Operation Bora Body

[Dyldo]

Yeah, first thing I did was drive down to a carpark in the dark and turn them on, run 50M away and have a look to make sure they weren't dazzling (one of my pet peeves.)

I just pictured this. pretty funny.

haha, even funnier with Benny Hill music

[Dyldo]

Something to be aware of:

On the headlights - be aware that US market headlight reflectors were considered second-rate in terms of performance to the European version and our RHD version (which is based on the European reflector design, but modified to suit RHD). LHD reflectors will also provide a beam-pattern not ideally suited to our RHD market (and you may be dazzling oncoming traffic).

They do look the goods though

you are the Headlight Yoda.

[Speed]

With regards to the body, you could always give it a buff first and see how much of a difference it makes.
Won't fix the dents/scratches on the "a" pillar but will take out most, if not all of the roof racks and spoiler marks.

The panels that have deeper scratches will need a respray but if your a perfectionist (like me), then you might end up having to respray the entire exterior of the car.

This takes time/effort and a bit of skill or a lot of beginners luck to get right but saying that, we all have to start somewhere.

You don't need to spray in a booth but I seriously recommend it, especially considering that you can hire one for $150 a day.
(Saves a fair bit of buffing in the end and your not suseptable to moisture like you are if you paint in the elements.)

Since there was so much dirt in the door jams, I bet theres heaps more stuck in behind the front guards. You can clean this out by removing your plastic inner guards or just do it if you need to remove the guards for paint.

Good luck.. I always love a project!

[anthony]

Boras are great,so you have a wonderful project to work on.

The Navy is a good looking colour,I would keep the origional alloys,clean them up,and DONT spray them Black...

Hopeyou got it for a bargain price ???

[sirmoe]

Where did you get the power windows plastic thing? Mine looks shocking too, wouldnt mind replacing it.

[audi-tone]

use steel wool. gently ofcourse. did with mine, looks just like the one above

[PranK]

With regards to the body, you could always give it a buff first and see how much of a difference it makes.
Won't fix the dents/scratches on the "a" pillar but will take out most, if not all of the roof racks and spoiler marks.

The panels that have deeper scratches will need a respray but if your a perfectionist (like me), then you might end up having to respray the entire exterior of the car.

This takes time/effort and a bit of skill or a lot of beginners luck to get right but saying that, we all have to start somewhere.

You don't need to spray in a booth but I seriously recommend it, especially considering that you can hire one for $150 a day.
(Saves a fair bit of buffing in the end and your not suseptable to moisture like you are if you paint in the elements.)

Since there was so much dirt in the door jams, I bet theres heaps more stuck in behind the front guards. You can clean this out by removing your plastic inner guards or just do it if you need to remove the guards for paint.

Good luck.. I always love a project!

I bought a polisher and have been attacking small parts of the car with cutting compound and then a polish, makes a big difference in some places but barely noticable in others. I should say that I am no polishing expert though, so my technique could no doubt use improvement. Thanks Youtube!

A mate of mine up the road has a huge tent that he has erected inside a giant shed and he sprays cars in this tent. I *might* try and borrow that for a day or two, but I might even prefer to just pay for a booth, it'll be a lot cleaner.

There is *so* much grime behind the panels. Actually in any 'slightly obscured' part of the car. Under the boot, it must be almost a centimetre thick. It'd be interesting to see how much weight it would add (definitely not performance hindering but just for curiosity's sake.)

Thanks for the info!

Boras are great,so you have a wonderful project to work on.

The Navy is a good looking colour,I would keep the origional alloys,clean them up,and DONT spray them Black...

Hopeyou got it for a bargain price ???

Hah, you sound like my wife! They do look great when they are nice and clean, I must admit. A sand, respray and nice clear coat would work very well.

And yeah, I did get it for a bargain price. When I went to look at it, it was totally filthy. I could see this putting off so many potential buyers. It amazes me when people dont make any effort to make their cars look good when selling them. I must have spent 4 or 5 hours cleaning my Golf before showing it.

Where did you get the power windows plastic thing? Mine looks shocking too, wouldnt mind replacing it.

From here. I was pleasantly surprised that they were all genuine parts too.

[vwsport]

Great car I've had my bora sport since brand new and love it.
Just noticed the photos and yours still has the original sport floor mats in it! I'm surpised they've not worn thru. I went to buy them once after about 3 years and VW didnt have them as a spare part.



Also when you take the boot spoiler off you can replug back in the back window mounted brake light (if you havent already). Another tip on the bora especially on a car that has lived outside is to make sure the drainange channels on the sunroof are clear. If your car is that dirty they're probably blocked. Mine got blocked up and the drainage channels couldnt drain and so the channel overflowed into the car and I had a frigging lake on the floor of my car. You can put whipper snipper cable down them or a length of screw plug stuff and that clears them

[gringo_54_oval]

Another tip on the bora especially on a car that has lived outside is to make sure the drainange channels on the sunroof are clear. If your car is that dirty they're probably blocked. Mine got blocked up and the drainage channels couldnt drain and so the channel overflowed into the car and I had a frigging lake on the floor of my car. You can put whipper snipper cable down them or a length of screw plug stuff and that clears them[/QUOTE]

Im gonna try the whipper snipper trick on my bora,its a good idea just to be on the safe side i hate the smell of wet carpet in the car..

OP with the gunky doors try kerosine it should remove all that black wax type dirt.

1st with a spray bottle apply the kero get a cheapo paint brush and start brushing away followed by a high pressure washer and blast that **** off.

If that fails ( PLAN B.) grab a rag with acrylic thinners and give it wipe down. dont worry thinners wont ruin your paint because our sexy boras are all painted with 2-pack paints and thinners wont stuff it up if your just wiping dirt off it.

good luck dude

[Manaz]

But I have an HID kit that I bought for an older car that I might put in them.

Please don't.

HIDs are designed for use in projectors, not reflectors, and using them in a reflector-style lens will cause all sorts of scatter which WILL dazzle oncoming traffic (and make you a cop-magnet - doing this is illegal, for good reason).

Whilst legally adding after-market HIDs to a car is difficult, it can at least be intelligently done with projector-style headlights (which are available).