[DemonEater]

I'm starting to get a plan together for things I'd like to do with my car, next step is to judge what I can afford and what I can do myself fairly easily.
First thing I want to do is replace the seats - previous owners probably weighed 500lbs by the way the front seats are broken down on the sides, and I'm wondering: What is involved in swapping seats? How are they actually attached, and how does one remove and install them? I'll probably look in a junkyard for a reasonable pair of OEMs in the same fabric pattern as mine, since I find these seats about as comfortable as any I've sat in in a car - any idea how much they normally run?
Second, I'm definately toying with the idea of a Golf hood swap and Hella MK4-style lights. Not original on the Vortex, but I've seen one modded dub in this city ever, so it'll be new around here. What's the chassis modification you have to make to mount them?
Right now I'm about to spend a little on my interior - I'm going to order the euro center console (it's pretty much bolt-on, right?), and my shift boot is torn a little so I'm using that as an excuse to change my knob as well - any suggestions on favorite knobs? I was thinking of the VW Motorsports one, but I have never seen a *good* picture of it...
Oh, and I need reasonable floor mats, my old ones wore through pretty quickly thanks to a combination of big feet, many miles, and quite a lot of ice. Any good aftermarket ones?
Any advice on any of that is appreciated... thanks

 

[Lyzic]

Re: Some simple DIY questions (DemonEater)

Step into my office

For the seats, I am in the same boat as you, looking to upgrade. There are many alternatives, all based on price. Around ~$300 will get you some excellent condition heated fronts. ~$500 for leather, but it only looks good if you get the rear bench too. Sparco's and other racing seats are about ~$400 each for the good ones, theres a guy in the G/J3 classifieds with a pretty good deal going on right now.
Or, as I really want to do, but don't have the money for, go fully custom and put in some mk4 seats. If you have ever sat in an mk4, you know immediately how vastly superior the seating is. Some fabrication (quite a bit

) is needed to convert the rails over and such, but it's not THAT big of a job. The seats are a bit expensive though, about the same as good quality heated mk3 leather (at least the only set I've found so far was).
As for the chassis modification to make mk4 lights fit, look here for a pretty good guide with pictures. The consensus round here is about 3-4 hours for installation for your first time.
Console, I don't know. For shift knob and boot, I went with an Audi TT setup, but due to missing a piece of my knob, it's still incomplete. I haven't even got around to putting on the boot yet !

And floor mats, look to the classifieds, there are good VW ones there for sale every so often. Myself, I use cheap Wal-Mart ones in the winter, I mean, they just get wrecked anyways right.
I hope some of this ramble helped you out. GL with the modding and dub love http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif

 

[VR6 Mk3]

Re: Some simple DIY questions (Lyzic)

One thing that I have learned is that people usually wont answer more than one or 2 of your quesionts if you post a whole string, but Lyzic gave you some good info so far. If you are going with OEM seats for your car, it shouldn't be too hard to swap, just look under there, you probably only have to remove a few bolts and slide them off the track. As he said, check the classifieds, or also Ebay, i saw a few sets of interiors on there last night. To go to a golf front end read that link that he gave you. A lot of people like the Drivers Edition shift boots/knobs because they have red stiching, i saw one of those on ebay and they are frequently sold in the classifieds. Also, the lupo knob/boot is pretty cool (both are if you have a GTI) try http://www.parts4vws.com (pottermans) for some cool OEM style boots and knobs. Other than that, most people use Momos. If you just want to replace your boot with a stock one, make a WTB (want to buy) thread in the classifieds, i'm sure someone would want to sell their stock one. I got some big rubber mats from Pep Boys for winter, and some cheap walmart mats for summer, but they make some nice big rubber VW ones that are shaped to fit your car that you could get through a dealer, i dont think they are too expensive.

 

[EuroStyle]

Re: Some simple DIY questions (VR6 Mk3)

I actually got some really nice mats right from the dealer.....a set of 4, from VW with the embroidered VW logo was less than $60....for once a real pleasant shock when dealing with the parts counter....
Sean

 

[AKADriver]

Re: Some simple DIY questions (DemonEater)

Seats? bolts. not hard at all. I suggest looking for a set of GTI or Jetta GT/GLX seats, but that's just me... I've never been a big fan of the flat seats. They'll fit just the same.
Shift knob... I love my Momo King, but it gets frostbite-cold in the winter. It's the machined aluminum ball with five allen screws in the top. Another thing, a lot of aftermarket knobs will require some improvisation to hold up the shift boot. Stick with the various stock knobs if you don't want to deal with that. Of course it seems like all the really nice ones say "GTI" on them. Though, there's a "special edition" Jetta IV knob that might fit and looks really cool.
I don't recommend the floormats that my car has.. they look nice and are durable, but they slide around too much. I think they're factory. They're all-rubber with the blue/white VW logo.