Christmas Time

 

Hello people, yes I'm still here, just a hectic time with Christmas and all that goes along with it. So based on that fact, I have decided to take a little break from the blog just until the New Year!

I have a few posts ready to go and a few other ideas in the oven that will hopefully see the light of day eventually. Along with the usual content I do want to see if we can get some video content out for 2025, I'm not quite sure on the specifics yet but that will come in good time.

So until next year, have a good Christmas, enjoy the time and I hope Santa brings them car parts you asked for.

Happy holidays and enjoy the ride,

E.

The stalemate of a project car

Hello people, how are we all? Hope you're having an entertaining week. If not, then this post might make you feel a bit better, so keep reading.

As with all projects and plans, there are things that can happen that are out of our control or just make progress slower than we hoped. This is normal though, right? Well in today's world it may not seem it. We are bombarded with all these incredible projects being built with a seemingly unlimited budget and done on a rather quick turn around. On the surface this may not seem to be a problem or cause one. However I can confidently say that it makes people set an unrealistic target for themselves with what they have going on in their own life.

Now this may not be a problem you have, but it's the struggle of many people all around the world and not just people into cars. Whether you're building your latest PC all the way to building your own house, there will be aspirations that add to the whole process. Sometimes these can be unrealistic but don't seem it to us at the time.

For example, the S3 recently caught a flat tyre, having to get this sorted threw a spanner in the works to a few plans. It meant I had to spend the money on two new tyres when I could of spent that money on some new coilpacks. Things like this are all too common, and for someone who is paid monthly, I now need to wait for the next payday to see if I can spend some money on the S3 or not. On top of that, we have Christmas right around the corner too, so present buying is in full swing. 

There are so many things that as an individual building a car, we just seem to forget with the excitement of getting a new project to work on. I am fully subjected to this and it commonly brings me back to earth pretty hard, and that s**t hurts.

So if you are about to embark on a new project, or undergoing one right now. Don't let the "influencers" fool you with the quick turn around of a build. The slow and steady progress that you make yourself and the things you learn along the way is much better. Remember that when you hit one of these walls and have to spend the money on something other than your car, whether it be an unexpected issue, rent, bills or whatever you gotta pay for. I have faith that you will eventually finish what you started and be more proud than ever that you made it what it is even with all the bumps along the way. 

As with all Up To Fun posts, enjoy the ride, we're not on it forever.

E.

Some little changes...

 Right then, apologies for the delay on this one. These changes happened a few weeks ago however I kept forgetting to take a picture of one of them. Better late than never though, some small changes were made recently to help tidy up the S3 a little bit and just bring it a little bit into the future. 

So the first change, always a controversial one. A rear wiper delete. I know what some of you will be thinking, why do you need to get rid of the rear wiper? Personally, I think it just has a cleaner look to the rear end. What about when it gets dirty? Luckily I can always give the car a quick clean so it's never too much of a bother. Oh and not forgetting the rear wiper which was on the car when I bought it, wasn't even working anyway.

So after a bit of a fight with the stubborn boot trim pieces, the rear wiper was fitted and had the exact outcome that I wanted.

Next up, something to help bring the S3 up to date with the newer Audi vehicles we see, puddle light projectors. Now these are something I have always loved since I first saw them, so I knew I had to sort some for the S3. Initial research I was looking for a genuine set, however as you'd probably expect, they were expensive, like really expensive. So speaking to a friend who retrofitted a set to his Golf, he sent me a link to a store that sells them for much cheaper, but another issue, they were out of stock and had no plan to restock.

Eventually, I decided to bite the bullet and do something I would probably tell a friend is a bad idea. I ordered a set off AliExpress. I could hear your sigh as you read that. But as long as the 'S3' was in English and not Chinese we'd be good right? The wait for them to be delivered was worth it, they look amazing and just give the S3 a bit more of a premium feel, plus they looked just how I imagined, which s always a positive.

What's next then? Well MOT time is coming up and I want to make sure it will pass with flying colours. I'm gonna be doing a few pre-MOT checks and making sure there are no glaringly obvious problems that will cause a fail. I have also got the coil packs and spark plugs to sort soon to keep the momentum of the maintenance going forward.

Until then though, enjoy the ride.

E.

Spruce Up

What's good, hope you're having a good week! Just wanted to drop a quick post to make anyone reading the blog aware of the recent changes and some upcoming ones.

The blog design has been refreshed, and hopefully, it's for the better. I will leave it as is for now. However, if you think any tweaks or improvements would look good, just comment on this post, and I will see what I can do.

Another change is the imagery for the posts, I really enjoyed the outcome of the recent post and just thought it looked like a bit more effort was put in (click here if you haven't seen.) The whole look was a little more refined but not too over the top in my opinion, and after today's blog design changes, it looks even better. So with that, I will continue the style of imagery going into the future posts. 

As always, enjoy the ride,

E.

Something to be proud of

 So I wasn't too sure what to title this post, but I thought I would just go ahead and type it out and see what fits best later on down the line. Oh, also, you'll also notice the edits to the photos, with this kind of post I wanted to add a little bit of character and I will probs do the same for future posts too.

This post is a bit different from what's been posted already however, it never hurts to try something new. With that said, I introduce to you, my girl's 2016 Volkswagen Golf GTI.

Now this wasn't the original car she had in mind to replace the VW Polo she was driving about previously, the plan was to get an M140i. However, after seeing Jeremy Clarkson lose control of it on that one episode of Top Gear, she quickly changed her mind and decided a Golf GTI was the better car for her. A decision I happily embraced. So after a few weeks of looking for a nice spec, we came across the GTI she ended up buying.

The viewing and whole buying process was entertaining, to say the least. Firstly, we thought we were going to look at a 5-door, but clearly, it was a 3-door. The wheels were to be re-diamond cut, but only a few days before collection, they told us they had to be painted instead as they had been refurbed before. Looking on the bright side though, the VW dealer we bought it from made a pretty big mistake. They priced the car on being a 5-door, non-performance pack, and base spec GTI. So this meant we got a big saving in comparison to what the car actually valued at.

After all the faff of the buying stage, she finally got to fully experience the car, and boy did she enjoy it. From proving to her Dad that she could drive just like he could, to showing me that same skill she clearly had handed down to her. I was super proud to see her get the car she wanted, yes there were some rather large speedbumps along the way but she stuck it out and got an amazing car. Some might even say it's the perfect spec too, being a 3-door variant paired with the DSG gearbox and Performance Pack. It also has park assist, something she is yet to use. And of course heated front seats for the lovely UK weather.

The first port of call not too long after purchasing, it went and had an aftermarket immobiliser fitted. Luckily it's never had to serve its purpose but just in case it's nice to have. Shortly after that, the rear wiper was removed in place of a Kill all Wipers delete kit and some paddle shifter extensions were fitted too. Nothing too in-depth, but starting small is the best place to start.

Although a wiper delete and paddle shifters aren't difficult, my girl did them herself, and apart from slicing her finger open when taking the wiper off, she did pretty well to keep on going and finish the job. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto got coded in to help bring it up to speed in terms of tech and just adds a nice feature when the time comes to sell.

Next up for the Golf is a little bit more noise, whether that comes in the form of an intake or exhaust we don't know yet. But for now, the Golf serves as a perfectly good daily that is reliable and can still be thrashed without the worry of something going wrong.

I will probably put an update out down the line on the Golf, and we'll see how much it has changed and if things go to plan or not.

So getting to the end of the post, I feel there's only one title I can give it. Something to be proud of. Because that's what it is, and it's not just the car either. My girl has been through a lot and worked super hard to get this car. Not to mention the work to keep it running exactly as it should. Taking pride in the way it looks and putting a bit of her own personality into it too. All in all, you probably wouldn't expect the car to be owned by a girl and she's had her fair share of people saying it's 'daddy's car'. It honestly couldn't be any more different from her Dad's car. But that doesn't stop her from enjoying it and it certainly doesn't make her want to get rid of the car either. If anything it fuels the fire that she wants to give those people the middle finger by owning a car like this.

As always, I like to impart a bit of knowledge and advice at the end of my posts. With that said, to any girl reading this, or anyone for that matter. Being into cars isn't a guy's thing. It's for everyone. Whether you're the girl who listens to Sabrina Carpenter on repeat and loves a trip to Starbucks. Or maybe you don't have anyone to share the enjoyment with. Sometimes all someone needs is a little push in the right direction to spark the love for everything automotive. I know myself the car scene can be a daunting place, in amongst all the hate and know-it-alls, there are pockets of good people doing good things. So no matter your background you can build something for yourself and have your own thing to be proud of. Just go out there and do it for you.

As always, enjoy the ride.

E.