Nichol Bagged
Last month you caught a glimpse of John Nichol's Jazz blue 20AE in the works. The GTI already has a strong foundation of mods, including 18" Zauber wheels, molded bumpers and air-ride. But this show season, John wants to make a bigger impact in the Mk4 VW community, and what better way than by re-doing the 1.8T engine bay.
"I started just wanting to clean things up," he explained. "Somewhere along the line of cutting out brackets and welding cover plates where the harness used to come through." In order to do a complete shave and wire tuck, John's friend Chad came over to help organize the wire harness, cut a hole in the rain tray and seal the wires. "The wiring harness has been trimmed of all its fat, taking away wires that aren't needed anymore, like the EVAP, windshield washer plug, side markers, etc."
It's nearly impossible to count the hours John put into this process, which includes cleaning, sanding, welding, grinding and filling. But once the bay was up to his standards, it was time for paint. And thinking outside the box, he wasn't going to simply match the stock paint - he wanted to be unique. "I wanted a theme that resembled a military aircraft. I used to fly them and my father flew them all his life. So they've always been a big part of me."
Inspired by the F-14, he had Classic To Customs bodyshop match the bay as close to his idea of a fighter jet as possible. Over every weld spot, the painter airbrushed rivets like those on an aircraft. John also has plans to place jet graphics on the exterior to tie-in the naval theme.
Once the bay is done, John's upgrading to a more muscular 20v motor with a Garrett GT28RS turbo along with connecting rods, larger fuel pump and injectors plus water/methanol injection.
Piper E30 V10
We're about a month away from the final unveiling of Piper Motorsports' insane BMW E30 M3 creation. The Sterling, VA shop has massaged a 5.0 liter V10 motor from an E60 M5 into this E30 shell, which has been modified with an E90 subframe, custom widebody, rollcage and more.
"The car is currently at AI Designs for the interior," explained Robbie Clements of Piper. "We're trying to keep it fairly stock. None of the factory side panels fit back in there, so AI is making side panels wrapped in black alcantara."
Robbie told us all the motor and fabrication work is done. Once the car is back from AI, it goes to the bodyshop for a final buff and shine. Stay tuned for the full feature.