Budget Beetle Mods in Progress!

[smartybernardi]

I've had my Beetle for a week now, and I it more and more everyday. I purchased the Turbo, but passed on a few of the bells & whistles since I didn't want to roll any additional money into my financing.

So far, here's what my fiance and I have nailed down... there are still a few things I'd like to do later, but I have to pace myself!!!

• Tint $150.00 (dealership $300.00)
• Head Unit (RCD-510)= $350.00 ($2,500 thru dealership since I would have had to get an additional package... with the 3
• Turbo Stripes = $30 (dealership $165.00)
• Rear Blackout Panel = $25 (dealership... non-existent)

TOTAL - $555 cash money vs. Dealership $2,865 BEFORE financing at 3.0% for 60 months!

I'm super proud of myself!

If anyone is interested... I found this guy on ebay who is doing my Turbo rocker stripes and the rear blackout panel, both in matte black, with a lifetime guarantee, for $55! I've seen really good reviews from him, and I'll have them in a couple days. I think the platinum gray with the matte black accents will look pretty cool. IMO, that is a heck of a deal to make some noticeable exterior changes without spending the big bucks. I'll post some once it's done!

[IMG][/IMG]

[GTarr]

Very cool, I just got a set of those turbo stripes too, but haven't had a chance to install them yet.

GTarr

[Aonarch]

[sonic_va]

I'm intrigued by that bumper blackout panel. Just vinyl?

[GTarr]

OK, so after I posted last night that I hadn't gotten a chance to install them yet, I went out and washed the car and installed them. Ob pic post, first, then read on for install comments:




OK, so I'd never done vinyl graphics before, but I did do a clear bra on the beetle a few weeks ago (boy was that an exercise). I used basically the same install process for the vinyl as I did for the bra, but I think there are a few things that would have worked better if I'd done them a little differently. First off, a tools list:
1 - spray bottle or two. One filled with water and a _little_ bit of soap, the other with water and alcohol.
2 - squeegee / credit card
3 - x-acto knife / razor blade
4 - heat gun (optional but helpful)

Install tips
0 - wash the car first!
1 - I used a piece of wide painters tape along the bottom of each door as a guide for placing the graphics, so that they'd be straight, and not sloping up / down. The two sides are exactly the same piece, so to get the turbo mostly in the center of the door, one side will need to be aligned more towards the front of the car, and the other side will need to be aligned more toward the rear of your car. Take the stripes out and tape them up to the car before doing anything to get an idea of how this works.
2 - this is a fairly big piece of vinyl, and all the black parts are separate little pieces with nothing connecting them (although on a single piece of paper) so you definitely want to use the wet application method. fill a spray bottle with water, and put maybe _1_ drop of soap / car wash in it. I think I had too much soap in it, and I had a hard time getting the vinyl to stick to the car.
3 - be careful pulling the cardboard backing off. Try to pull it straight back at 180 degrees, not perpendicular (90 degrees) to the car surface. I had a few places where the paper backing tore and it was a pain in the butt to try to get it off the sticker after that. Do not soak the paper backing in an attempt to get it off, that just makes it fall apart and still leave crap on the vinyl. Try to get it peeling again instead, and that will be tough to do if it gets wet. If it does get wet and leaves crap on the vinyl, use an x-acto knife or razer blade to carefully scrape the junk off.
4 - I used a teflon squeegee to get the water out from underneath the vinyl, but it seems like vinyl likes a little more pressure to stick. I'd suggest something harder like a credit card.
5 - also be careful pulling the transfer paper off. The vinyl may try to come with it if it's not stuck well enough. The alcohol solution (if you use it) can be used to try to displace the water in this case. Although I think using more pressure / harder squeegee would make the alcohol unnecessary.
6 - The stripes are not pre-trimmed; you'll need to cut at the beginning, end, and door edge. After cutting, use the heat gun to make the vinyl more pliable and more sticky, and wrap it around the edges a little bit. Use a squeegee and/or your fingers to push it down.

Hope that helps anyone else who's DIYing this!

GTarr

[smartybernardi]

I'm intrigued by that bumper blackout panel. Just vinyl?

I'm curious too... once we get the blackout panel I will take pictures of it before and after so you can see the installation points.

[smartybernardi]

OK, so after I posted last night that I hadn't gotten a chance to install them yet, I went out and washed the car and installed them.
GTarr

Thanks for sharing.... hopefully mine will be here tomorrow. I've never done vinyl on my cars, but my fiance has, so I'm tasking him with this challenge!

My head unit came in today, so I'm excited to have him install that tonight... wooohoo!

I'm sure he is so happy that I got a new car- he's been pretty busy!

[TexasBulldog]

Just got done putting the 510 head unit in and taking out the 310 base. 10 minute job.

Torx-20 needed and a nylon pry tool (screwdriver with a wrap of electrical tape works) and thats all. back plugs mount right up although they don't give you much slack with the wires. Marina held it up so it wouldn't scratch the dash.

If doing it alone you could simply wrap it in a towel and tape it to hold or just tape the sharp edges.

Between the Bluetooth Streaming from her phone (Pandora, mp3 collection), the 6 disc built in changer, the SD card slot for music, HD Radio, then AM/FM... AND the cable in the dash, i don't think were going to buy the antenna with the Satellite radio and subscription AND run the wire.

There is SO MUCH access to music/media its hard to justify paying a monthly fee for music and on top of it she drives 4 miles round trip to work and back How much music can you listen to

Love you honey

[smartybernardi]

Woohoo! What a difference... and such a deal! Thank you dear, for the free installation!

[jeffinpa]

Hi,

Just picked up my 2012 Turbo (only 2,750 miles) yesterday. It has the base stereo, and I'm think of adding the RCD-510, if I can find one reasonablle priced. In terms of the SAT radio antennna. does the shark fin on the roof have the antenna built in, or does an aftermarket (e.g. Terk) have to be added? Does anyone know which antennas are compatible with the 510 head unit? Would be cool if one could be put in the shark fin