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It was
truly love at first sight.
I knew I just had to have a B5 when I saw them on
display at the Los Angeles Auto Show in January of 1998.
The first things I noticed were the beautiful lines and
the long wheel base. After
spending much time simply admiring the exterior, I proceeded
to read up on what the car entailed.
It was like a dream come true.
The Passat had tons of standard features and a turbo to
boot. I thought to myself, this car is a total sleeper, only with
four doors, four cylinders, and cheap insurance which
translates to more money for mods.
One thing was for sure – I simply had to have one!
It
was late June of 1998 when I first started to look seriously
for a B5. I
wanted a Fjord Blue 1.8T Tiptronic with no additional options.
I wanted the automatic because at the time I had a 50
some odd mile daily commute on Southern California highways
and I wanted to shrink my left calf muscle down to normal size
again! It was a
long and hard search. Dealers
had always added some option or another to what little they
had in stock, and no one had Fjord Blue.
I was desperate to get a car since I had already sold
my old one and I could not wait the four months it would take
to get a Fjord Blue ordered.
At
the end of the search I got everything I wanted in a Satin
Silver B5 with a model year of 1999.
That was the strangest part of the car – a 1999 model
in mid ’98. I
thought that cars made their model year changes later in the
year. I later
found out that it has some parts from the ‘98 models such as
amber side markers, small right mirror, but the clear corners
of a ’99.
Coming
from the old school of modding Hondas, I didn’t want to go
that route at first. I
just wanted to keep it a sleeper at first.
So the day I picked up the car, I took it to the stereo
shop. I had a mix
of old and new equipment installed.
Here is what I had installed: two Alpine V12 amps (one
4 channel to run the interior 4 speakers and one two channel
to run the subs), two JL Audio 12W0’s in a custom box, MB
Quartz RSB218 separates in the front, MB Quartz PSC216
separates in the rear (added in a later install), Alpine
Ai-Net 6 disc Changer and all controlled by an Alpine Ai-Net
Cassette/CD Controller. I
just enjoyed the tunes in my ride for about a year and a half
and didn’t do a thing to the car.
But
then I discovered Clubb5.com and it was all over! Visiting the site more than 10 times a day and seeing all the
beautifully modded Passats’ got me itching to do more.
I started out with 18” MAK Energy’s, the ride was
too rough for me so I ended up swapping them with good ‘ol
Relent for his 16” Audi 10 spokes after only 2 months.
After
the wheels, I met up with Andrew from GreedSpeed to get
chipped and obtain better air flow.
Next, a buddy of mine dealed me some parts off his
’99 Passat (it was CEC’s former Oettinger show car).
Here is what I got from him: Oettinger front spoiler,
grill, and rear apron, and Eibach Pro Damper Shocks and Pro
Kit Springs. CEC
installed all the cosmetic stuff, but our very own Clubb5
member Schmove hooked me up with the suspension and brake pad
and rotor installs (the brake pads courtesy of ClubB5’s
Group Buy forum.
After
that, I got the Alientech window controller, again from our
great Group Buy forum, and had our buddy Passat1.8T help me
out with the install, he also helped me out with the rear
brake light mod. Thanks
to another ClubB5 member, Zoom, I got hooked up with Joe from
Wetworks Garage and had the side panels of my cars paint
matched. It’s
actually my side panel that is getting flexed on their web
site.
Then
came time to work on the lighting.
I acquired my Hella HID’s from Clubb5 member Kaotic1,
and clear corners and side markers yet once again from our
Group Buy forum. If I haven’t mentioned it yet, my favorite section is the
Group Buy forum! ;)
I
love ClubB5 – it is my favorite web site.
It has provided me with a lot of help from its members
and their collective knowledge. I
just wish there was a site as good as this one for all my
vehicles.
Long
live ClubB5!
Glenn
Hsu...aka
sg1717
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