|
 Spent a couple nights hacking out the control arms because the cam bolts decided to completely freeze up and no amount of heat, hammering, or penetrating oil seemed to affect them. Dropped em off at the shop this morning to get the bushing replaced.
|
#
?
May 22, 2014 15:59
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 18, 2024 20:36 |
|
|
Sold two sets of impulse buy wheels and turned a healthy profit on both. Now I've got roughly $3k in car fun money, so I'm thinking it might be time for a GIAC stage 2 tune and supercharger pulley.
|
|
#
?
May 23, 2014 00:52
|
|
|
Wow, metalizer plastidip is a LOT less forgiving than black. Still, they look good from 10 feet, like the rest of the car. I might as well have skipped the taping step because i did such a half assed job, but eh, cheap car, cheap wheels, cheap coating, still gonna look ok, i think. OG chromie, too "blingy jewlery" for me:  black, i was tempted to stop here, but said gently caress it and pressed on:  metalizer yellow:  Dry and outside:   Even with my poo poo spraying technique and half-assed prep work, they came out looking ok, in my opinion. If this is the job i got from one of the 300 "d1p y0 ridez" places that popped up in the last year, i'd be pissed, but from my own hand, eh, good enough. edit: here are the plugs i pulled out of the lincoln a few weeks ago, if anybody feels like reading them for me. the one that's wet is because it was dropped in oil. 
Powershift fucked around with this message at 04:45 on May 23, 2014 |
|
#
?
May 23, 2014 04:43
|
|
|
Powershift posted:Wow, metalizer plastidip is a LOT less forgiving than black. Looks like they came out fine, wonder what they look like mounted on a big green truck?
|
|
#
?
May 23, 2014 06:37
|
|
|
Tanz-Kommandant posted:Looks like they came out fine, wonder what they look like mounted on a big green truck? Probably pretty silly, because they're only 25" tall tires for the little black bmw. I've got something a little more interesting planned for the big green truck.... 
|
|
#
?
May 23, 2014 06:55
|
|
|
Changed the spark plugs... again. Last time I went from the originals to NGK platinums (LTR5GP, in case our resident NGK guy drops by). Been experiencing pinging under moderate load since spring hit. Now back to Delco iridiums (41-105 is the current part number suggested by both Rockauto and acdelco.com). All 4 of the NGKs had damaged center electrodes (1 had a melted tip that looks more like a tiny blob of solder now, the other 3 had metal deposits on the center electrode). The NGKs had about 15k on them; the worst looks more like 100k. This will be the first time I've had a negative experience with NGK plugs. The Ecotec family is known for being pretty picky about plugs though..
|
|
#
?
May 23, 2014 08:28
|
|
|
some texas redneck posted:Changed the spark plugs... again. You've changed spark plugs more times than I've ever changed spark plugs (not counting my Enfield, because it took ages to tune correctly) since you got the car, and I've only had one car since you got your Ion.
|
|
#
?
May 23, 2014 09:17
|
|
|
This is the 2nd plug change since I got it.  And should be the last; I don't see myself keeping this car for another 100k. The only reason I changed them again was the pinging.I'm not convinced the pinging was because of the plugs - it could have been a symptom of something worse. But the pinging never showed up until it got NGK platinums. randomidiot fucked around with this message at 10:35 on May 23, 2014 |
|
#
?
May 23, 2014 10:32
|
|
|
Probably got you confused with somebody else. Whoops.
|
|
#
?
May 23, 2014 10:37
|
|
|
It happens. In any event, spark history: Purchased car with 66k. Replaced original plugs @ 76k with NGK G-Power platinums. Noticed random pinging around Thanksgiving, been getting worse as the weather has warmed up. Mileage went to the shitter around February (18-22 MPG). Pulled NGKs @ 93k. Plugs look okay until you look at the center electrode - one has the tip melted into what looks almost like a tiny blob of solder, the rest have what looks like random splatters of metal on the center electrode + insulator. Outer electrode is (slightly) damaged on #1 and #4. the tl;dr of this is if the pinging continues, I'll be taking a close look at the fuel system.
|
|
#
?
May 23, 2014 10:48
|
|
|
Powershift posted:edit: here are the plugs i pulled out of the lincoln a few weeks ago, if anybody feels like reading them for me. the one that's wet is because it was dropped in oil. Uh, what happened to the ceramic piece on the one? Otherwise they look pretty good and uniform (can't tell about the top left one with the pic, looks darker).
|
|
#
?
May 23, 2014 13:56
|
|
|
Tinted the windows: So much better. Edit: hmmm, imgur app ignores iPhone edits. Well, enjoy my license plate, I guess. Edit 2: haHA. Got it. Krakkles fucked around with this message at 20:49 on May 23, 2014 |
|
#
?
May 23, 2014 20:41
|
|
|
Finally got a chance to wash it.  
|
|
#
?
May 24, 2014 04:27
|
|
|
Powershift posted:Probably pretty silly, because they're only 25" tall tires for the little black bmw. Whoops my bad v  vStill wanna see what it looks like, I enjoy seeing what people do with their rimzzz. Speaking of which I got a package from Italy today; Before  After  Now I need a set of black lug covers and we're in business!
|
|
#
?
May 24, 2014 05:00
|
|
|
Presto chango  The dip shrank on some of the harsh curves and basically made a bubble. Kinda sucks but meh. Edit: so with around 5k km on the subaru and 5500km on the BMW my x-ice xi2s are down from 10.5mm stock to a dead even 9mm everywhere on all 4 tires. Despite torturing them from nearly every light and around every corner, and my lazy rear end still not having done the control arm bushings, they are wearing properly. At this rate I should be able to get 30k as winters and close to the advertised 60k total, despite driving like a dink. Powershift fucked around with this message at 21:58 on May 24, 2014 |
|
#
?
May 24, 2014 20:49
|
|
|
Drove it from St. Louis to Sarasota, started at 9pm last night. I-75 was a war zone. Saw a pickup pulling a fifth wheel that rolled. The trailer was in a billion pieces, the truck cab was crushed to the door sills. Took me over an hour to drive 4 miles to see that.
|
|
#
?
May 24, 2014 22:38
|
|
|
Powershift posted:Presto chango You said this was a cheap car. Where can I find a cheap BMW to hoon around with?
|
|
#
?
May 24, 2014 23:16
|
|
|
Michael Scott posted:You said this was a cheap car. Where can I find a cheap BMW to hoon around with? A Thousand bucks. V8 and everything. It was the last car of the day at an auction and couldn't keep itself running on the auction block. That was just down to a maf sensor and o2 sensors that cost $400 and 15 minutes to fix. I bought it expecting something horribly wrong with it and parting it out, but surprise daily driver!
|
|
#
?
May 24, 2014 23:42
|
|
|
Finally got around to fixing the 25 year old suspension. Picked these up: Installed those along with new sway bar bushings, end links, and control arm bushings. Lowered it by about 3" as well, just enough to look good without worrying about hitting things.  Didn't realise how shot the old setup was, corners amazingly well now with (nearly) no body roll 
|
|
#
?
May 25, 2014 00:23
|
|
|
Powershift posted:Edit: so with around 5k km on the subaru and 5500km on the BMW my x-ice xi2s are down from 10.5mm stock to a dead even 9mm everywhere on all 4 tires. Despite torturing them from nearly every light and around every corner, and my lazy rear end still not having done the control arm bushings, they are wearing properly. At this rate I should be able to get 30k as winters and close to the advertised 60k total, despite driving like a dink. They must have done some pretty radical compound changes to make the Xi2 then, because I recall the original being at best a 30k km tire- and that was if you NEVER let them touch dry asphalt, had perfect alignment and drove them like a 90 year old. We had lots of angry customers over that, to the point where my store stopped stocking Passenger Mics altogether (except the LTX M/S- we had an entire aisle in the basement dedicated to them, though about half of them were 25516 and 22606 for the fleets) e: Christ, haven't mounted a tire in 2 years and I still remember the SKUs for those drat things without even realizing I'm reciting them. 25516 is a 225/75R16 and a 22606 is a 245/75R16. Turbo Fondant fucked around with this message at 00:54 on May 25, 2014 |
|
#
?
May 25, 2014 00:49
|
|
|
My girlfriend has been neglecting her car lately so I gave it a proper hand washing and drying. I have good results with the meguiars white wax on my car so I bought a tube of the black for hers. I only had time to do the hood just to test it out but wow. It really brought the shine out.
|
|
#
?
May 25, 2014 01:18
|
|
|
Dropped it off at a buddys house so that he can deal with it. I have a leak at my exhaust flange gasket, so I bought a new one and when I was taking the nuts off I found a nice stripped mess of a thread. I am ok at doing brakes and taking nuts off stuff but I felt that this was above my talent since you have to take the manifold off to get enough room to put new ones on. Found out that Im supposed to adjust my clutch every 3k miles and I did that today, so at least I fixed one thing.
|
|
#
?
May 25, 2014 01:43
|
|
|
PhoenixWing posted:Finally got around to fixing the 25 year old suspension. Picked these up: How did you manage to find that removable hatch? Those are really rare.
|
|
#
?
May 25, 2014 02:29
|
|
|
Went to the Pick N Pull this morning for 50% off weekend! And I managed to only take pictures of the wrong sides of the panels I bought! I scored a door with minimal damage that actually works!  A hood that actually shuts!  A new wiper motor and some headlights  Why did I grab the headlights?  Because they're loving brand new. There was a log book in the glove box, they'd had a front end hit and put new lenses in in March. Car landed in the PnP on the 8th of this month. Then it was off to Cars & Coffee where we had a pretty decent turnout for a holiday weekend. And this showed up  Another 5th gen Civic DX. Only she'd done a motor swap and stanced her car. She also painted it herself as this car used to be the same teal as mine. We talked a bunch and she told me that with her $1100 car she was into it for a total of $3000. So maaaaybe I'm more open to this motor swapping idea now.
|
|
#
?
May 25, 2014 02:48
|
|
|
Went into today with the intention of doing power steering pump and pressure hose, u-joints on the rear drive shaft, oil change, idler pulley, and belt tensioner pulley. Pulleys went well, only to find that the bearing in one of the new pulleys is clattering around like a skeleton jerking off in a file cabinet, gotta get another tomorrow once I figure out which one it is... Power steering came apart painlessly, aside from me learning just how bad power steering fluid tastes. Tried to pull the pulley off the old pump and put it on the new, but I wasn't aware there is a special tool and just used a 2 jaw puller and broke it. Called around for 30 mins and found the only pulley within 50 miles and got a ride to go get it. Went to put it on the new pump can't press it on with a bolt and stack of washers. Cue me cussing and fighting it till I find out there is a special tool for the job that autozone rents. They didn't have it in stock so I just bought one. Tried using it and it still wont go, then I realize I have the wrong pump. The guy at Berrodin had asked me if it was a bolt on or snap ring, and I looked at it and saw it bolted onto the engine so  I told him it was bolt on. I didn't realize he meant the backing plate of the pump. Then I had to call around for an hour trying to find the only snap ring power steering pump in stock within 50 miles and got a ride to go get it. After I had the new pump, everything went back together beautifully and with the help of my friend, I got it bled out and filled up, till we overfilled it and I had to spend 15 minutes siphoning fluid out of the reservoir with a McDonalds straw since that was all I had handy.Tomorrow will be universal joints and oil change. Hopefully it will go smoother..
|
|
#
?
May 25, 2014 06:19
|
|
|
I put three of those 3/4" LED marker lights on the back of the flatbed. Made a template from a 1x6 pine to ensure they were straight and evenly spaced, then clamped it on and drilled some pilot holes. A few minutes with the uni-bit and I had three 3/4" holes in a line. After I wired them, I re-wired a marker light so it didn't go out when the brake was pressed. I think the ground was mistakenly spliced to the brake power line, and the PO didn't notice or care. Next up, replacing the licence plate lights with LED models, since one is corroded and doesn't work, and the other decided to break or blow the bulb immediately. edit; just turned them on in the dark and they are incredibly bright, so I ordered some LED Stop/Turn/Tails to replace the incandescent lights. StormDrain fucked around with this message at 04:55 on May 26, 2014 |
|
#
?
May 26, 2014 03:54
|
|
|
Cancelled any immediate plans to drive it. Two reported armed hold ups of guys in Skylines in my city in the last couple of weeks, so anything that looks racey will probably be keeping a low profile until these assholes get caught.
|
|
#
?
May 26, 2014 10:07
|
|
|
Prepared it for trade. 1997 Subaru Outback for a 1972 Super Beetle.
|
|
#
?
May 26, 2014 12:27
|
|
|
Butt Wizard posted:Cancelled any immediate plans to drive it. Two reported armed hold ups of guys in Skylines in my city in the last couple of weeks, so anything that looks racey will probably be keeping a low profile until these assholes get caught. Are they car jacking, or robbing the drivers of what money they have on them? That is crazy
|
|
#
?
May 26, 2014 13:35
|
|
|
Didn't take pictures this time, but the Mustang got an energy suspensions transmission mount (should've done this a long time ago, it's amazing) and an oil change. The jeep got the dash ripped apart, the rear bumper and trailer hitch mounted up (still needs paint, lights, and wiring), and a new hood and the donor front bumper to build that. PROGRESS!
|
|
#
?
May 26, 2014 20:08
|
|
|
Dr.Caligari posted:Are they car jacking, or robbing the drivers of what money they have on them? That is crazy Taking the cars. Car theft is a huge problem in NZ.
|
|
#
?
May 26, 2014 21:37
|
|
|
Finally got the cage painted.
|
|
#
?
May 26, 2014 23:15
|
|
|
That's a pretty serious cage. What events are you running it for?
|
|
#
?
May 26, 2014 23:20
|
|
|
I'm building the car for NASA PTE. It's a fairly standard cage, the rear shot makes it look beefier than it is. I do need to remove the tie ins from the passenger door bar to the sill.
|
|
#
?
May 26, 2014 23:53
|
|
|
Did universal joints for my rear driveshaft. Things went really well aside from dropping one of the needle roller bearings and having to spend 30 minutes looking for it on the ground. Used a friend's hydraulic press to do it. The new u joints came with grease fittings, but I couldn't get a grease gun on either of them while the driveshaft was installed, so I had to drop it again to get to them. If the fittings were put on straight, I could have gotten it but they are at a 45 degree angle to the crotch of the trunnions. Bastards.
|
|
#
?
May 27, 2014 04:34
|
|
|
StormDrain posted:edit; just turned them on in the dark and they are incredibly bright, so I ordered some LED Stop/Turn/Tails to replace the incandescent lights. You might need a new turn-signal relay that works for LED's due to the lower voltage requirement, you might otherwise end up with stroboscopes instead as the flash rate speeds up incredibly.
|
|
#
?
May 27, 2014 19:33
|
|
|
Gorillian Dollars posted:You might need a new turn-signal relay that works for LED's due to the lower voltage requirement, you might otherwise end up with stroboscopes instead as the flash rate speeds up incredibly. Way ahead of you, other IH guys have said that the front incandescent have enough resistance to keep the flashers working though. I'm on a wait and see approach, right now they actually blink different based on having the park lights on or off, so they may be more sensitive than others have stated. edit: The whole thing started with adding a high-mount brake light that was LED! By the end of next week I should be down to only four bulbs where I used to have 12. The fronts will fall eventually, and the reverse lights may get just a replacement bulb and a flood light added when I find a cheap hitch. StormDrain fucked around with this message at 23:37 on May 27, 2014 |
|
#
?
May 27, 2014 23:34
|
|
|
StormDrain posted:Way ahead of you, other IH guys ... when I find a cheap hitch. I don't know if you're near SoCal but I know a Scout guy.
|
|
#
?
May 28, 2014 01:46
|
|
|
It was this weekend, but my FJ40 moved for the first time in 7 years on Sunday. We surprised my mother with a visit for the family's annual Memorial Day fishing trip and I took the opportunity to drive the 750 mile round trip to get it out of my friend's yard. Dumped it in my brother-in-law and sister's yard instead! Now it's in a place I can much more easily access. I just need to buy a trailer now so it can get loaded onto the ferry and delivered here, where I now own a shop and can finally get around to properly fixing it up.
|
|
#
?
May 29, 2014 03:40
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 18, 2024 20:36 |
|
|
Drove it for like the third time ever. Still puts a stupid smile on my face.
|
|
#
?
May 29, 2014 06:30
|
|