Just Clowning Around

Got the HPA 75 density mount put in @ HS Tuning today. Also tossed in the subframe shims and replacement Audi bolts. Any vibrations are very acceptable to me and I drove it about 60 miles after install through mostly low local speeds. No complaints so far. Was parked grilling out at the Mill Run park, near the lake in Strongsville and saw a nice looking 2dr bagged CW mk5. Driver parked right next to me, but I was too busy experimenting with grilling pizza and didn't notice till I was leaving. Yes. Grilling pizza on a grill makes it taste amazing. Way better than just burgers and hot dogs!

Just picked these seat handle inserts up and put them in.

Bought some Bilt Hamber clay & wax and did a full rinse, wash, clay, wax, and finish. Avoided the front hood and bumper unfortunately, until after August 19, to let the paint finish curing. First time I've actually detailed in 2 months. Feeling fresh.

Also bought some of the color matched rear hatch inserts. We'll see how they turn out. Candy White should be pretty easy.

Looking good Jon!
See you soon for K04 time?! :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

I'm eyeing big brake kits but yes... k04 is the other step I'm still looking at.

Installed the Xpel film.Over six hours for full hood, half fenders, full front bumper, headlights, fogs, and mirrors. One major mistake, but other than that it looks great. Minor bubbling that should dissipate. We'll see, but either way, I don't care about the minor imperfections in the film as long as the paint underneath stays nice for a few more years. Got the professional installers to come to my garage... kinda nice. They set up, installed, and the major mistake they took care of without any fuss... just lifting, reseating, and cleaning the film.

Jumped on Ed's LED GB and got the last pair of cherry reds he has in stock, apparently. Hopefully they come in the next few days. Would be awesome to have them before Friday as I'll be driving to Baltimore.

Still eagerly waiting the arrival of these LED tails. Apparently they're on the West Coast in a shipping facility. I guess nothing happened over Labor Day weekend. Really would love to install these before I drive to New Orleans at the end of this week!

Drove to Baltimore this weekend during the holiday weekend - first time I really had time to stretch my legs with Stage 2 and the car has finally broken 11,000 miles. Racking the milage up quickly... I'm thinking that once I hit 20k I should probably slow down in the interest of longevity and preservation. We'll see. Anyways, it was effortless fun to be able to blip and roll for hundreds of miles without even feeling like the car was straining. I would like to add a couple more chassis stiffening parts, but I think the k04 has priority. I can only imagine what it feels like to cruise with a k04.

This week I drove to New Orleans, LA on Wednesday and drove back yesterday, visiting some friends. Fun drive through essentially half the country. Just added about 2000 miles to the milage; now at just over 13,500 since May, 2013. Did all the touristy stuff, French Quarter Bourbon and Royale, etc. Also saw the Square. Also saw some fights between Falcons and Saints fans since the NFL kickoff game was in the Superdome. Lots of fun... place has really come back since the hurricanes. Reminds me of childhood, since I grew up spending summers in Mississippi.

Came back to find that the tails had shipped! Was super excited until I noticed that both out housings are cracked. Needless to say, I will be contacting Ed directly... Bummer. Was really hoping to spend my last vacation day here swapping out the blinker lights and installing the tails, along with a boost gauge.

These pics are the major crack. The other housing is very minimally damaged.

Damn shame.. I was excited to see cherry red. I feel like I only ever see tinted

Me too! They look to be the same shade as the OEMs and I was tempted to test fit, but I didn't want to do unnecessary time in the garage when its feeling like 105 and humid outside at the moment. May also buy some new OEM blinker bulbs to swap the existing ones in the reps, since apparently they're pretty dull.

Ed just PMed and is shipping replacements. I really appreciate the fast turn around, same day even. I know how hard it is to respond to people same day sometimes from doing what I do for a living.

At least I picked up the p3 gauge from HS Tuning today and installed it. Took about 30 minutes to disassemble and plug everything in. Was tempted to go for a test drive, but after driving to NOLA and back, each in one day, I'm pretty tired. It's pretty though - more useful than I can think of right now, since I don't have a big turbo or anything yet.

Finally got the replacement LED Taillights today. Started to install at home. You can see the comparison of OEM vs. VACAR aftermarket. I would have taken comparison pictures of the same to same, but basically the housings are a bit less substantial on the aftermarket pieces. In addition, the lens are thinner on aftermarket than OEM. So these are VACAR Cherry Red LED Taillights.





The inner fit was off by a significant margin and I don't own a dremel or vagcom (for the coding) so I called it off and drove to HS Tuning. Ken worked the outers pretty quickly, using the adjustment screws to get a pretty flush fit. There's a small plastic break on the left outer housing, but it's pretty acceptable and unnoticeable.





Took about two hours to properly install, what with comparing the aftermarket pieces to the OEM and dremeling down the contact points for the inner housings. For the outers, just adjusting the screws carefully was enough to get them sitting almost flush.

The images show that the inners appear to be brighter - seems that the LED lights are seated closer in the inners than the outers, so they are the same intensity, but appear to be brighter because of the thinner lens housing. A little annoying, but not worth trying to code for less voltages. Was worried the reverse and blinkers were too light, but I can't tell yet - just installed! May pull back out and swap with OEM blinkers and the deAutokey LED reverse lights. We'll see.

In front of me is a beautiful 2008 RS4. HS Tuning was working on it and let's say that in a coupla years I might be looking at one as a replacement for this fun little hatch.

Ordered a bunch of einszett cleaning supplies. Window cleaning, rubber trim finisher, and some interior cleaner. Combined with the bilt hamber stuff I already have, I should be set for a while! Also, tons of MF towels. Might looking into getting some chemical wash, but so far basic shampoo has been pretty good to me.

Also just scheduled some tinting. 55% all the way around. I had some 20% 3M but it was way too dark and I waited for months trying to see if I wanted to install it. Instead, I sold it back to the shop that ordered it for me - at a loss, and hopefully 55% should be light enough that it's not that discernable and not that light either.

I just want to avoid being much more a cop magnet than I already am, with my turboback, bright xenons, and my personal driving tendencies. I think 55% all around, including windshield, should be pretty solid and give enough glare resistance and heat repelling to not make me want to die every time I get into a car that's been sitting all day. And still look pretty subtle. Opinions welcome... I know a lot of people love 35% or darker.

Going to the tint shop tomorrow. Have it written down for 55% all around, but I think I'm going to just get 35% in the rear and back to start, then go from there.

Came back from Montreal to find that my deautokey LED reverse lights are here and the monster mats I bought used on the forum should be arriving tomorrow. Nice little things. Probably try and take some video of comparison between these reverse LEDs and the one's in my VACARs.

Also from this road trip, I realized that my headlights are seriously out of alignment. Must be from the damage I had repaired, since they actually replaced one of the headlights under insurance. Between actually replacing the headlight and installing the VACAR taillights, I'm wondering if the vagcom coding I'm using messed something up. Will investigate this week.

K04 install next week! And I just crossed 15,500 mi. From May 07 till Sept 29. Gotta stop finding excuses to drive so much...

55% 3M FX Premium all around. The parking lot with bricks is mostly shots with the sunroof open, the blacktop rooftop location (two hours prior) is mostly closed sunroof.