- 8,480
- P_Balance
What have you done to your car today?
- Thread starter Perfect Balance
- 6,673 comments
- 393,852 views
Joey D
Premium
- 47,567
- Lakes of the North, MI
- GTP_Joey
- GTP Joey
Finally washed, waxed and polished up the car. I need to look for better car wax though, I used Mother's FX wax and while it did a good job it didn't give much depth to the paint like waxes I've used in the past have done. It's not the end of the world since I'll be stripping it off come June to clay bar the whole car and rewax it. It was just so awful from the winter it needed a coat of wax pronto.
- 5,833
- Right behind you
- SRV2NV
Changed the plugs in my G35 finally with some NGK Iridium IX's. I've read that its a 4 hr job on a stock setup, but was able to do it in 2 hrs even with all my extra parts/mods.
Nissan says to change them at 169K km, so I changed them at 161K km, but realized they should have been changed 40K km ago to maintain performance and fuel economy. Could tell the difference as soon as I started her up, and as soon as I took her for a spin, she gave me goosebumps as soon as I stomped the gas peddle. Sometimes its just the little things you do that make you fall in love with your car all over again.
A couple of things I did notice though, and this is why I hate bringing my car to a mechanic. The guy who installed my headers didn't clip a wire harness back onto its bracket, not a big deal, but it was floating around really close to the heads. Second, that same person somehow couldn't get my instake tube back on my throttle body correctly, and ended up curling the bottom of the tube upwards. I'm not sure if it was letting unfiltered air into the TB, or blocking filtered air, but I'm glad I finally caught it when I did. A good throttle body cleaning looks to be in my future. Nothing else I saw looked out of place, so I'm hoping thats all I'll find.
Also replaced the spark plugs in my sisters Saab 9-3 2.0T. My hatred for Saab's has increased greatly, and I feel pity for any mechanic who has to work on them on a regular basis. Hopefully I can talk her into selling it and getting something a little easier to work on.
EDIT for Joey
Should have clay bar'd before waxing after the winter Joey. You basically just sealed in any salt/road residue that the soap couldn't remove. After winter, it should go like this...
-dish soap wash
-car soap wash
-rinse with filtered water
-clay bar
-either car soap wash again and/or polish
-wax
Following those steps will make your pant look a mile deep and should make sure nothing is sealed in under the wax.
Nissan says to change them at 169K km, so I changed them at 161K km, but realized they should have been changed 40K km ago to maintain performance and fuel economy. Could tell the difference as soon as I started her up, and as soon as I took her for a spin, she gave me goosebumps as soon as I stomped the gas peddle. Sometimes its just the little things you do that make you fall in love with your car all over again.
A couple of things I did notice though, and this is why I hate bringing my car to a mechanic. The guy who installed my headers didn't clip a wire harness back onto its bracket, not a big deal, but it was floating around really close to the heads. Second, that same person somehow couldn't get my instake tube back on my throttle body correctly, and ended up curling the bottom of the tube upwards. I'm not sure if it was letting unfiltered air into the TB, or blocking filtered air, but I'm glad I finally caught it when I did. A good throttle body cleaning looks to be in my future. Nothing else I saw looked out of place, so I'm hoping thats all I'll find.
Also replaced the spark plugs in my sisters Saab 9-3 2.0T. My hatred for Saab's has increased greatly, and I feel pity for any mechanic who has to work on them on a regular basis. Hopefully I can talk her into selling it and getting something a little easier to work on.
EDIT for Joey
Should have clay bar'd before waxing after the winter Joey. You basically just sealed in any salt/road residue that the soap couldn't remove. After winter, it should go like this...
-dish soap wash
-car soap wash
-rinse with filtered water
-clay bar
-either car soap wash again and/or polish
-wax
Following those steps will make your pant look a mile deep and should make sure nothing is sealed in under the wax.
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- 491
- GTP_DOUQA
Did a wheel alignment on my Golf and was amazed when I got everything in spec (even caster). Result.
Then decided to adjust the gear linkage as it can be a little diffcult to get into reverse sometimes. I found that gravity was what was holding the linkage together. I grabbed a shift rod and it all fell apart. There were 2 nut missing from it and one was about 5 turns loose. Its much better now but could still do with a gear linkage service kit, or even a complete, weighted replacement.
I've not had the car long and there plenty that needs doing. I even found a driveshaft flange bolt ready to drop out and the rest weren't that tight. Its gonna keep me busy for sure.
Then decided to adjust the gear linkage as it can be a little diffcult to get into reverse sometimes. I found that gravity was what was holding the linkage together. I grabbed a shift rod and it all fell apart. There were 2 nut missing from it and one was about 5 turns loose. Its much better now but could still do with a gear linkage service kit, or even a complete, weighted replacement.
I've not had the car long and there plenty that needs doing. I even found a driveshaft flange bolt ready to drop out and the rest weren't that tight. Its gonna keep me busy for sure.
- 23,800
- Philippines
The only way to prove it definitively is a blind instrumented A-B-A test. I've never seen a hydrogen set-up pass one.
Would be interested in seeing your set-up and what ancillaries are attached. The problem with set-ups that purportedly work is that they often include an ECU intercept or carb retuning... Or in some cases, the installation changes the vacuum pressure, which makes the engine run leaner.
(If it's just the hydrogen itself, we've done the math over and over... The amount of water that even the most efficient setups consume won't produce enough hydrogen to give you as much of a virtual octane boost as a good water injection set-up... Something which I have but which I do not use for fuel efficiency, but for power.... So I don't retune the vehicle leaner to take advantage of it.)
If it's the former, you can do the same thing with a simple ECU intercept... Lord knows, some older stock vehicles run pig-rich... (have seen some that idle at a ludicrous 10:1 AFR!). if it's the latter, I could give you the same results by leaning out the engine and quenching detonation with a water injection spray.
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I'm not. I'm just a customer.
Like I said. It has been installed a week ago and against all expectation, I'm already saving fuel. Let's just wait and see what the future brings and if this system is as good as they promise.
http://www.automotive-ecology.eu/Home/tabid/36/language/nl-BE/Default.aspx
Like I said. It has been installed a week ago and against all expectation, I'm already saving fuel. Let's just wait and see what the future brings and if this system is as good as they promise.
http://www.automotive-ecology.eu/Home/tabid/36/language/nl-BE/Default.aspx
Maybe this explains it?
There is a small hydrogen generator, a small resevoir (2 liters, which contains demi water) and a tube going to the air filter of the car. The fuel is enriched with hydrogen. There some tupes coming and going from this reservoir and the generator.
There is a small hydrogen generator, a small resevoir (2 liters, which contains demi water) and a tube going to the air filter of the car. The fuel is enriched with hydrogen. There some tupes coming and going from this reservoir and the generator.
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- 2,833
- Colorado
- GTP_Cyborg
Tomorrow: cleaning the engine (a friend in Denver wants to rebuild it so he has something for when emissions come around), engine bay, separating the engine and tranny, and a full power steering system delete. Sometime between now and swapping to a coupe I'll get a steering rack from the junkyard and convert its innards to manual, then put it in when I move my engine over.
Rotary Junkie
Premium
- 9,810
- Canton, MI
- RJs_RX-7
What have I done today?
Nothing, aside from cursing at Ford for going with 5x108 bolt pattern. 5x114.3 is EVERYWHERE including their other products, then they go and give the MN12s 5x108 like the Taurus.
Hopefully soon enough I'll be taking measurements on what offsets and widths I can clear... I know 245s will sneak in just fine up front but rear is going to take some creative sizing it seems... Everyone running a non-staggered setup has the rears sitting in with the fronts flush and even those with staggered offset have the rears sitting in further...
So I suppose I'm also cursing the track width differences.
Nothing, aside from cursing at Ford for going with 5x108 bolt pattern. 5x114.3 is EVERYWHERE including their other products, then they go and give the MN12s 5x108 like the Taurus.
Hopefully soon enough I'll be taking measurements on what offsets and widths I can clear... I know 245s will sneak in just fine up front but rear is going to take some creative sizing it seems... Everyone running a non-staggered setup has the rears sitting in with the fronts flush and even those with staggered offset have the rears sitting in further...
So I suppose I'm also cursing the track width differences.
- 3,211
- Brisbane
- Punknoodle_Nick
Lol you just explained my issues over the last year or so of choosing wheels.
On that note, I payed for some H&R 25mm hubcentric spacers today. With the Aussie dollar the way it is against the US dollar I couldn't help grabbing a set from the US, even if I just put them on for photos etc and run without them on the road.
Im having concerns about my wheel selection that in my size and offset that the dish won't be enough for my liking. I've played with width and offset and that's the most dish I can get without going crazy (I still want good handling after all and no rubbing). 57mm front and 69mm rear.
In the photos the rims look great but they have a lot of dish, and in photos on the net there are examples where there is hardly any dish and they look terrible. I'll try and get the supplier to provide me with a photo of the wheel in my size and offset so I can see.
On that note, I payed for some H&R 25mm hubcentric spacers today. With the Aussie dollar the way it is against the US dollar I couldn't help grabbing a set from the US, even if I just put them on for photos etc and run without them on the road.
Im having concerns about my wheel selection that in my size and offset that the dish won't be enough for my liking. I've played with width and offset and that's the most dish I can get without going crazy (I still want good handling after all and no rubbing). 57mm front and 69mm rear.
In the photos the rims look great but they have a lot of dish, and in photos on the net there are examples where there is hardly any dish and they look terrible. I'll try and get the supplier to provide me with a photo of the wheel in my size and offset so I can see.
- 5,833
- Right behind you
- SRV2NV
I fixed the shift boot(my friend did tho) and installed a new steering wheel. On my car.
On my dads car,mind you he is 64, we installed a cone filter.
Build some kind of heat shield for it to go between the engine and filter. Right now its doing nothing but sucking in hot air, and its probably producing less power than it did before the mod.
- 11,343
- Chicago, iLL
- GTP_Nismo
Not to my car but we did install a set of STANCE GR+ coilovers on my friend's 2006 STI. They ride great even with a basic garage alignment. I will say though, we can't recommend these. He's an engineer and machinist for a metal company everyone here deals with on a daily basis so he's pretty anal when it comes to metal work and quality. These are not very well made. He had to make a set of bottom locking collars and spanner wrenches out of 300 series SS just to have the peace of mind. Think of STANCE coilovers as Ksport body with really good damping. The brake line clips on the fronts were not specific to the car. Instead of a bolt through bracket, they were a clip type of application.
- 2,266
- GTP_Thatman/Thatmanthere
- A Man Hamster
I wouldn't want to see that mess...
(since it would look bad if I built it.) But he says that he has seen an improvement in gas mileage and that's all he wanted. And yeah it likely could be argued that just changing the stock one *may* have done that too, but it wasn't at all that dirty.
And in other news I installed some things:
Keef
Premium
- 25,183
- Dayton, OH
- GTP_KeefRacer
- GTP Keef
Mine didn't have brake line brackets at all. But I will say that I had to deal with a way-too-tight bottom mount collar that other night when I went to adjust camber and roll my fenders. The aluminum collar performed perfectly well, despite being torqued by the spanners to no effect, stabbed by a large flat head screw driver, and finally pummeled by a railroad spike of a chisel and carpenter's hammer. The tips of the steel spanners both bent, and I had to hammer them back.
Stainless collars aren't a bad idea, but they're overkill and not necessary if you prep the shock body correctly. The threaded body is simply black oxide steel - it will rust. I coated all the useable threads with anti-seize for rust protection. The reason I couldn't get the collar off is because a technician friend of mine has a bad habit of tightening things way tighter than they need to be, and that happened to be his side of the car. The other collar totally secure, but came loose easily by hand.
The materials and build quality of Stance's coilovers are very good. The only meaningful fault with them is the damper tuning - a thing which very few companies ever get right. Besides that, they're built very well.
- 8,480
- P_Balance
- 2,833
- Colorado
- GTP_Cyborg
My H22A came Monday. Damn near mint, this ish is CLEAN! I swapped the thermostat and installed NGK plugs, removed the power steering pump, and moved the upper water neck with its temp sensor from my F22A1. Tomorrow holds no work so I'm installing: NGK plug wires, generic cap / rotor / valve cover gasket kit, OEM cam seals / rear main seal / tranny output seals / water pump / timing, balance, and accessory belts / auto-to-manual conversion of timing belt tensioner with parts from an H23, moving necessary H22 harness plugs to my F22 harness as well as a RyWire VTEC subharness, and a Bisimoto heat-shielding intake manifold gasket. And my stock downpipe-to-cat flange is too rusted together to unbolt so I've got to cut it off and have the H's dp welded on later. Busy day, I'm hoping to have the engine in and running when I'm off again on Friday. Maybe one day I'll have pics, my PC is fried, I'm not sure if it's the HDD or motherboard.
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