contact: Josh Westhoven

120 125 127 k miles 5-spd Silver exterior, black top, gray/black interior Cruise Control New top

1987 Volkswagen Cabriolet 2.0L 8v (3A block) I built this car from the ground up to be a sleeper. The only things that hint at how fast and tight it is are the slightly lowered stance and the rumbling idle of a sport cam and low-restriction exhaust. A keen eye will spot the slotted rotors and blue calipers, and hardcore VW enthusiasts will notice the lighter Euro bumpers, the chin spoiler, and over-sized 4-wheel disk brakes. The 5.0 and V-Tec kiddies will all think you've borrowed some high school girl's car - until you downshift two gears and leave your stomach in the back seat and their heap a couple car-lengths behind. They'll probably catch up to you on a straight-aways, but on the twisties and clover-leafs you'll get them again. Drivetrain: -150-170hp Techtonics-Built Engine, completely new… -2.0L 3A block, 10:1 (high) compression, flowed and built with TT HD innards -"Big-Valve" Hydro Head, ported and polished -TT 268* Camshaft -Welded and Ported Intake -Ported Audi Throttle-Body -Knock-Sensor Conversion Harness -HD Saches Hybrid Clutch kit -TT Lightened Flywheel -HD Motor Mounts -Autotech Full Short-Shift kit, with weighted “Powershifter” -TT Dual-Outlet Exhaust Manifold, Ported -TT 2” Aluminized Exhaust, dp for cat, but cheater pipe installed (no, it will not pass E-Check; plan to install a cat) -AC Deleted -PS Deleted -K&N Panel Filter -Quaker State 5w50 Synthetic -Redline MTL Suspension & Brakes: -Quaife Close-Ratio Steering Rack -Poly Rack Bushings -Hör Springs -Boge Pro-Gas Shocks -Eibach Aluminum Upper Stressbar -16v Lower 4-point Stressbar -Autotech Hollow Rear Swaybar -BSI Racing Delrin Control Arm and Trailing Arm Bushings -10.1” Front Brakes with ATE Power Disk Rotors. -Rear Disk Brakes, with Scirocco 16 E-brake Cables -SS Brake Lines -ATE Super Blue Exterior: -Euro Bumpers -Duckbill Spoiler -Hella H4 headlights (one with chip) -14” 16-Spoke Ronal R-8s (OEM Audi 4000s) et45 with Falkkan Azenis tires(85% tread) Interior: -16v A2 Height-Adjust Driver’s Seat Frame -A3 Driver’s Edition Golf-Ball Shift Knob -A3 Deluxe Audio Head unit (with CD/Mp3-in Jack on face) -Fischer C-Box Cassette Holder -Custom Rear-Deck Sub box (holds two 8” subs and two 6x9 speakers-neither are installed) Modification History  Item   Cost   Source   Completed   Details  New HD motor mounts $100 Adirondack 5/03 Replaced front with Poly 10/04 All-new, race-prepped and ported 3A 2.0L with big-valve hydro 10-1 head, 268° cam, and CIS-E + knock-sensor adapter harness (top secret) Techtonics 5/03 Horsepower estimated at 150-170 at the crank. Dyno figures to follow. This will take some getting used to! "Performance" clutch kit and lightened flywheel (came w/ the engine) Techtonics 5/03 TT welded & port-matched Intake Manifold (came w/ the engine) Techtonics 5/03 TT Port-matched Audi 4000 Throttle Body (came w/ the engine) Techtonics 5/03 TT cat dual downpipe and 2" aluminized exhaust Techtonics 5/03 $200 purdy blue caliper paint $4 True Value Hardware 4/7/02 Speed Bleeders $12 TrueChoice 4/7/02 PBR MetalMaster Pads $34 IPS 4/7/02 16v Scirocco front and rear disk brakes, complete, w/ 22mm master cylinder and newish E-brake cables $50 Internet, BABY! 4/7/02 (the core charge for each caliper is about $30) Delrin Rear Trailing Arm Bushings $65 BSI Racing 4/7/02 SS Brake Lines (6pc. set) $89 Autotech 4/7/02 Delrin Front Control Arm Bushings $110 BSI Racing 4/7/02 ATE Stock Rear Rotors $140 Adirondack 4/7/02 Rear Calipers (cored the used ones) $140 IPS 4/7/02 AC deleted (non-AC pulleys) $1 Junkyard 2/02 Polly front suspension and rack bushings $20 JC Whitney 2/02 Later ditched the poly control arm bushings for Delrin units from BSI '98 Factory Deluxe Audio stereo w/ CD-in jack $50 Internet 2/02 weighted short-shift kita $170 Autotech 2/02 Hör springs, Boge ProGas strutsa $400 Autotech 2/02 PS deleted FREE! My Butt 2/02 H4 headlights $85 Adirondack 10/01 Front Calipers (cored the used ones) $90 Adirondack 8/00 Upper Eibach Polished AU front suspension brace $100 Internet 8/00 ATE Power Disk 10.1" Rotors (2) $110 Adirondack 8/00 16v Scirocco Lower front brace Autotech 4-point ajustable lower subframe $30$200 Internet 7/00 10/04 Upgraded- no more squeeks! "Duckbill" Chin Spoiler $76 Dennon 7/00 Quaiffe Short-throw steering rack $280 Autotech 2/00 Scirocco 'S' Steering wheel $30 Internet 12/99 Euro bumpers $140 Dennon 12/99 14" Audi alloy wheels $15 each Junkyard 12/99 Cal-Style Windshield Seal $35 Adirondack waiting in garage 12/04 Custum Rear Deck Sub Box $100 Internet Needs speakers subs- new speakers 12/04

Ok, so you take a $2500 stock car, add the $2500+ worth of upgrades listed, then swap in a shiny new engine that TT lists as over $4000 worth of PARTS- not to mention their assembly and tuning time, and the installation. Place a bid, and break my heart. (click thumbnail for larger image)

Vehicle Condition

The Good:
Pretty much everything imaginable has been replaced on this car in terms of wear/maintenance items (ball joints, tie rods, wheel bearings, radiator, fan & switch, all hoses, battery, etc in the 4 years I’ve owned it.

Everything to do with the engine was brand new when installed in the Spring of ’03. The Engine was built by Techtonics for ProRally racing. It’s built loose, and conservatively for durability. They priced the engine out at over $4000 in parts- not counting their assembly and tuning. It was built for their webmaster, who sold it to me, still new in the crate, for… less than that. I wouldn’t hesitate to jump in it right now for a road-trip to anywhere, and I have been putting a ton of miles on it as my daily driver this Summer.

I upgraded the front subframe from the 16v Scirocco brace to the adjustable Autotech job. That should tame some of the rattles and squeeks.

I also replaced two of the Falken Azenis with brand new ones, so the fronts have 0 wear, and the backs are 7s.

I upgraded from the 16v subframe to the Autotech one, and it made a HUGE differrence. All of the "Millenium Falcon" squeaks, and some of the rattles went away, and I can really feal the $300 Quaife rack respond to the steering wheel now.

I installed a set of 6x9s (Pioneer or Kenwood, I forget which at the moment) in that custom box.

I swapped around the front seats and replaced the worn one with a better matching and un-worn skin, and added (Scirocco) height-adjust to the passenger's side while I was at it.

I replaced the torn CV boot, and swapped out the CV joint too, as I noticed it had a little play.

Finally, I installed a set of "drip gaurds" in the top, and after several rainy days, not a bit of water has intruded.

The cabby got a new battery the last week of 2004, and the windshield seal was done the week before that. The new no-chrome seal looks a lot better.

The Bad:
I’ve left a few little annoying things linger on the car: the light bulbs in the oil pressure gage, clock, and climate control are burned out. *The odometer doesn’t work* (needs new/repaired worm gear) - mileage listed above is about 20k short of actual. There are some stone chips on the leading edge of the hood, a door ding that’s almost but not quite hidden by a side skirt ,and rust is just starting at the rear lower apron seam.

I think that's all, but I might be missing things. From 10 feet away the car looks great, but it could use a good buffing and detailing. And, of course, between the poly steering bushings, the low ride, and the delrin suspension bushings, it rattles like the Millenium Falcon- but it will do the Kessler run in the same number of parsecs.

I've left the fuel pump relay with the 6300RPM rev limiter intact, to keep myself from pushing the engine too hard (it should pull well past 7000RPM), but you can buy a non-limiter replacement if you want to risk detonation for a few more ponies.