Eeyore's y2k Retro Two-Tone GLS TDI

[Growler]

Growler, Eeyore's Retro Two-Tone Y2k TDI Here he is the day I Picked him up. 11/22/2003 his fourth birthday.
(according to his Birth certificate) I think it was destiny


Found him on Ebay and purchased him 11 days after my first Bug
Eeyore got murdered by a taxicab...

I immediately installed my Euroswitch to disable my DRLs.

I then added the retro wood slat-roof rack.


After the rack, came christmas 2003 when I attached my retro steelies,
got a new set of front clear corners (now with clear screw covers )
and hooked up the rear foglight. (Stealth, using an LED bulb in the clear holder)



In March 2004 was my birthday so I got a new plate to replace EEYQRE
on my Platemate. GOT SOOT


I also purchased a couple of new beauty rings to replace the damaged
ones from Eeyore and gave Growler his first good washing of the spring.


Over the Easter Weekend of 2004, Growler got a Two-Tone paint job laid down.
Reflex Silver. over the Factory Batik Blue. color sanded to glass perfection




on the last weekend of April, I drove Growler 680 miles one way (on one tank of fuel too )
to Atlanta to compete in the Southernvolksfest show...Entered him in Modified Newbeetle class.


Needless to say, I was VERY happy.

I have since installed a custom one of a kind Windjammer on my roofrack
(Thanks Tom for the help man!)


Added Silver silicone Vacuum lines, a homemade CCV filter and an
Aluminum Oil cap in the engine compartment to dress it up a bit.


I am hoping to Polish my Valve cover this spring.

My most recent addition to my bug is a MP3 CD Headunit with blue
lighting that matches the dashboard very well. gotta have good tunes
for the long roadtrips right?


I have a couple of other miscellaneous mods done also like a one of a
kind Dead-Pedal, and Handmade (by me) shift boot, e-brake cover,
door handle cover, and grab bar covers.. but unless people wanna see
them, Ill leave those pix out for now.

Hope everyone enjoys my pix as much as I enjoyed the process of
putting it all together.

hopefully the future for Growler holds many more changes to his interior.
(like getting rid of the beige cloth seats.. YUK those and children DO NOT mix! )

EDIT!...7/19/05
Finally fixed the interior.. made me some custom seat covers.



stitched two shirts together to make the back seat cover.
seats should stay clean(er) now!


Aaron

[Growler]

A picture with Aphid From April 2004


he has been playing pickup truck lately... hauling wood home from Home Depot on his roof for my shed I am building...

hauling misc. supplies for the 3rd annual BBQ GTG this past Saturday...

[Growler]

Growler got his first 9 gallons of B20 Biodiesel on March 16th 2005. at 59,175 miles
Have been burning B20 ever since.. I love it. I average 43mpg on the good stuff.


I now have 68,000 + miles and am LOVING it!

[Growler]

on 6/3/2005 Growler got a nosejob...

Today, Growler got a nearly new GL lower grille, factory painted Reflex Silver.
I plan to eventually attach some Hella micro DE fogs to replace the factory ones
but until then, I am running a base GL nose.

the obligatory pic.




Growler also got some New toys from his Friend Freaky Beetle THANKS JAI!









I guess that is enough for now

[The Cheat]

MMM...Hella DEs rule. We need a drool smiley here.

Growler's looking good my man...keep up the mods.

[MomFinallyGettingMyBug]

I absolutely LOVE those wheels on Growler! Where can I find such lovely wheels? and, other goodies to fix up my New Beetle whe I get her? I'm ordering a 2006 TDI GLS very soon and I can't wait!

[Growler]

Originally Posted by MomFinallyGettingMyBug

I absolutely LOVE those wheels on Growler! Where can I find such lovely wheels? and, other goodies to fix up my New Beetle whe I get her? I'm ordering a 2006 TDI GLS very soon and I can't wait!

you gotta make them..

later today, I will go to the old forums and find the how-to thread and post it in the styling mod forum wheere it rightly belongs

would love to have more RETRO Nbs around here

Aaron

[squeebug]

Lookin good! Gotta love those clear screw covers

[dnyed]

Growler is such a beautiful TDI. I love him!

[redbarronbug]

Love the 2 tone. I Also have a 2 tone 2005 Special edition. Keep up the mods....Looks awesome:-)

[mentalVdub]

batik blue = pure hotness!!!!

awesome bug!

[Growler]

Thanks guys!

[Fowvay]

Aaron.

I have been in love with Growler since the day we drove up to Toledo and test drove the lil guy.

You have done a fantastic job with your improvements and in my opinion he is the absolute best looking "retro bug" I have ever seen.

Can't wait to see what all is in store for the little guy.

Tom aka Fowvay

[yelojkt]

I do not like the retro look on the New Beetle, will now have to be changed to I did not like. You have pulled it of very well. Beautiful New Beetle and some nice photography to boot. Do you know who started the retro look?

[Growler]

Do not know who started the retro look,

but we can all blame silverspeedbuggy for my sickness.. I met him and his retro silver pod at my very first GTG in March 2003 and I have had the retro fever ever since.

Thank you for all of the compliments on not only where I have gone with my bug, but for my photography. all but this image:



and the one with aphid in it were taken by me with my HP Photosmart 720 Digital camera.

I hope to be able to put a 3-fold ragtop sunroof into him that I have recently aquired, but it needs more work than I originally thought before it will be possible to install it.

once that is in (or not) I am pretty much done with my exterior mods.

next comes the engine... and the interior.

[retrorich]

Aaron: Gorgeous two-toned NB!

[Growler]

Rich, Thank you! sorry I missed you at the last two Tony-K GTGS.. maybe next time !

Yesterday, during a slow time in the Wink Timingbelt/Waterpump install, I pulled my lower grille off and fiddled with my Hella Micro DE foglights some more.

one of them was shorting out inside itself and causing the fuse to blow. it now doesnt.

I am happy to say that my new front fogs and my rear fog stayed on the entire trip home from cleveland last night. (2+hours) so I would say that problem is fixed YAY!!!

here is a cool pic of my car in the BG over the top of Fowvays beautiful pair of Beeltles.

[Growler]

well, my michelins have worn to the cords at 45k or so miles, between two cars.

time for some new ones.. Im on a tight budget and I need something that will last me a while..
and I can get these locally for $383 with lifetime balance,rotation,and a 4 wheel alignment.

Dominator, all season 60K warranty.

The clicky bit

and the photo.

[Growler]

Got my new tires.. they are marvelous.. however was not able to get the alignment..
well, found out why my car is all over the road... guy lifted the front en on the rack took ahold of the front tire and it wiggled back & forth about 1/4" side to side.. (bad!)

Growler needs the passenger side lower control arm bushing and driver side inner tie rod end replaced.. (notice on opposite sides of the suspension)

I was able to source all 4 bushings and the tie rod end from my local dealer for $75

working on getting the help lined up to do the work here locally.

Will need to get this done before I can get an alignment...yay..

below is a pic of the parts and part numbers for information.

[Atomic Glee]

Originally Posted by yelojkt

Do you know who started the retro look?

I do

I had a hand in it, though I was not alone. I am one of the "first five" retro NBers that all came along at about the same time:

Randy & Rick Carlson
Drew Hardin
Myself (Kevin Buchanan)
Doug Rojas

Randy & Rick of TVA fame created what I consider the very first custom retro NB, a white & silver two-tone called "Stormy" that began life as a TVA project car, and then became Rick's own car. It's still around to this day, IIRC. That was first.

Randy built another two-tone (a more elaborate car with black & red paint) for Drew Hardin, who was with one of the now-defunct VW magazines. Project Retro II was the second.

At around this time, I was planning out my own NB, and when I saw the first pics of Project Retro II, I used it as inspiration for my first retro NB, the original Spirit, a black & silver '98 2.0.

Virtually at the same time as myself, another retro NB began making waves (especially here in TX). This was the white car of Doug Rojas, done up with woody-style paint.

At around the same time, I opened the Retro New Beetle Headquarters web site, which brought the scene out in the open and played host to numerous feature cars, including Doug's Woody, Earl McCutcheon's Cueball (who came along not too long afterwards with one of the great retro NBs), and more. The site went defunct for a while recently, but now I'm trying to bring it back, at http://www.retrobugs.com .

Now, understand, I'm not trying to claim ownership of the retro NB style. It wasn't all that huge an idea, just a logical extension of the NB's already retro looks. It was the five of us that got the ball rolling, though.

Randy, Rick, and Drew started retro. Doug and I moved it along soon afterwards, and I did my part to help make it big via my site.

And now you know...the rest of the story.