For me the interior is one of the most important areas of the
car, I think that the place you spend your time while driving should
be clean and comfortable. So I will tell you some things that I or
others have done that you can do to make the inside of your car look
better and feel better. But who am I to tell you how to make your
car look, I mean if you like ripped seats, cracked dashes and
sagging headliner then this is not the section for you.
- I did not like the color of my dash and door panels, but the
overall condition of them was still good. I painted them black
with a paint that is meant for use on plastic and vinyl, the
paint went on a lot better than I thought it would. I would
recommend this if your dash is fading or if you just need a
change. Don't forget to clean the parts your going to paint with
something that will not leaven an oily residue! I also scuffed
the surfaces with some fine steal wool.
- After I did the dash and door panels I went onto the
headliner. My headliner was sagging everywhere. I took the
Headliner board out of my car and took off the old cloth I went
to the same place that I bought my paint from for the dash and
bought some headliner material and headliner adhesive (just a
spray glue) I glued it back on and it looks like new. Another
way to do this was listed on "The
Phat Rabbit Page", this page seems to be down, it was a
great source for information. The way described consists of
removing the old board, flipping it over and painting the side
that did not have the cloth on it with enamel paint. Once it is
back in your car with the new painted side should be facing
down. I have not seen this treatment done, but it should look
good seeing as how his car won a show trophy. I would caution on
bending the board to much after you paint it, the paint may
crack or peel.
- Something else I did was put in an instrument cluster from a
a1 GTI into my car, this got rid of that ugly clock and gave me
a nice tach instead. The wiring harness is already equipped for
this cluster so don't worry about that.
- The steering wheel in a stock Rabbit is ugly and uncomfortable
to hold, it is made of a hard plastic and should be tossed away
with the trash. Instead you can go to your local salvage yard
and buy a 4 button leather wheel out of any a1 GTI or Scirocco,
put it in and get rid of that god awful plastic circle That VW
called a steering wheel.
- The seats you sit in should be comfortable not adequate!
Get the seats from any a1 GTI they are cheap from a salvage yard
and will fit into any Rabbit They look better and feel better
than the stock Rabbit seats, they are Recaros.
- Shifting, Maybe this should be in Tech Tips or Performance
Boosters... You can make your own short shift kit for your A1
Rabbit, for in instructions click here.
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