The Poor Mans Mod Page

MKV Turbo15 · Jan 17, 2009

Marky-Mark007 said:
mkvturbo15 doesn't have, nor has he ever had, that diy cai. He just posted up stuff from another thread on here where someone else did. Sorry kev.

Um....wrong! nice try Mark. I was the one who came up with the idea AND the DIY and had Paul post it up since he was gonna be running it in his car. It used in my car for a bit and is now in his car.

------On a sidenote--------

Sorry for the delayed response
But to answer your question kevDSGbmp

It is perfectly fine and effective. We actually just picked up his car from Jersey and all that driving and the crap out there and after driving around colorado for a bit, its still effective, strong, and fairly easy to maintain.

nintendodude · Jan 17, 2009

enough bickering! I want some more ideas that are hella cheep and dont take a lot of work!

darcness · Jan 17, 2009

- 4 circles tail light mod -

Here's a mod that cost me no money at all. Granted I had access to some parts and equipment at work, but that's besides the point. Even if you have to buy the bulbs and silicone, it still would be around $10-15 in cost. Plus it's just damn cool.

Here's the details from my build log.

1.13.09 - Hatch tail light mod.

Well I was spurred on by the DIY that was recently posted here on mkv about adding bulbs to the middle, or hatch tail lights. Since they technically don't function as tail lights, and rather only come on as reverse lights, I thought it would be a cool mod to try. Besides that, only MKV folks will even notice. That's one of my main reasons for doing it. I'll see how many folks notice at meets and GTG's this coming summer season. Should be a trip.

Anyway, this mod cost me a total of zero dollars. I already had all the parts and tools I needed at home or at work so I didn't spend a dime.

I'll detail the process as best I as I can. I didn't run the wires in the interior yet so that won't be included in the DIY yet. Once I do that part I'll update with some more pics.

Parts/Tools needed:

10mm open ended wrench
Drill bit (slightly larger than a wedge bulb)
Silicone sealant
Shrink tube
Cable ties
Wedge bulbs (quantity 4)
Wire
Solder and soldering iron
Phillips screw driver

The process:

First thing is first, you have to get the tail light out of the vehicle. To do this you pop off the two squarish trim bits on the hatch behind the tail lights. Once those are off, unplug the reverse light bulbs and then twist the bulbs and they pop out. There's two 10mm nuts on the back of the tail lights, remove those, and then pull the tail light out.

And, voila:

After the tails are out, you have to remove the 3 phillips screws in the back that hold on the silver reflector for the reverse bulb. Once that's off you need to mark where you want the holes for the bulbs. A good idea is to put the tail light back in and try to follow the lines from the outer tails. Also, make sure you mark them symmetrically on both tails or you will be able to tell the difference once they are installed.

Once you have the tails marked, make sure to drill upside down and go slow. If you drill down the little shavings will go into the tail light and are a MAJOR pain in the ass to get out. By going slow it actually makes the shavings stay in one long string instead of breaking apart leaving a chance of getting in the housing.

Here's how it looks with the holes drilled:

Now it's time to work with the bulb. I used regular wedge bulbs because they are easy to wire and cost next to nothing. I started by taking a regular bulb and then bending the wires up a bit and threading through that. You don't need to attach too much wire, just enough on both lights so you can solder them together and add a plug for easy removal and bulb replacement.

Then I took my trusty solder iron and soldered the wires to keep everything held in place and secure.

The next step is secure the bulbs in the tail housing. I placed the bulb in the hole I drilled and then put silicon around it, making sure to cover the wiring to avoid any shorts or exposure of bare wire/solder. The silicone also keeps out any moisture or dirt.

Some pictars:

After the silicone dried enough I tied the two bulbs together into 1 wire so I could hook up the plug. I used shrink wrap after soldering the wires together to keep it clean. I also used cable ties to attach the wiring to the post for the bolt to keep everything secure. I left about 6 inches of wire after the solder joint and attached the plug. I don't have a picture of the plug, but I just used an old tamiya R/C plug I had laying around. You can use any plug you wish as long as it's protected and holds securely.

Next was testing phase. I used a 12v power supply at work to test them out. You can also use a computer power supply to test them out. The second picture was after the first one was done in my den at home.

The next step I don't have any pictures of, but you'll see what I'm talking about. When you go to put the silver reflector piece back on, it will hit the bulb/silicone. You'll have to take a razor knife, drill bit, or snips and trim it so it sits flush with the housing.

After that you're basically done. As long as the silicone is dry, the tails are ready to go back in the car. The install process is the same as the removal, but be careful. On the outside bulb if too much silicone or the bulb sticks out too far it can hit on the sheet metal behind it. If this happens either drill a hole in the sheet metal, or get the bulb to sit farther into the housing.

For now mine are just ran down the side of the hatch and through the holes where the rubber grommets and wiring goes from the hatch door to the car. That's as far as I could sanely get in near zero temperatures. I wanted to see how they would look so I took an old battery charger I had and lopped off the cigarette lighter plug. I plugged it into the rear cigarette lighter outlet and then hooked it up to the wire I ran for the lights. Good chance for a photo op. :headbang:

As you can see it sort of looks like the outside lights are a bit brighter. In person though, they look pretty much identical. No resistors needed. I was happy about that. :happyanim:

Raven6t9 · Jan 17, 2009

Wow man, take a bow cus that looks awesome! Im so doing this when Ive got $5 to spend!
So where exactly would you wire this to get it to work as running lights?
Im sure I would figure it out with little time spent but this way it helps everyone.

Raven6t9 · Jan 17, 2009

Heres one I did the other night. Didnt cost me a dime, but I already had polishing stuff at home.
I took out my motor mounts and polished them, theres really no real need to do any of them other than the passenger side mount since its the only one you can see.

But here it is, Im pretty happy with the results, and removal/installation is a snap.

Even from a dirty lense on a camera phone at night it still blings!

If you dont have any polishing stuff, a wire wheel will bring out cast aluminum a little and make it bright, but it wont last too long before the aluminum tarnishes and you'll have to do it again.
This way should last fine, I would recomend a sealer after youre done since the heat and dust will start to tarnish it a little over time.

theholycow · Jan 18, 2009

Raven6t9 said:
So where exactly would you wire this to get it to work as running lights?

It should be easy enough to tap any existing lights that already provide the behavior you want.

darcness · Jan 18, 2009

theholycow said:
It should be easy enough to tap any existing lights that already provide the behavior you want.

This is true, but I was leery tapping into the OEM tail lights. I'm thinking they might throw a code if they are seeing too much current draw. Also they use a dual filament bulb and I'm only using single on my inner tails.

What I decided to do was use the cigarette lighter in the hatch. I'm going to hard wire it in soon, but it's too cold here in Michigan to be doing any serious work outside. For now they are just plugged in to the hatch lighter plug via an old charging cable I had laying around. They come on whenever the ignition of the car is turned on. It's like I have daytime running head lights and tail lights now. Always on when the car is on. However since it's a habit of mine to turn on the headlights every time I get in the car (day or night), I'm rolling 4 circles pretty much 24/7. Only the trained eye would ever notice that the inner lights are independently controlled from the outer. And even then, it'd be a good conversation piece. :thumbup:

N8_DUB · Jan 18, 2009

Raven6t9 said:
I did a few of my friends Rabbits' emblems in a 'brushed look', we tried different things at first until we decided on some sandpaper and heavy strokes, it came out perfect I think. nice and even.

I took the black (body color) off mine today, painted it red and layered some clear coat over it... Going with that for a little while, see how it plays out...

ruffellprefley · Jan 18, 2009

N8_DUB said:
You may not have to buy a new front emblem, I have sanded one down too far on accident and reached the "core" of that type of metal it's made of (never really paid attention to it).... Anyway, I messed up on the first layer of paint I sprayed and my friend suggested sanding it off and re-finishing it... If you sand the paint off, you should be able to polish that bare metal back to a chrome finish....

I will double check on this from my end, can anyone else verify that this will / will not work???

Raven6t9 said:
confirmed! Ive sanded my paint off a few times before painting it again and the chrome was nice and preserved underneath, the paint is a lot weaker than the chrome, so when removing the paint, use something that will take off paint but not har chrome, actually, Acetone will work nicely on a rag, or even some steel wool.

so then... in reality the entire emblem is metal? so it's chrome, got some bronze, then goes back to a polishable metal of some type?

in all honesty, i haven't investigated a front emblem (either GTI or jetta) but the rear hatch emblem seems to be plastic with metal on top. i accidentally sanded through the chrome, and it started to come out a bronze color. around the edges it looked like it was completely chipping away to plastic

Raven6t9 · Jan 18, 2009

ruffellprefley said:
so then... in reality the entire emblem is metal? so it's chrome, got some bronze, then goes back to a polishable metal of some type?

in all honesty, i haven't investigated a front emblem (either GTI or jetta) but the rear hatch emblem seems to be plastic with metal on top. i accidentally sanded through the chrome, and it started to come out a bronze color. around the edges it looked like it was completely chipping away to plastic

No no, it is indeed plastic, but its still chromed. I think all chrome has the copper color underneath, I think its the nickel plating, its just the process of how its done. But underneath the chroming it is plastic, front and back, Jetta GTI and Rabbit, all plastic.
But now with that clear, you have to use something that is harsher than paint but softer than the chrome plating (which is still metal) to remove the paint.

N8_DUB · Jan 19, 2009

Raven6t9 said:
Yes the noise pipe is a GTI only item. Its a pipe that branches off from your throttle body pipe just before the throttle body, and travels all the way up into your firewall to an amplifier behind your glove compartment. Its sole purpose is to make your motor sound more attractive while driving, but this extra tube gets filled up with boost pressure that could otherwise be used in your motor, theres also the obstructed flow theory. By removing this blumbing and plugging this hole at the throttle body pipe where it branches off, GTI owners can now feel an extra throttle responce. And the entire cost is a simple plug for the hole, as pictured on page 1. Total mod time is about 15min.

For some reason this keeps screaming to me that that pipe is the airconditioning line for the Glove Box... IDK... Maybe I'm going crazy....

N8_DUB · Jan 19, 2009

ruffellprefley said:
so then... in reality the entire emblem is metal? so it's chrome, got some bronze, then goes back to a polishable metal of some type?

in all honesty, i haven't investigated a front emblem (either GTI or jetta) but the rear hatch emblem seems to be plastic with metal on top. i accidentally sanded through the chrome, and it started to come out a bronze color. around the edges it looked like it was completely chipping away to plastic

This is not an electrical sander is it? LOL

It took me a good deal of time to work off the layers of paint I put on my emblem... But I was doing it by hand... Never really wore through the finish though, just one tiny spot.

N8_DUB · Jan 19, 2009

Quick question for all you Mod-friendly's out there....

I want to put a few aftermarket parats on my GTI, but I want to keep my warranty... I have heard of a few dealers that will install the parts for you and keep the current warranty... Does anyone know how Clear Lake VW think of this??? They seemed very opposed to mods the last few times I mentioned them... But that was in a different case.. I was also wondering if I would have to buy the parts from them in order for them to warranty it.

theholycow · Jan 19, 2009

The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act disallows the warranty from being voided. At most they can deny a specific claim if they can find a way to blame it on the modification.

FISHSCALE · Jan 19, 2009

N8_DUB said:
Quick question for all you Mod-friendly's out there....

I want to put a few aftermarket parats on my GTI, but I want to keep my warranty... I have heard of a few dealers that will install the parts for you and keep the current warranty... Does anyone know how Clear Lake VW think of this??? They seemed very opposed to mods the last few times I mentioned them... But that was in a different case.. I was also wondering if I would have to buy the parts from them in order for them to warranty it.

aftermarket parats lol

The Poor Mans Mod Page

MKV Turbo15

23psi and fast as fuck!

nintendodude

Banned

darcness

Go Kart Champion

Raven6t9

Noise Pipe Plugs FTW!!!

Raven6t9

Noise Pipe Plugs FTW!!!

theholycow

Go Kart Champion

darcness

Go Kart Champion

N8_DUB

Ready to race!

ruffellprefley

get it?

Raven6t9

Noise Pipe Plugs FTW!!!

N8_DUB

Ready to race!

N8_DUB

Ready to race!

N8_DUB

Ready to race!

theholycow

Go Kart Champion

FISHSCALE

Ready to race!