S@1552v2: just got your list [of to-dos before you come down to pick up Roxy]
whats panda pelt?
jkrew: oh, panda fur? I dunno, that was the wildcard request. Do what you can. I know those lil fuckers are "endangered". Whatever...
S@1552v2: we're doing that?
jkrew: HAHA
I mean, only if you have the means to do so of course.

You know how when you read a feature article in PVW or Hotrod and you always see that last paragraph say "So and so would like to thank his wife Blah blah blah for all the love and support in this build..."? Now I finally understand what that means. And I know before I really got into builds I sort of read it as "Oh, thats nice, the guy is thanking his old lady for putting up with him always talking about cars or whatever." Totally not the case.

I was feeding the dog this morning and after stepping out of the kitchen I walked through the den and saw about 15 pieces of used sandpaper, a half finished intake manifold, three sets of opened headlights, a box of coilovers and various other car parts, tools, dremels, towels, body filler, extension cords and what have you all laying in disarray on the floor.

If you go into the second bedroom you will find the entire interior out of a MK4 GTI, sheet metal, a honda bumper, toolcase, full carpet for a MK3, pillar panels and door cards littered about the floor.

Yesterday we were discussing who we would drive to our wedding and if tying a bunch of tin cans to the bumper would put the paint job in danger.

Today is the anniversary of the day I proposed to Kate. We have reservations at a posh restaurant this evening and when reminded that today is the day, the first thing that came to my mind was that I wasn't going to get any sanding time in tonight.

We almost postponed our wedding so we could go to Wörthersee this year...

The point I'm trying to get to is that back in the day, my pinnacle of car modding was a set of nice wheels and possibly spending an entire day detailing the car. Things were so much simpler then. Now detailing a car is the last step before you go to a show but certainly not on the list of priorities when you had two unfinished projects who both had a laundry list of things to be finished before even thinking of breaking out the clay bar. Five dollar mods somehow gave way to 5000 dollar mods. Painting the stubby antennae gave way to painting the entire car. Buying a CAI turned into buying a turbo system.

I'm not saying it's any more or less enjoyable at the point I'm at now but I wonder if given the choice to be green and naive or seasoned and educated, what would I choose. To lament to myself at car shows at how I wanted so badly to be in PVW with a "heavyweight car" to getting married by Elliott himself at the biggest show of the year. When 5 years ago, having hopes and dreams of buying the parts to make a perfect car that would be admired by the world has turned into building the perfect car for yourself and you could give two shits if anyone agreed with you or not. Truly understanding the car forum threads that had been going on for two straight years to finish a project. Knowing that a set of wheels and a clean paintjob does not mean you're finished.

I really do understand what those last paragraphs mean now. How it wasn't just a polite gesture of thanking the better half just to thank her but a truly honest plea and understanding that if she was any other woman, she would have left me long long ago due to my obsession. And even better, she's the one egging me on to go turbo or to change the color of the car or to pick the color of the reupholstry job or to calm me down when something went wrong because she's probably more obsessed than I am.

So anyways, thanks Kate. I understand now.

pics and text, courtesy of Brad Beardow at 1552v2.com

You know, those of us who've been in the business a long time often joke about those customers who, when the slightest stumble, hiccup or CEL pops up, instantly blame whatever upgraded software they're using in their cars. "It's gotta be the chip," is heard so often it's comical. We tend to chalk it up to the fact that chip-tuning is to most customers the least understood aspect of vehicle modifying, and as such, tends to get the blame for all sorts of unusual vehicle behaviors. But the truth is that software is rarely the issue behind these things and for the most part it's usually a mechanical issue to blame. Once a chip works in your car, with everything else staying the same, odds are it will always work in your car.

You know where we're headed with this, don't you? Well, our issue here is that after the turbo kit was installed, Jason and Kate's car never did run correctly. In other words, we did not have the luxury of assuming this time it wasn't the chip. Of course we first double and triple-checked all the mechanical work we performed, but when nothing whatsoever signaled an issue, we all pretty much stood around looking at each other, waiting to see who'd be the first to ask, "It's gotta be the chip, right?"

And since you already knew where this update was headed you won't be surprised to learn we received a new chip from C2, popped it in, and the car started, idled and ran flawlessly. So did we have a bad chip? Not likely. We're guessing we simply got a mislabeled chip - something we've never experienced before, but also something quite understandable. To C2's credit, we can honestly say there was no snickering when we called them and suggested we might have a bad chip.

So is this project done? We thought so, but Jason and Kate have other ideas. Shocking, yes? Besides tidying up the engine bay and the way the front spoiler fits (this car is an Internet whore afterall), we'll be making some changes to better build upon Roxy's newfound muscle.

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: Re: Final things for Roxy
From: "brad@1552v2.com"
Date: Thu, March 20, 2008 6:19 pm
To: jkrew@jkrew.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yer car seems to run fine :D No time to drive it today, but it idles great.

So cold. So alone.

*shivers

pics and text, courtesy of Brad Beardow at 1552v2.com

With all the parts finally here and the cylinder head refresh complete, it's finally time to bolt on the Kinetic Stage 2 turbo system.

This is truly a straightforward install, as Kinetic is as well it should be considering they are as well versed in the forced induction VR6 as anyone. As a matter of fact, Kinetic's lead R&D person, Shawn Van Neer, is something of an icon in the water-cooled VW world. We're not suggesting Shawn is old (he is), but whenever you begin to think you've done something first in the world of modified VWs, check with Shawn as there's an excellent chance he's already done it. And 15 years ago, too.

Everything fits nicely and there's not much tweaking involved. The intercooler requires a bit of clearance trimming to the radiator core support and the inner part of the front bumper, but it's pretty standard stuff.

With the install complete, all we need to do is solder in the C2 Motorsport chip that comes with the kit and we're ready to crank.