Lookin good!

 

Woohoo! Another silver Y2k TDI. :bigthumb:

 

Nice shots! Does he play hide n seek in the grass with you very often?

 

Excellent pics! I love the rims and of course, I'm partial to silver.

 

Contrariwise

I'm not partial to silver, but on these photos, the color looks more like pewter (a pretty color).

 

I love your Bug! The pics are awesome, I love the fence and field. I am a new owner of a Silver Arrow Beetle and since I am, I have been noticing more and more Silver bugs. AWESOME!

 

Winter Mode

My car has been undergoing some changes lately, just in time for the white stuff.

Here's the list of recent changes:
- Metalnerd 2" lift
- Springs from a 2004 Jetta GLI VR6 (front color code: 2 blue/2 white, rear color code 3 green/1 silver)
- Koni Special Reds (rears are longer wagon version to help avoid topping out) at factory full soft setting
- 205/70/15 Nokian Hakkapeliitta RSi snow tires on Avus rims (summer tires will likely be 215/60/16 for a very similar diameter). Stock size was 205/55/16.
- Final lift (suspension and tire) numbers: 3.25 inches up front, 4 inches in back.

You may also notice my damaged front valance and bumper. This was thanks to a hay bale that had fallen onto the highway and that I was unable to avoid due to traffic circumstances. The 65 mph impact cracked the valance, wrecked the pass. side foglight, screwed up the plate bracket and put tons of spider cracks into the bumper cover. I'm thinking a Turbo S bumper may find its way onto my car sometime soon.

 

I love those summer pics Very gooood photography!

And the winter pics: at least now you have got enough of ground clearance! I like it too. I am planning to lift my Beetle also. But my goal is to lift it only appr. 2 inches.

 

Great Bug!!! ... and nice lift too! Is your speedo off with bigger overall wheel size and how much? Does the bug wobble?

Keep up the good work dude!

 

Actually the speedo is now dead-on because they are set by VW to under-report actual speed. I do have to apply a correction factor to my odometer though. 10,000 miles on the odometer is actually 10,571 miles now.

What do you mean by wobble? Handling is still very good, even with the taller snow tires. The Koni Reds and stiffer springs make for excellent cornering and handling.

 

When you brake, does it nose dive and when you take corners, does the bug lean too much? I went form standard high to 1.5 inch lower ( Eilbach Kit Pro ), and I love the way bug handles on the highways, but on the other side I hate rough ride, pot holes and cracks on the road. I mainly drive in the city and it's BAD! 2 inches lift will put me in the comfort mode ( and I love the way it looks ) but I don't want to wobble to much.
What kinda of KYB-s you have? Are they made for New Beetle specifications or you have something that fit the length of new springs? Mine are KYB AGX, adjustable and it helps a little when set to softest.

 

Well seeing as how it is winter and I have higher profile snow tires on, I havent really tested the braking and handling capabilities too much. However, from what I have done...it really isnt any worse than it was stock. Once summer comes around and I get the snow tires off I'm sure it will prove to be better.

Now, it may not corner or brake as flat as a lowered car might, but the ride will definitely be better than a lowered car. And I think with the addition of the stiffer springs and the adjustable Koni Special Red shocks/struts...there will probably be an improvement over stock in terms of handling.

The shocks/struts are not KYB, they are Koni Special Reds as I mentioned. Koni yellows may also be a good (albeit stiffer) choice. The Reds are adjustable, however they must be taken out of the car to be adjusted. I have mine set to full soft currently, but I plan to take them out between 50-75k miles and turn them up a bit as they wear in. Knowing what I know now, I probably would have had them set 1/2 to 1 full turn stiffer. The shocks/struts are all the same on all A4 chassis cars (all NB's and 99.5-2003 Golfs and Jettas), however the Jetta Wagon uses slightly longer rear shocks. This is not required with the lift, though I thought it might be a good idea with the use of the stiffer/taller VR6 springs that I used. The longer shocks help to keep the suspension from "topping-out" on large bumps/dips. Using the wagon shock did not provide any extra lift considering that the Koni Reds are strictly hydraulic dampers and not gas-charged like say a Bilstein HD.

 

Those are some sweet pics! :bigthumb:

I'm really diggin the lifted look too.

 

You've got a set of McNally gauges, right?

How do they match the OEM blue with red needles?

Thinking about picking up a couple of them.

 

The blue matches quite well. The needles are more orange than red. I don't really notice it much being that the gauges are so far from the cluster.

To me it is a non-issue. The quality and customer service that McNally provides is second to none. Great gauges, I get vital data from 6 different sources in 3 gauges. They also provide all the sensors and everything you need except for the pod itself.

VDO, Stewart Warner and all the others are crap in comparison.

 

Very nice! Thanks for all your help recently BTW.

 

Have added a few things lately...

Cheap $20 side-exit exhaust mufflerectomy. This is just a trial run before doing a full 2.5" mandrel bent stainless steel side-exit exhaust behind a TDIparts.com downpipe. Final version will have a 3" turnout tip. I'm loving the side-exit so far. The turbo whistle is sweet. No drone, very quiet while cruising down the road. Has a nice note when you put your foot in it. Car and wheel stays completely clean, no more soot on the back end.

Finally painted up and installed my Bernt pod. Krylon Indoor/Outdoor Flat Black is a perfect color/sheen match for the factory rubberized dash paint.

Installed a stealth race pipe...aka modified and gutted EGR valve. Anti-shudder (and anti-runaway) valve is still intact and functional.

A little off pavement fun, my car is often my transportation while out doing farm work with my dad.

More off-roading:

Whaddya think...will it pull?
The tractor that pulls this has 180 HP (with unknown but gobs of torque.) When fully modified my car should have about 180hp and 350 ft-lb. Traction, gearing and hookup might be an issue though. Just kidding...

That is about all for now. I have many plans and dreams for this car. Only limit right now is funding as my job search goes on.

Coming soon:
5 speed swap with DC Stg III clutch, DG short shifter and .717 5th gearset
Full 2.5" exhaust
Oversize 205/65/16 tires

Wish list:
Nozzles
Rocketchip tuning
VNT 17/22 turbo running 25 psi
Tyrolsport SMIC and vented fender liner
Peloquin LSD
ABD Cup front bumper
Custom rally style lightbar/bumper guard with HID floods
17" Rial "Lugano" (turbine style) wheels with 225/55/17 tires
Full black interior with Katzkin seats
35&% tint
The list goes on...

 

Awesome DZLBUG!! LOL! I love the shots in front of the plow.
You are my TDI inspiration.

 

I trolled (jokingly) in a vortex thread and got this in response.

I LOL'ed!

 

LOL!! :roflmao:

 

I was screwing around last night and took a crappy cell phone video of my side-exit mufflerectomy and put it up on youtube. It is pretty ghetto, and the cell phone really doesn't do the sound justice...it really distorts the sound and makes it sound more droning than what it actually is. I hope to see if I can get a better vid with my wife's digital camera...I would have used that but she is down in Chicago with a friend.

Take a look:
YouTube - VW TDI Side-exit Mufflerectomy

Plus you can hear my horribly noisy Fuzion HRi tires that I can't wait to get rid of. I apologize if you hear any heavy breathing, allergies are kicking my arse right now and I feel like Jabba the Hut.

 

Nice ride, looks good

 

More misc. snapshots. One of these days I'll have the car cleaned up nicely with more mods done and I'll get some pics with a good camera. My brother wants to sell me his Canon DSLR to me so he can buy a better one, sounds good to me but I need a job first.

Lots of work lined up for the car:
- PP520 nozzles on freshly cleaned and calibrated injectors, ready to pop in.

- Custom steering wheel with black alcantara and perforated leather. It is actually bugasm99's old steering wheel that his brother did. Very nice.

- CAT fuel filter setup ready to go in

- 5 speed swap parts all in hand, including a SBC Stage III clutch, Dieselgeek Sigma 5 short shifter, and Audi S3 shift knob/boot.

- Will be ordering up a Whitbread 2.5" 304 stainless downpipe (no cat) to hook up to my Whitbread Weedburner exhaust.

- If all goes well I will be sending my ECU off to Rocketchip for an RC3+ tune with EGR delete while I am swapping the transmission. Yay for more power and no more CEL! Will bump it up to RC4+ or RC5 when I replace the turbo with a 17/22.

- ABD Cup bumper ready for paint and install. I hope to fit it while I have the car apart for the transmission swap. Then I can get it painted and installed sometime later.

- Eurojet SMIC sitting on the shelf, waiting for upgraded intercooler piping. Will probably install anyways (with stock piping) when I swap the transmission.

- Need to wetsand and/or repaint the Take5's I bought. Inserts will be Satin Black. Bought another set of inserts from Evanrude. I'll either paint them some shade of silver or I could end up reselling them. They need to be ready to go by spring, tires will be 215/55/17 General Grabber UHP, which is the same 26.3" diameter as my 205/70/15 snows and very similar diameter to the 215/60/16 Yokohama Geolandar AT/S tires that are going on the 16" rims.

- Other maintenance items (again, probably with the swap): tie rods, ball joints, TT LCA bushings, SEAT Leon Cupra R rear axle beam bushings, rear brakes and either 10mm spacers or 'vert springs to take the rake out of the suspension.

So I will be a busy boy over the winter...should be fun.

Anyways...I was saying something about pics. Lots of random stuff. Renee and I took a trip up north to Grand Marais and I took some pics at a scenic overlook on the Gunflint Trail. Also snapped some pics as I've been out in the field, working with my Dad. I think you should be able to figure out what is what.

 

Lots of work lined up for the car:

- Custom steering wheel with black alcantara and perforated leather. It is actually bugasm99's old steering wheel that his brother did. Very nice.

- CAT fuel filter setup ready to go in

- 5 speed swap parts all in hand, including a SBC Stage III clutch, Dieselgeek Sigma 5 short shifter, and Audi S3 shift knob/boot.

- Other maintenance items (again, probably with the swap): tie rods, ball joints, TT LCA bushings, SEAT Leon Cupra R rear axle beam bushings, rear brakes and either 10mm spacers or 'vert springs to take the rake out of the suspension.

So I will be a busy boy over the winter...should be fun.

Sounds like alot of fun stuff. Your gonna have a completely diffrent car when its all said and done.

Look forward to a review of the Leon Cupra axle bushings, need to do it myself and can't find much input on them.

Does the SBC stage 3 setup flywheel still have the TDC mark?

 

You have a long to do list but it looks like fun. Nice pictures, I especially like the last 3.

 

nice!!!

 

I love the car! I love the tails, but I am on the fence about the lift thing. Why is that again?