A lift is also on the list, AdventureGolf has a 2" lift with these tires and daaaamn. I've been coming across a few lifted wagons lately, and fuck they look good with truck tires! Especially with a roof rack basket and Hellas.
"Adventure is the respectful pursuit of trouble." - Expedition Overland
Road trip in a flood salvaged car you've never taken more than 2 hours from home? Why not?
First off, let me explain- we never got the New Beetle Turbo S in Canada. I saw the TV commercial for it when I was 19, and had lusted after the car ever since. Stumbled across one in an entirely random event a couple of years ago (basically because I like beer) and ended up buying it (knowing it had a TON of issues) not long after. For those of you unfamiliar with the car, the Turbo S is a Beetle with different bumpers, a rear spoiler that pops out of the top of the hatch at 50 mph, 6 speed manual, aluminum interior trim, grey dash illumination instead of the blue/red, Recaro seats, and the higher output version of the 1.8 turbo engine (same as what the Audi TT had, with variable intake and exhaust cam timing). Stock they were 180 hp instead of 150 hp (the normal 1.8T). This particular car is chipped in addition to a few other things and is at about 220 hp. It's no supercar, but it's an absolute blast to drive. Think of it as an Audi TT without the drivetrain loss (or handling gains) of AWD. If you shift at the right time, it lets out a very satisfying "pop" from the exhaust (and a small flame visible in the dark), and has a nice crackle when you downshift. The muffler was damaged so I just got rid of it.
So here is Portia, my '02 Beetle Turbo S at the dam where that scene from The Fugitive was filmed (yeah, I haven't actually seen the movie since grade 5). The Saturday drive of the Tail of the Dragon was awful- 52 other Beetles in front of us doing maybe 10 mph tops- the drive there was great, mountain roads, no other traffic, SNOW in North Carolina in May, etc. I let Zoe drive for most of the mountain road portion since the year before she had about a 3 days experience driving a manual and didn't feel comfortable trying. (One year later she despises automatic), and I was too fucking nervous to drive the mountain road because I planned to propose to her at the lookout on the top of the mountain. Seemed appropriate, I met her because she owned a Beetle, and this same trip last year was our first vacation together- why not do it when surrounded by Beetles on the top of a mountain, right?
Anyway, three of us in the group with Turbo S Beetles went out again early Sunday morning before traffic/cops/etc and just fucking thrashed the road... I've said before that this road is overrated and the roads leading to it are better. I was wrong. It's not overrated at all if you visit during the "off hours". My god, it's amazing. After doing my second run (the return run) I pulled into the gift shop to take a picture with the dragon statue, and my car wouldn't re-start. Scanned it- crankshaft position sensor. FUCK. That's exactly what you want to happen when you're 1600 miles from home, and within 10 feet of a plaque stating that the movie Deliverance was filmed here. Do I hear banjos?
The car started after it cooled down for about an hour, I drove it back to the hotel, had breakfast with everyone from the Beetle group, and headed home. For two hours, until I passed a truck, and the car turned off... oddly enough the part that was throwing a fault hadn't repaired itself! We waited for about an hour (again) and the car started. I had checked the GPS, and there was a VW dealership 5 miles away... the next one was 270 miles away. I limped the car there (it wasn't happy), and being a Sunday, the dealership was closed- but the front door was unlocked! I wandered in, found some people (there was a banquet happening for the Audi portion of the dealership) explained the situation, and although they had no way to look up parts for us, they let me stash my car in their compound, found us a hotel, drove us to the hotel and even brought us a bottle of champagne. Asheville, NC is *awesome*. Microbreweries everywhere, everyone is friendly, and it's just safe. I saw the cleanest VW type 3 Squareback I've seen in my life in a mall parking lot, and the thing was unlocked with an iPhone on the seat.
I headed back to the VW dealership the next morning, they had the part in stock (and gave me an employee discount!), drove the car back to the hotel, parked it on a curb and swapped the CPS out in the parking lot, while eating breakfast. The rest of the trip was great- the car has never run better (it used to throw knock sensor faults all the time, which was an issue I have been chasing- one of many with this poor car (flood recovery!) but there was never an issue with the actual knock sensor, so I'm guessing the CPS had been cutting out sporadically this whole time I've owned the car, causing false codes as a result. We used about 40% less fuel on the way home, too.
This car has been a challenge, I bought it knowing it would be, it sat in a pond up to its windows for a weekend before I bought it, but damn, when she works, she works VERY well. I've spent almost two years going through the issues (which have been REALLY interesting! I've had the entire wiring harness out of the car at this point) but I think it might actually be reliable now. AND I FINALLY GOT IT THROUGH AN E-TEST! (Fuck you, CAN-BUS communication faults!)
[last edit 7/11/2017 1:18 AM by bandi - edited 1 times] hi i like cars
Chopped the muffler off on Monday, and started building a prototype for the light bar so I can mount my Hellas. I think Vincent could use some wheel spacers as well, for full AdventureWagen 2.0 stance. He's caked in mud after two days of trails!
I can't figure out why I keep getting told to buy a truck...
"Adventure is the respectful pursuit of trouble." - Expedition Overland
This guy came home for the last time today He doesn't have reverse still (I was kind of hoping it would fix itself while it sat), and the battery can't hold a charge so it was a bit of an adventure getting him home. And then naturally, when we got him started, I had to take him for a drive...and he died around the corner. I got him 8 years ago as of July 31. It's not going to be an easy few days while I'm home to strip him for parts.
My two wagons finally met:
"Adventure is the respectful pursuit of trouble." - Expedition Overland
And he's off to car heaven. Definitely not one of the easiest choices I've had to make, but a lot of pieces from him are now living on in Vincent. I've got all of my tartan pillars swapped over, the passenger heated seat now works, I have a stock deck again, working MAF sensor, etc.
Posted by bandi A moment of silence for Derr Vader... perhaps the most hateful Mk4 VW to work of the several thousand I've worked on, but still a damn good car.
You're keeping the engine, right?
Like I said to you on Saturday, I definitely thought of you when the alternator came out ;)
I pulled the engine, it's being set aside. I don't have time to take apart the transmission before I need to be back in Sudbury, and I want the turbo etc so that was the easiest way to keep all of that.
I would say it's pretty impressive that his ride to the scrapyard was only the second time he had ever been on a tow truck.
"Adventure is the respectful pursuit of trouble." - Expedition Overland
It's funny, the other TDI Jetta I hated working on (for different reasons- this one was a nicotine saturated/brush painted pile of filth owned by a meth head who never once cleaned the interior or emptied the non-ashtray) also went to the wreckers this week. No moment of silence for that one, that vehicular turd needed to be flushed.
I once had a 2001 Chevy Camaro Z28... Fully equipt with the LS1, it had a Fast Air Intake, long tube headers and a full exhaust on it... Man was the thing meeeaaaan... I now drive a 2001 Honda Civic... Yeap
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"When we see a sign that says "Danger: Do Not Enter", we understand that this is simply a shorthand way of saying "Leaving Protected Zone: Demonstrate Personal Accountability Beyond This Point"."
Posted by Rusty Canadian I once had a 2001 Chevy Camaro Z28... Fully equipt with the LS1, it had a Fast Air Intake, long tube headers and a full exhaust on it... Man was the thing meeeaaaan... I now drive a 2001 Honda Civic... Yeap
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I went from a 2007 Cobalt SS/SC to a Chevy Cruze... yeah... same feeling.
Got a new friend. I was planning on getting a Mustang GT or Camaro SS, but with 3 little girls, I needed something that was 4 door with a good back seat. the SRT and Hellcat were a bit out of my range, but I have a lot of plans for this R/T. Just do a bit at a time.
“You tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is never try.” - Homer Simpson
Posted by AvsFreak Got a new friend. I was planning on getting a Mustang GT or Camaro SS, but with 3 little girls, I needed something that was 4 door with a good back seat. the SRT and Hellcat were a bit out of my range, but I have a lot of plans for this R/T. Just do a bit at a time.
Congratulation on your Charger! Put an exhaust on that thing and give her! An alternative for Camaro SS would be a 2009-2010 G8 GT, it's a V8 sedan like the Charger but from Pontiac, it has a 6.0L V8 and oh man does this thing rips!
[last edit 10/6/2017 10:10 PM by Rusty Canadian - edited 1 times] "When we see a sign that says "Danger: Do Not Enter", we understand that this is simply a shorthand way of saying "Leaving Protected Zone: Demonstrate Personal Accountability Beyond This Point"."
Congratulation on your Charger! Put an exhaust on that thing and give her! An alternative for Camaro SS would be a 2009-2010 G8 GT, it's a V8 sedan like the Charger but from Pontiac, it has a 6.0L V8 and oh man does this thing rips!
Nice! I didn't even think about a G8 GT, I did look at a GTO though. I'm just a sucker for do-dads. The 8.4" touch screen, heated and cooled seats, and heated steering wheel are nice to have. Chargers are like AR-15s. There are so many extra aftermarket things made for them you can really customize your car. I definitely plan on getting some new headers and exhaust system at some point.
Love those loudmouth exhausts... Too bad any exhaust that makes the car louder than the stock one, is technically illegal in Colorado. I want it loud, but I can't make it too loud.
“You tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is never try.” - Homer Simpson
Posted by bandi That really makes me miss having something with some real offroad capability!
So a right hand drive, ex CBS News (from Africa!) '82 Range Rover joined the collection for this purpose. This will probably be a fucking disaster. But it's a manual and has a hose out interior. It's an early production 4 door (still has exposed hinges and no gas flap), has no options (4 fuses!) and is carbureted- dual SUs. I learned to love SU carbs this summer with the MG, so maybe, just maybe it'll cooperate.
Our most recent acquirement (we've had it about 6 months now). 1983 Volvo 244 DL from California. 114k on it. Fairly clean other than the brittle interior that suffered in the Cali sun for years. No rust, a few minor dings. We're now up to 3 Volvos.
dsankt: In fact, the day I die yall are welcome to form an orderly queue and run a train on my eye sockets. I'll be dead and frankly, will not give a f*ck. budda: That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Fuck me sideways this is insane. ~~~~~~ Because it's Cincinnati
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He doesn't have reverse still (I was kind of hoping it would fix itself while it sat), and the battery can't hold a charge so it was a bit of an adventure getting him home. And then naturally, when we got him started, I had to take him for a drive...and he died around the corner. I got him 8 years ago as of July 31. It's not going to be an easy few days while I'm home to strip him for parts. 
