Round 2: Beetle TDI

 Seriously?

Yeah, I got another one. It's a 2006 VW Beetle TDI with a 5 Speed.  After my experience with the TDI Beetle I had a few years ago, you'd think I learned my lesson and wouldn't do this to myself again.  But, here we are.  Round 2 it would seem.

Hello!

Why?

 I mostly blame my wife.  (Oh yeah, I got married last year.  True story.)

My wife is most of the way through her Graduate degree and recently started her clinicals.  Since then she's been using the Passat TDI to make the commute into town and I've been driving her Volvo C30 to get to work.

Which isn't really a problem because I like driving it, but I'm worried about hitting a deer or some other critter on my way home from literally the middle of a Kansas cornfield at o' dark thirty. I was told she wouldn't be upset if something happened to it, but I know she really likes it and would in fact, be very upset if I brought it home with a deer shaped dent in it..  

So, I figured maybe another car might be in order.

I wanted a TDI Wagon, like a Jetta/Golf Sportwagen or an Audi Wagon, but I was shot down by my wife.

"Absolutely not.  Station Wagons are hideous." 

"What about a diesel Bug", I shot back.

"Okay, that's fine." (Wait, what?)

So, I picked up another Bug from a coworker of mine.  Same color, and interior as the Oil Leaking 2005 I had before, and it's even straight piped like my old one.

So, we're off to a good start here. 😶

It's got a tick over 152K miles.  Pretty low for a TDI.  It's got a BEW "Pump Duse" engine, which means no CP4 HPFP shenanigans like on the newer Common Rail TDIs.  It runs and drives like it's supposed to and is a  solid 10 footer.

What's Wrong With It?

Typical Mk4 things.

The interior of the New Beetles is quite honestly a plastic, creaky mess.  There are a few things that are loose or missing, that need replacement or repair.

Broken Door Handles, Loose Glove Box, Missing D/S "Oh Shit" Handle and Non Existent Headliner will need to be addressed.

PO couldn't confirm if he knew definitively if the Timing Belt/Water Pump had been replaced, so that's first on the list.

Shift Linkage feels a little loose, so a DieselGeek Mk4 Shifter Bushing Kit will go on along with a fresh Oil/Filter Change to appropriate VW Spec Oil to try and mitigate the notorious Cam Wear the BEW engines are known for.

The Defrost was non existent on the drive home, so I suspect the HVAC Blend Doors are missing their foam, so I ordered a Blend Door Plug Kit off of Ebay to take care of that.  The Dash needs to come out to access the Blend Dorrs, so I can take car of the loose interior panels as well.  Or induce new creaks and noise, putting it back together, but trying to stay positive here.

Plans?

Reliability.

I want to get it tuned, and delete the immobilizer at the same time.  Clean out/Replace the Intake Manifold.

I picked up some 2 Piece BBS Wheels from a Wolfsburg Jetta, that I'm going to refurbish with polished lips for it.  Definitely plan on cleaning up the Exterior, Interior and other things as time allows.

Removed the Panasonic Head Unit for a Single DIN Power Akoustic Android Auto Head Unit. So, it'll get dragged kicking and screaming into this part of the 21st Century.

Maybe Smyth UTE Kit for it?  I dunno.  The idea of small diesel powered trucklet does have a certain appeal to me.

I'm just glad that I have an older TDI again, with a 5 Speed like the car gods intended. 

  

Old TDI. Better TDI

 Care And Feeding Of Your 2.0 CR TDI, or "The Only Good TDI Is An Old TDI.

*Long Rant/Read.  I Said What I Said*

I've owned my 13 Passat TDI with the CKRA 2.0 CR TDI enginefor around 3 or so years now.

 It's a nice comfy mid sized sedan that gets excellent fuel economy.  Perfect for my daily work commute, and road trips.

  I got it after a 2.5 year dalliance with a 15 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid, that was a replacement for my 05 Golf TDI that someone hit head on one night.

So if it gets great fuel economy,  and is a great road trip and commuter car, why am I finally thinking after 3 years, I might have made a mistake?

Because, Volkswagen.   That's why.

Hear me out.   I've had a few TDIs before this one.  

A 96 and 97 Passat TDI both with 5 speeds.  These were my first VWs and got me into TDIs. 

I also had the 05 Golf TDI that unfortunately had a Tiptronic Automatic,  but was a car that I absolutely loved.  Hell, it even saved my life in the accident that took it out.

Aside from the fuel economy, and the ability to tinker with and modify these cars, they were reliable and very long lived.

The 96 and 97 Passats had over 275K on them and probably another 250K or more if they were taken care of.   The Golf had 250K on it when it was taken out by that dumbass kid, and was still running strong until then.

My 13 Passat TDI? 🥸

 It doesn't exactly inspire me with its longevity. 

VW seems to have engineered a lot of "gotchas" into this generation of TDI that not only make it harder for a home mechanic to service, but actually seems intended to disable the car and force an owner to have a dealership or shop fix it.

Luckily,  I have more than a few tools, some experience messing around with cars and a VCDS Scan Tool that have enabled me to try and keep up with the BS that VW has engineered the car with.  

 

Even so, the fickle finger of fuckery has gotten me a few times, so I just wanted to do a write up to help a new 2.0 CR TDI Owner deal with stuff that will come up.

This applies specifically to the 7th Gen Passat TDI with the CKRA engine, but can be useful for other 2.0 CR TDI cars.

1.  The Dieselgate "Fix"- certain cars were modified with additional hardware and software after VW got caught cheating during emissions testing. Naughty, naughty.

These "fixes" actually decreased fuel economy,  made the cars less reliable and decreased HP and Torque.

In the case of the Passat with the CKRA it also introduced a particular "bug" that threw an error for Low DEF Level (with a full tank) and started a 200 Mile No Start Countdown. 

VW has no idea why this happens only to Passats with the CKRA and can't clear the code.  

A work around is to use your VCDS Scan Tool to reset the "No Start Countdown" every 200 miles. 

The only  supposed "fix" for this error was to change out the DEF Level Sensor/Heater in the DEF Tank and it would "possibly" clear the code.  

However this wasn't guaranteed to work and involved dropping the DEF Tank, installing a $300-600 part and seeing if it fixed it. 

 I asked a local tech, what he would do if that didn't work.  "Delete it", he said.

So do what you will with this information. 😏

2.  40K DSG Service - unfortunately the majority of 12-14 Passat TDIs are equipped with a DSG transmission.   To this day I wish I'd waited for a manual TDI car, but I did what I did and now I have to live with it.

The DSG Transmission requires a filter and fluid change every 40K miles,  which wouldn't be a big deal if it was just a drain and refill.

The factory procedure to service the DSG Transmission requires the vehicle on a level surface, special tools, a factory scan tool (VCDS), monitoring transmission fluid tempd and other assorted nonsense. 

Or you can do it like I do, put the car up on a lift.  Drain the fluid into a measuring pitcher, new filter and top back off with an additional .5 qts of whatever you drained out.

The hard (annoying) part is getting time on a lift and making sure no drained oil is spilled and measured accurately. 

3.  Fuel Injectors- Injectors started making a "nailing" noise when starting the engine cold that eventually went away as the engine warmed up.  The noise was more obnoxious in cold weather. 

Drove it like that for awhile until it threw a CEL, and started running really rough. Limped it home, and scanned with VCDS.  Yup.  Bad injector. 

Sourced 4 new injectors ($600) and new torque to yield injector hold down bolts.

Install wasn't hard, but I had to use VCDS to "code" each injector serial number to the ECU for proper operation.  🙄

 Again,  having VCDS saved me from a dealership visit for something that should have been a simple remove and replace operation. 

4.  CP4 HPFP- The CKRA uses a CP4 High Pressure Fuel Pump instead of the more robust CP3 pump found in older CR Diesel engines.  The CP4 has a tendency to fail internally,  which contaminates the ENTIRE fuel system.  Expect to pay $3500 plus to unf**k your car if this happens. 😳

Companies offer CP3 Conversion kits, which can cost up to $2K or so.  Conversion kit, rebuilt/used pump and the timing belt needs to be removed and reinstalled for the conversion. 

Whitbred Performance offers a CP4 Disaster Prevention Kit which isolates any debris from a grenaded CP4 Pump to the pump itself and a inline 3 micron filter.  Kit runs just under $200.

5. Dual Mass Flywheel-  the DSG Transmission is actually an Automatically shifted manual transmission that's equipped with a Dual Mass Flywheel that eventually will wear out and start making a very pronounced knocking noise at idle.  

If left operating like that for a long time, it can eventually damage the transmission. 

Unlike a manual transmission,  you can't convert a DSG Transmission to a Single Mass Flywheel. So you get to buy a new ticking time bomb DMF( around $500)  and have it installed (another $500 if your luvky) and wait for it to shit itself again.

6. Plastic Oil Filter Housing- CKRA and other CR TDI engines use a plastic oil filter housing that's water cooled and bolted to the block. 

For some reason, there's an isolated passage in the filter housing that ALWAYS seems to fail. If you look at the picture, there are 4 passages.  3 of them have a gasket, while a lone passage has a single gasket.  Hmm.🤔

When the lip on the ISOLATED water passage fails, blows out the gasket and allows all your coolant to dump and renders your car undriveable. 

But "luckily" the other gasket protects the other passages from that nasty coolant leak so there's no oil/coolant contamination.   Lucky,  huh?😌

It gets better though.  The oil filter housing is bolted to the block and buried under the Air/Water Intercooler, which has a ton if coolant hoses running to it.  

You gotta drop the Intercooler, drain the Radiator,  disconnect a bunch of hoses and pull the Radiator Fan and Air Filter for clearance.   Then you can remove the Oil Filter Housing. 

Enough of a hassle for the typical owner to say "Fu**it!" and shell out the $1500-2K to get it fixed at the dealership with the SAME damn part.

Do yourself a favor.   Buy an aftermarket Aluminum Oil Filter Housing if you do it yourself.   And don't forget the Torque To Yield Bolts for the OFH.

7. Oil Pump Hex Drive Shaft- evidently the oil pump is driven by a hex shaft that eventually rounds off at around 120k miles or so.  There's a replacement part that is "supposed" to not round off.  We'll see I guess.   I ordered one and it should be here next Tuesday.   $16, requires the oil pan to be dropped.   Not sure if the timing belt is affected.

When the shaft rounds off the engine loses pressure and is supposed to shut itself off. Leaving you stranded wherever you are.  

But hey!  I'm sure the DEALERSHIP will be happy to fix it for you.

Fu**king Volkswagen.🥸

Raider Rebirth....Revival? I Don't Know

This is mostly to keep track of and serve has a kind of online notepad for the "build" of the Raider into something more fun than "just my truck'.  Don't know if I'll actually follow through, but we'll see.

So,  I've had my Raider since 2006. 

  It's the vehicle I've owned the longest in my fleet, and at around 294K miles, it's still running,  working and doing truck stuff.

However,  I can tell it's getting tired.  And with all I've put this thing through over the years, I'm surprised it's still moving under its own power. 

Which leaves me with a problem.   I know it's getting tired, so do I dump some money in it or replace it with something else?

If it looked like a typical 294K mile truck,  I'd probably sell it and find something else.  However,  after 18 years with the stupid thing...I'm attached to it.

It's a mid sized truck with a V8, and was built in low enough numbers that it's not common to see a lot of these in the wild.   Which pushes a lot of my buttons. 

  Plus, aside from general wear and tear, it still looks pretty good.  No rust, huge dents or serious exterior issues. 

It just needs a little love.  So, I'm thinking I'm going to dump some money into the old girl...eventually.  

I can't throw any serious money or make big moved for about another two years, so this is mostly me thinking out loud.

I never really thought about modifying it before now, because I always needed it to do truck stuff, and didn't want to take away from the functionality of the truck.

 Well, opinions change over the years, so let's get nuts.

When the Raider was first released, Mitsubishi sponsored a 3.7l DuroCross 4WD to run in the stock class of the Baja 1000 race.  

The truck is now belongs to the Boost Rodeo guys who have a channel on YouTube. 

I loved that truck, and always wanted something along those lines.  Lifted, aftermarket wheels, roll bar, tire rack, lights and a custom tubular off road bumper.  It was my computer wallpaper for a long time, and it's still a favorite. 

So, I think  I'd like to build something similar with the Raider, along with generally fixing up the truck and put a little pep in it's step again. 

My truck is a 2WD model, so more of a pre-runner type truck, and not a fully caged and prepped race truck.

So here's a general list/plan to deal with fixing any mechanical issues and eventual modifications.

Maintenance:

Rebuilt 4.7l Engine

Replacement Catback Exhaust 

Power Steering Rack

Front Struts

Coilover Rear Load Shocks

Rear End Rebuild/Replacement 

Mods:

3 in Body Lift 

Chase Rack/Light Bar

Front Light Bar/Prerunner Bumper

Oil Pressure/Transmission Temp Gauge/Water Temp Gauge

New Wheel/Tire Combo (33's) 285/75/16  Will work with 16x8 Wheels

Driving Lights

Stand-alone Transmission Cooler

Aftermarket Seats

Android Head Unit 

This is just a basic list so far and a general idea of how I want to proceed. Subject to change. 

The 3rd Gen Dakota/Raider doesn't really have suspension lift options other than shock spacers for the front and blocks or "add a leafs" for the rear.

A body lift seems like a real hassle to do, but it would retain the original suspension geometry without the additional wear that shock spacers would put on the front end to get more lift. 

Still undecided on the best way to clear for bigger tires.

Anyway,  that's my plan on spending money and time on yet another automotive money pit.

Has anyone done a body lift on a truck?  I imagine relocating certain components is probably a real pain, and I'm wondering how it's handled.  Radiator,  Steering Shaft, Brake Lines etc.

 Down The Rabbit Hole

I haven't logged into this thing in awhile, for..."reasons".

"So Where You Been Numbnuts?"

Finally moved out of my apartment and bought a house in 2019 or so. I've been getting used to being a homeowner and all the assorted BS that goes with it.  

A nice big yard with plenty of trees seemed like a nice idea at the time, but then I discovered the mowing it and keeping it up was a giant PITA.  Luckily it's outside the city limits, no HOA or covenants to deal with.  As long as I don't get too crazy, I can keep a few extra automotive projects on hand.

After getting the Stealth, a lot of cars have darkened my garage and driveway.  To Include:

95 Eagle Summit Wagon 

94 Plymouth Colt Wagon (Clown Car)

87 Mitsubishi Mighty Max 2WD 

08 Volvo C30 Hatch 

92 Dodge Stealth R/T TT (Parts Car, Dog Chew Toy)

87 Dodge Ram 50 4x4 ("Just" had a Blown Headgasket.  Lies)

13 VW Passat TDI* (Sonata Replacement)

04 BMW 325CI Convertible (Never Again..BMW Hot Garbage)

05 VW Beetle TDI 5 Speed (Leaky POS, Got Screwed)

87 Chrysler Conquest TSi (Silver, Rusty Parts Car For The Ram 50)

89 Chrysler Conquest TSi ( Wanted a Conquest Project. Got This Rusty POS)

88 Chrysler Conquest TSi (Maroon Project Car)*  

89 Chrysler Conquest TSi (Blurple Parts Car)

The ones in bold and asterisked are all former Daily Drivers, Flip Cars, Failed Flips or Parts Cars.

Oh, and I also got a dog.  Or rather, the dog got me.  She's a amazing dog and I'm glad she found me and my GF.

So yeah, a lot of things going on since 2018.

"What About COVID?"

Oh yeah.  I got screwed by that too.

Just like a lot of people all over the world.  Got laid off for a few months, got called back and started working again.  Worried about money the whole time, especially after buying my first house.  Business hasn't returned to Pre-"Pandemic" levels, and it's still a source of worry.  Decisions were made by the powers that be and I'm not sure if they were the right ones or not.  Moving on now...

"New Lineup, Then?"

Yeah..  Sold my 93 Talon TSi/AWD (Trogdor) off because I just wanted to concentrate on the Stealth.

Of course I had bought a few interesting shitboxes to play with the (Colt/Summit Wagons), the Mighty Max and a 4x4 Ram 50 that "just needs a new head". 

Bought a rebuilt head for the Ram 50, and discovered it had no compression and needed a new bottom end.  Figures.

My buddy in Houston had a complete 87 Conquest that he was selling as a parts car.  Went down, picked it up and after pulling the motor out of the Conquest for the Ram 50, I decided I really wanted a good StarQuest as a project car.

So this led to me falling down the Starion/Conquest "Rabbit Hole" big time.  Bought a 89 running and driving Conquest from a buddy in Texas that turned out to be a giant, rolling Tetanus Shot.

Further inspection revealed it was far too rusty to save, so I started parting it out to recoup some money after my buddy refunded me some money for the car.

Asked around and another buddy let me know about one his boss had been holding onto for the last 10 years or so behind his garage.

It had been stored on a concrete pad the whole time and was supposed to be a rust free Texas car.  

Sure.  Just like the Gold one rotting in my backyard now.

88 Chrysler Conquest TSi 5 Speed in Durban Maroon.   Durban Maroon was a one year only color available only on the Chrysler Conquest in the U.S. Market.  So, kind of a rare car. 

It actually wound up being a fairly decent car that had just been sitting for awhile. "Ran When Parked".

 Interior was kind of blasted from the sun, but no big deal.  The gold car had a decent interior to swap into the one.

Picked it up, brought it home and proceeded to spend the next few months cleaning it up, sorting it out and finally getting it started for the first time in over 10 years.  Interior was swapped out for a black dash and other parts cars and it now runs and drives.

So that's where it's at now.   It runs and drives and now, I'm just trying to get it to look better.

Between this and the Stealth, I think I've got plenty to work on and document in this blog.

Infor mation on the Starion/Conquest cars is very hard to find and a lot of past information resources have either been lost or deleted.

I plan to restore this car as best as I can and will probably wind up swapping a 4G6X motor into it, as the G54B just doesn't have the aftermarket support that the 4G6X series does.

So, hopefully this means there will be more posts and information on this and future cars.

Alpha, Mike, Foxtrot.....

Let There Be Light

"Maybe If I Tape A Couple Of Flashlights To The Hood..."

To be quite honest, the headlights on the Stealth kind of suck.

Language, Spock!

Like may cars from the early 90's, the Stealth has "Pop Up" Headlights, which while cool in a Retro sort of way, means that it uses "Sealed Beam Headlights".

Sealed Beam Headlights consist of a  single or dual lighting element and a parabolic aluminized reflector in a integrated glass housing.  For over 40 years these assemblies were mandatory for any vehicle sold in the United States.  They worked, but the light output was pretty terrible.

In the mid 80's Automobile manufacturers were no longer required to use these assemblies, but some did into the 90'as for whatever reason.

Mitsubishi was one of those companies, and the Stealth/3000GT didn't get fixed headlights until the 1994 model year.

Original Headlights In The Garage

But, I Like Pop Ups?

So do I, but I also would like to be able to see at night.

After having replaced the headlights in my now, DEAD VW Golf TDI with a set of aftermarket projector headlights, I've gotten spoiled.

I COULD SEE EVERYTHING AT NIGHT with those headlights. 

•  Rabid Skunks doing donuts in the middle of the road.  
• Armadillos psyching themselves up to try and cross the road.
• Stupid Deer thinking about running in the middle of the road.
• Possum, Cougars, Foxes and whatever other animals that haunt Kansas Country roads at night getting ready to do something extraordinarily stupid.

*Really didn't help me against a Hyundai Sonata with a sleepy driver behind the wheel, but that's neither here, nor there.*

There were upgrades available for cars with Sealed Beam Headlights, just not a lot of good ones, unfortunately.

What Are Our Options, Then?

• Sealed Beam Upgrades
• Aftermarket Projector Housings
• LED Upgrade Housing
• H4 Housing Conversion

Sealed Beam Upgrade

Sylvania sells a "Silverstar" H4666 Headlight Assembly that's supposed to be brighter than a standard Halogen Sealed Beam unit.  This would be the easiest to install as it basically just replaces the standard headlight with one of these.  Unfortunately while brighter, you still have the diffuse light inherent with the sealed beam design.  These wouldn't be an upgrade, rather serving as a Band Aid for a oozing wound.

Aftermarket Projector Housings

These seem like the best of both worlds.  A modern projector housing enclosed in a housing shaped like a sealed beam housing.  Unfortunately due to the dimensions of the sealed beam housing, the projector isn't really able to be properly installed in the housing, resulting in output that isn't as good as it should be.  Add to that, that pretty much all of these housings are only available from Taiwan or China, made me very dubious about their quality.  I've bought fog lights and other lighting off E-Bay for past project cars, and I've learned to be very skeptical of anything that seems to be too good to be true.  The projector housings also looked to need a slightly deeper opening than the conventional headlight housing.  Another concern, due to the pop up headlights used on the car. 

LED Upgrade Housing

These were also only available from Taiwan or China, and were priced way too low to be of any kind of good quality.  I was also concerned about the output and light pattern.  I didn't want to blind anyone in the the oncoming lane, and I hated the way that they looked with multiple single LED bulbs.

H4 Upgrade Housings

This seemed to be the best bet, as I've had past experience with this option.  I had a 90 Eagle Talon TSi/AWD that I bought with this upgrade already performed.  They were older 4X6 Hella Headlights that the previous owner kludged into the car.  They worked fine for the 7+ years that I owned the car.

Doing some research I found a set of H4 Upgrade housings for the Stealth, also made by Hella. Model # HL2110A with Manufacturer's Part#: 1AB 008.888-101 008888101. 

Hella is a German company that provides OEM lights and aftermarket lights for a variety of manufacturers, so I wasn't concerned about quality.  These headlights featured a clear glass lens, and advertised a very sharp and distinct cutoff for the low beam lights.  A definite advantage over the Sealed Beam Unit, but probably not as good as a properly set up Projector Housing.

Everything is a trade off, it seems.

After confirming a few measurements with my OEM Headlights, I returned a different set that my GF had bought for my birthday (Thanks Weezie!) and used the credit to place an order from Amazon for a set of the HL2110A Headlights, a set of H4666 to H4 Wiring Adapters and a pair of Silverstar Ultra 9003 Halogen Bulbs.  

"Drop In Replacement"

Yeah, Right... 

I received everything a few days later, but had to wait for a weekend to work on it.  I started by removing the original headlights, the covers and plastic trim to expose everything.

  I had to remove the headlight buckets in order to modify them, but I used White Out to try and match mark the adjustment screws so that the headlights wouldn't be COMPLETELY out of whack when they were reinstalled.

Skeletal

It wasn't exactly a drop in replacement unfortunately.  As noted before, there were some modifications that needed to be made in order to use them in the car.

Clearance, Clarence..

The new Headlights had a slightly extended circular area in the center of the headlight, resulting in a slightly thicker overall dimension than the original headlight.  

The new headlight also had a mounting boss for a Non Operative European Spec "City Light", that really couldn't be ground down to clear the headlight bucket.  Grinding it would have opened up the rear of the Headlight Housing and destroyed the reflector for the light.

The only real option was to enlarge one opening on the bucket  to clear the extension and also notch it to clear the "City Light" boss in the rear of the headlight.

I used a Dremel tool with a metal grinding bit to enlarge the opening for the extended area of the headlight.  I drilled a hole in the area of the Headlight Bucket for the "City Light" boss and then used the Dremel tool and grinding bit to shape the hole to accommodate the projection on the back of the light.

"Modified"

 Surprisingly, it all fit pretty well after grinding, filing and checking the fir of everything numerous times.  

If It Fits, It Ships

Test Fitting The Assembly

After confirming fitment, I went head and dressed all the cut edges with a file and spray painted all exposed metal with spray paint.

Electron Flow

My original plan was to use wiring adapters from the OEM H4666 wiring to the H4/9003 Bulbs in the back of the headlights.  After some thought, and opening and closing the lights a few times, I went ahead and made the decision to solder the H4 connectors in place of  using an adapter harness.

The original H4666 connectors were cut off and the H4 Connector wires were soldered in place, heat shrunk and wrapped in electrical tape after consulting this wiring diagram to confirm everything was hooked up correctly.

Red Goes To Red...Black Goes To..

After getting everything wired, protected and routed, everything was reinstalled and I hit the lights to check operation.

Success!!   I checked the High and Low Beam Function and also opened and closed the lights a few times to make sure none of my new wiring was going to get caught in the Pop Up mechanism.  

I went ahead and reinstalled the Headlight Trim and Headlight Covers.  

A few days later, I dropped the car off at a friend's shop to have a 4 Wheel Alignment done and to have the headlights adjusted.  A Headlight Adjustment wasn't something they usually did, but they got it in the ballpark.  

I haven't had a chance to test it out yet, since we seem to be rolling into the "Crappy Weather" time of year here in Kansas, so the car has been hiding in the garage for right now.

When it clears up one night, I will definitely get out there and check it out.

Alpha, Mike, Foxtrot.....

Special Task Force:Unicorn: Day 2 And 3 "Mystic Blue Boogaloo"

Continuing our journey to the deepest, darkest heart of...Colorado to pick up a used Dodge Stealth R/T TT:

Let's Go Get This Thing Already

I woke up felling mostly rested and checked in on Jake, who surprisingly wasn't dead from Hypoxia/Dehydration. 

Good.  Less paperwork and questions for me. (I Kid, I Kid...)

We got cleaned up, dressed and headed down to check out the wonderful "Continental Breakfast" that the hotel had laid out for us.

It actually wasn't bad.  I loaded up on juice, waffles, sausage, eggs, biscuits and gravy and yogurt, to fuel up for the rest of the day.  I intended to make the rest of the trip without stopping, until we got to the car. Jake ate pretty light, but considering the whole "spewing on the side of the road" incident, it wasn't unexpected.

Checked out of the hotel, loaded the Sonata up and we were off.

So Close To Utah

Clifton, CO where the car was located in was about 40 miles from the Utah border.

11 Hours...Ugh.

Once again, I questioned my sanity about going through with this whole sorry affair, but resolved to tell myself to "Shut up and sit down, Stanley."  I was getting this stupid car.

The drive down I-70 was as usual, pretty spectacular.  We passed through several towns like, Rifle, Silt and Parachute before the signs and GPS told us we were near.

We arrived in Clifton, and proceeded to the owners house.

Nice Setup

The owner, Marc lived in a fairly large, wood framed house, with a huge driveway with what looked like a 5 car shop tucked in the back.  

I immediately started thinking about how many project cars I could fit on the property and how I would lay out the shop.  

Then I saw the car, in the driveway...

I think I might have been drooling or something, because Jake said: "You alright?"

I mumbled something in the way of an affirmative and we got out, to knock on the door and meet the owner.

There, There, She Is

This is what I saw when we pulled up in the driveway:

Yes!

Original Wheels!

The car was pretty much exactly as described, Good and Bad points included. 

 Pretty much exactly as described, a well maintained car that was driven and didn't appear to have been modified or mucked around with too much.

The Climate Control worked, along with the windows, power seat, mirrors and other items.  Even the Power Antenna.

 The usual wear and tear as the car was fairly old, but overall in very good condition considering it wasn't a pampered garage queen.

I did notice the stress marks on top of the Radiator and the Radiator Cap looked to be the original unit, but figured they'd be good enough to make the drive home, since I didn't intend to push it.

Words that would haunt me later.

Aside From The K&N FIPK, It Looked Bone Stock

Worn Steering Wheel, Should Be Easy To Refinish

Clean Dash, Aside From Cracked Defroster Vents Under The Windshield

Worn Shift Boot.  Easy Fix

Sigh..Nothing's Perfect

Test Drive

The owner wasn't too keen on allowing a test drive without seeing some cash first, which put me off a little bit.  

  He didn't strike me as the kind of guy who would try to rob us, considering his 6 year old kid was running around the driveway, being a kid and wondering who these new people were. Plus the idyllic country setting of his home and the area didn't strike me as "I'm gonna jack you fool!" type of setup.

 I didn't drive over 11 hours to waste his time, but hey...it was his car. His rules.

 Jake and I headed to the local branch of my bank, so I could withdraw the money.

We got back, and piled into the car.  Myself, along with Marc and his son. The Stealth, while "technically" a 4 Seater, was just a bit tight.

I was nervous driving the car, because

1. It wasn't my car...yet.
2. I wasn't familiar with the area.
3. I was afraid that I had built this car up in my head and was going to be disappointed behind the wheel. 
4. It wasn't my car.

It definitely wasn't as fast as I thought it would be, but then again I had to remind myself it was bone stock and at a higher altitude.

Driving it I could tell that it was a heavy car, which I kind of liked the feel of after driving smaller cars most of my life.  It didn't feel like it was going to get blown off the road, but also didn't feel like I was driving a luxury barge of some kind.

The suspension felt good on the drive along with the steering response.  Engine accelerated strongly and I couldn't see exhaust smoke or any other signs of possible issues.  The A/C blew cold and overall it seemed like a very solid car aside from some noises under the dash whenever the clutch was pushed in.  It didn't sound like anything serious, just a creaking noise I attributed to a linkage that needed to be lubed or adjusted.  Clutch felt fine and didn't slip at all.

Definite potential here....I'll Take It!!!

Doing The Deed

We headed back to the house and Marc started pulling out the paperwork, while I counted the money out. 

As far as used car transactions go, this was probably the most legitimate one I've ever gone through, besides a real dealership.  He had sanitized copies of the Title, multiple copies of the Bill Of Sale and gave me very precise directions to the local DMV, so I could get a Temp Tag for the drive home.

Jack remarked that most of his used car sales involved meeting in a Grocery Store parking lot and throwing money, keys and titles at each other.  

He agreed to let us keep the Stealth there while we headed out to get the Temp Tag, and said he had extra parts for the car that he would gather up for me.

This Is...Clifton!

Clifton is a nice little town.  I can definitely see the appeal of living there, but I figure the cost of living is going to be astronomical.

Upon arriving at the DMV, I was informed that before I could get a Temp Tag, I needed to have insurance for my new car.  

Crap.

This prompted a very hurried telephone call to my insurance agent who emailed me a .PDF copy of my insurance card to my phone, just in time before my number got called to get my tag.

Isn't technology great?

On the way back we had lunch at Qdoba's and stopped off at a Autozone to pick up some "Oh Shit" supplies.  Oil, Coolant, and a tube of Steel Stik because I didn't like the way that top Radiator tank looked.  I figured between that stuff and my tools, we were ready to tackle the trip home.

Headed Home

We transferred some stuff from the Sonata to the Stealth, loaded up the parts Marc had found and had Jake lead in the Sonata, since he had spotted a route that took us through some mountain passes. 

 He's a photographer, and wanted some shots of the area and figured some mountain driving would give me time to get acquainted with my new car by some "spirited" driving.

I agreed, as we were in Colorado and it would be criminal to not take in some of the sights.  Besides, I did want to stretch the legs on the car a little bit.

We took off and hit the mountain road, with me chasing him in the Stealth.  I was being very cautious as I was still unfamiliar with the car, and definitely worried about doing something stupid with it.  We were about 20 minutes into the trip and  I was having a good time, driving and taking in the sights, until I looked at the temp gauge.

"That looks a little high."

"Shit.  It is a little high!"

We pulled over to the first Scenic Turn Off on the pass, and I relayed the bad news.   The car hadn't overheated, but it had definitely given it the "Old Junior College Try" and was making gurgling noises, but hadn't boiled over yet.  

Not A Good Start

Old Reliable And The New Money Pit

No leaks and the Radiator Tank hadn't cracked...yet.  Hoses looked OK, then I remembered the Radiator Cap.

"Oh Shit.  I should have bought one at Autozone, but spaced out on it."

We pulled the cap after it stopped gurgling, and looked the cap over. It was definitely tired.

 It hadn't started to get hot until we started hotdogging it through the mountain.  We topped it off and decided to take it easy for a bit and replace it at the first parts store we found.  

Managed to get some shots of the car, while it was trying to strand me on top of the mountain though.

About an hour later, we found a NAPA parts store that had a cap,  We gassed up and replaced the cap after it cooled off a bit.  It hadn't overheated the rest of the way, and I was keeping a CLOSE eye on the temp gauge.

That's Right...Don't Move

Like An Oasis...In The Mountains

Thirsty Girl

Eurobeat Intensifies

Rest Stops In Colorado, Definitely Do Impress

McDonald's Stop

The rest of the trip went pretty well.

Jake was trying unleash his inner "Takumi Fujiwara" the whole way home on I-70 in the Sonata.

I was enjoying the very different driving through the passes, but after about 6 Hours of Uphill and Downhill "Togue" driving, I was pretty done with it.

Once we got past Denver, it was pretty wide open, but I was TIRED. I kept losing sight of Jake as I did "Touch and Go's" with my head in the car.

Eventually we crossed the border (Kansas.  Yay.) and pulled into then hotel I had reserved.

Since I had originally planned to make the trip solo, and the hotel was booked solid for some reason, I gave Jake the bed and crashed on the floor in my sleeping bag.

I was out, pretty much immediately.

I'm Going To Wichita

I woke up, wondering where I was and why I was on the floor.  I haven't gotten good and drunk in years, so I was confused slightly.

"Oh yeah.  The Stealth".

Got up and proceeded to get ready for the trip home.

We hit McDonald's again, me for the "Big Breakfast with Pancakes" and Jake for a "Sausage McGriddle."  He was fascinated that they somehow managed to infuse the muffin with Maple Syrup flavor.  I was too busy stuffing my face to add too much to the conversation.

We had things to do!

Miles to go!  And all that stuff....

About 4 hours later we were back in Wichita in I-135 and I immediately missed the lack of traffic on I-70.  Lunatics!

We stopped off at his buddy's place to have the Stealth checked out, as he's pretty much the local 3/S Guru in the area.  His family also owns a used car lot and they had a shop with a lift, so I was happy to have a chance to check out the underside of the car and have someone who knew about them, look it over.

Looks Good For The Most Part

He immediately diagnosed the creaking noise as a misaligned heatshield on the rear turbo intercooler pipe.  At some point it had been bent out of shape and was rubbing against other components while the engine rocked back and forth while shifting.

He also tracked down a vacuum leak using a smoke machine, and plugged the offending hose up.

All in all, he thought I had gotten a pretty good deal and pronounced that it felt fairly healthy for a pretty much stock car after he test drove it around the block.

The Nope Train, To Fuckthatville

He then tried to talk me into adding fuel mods, cranking the stock turbos up to max and then installing a methane kit, telling me that it would be..."fine".  "It's got a really rich fuel map from the factory."

Yeah, I already have one "Garage Queen" that I do stupid things to. This is going to be a driver, not a first place contender in the "Jackstand Racing League".

Home

I thanked him for the work, and promised that if I needed any used 3/S parts I would hit him up. We headed back to my apartment and parked the car in the carport spot I have reserved.  

I hadn't gotten rid of my 98 Talon project yet, so it was going to have to cool it's heels outside for awhile.

Drove Jake home, and thanked him for going along with this little bit of insanity and all the help with everything.  He said he was gonna go inside and pass out, and if I needed something like this again, make it at least a few months from now and provide more notice next time.

Drove back home, and passed the Stealth sitting in its temporary spot...and took it all in.  As I drove off towards my apartment, I mumbled..."finally".

Mission Complete

Alpha, Mike, Foxtrot...