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Ah, but wait, this thing ain’t over til the fat guy (me) sings.

While Scott was doing his usual COOL THING, I got another idea. Though those recovered 911 seats were nice, I started thing about a better, newer model seat. My 2007 GTI had some pretty nifty seats, comfortable, quality, adjustable seating, lateral support very good and a cool Tartan type plaid (how Porsche is that?).

So I started browsing around the web and, GOLLEE, would ya look what you can find on eBay on a good day. I found a set, great price, appeared to be in excellent condition. However, the set came from two different cars, and you guessed it, two different locations. One in the Sacramento area and the other in Sioux Falls, SD.

My impulsiveness took control and after umpteen messages back and forth to these guys to determine they were the right thing, BAM! They got purchased. Once again, by using this new shipping service I found for the wheels, the shipping was quite reasonable for a 60lb. Modern seat WITH HEAT!!! You mY recall you all punishing me for my failure to get the heated option. So there, I got it if Scott can figure a way to wire them.

Today, to my surprise, the passenger seat arrived from South Dakota! I opened the very-nicely packaged box on the front porch...The thing looks like it was never sat in!!! And this one got negotiated down to $155 plus $75 in shipping.

Talk about stoked, once I got it out of the box, I plopped my skinny butt down in that thing and man, are these things going to be great once installed. On top of that, I have already sourced the fabric itself and it is available...solid and plaid, plust they have a pretty cool Red German square weave for the floor once I get around to completing the  rest of the job.

Now when that seat arrives from Sacramento, I just hope it is in a similar condition (odds are good). Attached are the photos from the eBay adds (the driver seat I negotiated down to $175 plus about $100 in shipping. All on all much cheaper than the 911 route I started on way back last year.

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ALB posted:

Those seats are great looking (I do love the plaid!), big bro, but changing directions too often in a build ends up costing $$$! Seats, then carpet; what's next? I think you have too much time on your hands- step away from the computer! 

The red carpet is too much red. For the love of all that's good, step away from the computer, Richster!

558E6327-563B-418D-A643-93BB751A6DE8EFA10679-2E04-4493-8751-9BBB307C119FCBAE47B7-4FD0-41FA-8451-6148D5374787Wednesday started out hopeful. Later in the day I would be able to drive my project home after it being aligned and corner balanced. But tonight, as like last night, an electrical gremlin is causing intermittent engine starting or prolonged running.

Consequently I got to drive it all but a couple of miles before it refused me.

The two miles were at dusk, in some on and off heavy rain. Not enough time for a fair review, but I did get a brief taste of things to come. Pretty mucho funno.

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Rich Drewek posted:
 

...But tonight, as like last night, an electrical gremlin is causing intermittent engine starting or prolonged running...

...I got to drive it all but a couple of miles before it refused me...

...The two miles were at dusk, in some on and off heavy rain...

 

Rich, have a careful look through the engine compartment.

Do you see anything in there that says 'Lucas' ?

 

Sacto Mitch posted:

 

Rich Drewek posted:
 

...But tonight, as like last night, an electrical gremlin is causing intermittent engine starting or prolonged running...

...I got to drive it all but a couple of miles before it refused me...

...The two miles were at dusk, in some on and off heavy rain...

 

Rich, have a careful look through the engine compartment.

Do you see anything in there that says 'Lucas' ?

 

So... my lovely wife and I bought a brand new VW Cabriolet ('Azure' special edition) just after we got married in 1988. A little underpowered, but overall a fun car to drive, and Beth loved it. We'd had it 4 or 5 years and were on the first evening of our annual Christina Lake holiday (beginning of July) when around dusk I noticed the headlights flicker 2 or 3 times, but they stayed on and otherwise we made our destination for the night without incident. I did notice when I pushed the plastic rocker for the headlights at the end of the drive that if felt just a little different, but didn't give it much thought, and we continued on the next day, arriving at the lake that afternoon. I did discover that the headlight rocker switch seemed to have welded itself in the 'off' position though.

My brother Steve and his family were at the lake as well and the next day we rounded up enough tools to take the dash apart and (hopefully) see what was going on. Part way through figuring out how to get to the switch Steve (who is a Ford guy but knows about Lucas refrigerators) laughingly says something about VW cheaping out and buying electrical parts from the English. Well, you can probably guess how hard we both laughed when we finally got the thing out and read what it said on the back...

The rest of the trip went fine (we just couldn't go any where in the dark) and after we got back home I got the parts manager at the local VW dealership to find a German made headlight rocker- they put the good Hella brand switch in the Jetta. IIrc the price difference between them was about $10. 

The car's looking stellar, Rich! I'm sure you guys will figure it out... Al

C6D7E069-B01F-4200-A2FC-7758635DA2E0Sorry guys, I forgot to update The Mother Ship”, my Ghia is on the road again and for the most part, a satisfying experience. We do have a hiccup with the rebuilt tranny, something just isn’t right, but the rebuilder promises to make good with another one. Currently 3rd and 4th create more whining and chatter that I just couldn’t accept.

Then the other glitch was the new distributor that didn’t want to live up to its billing. It was the cause of the unpredictable running issue. Worked one day but not the next, so Scott put in the distributor from my original engine. That allowed me to get some miles on this puppy and it has been fun. Eventually we’ll get the newer distributor, a change of emulsion tubes and then a little more tuning and Scott promises he’ll be able to tweak it further to get the occasional stumble out.

When all the right pieces get back together it’ll be great, ‘cause right now it’s pretty damn impressive.

This is without mentioning how great it handles and rides. It was a big investment, but I believe it was money well spent for this car. The body and interior were great to begin with and it just needed some help on the road control. For me and my rather lame driving ability, I say it is a tremendous improvement. Smooth pavement, and rough roads are handled equally well. Better than any VW/AC vehicle that I have driven to date. I’m gradually trying to put it through some challenges while I build up some confidence. It has been fun taking these baby steps (and elderly 74 year old steps too).

Someone on another forum asked me about the brakes yesterday. It reminded me that I had not really tested those at all. So during my ride this afternoon, I tried them out, getting up to some pretty good speeds and doing a pretty hard slam...they work super, no lock up, straight as an arrow and feeling very good at the pedal. I tried several stops in a row and no fade to speak of. The brand new Yokohama  Fleevas felt like they can handle plenty more than that.

Oh, then the recovered leather  911 seats are comfortable, eventually we’ll get the VW GTI seats in place and I trust the seating will be even better. Some of you may not have heard about this last minute change of plans.

In conclusion for tonight, it has been a tremendous success and I am truly grateful to Scott and all his work and skills providing me with this little hot rod I made of this unexpected buy just about one year ago. Here’s a couple of cool shots taken by a buddy about two weeks ago already. I’m still thinking of some further improvements, but at this point I can do some of that thinking behind the wheel.

Thanks for following along.

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