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Greetings everyone! My name is David, I've actually been on here for a few months now, but never had the time to sit down and compose a proper intro thread. I don't make it to a lot of shows due to work and my prior engagements with schooling however, some of you may have seen my car floating around on the various forums.
When I was 20 years old (2008) I bought a 2004.5 Black Magic Pearl GLI. It was the first car that I bought on my own and it was completely stock (aside from some BMP painted sidemarkers and tail lights) when I picked it up. I purchased it from a younger gentleman in Afton, MN. I was young and stupid and wanted the car so bad, the condition that it was in was of no bother to me. He used the car to travel back and forth from major cities in the area doing contracting work. It had 100,000 miles on it when the title was signed over, and it certainly needed some work. The paint had some scratches here and there, there were flaws in the clear coat, the visor/mirror on the drivers side had a broken clip and hung down in my view, the drivers seat had a 12-18" tear, and the carpet looked like the floor of a college town bar. The headlight lenses were a little foggy. At the time, I knew very little about the MKIV platform, or VWs in general for that matter. On my way home from the purchase, the check engine light came on and flashed while the car sputtered and jerked. I thought for sure I just bought a lemon. I discovered later that my joyride home was enough punishment to throw a coil pack out. So that night I went and purchased new plugs and coil packs (they were still originals!)
4 days after I got it home I hit a raccoon doing about 75mph. It obliterated the front bumper and valence, took out the majority of the A/C system, snapped the side mount intercooler off, broke the end-cap off the radiator, bent the core support, and took out everything in it's path before it hit the firewall and got sucked under the car.
Luckily, I was less than a mile from home and I quickly turned around and limped it home where it sat for 3 days until the body shop came and picked it up. It was 3.5 weeks until I saw the car again, and I still hold the record at that shop for the most damage ever done by a raccoon. ($3,646).
1 week after getting the car back I discovered that the timing belt had never been replaced and was about to break. So I quickly had it into the shop for the timing service. $900 later I was all set to go for another 100,000 miles, or so I thought. It wasn't more than another week when the brake pad light came on. Sure enough, the pads were original, and completely shot. Luckily, I just purchased OEM brake pads and swapped them out with my dad.
I'm 25 years old now, graduated from college in December, and just enjoying the car as much as I can, still surprised that I was able to resurrect it into the car it is today.
Here she is the day I picked it up, and the very first picture I ever took of it! (doesn't look as bad as it really was).
I'll spare you all the in-between crap, which I'll make available in a project thread some day.
Here it is today
Tracer Tech 1 wheels 18x9 front, 18x10 front
Factory 3 degrees total of camber in the rear (no idea in the front)
Brembo cross-drilled and slotted rotors
Poly bushings
EBC Redstuff pads
Airlift XL Slams in the front
Airlift Sleeves in the rear
Autopilot V2 management with lots of goodies
Professional frame notch
When I was 20 years old (2008) I bought a 2004.5 Black Magic Pearl GLI. It was the first car that I bought on my own and it was completely stock (aside from some BMP painted sidemarkers and tail lights) when I picked it up. I purchased it from a younger gentleman in Afton, MN. I was young and stupid and wanted the car so bad, the condition that it was in was of no bother to me. He used the car to travel back and forth from major cities in the area doing contracting work. It had 100,000 miles on it when the title was signed over, and it certainly needed some work. The paint had some scratches here and there, there were flaws in the clear coat, the visor/mirror on the drivers side had a broken clip and hung down in my view, the drivers seat had a 12-18" tear, and the carpet looked like the floor of a college town bar. The headlight lenses were a little foggy. At the time, I knew very little about the MKIV platform, or VWs in general for that matter. On my way home from the purchase, the check engine light came on and flashed while the car sputtered and jerked. I thought for sure I just bought a lemon. I discovered later that my joyride home was enough punishment to throw a coil pack out. So that night I went and purchased new plugs and coil packs (they were still originals!)
4 days after I got it home I hit a raccoon doing about 75mph. It obliterated the front bumper and valence, took out the majority of the A/C system, snapped the side mount intercooler off, broke the end-cap off the radiator, bent the core support, and took out everything in it's path before it hit the firewall and got sucked under the car.
Luckily, I was less than a mile from home and I quickly turned around and limped it home where it sat for 3 days until the body shop came and picked it up. It was 3.5 weeks until I saw the car again, and I still hold the record at that shop for the most damage ever done by a raccoon. ($3,646).
1 week after getting the car back I discovered that the timing belt had never been replaced and was about to break. So I quickly had it into the shop for the timing service. $900 later I was all set to go for another 100,000 miles, or so I thought. It wasn't more than another week when the brake pad light came on. Sure enough, the pads were original, and completely shot. Luckily, I just purchased OEM brake pads and swapped them out with my dad.
I'm 25 years old now, graduated from college in December, and just enjoying the car as much as I can, still surprised that I was able to resurrect it into the car it is today.
Here she is the day I picked it up, and the very first picture I ever took of it! (doesn't look as bad as it really was).
I'll spare you all the in-between crap, which I'll make available in a project thread some day.
Here it is today
Tracer Tech 1 wheels 18x9 front, 18x10 front
Factory 3 degrees total of camber in the rear (no idea in the front)
Brembo cross-drilled and slotted rotors
Poly bushings
EBC Redstuff pads
Airlift XL Slams in the front
Airlift Sleeves in the rear
Autopilot V2 management with lots of goodies
Professional frame notch
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