|
Did somebody say Miata? Payday came and today I tried to put as much of this stuff in, under or on my car:  After some running around town for some last minute tools and some curry, I started with filling up the clutch reservoir as it was kinda dirty and running on minimum. As I was sucking the old stuff out some old guy from the building saw I was working on my car and came over. This being Japan and me not being Japanese I was almost certain that he was about to tell me not to make a mess and take it to a garage or something but he was actually just really interested in the car, even told me how important it is to do your own work then he went on his merry way.  Next up I decided to go for the shifter boots. I had looked at them a few weeks ago and just as everyone said they would be, they were crusty and broken all the way down. It felt kinda weird going into the dealership considering that most cars on the road in Japan are less than 10 years old but they were actually really helpful. When I went to pick them up a salesman bounded out the front door like a Labrador, asking me if I was the guy for the Roadster parts. He used to own one too apparently and in all the excitement he didn't even bother checking my receipts so if any other white person in the world had wandered into that particular Mazda dealer in the middle of nowhere they could have walked home with $50 of free parts. Take off the center console and the weird insulating crap and we're left with this.  The insulation falling down from the top boot and the oil shooting out the bottom boot made an awful cruddy black mess. The blurring is from my phone camera   The bush on the bottom of the shifter had not only fallen off but had snapped and disintegrated a bit too.  All back together with new bits.  And installed.  All that's left for the shifter was the install the new top boot. Before I put the cosmetics back on though it was a good time to take out that ugly old stereo. The CD player doesn't work, I don't have any tapes, the previous owner cut the antenna, you can't attach an aux input to it and it was made in that awkward time around the turn of the century when silver electronics were in fashion. I don't own any CDs so I went with the cheapest aux/usb unit that Amazon had to offer me. How times have changed.  Luckily the color codes on the old aftermarket harness matched up with the new box. Only problem was that the grounding screw on the car is almost inaccessible. The previous owner had realized this and decided to just crimp the end of the car's ground wire. After I unsurprisingly managed to completely strip the 23 year old screw head I decided to do the same. Luckily I live across the road from a big hardware store.  And it works!  I had to pull out the set 3 times though. First because my brackets weren't aligned, then because I had forgotten to plug in the radio antenna, then I managed to drop a screw down inside the console when I was trying to reinstall the fascia.  And all back together looking much better than before.  Then it was time for oil. I'm ashamed to say this is the first time I've ever changed it by myself. In Japan you can buy oil packs to make throwing oil away easier. Turns out it's really just a box full of rags. Work got held up again though when I realized that the drain plug is 19mm and my cheap set only went up to 17. Luckily I still live across the road from a big hardware store...  Yummy.  At the end I was tired and bleeding (courtesy of the contortionist act required to replace the oil filter) but as I sat in my car and drove it around the pitiful space that I'm legally allowed to move it within before it gets registered, it felt great. RillAkBea fucked around with this message at 12:04 on Nov 29, 2014 |
#
?
Nov 29, 2014 12:00
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 23, 2024 20:57 |
|
|
Installed an original size rebuilt carb and oil bath today. No more dodgy intake system for me, no sir  
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2014 07:34
|
|
|
RillAkBea posted:At the end I was tired and bleeding (courtesy of the contortionist act required to replace the oil filter) but as I sat in my car and drove it around the pitiful space that I'm legally allowed to move it within before it gets registered, it felt great. I still haven't figured out a way to replace the oil filter without cutting my hands to ribbons. It's even worse with the ABS pump in the way. Was your shifter super stiff after replacing all those bushings? Everything is much firmer but it also takes a lot more force to change gears than it did before. I might tear mine back down and make sure I didn't bend a washer or lose something inside the turret.
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2014 07:43
|
|
|
Seat Safety Switch posted:I still haven't figured out a way to replace the oil filter without cutting my hands to ribbons. It's even worse with the ABS pump in the way. I figure it might be a little easier to get the filter from the side but it required getting my body further into the wheel well than I was comfortable with on cheap jack stands. I wouldn't call it super stiff but it was definitely firmer, yeah. Had some trouble getting it back in the turret and it popped out a couple of times but it was fine once the bolts were on. RillAkBea fucked around with this message at 13:37 on Nov 30, 2014 |
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2014 13:35
|
|
|
Did some upholstering with a couple of these floor mats. I wanted something waterproof and tough without spending $150+ on oem stuff. 
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2014 20:43
|
|
|
Last nice day of the year? Replaced one side-wall bubble snow tire. The other three have decent tread life left.  Good bye fun summer tires. Also, pre-winter oil change.     And roll the wheels on this before it gets "put away" due to salty roads.  
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2014 22:21
|
|
|
Hit an Apex posted:Replaced one side-wall bubble snow tire. The other three have decent tread life left. If by "decent tread life" you mean "not completely bald yet." Could be the perspective but those other tires look like they should have been replaced 5,000 miles ago.
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2014 22:43
|
|
|
Geoj posted:If by "decent tread life" you mean "not completely bald yet." Could be the perspective but those other tires look like they should have been replaced 5,000 miles ago. They look terrible in that photo, I agree. Lots of tread left, bad phone photo excuse.
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2014 22:49
|
|
|
SperginMcBadposter posted:That sounds like it would murder the poo poo out of the starter. I did the same when the timing belt broke on my 88 Accord, to move it around the parking lot to keep it from being towed (apartments). Surprisingly it didn't bend any valves. N is for Nipples posted:It's not particularly loud, but the leak is ahead of the cat so I think it's a bit of an issue. Exhaust leak is an automatic fail here anyway. So is patching a leak with muffler tape.  $1 says it's the flex pipe.
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2014 23:41
|
|
|
Swapped my Enkei EKM3 gunmetal wheels on to the BRZ since they are shod in Continental Extreme Contact DWS all-seasons and cleaned up the stock black STI wheels to put them away for the winter. I already swapped my old 16's with winter tires on to the '11 WRX two weeks ago. Followed that up with a wash of both cars. Let's see how long they stay clean
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2014 23:42
|
|
|
Rhyno posted:I neglected to mention that I had just driven it the other day after a few weeks of not touching it. I remembered to check before I drove it this last time, but I'm pretty sure they we just as low the previous time I had it out. My Cherokee is my daily, but I try to drive the RX-7 once a week or so to keep everything fresh.
|
|
#
?
Dec 1, 2014 06:33
|
|
|
I finally put winter tyres on my daily. Was about time as my summers were rocked down beyond the point of semislick. 
|
|
#
?
Dec 1, 2014 10:05
|
|
|
No before pics, but if you've ever driven an early (or late, probably) Explorer model you might've seen this on your console: I picked up some cheap vinyl fabric and wrapped it back up. I went too cheap though, I should've spent a little more and gotten something thicker. Its uneven in the middle because the hole was so big and open for so long that the foam just rubbed away. Im happy enough for $5 and enough material to do it two more times.  I also paid $$ for a new muffler and tailpipe, its nice not having the entire car vibrate when I accelerate.
|
|
#
?
Dec 1, 2014 18:07
|
|
|
Cage posted:No before pics, but if you've ever driven an early (or late, probably) Explorer model you might've seen this on your console: I was considering just how to do this on my '96 recently- and then some rear end in a top hat does this on Thanksgiving:  So, my care about the armrest is slightly below nil right now. Its kind of hokey and redneck, but take this vinyl and cut it into smaller strips and weave them into a small mesh where the foam is missing. Tape it in place when you are happy with it, then (re)cover it.
|
|
#
?
Dec 1, 2014 18:14
|
|
|
If you want to fill that stuff properly: http://www.urethanesupply.com/Other-Fillers-1/Padded-Dash-Filler/ This is what I've been using on cracked dashes before recovering them. It's sandable, so you can blend it in perfectly.
|
|
#
?
Dec 1, 2014 18:21
|
|
|
That looks like someone gave it a smack with a hammer and then dragged it along the body. Thats a shame sorry to hear.  Ill worry about the foam if the new fabric ever rips, thanks though.
|
|
#
?
Dec 1, 2014 18:24
|
|
|
Cage posted:That looks like someone gave it a smack with a hammer and then dragged it along the body. Thats a shame sorry to hear. Yep. In my own yard. They attacked the Cheby, too. Good times. I wasn't home at the time, obviously.
West SAAB Story fucked around with this message at 18:54 on Dec 1, 2014 |
|
#
?
Dec 1, 2014 18:30
|
|
|
Cage posted:No before pics, but if you've ever driven an early (or late, probably) Explorer model you might've seen this on your console: My dad's old Ram had a big, wide center console (the type that folds up into a third seat. Had a permanent indentation in the foam where his elbow rested, but the vinyl was fully intact til the day he sold it.
|
|
#
?
Dec 1, 2014 23:02
|
|
|
Tried to get it inspected. I knew it'd be iffy because of the front tires, so I had them check before they officially started, so that I won't have a fail on the car history report. Iffy was right; FR is right at the wear bar, so fail. Also had him plug it into the computer and do a pre-inspection (something this place has done for me before). Even though the CEL is off, it still has a stored code for the thermostat, so it would have failed for that too. I cleared the code; I'll get new front tires with my paycheck from Wal-Mart tomorrow, and hopefully I'll put enough miles on it the rest of this week to set all of the readiness monitors. Saw a lady upset that her car failed, couldn't understand why. It failed over every readiness monitor not being set. When she tried to leave, it was completely dead, and she asked me for a jump. I asked how long she'd been having to jump it every time to drive it. "A couple of months". Employee came back out and overheard us, and heard me telling her "it'll never pass inspection if the battery is dying every day; even if it would, everything would be reset when you got a new battery". Employee backed me up on that. I gave her directions to the nearest AutoZone, employee gave her a jump. Renewed the registration, big whoop there. I might put the inspection off until Jan 2nd just so I don't get hit with both of them at the same time anymore; cops usually won't gently caress with you much for the first 7 days.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2014 23:48
|
|
|
Today I had the Focus washed and sprayed with rustproofing in preparation for the winter. On the way back home a seagull relieved itself on the car, managing to bullseye the Ford logo on the grille combined with a nice streak of diarrhea dead center across the windshield. I feel like the world is trying to tell me something.
|
|
#
?
Dec 3, 2014 21:18
|
|
|
Nuclear Tourist posted:Today I had the Focus washed and sprayed with rustproofing in preparation for the winter. On the way back home a seagull relieved itself on the car, managing to bullseye the Ford logo on the grille combined with a nice streak of diarrhea dead center across the windshield. I feel like the world is trying to tell me something. The message is clear. Kill Oliver Platt.
|
|
#
?
Dec 3, 2014 21:21
|
|
|
Yes, Master. 
|
|
#
?
Dec 3, 2014 21:33
|
|
|
A few weeks ago the passenger rear door central locking thingy decided to stop working. I ignored it. Get in the other side, don't argue. Today it's working. VW mind games I tell ya.
|
|
#
?
Dec 3, 2014 22:29
|
|
|
Knobjockey posted:A few weeks ago the passenger rear door central locking thingy decided to stop working. I ignored it. Get in the other side, don't argue. It's a warning shot. All your coilpacks are about to go out, as well as a window regulator or two for good measure.
|
|
#
?
Dec 3, 2014 22:53
|
|
|
Guinness posted:It's a warning shot. All your coilpacks are about to go out, as well as a window regulator or two for good measure. Last year it was the temperature flap motor (of course it was!) so you may be onto something.
|
|
#
?
Dec 3, 2014 23:13
|
|
|
2 new tires. Some lovely Ohtsu tires, same ones I had on the back. $55/ea, can't complain about much at that price. They're a little noisier than the outgoing Hankooks. Driving it with Torque running until it was down to 1 readiness monitor not ready. Checked codes after that, it had a pending code for the thermostat again. So I drove the piss out of it and got it up to a nice toasty 195, and got it inspected. Good for the next year. Code is still there as pending.
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2014 01:07
|
|
|
Try replacing it with a METAL thermostat. 
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2014 01:09
|
|
|
Swapped out my suspicious-looking factory radiator hose for a new one. Nine years on the originals is pretty drat good. On the other hand, nine years is nine years, and the engine side was fused onto the inlet in a manner most impressive. Couple that with Jeep speccing some beefy, excessively-reinforced hoses and it put up a good fight. Glad I didn't have to do it at the side of the road.
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2014 02:09
|
|
|
Decorated it and bought a Christmas tree with it It's a big jolly breadbox
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2014 05:08
|
|
|
Molten Llama posted:Swapped out my suspicious-looking factory radiator hose for a new one. Nine years on the originals is pretty drat good. I'm sitting at a little over 9 years on all original hoses myself. I pulled them when I changed the coolant after buying the car, and they all came off easily, but they're starting to feel a little brittle. The aluminum outlet neck on the engine was pitted quite a bit. Guess the original owner never got the memo about DexShit not really being good for 10 years. PhoenixWing posted:Decorated it and bought a Christmas tree with it Isn't this the one that caught on fire? If so, glad to see it back on the road!
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2014 05:19
|
|
|
some texas redneck posted:Isn't this the one that caught on fire? Indeed it is! Just needed a few new parts and it was good to go.
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2014 05:24
|
|
|
Sorry about the terrible picture (friggen sunset at 4:45) but I put it back in storage for the winter. I put it in a few weeks ago but it was short notice because of a incoming snowstorm (only 57 inches nbd). Yesterday I washed it, took the louvers off, filled up the gas and put some stabilizer in there. Its packed in my next door neighbors garage so Ill be able to start her up every few weeks or so.
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2014 15:55
|
|
|
Replaced the shock absorbers on my T100. Old ones were stock to the point that I could compress its full length in under three seconds. Decent quality gas-charged new ones with an online coupon from Advance. In reality, I'm just putting off replacing the front axles to another day where it's less raining
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2014 20:39
|
|
|
I have spent the last three days messing with the charging system on my newly acquired 1950 Plymouth Special Deluxe. I'm still not entirely sure it's working, but I've got a new battery, new generator brushes, rewired the ammeter the right way from P.O.'s settings, and am constantly chasing bad grounds/polarity problems causing no crank/no start conditions. That said, engine's strong, transmission is strong, brakes are great considering they're drums, vacuum wipers work, and all electronics work, even the radio. Of course, there are things to be worked on... Body rust, some frame rust, leaky fuel tank (presumably from the seam), in dire need of rewiring, tail lights, dome light, turn signals, brake signals all out. Gas pedal linkage occasionally sticks, and parking brake doesn't work, and the tires are some very ancient bias ply whitewalls that are rotting out from under the car as we speak. That said, I genuinely like this car, with the original Chrysler Flathead 6 and three on the tree. It's fun, and I think with some tlc it might almost be a car reliable enough to take on extended trips. Probably should find an OD trans first though...  
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2014 07:59
|
|
|
11BulletCatcher posted:I have spent the last three days messing with the charging system on my newly acquired 1950 Plymouth Special Deluxe. I'm still not entirely sure it's working, but I've got a new battery, new generator brushes, rewired the ammeter the right way from P.O.'s settings, and am constantly chasing bad grounds/polarity problems causing no crank/no start conditions. That said, engine's strong, transmission is strong, brakes are great considering they're drums, vacuum wipers work, and all electronics work, even the radio. YES. Those use a mechanical voltage regulator, right? Is that working?
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2014 08:01
|
|
|
Raluek posted:YES. I honestly don't know. It has a mechanical regulator, but I don't have any testing tools besides a led test light and spare wires, at the moment. I know when I drove it from its location in cookeville, TN, down the mountain (while simultaneously teaching myself how to drive a manual vehicle) it made it about 3-400 miles before dying out on US-19 in Elleville Ga. However, when I got home and did some research I realized that A) PO put an 8 volt battery in the system without adjusting the regulator and B) the generator brushes were probably worn. Got it home, got a new battery which ran down in 3 days. Pulled the Generator, put two new brushes in, replaced. Had some minor issues with grounds, mostly having to do with the beat up old horn relay combined with not understanding that I had to polarize the system. I used my warranty to get a new battery about 2 days ago, and am now crossing my fingers hoping that the brushes were the problem. It still has the cloth insulated wires, or what's left of them, and the only instrument gauge that works is the speedo/odo, aftermarket ammeter and dash lights, but so far so good. [edit] forgot, prior to this car, I sold the Town Car and Dodge Colt, and bought, for me and my GF, a 1989 Jaguar XJ6 Vanden Plas. It's a nice car but it did not take the ~ 800 mile trip to pickup the Plymouth very well. The hydraulic assist high pressure line (using Castrol mineral oil in a specialy designed bottle) recently burst, and Jaguar at that time connected the suspension and power brakes through the same system. So no power brakes ATM. I also seem to have a clogged injector in cylinder #5, and injectors cost at least $100 a piece, and I'll probably be doing it myself since local shops won't touch it for anything other than basic maintenance. I'm taking care of the braking problem first, then I'll be ordering the injector later. It's a really fun car though, and my first experience with an import. So slick too, if I hadn't bought it for her I'd probably be keeping it for myself...    11BulletCatcher fucked around with this message at 08:38 on Dec 6, 2014 |
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2014 08:18
|
|
|
Baller. I'm generally not a fan of British cars; I'd have kept the Crown Vic, personally. But it looks cool, so there's that. If you haven't run it yet now that you have a good battery and new brushes, I hope that was all it was. When I had a barely-charging system in my truck, it turned out that all that was wrong with it was the brushes. If you have a multimeter you can figure out if the regulator is working, probably. If it's like the one in my Ford, it's just a voltage comparator basically. Whenever the generator voltage is higher than battery voltage, it should connect the two. Those are 6V? So if you have 7V out from the generator, and 5.5V on the battery, the regulator isn't doing the right thing. I think the above is correct, but I didn't really gently caress with it since I figured out that it was the brushes. So I could be completely wrong about how it's supposed to work, or missing some crucial details.
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2014 08:44
|
|
|
Raluek posted:Baller. I'm generally not a fan of British cars; I'd have kept the Crown Vic, personally. But it looks cool, so there's that. I'll find out tomorrow, I'm heading over to Slick's Garage (Highway to Sell for those with cable) to do a Toys for Tots car show, so hopefully it behaves. Also, cost of those two cars? Plymouth: $2025 on ebay. Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaag: 1400 on craigslist.
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2014 08:49
|
|
|
There's a common problem on zx2s where the shifter will fall out and rest on the heat shield for the exhaust. Mine had been like that since I bought it so I made a shameful "fix" with some wire coat hanger.    The rubber ring that is supposed to hold the shifter in place was still in one piece, but it won't hold the shifter in place. That wire is wrapped all the way around the inner ring and it comes up and over the outer ring on the right side. The four bolts normally hold the stabilizer in place, and I've got them holding the wire in place now. It held together through a trip around the city right after, so I guess it's good enough for now. Viggen had one of these cars so maybe he knows a better fix for it.
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2014 23:31
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 23, 2024 20:57 |
|
|
Cage posted:Its packed in my next door neighbors garage so Ill be able to start her up every few weeks or so. You shouldn't start it unless you're going to drive it. You're doing more harm than good otherwise.
|
|
#
?
Dec 7, 2014 00:47
|
|
