Yeah, But You Should See The Other Guy

I Wish I Wasn't Typing This..

  

The "Helmet" Is Dead.

  Well....That Happened...

Nope, not a joke.  My faithful 2005 VW Golf TDI is dead.
Bier Cans.
Scrap Metal.
Finito.
Sayonara.
Peace Out, I'm Done.
DEAD.

I got into a car accident on the way home from work.  Someone crossed into my lane and hit me head on at full speed.

I Should Be Dead

Both vehicles were traveling at roadway speed when the vehicles collided.  My Golf was struck head on by the mid sized sedan (details of other vehicle withheld) at full speed.

After the impact, I was initially conscious but trapped in the vehicle. I was later told I lost consciousness at some point.  It took EMS personnel approximately 10 minutes to extract me from my car.

Pity Party, Party Of One

The last two months have been filled with stress, drama, surgeries, physical therapy, hospital stays and more doctor visits than I care to remember.


I have subjected my family and girlfriend to stress, drama and my personal bullshit and issues that have arisen from this accident.  I've suffered from physical pain, mood swings, depression, memory loss and lingering, unresolved anger.  Unfortunately the people I love, have been the recipients of my anger and frustration at times.

For this, I sincerely apologize.

My family and especially my girlfriend have gone above and beyond to take care of and help me get through this.  I have no way I can possibly articulate or ever possibly express just how much this means to me.

The accident has left me in a very dark place emotionally, that I'm still dealing with.  I'm not sure how I would have made it this far without her support. 

"Thank You Weezie.  I'm Sorry For Being A Whiny Jackass Sometimes."

According to my doctors, I SHOULD recover from this mostly, with some lingering effects.  My range of motion in the affected joints and limbs will suffer from slightly degraded range of motion, dexterity and strength.  I will have lingering pain from the surgeries used to repair the accident damage. Most of this will be mitigated with Physical Therapy and time as my body heals, but I will have reminders of the accident for the rest of my life.  My finances will be damaged and several things I had planned to do will be placed on hold because, I now have medical bills to contend with until things with the other driver are settled.

However as my girlfriend has reminded me numerous times..."At least you're alive."

She's right.  I broke almost 3/4's of my body in the accident, and not only am I alive, I'm not permanently crippled or missing any limbs.  In the coming months of recovery and physical therapy, I'll try to remember that.

I also just wanted to thank Volkswagen for engineering the Mk4 Golf.  The design of the vehicle ensured I survived what could have been a  far more serious accident.  I want another Golf or Jetta, but my Girlfriend thinks I might be pushing my luck considering how easily this could have gone much, much worse for me.

I'm inclined to agree.

She still hasn't showed me the pics she took after I asked her to clear my car out at the tow lot.  She says it's pretty bad and probably not a good idea to see it until I recover a bit more.  I'm told it looks like the front end of the car has been bitten off, while the rest?  Well, it looks like a car.

I'm just pissed because now I have to find something to replace it.  Hopefully I can find something as cool looking and fuel efficient as the Golf.

So....

R.I.P. 2005 Volkswagen Golf TDI "The Helmet"

You Saved My Life.  Thank You.

Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch

As for the guy who hit me?  Destroyed my super cool Diesel Daily?  Caused me and my loved ones worry, pain and unneeded stress?  Derailed my finances, health, career and several long range life plans?

I wish the other guy no real ill will at all, but I do wish we had never met.  I've been told you're not supposed to speak ill of other people, even if they've wronged you so I'll just say this to the other guy:

"Nice try Cupcake.  I'm still here."

Alpha, Mike, Foxtrot.......

Wheels, Gauges, Oh My....

It's About Time...

 As I've mentioned before , the "Helmet" gets no love.  My previous attempt to show it some love resulted in a road trip to Kansas City to buy some wheels that didn't actually fit.

Wait, What?

Yup.  It turns out the Borbet Type C wheels I drove 4 hours for and got such a "great deal" on?

Yeah, they don't freaking fit my car.

Turns out the guy didn't know what he had and either intentionally or accidentally misrepresented the wheels in his Craigslist ad.

The wheels were for a car with a 5x120 bolt pattern, and not for a 5x100.  Great for a older BMW, but not for a Mk4 Volkswagen.

This is partially on me, as I never bothered to validate the bolt pattern.

You know,  before I had one of the wheels repaired, bought new tires and took them to the tire shop to have them mounted.

 You know, before I did all that and looked like a huge jackass.

*SIGH*

Craigslist Crawl, Part Deux

So, I still wanted to make the Golf look better, so back to Craigslist I went for a deal on some nice wheels to polish my turd.

Found a set of Black 17x7 in Konig "Day Lite" wheels in Tulsa, with tires installed for a decent price.  Neat!  Off to Tulsa!

Managed to snag the wheels and tires and also verified offset and bolt pattern before I loaded them into the Raider for the trip home. Check these out.  They look great and are supposed to be pretty light.  A great addition to the TDI.

I hope these improve the looks of the car without hurting the fuel economy too much.

17X7 5X100

Konig DayLite Wheels With 235/45/17 Tires

The tires installed were 235/45/17 and were pretty much the same size installed from the factory for OEM 17 in wheels.  The offset was perfect for the most part.  I'm not a fan of too much poke from the wheels on my cars, so I didn't see a need to use spacers.

The only thing I wanted was for a small drop in ride height.  My only worry was the fact that the car already sat rather low from the factory, and was more concerned with everyday driving than looks.

The wheels and tires really helped dress up the looks of the car.  Handling was improved, but mileage did suffer slightly.  MPG dropped from 41mpg to 38-39mpg.

Can't win them all.

Information High

A lack of information from the factory gauges was also a consideration that needed to be addressed for my Diesel Daily Driver.

I wanted a way to monitor Boost, Voltage, Water Temperature and Boost Pressure.

Unfortunately, due to limited space for gauges there wasn't going to be an easy way to install enough gauges to monitor everything.

P3 Gauges offered a multifunction gauge that monitored most of the parameters needed, and fit into the space occupied by the Driver's Side air vent in the dash. The gauge read parameters directly from the OBD2 port under the dash.  While this was a simple and convenient solution to my issue, it was fairly pricey.

Some research revealed several other multifunction OBD2 displays, that were far cheaper than the P3 Gauges offering, but didn't offer the same drop in mounting integration.  Some custom work would be needed to mount the chosen unit.

I chose to use the UltraGauge OBDII Scanner/Gauge for the "Helmet".  It offered far more features including, MPG Readings and the ability to read and clear OBDII errors and codes.  Mounting the unit was kind of a challenge due to the shape of the gauge and the shape of the dash.  I eventually decided to remove the useless factor pop out cup holders located above the head unit, and use a plastic blanking plate in its place.

The plate was notched slightly to allow the cable for the UltraGauge to be routed into the dash.  A special multidirectional mount for the gauge was secured to the blanking plate with 3M double faced tape.

It Actually Works Pretty Well Here

Once installed, configured and properly calibrated, the UltraGaugeII is a very useful tool.  I used it mostly to monitor Water Temperature, Voltage and Boost.  There are several other parameters that can be monitored depending on the ECU Protocol used.  For $69.97 this gauge is a bargain, and I will probably use it on other OBDII equipped vehicles.

One More Gauge

While the UltraGauge took care of the majority of the engine parameter monitoring issues, I still needed something to monitor oil pressure.

  The gauge was a little over $100 and the tee was about $12.  The steering column pod was around $39 or so.  It's been awhile, so I might be completely off.

I picked up a 52mm Electrical New South Performance Oil Pressure Gauge along with their L/H side steering column pod.  The gauge included pretty much everything needed to install the gauge except for a "tee fitting" from VDO to use with the oil pressure sending port on the engine.

I used the info in this guide for information on locating the proper port on the engine, routing the signal wire past the firewall and the part number for the VDO tee unit (M10x1k thread T-fitting VDO 240-850).  Everything else is outlined in the instructions for whatever gauge you wind up using.

One thing to consider is how close the factory steering wheel comes to the front of the gauge when installed with the NSP Steering Column Pod.  The 52mm AEM digital gauge I intended to use originally wound up hitting the back of the factory steering wheel due to how far the AEM gauge bezel stuck out.  It kept hitting the steering wheel.

I know for a fact that the NSP and VDO 52mm Analog Gauges will fit using the NSP Steering Column Gauge Pod.

Almost Looks Factory

 Once installed the gauge supplied a lot of peace of mind, as good oil pressure is MANDATORY for reliable operation of any engine.

Information Overload

The addition of these two gauges provide plenty of information for the driver of a TDI to monitor and diagnose their vehicle.

Hopefully this will help someone out in the future.

Alpha, Mike, Foxtrot....
 

The TDI Gets A Little Love....

"The Helmet" Gets A Little Polish....

(Wait.  That sounds ALL sorts of wrong.)

I really don't give my VW enough love.

It's got a pretty rough gig, dragging me to work and back at least 5 days a week, with a total trip that sometimes goes over 100 miles.  I do take care of it, because I have to.  It's what I rely on to get me to and from work.  So if something goes wrong, I tend to spend money to get it fixed.

A month ago, I realized I had put over 50K miles on it since I had gotten it, and hadn't thought to check or find out what the service interval on the automatic transmission was.  A quick text to the previous owner, and a consultation with the owner's manual had the car in the dealership two days later to get the tranny serviced.

The dealership noticed that my tires, were pretty much worn down (Surprise!), so they needed to be replaced.  Two days later, the Helmet was riding on new rubber (That Didn't Sound Good Either..).

Your Point?

My point is, while I take care of the car, I don't do a lot of things to make it look or handle better, and I definitely don't do anything to make it faster.  I figured, it was time to show it some love, so I hiyt up Craigslist to look for something to try and address one of those three things.

Craigslist Crawling

I hit up Craigslist and started searching for something to put on the car.  Suspension, exhaust, exterior stuff...oh wait, I know what it needs.  New Wheels!  Entering "5x100" soon yielded a promising ad, that showed a set of wheels that should fit the Golf, perfectly.

Old School

A guy up in the Kansas City Area (Again? Really?)  had a set of Borbet Type C wheels for sale in the right bolt pattern and a inch wider than the factory rims on the Golf.  At about $200 for the set, it was a steal.  After confirming with the seller that the centerbore and offset would work, I set up an appointment on Saturday to drive up and meet him.

From a little research I found out the Type C was a fairly popular wheel with European vehicles, and it was also no longer in production.  Judging by the size (15x7), centerbore (72.5mm) and offset (+35mm), I think these wheels were originally intended for a BMW of some type.  No problem, that's why they make hubcentric rings.

Here's what they look like:

Thank You Google Images

Met up with the guy, picked up the wheels and headed back home.  Got the wheels unloaded and found one had a slight bend on the inboard side.  No problem had a local shop straighten it for a small fee.

Here's a shot of an older Golf with the Type C's installed:

It'll Be Fine..

Why Aren't They On The Car?

Because it's cold outside, and I want to put more performance oriented tires on this set of wheels and save the stockers, for winter use.  Which it is now.  Unfortunately.

Also, along with the new wheels and tires, I figure a slight suspension drop is in order as well.

 Can't have new wheels with stock ride height, right?

It'll Happen.


Alpha, Mike, Foxtrot...

VW Alternator Antics

It's Been Awhile..

Haven't updated this thing in a while.  I have no real excuse other than the CW started airing their Superhero shows again, and I get home late sometimes. 

Hmm.  Stay up late banging out a blog post or park my big ass on the couch and catch up with what Supergirl, The Flash, The Green Arrow and the Legends of Tomorrow crew are up to?

Let's just say that my couch has a rather nice, Muttski shaped dent in it now.  What can I say?  I'm a sucker for a blonde in a red skirt and a cape, flying around and dispensing justice.  And don't get me started on the White Canary.

 Damn.
  
Nevertheless, this doesn't mean things haven't been going on in the old garage, it just means I've been too lazy to document it.

So, since I have some downtime due to the Thanksgiving Holiday, I guess some posts are in order.

You Have Failed me For The Last Time....

Usually, I write about the Miata, because I'm always qworking on it.  However this time it was my old faithful and reliable daily driver that decided to act up. Yes, "The Helmet", my stalwart, diesel powered steed, has decided it needed some attention.

Did It Always Make This Noise?

 So, there I was driving the Helmet around town to run some errands.  Pulled into a parking spot and noticed it made this horrible, growling noise whenever I turned the wheel.  It was loud enough that people passing by were giving me the "What a hoopty" look.

This would not do.

Well, What's Wrong Now?

Determined to fix whatever was wrong with the car, and get rid of the God awful noise, I started troubleshooting.

In the parking lot.  Of a Target.  On a Saturday Night.

Do I know how to party, or what? 

I turned the wheel a few more times, and was able to repeat the noise, but noticed that it went away whenever I gave it a bit more throttle.  It struck me as weird that the noise was affected by RPM.  I popped the hood and checked the power steering fluid level, and noted that it was VERY low.  Well there's my problem!!  Right?  Just top that sucker off and it's back to noise free high MPG shenanigans.

Thanks VW

The power steering fluid used in most MkIV VW products, is something that's not available in the automotive section of your typical Wal-Mart or Target.  After some hurried research on my phone in the parking lot, I found out from several online forums, that in no uncertain terms  to NOT use off the shelf stuff, and instead use a dealer approved fluid.

Great, would totally do that...if a dealership was open at 8pm on a Saturday. 

Feeling defeated, I got the car home and started looking around in the garage and found a box of extras that were included with the car when I bought it.
Success!
 Found a container of power steering fluid in my box of junk and topped off the reservoir.  I figured, problem solved.

I was wrong.

I cycled the steering from lock to lock to try and bleed the system, for about 10 minutes and only succeeded in making more noise, pissing off my neighbors and thoroughly disgusting myself for not having noticed the power steering fluid was low.

At this point I figured either the power steering pump or rack had nuked itself, and I was going to have to spend some money to replace both components.  I resolved to just drive the car and live with the cringe inducing noises it made, until I could replace the parts or it blew up. 

Noisy Cricket

I drove it for about a week, with the noise haunting me in every parking lot, or low speed turn.  The "hooptification" of my vehicle continued unabated, and I wasn't happy about it.

The noise would go away, whenever the RPM's climbed past idle, and to me that didn't sound like a bad steering rack or power steering pump. Plus, there was no sign of fluid or leakage anywhere that I could see.  If it was making that much noise, there had to be some serious contamination in the pump and rack.  Surely it should have started to leak somewhere, right?

So, once again the hood was popped with the engine running.  I wanted to see if I could spot any leaks, with the rack under pressure.  I didn't see any leaks, but I did see something else that was unusual.

Twerk, Twerk, Twerk..

With the engine running at idle, the spring loaded tensioner for the serpentine belt was rocking back and forth so hard, I thought it was going to fly off and whack me in the head.  I know that tensioners are expected to move slightly during operation, but this one looked like a cracked out hula dancer.

Once again, I searched on the forums and researched what could possibly cause the tensioner to act like that.  A post on TDIClub (The "Go To" Forum For VW TDI Owners) stated that not only was the tensioner not supposed to do that, but the cause of the tensioner shaking, could also account for the horrible hoopty inducing sounds my car was making.

Thanks Volkswagen...Again

According to some forum members, the tensioner issue and the noises, were possibly due to a bad pulley on the alternator.  The alternator used a one way clutch incorporated into the pulley, for some dumbassed reason.  If it seizes up, then the serpentine belt would load up under tension at low speeds, causing a noise somewhat akin to a power steering setup, shitting itself.

I blocked the armature of the alternator with a screwdriver, and loosened the belt.  Sure enough, the pulley was locked up.

Fortunately, the pulley was replaceable in the car.

Unfortunately, it required a special tool set to replace it, along with a new pulley.
 Pisser. 
Off to ID Parts to order what I needed. A new pulley, and a tool kit to remove and install the pulley in the car. 
 Check out Metal Nerd for all your specialty and oddball  tools and bits for VW's and other cars.

This Is What I Needed: Metal Nerd MN3400 Alternator Bit Set

Adapt, Improvise....Hit It With A Hammer

After a few days, everything showed up and I was ready to tackle this thing and "Make My VW Great Again."  

Loosened the serpentine belt again, with a 17mm Open End Wrench and a tensioner lock tool to hold the tensioner in place.  Moved the belt out of the way.

Consulted the directions on the Metal Nerd Tool Kit and got a breaker bar with a 12mm socket to hold the center bit in place and  used the 17mm wrench to turn the bit on the alternator pulley.  Held the breaker bar in place, while turning the wrench in a loosening (counter clockwise) direction and.....

*STRIP!!!* (DAMN IT!!)

  The splines inside the alternator shaft, were either already stripped out, or the tool stripped them out when I applied my God Like torque to the wrench .  Either way, it was hosed and the alternator was going to have to come out.

Fortunately..

The alternator is pretty easy to remove. 2 13mm bolts hold it in place.  There is a electrical plug on the rear of the alternator, with a ring terminal held on by a 14mm nut with a lock washer.  There's also a clamp to hold the wiring in place, but it can be removed after the alternator bolts are removed to allow access to the 7mm nut holding the clamp in place.

With the alternator out, it was time to get "froggy" with the pulley.  Using the splined Metal Nerd bit and a 17mm socket, a electric impact gun was used to remove the old pulley.  The new pulley was threaded on along with a few tightening taps from the impact gun. A couple of "Ugga Uggas" if you want to get technical about it.

I Think That's Got It..

Reassembled everything, and I'm happy to report the tensioner doesn't shake anymore and the steering rack is quiet once again.

I've learned a few things from all this.

1.  Don't always assume the worst.  -  I was all ready to buy a new steering rack and a power steering pump, when the problem turned out to be a $39.95 (plus shipping) bearing, plus a $29.95 (plus shipping)  specialty tool kit. A little more troubleshooting and a clearer head, saved me some money and aggravation.

2.  VW Engineers Need A Kick In The Ass-  Seriously?  A special bit set to pull off a freaking pulley?  Was a bolt and lock washer too mainstream for you guys?

3.  I've Got Nothing-  I'm just glad the stupid thing isn't making the noise anymore.

And, I think the door sensor switch on the Driver;'s Side Front door is going out now.

Fawk....


Alpha, Mike, Foxtrot....

 

Loud Noises!

Craigslist Fix

I'm a Craigslist Junkie.

  I love hitting the site up and looking for deals for my cars.  Sometimes you get lucky and find a smoking deal, and sometimes you find something that you REALLY want, but don't have the room, time or money to buy.  So you have to pass on it, and that REALLY sucks.

Hello, What's This?

One night doing my usual Craigslist crawl, I spotted a pretty good deal for the Miata.  Someone had a 99-00 Racing Beat "Cold Air" Intake setup for $100. It included a brand new Hardware Kit, the Intake Housing, a recently Cleaned and Oiled Filter, along with a "custom" Aluminum Crossover Tube.  It seemed like a good deal, so I emailed the seller.  We set up a time and I asked for his address, which he gave.  I checked on the location...and it was in Kansas City.

Bummer. 

Living in the D/FW Metroplex had spoiled me quite a bit with the parts selection available.  If I wanted this thing, I was going to need to drive three hours.

Well, I've done stupider things before.  Let's go!

Roadtrip! 

The Miata was down due to the whole great Oil Pan Debacle, so I decided to take the TDI out for the trip.  Checked it over, fueled up and headed out.  After about three hours or so of "scenic" Kansas roads, I met up with the seller at his job, outside Kansas City.

He had a really clean white or silver NB, and I got to check it out before I left.  He loaded everything up in the Golf  after I checked everything over and I got ready to head back to Wichita.

Not So Shiny Intake

I unboxed everything and did a quick inventory and got a better look at what I bought.  The Crossover Tube looked like it could be used with my car with a few mods, and the filter and hardware kit were in great shape.  The cast aluminum Intake Housing however, had some surface corrosion.

Just A Little Cruddy

Time To Make The Doughnuts

I hit the outer surface of the Intake Housing with a wire wheel on a electric drill motor.  I used a piece of wood in my vise to hold the housing in place while I cleaned off as much crud as I could with the drill and wire wheel.

Hey...It Works

After the wire wheel treatment, I hit the hard to reach areas with some 400 Grit Sandpaper soaked in WD40.  I also went over the whole surface with some 800 Grit Sandpaper and WD40 as well to try and clean it up as mush as possible.

Hit it with some brake cleaner and used some Mothers Aluminum Polish, applied with a old T-Shirt, and started working the polish onto the metal.  A Craftsman Buffing wheel mounted in the same electric drill was used to try and buff it out.  It wasn't perfect, but I think it looks a lot better than it did when I got it.

Shiny

Cry Havoc And Let Slip The Hamsters of War!

I installed the intake according to the instructions and I'm pretty happy with it.  I honestly can't tell if it added any actual power, but I love the way this thing sounds at WOT.

In the old days, I was more interested in parts that made power rather than pretty things for the engine bay.   So the fact that I like this Intake is kind of amusing to me.  I would eventually like to get the RB Carbon Fiber Intake Cover for this and I have plans to modify the "custom" Aluminum Crossover Tube that I got with this intake.

I'm not sure if I want to powder coat or ceramic coat the Intake Housing and Crossover Tube once I get everything situated.

Eh, I'll Figure It Out...

Alpha, Mike, Foxtrot....
 

 

New Junk For The VW TDI

  While my 2005 VW Golf TDI is my Daily Driver, I occasionally like to give "The Helmet" some love.

  One thing that always bothered me about most modern passenger vehicles and the Golf especially, is the, lack of a proper Oil Pressure Gauge.

 In my opinion, all cars car should come with a Voltage, Oil Pressure and Water Temp Gauge from the factory.  Thankfully most manufacturers almost always include a Water Temp Gauge, although I do remember seeing some base model econoboxes that were only equipped with a Temperature Warning Light (Yikes!).  Not good.  I can understand trying to keep costs down, but some cars NEED these items at a bare minimum.  And another thing, if the car has some form of Forced Induction from the factory, include a Boost Gauge, you heathens!

  The Golf has a very nicely designed dash, with a very attractive set of factory gauges.  However it's missing a Oil Pressure Gauge, Boost Gauge and, while it works just fine, I suspect that the factory Water Temp Gauge is actually nowhere near the 190 degrees F it indicates, pretty much all the time.  So, something needs to be done to address this issue that plagues my OCD tendencies.

  Installing a set of aftermarket gauges is fairly easy, but I didn't really want to spend a bunch of money and time to install some gauges, especially with the limited space afforded by the Double DIN Head Unit installed and the factory airbags installed in the A-Pillar.

  I was going to go with a 3 In 1 Gauge from Glowshift, mounted to a single pod on my steering column.  The gauge in question is 60mm in diameter and  includes a Boost Gauge, Temp Gauge and Pressure Gauge.

Pretty neat, eh?  It even includes a nice Indigo Blue to match the factory back lighting on the VW

gauge cluster.  Priced fairly reasonably for around $140 or some from various vendors.  I wasn't sure about the quality of the product, and incorporating a sender for the water temp would require splicing in a Water Temp Adapter into my Upper Radiator Hose.  Also, I really didn't want to run a bunch of wiring if I didn't have to, so I passed on this idea, for the moment.

I have a Bully Dog Watchdog on"The Doorknob", (my 06 Raider Pickup) and it works great to add additional gauges and other features to the vehicle, rather easily.  Unfortunately it's discontinued and the closest thing that matched from Bully Dog was about $300.  Scratch that too.

Did some Googling and found the Ultra Gauge which offered similar features to the Watchdog, along with some it didn't for under $100.

I placed an order and it arrived today.  I haven't had a chance to install it or play around with it yet, but that should be taken care of fairly soon.  Unfortunately, it doesn't read Oil Pressure on my car, so it looks like I'll still have to install a aftermarket gauge after all.  I already have a AEM Oil Pressure Gauge from a past project that will go on the steering column, while the Ultra Gauge will monitor Boost, Water Temp, Voltage and display Real Time MPG along with other parameters.

  I just hope the stupid thing works as advertised.  If it doesn't, I'll be sure to document it here.

Until Then,
Alpha, Mike, Foxtrot......

Car Karma

  I finally managed to sell something that's been hanging around my neck ever since I picked up "The Helmet" from my buddy.

  The original steering wheel in the MkIV Golf/Jetta TDI cars were for the most part, made of foam with a hard rubberized coating on the outside, and used on the lower end models.  Probably worked and looked alright when new, but not really designed with longevity in mind.  The one on "The Helmet" was in pretty bad shape, even with one of those Autozone slip on steering wheel covers installed to hide the carnage.

I was given a brand new OEM foam steering wheel that the PO had bought to replace the shoddy one, but it wouldn't fit due to the airbag that was installed in the car.  VW it seems had two different suppliers for airbags during the MkIV productuion run, and lo and behold this one didn't fit.  Whatever, free parts are free parts.  I resolved either to find a replacement wheel that fit the airbag I had on the car, or source a airbag for the new wheel.

  A few months later I found a used 3 spoke Leather wheel from a MkIV GTI, and installed it in place of my worn out stocker.  I put both steering wheels and the airbag up on the forums and Craigslist because, while I didn't have any use for the parts, I couldn't just throw them away.  Especially the airbag.  Not sure how they get disposed of but tossing it into my apartment dumpster probably wasn't the right way.

I heard NOTHING from either Craigslist or the VW parts forums, because evidently NO ONE wants the stock foam wheel, not even a brand new one.  Crap.  But I persevered.  I kept the ad up on Craigslist and I bumped my FS threads on the forums and Facebook.  I was gonna get these things sold, damnit!

Finally got a response after 3 months from someone off of Craigslist asking about the wheel.  We dickered a bit on price and he offered $30 for everything from my $50 asking price.  I sighed, said: "Bring cash, and it's all yours."  I just wanted the stuff gone.  I was tired of tripping over it in the garage and seeing it lying there, as if mocking me.

 "You'll never get rid of me...we're gonna be together, FOREVER!" 


The guy came over and handed me cash for my parts a few days later.  We talked for a bit, about his VW, my cars and our jobs.  It turns out he worked as a Engineer for BG Products here in Wichita, and he appreciated me knocking $20 off the parts.  (I didn't have the heart to tell him they were one weekend away from being tossed in the dumpster, airbag or no airbag.)  He said he had a bunch of products from BG that he had lying around, and he would drop it off in a few days for hooking him up.  Neat!

The next Saturday he showed up with a box of BG Product stuff, that I haven't gotten to go through yet.  Wasn't expecting him to follow through, but there he was taking time out of his schedule to back up his words. I truly did appreciate his gesture, even though I didn't have the heart to tell him, I'm an Amsoil man.    

Anyway, sometimes if you're cool to car people (Even if you didn't intend to.), good things can happen.

Wonder what I'll find in there.  I like surprises.

Later,
Alpha, Mike, Foxtrot.......

.

Here We Go Again....

Welcome To.....This?

I know it sounds rather cliché, but “I really doubt anyone is ever going to see this” seems to be the standard line for pretty much every first post on a blog.  However, I really do think that aside from my girlfriend, no one is really going to be reading this.  Unless you’re interested in reading about poor decisions that lead myself into emptying my wallet, pounding my head against a wall and occasionally crying myself to sleep, then this blog might be just for you.

BTW, thanks to my awesome girlfriend.  She designed the look and setup the blog for me and I'm very happy with the way it turned out.  She has a blog as well that deals with running.  So if running voluntarily for long distances is something you enjoy, you should really check it out at: Reinventing Crazy Beautiful  

So What's With The Name?

  It's a play on the fact that some older Japanese cars are referred to as "J-Tin" and some Domestic Vehicles, are referred to as  "American Steel" or "Detroit Steel" by different people.  While I have a preference for Japanese vehicles, especially for RWD  or AWD Turbocharged models, I do like and respect Domestic vehicles as well.  So, I combined the name.

Besides, all the "good" names were taken.

 

 So Why Do A Blog Then?

All the cool kids are shooting videos on YouTube, searching for Internet Glory.  I’m too ugly for YouTube. 

For real, like hideous and stuff.

Honestly, I just wanted a place to document my car hobby without too much effort. Also I occasionally do enjoy writing sometimes, but it’s one of those things where if I have to deliver on a set schedule it’s not fun anymore.  Besides anytime I get on camera I have a tendency to say “umm” a lot.

No one wants to see that.

So, What’s This All About?

  It’s going to be all about my activities with my current fleet of cars, and the associated issues with living in an apartment in a new city, being lucky enough to have a garage on site and finding time to do all this while working way too much at night at my real job.  I’ll also probably do write ups on cars that I’ve owned before, and my crazy ideas for cars that I would like to own, perhaps one day.  Mods, maintenance issues, tips and tricks to try and help out other owners with their cars.  Plus it’s kind of therapeutic to get all this stuff down, and on record.  Also track the progression of the cars as I continue to work on them and maybe help a few people out while being slightly entertaining.

A “Fleet”?   Really?

Well, it's a really small fleet.  Currently the lineup consists of:

2005 VW Golf TDI “The Helmet”-   

My current Daily Driver and MPG Champion.  I have plans for this one down the road, if only it'd stop breaking little things here and there.  At least it runs and the ABS light stays off....most of the time.

1999 Mazda Miata “The Turtle”- 

 My current fun car, and devourer of most of my time and money when the VW isn't broken.  I also have some plans for this, that involve driving this thing in anger on a track.  It's fairly new to me, so I haven't decided if the name will stick.  Coming from a quick turbocharged AWD car before, this is still taking some getting used to.  They say it's more fun to drive a slow car fast rather than a fast car slow, so this is my foray into that realm.

2006 Mitsusbish Raider DuroCross “The Doorknob”-   

You might be able to figure out why it's called that, but despite the crass nickname, I do love this truck. It’s my current hauler of parts and the tow vehicle of  the broken and damned.  It’s got a V8 too, so it likes gas stations.  It's been with me the longest and is probably the most reliable one of the bunch.  I really should treat it better.

  So,  that’s pretty much it for now.  I plan on doing write ups on the vehicles to document where they came from and where they are currently.  Hopefully it's slightly funny too.

Until next time,.

Alpha Mike Foxtrot…..