What did you do to your vehicle today?

[asian_XL]

Sunday is Carbon Fiber interior day

[dared3vil0]

No touch screen or anything in that thing? Weird!

[asian_XL]

It is a 2011 Mazda 5! what do you expect? lol

I have this in my trunk, waiting to be installed



Also, speakers/sub, dash cam, backup camera, etc

[320icar]

Originally Posted by asian_XL

Sunday is Carbon Fiber interior day

Picture of your seat covers? Those look awesome

[asian_XL]

Originally Posted by 320icar

Picture of your seat covers? Those look awesome

It was re-upholstered when it arrived the dealer, quite common in Hong Kong

[CCA-Dave]

Almost 3,000km of "shakedown" later, and I have another list of items to do to the Rally Bug. Some of these are large items, based on the drive, and others are little things that I've been meaning to take care of for a long time, but you never get around to it. Moving my dash cam, for instance, from the centre of the windshield to an area that the wipers actually clear would be a smart idea. So...tear the car down yet again.


One of the big issues identified on the drive is that I'm still too rear-brake biased. I was able to work most of it out, but the balance bar is at the point of binding, so I needed to swap out the master sizing. Front brakes got a larger master, and we'll see how that goes.


Partway through the drive, the tuning on the fuel injection started getting quite challenging, and I suspected an exhaust leak. A few hundred kilometers later, and I knew I had an exhaust leak. Just wish I had stopped to realize it was blowing right onto the rear apron. The paint was already hurting from similar incidents, but I totally demo'd it this time.


Got a buddy of mine to slice off some 6061 for use as wheel spacers...


Started modifying the pallet on my rotary table so that I can finish the wheel spacers. Spent the rest of the evening filtering the aluminum chips out of my bourbon with my teeth...but hey, could be worse. I wasn't cutting/drilling with coolant :P


Hacking away at the list...should be back on the road in another couple of nights for more testing.

-Dave

[SumAznGuy]

Been a while, but I finally got off my arse and ordered parts for the Shitvic. Spoon DC2 calipers, Mini Cooper 280mm 4 bolt rotors, and TSX Hawk HP+ pads for the street.

Next on my list is to re-do the wiring to the battery and then will try to start the car. Been sitting for a while so it may need more work.

[asian_XL]

bought some engine cleaner from China, OMG it cleans like new car!!!

[91cord]

Originally Posted by asian_XL

bought some engine cleaner from China, OMG it cleans like new car!!!

does the premacy/mazda5 in asia come with power sliding doors?

[asian_XL]

yes

[UnknownJinX]

Originally Posted by asian_XL

Sunday is Carbon Fiber interior day

That almost looks like an AutoExe steering wheel.

Pretty sure they don't come with carbon fiber, though.

I ordered an AutoExe steering wheel for my RX-8 as well. Lots of people like it and I am sure it will feel better than the OEM one.

[jasonturbo]

Started the major service for the RS... will also be cleaning under carriage and installing some new OEM+ equipment.

[asian_XL]

Originally Posted by UnknownJinX

That almost looks like an AutoExe steering wheel.

Pretty sure they don't come with carbon fiber, though.

I ordered an AutoExe steering wheel for my RX-8 as well. Lots of people like it and I am sure it will feel better than the OEM one.

I paid 200cad to have it re-wrapped in China. It is custom made, can make whatever shape I like.

[UnknownJinX]

Originally Posted by asian_XL

I paid 200cad to have it re-wrapped in China. It is custom made, can make whatever shape I like.

Where can you do that?

Just curious.

[asian_XL]

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm..._u=ekhpl0k014f

They will send you a rewrapped steering wheel for $1700RMB + whatever shipping cost
Core is $500RMB = 90CAD, but it is difficult to return your steering wheel, as foreign car parts will get taxed heavily, I have to smuggle mine by carrying in my backpack.

[CCA-Dave]

I've worked through the critical items on the list, and have just a couple of regular maintenance items left on the list. There is, of course, the usual collection of "would be nice" items we always seem to end up with. Items which can't be completed before the Classic Car Adventures' Hagerty Spring Thaw get moved to the long-term list.

One of the items super beetle fans are all familiar with is the front end shimmy. It's a chronic problem that they all experience, the only solution is to replace all front end components except the steering box. The Rally Bug has a few light ones now and then, but usually related to the fact that I use balancing beads instead of traditional stick on weights. Occasionally the beads will "bunch up" if you hit a pothole, or launch off a line, and you simply lift the throttle and roll back on to smooth it out. So when I left home for the 3000km shakedown, the light occasional shimmy didn't bother me. I was running a second set of wheels/tires that may not have the correct amount of beads in them either. Post shakedown I was expecting to have to do the idler bushing (only original part left, and only part that doesn't get swapped on a schedule). But nope...alignment shop didn't tighten the inner tie-rod locking collar enough. :-| Yikes. By the time I got home it was loose enough I'm concerned the threads could be compromised. Almost new tie-rod in the bin, and one of my new ones off the shelf is now in the car.


Oddly enough, it seems I have a problem with one of my brand-new Silver Project upper strut mounts. While working the suspension to pull the tie rod assembly out of the car, and check everything over, I found the passenger spring is binding. Further inspection and it seems the whole pillow bearing binds when a load is applied to the upper strut bushing. If you pop the strut out of the lower ball joint, it all spins smoothly. Pop the lower ball joint in (so the strut is under some load) and it binds. The bearing doesn't want to turn with steering movement. I must have pulled it in and out of the car six times, checking, disassembling, reassembling with different washer combinations and so on. Can't find the actual problem, unless it's the pillow bearing. I milled up a little test adapter and tried to bench-load it a little, and I *think* it gets stiffer, so the bearing needs to be swapped out. These came from Poland, and have the markings on the bearing machined off and replaced with "Silver Project", so I'll have to see if I can get them to tell me what they are.

It would seem under full load (with the weight of the car on the bearing, it works correctly. I’ll need to do some short road tests to figure out if the stock bearings are going back in again until I get this solved. On the plus side, the shock boots I made up at the beginning of the winter tell the full story. As the bearing binds, the boot “twists”, and holds the twist…so diagnosis should be easy.


I definitely should have paid more attention to the exhaust leak. It was expelling hot exhaust gases directly at the rear apron. The photo is what’s left of the fibreglass radiant heat protector…it’s crispy! Unfortunately it has completely trashed the rear apron paint, so I’ll be looking to get that repainted at some point this summer. It was cracked and a little bubbled previously, but now it’s destroyed. The section where it was hitting has some bondo in it, and that’s all cracked and popped off the apron. POR-15 the damaged inside paint (which was completely gone) and two new layers of fibreglass sheet. Replacing the exhaust with one I haven’t beat to a pulp should probably be added to the list!


I need a way to store the laptop I use for fuel injection, and have it easily accessible. Toss in the fact that I’ve got a co-driver at the next event, and well the front seat isn’t going to work. Hmm…need some aluminium C-Channel. But I have this old pocket door channel…and a milling machine…


A quick few minutes, and I’ve got a laptop holding box. Added some high impact foam on the inside of the C-Channels, and some felt to the outside for the “OEM” look. It mounts below the passenger seat, you can just see the laptop (in a neoprene sleeve) sticking out.




Started working on the footplate panel. Ran out of weekend.

[twitchyzero]

siliconed the crevice between taillight and trunk
wired rear dash cam...rear half of the headliner's all wrinkly now

[SkydiveDan]

Not today but yesterday... Sold my 91 Na with collector plates. The car wasn't being driven so it had to go. The only reason I'm upset about losing a collector MR2 is that I let the douche bag buyer grind me down another $100 after he couldn't swap over the collector plates. I even explained to the idiot before he couldn't do that. At that point I said give me the money and gtfo. Then all I could think of was good luck with the black mold issue (that was disclosed in the ad)

[extracrunchie]

Originally Posted by SkydiveDan

Not today but yesterday... Sold my 91 Na with collector plates. The car wasn't being driven so it had to go. The only reason I'm upset about losing a collector MR2 is that I let the douche bag buyer grind me down another $100 after he couldn't swap over the collector plates. I even explained to the idiot before he couldn't do that. At that point I said give me the money and gtfo. Then all I could think of was good luck with the black mold issue (that was disclosed in the ad)

Damn!!! I wanted one of these but a turbo one............so hard to find a good one.

[CCA-Dave]

Finished off the list, with the exception of the foot plate, and took the Rally Bug out for a shakedown. Rally computer works, steering shimmy is gone, the various electrical upgrades are all functioning and it seems that the fuel injection is working as anticipated, now that the exhaust leak is sorted.



After this image was taken, I washed and waxed it...and then took the '58 out for a spin. T'was a good day!

-Dave

[77civic1200]

How did you get a gas pump?

[twitchyzero]

put enough Shell advertisement on your car = free pump

[CCA-Dave]

Hahahahaha. I guess maybe RS isn't aware that my car is a visual replica of the factory cars that raced in Europe in the '70s. It took me a while, but I have original copies of all the Austrian and German magazines that the original cars were featured in. The livery on mine has changed a little, but when it was first shot for RetroCars magazine, it was as close to factory as I could get. The livery on the factory cars changed from event to event, and sometimes in the middle of an event. I basically took the S117•240 livery, and switched out for the coloured shell logos that were used at later rallies. I have a photo of S117•240 using the coloured shell logos, but they had moved positions because Bilstein was a bigger sponsor on that particular event. Meh, close enough :P



The gas pump is something I picked up at a scrap dealer last year. It's non-functioning, but goes really well with the front of my shop. I've stripped all the panels off the back of it, and I'm slowly fixing them up, and the pump will become a premium fuel pump, as opposed to the diesel that it's currently branded as. I really want a '70s pump, with the chrome, but they are difficult to find unrestored and/or at a price I'm willing to pay. I'm not interested in paying the price of a used car on a lawn ornament. :P


-Dave

[yray]

^ should make it into a hose bib

using the gas gun to water your lawn

[Mister2SC]

New Shoes