Car Journal - 2 years late
 

Hello Everyone,

I am not sure if this is really a journal. I might not ever update it but I still would like to share the build of my car the past two years. Now, there are no turbo build, engine swap, or crazy cosmetic that will blow everyone away. So be warned.

I got the car March 2014 after moving to a new job. Three days after I started I jumped on the car buying process because of the shock of the raise I had. If I could go back, i wish I thought about it more before I did the purchase.
But here we are, 2 years later, I still have it. Even with days I really want to get rid of it, I couldn't or wouldn't. It is a love hate relationship because I know this is a hobby that will cost me lots of money.

Since this is also my first brand new car, I had demands to the dealership. I wanted a low mileage car that was never road tested and was a SWP Limited. I live in Michigan but I found my car in Ohio. I asked the dealership I was working with if they could swap with that dealer. They said yes. I was ready to get it but they said that it has to be driven up to Michigan. I was reluctant because I do not know who will drive it. Long story short, the manager said I can go pick it up and drive it myself up to Michigan. Did not hesitate and drove down that weekend.

Here is the first time I saw her. She only had 7 miles.
http://i.imgur.com/9w7H5l1.jpg

And here it is after I drove it for 120 miles and before I signed all papers.
http://i.imgur.com/pCx3pEZ.jpg

I daily drive this car since I got it. I averaged 16000 miles in a year.
I took her down to Washington to New Jersey then back to Michigan; her longest trip. I had so much fun with people saying "Hi" everytime I stop and ask about it. That was when the car was still pretty rare.

Then I finally got to meet more people through my car. Found this forum and helped me a lot with things I did not know about my car. That is when I started getting into more of modifying my car.

I will list out my mods later in the thread. I always said that I will never go crazy on the car and do not plan to auto-x or track it. So I set my goal to make the car's drivability better than stock. No crazy power gains or lowering springs or coil's. I don't want to buy new wheels, even though I look at wheels everyday.

Because of budget, I went simply to cheap mods "broke mods" Mostly cosmetic when I first started. It consisted of Plasti-Dip and Gold Brake Caliper Paint. I went to town and painted like Picasso :lol:

I started to meet more people at meets and even joined the local state group. Michigan86.
I met great people that shared their own ride. It gave me ideas what I wanted to do to my car and meet my goal. I started saving a lot and gotten more into the engine mods. I went with the simple bolt ons just to get rid of the torque dip and little power add.

I must say I am pretty satisfied with the power mod but now, I feel like I have hit my goal.
I am really not sure what to do with the car anymore. I enjoy it everyday but not enjoying it like a brand new car. As I own it longer, I start to think about everything else. Passenger comfort, size, and practicality.

I am not really sure what my point anymore :lol: so here is the list of mods I have on the car.
Nothing fancy or mind blowing.

Mods List:

Engine and Transmission:
Kartboy Short Shifter
Gruppe-S UEL
Perrin Transmission Support
OFT - Stg 2 UEL 91Oct
Drop In Filter K&N
Top Speed Pro 1 Axle Back
Grimmspeed Brace Cylinder Stopper
Full Motul Fluids Diff and Tranny
Clutch Spring Delete

Cosmetics:
Shorty Antenna
Painted Brace Gold
Painted Calipers Gold
Nightshade Tails
Tint 35% and 20%
Go fast Stickers
Razo Shift Knob
Plastidip Wheels
Painted Lugs Gold
Lamin-X Fog Yellow
Yellow Vinyl DRLS
Weathertech Floormats
Rear Diffuser
Rear Spats
Front Lip
OEM Mudguards
Subaru Seatbelt Cushion
Clear Side Markers

Electric:
6000k HID Diode Dynamics
Always On Module - Diode Dynamics
Full LED Interior conversion
Rear Back Up LED
Tail-as-Turn Module - Diode Dynamics
LED Turn Signals
LED Switch Relay
Escort Passport Radar
2x - Vantrue R2 DashCam
Fog LED
Side Marker LED
Strobe Third Brake Light

Here she is as she sits now. if I had all the money I could spend, I would definitely get out of my comfort zone and add more modifications but right now, she is okay to me.

http://i.imgur.com/QhOpfHh.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/QbfhzSY.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Vd6Cy63.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/nKSZm8t.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/vBmNEqF.jpg

I think i decided to part her out. It's been 2 days since my post above. Like I said, I think i already hit the point where I like the car. So what now?

I want to move on and start a new build but on what car? As much I want to keep it, if I were to build another car I just do not have space in the condo.

Well I just figure I should mention it here. No one really reads this but if someone did. I feel like someone listened.

Build a VW Beatle!!

So. Almost a year now from last post. I still have her. I have come to realize that I can still move on to new things with out giving up on her. Better yet, I have decided to move on to new things with her. I decided I will run GridLife this year. So for the past winter, I have been preparing her while daily driving her still.

Current mileage: 53k

Mods that I have bought are going to be listed below.

So first mod: ENGINE PREP

To prepare for GridLife, I need to beef up my engine protection. Knowing these cars oil starvation issue, I decided to look into monitoring and improving my oil temperature.

I decided to move to 5W30 for the rest of the summer and revert to 0w20 if I have to driver her in the winter again.

I also decided to get an oil pressure gauge from Perrin. I like their quality and it matches the interior in my opinion.

http://i.imgur.com/AaPO2vt.jpg

To follow my engine protection process. I decided to get a Perrin oil cooler too. It is not installed at the moment as it is still averaging 50F degrees here in Michigan in May. GridLife is not until June 9th so I still have time.

I plan to mount the oil cooler on the bash bar just to keep the core away from the bottom for safety and keep the core somewhat hidden. A custom braket is made for this.

I do not want to get direct flow but just space for some air. I do not want to deal not getting my oil up to temp in colder days. For winter, if I do not get a new car and really NEED to daily drive this car, I will disconnect the oil lines and revert to stock while leaving the core still hidden.

http://i.imgur.com/ZUevNkK.jpg

I have a lot of mods that I will write about but for now, I will start on the oil cooling and monitoring.

Next post will be suspension.

Part of the prep for Gridlife is my new StanceUSA XR1 coilovers.
Got it from a friend who is a authorized seller and sponsor of StanceUSA.

The reason I went with Stance is because of their customer service. They are located in Illinois so getting support is not bad.

I dont know much about the spring rates but these are pretty nice entry level coilover when starting.

http://i.imgur.com/vweS0yg.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/j27wGy1.jpg

Next up is Grip.
I decided to go with the over rated RPF1's but I went to a matte bronze color to have some of the hard parking street cred too.

http://i.imgur.com/f8VhyFD.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/XvXBziX.jpg

The tires I went with are Hankook Ventus RS3. Again, pretty good entry level tire when I am not that competing anyway.

http://i.imgur.com/1Hcy1bq.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/JNJXk6n.jpg

I decided to drop the car 3/4" in the front and 1/2" in the rear. I have not decided if I am going to stay these height but they seem to be perfect for the track. For hard parking, I could definitely go lower.

http://i.imgur.com/PITzpaI.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/AjlsCVz.jpg