(porpoises), but I have added to it (wifes cars, more anecdotes, etc) Anyway, I wanted a place to continue talk about my cars; past present and future. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thanks for stopping by....If you are not interested in pictures of my previous cars SCROLL DOWN to the pretty Grey dub, half way through the post.....
SHORT BIO: My name is Brian and I'm a younger than WAP father of three, living in Central PA by way of Southeast Florida and Northeast (then west) Jersey. I am an Army Veteran and currently own and manage a Visiting Angels territory that covers Lebanon County PA. My office is in Hershey.
VEHICLE EXPERIENCE: I have always loved cars but life circumstances (
) and not having mad wrenching skills have pretty much confined me to transportation rather than performance vehicles.Vehicles I have owned : (60s 70s, 80s and early 90s cars pictured because these are almost never seen on the road anymore... FWIW I have pored over the intertubes to show exact replicas relative to year, color, features. )
'62 Ford Galaxie 500....Dad got a deal from his boss......it sat for 7 years before I turned 16.......I rolled it @ 17...long story (Had a thread but ...)
'77 Fiat 128 Rally...not specifically my car but as close as I could find, mine was a 4 door that had one thing going for it, it was unique (I have never, not once, seen another on the road)....maybe that was because it was a veritable piece of crap....things falling off daily and what felt like about 75 hp....
'75 Chrysler Cordoba ....."Rich Corinthian Leather" was the tv pitch...mine had velour ....good car
'76 Plymouth Volare....not so good......slant 6 propelling what felt like 10000 lbs
'71 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu ($600 in 1985)...4 Dr sleeper...Detroit must have had a good day....I loved this car, just a gem....killed by meeting a whitetail at 80mph
'76 Ford Thunderbird ($200 in 87) Mine was Dark Blue and yes, those are Pneumatic Headlight doors...the hood alone was almost as big as the GTI...it died on the way to work In Clifton NJ, when I tried to start it the next day it caught fire and burned....I put an old plate on it so it wouldn't be towed....Well, that didn't work and I got called in front of Judge Hangman Harry (Real nickname) but he was lenient.....
'68 Ford Galaxie 500....Practically Mint, Garage kept.....$200 from a coworker in 87....it kept turning distributor rods into drill bits....Grandma (who I was living with at the time) made me get rid of it.........really wish i still had it
'76 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu ($800 in 87) Strong runner
'83 Chevrolet Camaro Berlinetta ($6000 in 89) ....prob paid too much but bought it from my girlfriends little brother and he was meticulous......same 305 engine as Chevelle with a factory 4bbl... but the gearing was long.....Chevelle would have smoked it....
Holy Retro Pics Batman.....this is how
and Irish do........
{Then I got into a serious relationship, so.....}
'93 Eagle Vision....actually liked this car.....
she had a '92 Saturn SC
Then I got Married....conciliatory benefit = my first NEW vehicle
'98 Toyota ForeRunner...loved it. Trading it in on the crotchfruit hauler (below) made me physically ill
She had a '97 Toyota Camry....hers was silver with a greenish hue
Toyota was known for this in the late 90s i.e. adding other colors to neutral paint
Then 1st baby came...followed quickly by a second on the way....said I never would, but.....
'00 Toyota Sienna Minivan...hated it.....no pic, I just can't.....
Then, we settled into domestic life
'98 Ford Explorer...bought in 2003, gave it to my sister in law in 05, she gave it back in 2011 (pictured) , became my winter beater ......
SOLD in 2018....... needed full exhaust, front suspension work and airbag work.....didn't want to pay the freight
'02 Acura TL ....first car bought after moving to Florida in 2005
About 6 months in, Got rear-ended by a Dump truck (whose brakes went out)...... car crumpled just like it was supposed to, saving my two sons who were in the backseat.... {sorry for the flip phone pics...}
next day bought:
'04 Acura TL...great car, powerful and refined
She had 2002 Lexus RX300
Then, Minor Mid Life Crisis (Not really.....but a good excuse)
2002 Suzuki Boulevard C50T...Still have
1995 Chapparal 2000 Sport ....died a watery death last year in Ocean City, MD, I am done with freaking boats!
Dat
profit 
Back to age of reason, briefly...
2010 Honda Pilot...pig on gas....
she traded in Lexus on 2012 Honda CRV (pictured here with wheels that my knucklehead son bought on Ebay for his Eclipse....
they didnt fit.....even with custom ordered spacers.....
2012 Honda Civic.....solid dependable boredom.....
The Honduh put me to sleep.......So I looked at the Dodge Dart, Mazda 3 and the FiST before deciding on.......
My Beloved 2012 Volkswagen GTI
Bought in August 2014 with 39,000 miles.
Got them down to $18, 400
Initial impressions: Car felt really solid, inside and out. Hands down superior quality feel than any of the others. Performance wise, was quick and nimble, but fell short of the FiST. As it was $7000 less and quite a bit more refined, I pulled the trigger. I drove her for a month, found this forum and have been doing (mostly minor) Mods on a budget ever since.
Finding DEAD FORUM
I stumbled onto the forum and immediately (as if it were in bright neon lights) saw "Stage 1 Tuning". Read extensively and within a month had the APR flash. (FWIW This was prior to the RSC debacle and map switching was important to me) WOW, talk about waking a car up! This $600 mod alleviated any lingering question about whether I should have went for the FiST.
+5hp
Because racecar...
Greater performance coupled with German refinement....
I was very pleased.......
until......
the dreaded.......
CLUTCH SLIPPAGE.....fuq me.....
It was seemingly intermittent at first. Seemed to hold fine in gears 1-3 but in longer pulls through 4-6 I would sometimes get the dreaded Rev spike. I was in denial for a while but of course it got worse. Ran it stock for a while, which was brutal. Tried the 91 Oct map for a while, which for some crazy reason seemed like it caused even more slip (prob because I was pushing it harder to achieve what I was used to on 93). I then resigned myself to driving it like a (reasonably) sane person and got used to where in the power band it would slip and adjusted my habits to not let it happen....much. ;-) I started obsessing over clutch choices and read the forum profusely.
In the meantime I did some...
low cost aesthetic mods.
- Soundaktor Delete = Free (15 minutes) big improvement
- Resonator Delete = $60 Transformative!
- Red 3M Footwell Effect Hack = $0.25 / 5 min Best Value!
- RED/Black Front Emblem = $0.00 Gifted by cool fellow owner = I like but PITA install....
- GTI Seat Lever Inserts
- Smoked Sidemarker = $0.10 subtle improvement
- Lamin-X Yellow Fog light vinyls = $10.00 I know this
some but I love 'em... I know real euro look to my eyes....
- Plastidipped Rear Emblem and GTI badge Matte Black then Glossed = $5.00 / 2 hours; I like, some hate
- Smoked Licence Plate Cover = $15.00 Advance Auto REMOVED by order of PSP
CLUTCH SLIPPAGE (Part Deux)
After literally reading over 1000 posts and agonizing over the choices I sought direct help from a valued forum member. He guided me towards the following list which I had installed on 1/15/15:
- SouthBend Stage 3 Drop In Disc = $375 holds like a pitbull on a poodle, might be too grippy for some, me likey...
- F Series TOB = $100-$160 be sure to specify the One piece all metal "F" design
- NLS Shims = $89 said to reduce a lot of the shift "mess", hard for me to tell with so much newness in the drive train
- Short Shifter (40% reduction setting) = $150....love it
- 75A Subframe Puck = $110 huge difference in power transfer...actually mind boggling...but does give some added NVH at idle
Raceseng Engraved Slammer Shift Knob installed
Edit 2-14-15 Installed BMS Clutch Stop = $10, 2 minutes....this is how it should have been from the factory
3/2015 Installed "color matched" rear emblem insertfrom Klii.....color is NOT a good match up close but is ok from 10 feet...
3/2015 Installed Used Injen Intake - Wow, big difference from stock airbox. I can hear turbo noises now and I like the Darth Vader sounds...
Future Plans:
- Clutch Bleeder Restrictor Removal Hack
- DV+ install (3/2019 son actual just bought me spacer and upgraded DV for my birfday, will install soon)
- Lightweight 17" rims
- Have decided against Stage 2....I do not want to lose the low end grunt to gain high-end smoothness....my driving style is 90% sane commuting with burst of speed for shits and giggles and occasional back road hooning....Stage 1 is perfect for now....if I get bored in a year or so I may consider K04 but really don't want to have to do any extensive supporting mods.... Update 3/19 - too many farts (155K) to risk any of this
HYDE16, Lilonespaz, lilspeck, Calkulin, jay745, GTI_likeurmom, zrickety, XGC75, all the Chi guys (EDIT 3/19: I meant OT)
and everyone else who has shown Patience and Kindness to this noob (who is likely old enough to be a Dad to most of you....) Thanks fellers.
PS If you have read all of this, you must really be an enthusiast or really be bored....but thanks! Now dubstep out to Das Auto of yours and get you some
of dat:
And for some shits and giggles join....DFD
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
As many of you know, I have added some vehicles to the fleet:
2016 Tiquan viewtopic.php?f=7&t=151&start=25&hilit=tub
1992 Nissan 300ZX (I had a thread I think but it must have went to data heaven)
2001 Volkswagen GTI VR6
2013 Kia Optima EX GDI
I will postwhore these at a later date.
Sláinte
gentleman adult male, father, business owner jumps into a 
or 
and instantly gets the itch to mod like a pubescent teenager! No other vehicle short of possibly a 
has this effect on people!
payout....... my boys were safe and that is all that mattered.....
so close to disaster
and a 2001 VW VR6 
for that. 
and the roof rack
the fuel pump.....
except that I was 22 when I bought my Scirocco.
I think I was rocking the '76 Chevelle
