My New Site
Vacation: Roberts Creek
My aunt and uncle have a great cabin up in Roberts Creek. For those who don’t know where that is, it is on the Sunshine Coast, which is about a 40 minute ferry ride from Horse Shoe Bay. There are no roads ( yet ) to the Sunshine Coast, hence the ferry ride. Roberts Creek is a small hippie town about a 20 minute drive from Gibsons, where the ferry lands.
About a month ago I was in Pender Harbour, an hour or so past Roberts Creek. On the way home I saw what looked to be like water being spayed out of a blow hole at the beach in Sechelt. When I got back home I had heard from my aunt that there have been a few grey whales in the area, and since her cabin is right on the water, she has seen it pass a few times. So I knew I had to bring my camera, just incase I got to see this rare whale siting.
Sitting in the cabin, I hear my mom scream out “WHALE”. Luckily I prepared for the moment, my zoom lense was already on my camera, I ran out and started snapping.
The first night, the moon set below the horizon. It was so dark out, and there were so many stars! The milky way was visable, but unforuntaly my camera couldnt take the best pictures of that. But I tried my best to manualy focus the lense, because it couldnt focus on anything, and take the best picture possible with the given equipment
Mother Seal and Pup taking a rest on a buoyant log
Sunset
My girlfriend Brittany learning on the DSLR
19th Annual Great Canadian Volkswagen Weekend
This past weekend Volkswagen enthusiasts throughout the Pacific North West came out to the Lower Mainland for a Volkswagen weekend. It was a very fun weekend with tons to do. Friday, at Mission raceway, Saturday at Regency VW/Boston Pizza, and the main show on Sunday, in Coquitlam.
Friday at mission raceway, air-cooled and water-cooled enthusiasts alike, raced/spectated. Anyone was welcome, whether they were in a 1950 T1 bus running a whopping 30 seconds, or a 1992 Mark 2, turbo vr6 running 13 seconds. It was a great night, even just watching all the VW’s.
Saturday you could attend Regency Volkswagen for a breakfast, and then later that night, show up to Boston Pizza in Vancouver for a night of Volkswagens and dinner. The parking lot was full of VW’s, and there was special parking for VW’s infront of the restaurant.
Sunday was the main event, and although the weather wasn’t all that great, a good amount of people had showed up. Unfortunately, because my car was in the show this year, and I was rushing around cleaning my car, helping out friends out, and relaxing, I didn’t take any pictures. But good news, my car took 2nd in its class ( A3 Golf ). The weather came around towards the end, and it stopped raining. It was a really fun day, and I’m looking forward to next year.
I was fortunate enough to attend a Sam Dobbins photo shoot afterwards. Sam was really stoked on my friend Dallas Almond’s 1992 Volkswagen Passat Syncro, and wanted to do a shoot. The location was in White Rock, in a Walmart underground parking lot, which had a lot of good lighting.
Here are some of the pictures I took of my 1993 VW GTI, and Dallas Almonds 1992 Passat Syncro.
BMXing @ Poco Skate Park
Took some photos at the Port Coquitlam skate park for a dude named Travis. Hope yah like them Travis
Enjoi
Raceland Coilover Review
I have been driving for about a month now with the Raceland coilovers on my MK3 GTI, and so far I have been pretty happy. Yah, they are nothing compared to H&Rs or FKs or any of the other higher end brands, but for $400 dollars, I belive it’s the best bang for your buck, when your on a budget.
Of coarse, on a bumpy road that the city of Surrey is too lazy to fix, it can be pretty bone jarring, annoying, and dangerous when your really low ( as would all brands of coilovers ). But its a nice stiff suspension, there isnt any crazy bouncing like you would see in cheap Coilover sleeves. On a nice road with few bumps, these things feel really nice, and quite similar to my friends K-Sports. I think the man difference is how it rebounds on the really bad roads, and in that category, the K-Sports win ( but they also have Dampening adjusting )
Around corners the handling feels really sporty, when mixed with a bit of negative camber. Gunning it around the corner you really feel the car stick to the ground.
I’ve seen a lot of people on VWVortex bash these and say that they are bouncy this and shitty that, when in fact most of them have never even been in a car with these coilovers installed. Id recommended these to any enthusiasts that is looking to go low, and have a nice sporty handling, without hurting the wallet!
And a picture of how low I am ( silver GTI ). My friends GTI with K-Sport Kontrol Pro
Techtonics Cat-Back with Borla Muffler- Sound Clip/Review
So I knew I needed a new exhaust on my 93 Volkswagen GTI, since the exhaust was a must have on all the previous cars I have owned. I started my searched, looking at some of the Magnaflow catback exhausts for the 2.0L engine. The Magnaflows were pretty pricey. Then a few people recommended the Techtonics cat-back with the Borla muffler, so I searched up a sound clip on youtube, and it the sound was to my liking.
Next step, finding one in Canada, that was not way over priced.. Well all the local shops in Vancouver jacked up the price a bit, so I was looking for an alternative. Some people on dubberz.com recomended a website called The Scirocco.com. Peter, the CEO of the site, gets good deals on Techtonics parts, and likes to pass them on to VW owners! So I started talking to him, and he was a great help, answering all my questions, and giving me quotes to different shipping addresses. Check his site out if you wanna order some parts.
So I ordered the exhaust, and it came to around $370 CND, which I was pretty happy with. I saved a bit on shipping and got it shipped to my mailbox address in the states, which is a great company called Pacific Mail & Parcel. They only charge $10 dollars a year, and less than 3 dollars when your picking up your parcel. It is a great location for people in the Greater Vancouver Area, and the Lower main land. If take the 176th exit on the #1, you go straight down 176th street untill you cross the boarder, and then its only a minute drive after that!
So I picked up the exhaust, which only took 3 days to arrive to the states, and took it home. I put it together on the ground to make sure everything was there, which it was. I decided I couldn’t wait and started to install it. I was very happy with how the install went. It was the first time I have done a full cat back myself, and it was super easy. The Techtonics catback slides right onto your catalytic converter, and the rest does the same. The clamps are great, and have the hangers welded right onto them! The install took around an hour and a half! I was pumped, and went for a rip right away.
The first thing I noticed is that it is pretty quite when your inside the car, but it was a nice deep sound, that wont give you a headache. Outside the car is a different story, I got my friend to take it for a drive while I watched and listened. It sounded simply amazing! The best thing you can ask for from a little single cam 2.0L. A nice deep throaty sound that was at just the right level.
The only thing I can bash techtonics on is how you pay $370 dollars, and you don’t even receive a nice tip to throw on the end of the stock looking tail pipe they give you.. But oh well, it looks good enough. My girlfriend also has the same exhaust, but on her mk4 1.8 Turbo, and it also sounds great! Thumbs up for techtonics.. Now I gotta figure out how to put a video on here for you guys to hear!
Now onto the fun stuff 
DIY Walkthrough: VW Mk3 Golf- Raceland Coilover Install
This will be the same for all Mk3 Coilovers
I just finished installing these coilovers this month, I got them off Racelands site for $300 + $104 shipping.
I did a lot of research on these before I decided to buy them, searched vwvortex.com threads all day. People that own them and installed them said they ride really good, and for the price you cant complain. So I bought myself a pair. While waiting for them to arrive I did a lot of searching for a good Do It Yourself or a walk-through for these.. I could only find them for mk4′s, and the ones for Mk3′s were more like a review and there weren’t any pictures. So I’ve decided I’ll do one.
Tools/Supplies you will need
Rust Check
You might wanna grab a can of this from Canadian Tire for $10. It is used to keep the threads on your coilovers lubed up so they dont rust or corrode so you can continue to adjust the height. Just spray it on your coilovers before you install them.
2.0l or Vr6 mounts
You are going to need to replace your old mounts, so go and grab some new ones. They should come with the nut and bearing. Vr6 ones are better, but 2.0l ones are ok.
Air Compress with Power Tools
This is NOT a must, but a big help. When taking the top bolt off on the strut, the shock will spin. You either need a 22mm spark plug socket: because of the hole on top of the socket, allows you to stick an allan key through and keep the shock from spinning, while you use a wrench on the socket to spin it. I used air tools and it was really easy.
Special VW/Audi Tool
This little nut that VW made holds the mount down on the shock. It has two slots on either side, so a regular socket cant take it off.
If you’ve got one, great. If you dont, you can spend 25 dollars or make one or do what I did.
Making one: I didnt do this so I dont know exactly how to do it, but once you see the nut its pretty straight forward. Take a socket, and shave down either side till there are two tabs left that can be inserted into the nut.
What I did: I took a flat head screw driver and an Alan key. Put the flat head into one of the tabs on the nut, and put the alan key into the top of the shock, and spin it off/on. This way worked pretty good, just dont strip the threads on the shock.
Sockets:
10mm
14mm
18mm
17mm
19mm
22mm
Allan Key:
7mm I believe, its for the top of the strut
Fronts
Step 1:
-Pull the e-brake, put some blocks behind the back wheels, jack your car up, and take the tires off.
Step 2:
-Take the 22mm socket, and take off the top strut bolt
Step 3:
-There is a little 10mm bolt holding your brake line to the shock, go ahead and take that off.
Step 4:
click picture to enlarge
-These 2 bolts are the last bolts. They are 18mm’s. Take an 18mm wrench, or a crescent wrench, and put it on the other side, so it doesnt spin. Buzz those two 18′s off and your done, pull that old shock out.
Now grab those shinny new Raceland coilovers, and make a decision about the mounts. You should buy new ones, I got 2 for 40 bucks, they also came with the nut and bearing. You can use your old ones if you dont feel like spending money, but it is NOT recommended
Special VW Nuts
You CAN use 2.0 mounts. You DO NOT have to use Vr6 mounts. People say it wont work, but it worked for me, and some other people on vwvortex.com.
If you decide to use your old ones, put a spring compressor on the springs, and spin the nut off with the VW Audi tool, your home made tool, or an Alan Key and Flat Head screw driver.
Now take the Raceland coilovers, and spin the perch thread all the way down till the top cap sits on its seat, throw the mount on, and spin the nut on and tighten it. You are now ready to put them in.
Installing the Racelands
Reverse what you did when you took the stock ones out.
Put the top of the shock through the hole, put the cap over, and tighten the 19mm Raceland provided
Tighten the 2 18mm bolts on the bottom, and put the brake line mount onto Raceland’s mount and tighten with the 10mm.
At this point you can set the height to where you want it. You can always re adjust it after if you dont like it.
Put your wheels back on and your now done the front! Give yourself a pat on the back.
Rears
Step 1
-Same thing as the front, put the car in first gear, put blocks in front of the tires, jack up the rear, and take the tires off.
Step 2
-Open up your hatch and unbolt the 2 10mm bolts that hold the pieces of plastic covering the top of the shocks.
Step 3
-Undo all the bolts you see, I think its 2 14mm’s, and keep all the washers and spacers in the same order ( sorry Im doing this off the top of my head, and cant remember the exact bolts for the rear, it is pretty straight forward though, I figured it out by myself and it was the first time I did suspension on a VW )
Step 4
-At the bottom of the shock, there is 1 18mm bolt holding it in place, take this bolt of. It may take a while, and once its un-threaded you may have to pull it a bit. Once it is out the shock should fall down to the ground. If it hasnt, you may have missed a bolt on the top.
Step 5
-Get someone to put step on the rotor. Get it as low as you can, so you can lift the shock up and out.
Installing the Rears
Now again, take the Raceland coilover, thread the perches down untill the long washer sits on its seat. Take the bolts raceland provided and tighten the washer down. Now you can put it on the car. Slide the top into its seat.
Big washer to hold the strut down. Tighten it down with the bolt raceland provided on top of the cap
Put the washers, nuts, and bolts on the top. Make sure they are in the same order
Once the top is in, thread the bottom 18mm bolt through. It may be a little tough to line it up and get it in, but eventually you will get it.
Now you can adjust it to the height you want it, put your tires back on and your done!
Its probably a good idea to go and get an alignment done now, because once you remove the suspension, the alignment changes. An alignment will run you less $100.
Thanks for reading, and enjoy your coilovers!
*note- If I have made any mistakes, or you want to ask a question, feel free to contact me at j-lasko@hotmail.com
