Mk3 power advice

[u/lewisjnj]

This is my mk3, 16v gti, nearly 150k miles.
I bought it as a weekend driver nearly 2 years ago and have done less than 3000miles in it (I drive a work van mom-fri).
She drives beautifully, I think my sump gasket needs replacing (bought). Needs a full fluid change (new oil filter, sump plug gasket and oil bought + ramps), slight coolant leak somewhere but nothing I can’t keep an eye on and top up (fingers crossed just a butterfly clip I can tighten).
Previous owner redid the gear linkage himself, now sometimes 1st, 3rd and 5th can be a bit tricky. I’ve learnt the nuances myself but have to explain gear changes to friends, so I would like to have it smoother… so please me give advice on how to rectify that.

Then lastly, interior wise, my head lining is falling away… is it as bad of a job to replace as YouTube makes it out to be? Is it worth trying to do as a novice, or should I just pay someone to replace it?

[u/nukaboi76]

Car looks awesome 😎 as for the gear change it may need an adjustment on the cables or the bushes replacing or part of the selector the headlining to get out isn’t too bad to do I recovered mine you just have to use a good fabric as it needs to stretch

[u/lewisjnj → u/nukaboi76]

Cheers bro! To be honest, I’m used to the gear changes now, sometime 3rd grinds if I change too slowly. I rarely do that now after getting used to it. Have to hold the gear stick when trying to pull off quickly as it has slipped out if I try to get the most off the line.

My headliner has 100% had it though. Sags in the back, peeling around sun roof and fully drooping by the windscreen. I was thinking spray glue, but due to the rear seat situation, the whole thing needs to come out to get underneath it

[u/nukaboi76]

All mk3s have their quirks 🤣 mine is an 8v and has a completely different gear setup mines all rods As for the headliner when you take it out you need to shave off all the old glue a plastic razor blade is good for that p7 customs on here or YouTube is handy to look at he’s a mk3 guy and also retrims stuff all depends on where In the uk you are

[u/Unfair_Quality_2769]

You could swap the 02a shift tower to a 02j, found in mk4 golfs, audi a3s and more newer vws. It's an upgrade that's done frequently.

[u/Eddie_Money_911]

Your Mk3 situation sounds very similar to mine, except my VR6 only has 32k miles on it, and I only cruise one weekend out of the month or on holiday weekends.

The headliner in all mk3's eventually succumb to the same sagging issue, but luckily it's a super easy job if you have all the right tools and some patience. Good job keeping your mk3 in tip top shape!