...And there goes the water pump: 5/06

On my way to work the car began to overheat. Luckily, I was passing my home street so I pulled it into the driveway and did some basic diagnostics. Nothing worked and I let it sit for a week while I was on vacation. Monday, I returned from my break and drove it up to the shop. Scuderia Silvestri

Sure enough, one broken impeller. Along the way I had them change all the belts and the timing belt. Good thing too, the timing had jumped a tooth and the tensioner had all but failed! After all is said and done, the car is much better now and drives very very smoothly.

Reworking the suspension: 2/06

Front

Rear

Suspension rework was the latest thing. The Weitec coil over set was a nice touch to this car, but the drop was just too much and caused the following problems:

• Tire rub on the front fender inside (235/40/18s) just a little bit
• Look out for speed bumps or you may be looking for a new exhaust system
• Any steep rise or dip had me worried about bottoming out

It should have been an easy thing with a coil over setup to simply raise the car 0.5"-1.0". But... nothing in life is easy or cheap. My wrench rang me and said he could not get the adjuster nut to move, even with a 6' pipe. It was just too corroded.

I decided to put in all new struts/shocks and springs. Here is what went in to the car:

• Koni Singe Adjustable Sport Struts and Shocks Koni via Neuspeed
• Neuspeed Sport Springs Neuspeed

Problems encountered included having to source several OEM suspension parts that were removed to put in the coil overs in front. Troublesome and expensive, but I'll get a more streetable and drivable car rather than a slammed show car.

Additionally, a professional alignment should make the car feel more planted. For being so low, with a coil over setup to boot, the car did not feel very stable in the corner or at speed. In fact, I unintentionally over steered a few times and in a front drive car that is an unusual and surprising event.

New Shoes: 11/05

When I got the car it was about out of rubber. The size on the car was 225/40/18. The side wall of the tire was angled in toward the center of the tire significantly. So much so I believe that it was having a negative effect on the handling of the vehicle. So I posted on VW Vortex and was told that the next size up, 235/40/18 would fit fine. Tirerack

Problem was I forgot about the big brake kit on the front of the car. This necessitated the addition of a spacer and that pushed the rim out just enough that the new tires rubbed the inner fender lip. Since the fenders are plastic I could not simply roll the fender as I would most other cars. The rubbing inspired the next bit of work on the car above.

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