Had to fix the wiring on my newly installed HIDs this weekend. Took about 4 hours because i had to source the problem and decided to just wire up the turn signals on the headlights as well as the angel eyes at the same time. For the first hour or so i just went back and changed all the crimp style connectors i used to screw on style ones which i must say are very pricey but i think worth the cost considering how much easier they are to work with. I still couldnt get the driver side light to turn on. Thats when i decided to go check the fuse box and see if everything was working. I swear i saw a light on the indicator indicating that the fuse was still ok. But when i pulled it out, it was clearly broken. No idea how that happened. Anyway i put one in....turn on the lights and hear another snap. Another one and another snap. In all i went through 4 fuses before it stopped snapping. I have no clue how or where the circuit is grounding itself but i have a theory that it was the open leads from the turn signals and the angel eyes seeing as how there is one main ground wire and the rest are all power wires.

After all that was done, went over to a friends house and all of a sudden my radio cuts out. Complete silence. I go to the back and the amp light is out. So im sitting there hoping i didnt burn the amp out. Turns out that it was either a lose remote turn on lead behind the radio or a loose ground as well. Either ways , i fiddled with both and everything is fine and dandy now.

I must say though, i am real glad that im selling my car at the end of the year since its really starting to show its age now. A little spot of cancer (rust) is starting to show on the driver side taillight and hopefully it doesnt grow any bigger anytime soon.

Headlight switch is still MIA since they either dont seem to get my emails or are rejecting it. Super hard to find these i tell you...so im pretty much at theyre mercy.

This reminds me....i should go check in on eurotuner and see if i made it in yet. I really hope i do!

¶ 8:12 PM //

Yesterday, put on my 'new' euro front lip thats been sitting around for a whole semester already. Its essentially bout an inch and a half longer then the stock US spec lip and just gives the car a lower look from the front. Essentially all it took was just pulling off the old lip and putting the new one on just by snapping it in. I realise how the hell the old lip developed a crack... when i was pulling it out...it started to bend right there...and when i took the lip out in its entirety, i saw that the modification needed to fit the euro lip had already been done. SO it just means that the previous owner already had a euro lip on the car but took it off when he sold the car to me. And when he was pulling the stock lip off, he wasnt being careful and ripped it up a little. No surprise there but everytime i discover one of his little 'handyworks' i just wanna shove my foot in his ass.

On the other hand, my senior design project just took another turn. Seems like we're completely scrapping the personal transportation system. Right now we might be doing a hoverboard...as in the kind from Back to the Future! Sounds real cool, but also VERY challenging. Im not sure if my instructor will be as keen on doing it now since i just googled it and pple are already mass producing this kinda idea and selling plans for doing it as well. Essentially the way i see it is as a mini hovercraft with a leafblower engine to inflate the skirt. Im not being a pervert when i say im blowing up a skirt....the rubber part that holds the air to give the craft lift is called a skirt.. just in case someone tries to be a smart ass. Maybe this blog for this sem at least can serve as a update portal for the project. Hopefully ill be able to keep a good photodiary as well. But our first meeting on this project is going to be at Jakes..a local drinking hole...so maybe ill get to have some fun while doin the project too.

¶ 9:51 AM //

Drank on a weekday...woke up two hours early. But no biggy, got woken up by a guy who works at tmtuning.com and he just placed my order for a euro headlight switch. In the states, theres only two positions for a vw...on and off. In europe/asia there are three positions... off, parking lights only and on. Plus this one is RED...moving closer and closer to a red interior! Now just have to get the gauge guy on the phone and get him to hurry up.

Went by to dave's Custom Tune Up & Dyno to get my AC recharged. Your AC basically works on pressurizing freon which becomes cold under pressure and thus gives you nice cold balls. So like on a hot day, if your aircon is not working too well, but at night when its cooler, its icy cold, you might be a little low on freon whereby the pressure is just not high enough. So recharging your AC is just adding more freon. ANYWAYS, i think ive been having a slow steady leak but he couldnt trace it. So he put half a pound of freon into my baby and set me off on my way. I LOVE the way dave does business. Hes a reverse banana...white on the outside, yellow on the inside. Shouldnt have bought that puny 32oz can of freon for 20 bucks when i could have just gone to dave and been charged at most the same price. All he did was say that i should monitor my AC and if it gives me problems to just go back to him. If not, just keep in touch....he said he would feel bad if he charged me now and it went bad a couple days or weeks later.

I wanna open a mechanic shop when im oldER and hopefully a little richER...tuning shop to be specific. And if i can run a shop the way dave runs his, i think i would be very very happy. Big ups dave!

¶ 8:28 AM //

Yea so it seems that i only update my blog when im bored. Anyway no one reads it so its all good :D So i came back to my headlightless car and installed the 'new' set of headlights. Not too impressed with it though but im going to have to live wit it. The wiring was as shoddy as advertised. But i din expect there to be two different brands of ballasts...hence the color of each light is slightly different from each other. I was quite impressed with myself when i got the wiring figured out in one try. But now, for some reason my high beam on the driver side refuses to come on even though the passenger side one does. When i feel up to it, i will fix that as well as wire up the angel eyes and the blinker lights. those are going to be a real bitch to fix because i have to reach into different places and tap different wires for that to happen.

Also got my speedometer, odometer and cruise control working but my ABS brakes are shot and its gonna cost me a minimum of $1500 to have it fixed......i think not. Who uses ABS anyways!? Cost me a grand total of $250 but it was worth it. I must say i was pretty good at judging speed solely based off of my revmeter. 3000rpm = 75mph and 400rpm =90mph....its a skill...dont ask me how i know.

And i finally got my switches done...theyre nice and red now...if only the gauge cluster guy can get his act together. Im having a hard time finding a cabriolet switch which is the only red lit stock headlight switch. Either that or pay thru my nose to get a euro red lit switch. People have tried to open up a switch to have it turned to red but it's quite impossible because its not a green lit LED but a white LED shining thru a green film. The film tears easily when youre taking it out so its kinda hard to do.

Also reinstalled my 'old' ECU that has the aftermarket GIAC chip in it. It felt a whole lot better to drive i tell you. ALthough my pocket will not agree because of higher fuel consumption

In other news, i think i might be able to have a decent semester. Just found out that for senior design that im going to be on the drivetrain group which is what i always wanted. So hopefully we have a good enough project.

We had 3 choices.

1. A hybrid car that has to be plugged into the wall so instead of using gas to charge the battery, its going to be completely electrical.

2. A basket of sorts that my teacher is calling a DOG or 'digitally operated gizmo'. You're supposed to be able to put your shit into it like for example when youre in sch...and the thing is supposed to carry it for you whilst walking or rolling behind you without having any user interaction.

3. A 2 man campus transportation system that only required the user to push a button to select the destination and its supposed to run on a predetermined route and stop at the appropriate stop.

The first option is my first choice but might be complicated. Most likely we will be able to get the third choice...it would be extremely fun i think. Ok gotta go to class.

¶ 11:13 AM //