Volksforum.com - Tron update: INTL WHEEL TRADING GTG APRIL 13th!:cool:

Tjaap

28-04-2004, 17:56

copy paste....

sooooo - Rod, from the mk1 classifieds (http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1338638), wanted to trade some wheels... he had some dinky little 13's :rolleyes::laugh: & wanted some 15's with larger rubber as a straight trade so that he can get a little better fuel economy at lower rpm's on all the highway driving he does. sounds reasonable.

sooo, i posted a couple pics of Tron's 15" passat wheels & rubber thinking he wouldn't want to go that route - but that he may, so why not post, eh?

i guess he liked what he saw.

on april 13th i drove good ol' Tron down to Bellingham, Washington State for an INTERNATIONAL WHEEL TRADING GTG!:P

met up with Rod in the parking lot at Bellis Fair Mall & made the swap.

pics? you say... where are the pics??

ooooh there are pics, lots & lots of pics... 80 pics.:D

stripped 'em down and thumbnailed 'em in order to be able to host & post 'em all efficiently... anyways,

here's my photodocumentary of the day:

I'm gonna do the precaption thing... short blurb above each row of pics, mmmkay?

Tron at home, street near my place on the way, the Peace Arch at the Peace Arch Port between canada & usa.

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more Peace Arch Park, & a zoomed in pic of the coastline to the right (west) of me.

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coast, coast, coast (similar pics, but i figured if i posted lots you'd get a thing for the scale of the coast.;):P:D)

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dunno if you can see it, but there's some water on the windshield... PNW weather tried to rain on my parade - but seeing as this isn't the last pic, i sure as hell didn't let it!:P spotted a brown bunny in great shape with an old man driver... bet it's a one owner car!:cool:

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arrival, my wheels, his wheels (soon to be opposites, as the pics will tell)

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back of a wheel, car shots - Rod got this jetta on the CHEAP! really really cheap due to a blown tranny...

he gave the po the most expensive repair quote in order to negotiate a lower price. pretty slick. ;):P

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wheel changing time! Rod was all over this like a fat kid on a smartie!:P he didn't make me do it 'cause i was still walking with a cane. (whistler snowboarding ankle sprain) but not anymore because i went drunken camping & a friend burried my cane in the sand of some riverbed in squamish!:mad::banghead: (which is all right, 'cause i almost hit him with a stray bottle - which broke... but mind you, that was already in retaliation for him waking up my passed out arse by dumping beer down my throat... hrmmm, guess i owe him one!)

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a caddy that stopped, in good ol' vw fashion, to see if we needed a hand. a jetta w/ altezzas.:screwy: & a new beetle in the parking lot.

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wheel pics! lol check out the classic cell phone shot adaptation... the gap is so far that i had to hold the cell phone as there's another 1/2" clearance so it could fall!:laugh:

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spotted: chevy ssr!:eek: *drools* sooooo hot.

http://free.filehost.ca/ewing/vortex/intlwheelgtg/ats13trip%2037.jpghttp://free.filehost.ca/ewing/vortex/intlwheelgtg/ats13trip%2038.jpghttp://free.filehost.ca/ewing/vortex/intlwheelgtg/ats13trip%2039.jpghttp://free.filehost.ca/ewing/vortex/intlwheelgtg/ats13trip%2040.jpg

more ssr... & the mall security guy that stopped to see why i was taking pictures of a vehicle in their lot... i explained "uuh, sir - it's the hotness." "ah, that it is - carry on then."

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heading north! (back to the vancouver, bc area) saw a pimpscalade with a bc'er honking at my canucks flags... that night was vancouver's tragic game 7 against calgary. *sniff*:(

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spotted a rolls royce at a gas station... stopped for pics & directions (was looking for a certain gas station that is the only one in the border town of blaine, wa, to sell arrogant bastard ale in singles - 750mL bottle size ($3.69usd, $30cdn at a vancouver bar!:eek::screwy: + i am an arrogant bastard)

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some gun monument in blaine... 30 seconds south of the border & they're already gun happy.:P heh jk, this is some sort of war monument or something.

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shopping! state patrol pansy hiding in the weeds trying to spot bc'ers speeding down the street beside the market.:mad::sly: - i spotted him first though!:P then s'more 'merican pansies at the store.;):P heh oh & check this out, 2mins south of the border and they do things different just for the point of being different than canadians... they put the urinal mints vertically instead of laying flat.:P

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mmmmmm pop & beverages largely not available north of the border... & tons of wine/beer, in their grocery store! (we have gov't and private liquor stores in bc, none sold in grocery stores) and lol - wwf magazines at the checkout, sooo lame. i can't believe there's demand for them.:rolleyes:

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Tjaap

28-04-2004, 17:56

redbull & fake redbull (tasted almost the same btw) a weird shopping cart, i think that beetle found me, & a bus w/ a sign for a bed and breakfast near the border called "smuggler's inn" :laugh: (pssst, i think they know where their marijuana supply is coming from lol)

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some sign.. they really take highschool seriously down there, just 1min south & they've got hs award stats posted. very odd. you NEVER see stuff like this in a canadian city/town. spotted a perdy bimmer.

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spotted a type 3 FS:

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saw this dude rollin' on hydros... chased him down & chatted, got pics - kinda cool for a beat up $1k usd total car to F around with. (although, yes, he did look like a complete dork and didn't realize it.:P) and the last pic is of THE most patriotic american house i've ever seen... check out the west wall - completely covered in a top to bottom painting of the Statue of Liberty. kinda neat.:cool:

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Once i got to the border the Canadian inspector grilled me for a while as to the purpose of my trip & the particulars of our trade, why he wanted my wheels, why i wanted his - why it was a mutually beneficial

trade not involving the exchange of any currency etc etc... then he checked my hatch, blah blah - then told him i wouldn't not declare anything as my brother works with them etc & i think at that point he figured i was tellin' the whole truth & nothin' but as he sent me on up the road & didn't make me pay any duty/taxes on my mom's block of cheese.:cool::P (low value, likely wouldn't make anyone pay those few cents when they're busy like they were - i didn't/don't get preferential treatment - just to be crystal clear on that)

They drive nice... gonna be fun for autoX when i'm back to work and can shell out for it. get a wee bit shakey at higher speeds, but otherwise perfectly fine. i spose the shakiness is due to the face that they're 175/50/13 bf goodrich "euro" tires spinning at 4billion rpm when you start getting above 100mph+.

well, anyways - that's my story!=)

oh, & these wheels are gonna be pimpin' themselves around (legally, it's allowed there, sorta!) in Las Vegas (http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1351583) in June!:cool::D

post script:

no real animals were harmed in the making of this thread. just a bunch of asses-through-their-brains highway insects, which don't really count for jack in the animal kingdom.:P:laugh:

p.p.s. - i'm getting better at the uber post thing... this bad boy only took me an hour.:cool:

p.p.p.s. - is Tron "euro (http://www.volksforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2491)" now that she has ats cups w/ "tyres" that say "euro" on them?:confused::rolleyes:;):P:D

whoooo that was a lot of typing!