Lord of The Crab People

Night time at Sassafras Mountain

LOTCP — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:16:00 +0000

Got to go to the Mountain last night. It wasn’t an ideal night, no moon to help me. Nevertheless, here’s what turned out decent.

Peelin’ it Back

LOTCP — Tue, 01 May 2012 14:57:26 +0000

Still kicking it here in South Carolina. Bought a 91 Corrado back in P- town this morning and stripped down a 98 Jetta TDI out here. Got a trailer full o parts coming back to Oregon. Stay tuned for a lengthy Corrado TDI build this summer.

Cabrio in the Carolinas Update

LOTCP — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 01:39:29 +0000

Had a 3 day weekend ending today and boy did I have fun. I ripped a 4-lug ABS disc rear beam out of a junkyard ’00 Cabrio and installed it in the bitchbasket. Since I’m all alone out here I had to devise a way to bleed the brakes by myself. Luckily, I installed electric MK4 seats before leaving Oregon. I used a jack handle wedged between the pedal and the seat and simply actuated the seat forward to bleed. Worked great and now I have new bearings AND functioning brakes. Also ripped the dimpled dash from that ’00 so now I’ll have a badass MK3.5 dash to match the rest of the interior. Next task will be to install new CV axles and ball joints. Working on the car is pretty much all I have to do these days. I have been hiking/biking like crazy but starting in 7 hours I’ll be on the 6-12′s schedule= no free time for LOTCP.

Before the new axle but after the new tires.

Best photo I’ve taken so far in SC

LOTCP — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 01:31:03 +0000

Back in the Carolinas and went to Sassafras Mountain. This is from the overlook platform. Palmetto Trail intersects at this location. Met some scrubby hikers on a multi-day hike.

Halsey Import Parts

LOTCP — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 00:37:21 +0000

I love rolling up to Halsey on a sunny day, you’ll find every VW/Audi known to man in the parking lot. I passed 2 Cabrio’s, a 1995 Rialta, and a diesel Scirocco. I couldn’t help taking a picture of a stock height Cabrio with my ride.

VW Mania

LOTCP — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 02:51:01 +0000

LOTCP is an avid VW enthusiast. My current project is this 1995 Cabrio. Most people would never give a car like this a second look and I hope to keep it that way. VW enthusiasts know what’s up. I started with a TDI conversion I bought from a TDIClub member in MA back in early 2011. The car had some problems but I was in South Carolina all year working. Within one week of coming home I simply couldn’t help myself. I jacked the car up, ripped the front end off, and had the engine sitting on the floor in 3 hours. At the time I was intending only to freshen up the engine. You know, clean the corroded parts, put in new rings, some new paint. The deeper I got into the project the more I found wrong. I bought a blast cabinet. I blasted EVERYTHING back to new with glass media. I had the block bored .020″ over (0.5mm over pistons are all that’s available. Note: these pistons REQUIRE 8 thou to be shaved off the deck height. I didn’t know this at the time of machining and they cleaned up the deck to 4 thou. I barely got away with running a 1-notch head gasket to compensate). I installed ASV pistons (Nural branded), new rings, new bearings, new cam/lifters, new oil pump, new VR6 clutch, sealed the transmission and refilled with new fluid. While I was waiting for parts to show up I fabricated a new 2″ stainless exhaust system, installed a new black vinyl top, rebuilt the sound system*. As I was ripping the top off I stood back and looked at how high the car was sitting. It needed new struts already and I always wanted air ride. I took the plunge and purchased a complete Air Ride kit with the V2 Autopilot. It was pretty easy to install and I get a lot of attention in parking lots now due to the rockers sitting on the ground. I built a bike rack out of an old roof-top unit. Ever the patient person I finally found a Cabrio being parted out at my favorite U-pull-it. They advertised it on a Wednesday as being available starting Saturday morning. I was there a half-hour early and got first dibs on it. I took all the top seals and interior (minus seats, still working on those). Much nicer inside now. Carpet came from a 99 Jetta and yes, all MK3 VW’s use the same carpet regardless of 4-door or 2-door. I installed dual AGM super batteries in the car with hold-downs. I bandsawed the EGR off the intake and welded it shut (Note: DEQ in Oregon did nothing but put a sniffer in the tailpipe. This car is a 1995 so if you’re doing a conversion on a 1996-later be damn sure to keep the OBD2 working properly. Mine works like OEM but being a ’95 they don’t care). Some of the problems with the engine when I was tearing into it revolved around EGR crud clogging everything. I did the hillbilly torch method (look it up on youtube) and it worked great (very dangerous). VCDS is a must for working on TDI’s so if you don’t already have VCDS suck it up and give RossTech some money. Wheels, oh yes. I hate alloy wheels with a passion as they are completely useless to me. Hit a curb? Warped. Take the wheel off one-too-many times? Lug nut seats go oval causing vibrations. Brake dust got you down? Sucks to be you having to clean these damn things. Anyway, I lucked out and got a set of 15″ Scion wheels that were already drilled for VW hubs. Car currently runs 185/55/15′s on the front and 205/55/15′s on the rear. I rolled the fenders on the front to clear the tires and it’ll steer down to the ground. Car is kinda freaking me out now because when I have the top down the body flexes a good 1/2″ either direction (torsion). I can watch my door card moving relative to the dash and it’s pretty freaky. I towed 1000lbs of cedar yesterday with the top down and it only moves 1/2″ or less so it’s not getting worse. I’ll keep my eye on the flex for sure. I could keep going on and on but you get the idea, this is a project car and I absolutely love it. If you are working on a TDI conversion or OEM I’d love to hear about it. I like helping out on stuff, especially if it’s a cool old VW.

*Sound is this car is a hodge-podge of stuff I’ve collected over the years. Subwoofer is a 12″ Cerwin Vega Stroker 12″ (new generation). Sub amp is a Hifonics Brutus 2000w super D class. Door speakers are Morel Maximo components on a JBL amp. Head unit is a Clarion EQ that only runs on 3.5mm jack. These are the best parts I could find over the years and they work superbly together. The Morels sound like $1000 Focals.

LOTCP is still watching.

LOTCP — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 17:11:25 +0000

Apparently I should do something with my websites as they just sit and rot for years with no content. Damn you Facebook! I don’t feel I have anything of value to give to anyone who may be reading this. I also feel if I try to make content “valuable” I’ll end up just sounding like a dick trying to show off. What am I to do?

So I guess I can start by stating a purpose for this website. Well, back in the day I was staunchly against social media sites and thought I could do better. I was wrong. They have teams of super professional folks dedicating their very souls to making theirs better than mine. I have only me. So on that note I think I should make this a “how-to” site. You know, like all those DIY sites only tailored to what I know. It could include VW stuff (TDI all the way), photography stuff, metalworking stuff, electronics, tattoo stuff, breaking things, burning things, etc. Here I go sounding like a dick but I am very keen on a wide variety of subjects. Today I finished a beautiful cedar deck using 2×3 tube steel framing. I wired in a 240v hot tub on a hand-poured slab and have already had TWO smoking hot chicks in it (is there a better reason to install a hot tub?). I am a diesel fanatic and have been a diesel tech since I was a wee lad in the military. I also like mountain biking A LOT (see background picture) and am really into bike lighting.

So this is me and what’s inside my head. I see a bunch of folks in my generation that are very lazy and don’t really add anything of value to society or themselves. I do things, and I enjoy learning new things. Sit back and read some of my BS.