Hey all! My name is Shanna if you don't know me, I haven't been too active this semester with MM and all my senior year sheez but you may see me driving around town a bit--04 black STi with gold bbs. Anyways, I entered my boyfriend David (2000 Black Prelude SH--license plate "PRELOOD") into a competition to get his horrible, scratched, faded paintjob covered by Plasticoat. I entered awhile back and finally got posted up today. If you guys find a minute, please like/share his photo on the Plasticoat facebook page:

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Thanks guys!!

Hey there guys-

Received a call from a special client who had discovered my work online and had requested a Full Correction on his 2004 Challenge Stradale in Nero.

For what its worth ( those who know will enjoy this ) the owner/ client of mine is the founder and owner of MMC- Monticello Motor Club- a very exclusive track that is up here un NY close to where I grew up - it is a very exclusive track - see link:
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The Stradale has over 14K on her and has seen a huge amount of track time as the owner uses this machine for what its exactly built for- thrashing at the track.

Previously the Stradale had been "detailed" aka induced some heavy marring, swirls, managed to burn through in several locations and thinned the paint to dangerous levels in some areas.....needless to say caution was taken after inspecting and finding the damaged/ severe defects left behind by an inexperienced individual.

The car had clear filmed installed on the front bumper- half the hood, on the front headlights and also along the rockers- after speaking with the client, we agreed to leave the film on the front end and headlight lenses (seeing that the car receives a considerable amount of track time) but agreed to remove the rocker panel film. These areas were of course all corrected to achieve 100% defect free levels- two small areas (you will see in final pics) were damaged and the clear film had failed causing the cracked paint to lift off of the surface- these areas were touched up with touch up paint supplied by the client.

The correction was performed over the course of 3 days- little over 25 hours put into this machine

Correction performed with:

- Rupes 21/ FLEX DA/ PC 7424
- foam pads- Uber/ LC- green, blue, orange, yellow
- M105/ Sonax PF/ Menzerna 2500
- LSP: 2 coats of Menzerna PL

The battery was much too low for the Stradale to be pulled out on the first day- a full ONR wash and clay was performed in the garage- since I was going to pull the Stradale out after the compounding I knew I was going to have to do, it was going to be fully washed at some point.

Note- my SLR is with my brother up in upstate NY- had to use a point and shoot for this job- so, apologies for lack of HD

You can see the defects slightly in this pic


Old Film on the rocker here- vinyl graphic was placed over it causing a faded appearance


Leatherique being applied to the buckets


The oil was stripped after several hours with warm water and the leather was cleaned.


The interior was blown out with my air compressor, vacuumed and brushed down with various boars hair brushes..... hitting the vents here


The rest of the interior was brushed down and degreased

Adhesive on the back window which gives the driver a view of what is screaming behind in was stripped and removed


Taping off and doing some test sections- here are some shots of the defects before!




Leftover compound/ wax left by the previous "detailer" ALL OVER



Clearly not taping off edges as he should....


Overall the Nero finish was simply DULL


Compounding coming along- switching between the Rupes 21 and Flex here


Defects on the passenger front fender


Taping off as always for the raised edges/ clear film [IMG]
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After compounding:


Defects on the upper portion of the hood (no clear film)


50/50 on the hood



passenger fender



Driver door- various defects found


Rear driver quarter panel hurtin pretty badly too



Quick after of the same area after compounding:


The Clear film on both rocker panels was removed- each taking around 2 hours each to heat, remove film, and remove any adhesive left over!

Inspecting the rocker before:


Roof was in terrible shape- buffer burn and swirling heaviest here


Pillars needed help


Rear decklid hammered


After compounding on the first day I chose to designate the final hour or so to polishing the driver and passenger door panels (Carbon Fiber)
......each had numerous scuffs from getting in and out and small swirling




Afters of the passenger door- sealant was applied after






Previous built up tire shine stripped with Tarminator


After nearly 13 or so hours compounding, removing the clear film, IPA wipedowns- the next morning the Stradale was taken outside and given a full safe wash- Dawn/ CG Citrus clear mix used- 2 sheepskin wash mitts

Sonax FE on the wheels here removing some built up deposits


The tips were pretty caked with years of extreme heat cycles- I tried my best to let IRONX sit as long as possible and a combo of steel wool and 3M pad to remove as much oxidation and deposits



Rinsed, brought in to dry via leaf blower and compressed air and wiped down- taped up shortly after yet again


FINISHING DOWN- after another IPA wipedown was performed, Sonax Perfect Finish (LOVE this product- thank you Todd C @ Esoteric for shipping it out to me so quickly) utilized with green/ blue foam on the FLEX/ PC DA


Headlight lens film after


In comparison to the drivers side


Clear film before


Visible 50/50 in the garage lighting





ENGINE BAY- as you can imagine, being a heavily tracked car, this prancing horse sees HUGE amounts of heat on a frequent basis- years and years of heat baking dirt, soil, water, etc. into un protected surfaces.......

The Airboxes were oxidized as were the CF side panels, exhaust etc.

CF airboxes were machine/ hand polished with Menzerna 2500- orange pad on PC
Dull and not much luster at all:


See the 50/50 split? (right = treated, left = untreated)



After:


Stock Ferrari mufler canister BUT TUBI headers- amazing sound - hand polished with Adams Metal Polish #1 - orange pad via PC / hand polished with steel wool and finished down via hand with Adams #2 and Eagle One Nevr Dull wadding to clean
HELP!!


50/50 after #1



The side CF pieces lining the engine bay were also machine/ hand polished - overall, cleaning, polsihing etc. on the engine bay took over 2 hours

APC with some skewers an compressed air - all about the details


Can't forget about the door jambs!


Final IPA wipedown performed, 2 coats of Menzerna PL- curing here:


While the sealant was curing the following was performed: (2 hours)
- all seals and trim items cleaned and sealned with 303 AP
- All glass cleaned in and out:

- Tires and wheel wells dressed with Megs Hyper Dressing- diluted 3:1
- leftover wax and compounding crud cleared (thanks again "detailer")
- wheels and calipers inspected to ensure cleanliness
- 303 AP applied to rear diffuser

Sitting in garage waiting to be pulled outside


After shots- apologies for lack of after correction shots- daylight was running out!
- note: the slight haze is the sealant, it was sub 32 degrees- aka the sealant will take a day or two to fully cure- a new plush MF was left for the owner, gentle wipedowns would be performed the following morning









And now for the results after over 25 hours of work:































































Thanks for looking!!
- Dan K.

Not sure the expiration but the details are below.

Quote:The first 500 Customers, Save $50 Off Orders Over $100. The next 1,000 customers save $40 off orders over $100. And the next 2,000 customers save 30% off nearly everything

The brakes failed (ABS malfunction) in my E36 M3 race car at the end of the front straight at VIR. This was in the first NASA HPDE-3 session at around 9:30 yesterday morning. I impacted the tire barrier at around 80 mph. Suffered a concussion, 1.5 inch gash on my forehead that required six stitches to close, and severely bruised ribs.

Going frame by frame in the video and doing the math... between the 600 and 500 ft brake markers I was going 113 mph. Between the 100 foot marker and the turn-in arrow, I was still going 97 mph.

Regarding the gash on my forehead, I was rushed and unprepared for this trip to the track. I'm also a forgetful mofo and I thought that my helmet and HANS device was in my car. I was wrong... so I ended up using a NASA loaner helmet. When I impacted the tire barrier with the right side of the car, my head snapped to the right and my helmet came into contact with right side of the seat (the seat is U-shaped at the top and curves around both sides of my head). This impact crushed the helmet into my forehead, splitting open my skin on a sharp piece of plastic in the loaner helmet. I was bleeding all over the place. I may have been unconscious for a second or two, but I really am not sure. I just remember blood gushing down my face into my mouth and checking my rear view mirror to see where the **** it was coming from.

The first track worker who got to my car asked me if I was alright before actually seeing my face. I responded "yeah... I'm alright," then he looked at me and quickly responded "no you're not" and got on his radio and asked for an ambulance. I wanted to get out of the car, but no one would let me. They got me straight onto a stretcher and took me to the hospital for a CAT scan and x-rays of my neck, back, chest, etc.

I try to look on the bright side, though... my neck is alright and if I had remembered my helmet, I wouldn't have this awesome scar to use as a conversation starter. :beer: I really am extremely thankful that my neck wasn't injured. It's crazy that the first time I'm on my track without my HANS device, this **** happens. As I was careening off the track towards the wall, all I could think of was #$%* I hope I don't break my neck. I purposely tried to hit the wall at an angle instead of straight-on; I didn't want to go out like Dale Earnhardt. My neck is sore today, but I'm totally fine with that. Plus, it's nothing compared to the pain in my ribs.

I remember as I was impacting the tire barrier and everything was going in slow-motion, I could feel my ribs crushing. I thought they were going to break, but then after I came to a stop, I didn't feel any pain. I guess that was a result of the adrenaline coursing through my veins. Even on the trip to the hospital on the super uncomfortable backboard, I didn't feel any pain. It took another couple hours before I started feeling it, and GODDAMN was it excruciating. I could hardly move at all without feeling like someone was smashing me in my ribs with a sledge hammer. I also started to feel nauseated as a result of the concussion, which was not pleasant at all. I was so worried that I'd throw up, because the pain that would have caused my ribs would have been ****ing ridiculous. Even a little hiccup was enough to send me through the roof, let alone vomiting. The doctor gave me some anti-nausea pills and that fixed my stomach relatively quickly... thank God.

Manly Scar:




Wreck Only:

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Full Video:

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As many of you know, I've been dying to buy a daily driver and retire the E36 to garage queen duty, so I can take my time fixing the headgasket, exhaust leak, steering rack, subframe bushings and redo the interior. While saving up over the past year I've researched, decided on, argued about and changed my mind over about 47 different cars. B6 A4, WJ Grand Cherokee Overland, an old E420, a MKIV GTI, an E34, another E46, etc. All absolutely terrible ideas and totally predictable of me. I also seriously considered a Mazda3, Leggy GT and MazdaSpeed6, which aren't terrible ideas and therefore out of character for me.

About a month ago I finally settled on an MKV GTI. After all, Rex told me I deserve one. I decided I wanted to spend less than $13k on the car, and really wanted to shoot for a 2008.5+ with the updated TSI motor, which is supposedly far more reliable than the outgoing FSI, uses a timing chain instead of a belt, and doesn't have the cam follower or HPFP issues of the FSI. I wanted the DSG trans since it's my commuter, and I really wanted heated seats and a sunroof because I've become accustomed to them. My dream car was a white 4 door, but if that was a hard requirement I'd shop for another year to find one in my budget.

Anywho, I had been watching this United Gray 2009 2-door DSG with the heated seats and sunroof with 58k on it for about a month. And last Friday, quite literally at the exact same time I got approved for financing through my CU, the seller dropped the price from $13,800 to $12,900. Oh shit. I emailed him and we agreed to meet in Vienna on Saturday.

Now I swear, when we left the house on Saturday morning it was chilly, overcast and threatening to rain. As we met the guy in Vienna the clouds cleared, sun beamed and we test drove it with the windows down. The car looked clean, and had a good story. The dude bought it off lease for his teenaged daughter, who has since shipped off to VCU for college and then is moving to Europe, so they had no need for the car. Then we drove to Rockville to check out a 4-door 2008, and black clouds rolled in and the temperature felt like it dropped 15 degrees. The 08 was beat to shit with a ridiculously high price tag (which was apparently a non-negotiable "True Price" big load of crap), and ultimately a complete waste of time.

Ok Universe, I get the point. On the way back from Rockville I called the seller of the 2009 and told him I'd buy it if I could run it through my shop on Monday. If the timely price drop and eery weather patterns weren't enough of a sign, this was the little description card that came with my randomly chosen wine at dinner that night.

http://i.imgur.com/AbfxMFh.jpg

On Monday I met the guy at my shop in Sterling and went through the entire thing up on the rack. Clean as a whistle. The sender gasket on the turbo is seeping a bit, so I'll replace it next time I change the oil, the front tires are cupped to shit because no one told these people about tire rotations, and that's about it. I have 2k left (well, 1900 now) on the factory powertrain warranty to give me a bit of a grace period, and this particular car had the DSG recall done at 14k, so it has an extended, transferrable warranty on the DSG until 2019 or 100k miles. I talked him down to $12,600, pulled the trigger and met him at the metro station later that night to pick it up.







I drove it all week and then spent the entire weekend cleaning it up. First order of business was rotating the tires (the rear ones look basically new) to buy me a few months. I hate buying two tires at a time so I'll probably drive the snot out of it until June and then replace all four before it needs an inspection sticker. This is why we don't go to Jiffy Lube kids:



Hacks.

The silly little red calipers looked awful all caked in brake dust, so I scrubbed them down with Sonax while I had the wheels off. Then it was bath time!



Its been so long since I had a car with paint worth polishing, I got all excited about it and impulse bought a rotary buffer. I'm no Dan, but the results weren't too shabby.





I clayed the entire car, did a 3 stage polish with Meguiar's foam pads and polishes, then put 2 on two coats of Poorboy's sealant. I also vacuumed the interior, wiped down the surfaces, treated the steering wheel and gear selector with leatherique, and shampooed every fabric surface. I think it may have been a smoker's car at one time, and then has basically sat for the last year while the kiddo is off getting schwasted at VCU, so it was a bit funky.

Then I did a little photoshoot next to Jake's car. :wink:



















So far I'm thrilled with it, it's exactly what I wanted in a DD. Great on gas, comfortable, quiet (aside from the tire hum), practical, and also a blast to drive for when I happen to find a curve in the great abyss of NOVA traffic. I also got a pretty ridiculous deal on it, my CU valued it at $15,700.

Future plans:
-Seafoam/Oil Change/Turbo gasket thingy at 60k miles. I might do the VCG spark plugs and air filter if it needs them.
-New tires obviously
-Nexus 7 Tablet install in lieu of a head unit. I've seen some crazy clean looking installs, and I like how customizable it is. I'm not in a rush though, the factory HU is fine and has an ipod dock.
-Look into the timing tensioner update. Apparently the early 09-10 TSI motors can have timing chain failures. If it develops any of the symptoms I'm going to just do the update to nip it in the bud. I thought it had a rattle at startup, but I'm pretty sure that was just the vanity cover rattling against the motor because it has a broken tab. I re-jiggered it and stopped.

Jon mentioned this on MM's Fb page a while back, but I tracked down some details and figured I'd start a thread.

Smithland Elementary School in Harrisonburg, VA will be having a Car Show April 20, 2013 (the weekend after the MM Car Show).

From the poster: "Students at Smithland Elementary School are participating in a reading incentive program called 'Revved Up for Reading'. They have set reading goals and are keeping track of their minutes. For every 100 minutes they add a car to our race track. We have a friendly competition goings between the girls and the boys. To help celebrate and motivate we are hosting a car show. If you have a cool car that you would be willing to share we would love to have you. Your contribution will no doubt inspire and excite our students' imaginations and drive."

Note that there is a contact person to register with.

My vote is that we have the same level of attendance here as we do for our own car show. My wife is a teacher and its these kinds of events that they'll remember for years to come.

Hey guys, I'm Austin. I'm a senior here at JMU, graduating in may 2013.

I drive a 2008 Honda Element EX (it's red tango pearl) and I ride a 2008 Ducati 848.

Here's a couple pictures of the bike:




Here's a picture of me:



I'll give a little background about my driving and riding experience too. I've logged a lot of miles on both four and two wheels. I've put on most of the 60,000 miles on my element on various road trips and all of that, but I don't have a lot of experience doing any performance driving or anything like that. Go-Karting at G-Force this past weekend is probably the closest thing to track experience I have on four wheels. As for riding motorcycles, I started out with dirtbiking in fourth grade and got my first motorcycle in high school. It was a 2008 Harley Davidson Sportster 883R, and I was involved in an accident on a road trip out to Colorado on the first day and the bike was totaled. Luckily there was a used 2008 Harley Davidson Sportster 1200 on the floor of the Harley dealer we were near when I crashed and we were able to continue on our trip. After about a year I got tired of the easy-cruising Harley style and sold the Harley to my grandpa and used the money to buy a 2009 Monster 1100. I think I put on about 15,000 miles on that bike in the two years I owned that bike, including two road trips up to Canada. And I got my first track experience on that motorcycle through Motorcycle Xcitement at Summit Point on the Shenandoah Circuit. Unfortunately I t-boned an old lady who pulled out of an intersection without seeing me and the bike was totaled. We used the insurance to buy the bike that I ride now, and I have been back to the track a number of times with the 848, mostly on Shenandoah but with one track day on Summit Main.

So that's a brief (sort of) summary of my motorsports history. I'm looking forward to hanging out with you guys and seeing all your rides.

Cheers.

Time- 7:30 Thursday night
Where? E-hall
Why? Chicken Nugget night. That's right.


Join us for dinner!
- Dan

FS: 01 Jeep Cherokee, 150k, Auto, Up country Package (1in lift, Trans Cooler, HD Radiator, factory T-case and Gas tank skids), Overhead console, recently replaced A/C condensor, heater core and PS pump, has tow hitch, hella fogs utilizing factory switch, and upgraded the headlight wiring harness.

Asking $3500, OBO ($3k MM price).

No issues other than some rust on the passenger rear rocker, replacement panel has been purchased and this will be repaired prior to sale. Or if you are planning to throw on some sliders, 1/4 of the rocker is already removed so less work for you

My Project thread....
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Hey all!

Need your help- we have the handouts (mini size car show poster)- shoot us your address and we will send you 20 plus handouts (or how many you request).

IF you are going to be at VIR this weekend- even better! We will bring them to you- Jon will have them this upcoming weekend.

Help us out!!