New SF Bay Area Chit Chat Thread

[dlai]

Ok, I couldn't help but notice that folks are discussing Corrado brake kits, viton tubing and such in the Nozzle/Injector GTG thread. Those discussions tend to get lost so I think it makes more sense to have such discussions in this thread, the idea which was originally started by Peter Pyce years ago.

As written by Peter a few years ago:

Hello follow TDIers from San Francisco Bay Area .....

After our last GTG I started receiving letters from members, asking about one hundred small things about our cars, parts, oils, etc. All this is great and I really like the fact the TDI community in this area is growing big time and that people are coming out of hiding. It is working! ...... But then I was thinking, why are these people sending me e-mails, instead of just going on the Forums and just ask? Is it because people are afraid of asking? Is it because some find it "uncomfortable" starting a new topic that says "Come to my house and help me with an oil change as it is my first and I am afraid of screwing it up!" Maybe? Maybe not?.... Someone was asking me tips on how to do a simple thing to his brand new car (via e-mail) and I wanted to know why is he asking me, there are people with more knowledge here.....and his answer was " I do not trust someone who I have never seen his face, neither heard his voice"...Hmmmm, interesting point, I wish I knew you earlier, so I would have not wasted all these money for stoopid mods I got because people (I never met) told me they are great. But anyway, here we are, having this Forum, this West Coast section, which goes really slow, and at the same time we all get e-mails, write e-mails, send PMs, etc. instead of simply talk through the Forums because this is the main reason (Fred, correct me if I am wrong) they exist - to exchange our thoughts, ideas, feelings, whatever. The greatest idea behind is that someone have a question, no matter how simple it is, post it here and then someone who "had been there" answers it and then another one hundred people can read this and learn, or expose their own point of view and have a debate, etc.... I mean, you all know the story, right? But then why don't we just do it? ....... So, here is this "Chit-Chat" topic, in which I really hope people will show up, so we can all keep in touch HERE and not through e-mails. Here is where nothing will be off-topic and you can ask for local help on an oil change, or want to borrow a vag-com, need to try a set of chips or perhaps want to go for a Drive in the mountains, so to evaluate tires, springs, shocks and you name it..... Or perhaps spotted a dark blue Jetta with tinted windows and "Diesel Inside" sticker on 101 South, and you wonder who that was

I mean, let's Chat people! I am sure you all have a lot to say, but somehow you never said it - so, just do it here If we want to have a strong community, we have to keep in touch!

 

[B100]

:wave:

Good idea. I'll just say that I'm still damn happy with the Golf. The last mod was a CAT filter, which totally solved my bubble problem - not a single hard start since then. I appreciate the forums, and also the tips I've gained from you local guys since I first showed up at Pyce's to swap out my nozzles when the car had only 600 miles on it...

Hope to see folks again, maybe for a cholesterol bomb at an In-n-Out?

 

[mackwood]

Dan is right. Any question is a good question. I think alot of people are afraid to ask a simple question due to getting flammed in the regular forums. I have seen it happened many many times with myself included. That is one reason i rarely post unless it is in the westcoast section. 99% of the time my questions are answered right here or I use the search function. This is a great forum! Dan, nice to see you posting. Maybe somebody has a TDI they can give Peter so he will return. I'm sure many people can agree that he is missed here at the club. Chow

 

[dlai]

I certainly agree. I too have developed a distaste for the main forums, mainly because a select few recently have started to ruin it for others. I get a little tired of posting something in the main forums only to have someone like Diesel Addict or AZGolf come in and troll bomb my thread or post (yeah, I'm not afraid to name names ). Still, there are some great things happening in the SFBA. I noticed that a new group of folks have been arranging timing belt GTGs the past two years with our buddy DBW doing his normal great work. This is very great since the collective old timers have gotten rid of their TDIs and moved on. The previously mentioned Mr. Pyce is one, having gotten a gasser A5. The same can be said of Peter Cheuk and Eric, both gasser A5 owners. Norman still has his TDI, but he has lost interest here because of what you mentioned, Jason. But with Danix in town, and people like cmt4lyt and 02AutoWag hosting, the group is stronger than ever. Andrew stepped up and just hosted the nozzle GTG, so things are looking up. I would still like to see a large GTG some day, like the old dyno days and driving GTGs we used to have. Maybe even something like the old Capo GTG, but perhaps with a drive down to Harv's place.

Speaking of, Harv is probably going to host a Rocketchip GTG sometime in June, so for those who missed the last RC GTG up here, perhaps a drive down is in order.

I'm going to start another thread to judge interest in a lunch In/Out GTG since B100 mentioned it. I actually did receive an email from Pyce this week who mentioned he is free to attend lunch GTGs, given a recent job change.

I think this thread is a start in trying to get the larger collective group together more often. I also want to finally meet Danix, Zippy Car, and others as well...Ok, I'm typed out at the moment, so more later....

 

[jthesby]

I'm gonna have to do a complete overhaul of my suspension soon, and want to upgrade.... but anywho, since you mentioned the Dyno thing, I do recall Andrew and i discussing this briefly when I first met him at one of the friday night TST gtg's.... I do believe he mentioned something about a friend owning or running a local dyno

 

[NewTdi]

Jonathan, the Dyno GTG seems a thing of the past since DLai just informed me last week that the shop was sold 2 years ago.

Since In-and-Out cholesterol bomb as it was called seems fairly easy for everyone, I am game! We could have a luch time GTG at different locations every 2 weeks.

Also, for a driving GTG (lets help Global Warming) soCal would be feasible but we have so many nice roads here in NorCal as well to keep it a little more local

I do not mind hosting a monthly GTG especially when the family is out of town this summer, maybe I can host a weekly GTG and if I get enough orange cones for the autocross course, I know somenone will show up!

So how about In-and-out next Friday?

 

[NewTdi]

Viton Tubing

Regina, do you have any of that special tubing left that I can trade you a hambuger for?

 

[jthesby]

Not too soon on dismissing the dyno day.... My roomate does own a diesel perf shop out in Martinez, and I know he has a dyno that he usually uses and is sorta buddy-buddy with them.... Let me see what we can pull out of the hat...(p.s. they hosted a large dyno compitition for the truck guys last summer) and i do believe it's a mustang dyno

 

[unjester]

Okay I need to get some viton injector lines - anyone have any already?
If I order some does anyone else want in?

 

[unjester]

Just looked on Mcmaster-Carr - they only have "firm", not "hard" in 1/8 ID 5/16 OD and it costs about $5/foot. How many feet does one need?

 

[dlai]

Below is a copy and paste from Harv about an upcoming Rocketchip GTG at Harv's place in June:

"Not to purposely change the subject here but, I was just informed by Jeff that he wants to do another Rocket Chip GTG at my place and the dates will be either Saturday June 23rd or Saturday June 30th. I am leaning towards the 30th so, you can consider this the official initial announcement. I will do another official announcement in the "Power Enhancement" and "GTG" threads. Hope to see many member's here and we will make a good time of it with a BBQ, and sodas. There will of course, be adult beverages for those interested later in the afternoon and of course after most of the wrenching comes to a close. Later!"

 

[regkat]

Hey All,
Great new thread! Looks like I will be in LA for the RC GTG one of those two weekends. How about Sunday, June 10th for nozzles? Andrew, the biodiesel lines I had with me Russ was dubious of. He says they are not as highly rated (temp wise I think) as the McMasters ones. Here is a copy and paste from a PM Russ sent me:
"as for the Viton I used part #5119K814 from mcmaster-carr www.mcmaster.com
those lines are green but they also come in brown and black.
I ordered 2 ft at a total cost of 16 dollars. 2 ft does one car.... but its close. to be safe you may want more".
I ordered 3 ft and it cost just over $20 with shipping. I'm thinking of returning the lines I have cuz its about $40 worth!
Oh! and I'm kind of a health nut. So IN and OUT is definitely OUT! I also live in Santa Cruz and work in Pleasanton so lunches probably wont happen for me. But I'm up for non wrenching GTG's on weekends.

 

[NewTdi]

Dan, thanks for letting us know about the RC GTG in SOCal. I will plan my the NorCal GTG around that date. Regina, I would like to keep it so far on the 24th because the 10th is my daughters birtday; however it if ends up being the 17, then I will tell my daughter that there will be a GTG and no birthday for her.

 

[regkat]

Nozzles/GTG in June

Now that I've met you Andrew, I can only guess that you are excercising that sharp wit and dry humor of yours. "no birthday for her". Some of us saw you climbing up on the roof of that building to get her runaway kite, and know better. And there are pictures to prove it.

The 24th works for me. Hopefully Harv and Jeff will go for the 30th. I'm out of town on the 17th and on the 3rd. Zippy can only do Sundays and it would be great to have her there. I think we should shoot for the 24th and post it to the So cal thread so if those getting chipped in LA on the 30th wanna join us for nozzles in San Pablo on the 24th, everyone wins. If they end up being at the same time, people can choose between them. Are others avail at that time? Should we post this to the previous thread re:bay area nozzle swap?

 

[Windowlicker]

I'm gonna have to do a complete overhaul of my suspension soon, and want to upgrade.... but anywho, since you mentioned the Dyno thing, I do recall Andrew and i discussing this briefly when I first met him at one of the friday night TST gtg's.... I do believe he mentioned something about a friend owning or running a local dyno

As soon as I can get my warehouse ready, there's a dyno sitting in TN w/ my name on it. I'll just need to go out there and get it. .

 

[Zippy_car]

24th. I'm in.

 

[NFSTDI]

I can't say enough good things about Jeff and RC. My car runs so well, too well in fact. The hardest part is keeping my foot out of it so I don't find myself on the wrong side of the law.

 

[dlai]

Well, I tried to pick up my car today. Shortly after my turbo was replaced, I was driving on 280 near Colma and someone's sofa dropped off their truck. The 4x4 in front of me suddenly changed lanes, and there was a sofa in front of me. With the guard rail on my left and a car on my right, I did the best I could to avoid a head on with the sofa. The sofa tagged the passenger's side of my car, doing damage to the front and rear doors, the rear wheel well area, and tearing the rear bumper off on the passenger's side. My insurance company, Allstate suggested I take the car to Pennisula Auto Body in South San Francisco, since Allstate would guarantee the work for as long as I owned the car. Well, after dropping the car off on Monday, I went to pick up the car today. Seems the body shop missed doing any repairs on the rear edge of the front door and the front edge of the rear door. The dent and scratches were still there from the accident! They also tried to repair the rear bumper but the front edge stuck out 1/4 of an inch away from the body of the car. They also did a poor job of putting the rear mud flap back, leaving gaps all along the edge. They also repainted the complete rear bumper but threw away my city parking permit, which sucks. Lastly, the inside of the wheel arch has a rip in it from that accident that was also not replaced.

So after showing all the shoddy work to the owner of the shop, the car will remain there until the work is done "to my satisfaction", as they put it. It is truely amazing to me the total lack of QC given to the car prior to releasing it back to me. I'm disappointed since that means I have to drive my gasser car this long weekend and pay those high gas prices since my wife and I are taking a much need rest from work.

 

[jthesby]

Well, I tried to pick up my car today. Shortly after my turbo was replaced, I was driving on 280 near Colma and someone's sofa dropped off their truck. The 4x4 in front of me suddenly changed lanes, and there was a sofa in front of me. With the guard rail on my left and a car on my right, I did the best I could to avoid a head on with the sofa. The sofa tagged the passenger's side of my car, doing damage to the front and rear doors, the rear wheel well area, and tearing the rear bumper off on the passenger's side. My insurance company, Allstate suggested I take the car to Pennisula Auto Body in South San Francisco, since Allstate would guarantee the work for as long as I owned the car. Well, after dropping the car off on Monday, I went to pick up the car today. Seems the body shop missed doing any repairs on the rear edge of the front door and the front edge of the rear door. The dent and scratches were still there from the accident! They also tried to repair the rear bumper but the front edge stuck out 1/4 of an inch away from the body of the car. They also did a poor job of putting the rear mud flap back, leaving gaps all along the edge. They also repainted the complete rear bumper but threw away my city parking permit, which sucks. Lastly, the inside of the wheel arch has a rip in it from that accident that was also not replaced.

So after showing all the shoddy work to the owner of the shop, the car will remain there until the work is done "to my satisfaction", as they put it. It is truely amazing to me the total lack of QC given to the car prior to releasing it back to me. I'm disappointed since that means I have to drive my gasser car this long weekend and pay those high gas prices since my wife and I are taking a much need rest from work.

I know the feelin. My golf went back to Jim's California Auto Body in Concord twice, after i was not satisfied... It's still not "right", basically told them off and said it wasn't worth my time and hassle to leave it there AGAIN.. there's still a huge gap between the rear hatch and body(i can easily stick my finger in there, they said that that's how they are new, i told them B.S) But for some reason they replaced my taillights, and the originals were just fine So i'd sugest to anyone in the area to stay away from them. Hope things work out better for you, and enjoy the long weekend

 

[ruking]

Well, I tried to pick up my car today. Shortly after my turbo was replaced, I was driving on 280 near Colma and someone's sofa dropped off their truck. The 4x4 in front of me suddenly changed lanes, and there was a sofa in front of me. With the guard rail on my left and a car on my right, I did the best I could to avoid a head on with the sofa. The sofa tagged the passenger's side of my car, doing damage to the front and rear doors, the rear wheel well area, and tearing the rear bumper off on the passenger's side. My insurance company, Allstate suggested I take the car to Pennisula Auto Body in South San Francisco, since Allstate would guarantee the work for as long as I owned the car. Well, after dropping the car off on Monday, I went to pick up the car today. Seems the body shop missed doing any repairs on the rear edge of the front door and the front edge of the rear door. The dent and scratches were still there from the accident! They also tried to repair the rear bumper but the front edge stuck out 1/4 of an inch away from the body of the car. They also did a poor job of putting the rear mud flap back, leaving gaps all along the edge. They also repainted the complete rear bumper but threw away my city parking permit, which sucks. Lastly, the inside of the wheel arch has a rip in it from that accident that was also not replaced.

So after showing all the shoddy work to the owner of the shop, the car will remain there until the work is done "to my satisfaction", as they put it. It is truely amazing to me the total lack of QC given to the car prior to releasing it back to me. I'm disappointed since that means I have to drive my gasser car this long weekend and pay those high gas prices since my wife and I are taking a much need rest from work.

It was disheartening to hear of your recent experiences! I guess when it rains it pours! One consolation is Allstate will stand behind the repair and you and the insurance company will make sure the vendor performs! Hang in there! I hope to see you soon at the next GTG.

 

[dlai]

Well, that's what Allstate advertises, so I guess I'll just keep on bringing it back until it's right. Still, what a hassle!

 

[Windowlicker]

There's a great little local shop in the mission on 23rd between shotwell and vanness. . I've never used them but, judging by the amazing work I've seen walking by, I'd use them in a heartbeat.

Edit: dunno much about newer cars there. I mostly see old vets, tangs and ghias in there.

 

[highender]

Hi Dan:

Great thread....!

I agree about AZ golf....and the trolling....

sorry to hear about your car....hope they fix it perfectly.

I have had good results with Brooks Motor Car company...they do a fantastic job that many dealers use them to fix cars back up to original specs....so that they can be certified used vehicles with guarantees.....


Have a great M day to all......

 

[Peter Cheuk]

Maybe somebody has a TDI they can give Peter so he will return. I'm sure many people can agree that he is missed here at the club. Chow

You talking about me? <Blushing>

 

[dlai]

Both Peter's, doesn't matter which...

 

[Peter Cheuk]

Dan, sorry to hear about your car. I replied to your last email on my phone only to find, two months later, that Pacbell.net changed their email server settings and my email never left my phone.

You should have brought it to Masters Autobody in Daly City. They do amazing work. My GLI is there getting a rear bumper and exhaust system after someone rear-ended it last month. My brother, who took autobody classes and can really spot good or bad work, brought his Sienna there after my neighbor backed into it and he was happy with the work! That's a hell of an endorsement because he is a person who has pointed out repairs in cars to me that I thought had never been in accidents before.

 

[dlai]

Peter, with Allstate in order for them to guarantee the work for as long as one owns the car, I had to take it to one of their "approved" body shops (probably on the take from Allstate). Masters I was aware of, but they were not on the list. I also know that Daland in South City does good work too, but they were also not on the list. I got a call today from the body shop and they will be replacing the rear bumper cover, which is what they should have done in the first place. It's supposed to be ready tomorrow so we'll see if they got things right this time. I have my doubts...

By the way, glad to see you posting again! Don't be a stranger!

 

[jthesby]

You talking about me? <Blushing>

PETER!! Hey what's up man it's jonathan(we met out at the T.I. meet a couple years back).... your motors in ANOTHER car now, seriously.... Donald sold it to one of the guys at the monday night PHill meets and he's putting it in his RAISED MKII golf, crazy man....

 

[Peter Cheuk]

Hey, guys. Someone tell that slacker Freddy he still owes me some money.

I miss this place. I miss my TDI. I miss the cameraderie that this place oozes that the other local forums lack.

The new car is great. It does everything better, stock, than my TDI ever did after all the mods except for fuel economy and low-end torque. Still, at about 30 MPG on the open highway it isn't bad. The MFD reports mileage in the low 30's but I'm skeptical about its accuracy. I won't be visiting too many GTGs because it costs me twice as much to get there as it used to but I will try here and there.

 

[Peter Cheuk]

Peter, with Allstate in order for them to guarantee the work for as long as one owns the car, I had to take it to one of their "approved" body shops (probably on the take from Allstate). Masters I was aware of, but they were not on the list. I also know that Daland in South City does good work too, but they were also not on the list. I got a call today from the body shop and they will be replacing the rear bumper cover, which is what they should have done in the first place. It's supposed to be ready tomorrow so we'll see if they got things right this time. I have my doubts...

By the way, glad to see you posting again! Don't be a stranger!

Unfortunately, insurance companies suck. I was thinking of going to Andrew's GTG up in San Pablo but I don't know if I would just get in the way or feel out of place with a gasser and all. I'm definitely going to try to go to the GTG in July at Stanford.