So... Just bought a white s5 vert. (too much on my plate?)
 

The thing is, well, ghetto.

What makes it ghetto you ask?

First, I'll give you the good news: white s5 vert, black leather interior, 160k mi. with 25k miles on a rebuild/conservative street-port, K&N air filter, Bonez high-flow cat, cross-drilled and slotted rotors with BBS's and fresh tires, all the electrical works, drives really smooth...

The UGLY (where to begin...?)

Ok:

OEM white, resprayed by Maaco
Paint chipping off the front bumper
primer on the front pass. fender
fenders are 'chubby cheek'
hood not alligned at all (when you close the headlights they hit on one side)
stock (basic) s5 lip is falling off on one side
pass. door lock is busted out
pass. mirror is shattered and chipped
one fog-light works
one taillight is dull
the taillight housing is faded, as if sanded down
the cat-back is an uber ghetto stock replacement that's rusted with no tips
the vert wheels are super dirty with no center-caps
the hood is steel, not aluminum (originally red)
the rear tires are *federal* brand
no limited slip
the vert top has tears in it that have been *fixed* using silicone
the seats are worn and have the 'hammer-head' special head-rests
the carpet has a small pool of oil right under the steering collumn
it has the massive air-bag steering wheel (horn works)
s5 gauge cluster is ghetto (IMO)
there was someone LIVING in the car for a while who exploded a can of Coke inside, so there's sticky residue everywhere
the vent 'grills' are busted

the motor was rebuilt by HAYES!!! (run for your lives!!!!) and the compression tested at a pathetic 90-90 (remember this is a s5)

The car started and warmed up *ok*, but as soon as the idle started to drop, it DROPPED and died soon after. I took it around the block and the clutch was slipping so bad, 1/2 throttle was too much. The engine bay has been molested; no air-filter top, oil everywhere, coolant leak that caused a nice little puddle and the spark-plugs haven't been changed for 25,000 MILES!!!!!???!?!?!

You know the little 'hook' thing on the end of the spark-plug? COMPLETELY ERRODED!!! The fan shroud had been 'clipped' because the fan hit into it.

I paid $800 for it. I drove to the nearest gas station (it died about 10 times in 5 minutes, every-time I stopped) to wipe the inside of the wind-shield (Coke residue) and the BATTERY DIED. Two stoners helped me get it compression started.

Well, as soon as I pulled out, the clutch pedal started getting soft... Very soft. Within two minutes there was NO FEEL in the clutch pedal. Meaning the clutch wont go into gear. Meaning I'm sitting there in the turn lane to get on the highway, revving the car to 3k RPM's so it won't die, madly trying to jam the shifter into gear as traffic is honking behind me. Needless to say, the soft part of the hydraulic clutch line has a hole in it that had been repaired by electrical tape (or something)... Wow.

So me and a friend (driving my TII) pushed the 3200lb pig of a vert 500 feet to the nearest parking lot, locked it up and left it, lol.

Tomorrow I'm going to fix the clutch line and drive it home... Wow.

The real good news?

I bought a white s5 vert for $800 that has potential...

I brought my TII and my s4 N/A from "rags to riches", I think I'll succeed.

Right now though... I'm not so sure.

LOL you bought that car?
Dude that thing lived down here for a few months, man it was trashed.

nooo... lol?

You have some work to do with the convertible...

But it will pay off eventually. Trust me, I have one! :D :D

Its too bad your turbo isn't an S5 you could mix and match parts and have something really special.

I love all the bads on the car, lol.....awesome, yet it sucks. I can actually vision people honking behind you, while you're jamming your foot into the floor board, hearing the car rev up, and not going anywhere.

^ lol

So, I stole the clutch line (that was repaired with electrical tape on the vert) from my TII, just to see if it was going to fix the problem... Well, it did. I got it all 'bled' out and the pedal feels great.

Well, on the way home the vert over-heated... I was cruising on I-5 going about 70, when the stock s5 temp. gauge climbed all of a sudden to 'H'... ALL THE WAY UP. I immediately freaked, and decided what I was going to do. I got over to get off the freeway, but the gauge went back down to 'normal'...? It fluctuated like this about 4 times or so. I just said "screw the vert" (my new motto) and drove it home. When I got home, the temp. gauge was a little above half, and when I popped the hood I could hear a peaceful boiling and a small wisp of steam coming from the over-flow tank's 'hose'.

There was a huge puddle of coolant right by my feet... So the heater-core is toast. I think I'm going to bypass the heater-core for the time being.

I got the car cleaned up, but the front-end is pretty ghetto. Both fenders don't fit right, one of the headlight covers is bent, the front bumper cover is 'concaved'. The hood is crooked, one foglight and one headlight don't work, the paint is chipped off and sanded down in a couple places.

Oh, I forgot to add the car has Mazdaspeed polyurethane motor mounts.

Honestly, to make this car very decent, all I need to do is bypass the heater-core, fix the idle and swap the clutch out for the one sitting on my garage floor.

After that, most of the stuff that's messed up is 'looks-wise'

Oh, the air-pump is shot too. So I need to replace that.

I'll get some pics up next weekend.

This car makes me really appreciate how amazing my TII is.

I think what I'm going to do is:

put the Brembo cross-drilled and slotted rotors and BBS vert wheels on the TII at the same time I install the Tokico struts and B&G performance springs

I'll install the TII's rotors and 18" wheels on the vert.

I'm going to work on the body and radically clean up the interior with some custom (black) tweaks.

I'm going to mod the tails on the vert as well.

if you have enough money, thats easily fixable stuff that you can do yourself. good luck man, and keep in mind it was 800 bucks.

True. Mine was a dog (the interior looked as if the car had been left with the top down in the sahara for a year) but now she so fine (:

And I paid much more than 8 "c" notes for her.

I love it :rlaugh:

Uhh...
 

I'm surprised nobody has said anything about 'the little hook thing on the end of the spark plugs' Does this mean you've got like autolites or something in there? Get some NGKs in there stat man!



Scary stuff!

hahahaha, what can I say, I made a n00b statement... lol.

I was just a little "strung out" the day I got the vert. Definitely some new NGK's already in there. A new clutch is being installed right now.

oh yeah, the vert also has a rebuilt tranny, new driveshaft, SS oil-cooler lines and a new radiator.

Sounds like alot of fun...this is the kind of project that I enjoy most. What are your goals for the car, short and long term.

Flirt with the vert
 

Had to love following the Vert and seeing it die 10+ times on the way home...but click here to see how happy it makes Erik...and thats all that matter right?
Vert Lovin

"when I popped the hood I could hear a peaceful boiling and a small wisp of steam coming from the over-flow tank's 'hose'."

haha you made that sound like a vacation luxury or something. That made my day. Good luck with her , it will be worth it ;)

Good luck... A vert is well worth it. But for 800 what more can you expect.

you think the s5 guages are ghetto? man what's your problem.



nah just kidding, heheh. have fun with the resto project.