I've been a member here for awhile, but haven't been on much lately since the Cummins became a complete jackstand queen. But I have been sporting a compD sticker on the back of the DD for a couple months so I think it needs pimping here. :lolly: First, a little backstory:
My dad bought the car a couple years ago before he passed for us to share, since my Cummins "tuning" left me DDing throwaway cars. He commuted ~500 miles twice a month and the fuel savings compared to his LMM made the car payment. I got to DD the Jetta when he was working in town, but I was forced to drive the lifted murdered out LMM to my early days at Montana State when he was gone.
Anyway, in June I flew out of town to see the fam and I had my roommate pick it up at the airport. The next day his battery was dead and he took the Jetta to work. On the way home, and I do believe him that he wasn't dogging it, the turbo grenaded and hydrolocked the motor on oil. 3 bent rods. Of course, my first FUBAR motor in a >$1200 vehicle was the one I forced myself to leave stock. :bang
After over a month of going back and forth on fixing it or parting it out, I dove in.
Complete 2003 ALH Auto motor w/IP 80,000 miles
Southbend Stage 2 Endurance w/14lb SMF
Straight pipe DP to tip
Bosio Race 520s installed/balanced by KermaTDI (hot swap)
17/22 Hybrid
ARP studs
Kerma tuning
Gutted EGR housing and blockoff plate on manifold
Autometer Cobalts on column pod
I also did all the maintenance while I had shop/lift/tools time. Oil change, timing belt/tensioner/water pump, cleaned intake manifold, etc.
I've been itching to dyno it, but no one is set up to do a FWD run around here. It is fast though, and even driving it like I stole it, I'm only down to 36mpg from 42 around town. It does have some awful boost leaks, but I just got some T clamps for all the connections and I will have some shop time next weekend to install them, as well as the bixenon projectors that are on the way. It'll be interesting to see how it runs without the leaks. It's intense making 3800rpm shifts, but it's hard to enjoy when I'm expecting a BOOM to go along with the boost leak noise.
I have to give a big shout out to my friend Gary at Diesel Pros here in Bozeman. Without access to a lift, tools, and a real mechanic's tricks, I would have scrapped the car instead of diving into this FWD madness. So glad I didn't
new motor:
ARPs installed:
17/22:
Southbend:
Sticks:
Motorless:
Gauges:
Gotta have stickers since under the hood looks stock:
New tail lights: (Go Cats!)
As she sits now on studded winter tires and prettier but bent wheels:
I went waaaaaaay overbudget on the "repair" but next summer with any luck it'll have an FMIC, a decent turbo back, bigger intake tubing, lift pump, and some much needed body/paint work. That'll go with the little things that I haven't buttoned up yet.
I know this isn't much of a compD thread, but this is my first respectable buildup, and also the first time I've had something road trip worthy that I turned all the wrenches on, so I'm pretty proud of it. After the first couple test drive and tightening the things I missed, it's been almost 5k miles with no major problems.
My dad bought the car a couple years ago before he passed for us to share, since my Cummins "tuning" left me DDing throwaway cars. He commuted ~500 miles twice a month and the fuel savings compared to his LMM made the car payment. I got to DD the Jetta when he was working in town, but I was forced to drive the lifted murdered out LMM to my early days at Montana State when he was gone.
Anyway, in June I flew out of town to see the fam and I had my roommate pick it up at the airport. The next day his battery was dead and he took the Jetta to work. On the way home, and I do believe him that he wasn't dogging it, the turbo grenaded and hydrolocked the motor on oil. 3 bent rods. Of course, my first FUBAR motor in a >$1200 vehicle was the one I forced myself to leave stock. :bang
After over a month of going back and forth on fixing it or parting it out, I dove in.
Complete 2003 ALH Auto motor w/IP 80,000 miles
Southbend Stage 2 Endurance w/14lb SMF
Straight pipe DP to tip
Bosio Race 520s installed/balanced by KermaTDI (hot swap)
17/22 Hybrid
ARP studs
Kerma tuning
Gutted EGR housing and blockoff plate on manifold
Autometer Cobalts on column pod
I also did all the maintenance while I had shop/lift/tools time. Oil change, timing belt/tensioner/water pump, cleaned intake manifold, etc.
I've been itching to dyno it, but no one is set up to do a FWD run around here. It is fast though, and even driving it like I stole it, I'm only down to 36mpg from 42 around town. It does have some awful boost leaks, but I just got some T clamps for all the connections and I will have some shop time next weekend to install them, as well as the bixenon projectors that are on the way. It'll be interesting to see how it runs without the leaks. It's intense making 3800rpm shifts, but it's hard to enjoy when I'm expecting a BOOM to go along with the boost leak noise.
I have to give a big shout out to my friend Gary at Diesel Pros here in Bozeman. Without access to a lift, tools, and a real mechanic's tricks, I would have scrapped the car instead of diving into this FWD madness. So glad I didn't
new motor:
ARPs installed:
17/22:
Southbend:
Sticks:
Motorless:
Gauges:
Gotta have stickers since under the hood looks stock:
New tail lights: (Go Cats!)
As she sits now on studded winter tires and prettier but bent wheels:
I went waaaaaaay overbudget on the "repair" but next summer with any luck it'll have an FMIC, a decent turbo back, bigger intake tubing, lift pump, and some much needed body/paint work. That'll go with the little things that I haven't buttoned up yet.
I know this isn't much of a compD thread, but this is my first respectable buildup, and also the first time I've had something road trip worthy that I turned all the wrenches on, so I'm pretty proud of it. After the first couple test drive and tightening the things I missed, it's been almost 5k miles with no major problems.
