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Love>Hate

Posted by On April - 7 - 2012 | Share on Facebook!

Love [luhv]
verb
1. to have a strong liking for; take great pleasure in
2. to need or require; benefit greatly from:

Something a bit different to start out an article with, but think about it; what motivates us to do the things we do? Our hobbies, the shows we attend, the cars we build, the people we kick it with? I doubt any of you can say you went to a show with some people last week that you can’t stand to be around, to see some cars you hate…

We do it for the love.

The love of driving our cars, the love of our friends, the love of the lifestyle.

That being said, it amazes me every day, how much enjoyment some people get out of hating on others and the work they put into the things they love.
Take our friend Athena, who you might know under AGSTUDIOS  on flickr. Even though I knew her from chatting online and posts on VwVortex, I met Athena for the first time at H2O International last year. We hit it off pretty well, even though she smelled like cheese. Soon after (after H2o, not after smelling like cheese), she began her build; we’ve followed along since day one and now I’m happy to bring you the story.

On this one, I decided to ask Athena to shoot her own car, for a few reasons. One being that shes 2000 miles away, but also because I’ve always found it interesting to see how people see their own cars. Luckily, being that Athena is a photographer, she can show her perspective through the lens.

After owning a couple of mk2s, a mk3 and mk4 Jetta, Athena found her way into an 03 Silverstone GTI.
Being a girl and a young one at that, haterisms seemed to flock to her. As she met more people through the VW community and posted on VwVortex, there was no shortage of negativity beating on her door. So how do you deal with things like that?
Doing work is about the best thing you can do to shut people up, but sadly, these days, people still talk bad about even extremely good work being done.
So whats left? As bad as I hate to use this phrase… ‘shake them haters off’ *cringes*- but that’s exactly what she did.

For years, Silverstone was hands down, my favorite VW color and still holds a special place in my heart. Being a decently rare color, Silverstone is NOT a color many think should ever be painted over, even though this GTI start its life UniBlack, but Athena thought differently. Painting her car Satin Wine, a Rustoleum color, Athena riled a few folks up and I have to say, I was kind of one of them, haha! Her decision was made with good reason, considering the Jetta front she had just swapped on, and she had a few other plans in mind for the future. If we had only know what to expect…

Having already swapped the 2.0 automatic out for a Revo’d 1.8t and manual trans, upgraded to a ko4 turbo, added a Forge 007 DV, ECS Stage 2 clutch with lightened flywheel, 3″ Borla exhaust, Eurojet downpipe and a partridge in a… wait, you get the idea, it was time to start on aesthetics. While Athena liked the berry (satin wine) and I have to admit, it grew on me after seeing it a few times, she surprised us all with the start of a tear down and prep for paint, just at the start of the winter last year.

Keeping us updated with progress through the process of sanding the whole car down, pulling  and shaving the fenders, amongst many other easily overlooked intricacies, each update brought its more and more negativity from onlookers. You know, those that sit at home and troll, rather than putting in work on their own busted shit.
However discouraging, Athena pressed on.

After much deliberation, Athena decided on Chocolate, a Mini Cooper color, for her car. Within no time, the paint had arrived, been sprayed and the car was ready to be wet-sanded.

With a goal in mind of debuting her car at the Port Townsend cruise, an annual event that brings automotive enthusiasts out from all over the Pacific Northwest and February nearing its end, crunch time set in and it was time to fit her new set of Rotiform NUEs, spin the KSports down and make this beauty shine. Luckily, the cruise was set back a few weeks, giving her a little breathing room for the finishing touches.

With about a week left before the debut at the cruise, Athena couldn’t hold out and gave in to her excitement, giving us all a sneak peek via Facebook. Even with such a great finished product and doing all of the work herself, the trolls came out. Almost comical eh? Not to worry, plenty of positive responses rolled in, just the same.

Motivation for projects like this can come from anywhere. Sometimes its the finished product, sometimes its your friends, the people you love, that push you to do great things, even if they don’t know it.
For the last few years, I’ve been asked numerous times, why I’m into Volkswagens and nearly each time, I said it was because of the people, the comradery, the culture and lastly, the cars. In more recent years, enthusiasts aren’t driven to shows and get-togethers to talk about their cars and the enjoyment they get out of them or to see what work others have put in, but rather to drag down others who are motivated and doing work. The goal of this article isn’t to yap about trolls and haters, but as a reminder of why we’re automotive enthusiasts, what drives us to do great things and see them through or help one another with projects. There are always going to be haters, what matters is how you let them affect you -  Constructively or destructively.

After seeing the ups and downs Athena had during this build, I’m extremely happy to see it come to completion, especially with such a quality result. I can honestly say watching this project come together has motivated me in my own projects. Huge thanks to Athena for the photos and the opportunity to write about her car.
Hope this article reminds you of why you’re into what you’re into and drives you to do great things.

Athena would like to thank her dad and brother for their help with the car from day one, Kevin@EuroImage, Brandon Jordan, Josh Gilmore, Patrick Shaughnessy, Brandon Van Baggen, Jake Dunkin and everyone who followed the build, with or without encouragement.

Check out sr83 on Facebook, don’t forget to LIKE!

-josh g

Engine
Exterior
Interior
Forge 007 Diverter Valve.
Revo stage 2 chip.
ECS Tuning stage 2 clutch kit
with lightweight flywheel.
Ko4 turbocharger.
3″ Borla exhaust.
Eurojet Downpipe
Jetta Front End Swap
OEM Euro Rear Bumper.
Shaved Rear Hatch Emblem.
Shaved & Pulled Front & Rear Fenders
EuroImage Tuning Motor Mount Spacers.
EuroImage Tuning Rear Wiper Delete.
04 GLI headlights with fogs.
FK Badgless Grill.
Speedtech Boser Hood Extension.
Black roof.
K-Sport Coilovers
Rotiform NUE - 17×8
Golf tail lights.
Resprayed Mini Cooper Chocolate
with black roof
Plaid headliner with matching trim.
Pioneer Double Din Head Unit with DVD & Nav
12″ JL Audio Subwoofer
JL 250w Amplifier