Project: Mkippen schimmel vr6 turbo gt35R custom bliss

[dub_slug]

[Breadfan5968]

Some one's got a crush...

[Gaki]

LOL he was what? 18 in that pic?

[FLATBLACKMK2]

any thing new Kippah

[V.R.Lvr]

This has to be the longest running thread.... I dont project accuratley discribes what is going on with this car...

[2lowcoupedoor]

any new updates

[vr6_Love]

whatever happened to this car ???

[goofydug]

...and then?

[skydive_007]

What wheels are those ???

Compomotives ???

Quote, originally posted by Cas »

Been watching this for sooo long. Wheels are sick man... bolts might look sick in copper though with your interior. Would pop like crazy

Modified by skydive_007 at 2:33 PM 12-14-2009

[Cultgti]

Mike has since sold the car..

[MKippen]

Quote, originally posted by Cultgti »

Mike has since sold the car..

LOL, not quite...
But i know that i do owe you all an update.

Rob finished up the roll bar a few months ago, i got all the airride stuff, paint for the bar, and everything that we need to get the car finished, except for one thing - time.

It was the busiest year of my life - been putting in over time at Microsoft, shot 15 weddings, and over a dozen feature cars. Between work and running my business and life Lucy has unfortunately taken a back seat. I'll be honest - i'm VERY VERY motivated to finish the car, but if you know me, you know one thing, and thats that i am a really busy person. Priorities have been changing around now that we are into the winter.

The car will soon be migrating to a new spot where it will get the time that it needs to be completed. A good friend of mine who i trust will be helping me finish up the fuel lines, airride, wiring and a few things here and there.

After several months of downtime, i am very excited to be pulling together some new updates in some time in the future. Dont hold your breath, but i'm hoping to make a debut next summer!

Cheers
-Mike.

[vintage empire]

[guesswho]

been waitin on that

[Cultgti]

I knew I could get him to say some thing after the sold comment

[MKippen]

Quote, originally posted by Cultgti »

I knew I could get him to say some thing after the sold comment

u suck.

[ArtieLange]

[MKII16v]

Can't wait to see it start moving along

[Breadfan5968]

So... it done yet or wut?

[JayZ235]

So by following a picture of a very attractive 'f*ck splits' model i saw, it has now led me to this build. I must say, excellent work all around! You have great photog skills whether it be cars/people and it's great to see people integrate pleasure with work. I have quite a few pages left of the build to go through, but amazing work done here

Thank goodness work is slow today

[skydive_007]

^ what he said

[goofydug]

and den?

[Amsterdam087]

[MKippen]

An Update on the Unicorn...

<The Garage>
The last few weeks, I have been finishing up some major projects (other things) - and I got a new wind to work on the GTI. Over the last few months, stuff amounted in the garage around my car, and literally became unworkable in that space.

well, a few shelves, and a lot of work later, my garage is really cleaned up, and i have TONS of space to use around the car. I got some new shelves i put up on the wall..

<Tools>
Also proud to say that $500 in new tool purchases are going to help the process go much more smoothly. Some new sets of craftsman sockets, some new wrenches, and a few goodies from Summit Racing are on the way to help me get the job done a little easier. Thanks Kelly and Anders for helping me spend my money wisely. So Far i think i love the 1/4" swivel rachet the best.

<The Car>
Well, had to speak to me several weeks ago, i would have told you, the next step is to install the Airride and Brakes and such... but things have drastically changed over the last few days. While i was cleaning the car and prepping for some new stuff to be installed, i started connecting some thoughts, and stuff really started to make a lot of sense (direction i need to take).

My Wiring To Do List....
1. The STACK cluster still needs to be finalized (need fuel, oil press and speed sensors)
2. The PLX R500 still needs RPM input and several others.
3. The Water Injection needs to be wired into the Boost signal.
4. Wiring for the Airride and switches.

When Howard installed the Standalone, he did a fantastic job with the engine bay. The wiring is clean and they are run very nicely out of the way. The flipside is that most of the install was done with the dash still in the car.

When i was working on wiring in some new things for the STACK, i quickly realized that most of the OE interior wiring harness was still connected and inside the car... harness for the alarm, door locks, gauge cluster, stereo, etc.

Basically - stuff i dont need - So after 10 minutes and 6 bolts, i had the dash out of the car, and realized that i now have a lot of work ahead of me. Time to clean all this mess up.

The last few days, i have taken apart every wiring harness in the car, and i am removing EVERY wire that is not needed. I have reduced the wiring to about 1/4 of what it was. The fuse box only has about 7 connectors and there is much more room to use for wiring in the STACK, PLX and more.

<Whats Next>
1. My wiring kits and loom arrive later this week - also bought a Billet Specialties battery kit and an Optima Red top.
2. I am going to solder every butt connector and sheeth and loom every wire.
3. I have a nice label maker i intend to use for the Fuse box.

Initial goals are...
1. Install Billet Specialties battery Box and Optima Red Top.
2. Get all OE wiring working and verified - tail lights, head lights, turn signals, foglights, high beams, sunroof, dome lights, heater controls etc...
3. Install the Airride wiring and relays.
4. Wire up all STACK sensors (RPM, fuel, oiltemp and speed left).
5. Wire up all PLX stuff (EGT, AFR, RPM)
6. Finish loom all wiring and test everything is working.

Dash and interior will stay out of the car until i get it fully tuned. If we need to diagnose an issue, it will be much easier to do it without the interior in the way.

I'll have some picture updates of the nest of wires i'm dealing with later this week when i get my new goodies. I am pumped about getting some work done on this car, and getting the wiring done right - wanted to let you guys know to not give up hope on me.

Cheers.
-Mike.

[SHaVedGTi]

Holy ****

[TBT-Syncro]

an update? holy cr*p. the apocalypse must be near.

[MKippen]

give me a break... last year was a bad year (recession) and i have been super busy.
but i consider myself back on the job - should have a regular rythym soon.

[TBT-Syncro]

Quote, originally posted by MKippen »

give me a break... last year was a bad year (recession) and i have been super busy. but i consider myself back on the job - should have a regular rythym soon.

i'll come visit Mike. we can hug and make up

[pimS]

nice!

I'll be looking forward to some updates and wicked pic's

[Ghetto-8v]

This is the most redic build thread on Whoretex.

[98DUB]

Im waiting for updates with pictures, I cant read

[the_q_jet]

Quote, originally posted by 98DUB »

Im waiting for updates with pictures, I cant read

so what did you just say? LOL

[MKippen]

My new wiring goodies arrived from Summit last night.
Still waiting on my new loom and stuff from 034 EFI.

I got a lot of soldering to do...

I got my battery mount in, and i'm just waiting for my GF to remember to bring home one of those Optima Red-Tops from her work already.

plan to work on the car most of the weekend - stop on by if you wanna help

[MarcoVR6SC]

Nice work!

Just one thing though, soldering is not the best thing to do in a car(the wires will easily corrode and will eventually break due to vibration, just after the solder joint). What you need are crimp(with or without shrink sleeve) connections and a crimping tool.

[MKippen]

Well - put in several hours today and over the week got some more accomplished.
My brother in law Jaco runs BPTD (the same guys who make the skid plates) - and he is amazing on the water jet.
Jaco cut me some stuff for the project, include a mounting plate for the airride and some VERY sick brackets for the tank.

1. Mounted the new Optima battery and Billet Specialties tray.

2. Mounted the air ride tank to the roll bar. I plan to run some hard line to the tank from either side for feed and return.

3. Mounting plate for the Air ride is cut and ready to be painted and mounted.
Best part about this, is that I will be able to plumb and wire all the stuff out the car and drop this in when ready.

4. Finished the wiring to the taillights. soldered and loomed.

I still have a **** load of wiring to do, but i'm waiting on some parts (need some new relays) and i want to replace my fuse box with one thats in better condition (mine has kinda falling apart).

as you can see here in my organized mess - I still got lots of cleaning up to do. I'm only posting this as a before for the before/after.

I have removed the loom on every wire inside the car (engine is just fine) - and removed EVERY wire thats not need - alarm, locks, AC, stereo, speakers, oe gauges and more.

incase your wondering what that looks like ...

My loom and stuff still has not arrived yet from 034- but i'm pushing on with the wiring and the air ride for now. I really want to get the air ride all wired up and get this thing on the ground.

Woot.

[melmer]

Quote, originally posted by MKippen »

incase your wondering what that looks like ...

Having done this before, the image that always comes to mind is:

Modified by melmer at 4:36 PM 2-13-2010