Author Topic: Stripping out interior  (Read 8814 times)

Offline KMW

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Stripping out interior
« on: 31 August 2011, 11:42 »
I recently bought a mk3 gti to use as a track car and have started stripping out the rear interior, seats, door trims, wiper motor etc, have any of you guys done this before and how far have you / should I go in removing stuff?
Should I take out the head lining, front carpet, heater matrix and dash? I plan on keeping it MOT'd & TAX'd so I can drive it to tracks so would the dash etc have to stay put?
« Last Edit: 31 August 2011, 13:04 by KMW »

Offline Diamond Hell

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Re: Stripping out interior
« Reply #1 on: 31 August 2011, 13:46 »
I'd leave the dash and heater matrix, but lose the carpets.  See if you can remove the metal superstructure under the dash - this is heavy.  Heater is particularly handy to maintain, if you are ever at a track day when it rains.  :grin:

You might like to have the headlining out and pull the sound-deadening out from behind it - this will lighten the car, but put the headlining back if you can to stop condensation.

Don't forget to get the side-impact door bars out of the doors - they weigh kilos each!  If you strip the doors, then cover them back over with foamalux or similar afterwards to cover up sharp edges.

You might like to get a spot-weld drill to take out brackets that are now redundant.

Are you going cage/buckets/harnesses too?
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Offline KMW

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Re: Stripping out interior
« Reply #2 on: 01 September 2011, 12:11 »
Cheers, some great advice.
Think I'll leave the dash / heater in (live in scotland and plan on going mostly to Knockhill) as you say it could be pretty handy but will have a look at the lower dash tonight.
Deffo putting seats & harnesses in but not sure about a cage yet?
Stripped the bars from the doors last night but left the window motors in just now for ventilation, will probably remove them at some point and fit foamalux or perspex to cover the holes.
Its got a sun roof so thought about ditching that and filling with perspex too, how hard would it to do the same to the rear side and back window's as there bonded in?
Feels so bad throwing all the inside of what was a nice car away!  :laugh:

Offline Diamond Hell

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Re: Stripping out interior
« Reply #3 on: 01 September 2011, 13:51 »
Deffo putting seats & harnesses in but not sure about a cage yet?

To be done right, the harnesses need to be secured at shoulder height.  You can only do this properly with a cage with harness bars in it.

As such, it's either do all, or do none.

Stripped the bars from the doors last night but left the window motors in just now for ventilation, will probably remove them at some point and fit foamalux or perspex to cover the holes.

The foamalux is to replace the doorcards.

You need polycarbonate/Lexan to replace the windows.  Perspex shatters into shards and is nasty.

Its got a sun roof so thought about ditching that and filling with perspex too, how hard would it to do the same to the rear side and back window's as there bonded in?

Remove sunroof and mechanism, replace with alloy sheet, bonded with Sikaflex or Tigerseal and rivetted in.

Rear windows can be removed and then you can use Sikaflex or Tigerseal to bond in polycarb items to replace.  Same should be possible for the tailgate.

Talk to these guys about securing the rear windows and tailgate: http://www.acwmotorsportplastics.co.uk/

They were very helpful when I got mine.
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Offline KMW

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Re: Stripping out interior
« Reply #4 on: 02 September 2011, 21:23 »
What's the thing that sits under the dash on the transmission tunnel with the sticker on
it that's says 'warning do not remove'??
Looks heavy want it gone, must reduce weight  :grin:
Was shocked to find sand filled pads under the sound deadening in the front foot wells!

Offline Diamond Hell

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Re: Stripping out interior
« Reply #5 on: 02 September 2011, 21:45 »
Does it have an airbag?  I would suspect it's the airbag module.  Surely you'll have the wheel off for a better one anyway, right?  :grin:

You'll need to strip out the rest of the airbag wiring to ensure there's no airbag light on on the dash, which would be an MOT fail.

Sound deadening is nearly always absurdly heavy.  Get shut of it.  :grin:

Next up - the black tarry stuff glued to the floor, I suspect.
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Offline tech1889

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Re: Stripping out interior
« Reply #6 on: 02 September 2011, 21:49 »
Does it have an airbag?  I would suspect it's the airbag module.  Surely you'll have the wheel off for a better one anyway, right?  :grin:

You'll need to strip out the rest of the airbag wiring to ensure there's no airbag light on on the dash, which would be an MOT fail.

Sound deadening is nearly always absurdly heavy.  Get shut of it.  :grin:

Next up - the black tarry stuff glued to the floor, I suspect.

a right pig to remove !
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Offline Diamond Hell

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Re: Stripping out interior
« Reply #7 on: 02 September 2011, 22:10 »
a right pig to remove !

Nah - a quick wave of the oxy-acetylene torch and it's like putty on the scraper.  :grin:
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Offline KMW

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Re: Stripping out interior
« Reply #8 on: 02 September 2011, 23:43 »
Must be the airbag module, so yeah it'll be coming out along with the standard wheel.
Cars bone dry on the inside not a wet patch anywhere (oh er missus)! :drool:
Think that's as much as I'll be going in the weight removal quest for now, looking for a cage now.

Offline tech1889

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Re: Stripping out interior
« Reply #9 on: 03 September 2011, 15:58 »
a right pig to remove !

Nah - a quick wave of the oxy-acetylene torch and it's like putty on the scraper.  :grin:

Good call lol
Mk4 Golf GTI anniversary and mk6 golf tdi :)