Noooooo kidding!!  Decided to swap the switch yesterday and everything went
like clockwork until I hit the spline adapter.  (Vice grips definitely did
the trick on the shear bolt.)  Living in a relatively small town, our Sears
*sucks* and didn't have any pullers on the shelf - not to mention that they
only carry about 1/10 the tools a full-service store carries.  Went to Auto
Zone and the only ones they had left were a cheap set that I quickly turned
into a pretzel trying to pull the spline adapter.  I then rented a set that
didn't do the trick either.  My savior for the day was a friend that does
locksmith work on the side.  He wanted to see the innards of the steering
column since he had never worked on a Mk3 VW before.  Fortunately, he had a
decent set of pullers that finally worked.  I still had to use the vice grip
trick shown on the website, though and unfortunately it scarred up the sides
and lip of the spline adapter some.  That sucker is on there TIGHT.  Waaaay
tighter than absolutely necessary, IMO.  I was able to smooth the lip out
with a small hammer before reinstalling it though.  I decided to put some
anti-seize between the column and the adapter just in case I'm ever in this
boat again.

Get this, to add insult to injury, I got to watch my elderly neighbor take
out my mailbox while I was working on the car.  Spent this morning putting
up a new mailbox.

A couple of notes not specifically mentioned in the write-up:
- when pulling the steering wheel off, grab the plastic collar and make sure
it comes off with the wheel and you shouldn't have to worry about re-coiling
it.  The little wiring connector should stay at roughly the 6-o'clock
position.
- when re-installing the lock housing, etc. on the steering column, put the
key in and turn it to release the steering wheel lock and it'll slide on
much easier.
- the Bentley specifically mentions turning the ignition to the "on"
position before reconnecting the battery.  Not sure why that would be
beneficial when dealing with an airbag, but it did keep the alarm from
freaking out like it usually does when reconnecting the battery.

BTW, has anyone else noticed that the new style switch "feels" different
than the original one?  Mine doesn't have a real firm grip on the "on"
position until after you start the car.  Then it seems to lock in and
actually takes a determined effort to cut the car off.  It's smooth, just
higher effort than I'm used to.

Later,

Luke
'97 GTI VR6