirror is on either way.

5. Line up the mirror and mark where the hole will need to go for the bolt. It should be just above the bottom hole for the interior cover. Then drill an 8mm hole for the bolt.

6. Again, you may need to adjust this hole a small amount to get the mirror to bolt in the correct position.

7. Mark where the top window seal stops (the mirror overlaps) and cut a small step out of the back face (will make the seal and mirror fit together better and help the base sit flat)

8. Line up your mirror, and bolt in place. Then fit the interior cover. You need to snap off the part in the middle of the cover so its flat. Also Dependong on where your bolt hole is, you may have to remove the bottom lug.

9. Your car will no longer look like mickey mouse.

So, thats it. Do the same for the other side and your sorted!

You dont need to chop the bases up like i did, but it makes it sit better and look neater.

Using a dremel would help neater it all up a bit, but i werent fussed as once the mirror is on its all hidden.

I may edit this in future if i bother to make my adjusters work like OEM.

Eric

it needed trimming abit on the cubby hole ( the top had to be cut off. shortened and some of the bottom trimmed.)

then it was a case of bolting it back in. and it goes all the way back to the rear seats!!

in my opinion looks much better and I'm pleased with the job I've done. :)

the bits in yellow are were the original plastic i cut away was.

final result

Other than the trimming its just a case of bolting it in were the gear gaitor goes and at teh back were the ash tray is take that out and bolt the back down were the old handbrake slots went in.

Craig.

Craig. :-D

So my project yesterday was to strip the old seats and fit the outer fabric to my original seats. I thought I'd document it so if anyone else needs the info its here for you.

1. get the seats out of the car. There's just one bolt at the front of the seat, 10mm and allen key, undo this and you can slide the seat off the back of the runners and out of the car. simple.

2. remove the headrest of the seat. Theres a split pin type jobby that you need to push through and then prize out with a screwdriver, being careful not to damage the plastic. once the two pins are out you can pull the headrest out.

3. Theres 4 sharp tabs at the bottom back of the seat upright, you can prise these up to free off the cover.

in this one you can see how screwed the old seats were! they are filled with a wood fibre bonded with glue. This one hadn't faired well!

4. Slide the cover up (gently!)

5. the side lever is quite simple, prise the lever out (I levered it out with a tyre lever against a spanner so I didn't damage the plastic). Once the lever is out the frame will pop out too.

6. when you get the seat cover up a bit higher you will see that there's a horizontal rod on the front and back that threads through the cover, unhook these from the seat springs, being careful not to rip the fabric if you are reusing the covers)

7. to get the headrest sleeves out, you need to squeeze the four pins at the same time and push it out of the top (bit of a bitch to do but you'll get there

here's what it looks like when out if it helps figure out getting it out

and again

8. That's your top cover off, now to seperate the back and bottom. there's again split pin type things to get to on the hinges. I couldn't see any way of getting the plastic shroud off without breaking it so managed to get the clips out without removing them.

9. to get the base cover off, unhook this spring

10. and the tab on each side

11. and the push pin on the front. get a flat screwdriver right underneath, it will pop out and you can reuse it.

12. I found it easier to remove the rods threaded through the seat from the foam by pulling the foam off of the seat base but it depends on what condition it's in.

In true haynes style, refitting is the reverse of removal!

And this shows the layout of the cables. you can see the back of the lever in the top left. Oh, and you can see how a seat should look compared to the crap above!

if eny one would like to know how its done its a HUGE job.

i have already completed the job so unfortunatly it would be a bad build thread but ill try.

Things you need:

sub frame from rado for the bench

standard polo back of the seat (i.e metal bit where you want to have head rests)

and obv the rear rado bench

First step:

Strip both down to bare bones, foam off the back of the standard and rado seats: BE CAREFULL NOT TO TEAR THE RADO FOAM!!

2nd step:

Place the rado seats into place on the back rest u will have to leave a slight gap on bot sides of the rear bench. The material will fold over and you will notice be able to slot the plast trim around the material into the gap that is present as there are metal sort of spike on the inners that will hold them in place.

That is it for the back rest. (picks will follow soon)

NOW THE MASSIVE PART. if you dont have the donor part from the rado you have about 4 hours worth of getting it ouit as i wouldnt go gun for leather with a angle grinder.

:

First step for base removal from rado for the person without the donor parts :

Drill out all of the spot welds n i mean all wont come out other wise. Once drilled out you will need a blade type chisel to seperate the metal part you need from the base. follow the line going around the front of the metal part then from the back side of it (will take a while to do)

Second Step:

You will have to manouver the metal donor part into place without bending frame as it will go tits up if u bend the frame one in place VERY VERY VERY carefully drill into the rear foot well to pop rivet the base into place once that is done (Sounds EASY IT IS NOT!!)

Finally :

ONCE all of the above is done place the rear base into place and screw the center arm rest nito place

JOB DONE

BTW dont complain about lack of pics i dont have a camera i am going to sort something out lol

the cables are cheap as owt to buy from gsf (about 3 quid)

you will need to know whether you need the long one or the short one.

if the outer side leaver doesnt lift then thats the shorter cable and the inside near the centre console side is the longer cable.

its a really easy fix and can be done in 20 mins.

You will need:

10mm spanner

pointy plyers

hammer

patience

rogers profanosaurus

Using the 10mm spanner lossen the nut at the front of the seat and push the seat right back on the runners to remove it.

preferably inside wind it forward to give access to the underside of the back rest.

Now put the seat on its side.

Now 4/5 sharp spikes will need to be bent back and then you will be able to loosen the fabric.

Now pull the cover back abit and if you have one, use a lamp so you can see inside the seat.

i say lamp cos its free standing and you need your hands so a torch could prove a nightmare.

Remove and take note of the snapped cables' position.

refitting the new cable is awkward on the lifter inside the seat but possible with a bit of patience.

once attached (after a lot of swearing) feed the cable through the loops and down to the base where the leaver that it lifts is. you may need to wind the backrest back again to give the cable a bit of slack. now hook it on the leaver.

now all that is left to do is stretch the material back over the spikes and with a hammer tap the spikes back down. (make sure any sponge or material inside hasnt been distrubed and if it has, put it back)

now fit your seat again!

job done!

dan

i valet/detail cars in my spare time and this is merely the process i use, other peoples methods may vary in order and the products they use, but i have lots of returning very very happy customers so take it as you will :)

a list of a few of the products/bits that i use

you can never have too many microfibre cloths! i probably have over 50 which are either being used or are in the wash!

1 quality microfibre wash mitt

2 buckets and grit guard

wheel cleaning brushes and worn scouring pad

TFR (traffic film remover)

quality shampoo (i use meguires gold class)

polish (i use autoglym super resin)

wax (i use simoniz/chemical guys 50/50 pure concourse)

silicone spray (halfords own)

clay bar kit

so to begin with...

step 1: pre-wash; before anything i go around the car and give the wheels a spray with TFR (traffic film remover) i use it neat on the wheels as it is non acidic and wheels tend to be thick with burnt on brake dust, i then go around the lower parts of the bodywork with some diluted TFR and leave it all to get working while i go and get my hose out and ready...

step 2: pre-wash; give the car a good blast down with the hose on full power over all the areas sprayed with TFR, this will remove the thick of the muck to lower the risk of scratches during shampooing

step 3: wheel wash; get your first bucket and splash a small amount of TFR into it and fill with warm water! i now use this with multiple wheel cleaning brushes (depending on the style of wheel) and give the wheels a damn good scrub to remove remaining brake dust, now after this stage you may still notice there is still baked on brake dust stuck in the corners (only do the next stage if you feel confident!) for this i have a well worn scouring pad that i use with lots of diluted TFR to gently scrub off the stubborn bits (if you scrub too hard you will literally start sanding down the wheels so be carefull!!!) after repeating this on every wheel give them a good rinse down with the hose, now using the remaining murky looking water i usually give the exhaust tip a good scrub down and again give it a good rinse off!

step 4: shampoo; using a good quality shampoo give the car its first wash down, i only ever use a good quality microfibre wash mitt along with a grit guard in the bottom of the bucket (at this point i also use a different bucket to the one used for the wheels etc). start at the top and work down, i tend to do this in stages, so; roof, windows, bonnet and boot, give it a rinse and then do the lower parts of the car rinsing thoroughly afterwards (i do this to stop mucky water marks drying onto the paint)

step 5: paint treatmeant; this stage is only required every 6 months or so as it lasts a fair while! after washing the car rub your hands over areas such as the bonnet, front bumper and the bottom of the doors/sideskirts, if it feels rough and bitty, almost as if there is small grains of sand stuck to the paint then this stage is for you! you will require a clay bar and clay bar lube (meguires sell a great kit for 1st timers) start by removing the clay bar and giving it a roll around your hands for a minute or 2 to warm it up until it becomes softer. Now spray the affected area with the clay bar lube and with the clay gently rub it across the surface (i work in a 1ft square at a time) every now and then pick up the clay bar and fold it into its self, do this until the surface feels smooth under the bar and continue like this until you have done all the affected areas! (it takes some time so be patient, it is worth it!) after this i give the car another quick wash down in the areas you have treated and then rinse off again.

step 6: Drying; the best thing i ever invested in is a silicone lance for scraping the water off! it saves soooo much time! so go over the entire car with the lance to remove as much water as possible first and then get out a clean dry microfibre cloth and rub down the car until totally dry! after this you will have a very damp cloth which is perfect for the next step

step 7: door shuts etc; i use the damp cloth from the previous step to wipe down all the door shuts and boot shut etc

step 8: tyres and trim; there and lots and lots of different methods all over the internet for this stage, personally i use halfords own silicone spray as it works wonders and lasts very well! give the tyres and all black trim a quick spray and wipe over with a microfibre cloth to remove any residue, leaving behind a black shiny finish :)

step 9: polish; everybody will have a different choice of polish for this step, there are lots on the market so choose wisely! personally i use autoglym super resin polish, its reasonably priced for a good size tub and works very well! if its a hot day and you are working in bright sunlight you will have to polish and buff each panel at a time so the polish does not go off before you have chance to remove it again. if its a cloudy day you can afford to polish the entire car in one go and remove it all with one microfibre and then go over the car a final time with another clean dry microfibre cloth (or polishing mitt) to give a high shine. i also then give the door shuts a quick polish but thats just me

step 10: waxing; there is a very wide range of waxes available, ranging from £7 a pot to thousands! and for various colours and finishes, so select the right one for you! i personally use simoniz wax for customers cars (£7 per pot) which does do an extremely good job! and for my own car i use chemical guys 50/50 pure concourse wax (i paid £45 for a pot at a show). have a couple of microfibre cloths and a polishing mitt ready for this stage. apply a small amount of wax to the first cloth and rub over a 1/2ft square until it almost disappears and then buff with the 2nd clean cloth, do this until the whole panel is done and then buff over the entire panel with a quality polishing mitt, repeat until the entire car is done! (again this will take some time to do properly but is worth it!)

step 11: glass; final step is to give the glass a polish, i use autoglym glass polish which works brilliantlly!

now stand back and admire the fruits of your labour! :)

a few of my completed photos :)

i also then do the interior but that is another subject...

if this is found useful then could it be a sticky? :)

You will need:

• Needle-nosed pliers
• Normal pliers
• Flat and cross blade screwdrivers
• REAR door handles from a Mk2 Golf - about £8 each from GSF usually, cheaper with club discount
• Somewhere flat to work ideally
• And last but not least, a car with central locking

Step one

Remove your door handle from the car. Dead simple to do, just prise off the trim (carefully) with the flat blade screwdriver to reveal the cross-head screw at the front. Open the door, remove the screw from the front of the handle, then remove the rear screw (which is in the door shut near the latch). The handle should withdraw from the door. Simple.

If you turn the handle over you should see something like this - there's a trigger (the big square bit with a hole in the middle for a lock) and the flipper (which is the obviously much older bit in this image). Most of the old handle isn't needed, but the flipper is the key to the conversion.

I call it the flipper because when you squeeze the trigger it flips downwards and pops the door open.

And here's why you can't just fit the Golf handle, the flipper is different.

Step two

Take the Golf handle, turn it over and look for the pin which the flipper pivots on. Obviously it's the bit I'm pointing to with my trusty pen.

This is the third time I've done this, and each of the handles I've done is slightly different. The latest GSF ones are MUCH better quality than handles of old, with far smoother trigger operation. In the past I've done it with needle-nosed pliers and the pin off the other handle to push it through, this time I withdrew the pin using a pair of wire cutters.

The flipper should withdraw pretty easily. New ones are usually greased so be careful where you put it if you're not in a garage.

Repeat the process with the other handle, and then decide which pin you want to reuse. I've gone for the VW handle because it's tapered at the ends and much easier to refit.

Step three

Home run now! Slot the Polo flipper onto the Golf handle, and line up the hole for the pin.

(The first time I did this I had to sand the bit the flipper mounts on to make it fit - shitty pattern parts for you - this one was absolutely fine though)

Slide the pin into place

Squeeze it through using the pliers

Then use the edge of the flipper to press it in like this

If it's a bit sticky then pop a bit of bearing grease into the joint between the flipper and trigger.

Step four

Slot it back into the door, put the front and rear screws back in place and refit the trim. GSF handles come with chrome and black plastic trims, so you can fit whichever you want, obviously. I put chrome in for a day originally, then I've run black plastic ones for the last decade.

Sorted. Test to make sure everything works and you're done!

This is my first time at plastic welding but thought i would stick some pics up of how i did it;

sorry about the picture quality, was taking them on my phone

1. Drill out, or prise out with a flathead, the 4 rivots under the arches. Use a bank card or similar to pull away the little bit of bumpstrip from the wing. Should be left with this:

2. Next cut off the bump strip from the arch:

you'll be left with this:

3. Now you need to cut up the bumpstrip you just cut off and make a segment that fits into the gap on the arch. doesnt matter if its a bit too small as you can fill in the gaps later.

I then stuck a bit of glue on behind it to keep it in place.

4. Next get out a soldering iron and some offcuts of plastic and start massaging the edges together using the offcuts to fill any big gaps. Start on the back first to make sure its secure then work on the front on making it look nice and neat.

5. I then filed it down to make it a bit neater, gave the whole arch a good coat of back to black and trial fitted it onto the car..

Then just use re-attach them onto the car using a rivet gun and appropriate sized rivets. and job done!

Hope this helps :)

Remove door pin, window winder (if youve got it!), and door handle cover, undo screws behind it, pull off door trim at bottom working round until all clips are off.

Original hole for pin.

Using a round file elongate hole as necessary.

New hole for pin.

Re-fit door card etc. in reverse order, admire new pin!

What you think, Good, Bad?

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right tools required will be:

silicon or trim repair tape ( can be bough form halfords when you go buy the bungs) or similar sticky stuffz

a large adjustable spanner ( i say this as i cant rememebr the size of the wiper arm lower bolt)

a small jar for the bits you remove (if you decide to keep them)

a cross head long shafted screwdriver

a flat head screwdriver

some duck tape or similar

a screw (inch or so long)

2 small cable ties

a 10mm screwdriver (iirc its 10mm)

a pack of assorted bungs from halfords, or if you take the bits in you can get teh correct sized ones (see description below)

(the rough size can be taken from the dash end bung, if you open your passengers or drivers door and look at the end of the dash there is a small bung that is just abit small for the inner boot (the steel bit) so take that into halfords and get a size up and a assorted pack for the plastic std plate)

it really is easy removing it and capping off the hose...

1. open your boot and look in the grab handle there is a cross head screw at the bottom. remove this and then prise of the plastic boot card with the flat headed driver you remove it at the join along the window as the other side if hucked in so as soon as you remove it from the window side it should just pull out.

2. you will then see the innerds of the boot.

first disconect the wiper motor loom and fold it back on its self and huck it back in the wire hole with the wire that going to the motor. ( so its in a loop and going back on itself) or simply tape it to the outer skin of the boot.

3. after that is disconnected and sorted remove the washer hose from the nearside of the motor, i unplugged the flexy hose aswell and screwed a small screw in the end and then kinked it over and the used the cable ties to tie it when it was kinked. with the duck tape (or similar) i taped it to the inner boot (outer skin)

4. now it is time to remove the actual motor.

Shut the boot and lift up the flap on the end of the wiper and you will see a small nut iirc this is 10mm (but dont quote me on this) but you could use your large adjustabe spanner. remove that and the wiper arm and you will be faced with a LARGE thin nut, this is where the large adjustable spanner comes in handy as a small adjustable is JUST to small.

once that is removed and the plastic ring below that is removed place all the bits in the jar/container for storage (if you want to keep them).

5. opening up the boot again you will see 2 self taping bolts holding the motor on remove these with your 10mm spanner (again I'm not 100% sure what size they are but they wont be far of 10mm) dont worry about nuts falling off the back there arent any.

once these are removed the motor will pull out and you wil be left with a gaping hole in the back of your car....

6. if you now look at the hole you will see a small rubber gasket around the edge of the hole, remove this with your flat head screwdriver as this will stop the inner rubber bung sitting correctly.

7. now you can go to the drivers or passengers side of the car and get the rubber bung i described in the tools required section.

this you will need to take to halfords and check against other bungs and get a bigger size than the one from the dash. the outer plastic blank you can also go and buy a blank for if you take the plastic in you can see what size of blank you will need. but you may need to follow step 8 first.

8. i found that the outer plastic plate wasent a perfect hole with two lips either side.. so i had to modify it abit... on the inside of it there are small tabs these stop the bung sitting flush so i got the dremel out and cut them off smoothly so the bung could go around the lip and seat correctly i then applied silicon to this just to make sure it wasent going anywhere.

9. right now its the easy part... simply put the inner bung in (i put a small amount of silicon around the lip so it was fully water tight but this probably wasent required) and then the outer plate. to hold this in i used trim repair tape around the edge of the plate and cleaned the window and stuck it on.

10.time to fit the inner boot panel which is the same as removal, put the small tabs in the holes they came out of and push it against the boot it shoudl click at the winder edge if not give it a tap and it should go in. not you can fit that small screw back in the handle hole.

JOB DONE! step back and admire.

edit just to say i will edit this if pics are required.

lots of useful information and advice on this forum!

Into this nice black, unripped one!

First of all to repair the rips we need to take the cover off. This is done by just pulling the fabric away from the metal around the edges:

Do this all the way round until you can peel it back to reveal the yellow foam inside. There are clips placed around the edge which hold it on but these also just pull off, requiring a bit more effort. It can be a bit hard to get the first part off but once you have it's alot easier to remove the rest.

Once you have removed the fabric from all the way round, the metal back of the seat will come away, and you can peel the fabric back so far. It's held to the foam with stiff, strong metal wires which follow the seams on the inside.

Undo all of these and you will be able to remove the seat cover completely:

From here it's just a case of sewing up the seams on the inside with strong thread, you can just follow the original holes!

Once sewn up you will have something like this:

Now onto the dying! I used VHT Black Satin Penetrating Colour Dye for vinyl and short nap carpets, bought from USAutomotive.com here. Obviously you may wish to use a different colour to match your seats/interior. To give you an idea of how much you might need, with one can I managed the following: The rear bench backrest, two mk3 coupe rear door cards and one front door card.

Mask off the patterned bits (if you want to, you could dye these black too although I'm not sure of the results) and spray! DO use long, even strokes and DO use in a very well ventilated area! Try to avoid a windy outdoor location like I had though, half of my spray probably went all over me! From my experience I wouldn't bother with their recommended 10-12 inches spraying distance, half that was what I did, but then I am useless with a spray can and it was windy.

Now it's a case of leaving it to dry for a day and putting the cover back on. Refitting is a reversal of removal, make sure you get all the metal wires in first, then begin to reattach the edges, remembering to refit any of the metal clips that may have come off when you were removing it.

I'm not going to go through the door cards as they are simply just a case of removing, masking the bottom tray etc., spraying and refitting!

Here's a quick before and after on the front though:

Before:

After:

OK so I've got it dirty already but a definite improvement I think.

And finally a shot of the new rear bench in the car, also showing the dyed rear door card.

Hopefully this will help or at least interest someone!

Ray