mycarsavw - The Devil is in the Detail - new pics 15/03/08

[mycarsavw]

As Gareth has ordered me to post pics, who am I to argue...

Stock

You all know what a 2001 B5.5 Passat looks like.

Then I hit 50,000 miles

Taken by my passenger



Stock wheels, added OEM fogs, Hofele badgeless grille, chrome mirror covers, short antenna, Brembo MAX discs, Greenstuff pads and some stereo stuff.



Trying out my artistic licence



Fast forward 5,555 miles

Yup, I'm a geek, so what



I'm now lowered using a Koni Sports Suspension Kit, I've added an A6/S4 hybrid upper strut brace, tinted my rear lights and added an M3 lip spoiler - the badgeless grille is in the garage being refurbished - I hate stones and motorways





Further forward, still the same, only the grille is now back, I've moved house and bought a new camera - this was taken on my return from our mini-Kent meet - good company, good food.



Suspension settles a little more and I finally get some new wheels!





Update - Spacers now added - pics to follow

Still to come;

Tinted windows
Leather interior (hen and teeth are the keywords on this one)
Revamped rear lights
Painted engine covers
Cruise control

Thanks for looking.

[erl72]

Still think this looks like the number plate should lift up to reveal two small machine guns!

Looking great now Sam.

[DUBWIESER]

looking goooooooooooooooood

[mycarsavw]

Eddi, that's on my to-do list

Thanks for the kind words. I'm neglecting the car at the moment, too much other stuff to do

[bigray]

looks well sam liking the wheels alot

[g60dubster]

Looking good Sam

S'funny, I seem to have no problem finding hen's teeth wherever I go!

(Goes and removes interior from car and hides it away somewhere dark!!!)

[Ric'ssat]

Lovely motor bar the rear lights. Never been a fan of any light painted. Opinions make the world go round though

[mycarsavw]

Ric

[Ric'ssat]

Ric

1 picture and phrase speaks so many words

[mycarsavw]

Pah, what's this doing on the third page - bump!

Still nothing new, still too much to do elsewhere, still neglected...

[mycarsavw]

My Passat and I fell out about 10k miles ago. I lost interest in her completely, she's too fat, too slow and just recently she's been eating a lot of my money. There's a lot of highly polished machines out there and I respect the effort that goes into them, but when you've lost the love, you stop caring.

Enough of the jibba jabba, I'll let the (clickable) pics speak for themselves, and perhaps explain my side-splittingly funny edited thread title.

The Devil...



...is in the Detail;









And a shameless bit of promotion;



I took a lot of pics and when I got home and started to upload them to my PC something happened, I started to like the car again.

I last washed and polished her at the end of August 2007. Once I get the window regulator cable (which snapped on 66,666 miles or thereabouts) replaced she'll be washed again.

Fear not guys n gals - I've found the love once again

[erl72]

Fear not guys n gals - I've found the love once again

Hoorayyyyyyy!!

[theredfox]

yes know what u mean sam very hard to keep the faith at this time of the year wash it

and its black the next day roll on spring time

paul

[mycarsavw]

Driver's door window now fixed.

What should have been a nice simple few hour job turned into a two week epic job. Bought the window clips to do the usual repair only to find the cable had snapped.

Ordered a new cable assembly known as the repair kit (VW's words, not mine). As with most things that took it's time getting here and I didn't want to drive the car without anything holding the window up so I left the car minus the driver's door skin, cards, etc on the drive.

Repair kit arrived, turns out it's an entire door skin with the cable/cassette section pre-attached, meaning I had to remove lots of rivets - yay! Got that all sorted out (in zero degree air temps with minus 3452 degree winds) only to find the battery had gone flat, so as I joyfully showed the Mrs how the window wound down, I couldn't show her how it went up again.

Then it snowed.

The plus side is I saved myself a lot of cash - the dealership wanted a few hundred just to investigate the problem.

[bobman]

sam as i always say, DIY is the way to go, saves u loads in the long run, so gives u spare cash to spend on other stuff

[theredfox]

yes more to spend on the wife or the car maybe what ever your priority;s lie


paul

[bobman]

car,

[theredfox]

oh the poor wife the car is more important

[mycarsavw]

The car decided to kick me in the nuts this morning - the battery was dead. It lasted 7 years and may it rest in peace in the great landfill in the sky.

Bob, DIY is the only way to go. I'm the first to bitch and moan about the car, but fixing it myself when it goes wrong really does make me smile. Finding time to fix it is another story

[theredfox]

hi sam
7 years for an origanal battery thats good goin
did you replace it with vw one

paul

[mycarsavw]

Just fitted the new battery - 30 mins from start to finish - my new record. Stripping out the plastic crap, the strut brace and then wiggling the battery out the way is a PITA.

I was going to get a Halfords special until I remembered there was a PartCo locally - Same battery, a shade under £6 cheaper but still ~£60.

VW were at lunch when I rang for a price

[mycarsavw]

Update time.

Nothing cosmetic but a few ideas in the air at the moment - lower front spoiler from another VAG vehicle is one idea

Mechanically I've just done timing belt, water pump, all belts and fluids changed. New MOT (sailed through).

Switched back to stock wheels for a brief jaunt down to the West Country and have sadly fallen in love with the ride they produce. So much so that I haven't put the ASAs back on again yet.

Driver's seat lumber support just snapped last night too, so I'm now stepping up my hunt for a new interior.

Now on 70k miles and going stronger than ever - apart from that blasted lumber thing

[unityn]

is the lumber thing common? I think mines gone feels like theres a lump in the seat right in the centre of my back and lumber knob doesnt do a thing....


Race you to the leather interior

[marydoll]

hi sam

fittedthat spare set of rear lights yet

paul

[mycarsavw]

is the lumber thing common? I think mines gone feels like theres a lump in the seat right in the centre of my back and lumber knob doesnt do a thing....


Race you to the leather interior

Same as mine dude, no idea if its common though. I know my back hurts now

hi sam

fittedthat spare set of rear lights yet

paul

Stalker!!

Yep, fitted them just before we went away Paul. Factory fresh condition for a bargain £40 all in. I'm very pleased with them.

Now I'm working on a new set (really really am this time) for when the long winter nights come and I can't go cycling and have to stay in and talk to the family Should give me an excuse to get out in the garage.