I'm kinda having a dilemma at the moment - should I stop modding, keep the car nice and start to look at replacing it in a couple of years, or carry on?

Will continue thinking

That is a dilemma! Any idea what you would want to replace it with? I guess you've done almost everything you can now mod wise? Definately worth keeping for a few years at least :-)

I have a hankering for a V8 - RS4 maybe. V8 6.2 Commodore?

The stuff I want is out of my budget right now anyway.

With all the money spent on mods I bet a V8 would have been affordable now

Thats the big problem with cars, keep them standard and any mod money goes into a jar for your next car or spend the mod money on mods and potentially enjoy your current car more/longer

no right or wrong answer, so long as your happy thats all that matters

but if I'd kept it standard I would probably have changed it for something else.

Maybe.

I think I love it too much to part with it.

I want an LSD but they're too expensive

Bugger bugger bugger bugger bugger bugger bugger bugger.

Broke it.

I wanted to do the oil and pickup filter change before my 3000km of driving on hols. It all seemed to go well but when I filled up the oil it was leaking from the black pipe at the back of the sump. Decided to tighten up the bolts a bit, snapped one. Ordered a new gasket as I assume I damaged that to cause the leak but they're ex Auckland so proabably won't get here until Monday. Bolts are ex Germany but are M6x22 so I shoudl be able to get something similar. So now I need to take the sump off again and work out how to fix the bolt. With just a couple of days until our hols.

3000km in a 2.0 auto Mazda. Nooooooooo!!!

if you can get bolts just use sealer it will work buddy

Found an identical bolt in my tub of removed parts, yay.

Just need to sort this out

Phew, got it all back together. My mate Pete removed the bolt using nothing but a hammer and a centre punch. Legend.

That's good to hear rob. Just in time :-)

Road trip!

Nearly 3000km, over $600 in fuel (some of it 95RON)

No issues, no oil used.

Managed to run over two of those ratchet things that had fallen off trucks.

First one looked like a dead bird in the road with a wing up until close up, clonk clonk clonk... New chip in underside of bumper.

Second I was in traffic in Auckland, couldn't avoid it, clang clang clang, doh. Nothing fell off or broke though!

I even drove on a bit of gravel road.

Might be needing a new windscreen after getting a pretty spectacular chip on the way home.

This is as close as I got to driving on 90 mile beach (which is a public highway!!)

Christmas day!! We caught the tail end of the cyclone which was busy ruining Christmas in Fiji and Samoa

Apart from the cyclone summers looking good over there.

Great pics as always.

Makes me want a decent british summer in 2013. Mind you, its due to be 13c in the south during this week.

Happy New Year

- bet your glad you got to take your car

Lucky with those ratchets, they can do damage

Good photo

Driving into the sunset

looking good as usual rob!

Stunning pics as usual. Hope you all had a good Christmas

Shiny!

Struggling at the moment to be 100% sure which revision of the 02J I have.

"VW has made a suppression to the 02J 5-speed type transaxle. As of Vehicle production date March 01 2004 the stock differential ring gear diameter has been reduced from 114mm to 113mm to allow for a larger rivet.

My car was built April 2004.

Stamped on the top of my gearbox is EHA 15034 37 0686

EHA is the ratios

15/03/4 is manufacture date

So I'm 95% convinced that I have a 113mm ring gear. Gah.

Im sorry i can only ooooooo v8

mmmm

Arch gap!

LSD almost ordered

And I think I've found a competent garage to fit it!

wicked looking machine,your sites been a great help