Hey guys, rudely of me, I have not bothered to write a formal introduction thread. To start, I want to thank EvoM, it's staff, and all the fantastic contributing members that are a part of this site. I have learned a TON over the past 12 months of lurking around here, and this could not have been done without your help. Particularly, the guides that member's have written on here for aftermarket products are A+ material, every new part I order takes a simple search to find the "how-to" thread concerning the part in question and every little detail of the install or modification.

Currently I am 18 years old, and upon great fortune have been the proud owner of a 2003 Rally Red Evo 8 for nearly two years.

A little back story about how I came to be a part of this eclectic "Evo cult":
My father purchased one of the first Evo 8's back in 2003, presumably the 3rd sold in Tennessee and the 60 something sold in the US. He was bent on an STi, but the local dealership was being a real pain in the *** and wouldn't source him one in blue without charging 3K, and he despised the white and black that was available. About a week later, still jumping through dealer hoops to get a blue STI, he saw an article on motorweek about the new Evo 8 being imported to the U.S. for the first time, and said screw the STi! He took delivery in June of 2003 if I'm not mistaken, and he absolutely thrilled to finally have his Evo. He's a car maniac and I can blame the automotive addiction I am growing into because of him.

Pictures upon first arrival to the house. (I'm the little guy in the yellow shirt back then!):







As I proceeded to outgrow my air jordan's and yellow floral shirts, I eventually progressed into the mind boggling concept of driving a car. At 15, with just a learner's permit and sweaty palms', I took up the task of wrecking the poor stock clutch and trying to get the Evo into first gear without throwing my father's poor head against the back of the seat every time. A few days later, the sweet smell of burnt clutch lingered in the Target parking lot, a new sense of respect was formed for anyone that drives a standard transmission, and the ability to successfully shift from gears 1-4 without creating concussions for the passengers was established, and I felt like I was really getting somewhere. As I got my license, I was limited to driving the Evo when my father was home from work early or was away for business trips (it was still his daily driver at this point).

Come 17, my father inherited my grandfather's old 1999 BMW 740i and passed the Evo down onto me, and as any good teenage boy would be, I was absolutely ecstatic. It's become my daily driver, much better then my mother's old hand-me-down 2000 honda pilot with 189,000 miles on it that I was driving before. My father then pulled the trigger on a 2012 Super Silver GT-R, for a weekend toy to compliment the 1964 Jag. E-type we've been restoring together.

GT-R:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/colinperschbacher/5896194392/http://www.flickr.com/photos/colinperschbacher/5896194392/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/colinperschbacher/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/colinperschbacher/5895625581/http://www.flickr.com/photos/colinperschbacher/5895625581/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/colinperschbacher/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/colinperschbacher/5895627663/http://www.flickr.com/photos/colinperschbacher/5895627663/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/colinperschbacher/
The Jaguar:









I've begun to mod my Evo, as of right now, it has: Exedy stage 1 HD clutch, Eibach lowering springs, a perrin rear sway bar (en route), Weir 12 plate rear LSD rebuild on the way, the tranny case is having the MAP stage 3 "beast mode" upgrade being done with a Wavetrac front LSD since the stock one was on it's last whining legs, Perrin intake kit, Greddy Ti catback exhaust, Berk highflow cat, and Ebay downpipe. Externally; I've plasti-dipped the stock Enkei's, ebay front lip, shorty antenna, CF wrapped badges/de-badged, Depo LED taillights, and blacked out front headlights.

I do not have any current pictures, but these are some pretty good one's from a couple month's ago:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/colinperschbacher/5794744879/http://www.flickr.com/photos/colinperschbacher/5794744879/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/colinperschbacher/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/colinperschbacher/5243038024/http://www.flickr.com/photos/colinperschbacher/5243038024/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/colinperschbacher/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/colinperschbacher/5906222084/http://www.flickr.com/photos/colinperschbacher/5906222084/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/colinperschbacher/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/colinperschbacher/5906221084/http://www.flickr.com/photos/colinperschbacher/5906221084/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/colinperschbacher/
My apologies for that novel that was just written. I got a bit carried away, I am enthused to be a part of EvoM and am looking forward to my time spent as a member here!

 

Cool story bro, Clean clean clean car.

 

Thanks man, it's quite the privilege to have been around nice cars all my life. A little back story on the Jaguar, incase anyone is interested;

My grandfather and my father bought it in 1968 from a college kid that was selling it in order to pay for law school. It had just over 2,000 miles on it and he owned it for only 3 years before selling it. The car was in great condition to begin with and having only 1 previous owner, was treated like a gem. My grandfather drove it daily for quite a while in upstate Mesena, New York, where snow and salt just littered the roads from October to April.

The car accumulated about 30,000 miles and sat in Mesena until around 1994 when my Grandparents moved to Tucson, Arizona. The paint was starting to chip, and the car was showing it's (30 year old) age by this point and as all Jaguars do, began frequently breaking down. My grandfather had enough of it by 2000 and sent the car to my father as a project, after being freshly stripped and painted with the original lacquer and color. It's been quite the time consuming and money-indulging experience getting it all back to working order, but on the bright side, the car runs strong as an ox (well…. for now…..) and has 44,XXX total miles on it.

 

this is pertinent to my interests.....

 

Well that was a lot of writing. Glad to see you enjoying all this. I've learned a ton from this site and visit regularly for tips.

 

Good to see another respectable EVO in TN, but this story sounds familiar. Did your dad happen to bring this car to Knoxville for some repairs at OTT Motorsports or is that another dad giving his EVO to his son story that I'm recalling?

 

That is indeed my Evo you are recalling. Dave put in the stage 1 Exedy HD clutch, resurfaced my flywheel, installed the Eibach springs, and performed the 60K service on the car last year right around this time with a few other little tune-up's. He's a great guy and I'd highly recommend him, if only he wasn't so far away.

 

He's been doing work on my cars for ages, just haven't had anything for him as of late. Good to see it's doing so well!

 

welcome

 

Great story! Welcome!