European Storage Package and European Front Lip

So things have been a little slow in the past few months on this end. Enjoying the car much, for sure. Just not much in terms of changes to it, until today. Back in October of 2005 I ordered the euro-spec under seat drawer as I wrote about on this entry. After realizing that this modification was far from being a popular item and no real information to go on, I tossed the parts in a bag for storage in my garage until it was all figured out. I figured the effort involved in “working things out” was not worth it for the functionality the part offered. I guess the bragging rights of being the first one to have this accessory were not enticing enough. Well, for over a year it sat until today. I ordered a hardware mounting kit from Hillside Imports and with the help of a rivet gun and a 14mm triple-square bit to remove the seat I was able to get it in place with relatively minor issues.

Along with the hardware baggy, I also ordered a couple of additional items. One of them is the mini-glove box that sits under the headlight switch. This European market item is also found on Canadian models. U.S. models lack the functionality in exchange for a solid, foam-backed panel and a humongous metal bracket to obviously give the dashboard more support. See, this area is right in line with one’s left kneecap and in the event of a crash -an unrestrained head-on crash at least- I can see how one’s knee would go through this mini-glove box like a hot knife through butter. Being a responsible driver that always wears a seatbelt I figured I should add this part to my car in order to make the area more functional. It is the perfect spot to store my garage opened, my navigation system while not in use or a similarly sized item. After much argue with a bolt that just refused to come undone, I got the part installed.

Next on the agenda was the installation of the European lip or front valence. Apparently that German dude in charge of “customizing” this car for the North American market is under the impression that our sidewalks are rather tall. This is the only reason I could see why we get a front valence lacking the front section so it makes our cars look like “toothless” for lack of a better adjective. Removal of the old lip was rather easy; jack up the front of the car with two jacks and unscrew about 10 torx screws holding it in place. Installation unfortunately was another story completely. I must point out that this part is made out of plastic and temperatures in this area have been in the 30s and below for what seems like an eternity at this point. Needless to say the plastic was not very flexible and I’m willing to be it was a tad contracted as well. As always, this time of piece needs to be installed from the center, on outward. Unfortunately I lacked an extra set of hands and I had to do it each side at a time. Well, due to the above factors, after having installed one side of the piece completely, it was literally impossible to make the other side fit. I play this tug-o-war game for a while until out of desperation I starte kicking the piece into place. Voila! A little rough love gets the point across sometimes.

Here’s how the car now sits. The lip is a very subtle change but it makes a strong difference versus the factory look. Makes the entire front end look much more proportionate and “right”. The VW badge has since been returned to it’s original shinny chrome self. I thought of blacking it out with vinyl as a test but ended up removing it since it’s just not what I was going for. The signature red smirk however, remains covered in black matte vinyl for now as it has cleaned up the entire front end quite nicely. I will try to get a few pictures to showcase this fact.