My Ride, 03 Jetta GLI

[jdrumstik]

Heres the overall side shot. I haven't calyed in a while just cause im Lazy, and it has some swirl to it cause I don't have a PC. But it does have the Klasse Combo, and then Pinnacle Souvern on top.

Here's the engine, the plastic cover was cracked when I bought it and would come off sometimes with my driving so I ditched it. Also polished some of the bare metal.

Here's my DIY Cold Ram Intake mod. Its made from the black PVC pipe (forgot what its called) and one peice of Flexible rubber pipe. Jettas sometimes have issues with the oil and the reduced filtering of cotton filters and I didn't want to spend two to three hundread on an aftermarket setup. Plus its easy to revert to stock and if I do have to drive though a huge puddle for some reason its easy to unhook.

Here's is where the Fog lights would go if I had them, and the Intake gets air. I'm working on adapting the grill cover so it fits while letting air through.

Here's the sadness, a ding on the trunk

The paint cracked and a small dent and small scrape when somebody smashed into the side of my car on the freeway. Not sure how I got so lucky with so little damage. But I couldn't claim it cause I have a lot of tickets and can't handel any hire insurance premiums and its a 50/50 accident since it was a side impact even though she drove into my car while fiddling with the radio while driving in my blind spot.

Previous Paint cracks (bought the car used from a small dealer)

Extreme rock chipping (26,000 highway miles this year!). Im going to respray the bumper with a rattle can from autovisuals.com

And somehow a Mesquito Hunter got into my HEADLIGHT! I can't figure out how to get inside it. Maybe if I pull out the light bulb I can fish him out

Think it all looks good? Hope so. I just do it for my hobby, not a pro or anything. Any Idea's on paint cracks?

 

[ryandamartini]

Looks good, about that spraycan for the bumper, my front bumper is looking pretty bad. What do you do to make it look good or as good as it gets with the spraycan ?

 

[jdrumstik]

Looks good, about that spray can for the bumper, my front bumper is looking pretty bad. What do you do to make it look good or as good as it gets with the spray can ?

Maybe I'll make a guide on How I do it. I've sprayed my wife's car cause it got keyed. The key is to buy matched quality paint in a can and follow the directions exactly. Sand it all off first and mask and paper everything you don't want painted. Make sure their is NO wind and go slow and even (they say quick dusts) Then let it cure and then do the same with 2-5 coats of clear. Then give the clear 48 hours to cure and then polish the hell otta it till its shiny. I polish it by hand with some high cut Turlte Wax rubbing compound. The stuff is aweful but it cuts quick. Then I follow up with Megs rubbing compound (much less cut) and then I follow up with Klasse and it looks great. Im sure it would look better with a PC and some higher quality Polish but I can't really tell without a side by side comparion. Also the bumper is a great place to respray because its generally not what people look at when checking out a car (versus the Hood etc). And on many cars the bump is slanted towards the ground, and can it look worse? Also, respray whole panels, if the color is even slightly off it will be aparant and blending will be difficult where as by the panel you won't be able to tell unless the match is bad or your paint is faded.

If you have an air compressor I'd buy a can of paint and then buy a paint gun (not the expensive. The Rattle cans can be temperamental.

 

[maddenbowler]

to remove your headlight your going to have to remove the front bumper. But that is extremely easy. It takes me less than 5 minutes. You should check out vwvortex.com sometime. Great place for anything volkswagen

 

[jdrumstik]

to remove your headlight your going to have to remove the front bumper. But that is extremely easy. It takes me less than 5 minutes. You should check out vwvortex.com sometime. Great place for anything volkswagen

But isn't the headlight a sealed unit?

I've been on Vortex quite a bit, good site.

 

[maddenbowler]

well once you got the headlight out you could remove the bulb and make the bug fall out. But search Joey mod on the vortex. Yes its a sealed unit but only with silicone. You can heat up the silicone with an oven or blow dryer and pull it apart

 

[ryandamartini]

Maybe I'll make a guide on How I do it. I've sprayed my wife's car cause it got keyed. The key is to buy matched quality paint in a can and follow the directions exactly. Sand it all off first and mask and paper everything you don't want painted. Make sure their is NO wind and go slow and even (they say quick dusts) Then let it cure and then do the same with 2-5 coats of clear. Then give the clear 48 hours to cure and then polish the hell otta it till its shiny. I polish it by hand with some high cut Turlte Wax rubbing compound. The stuff is aweful but it cuts quick. Then I follow up with Megs rubbing compound (much less cut) and then I follow up with Klasse and it looks great. Im sure it would look better with a PC and some higher quality Polish but I can't really tell without a side by side comparion. Also the bumper is a great place to respray because its generally not what people look at when checking out a car (versus the Hood etc). And on many cars the bump is slanted towards the ground, and can it look worse? Also, respray whole panels, if the color is even slightly off it will be aparant and blending will be difficult where as by the panel you won't be able to tell unless the match is bad or your paint is faded.

If you have an air compressor I'd buy a can of paint and then buy a paint gun (not the expensive. The Rattle cans can be temperamental.

Sounds good. I guess all the stacks of buffing pads and compounds will come in handy for this! What do you usually use sandpaper wise? For paint, I am planning on getting it through the site you linked.

 

[Emile]

Nice-looking ride you got there. I used to have a 2003 Jetta 2.0L and I absolutely hated it because the motor had zero power. I remember wanting a Jetta GLI because if I remember correctly, back then you get the 200hp VR6 motor and the 6-speed trans? And if I remember correctly, those Jettas have small back seat room but the trunk space is absolutely cavernous.

The bug in your headlight is hilarious. Try pulling the bulb out and getting a pair of tweezers in there to remove him. If you can't reach, then you'll definitely have to remove the front bumper and then the headlight for full access.

 

[tcollins33]

Gotta love a clean 03 GLI!

Mine:

 

[jdrumstik]

Nice-looking ride you got there. . .if I remember correctly, back then you get the 200hp VR6 motor and the 6-speed trans? And if I remember correctly, those Jettas have small back seat room but the trunk space is absolutely cavernous.

THANKS!

Yeah, it is 200HP and about the same in Tq. Although I feel like its weak on the bottom end and the throttle response is poor. I'm sure that chipping it would fix that problem but I have too many tickets on my record right now so their really is no reason. The car really shines in its handling. I got a fatty ticket in some mountains while passing through Arizona. $600 fine for a misdemeanor criminal traffic citation. So yeah, I drive slow now.