Got my first car...

[kapur]

HI people.

I've been around on here for quite a time now, but now i've thought it's time to get my own car.

I've just bought my car today, and all seems fine apart from the following:-

1. The rear view mirror is way too small... I'll be replacing this with a Polo MK5 one...

2. The heater doesn't work (It simply blows out cold air...) how can i fix this? The cold position blows out cold air too... (which is fine). Apart from no hot air, that is fine.

3. I have been told that the spring in the passengers seat has come off or is broken, so passengers sitting in the rear can not get out due to that. Does anyone have any idea how much it'll cost to fix this? How hard of a job is this? The drivers side is fine.

4. The arches aren't fitted properly, and can see massive gaps. How do/can i fix this? It's simply not a flush fit at all.

The car generally needs a thorough clean... Theirs quite a few dents in the paint work... How much would it cost to say pull out about 5 dents in total? 3 are quite visible, the others are slightly harder to spot, but are their.

Well.... the link of my car is here:-

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... %3AIT&rd=1

I managed to hagle down to £550... is that any good?

I'll try and get some photos taken soon... Maybe some like a before and after comparison?

Kindly do leave your comments, suggestions and ideas. All help is appreciated.

Thanks..

[kapur]

Another little problem on these old cars....

POWER STEERING!

Is it possible to fit power steering to my car??? I know it might work out expensive, but it'll definately be worth it.

[pettsy]

how did you haggle when it sold for £650ish If it was mine i'd have wanted the full ebay selling price

You've got to loaugh at some of the things he's said on that auction though...

German plates - very rare and hardly seen
£25 from germanplates.com...hardly rare!

Engine is 1.3 GT (very fast)
Yeah,they're quick,but wouldn't say very fast

Heads are definetely turned to it when this killer is on roads.......Apart from eating 2.0 8v's and 16v's in its breakfast, it can also eat many other things on road if wanted and needed
Presuming he means vw2.0 8v's maybe....but 2.0 16v's I seem to remember 1.8 16v's being compared with g40's no so long ago so how can you compatre them with gt's

And final comedy quote from Q&A Section....

Q: is it a polo g40? if it is, im very interested, but if not, then i know what you claim is untrue, as my Citroen AX GT would leave it like a bad habit.

A: Read the description. It says GT not G40. Citroen??...kids car? the one made of plastic? I bet its not any good than my vw golf mark one 3.0 VR6. Catch me if u can..see ya!
Then why bother putting G40 in the title at all
And how big by saying his 1.4? Ax wouldn't beat a VR6 Must have some serious work for it to be a 3.0!

[kapur]

well... what it is is that theirs a few things wrong with the car (as i've described), and the body work is tatty, which is not apparent at all from the photos or the description...

So i managed to haggle, since he was selling under a false description, meaning i wasn't obliged to by it.

Anyhow, i've got it for £550... any ideas on fixing any of the issues?

By the way, i'm looking for a gear gaitor and surround since the current one has had it's time. It's all torn ripped and turning cream (was black leather )... I've looked on eBay, but can't find anything at all for these cars. What do i search for? Has anyone swapped their gear gaitor and surround from one off ebay? If so, which other model car has the same type of surround?

[pettsy]

2. The heater doesn't work (It simply blows out cold air...) how can i fix this? The cold position blows out cold air too... (which is fine). Apart from no hot air, that is fine.

Confused me when i first bought a mk3...but hot air only comes out of the small vents above the main air vents on polos afaik.

3. I have been told that the spring in the passengers seat has come off or is broken, so passengers sitting in the rear can not get out due to that. Does anyone have any idea how much it'll cost to fix this? How hard of a job is this? The drivers side is fine.

Does the cable actually pull the retaining hooks up?

4. The arches aren't fitted properly, and can see massive gaps. How do/can i fix this? It's simply not a flush fit at all.

I used a flexible adhesive called sikaflex to fix my arches back on,and taped them flush with masking tape while the adhesive dried. should be able to get it from local motor factors or halfords i think.


Hope that helps a bit...Pettsy

[kapur]

Damn thats pretty silly of the radiator not to work like they do in "normal" cars! lolz! Seems dodgy to me.

So does the heat come out those little holes located on top of the dash between the windscreen and the chassis?

Say when i set it to hot, how does the car heat up? Where does the heat come from if it's set to the front position on the right hand side dial? I'm sure the heat should come out of the side air vents...

Not sure about the cable thing. I was simply told that the it needs a new spring to link the lever to the actual bottom of the seat or something along those lines.

I'll look for that adhesive.

Your replies were appreciated,

Thanks.

[omicron]

1. I had the same thin with mine, just tilt your seat a bit.
2. The dash vents blow outside air, the one on top of the dash and the one down by your feet are heater output. If bearing this in mind doesn't fix the issue, report back and I'll tell you how to bleed the heater matrix.
3. Normally it's the cable inside. It is possible to pull the seat apart and repair the cable, but it isn't easy. Having done it once, I'd either fit a replacement seat, or live with it (which I do).
4. Post pictures.

Dents, depends where they are and how bad, again, post picks for better advice.

£550's very fair for a good GT.

Whilst the GT isn't fast, it's still quick, so just be a bit careful, with it being your first car and all.

Power steering on a Mk2 isn't easily doable. You will get used to it, and it'll get you out of the habit of dry steering

[kapur]

Thanks for your advice.

I'll take a look at the heater thing then. Just going to have to get used to using different types of heater settings in different cars then.

Don't have this issue in the MK5... Wish the MK3 could push hot air out those side air vents.. would be handy on those freezing cold days (today, driving back )

I'll try and post pictures asap. I'm used to driving myself. The GT is nothing new to me... quite an experienced driver.

Cant wait to polish her first. lolz.

P.S. - I'd love to fix that seat... i cant live with it. Shall i take it to VW? Or has anyone got a DIY guide?

[pettsy]

P.S. - I'd love to fix that seat... i cant live with it. Shall i take it to VW? Or has anyone got a DIY guide?

vw would probably just ignore you....mk3's are too old for them to bother with

i fitted new cables to the seats in my old gt,fiddly but not too hard if your careful.

[kapur]

i fitted new cables to the seats in my old gt,fiddly but not too hard if your careful.

Have you got a DIY guide on this please? Any instructions or anything of the sort would be helpful.

On a side note:- The owner is a "supposed" VW fan, and he suggested that it just needs a new spring. Now when i pull the lever up, their is no spring action, so i assume it does need a new spring. How do i access the seat and find out what exactly is wrong?

Is their a way of pulling the seat forward without using that lever?

[pettsy]

i fitted new cables to the seats in my old gt,fiddly but not too hard if your careful.

Have you got a DIY guide on this please? Any instructions or anything of the sort would be helpful.

On a side note:- The owner is a "supposed" VW fan, and he suggested that it just needs a new spring. Now when i pull the lever up, their is no spring action, so i assume it does need a new spring. How do i access the seat and find out what exactly is wrong?

Is their a way of pulling the seat forward without using that lever?

didn't make a guide unfortunately.it was mega fiddly, and involved straightening out the little metal hooks on the base of the baserest and squeezing my arm up inside the seat.

when you pull the lever up,does it actually pull the big hooks either side of the seat up?

[kapur]

Big hooks? Where are these located?

Sorry, just that I only bought the car on Friday, and it's been parked up outside my mates house until i can insure it and what not.

I'll try and take some photos tomorow of the car over-all.

[pettsy]

they are what hold the back of the seat to the base

[ModifiedMadness]

It annoys me when you're looking at stuff on e-bay and you'll type in Polo GTi for example and it'll come up with some Polo GTi's then others with the description "VW GOLF 1.8T GTI, 2000 W REG, NOT POLO, PASSAT, BORA"

Obviously, it says it's a Golf, what is the point putting Not Polo etc

[Tahrey1043]

HI people. I've been around on here for quite a time now

yo!

1. The rear view mirror is way too small
2. The heater doesn't work (It simply blows out cold air...)
3. I have been told that the spring in the passengers seat has come off or is broken, so passengers sitting in the rear can not get out due to that etc
4. The arches aren't fitted properly, and can see massive gaps.

1. never seen a problem with this one myself - the mirror is just the right size to show the entire of the rear window with the tiniest of overlap with the metalwork. Perhaps it's different with a coupe though...

2. this has been answered enough, but i agree - its wierd. you get used to warming your hands on the screen vents and heating the interior via the footwells after a while though. The side exits to the face vents (that blow on the window quarterlights - another VW oddity) also blow hot, if you're desperate.

3. this was a major pain for me - be warned that as they're a similar age, and you're now using the one side twice as much, you may soon end up with TWO broken ones. All is not lost - if you feel down at the bottom of the chair, at the back, you should find the metal clips, and they pull up quite easily. Sometimes the wire has only broken to one of them, so you can do a double act of pulling on the proper handle and on the clip; other times it breaks completely so you have to hurt your back that little bit more to pull both of them.
I'm going to be finding out quite soon how difficult it may be to change the wire - my old, slightly less desirable seats are in storage in my nan's garage.. both the front ones with knackered (indeed, removed if memory serves) tilt wires. I fancy putting them back in before I sell the car, and selling the better seats seperately, but I'll have to make them tiltworthy first. "Watch this space". Till then, use the floor clips.. its no worse than, say, an old fiesta where the seat release is at floor level anyway

4. can't help on that, i'm afraid. you could always go balls-out and remove them

The car generally needs a thorough clean...

when you're done, you can come do mine.
both of 'em.

Theirs quite a few dents in the paint work... How much would it cost to say pull out about 5 dents in total?

dunno, i'm trying to figure out how to do it with a DIY dent puller at the mo as i've got a couple of small but obvious ones i'd like to smooth out. same as the seats ... if i figure it i might well put the method up.

(number of DIY writeups waiting for me to get round to typing them: 4.. it was 2 when i started this post engine, gearbox, and now seats and dents)

I managed to hagle down to £550... is that any good?

i'm no expert on GTs but I think i'd be happy with that price if it's all straight and good