Bits and Pieces

Date Mileage Items Cost
06/17/03 188,000 1989 VW Jetta $950
06/17/03 188,000 Wiper Blades $14
06/21/03 188,000 Timing Belt
Tensioner
$37
06/21/03 188,000 Thermostat Free
06/25/03 188,000 185/60R14 Goodyear Tires
2 new, 2 at 80%
$80
06/25/03 188,000 Coolant bleed hose Free
06/26/03 188,000 Brake fluid service Free
06/26/03 188,000 Replaced all vacumme lines Free
7-1-03 189,000 buff finish of car Free
7-2-03 189,000 Front Engine Mount $21
7-2-03 189,000 Fuel Filter Free
7-2-03 189,000 Front brake pads $25
7-3-03 189,000 Alternator Belt
Air Conditioning Belt
Power Steering Belt
$25
7-3-03 189,000 Checked C02/exhaust gasses.
Butterflies and bunny rabbits
are hopping out of the tailpipe
Free
7-11-03 189,000 3.5" 2 way dash speakers
5" 3 way rear speakers
5" midbass door speakers
$42.81
7-12-03 189,000 GTi snowflake wheels
$45 for wheels
$15 supplies to refinish
$60.00
7-15-03 189,000 Wheel bolt caps Gift
7-30-03 189,000 Hella Air Horns Gift
8-6-03 189,000 Left axle boots $15.00
8-20-03 190,000 Bossal stock exhaust $115
10-9-03 192,000 Headliner recovered
Sunroof pannel recovered
light/crank trim recovered
$38
10-10-03 192,000 Strut Bearings $20.00
10-10-03 192,000 Oil Change
Castrol GTX 20-50
VW Filter
$11.00
10-11-03 192,000 Alignment Free
11-10-03 193,000 Shifter Bushings $25.00
1-20-04 198,000 Oil Change
Castrol GTX 5-30
VW Filter
$11.00
2-24-04 199,000 Front engine mount
Hydraulic type
$45.00
2-25-04 199,000 LR wheel bearing $19.50
3-2-04 200,000 Front Struts
KYB gas/oil
$92.00
3-2-04 200,000 Ft wheel bearings $39.00
4-4-04 201,000 Sunvisor clips $3.80
5-12-04 203,000 NOS parking brake boot $36.09
5-12-04 203,000 parking brake bezel $2.86
5-13-04 203,000 Door handle bezles $11.04
5-13-04 203,000 Outter seat rail caps $6.42
5-22-04 204,000 NOS Pedal pads $1.18
6-15-04 205,000 Oil Change
Castrol GTX 10-40
VW Filter
$11.00
9-18-04 209,000 Oil change
Mobil 1 0-40
VW Filter
$5
9-24-04 210,000 Negotiator NH60 tires
185/60R14
$136.00
10-28-04 211,000 throttle cable
clutch cable
tie-rod ends
alignment
11-7-04 211,000 heater core
blower fan
fan resistor

Okay, I'll use this section to note specifics on some of the things I've done to the car and other misc. thoughts, rants or ideas. I decided to leave the car stock, and only use accessories that someone could have purchsed at a Volkswagen dealership, with the exception of the stero speakers... All the work has been done by myself, so cost of repairs is for parts only. I work at a dealership that also sells Audi cars, so I get parts from volkswagen at a pretty good price, so the prices shown may not be what you will pay at the counter.

Wheels: The wheels My dad sent me from VT, a friend of his donated them to my Jetta. The clearcoat was coming off of one of the wheels and the others were in nice shape but were a bit weathered and there was corrosion in the aluminum where the clear had chipped and the bare aluminum was exposed. I decided to remove all of the clearcoat from the non-painted portions of the wheel and I painstakingly polished all the aluminum to a medium luster, I didn't go the extra step to make them look like chrome because I wanted it to look like polished aluminum, not chrome. First I removed the clearcoat and major blemishes using 150 grit sandpaper, then I moved to 220, 360, 400, 600, 800, 1000, and finally 1500. The trick is to make sure you remove all of the 150 scratches with the 220, and remove all of the 220 scratches with the 360, etc. After the sanding I polished the aluminum with Mother's Mag and Aluminum polish. I restored the painted finish using automotive buffing compound, but you can also use 3M Finish Restorer which you can get at Wal-Mart along with the Mother's, and the sand paper. Total cost was around $18 in supplies, and about 5 hours EACH wheel. I had to keep looking over at the wheels I had already finished to keep me motivated about the one I was working on. I used a 15 gallon drum with a piece of carpet over it as a "Table" for the wheels, the 14" wheels fit just right with the carpet in place and did not wobble or side around. I cleaned the corrosion off of the bead areas using a 3M surface prep disc on my air grinder, I then used a marine grade Zinc Chromate primer which is made for aluminum lower units on boats, it is super anti-corrosion and it is made to bond to bare aluminum. It was and additional $9 for the primer, but I shouldn't have to worry about bead corrosion again.

GLi Spoiler: I actually purchased the spoiler when I still lived in VT, about 4 years prior to owning my own Jetta. I took it from a car at the junkyard, paid $10 for it. I was going to give it to my dad so he could put it on his car but he was worried about drilling holes and rust eating out the reat trunklid of his car so it sat in the garage until he mailed it to me so I could put it to use. The install took place in the parking lot at work, pretty straight forward. Air Horns:My dad got me the air horn set for my Beetle, and I installed them but never got a horn button for the car before I sold it, and I decided to keep them for my next vehicle so I took them back off when I put it up for sale. I removed the high note horn that is behind the front valance on the left side and the bracket I had made to mount the horns on the beetle bolted right up, I installed the comperssor infront of the battery, bolted to the front clip to the left (sitting in driver's seat..) of the radiator, and I wired it using the wires for the hi-note horn, I disconnected the low-note behind the grill. If it was too much current for the horn circuit, the fuse would blow. It is setup with a relay/fuse/etc from the factory for the oem horns, so I decided that I didn't need to use the included relay to operate them. (maybe it's for when you use the original horns as well) they're pretty loud, especially when I tested them inside the shop.


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