I picked up the bumper and rear valences from the painter on my way home from work last night. The valences have some bumps on them that need some wet sanding, but they said to bring the car there once everything is installed and they will take care of it. The front bumper turned out darn near perfect.

As I wasn’t feeling great, I decided it would be more fun to mount the bumper than it would to crawl under the car and bolt the diff and axles up. It’s much nicer to work in your PJ’s than greasy old clothes on your back under the car. I didn’t get a chance to break out the nice camera in the cramped and dark garage last night, but here’s a quick iPhone shot I took on the way to work this morning:

I had seriously forgotten how amazing it is to have OEM quality aero that bolts up properly- holy smokes! Say what you will about it looking too conservative or boring, but I couldn’t help but smile after bolting things up and taking a step back to look at the car. I’m really looking forward to having the full setup installed and taking the car out of the garage.

I wired up the pigtails for the front position lamps and turn signals. I found that the mounting clip and screw are missing from one of my position lamps, so I need to replace that before I can install the left side light. I also need to trim the plastic on the turn signals to clear the intercooler before those can be installed. Then I’ll move on to installing the emblem, fender extensions, and front fender liners. The hood needs to be moved back a little bit as well to line up properly with the bumper.

As I was talking to my friend Jimmy this morning, I decided it’s best not to rush the car for the Club FR event next weekend. I would of course love to have it ready and participate, but with each passing day the odds are stacking slightly higher against me. I would hate to rush the car and try to drive it out there without things being done to my standards. That would not only disappointing for me, but it would also welcome problems to arise that could damage the car or leave us stranded in Wisconsin.

Jimmy and I will be making the trek to USAIR next weekend whether my car is completed or not, but right now I’m kind of enjoying a relaxed approach to the deadline. If the aero isn’t here in time or the car simply isn’t ready, we’ll drive the rental car there and enjoy hanging out with everyone and getting some ride alongs.

We’ll see what happens!

Damon