Admirations

Post by **bigmontana** » Mar Wed 12, 2008 8:59 pm

I just want to say, I have read alll of your stories on what you have done to your car and I admire you all. You guys all have the sweetest cars and I'm sure you have made most of the improvements yourselves. I want to add stuff to my car but I have very little doubt in my own abilities but I want to learn on how to do things to my GLI to make improvements. I wish I was close so I could have some of you help me but i'm not so I have to try these things my self. Is there any advise you guys could give me. I know I need to use a Bentley but other than that I'm not sure. Or do I wait until I move there and can have you guys help me. I hope to live close by you guys so I can watch and learn but I really want to try things myself this summer. I wish I knew a quarter of what you guys know. I'm willing to try anything, so when I have the money to buy new parts I can do them myself. Thanks for the help.

Post by **Rennwagen1** » Mar Wed 12, 2008 9:25 pm

Hey man, don't get down on yourself. We all started at the beginning. ALl you need is the love, a manual, some tools, and the parts. The rest just falls in place. I started back in the day on a 1973 BMW Bavaria which I inherited from my dad. I didn't have anyone around me that knew anything about cars, let alone german cars. So I got a manual, broke into my stepdad's "tools" and before I knew it I was changing out a Brake slave cylinder! The same thing goes with stereos. I started out in 1995 taking some 8" speakers out of some home speakers and cutting holes in the rear deck of my mom's 1989 Nissan Sentra, and wham!! some crappy 8" woofers run free-air of deck power with no crossover points! I have been a professional stereo installer for almost 12 years now. The best thing that you can do is get out there in the garage and give it a shot, and most of all, don't be afraid to ask questions! That's what we are here for.

Post by **bigmontana** » Mar Wed 12, 2008 9:32 pm

Cool thanks, I'm going to try some this summer, I just need to trust myself. By the way if I do move to Missoula, I'm still looking into either there, Billings, or Bozeman, but if we move to Missoula, would you mind me getting together with you and showing me some things on my GLI, there are so many things I want to do with it.

You reccommend a Bentley Manual right?

I'm going to try the horn swap first, that way if I screw something up I can still drive it. I have always been afraid to do something because I don't have a lot of sapre cars. But now that my 89 Jetta is so screwed up body wise I'm hoping to use some stock parts on it and put them on my GLi, like the horn and I have to try the arm rest think too. As soon as it starts to wrm up a bit I am going to try something

Post by **bigmontana** » Mar Wed 12, 2008 9:56 pm

My dad had a Bavaria, but back to the topic at hand. What do you do if something does not go the way you wanted or breaks. I can't afford to fix a lot of things extra. i'm glad I have friends like you guys to help me get through the bad times. Hopefully I can do it and if you go on the Yellowstone GTG you can look at the GLI and give me pointers.

Post by **bigmontana** » Mar Wed 12, 2008 9:58 pm

And another thing, where are good economical parts suppliers online to get parts, I don't have credit cards to pile up so it would have to be done with cash, probably is not very do able, but I'm just curious what places to find.

Post by **Ramrod** » Mar Wed 12, 2008 10:36 pm

Site's like the vortex are a great place to get ideas for projects. Make sure you have an idea on what it is you want to achieve. It's ok if you don't know how you to get from A to B, but you need to know what B is if you ever want to get there. Search the forums there too if you don't understand a mod. Almost all the questions have been asked at some point so start searching and reading. You'll learn a lot of other things along the way just by doing that.

Once you know what it is you want to do, and you've gathered as much info on it as you can, gather what parts you'll need. And dive in, it's that simple. 90% of this you just learn by doing. Sometimes you'll end up costing yourself money messing something up, but it's ok, it's a car they make more parts. It's just part of learning, and remember in the long run you'll come out ahead learning to do it yourself.

You'll be fine, really.

Post by **bigmontana** » Mar Thu 13, 2008 9:52 pm

Thank you, I ocassionally look at the Vortex, but maybe its just me, but it seems to me that a lot of times before when I have asked questions on there people either don't respond or they act as if you have insulted them by bothering them. That is why I like it on here, everyone is so laid back and willing to help a dude out.

I have to decide what I want to do first, but i'm going to read how other people did things.

Thank you

I really want to do a front end swap with like a newer Jetta, or a Golf and the next thing I want to do is put a sunroof in from a Corrado so that it tilts up.

So I'll search for how they were done.

I might put the headliner from my wolfsburg Jetta to my GLI and while I'm doing that put a different sunroof in.

Just a thought.

Post by **Roadhog** » Mar Thu 13, 2008 10:11 pm

Big Montana wrote: I really want to do a front end swap with like a newer Jetta, or a Golf and the next thing I want to do is put a sunroof in from a Corrado so that it tilts up.

Thats all it will ever do being a Corrado sunroof.

Post by **thetwodubheads** » Mar Fri 14, 2008 5:13 am

I started with a part's car a cheap socket set and a Haynes manual.... All because I was too poor to pay to have my CV joint replaced. Luckily I lived close enough to school to walk for the couple weeks it took to do....
But since than, I have tried to learn everything I can and now do all of my own mods and repairs. It takes time, not something you'll learn overnight, or without failures, but definintely worth every minute spent.

Post by **kompressorgolf** » Mar Fri 14, 2008 10:34 am

I started working on vws in 2003, me and my buddy got the idea to make a 16v swap in an 8v golf. it took us almost three weeks, in a parking lot, but we did it and it fired the first try! and that was also a complete vehicle wiring swap, and fuel pump hell it was everything, swapped from bad shell to good one! all you have to do is set out with an idea, and work up to it experience only comes with well experience. to do a door card swap its only a phillips screwdriver and a flat head driver, and screws! very straight-forward, then take advantage of the situation and check out the whole doors while your in there! bentley is key, a haynes helps if nothing else but a bently will leave you without questions. very straight forward. just dig in, its pretty hard to mess up stuff when you think about it nothing has every really changed in vehicles, they only look more complicated and mysterious, once all the plastic covers are off, its almost identical in alot of situations, your on the diving board, now just JUMP!!!!!!!!!!!