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Been wanting to lump all my pics over the years into one "highlight" thread but haven't had the time to do so. Thread is pic intensive so let it load!
The car has changed a bunch over the past couple seasons and I don't think I have posted updated pics in a LONG time.
I will try and do a full 2004 - 2011 "mini-story" over the span of a couple posts highlighting the major changes.
Before doing so I'd like to take a chance to thank a bunch of people who have been invaluable in terms of providing me assistance with technical stuff, lending specialty tools, and providing me with useful advice. This couldn't have been done without yall:
- Bob @ UrbanX -> adapter + tire size guru
- Members of Eurodrivers.ca
- Members on VwVortex.com
- Members of Beyond.ca
2003 - First Day
Brought this bad boy home. Had 113 000 highway kms on it and was in great shape. The only actual wear on the interior was in the drivers seat. I don't think the previous owner even opened the trunk. Was very happy to find one in this condition. TB change + recent maintenance had just been done, win!
How she looked after a bath:
and you can see that 4x4 status was in full effect:
This would change very very soon......
2004 - Lets Go Shopping...
Boxing day 2004 was very good for me. Hit up Concept 1 and picked up an FK Hightek Cupkit (35mm front, 40mm rear drop) at a decent price. I then went over to CMS and picked up a set of 19x8 Axis Neos. Also got a set of Audi TT Pedals online.
Awww yeah
Shortly after I picked up some tires from "Altezza": 225/35/19 Falkens. Had them mounted at CMS. They stretched slightly and I got the exact look that I wanted.
Now the waiting game began. It was February 2005 and there were mountains of snow outside. I went nuts waiting for summer to come around.
:nut:
2005 - Do Werk!
May 2005 I did werk. The snow had finally melted and the rocks were being cleared. I cleaned out the garage and got to work early one morning. Rear suspension took no time to get done. Fronts took some time, alot of swearing, and alot of hammering/kicking. All in a days work I guess
.
All said and done when the car was dropped off the jacks I was almost speechless. 19's looked sick and the drop was perfect.
Went from 5 fingers to this:
Note this was immediately after install, it settled quite a bit after.
Gave it a wash and wax and it was time to go cruisin:
403 Meet:
Bling BLAO
And the summer Beyond Cruise, thanks Ben!!!!
2006 - V2.0
2005 was great but definitely wanted to change things up a bit for 2006. Stock piling of stuff began over the Xmas holidays as usual.
Changes included:
- OEM GLI Front lip
- Rear valence was painted
- Polished downturn exhaust tips
- Smoked headlights GLI style (outer ring only)
- Tinted tails R/S/S/R (ie: Euro GTI Style)
- Fendi wrapped a couple of interior pieces
- 2.0L MAF sensor
The Result:
2007 & 2008 - Le BBS Time
At the end of 2006 the Axis wheels were sold. A partout was actually considered at this time for a couple of reasons. Thought it would be game over and the car would go back to stock.
Over the Xmas break a set of staggered LM's from a Porsche came up for sale. Eeek. Bought them that day and never regret the decision. Finally had my dream wheels.
Changes for 2007:
- Staggered 18" BBS LM's (Porsche Fitment: 18x8 et50 front, 18x9.5 et55 front). Was running 235/40's up front...totally melted the hell out of the fenders.
- 25mm H&R wheel adapters (5x130 to 5x100)
- Custom fabricated sideskirts w/plastic welded end caps
- White lettering on tires
- Red tow hook
- Fat downturn tips
- Custom fabricated skidplate
- Programmed "service interval mod" into cluster
BBbbbbbbbbalin
25mm H&R adapters:
The car remained the same for 2007 and 2008. Some pics from those 2 years:
Aww yeah:
Sittin nicely outside of the rear fender:
This was in May 2007...
Do work:
Custom skidplate w/fabbed brackets and everything. Run over anything you want and that oilpan will be safe:
Classy lookin...
2009 - Makeover
So the car had stayed exactly the same for 2007 and 2008. Was happy with the way it looked but I wanted to do more. With those wide wheels in the back I knew there was potential for this thing to look bad ass.
I picked up a set of Rieger skirts + Rieger rear valence from a friend on Eurodrivers.ca when he parted out his Jetta. The sides were in great shape but the rear needed some work as you can see here:
So me and my bro did some major work. Had never worked on ABS pieces before so it was something that took a bunch of researching. Using 3M panel adhesive we were able to fix those cracks. That stuff is crazy strong. The piece was then sanded down and smoothed out using Evercoat. I lost the in progress pics, damn it. The pieces were painted and were ready for install.
I had been wanting to do a mufflerectomy for some time so now was my chance to do so to nicely fill up the Rieger rear. Muffler was cut out, straight pipe welded in, and it leads to some fat dual 3.5" tips coming out the back end.
A Van Aaken tuning box was also installed for some power + smoke gains.
How she turned out....
Pokin with some fat tips:
2010 - Got kms?
Car hit 255k in 2010. Driven daily year round.
Only change this year was a switch to 225/40/18 Bridgestones on the front, and the white tire lettering was also removed.
My free source of fuel....
2011 - The Final Chapter.....
The final change: Le tint = Gone. Took me 2 hours, a steam gun, and a razor blade...finally did it.
Thats it. Thats all. This is how it's going to stay.
Very happy with the final product, just going to focus on keepin her clean and enjoying every second driving it for many hundreds of thousands of kms to come.
Once again, thanks to all who have contributed; whether it be giving a helping hand, or answering a question I may have had. Mad props to all of you.
Not many pics from 2011 because I was injured in an accident, here they are:
and yes.........I still rock NVD decals Eurodrivers decal is on the front windshield
The car has changed a bunch over the past couple seasons and I don't think I have posted updated pics in a LONG time.
I will try and do a full 2004 - 2011 "mini-story" over the span of a couple posts highlighting the major changes.
Before doing so I'd like to take a chance to thank a bunch of people who have been invaluable in terms of providing me assistance with technical stuff, lending specialty tools, and providing me with useful advice. This couldn't have been done without yall:
- Bob @ UrbanX -> adapter + tire size guru
- Members of Eurodrivers.ca
- Members on VwVortex.com
- Members of Beyond.ca
2003 - First Day
Brought this bad boy home. Had 113 000 highway kms on it and was in great shape. The only actual wear on the interior was in the drivers seat. I don't think the previous owner even opened the trunk. Was very happy to find one in this condition. TB change + recent maintenance had just been done, win!
How she looked after a bath:
and you can see that 4x4 status was in full effect:
This would change very very soon......
2004 - Lets Go Shopping...
Boxing day 2004 was very good for me. Hit up Concept 1 and picked up an FK Hightek Cupkit (35mm front, 40mm rear drop) at a decent price. I then went over to CMS and picked up a set of 19x8 Axis Neos. Also got a set of Audi TT Pedals online.
Awww yeah
Shortly after I picked up some tires from "Altezza": 225/35/19 Falkens. Had them mounted at CMS. They stretched slightly and I got the exact look that I wanted.
Now the waiting game began. It was February 2005 and there were mountains of snow outside. I went nuts waiting for summer to come around.
:nut:
2005 - Do Werk!
May 2005 I did werk. The snow had finally melted and the rocks were being cleared. I cleaned out the garage and got to work early one morning. Rear suspension took no time to get done. Fronts took some time, alot of swearing, and alot of hammering/kicking. All in a days work I guess
. All said and done when the car was dropped off the jacks I was almost speechless. 19's looked sick and the drop was perfect.
Went from 5 fingers to this:
Note this was immediately after install, it settled quite a bit after.
Gave it a wash and wax and it was time to go cruisin:
403 Meet:
Bling BLAO
And the summer Beyond Cruise, thanks Ben!!!!
2006 - V2.0
2005 was great but definitely wanted to change things up a bit for 2006. Stock piling of stuff began over the Xmas holidays as usual.
Changes included:
- OEM GLI Front lip
- Rear valence was painted
- Polished downturn exhaust tips
- Smoked headlights GLI style (outer ring only)
- Tinted tails R/S/S/R (ie: Euro GTI Style)
- Fendi wrapped a couple of interior pieces
- 2.0L MAF sensor
The Result:
2007 & 2008 - Le BBS Time
At the end of 2006 the Axis wheels were sold. A partout was actually considered at this time for a couple of reasons. Thought it would be game over and the car would go back to stock.
Over the Xmas break a set of staggered LM's from a Porsche came up for sale. Eeek. Bought them that day and never regret the decision. Finally had my dream wheels.
Changes for 2007:
- Staggered 18" BBS LM's (Porsche Fitment: 18x8 et50 front, 18x9.5 et55 front). Was running 235/40's up front...totally melted the hell out of the fenders.
- 25mm H&R wheel adapters (5x130 to 5x100)
- Custom fabricated sideskirts w/plastic welded end caps
- White lettering on tires
- Red tow hook
- Fat downturn tips
- Custom fabricated skidplate
- Programmed "service interval mod" into cluster
BBbbbbbbbbalin
25mm H&R adapters:
The car remained the same for 2007 and 2008. Some pics from those 2 years:
Aww yeah:
Sittin nicely outside of the rear fender:
This was in May 2007...
Do work:
Custom skidplate w/fabbed brackets and everything. Run over anything you want and that oilpan will be safe:
Classy lookin...
2009 - Makeover
So the car had stayed exactly the same for 2007 and 2008. Was happy with the way it looked but I wanted to do more. With those wide wheels in the back I knew there was potential for this thing to look bad ass.
I picked up a set of Rieger skirts + Rieger rear valence from a friend on Eurodrivers.ca when he parted out his Jetta. The sides were in great shape but the rear needed some work as you can see here:
So me and my bro did some major work. Had never worked on ABS pieces before so it was something that took a bunch of researching. Using 3M panel adhesive we were able to fix those cracks. That stuff is crazy strong. The piece was then sanded down and smoothed out using Evercoat. I lost the in progress pics, damn it. The pieces were painted and were ready for install.
I had been wanting to do a mufflerectomy for some time so now was my chance to do so to nicely fill up the Rieger rear. Muffler was cut out, straight pipe welded in, and it leads to some fat dual 3.5" tips coming out the back end.
A Van Aaken tuning box was also installed for some power + smoke gains.
How she turned out....
Pokin with some fat tips:
2010 - Got kms?
Car hit 255k in 2010. Driven daily year round.
Only change this year was a switch to 225/40/18 Bridgestones on the front, and the white tire lettering was also removed.
My free source of fuel....
2011 - The Final Chapter.....
The final change: Le tint = Gone. Took me 2 hours, a steam gun, and a razor blade...finally did it.
Thats it. Thats all. This is how it's going to stay.
Very happy with the final product, just going to focus on keepin her clean and enjoying every second driving it for many hundreds of thousands of kms to come.
Once again, thanks to all who have contributed; whether it be giving a helping hand, or answering a question I may have had. Mad props to all of you.
Not many pics from 2011 because I was injured in an accident, here they are:
and yes.........I still rock NVD decals
Eurodrivers decal is on the front windshield
If it's smoken it ain't broken
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