Cabby woes - 3 - rattling dash

hi - again. Sorry!

1.8 GTI Cabby - Rattling dash. Does anyone have any clever ideas to stop the dash rattling?  Back in the day when these things were new, I remember stuffing bits of card between the dash insert & the top surround…has anything moved on since then?! It bloody rattles like hell, so some things haven’t  changed!

(yes, I’ve just driven back from work, and all these things are annoying me! Grrr!)

thx - Hereford Steve

Remove the dash and tidy up the wires, Validate that your Radio is firmly seated, and the Fascia is not the cause.

Make sure that your Dash clips haven't broken the fibreboard, and repair it the have.  I have also stuck closed cell foam on the leading edge upper and lower on the Dash prior to putting it back on to prevent squeaks…. I had another that annoyed me to death as I couldn't find it until the day I moved the rearview mirror and as soon as I touched it the rattle went away… Loose screw on the button.

Bad Motor mounts, front and rear tranny.
not to mention left and right ones that are a PITA to change.

Im in the same boat here, was bad on standard suspension and felt positively apocalyptic on coilovers, no on lowered shocks it pretty terrible

One of my winter jobs is to remove the dash, change my MFA lcd screen and wire the VDO'S in neatly

While its out I'll be investigating the bad dash noises but I think a lot of it has to do with my Blaupunkt casset player which weighs as much as the engine

Make sure that your fascia mounts aren't broken, as a loose Fascia with the 300 pound original radio will rattle like hades.  If the Screw that is on the top of the Fascia isn't installed it rattles more than anything.

I went so far as to slice a slot in the upper fascia mount for the radio so that I could just loosen it a wee bit to remove it… then tighten it back up.

I also had the black LCD screen on my radio Premimun
and swapped it out for a JVC Media Player, no tape, no cd, Bluetooth External Microphone, Digital am/fm receiver… it was about 90 dollars or less, was 1/3 the size, and 1/10 the weight.  

If your Receiver isn't sitting in the rear mount or the rubber boot is off of it, then it can vibrate the dash.

I have a how-to in the archive section on repairing broken mounts on the fascia…..CLick the LiNk on my signature line.

 thx Briano. Yes, one of my winter jobs is to stick a decent head unit in it, which will for sure be lighter. I'm sure a lot of the problem is the inner dash bit jiggling against the outer moulding - it's stops if I squeeze them together, and I deffo recall sticking a bit of card in between them in the 80's, so I'll do some investigating…thx for help. Hereford Steve