Fumoto oil drain plug install and Dieselgeek Panzer skid plate update

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After doing my Unitronic Stage 2 tune, I decided to change my oil every 3,000 miles instead of the 10,000 mile oil change service from VW. I figured the more frequent oil change will help improve the engine life since the boost is increased and keep the engine feeling fresh.

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I bought my Fumoto oil valve drain from ECS tuning. The part is pretty straight forward, remove the old oil pan bolt and then then replace it with Fumoto oil valve drain. The valve is simple to use and it eliminates the risk of someone over tightening or striping the oil pan drain bolt.

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To do the oil change I needed to remove my skid plate, and you can see my skid plate is put to work. For anyone slammed status or just want to protect your oil pan and transmission BUY the Panzer Diselgeek skid plate. Houston roads are horrible, Ive hit reflectors, bumps, small rocks, and dips going 80mph. You’ll hear a loud bang and see sparks but its just the skid plate.

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You can see the two bottom bolts that hold the skid plate were cut down paper thin from the roads. Thats low life, some people dont get it but thats fine, you dont need to. I used my adjustable wrench and pliers to remove those bolts.

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After i got those removed, the two front bolts holding the skid plate were in good condition, because they were not exposed to the road and carnage.

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I used a 30mm socket to remove the bolts.

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You can see the diference from the bolts and how much I scrape. Since the two bolts are scar faced, i bought new bolts from Dieeselgeek and its a direct replacement.  I only waited one day to get my bolts with the basic shipping.

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With my aluminum skid plate off, it may not look thick but its not weak. I can tell Dieselgeek did some engineering  because you cant see any bends, open holes, or deformities.  The skid plate can take a beating.

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After seeing all the scrape marks from the skid plate, Im sure if didn’t have it I would have been stuck on road with a busted oil pan or transmission several times. The skid plate already paid for itself many times!

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With the skid plate off, I can now get to the oil pan. I used a 18mm socket to remove the OEM oil drain bolt and let the oil drain out.

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The Fumoto oil valve drain plug has a lever were you move it to open and close the valve. You can see there is a spring, to lock the lever in place to prevent it from coming lose. Fumoto also comes with an extension and washers but you dont need a extension for the MK5 GTI.

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After the oil has drained, hand tread the Fumoto oil drain bolt. Then use a 18mm socket and torque it to the factory spec 22lbs. Now you dont have to worry about someone over tightening or striping the oil pan bolt! The Fumoto oil drain valve makes oil changes easier and less messy. I just have to put back my skid plate.

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When putting back my skid plate I had some clearance issues. My Fumoto oil valve bolt was touching my skid plate. No big deal though, I use a hack saw and cut of a part of the tubing.

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Ahhh, more clearance.

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Dont forget to add thread locker to the bolts when attaching the skid plate!

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My illest sticker holding up pretty well.

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With the car on leveled ground, time to put the oil. The oil I used was OEM spec, Castrol Edge 5w-40. The engine uses 5 quarts but I used 4.75 quarts when my dipstick showed it was max level. I left it that way because overfilling is bad for the seals and gaskets. After topping off the GTI with oil, I drove it around and no problems. I didn’t change my oil filter because it is rated for 10,000 miles before I need to change it. Just some basic maintenance to keep my car healthy.

Cupcake Meet 16

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Right after TX2K13, the next day I woke and left Houston for the 3 hour drive to Cupcake Meet 16 in San Antonio. I met up with the rest of the Natuskashi Garage crew at the meet and they were pretty much setting up the tent when I arrived. Still tired from yesterday’s work and TK2K13, being reunited with the Natsukashi Garage crew was worth it. Now, for those of you who dont know Cupcake Meet, its a car show that all the proceeds go to charity. A car show with a cause!

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The weather was perfect with clear blue skies. Thaison thankfully brought some sun block lotion, because with any outdoor car show that lasts more than 2 hrs you are most certainly going to get sunburn.

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This is Cody’s slammed Honda wagon, you dont see too many of these cars this clean. He even owns a dope Honda Ruckus too!

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Our newest member, Arick and his boosted Miata.

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2 door roaster and a bike, the perfect combo for any bachelor. Those days are gone for me haha, but I have my fiance and my GTI doe.

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Ruckus love

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Thaison’s crazy F20C swapped, Levin front end Hatchiroku!

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This CCM also had a drift event from the cars in the Lone Star Drift Series.

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This was the first bagged Turbo Beetlle I’ve ever seen. Im pretty sure the owner is saving up or waiting for his dope 3 piece rims.

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One of cleanest Hondas out there, I think saw this Honda at Wekfest Austin.

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JDM yo.

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This BMW is from the Squirrel Squad and they were definitely representing their hometown.

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Dem gold lips doe.

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These rims are fairly new from a new rim company called WatercooledIND. These are CC10 wheels and they will make any offset you want with these one piece wheels! I was actually going to get these wheels for my GTI but I went a different route and bought the Enkei RPF1s instead. But the CC10 are killer wheels.

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Liking that teal engine bay

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Because race/drift car

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This S2000 was at Wekfest Austin last year except it was plasti-dipped white. Looks better in yellow, in my opinion.

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BRG representing also, another very good team with their cars. I think they got 3rd place at Wekfest Austin for best in crew category.

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I was loving this STI and the Enkei NTo3 fitted this car very well

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Bent Work Equips 01, can also be used as a very expensive chair too!

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The meet ended at 7pm but the drivers at the drift event were giving rides for the spectators. The drifters went all out for the spectators and put up a very good show. The layers of sunblock really helped me not get sunburn. I know some of the other people that came to check out the show were red as a tomato at the end of the day. After the meet, Natuskashi Garage drove to Big Lou’s Pizza but the wait was 2 hrs long!!! So instead we ate at a chicken and wing place couple blocks down. After chowing down on some delicious chicken, and chillin,  the rest of the Natsukashi Garage crew went back to Austin and I prepared myself for the 3hr drive back to Houston. I’ll be back for the next CCM!

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On  a side note….. Coming back to my GTI at the end of the meet, I found a Sarap Buhay sticker lying next to my seat! Just wanna say thanks Sarap Buhay for hooking me up with this dope sticker!

TX2K13

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Texas 2K13 is a yearly car event were all high power cars from all over the United States come to Texas to compete in a 3 day race event. The event was held at Lonestar Motorsport Park which is the home of Hennessy Performance. After my hospital orientation I headed down to TX2K13, it wasn’t that bad of a drive, just 45mins from Houston (without traffic). The cars that showed up were V8 muscle cars, Supras, GTRs, RX7s, Corvettes, Italian supercars, Mercedes, Sport bikes, High HP SUVs and trucks. Rolling up in my stanced, Unitronic stage 2 tuned GTI was probably one of the lowest horsepower cars out there.

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Club 420, Manila represent!!!

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While visting the the Philippines I have some friends that are in team called Club 420. Gotta say the cars are legit and to get in is by invite only.Paolo said “People might have a nice car but they have to get along with the group to get in.” Soo true to avoid any team drama. The people were in the team were chill and and didn’t mind me taking pics. My friend Nikko told me there are more people in the group but were unable to make it. They even have a Lamborghini in the team!!

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Import Alliance End of Winter Meet

When I first found out about import alliance back in high school I made it a goal of mine to make it to one of their meets. Ideally I would want to go to the Nashville or Atlanta ones since that’s where all the heavy hitters attend, but money and time always lead me away from it. To my luck, however, they hosted one at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth and a few of us Natsukashi guys (and gals) took to go.

The quality at this meet was outstanding. Yes there were the typical fake parts and no heart builds but you can really see the cars that shine with their creators heart. It’s the builds and the people behind them that constantly remind me of how fortunate I am to be apart of this scene.

P.S. I took a stab at editing photos for the first time, any criticism is welcome!

We decided to stay at the Best Western in Roanoke, Texas. This was the first time that we were stationed at some place that wasn’t way off in the boon docks. It was great!
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Protect your investment, Dieselgeek Panzer Skid Plate

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Since Houston roads are well know to be in horrible condition, my factory plastic skid plate came lose after hitting a transition on the road. I did end up zip tying it, but came lose again on the highway. I wanted to go lower on my GTI but I didn’t want to go through several oil pans, so I went with Dieselgeek Panzer Skid Plate.

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Buying this skid plate is one of the best investments I bought for my car. This skid plate is very heavy duty, and I do have a peace of mind knowing the my oil pan and transmission are protected. The guys at Dieselgeek were quick to ship my skid plate, and its a complete bolt on. The skid plate bolts on to the frame of the car and it is very sturdy.
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42 Draft Designs Downpipe Review

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42 Draft Designs had a Holiday sale that went on November through Jan 2, and it was 10%off plus free shipping. I didnt order mine till Dec 25, because I was still debating if I should get a downpipe or not. Lets face it euro aftermarket parts are kinda pricy. But when one my friends bought a downpipe for his GTI, and having a downpipe would allow me to get a stage 2 chip tune I decided to take advantage of the sale. 42 Draft Designs is a made to order company and it took 7 days to make mine before it was shipped then I just waited 4 days for the shipping. I paid $436.50 for mine, which is a good deal considering i would have paid $508.64 without the sale! There are other options you can select if want a cat or resonator. My downpipe is non resonated and with a high flow cat.Image
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Porsche Mueseum

http://vimeo.com/54639059

Check out this video from motorhead.jp! I love German cars, their designs are timeless and the engineering is always top notch. If you ever worked on German cars you can see how they “over engineer” things. Like sometimes you will notice how they position a bolt that is hard to get to unless you remove another part to get to it, or how you have to remove the MK5 GTI seat just to install that euro under seat tray haha. But that German engineering made cars built to last forever, and their superb quality well known. I love Porsche and is a another prime example of German engineering. I bet a Porsche today will still look good 20 years from now.