64 SPLIT

do em as big as you like! the best advice I'd say is to find a size you like, count out how many squares it is from one side to the other and then work out the size from there - but try make it so that the vinyls overlap into the gutters slightly, that way when you;ve stuck em all down, you can replace the gutter trims and they'll cover up the edges nice n neat.

complete thread hijack - but gotta say that your centre console looks mint!! Love the red stripe in it.

Do it! It's the best way to learn. Just remember that the quality of the finish is all in the preparation. Make sure the area is prepped properly and that the scratch is COMPLETELY smoothed out. Make sure you've got the correct colour and type of primer (use etch primer if its gone to the metal) There are ways you can overcome paint errors by sanding, polishing and buffing. The hardest part is gonna be matching the original paint and blending it into surround panels - Depending on the location of the scratch you may need to spray across two or even three panels to get a smooth blend (especially if you have metallic paint!). And so on... Just remember that the panel is wrecked already, so why not have a go? If the finish is poor, sand it back and try again or hand it over to the professionals.

I'm planning on replacing the engine in my SDI over the next week or so. Does anyone know if there are any special VAG tools required? Reason I ask is that last time I worked on my mates Scirocco we needed a special tool to be able to remove the exhaust.

you can buy proper fabric spray dyes - that's gonna give you the best results. I did the headlining in my old Passat saloon (changed from grey to black a la Audi's). Looked great and still did when I sold it. As with anything tho, the quality of finish is in the preparation.

Can you supply the vinyl? - I fancy trying this myself and paying for someone else to do a full wrap on the Lupo is out of my budget

I'd swap with you but my doors are blue!

same thing happened to me with my old Passat - full scratch down the entire length of the car! I was with Direct Line at the time and was lucky enough not to have a £0 excess so had to claim for the damage. a scratch through to the primer is gonna need painting - touch up pens/scratch-X etc. just won't do the trick.

the white plastic bit is sat in a clear 'sleeve' which clips against the metal of the wing - the white bit kind of pushes into this sleeve as a compression fit. i think the idea is that the white part is slotted into the grooves on the reverse of the grill mask and then you can just push the mask into place. quite whether this works I have no idea as mine is currently removed to be repainted so I've yet to try refitting!

try some coke on it

archenemy have a coupla different guys around the country - the guy I spoke to was brilliant - he did the arches on my Passat - no paint cracking and was very knowledgable about what could and couldn't be done with my car.

you can roll and flare your arches - speak to the guys at archenemy.co.uk - they charge around £80 for a pair of arches n about £140 or something for all 4. you can also run a stretch to avoid catching the tyres on the bodywork, depending how low you are.

cool - thanks for that - can get em listed on eBay now

I want to sell my alloys that are currently fitted up to my Lupo - they're 14" VW rims. I thought they might be starlites but having seen pics of starlites online, it seems they have 8 spokes not 7 like these?!

cheers! - figured that might be about the only option but thought I'd ask just in case.

if you really want the best finish to it then there's no point polishing the paintwork unless you've properly cleaned the car beforehand - you need to wash it (twice), use a proper paint/wax cleaner to strip any old waxes off, then clay the paintwork to get any contaminants off it, then move on to machine polishing it. There's loads of choices for polishes but as VAG paint is typically quite hard I'd recommend something like Menzerna's stuff. Simple 3 stage polishes depending on how bad the paint is damaged - then you'll need to wax n buff it. or you could just pay to get your car properly detailed and save your arms.

Are there any mods that can be done with the 1.7 SDI engine to tweek a little more power from it? I realise these things are sloooooow but a little extra power would be good.

I used the same colour to spray the roof of my old Passat - it's called VW Dark Maroon Metallic - LR8X (which isn't maroon at all it's a very dark grey/brown almost black). this shows the colour best...

poor connections in the switch? - there's a how-to on here somewhere that I came across last week that shows how to refurb faulty window switches.

thanks for the replies - having had a closer look again there's obvious signs of it having been welded before. I'm concerned that should I have it welded that it would go again so I'm thinking I might just got for a complete replacement to be on the safe side. one '64 split...

yeah, having looked at the pics again it would look like it goes across the two halves of the gearbox - I'm guessing it's gonna be easiest just to replace the whole box. in the first pic - is it right that the block just above where the electrical plug is, is not parallel to the rest of the engine/gearbox casing? just looks odd to me.

a very very dark metallic burgundy - or how about the dark metallic 'brown' that's on the new Sciroccos. It looks awesome.

Hit a speed bump on my way home yesterday and immediately felt the gearbox and gearstick jolt so as I went to change up gear, I couldn't select anything. Pulled over, and the gearstick would only move very slightly forwards and very little side to side. I couldn't move the gearstick anywhere to try get reverse, 1st, 2nd and 4th. With a bit of wrangling, I managed to drive the 130 miles home with only 3rd and 5th gears! Anyway, got it up on axle stands today and this is what's occured... Looking down the right side of the engine you can see where the selecter rods come in to the engine bay. Centre of shot - I don't know if the casing where they rods join to is supposed to be angled away from the gearbox casing - is that right?? Otherwise, all looks fairly ok. Underneath the car though it's a different story! Looking towards the back of the engine - here you can see what's happened. The mounting point for what I assume is the rear engine support has sheered off, and the arm is now sitting a good inch or two further back than it should! Viewed from the side, you can see where the bolt for the mount is supposed to be (far right), Having looked at it, it looks like the previous owner has had this mount welded - so all I can assume is it's gone before and he's bodged it up! So, what are my options? Am I gonna have to replace the entire gearbox (1.7 SDI) in order to sort it or is the section of casing removable from the rest of the gearbox etc.?

My mate has kindly offered me a set of 15" polo steel wheels so I can get them banded for my new SDI Lupo. The Lupo is getting fitted with coilovers as soon as possible and will be as low as I can get it. It's going to be driven pretty much daily on the motorway (which is why I'm thinking 15's rather than 13's) and 7j's for the fronts and 8j for the rears. Now I'm assuming this is about as wide as a slammed non-GTI Lupo will take on the rear without scrubbing/much arch work - so what kind of ET should I be aiming for so I can give the wheels to the banding guy?

they're fine - I ran some 5x114 deep dish jap rims on my old Passat using wobbles. had it like that for well over 10,000 miles - can understand your concern, but over the full diameter it's only 1mm out at each bolt. provided they're torqued up properly and there's enough room for the actual bolt to fit in the bolt hole they're spot on!