What have you done to your car today?

CyborgGT
When you did your alignment, did you start by putting the steering wheel in its normal position and adjusting tie rods etc accordingly? Everything down in the suspension is straight?
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Nothing is tightened down yet. All is still left loose. No worries.
 
Brackets made for the Boost Control Solenoid, Mainifold Air Temp. I'm waiting for my new water pump and replacement tensioner pulley which enables me to remove the air conditioning pump. Once that's removed I'll remove all of the associated pipe work and accessories for the air con.

Spent the last few nights looking at wiring diagrams for both the Link and the ST185 and have produced a splicing diagram. I'll be able to handle it all myself I'm very confident of that. I'll remove the AGR too and install blanking plates.

So I removed the battery and AFM and started making the cold air box. I have all the parts cut out to size just need to get someone who's good at welding aluminium to weld it together for me.

Progress shot:

70e9d1a5.jpg


Also removed the carpet in the boot and cleaned all the surfaces, polished it all up and cleaned up the spare with tire shine etc as the battery box will go in there, and carpet would just get in the way.
 
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Just replaced both rear toe control arms on the MR2 with some beefier ones from Twos R Us. The stock ones get very rusty and seize up, and the right one was bent, giving extra toe-out at that corner. It drove nearly straight (I'm thinking it tended to drive to the left just a little) before, so I decided I'd start out with the new arms matched to the old left one's length. Now the rear wants to go to the left, bad. :lol:

Hopefully this weather keeps it up and I can go tweak it tomorrow.
 
Perfect Balance
Go back to whoever aligned your car and make them do it again.
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For some reason, he said he couldnt do it. As far as I can work out, I've actually changed the position of the wheel on the steering column. The front suspension Camber, Toe, Castor, etc are all aligned now. So cant I just pop the wheel off, and put it on straight?
 
Who did the alignment? Sounds like balony. Of course you can take the wheel off and try to centre it but I can't see how it was good before and then you stack it, then you get an alignment and it is out by that much...
 
Punknoodle
Who did the alignment? Sounds like balony. Of course you can take the wheel off and try to centre it but I can't see how it was good before and then you stack it, then you get an alignment and it is out by that much...
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Les Schwab. A highly reputable tire/alignment center on the West coast...
So you think I should take it back in and make them fix it?

It is worth mentioning that the steering wheel has gone from being almost 180 degrees off, and then when they aligned it, It is now only 90 degrees off.
 
Definitely take it back, and don't reposition your steering wheel to compensate - wouldn't you then be turning tighter in one direction than in the other at full lock?
 
hawkeye122
Les Schwab. A highly reputable tire/alignment center on the West coast...
So you think I should take it back in and make them fix it?

It is worth mentioning that the steering wheel has gone from being almost 180 degrees off, and then when they aligned it, It is now only 90 degrees off.
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Did you buy your cat used? If so the previous owner might be the origin of this fiasco.
 
CyborgGT
Definitely take it back, and don't reposition your steering wheel to compensate or you'll be turning tighter in one direction than in the other at full lock.
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I thought that the end of the steering was determined by the something farther down than the wheel :confused:

Sorry for the double post.
 
Not trying to drag the 'fix' on here, but to feed my own curiosity:

DJones
I thought that the end of the steering was determined by the something farther down than the wheel :confused:

Sorry for the double post.
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But if the steering wheel itself is not set to where it's supposed to be, then I would think that it affects the amount of travel you have in either direction (the ratio, left to right) because of your new-found 'default position.' Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
 
CyborgGT
Not trying to drag the 'fix' on here, but to feed my own curiosity:



But if the steering wheel itself is not set to where it's supposed to be, then I would think that it affects the amount of travel you have in either direction (the ratio, left to right) because of your new-found 'default position.' Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
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This has occurred to me. Tomorrow I'm going to put a bit of tape on the new "Center" and see if it turns from lock to lock. If it does, then I think just popping it off and re-positioning it should work. If not... Uh oh.
 
Replaced a bad throttle cable.

A friend needed picking up down near Denver, so I cleaned off the valve cover and slapped it back on. So I'm driving around with a (shaved!) bare aluminum engine cover with a navy blue spark plug cover... and I like it! I'm still going to paint it all matte & gloss black, but now that the car's running again and I'm kinda sick of walking to work... eh :grumpy:.
 
CyborgGT
... you have a fridge in your car?
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.....you don't?

I got a usb fridge fore christmas and that baby is perfect for gt5. Fits only a can so I plug it in to my ps3 while I'm online and it keeps my pop cold during races when I don't have time to get a drink!
 
CyborgGT
... you have a fridge in your car?
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...Yeah?

.%5CItems%5CCDF-11.jpg


That one specifically; got it for Christmas. Perfect for keeping the Coke (and the party-grade booze) nice and chilled on long trips :D It works on a normal 12V ciggy lighter, Hella socket or on the mains with a 12V - 240V adapter.

I wired in a Hella socket to the back of the centre console so the fridge can be sat either on the back seat or strapped into the front seat.
 
Put a Good To Go tolling transponder sticker on my windshield.

I think I'm going to replace my windshield soon. It's got a couple of rock chips and a major crack in it. The tolling transponder sticker is not reusable, so I left it on its peel-off wax paper backing, and just taped the sticker and peel-off backing onto the windshield using scotch tape. I crossed the toll bridge yesterday, and the machine read my transponder even though it's not "properly affixed" to my windshield. Winning.
 
changed the fuel tank in a mitsubishi shogun, something i haven't done before. will save a lot of diesel from falling onto the tarmac. damn thing had turned to rust, new one cost 60 quid and needed a lick of paint.
 
The "properly affixed" thing is just a rule which gives the cops authority to ticket you if the transponder is not "properly affixed", whatever that actually means. Obviously if it's not even visible, but you're getting through, they will fine you for that. Pretty bogus, given that the transponder will probably work just fine mounted under your dash. Anything they can come up with to get more of your money, they will.
 
Finally got a laptop a few days ago so I can post pics whenever now. Pulled these off the phone:

20111224-Shavedvalvecover2.jpg


20111224-Shavedvalvecover1.jpg


No more VTEC. I felt the power loss on the ol' butt dyno. Not sure when I'll get around to cleaning up the surface and painting it.
 
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Put the old intake piping back on today now that I've measured and cut all the brackets, cold air box etc for when I move the battery and install the new computer.

My big mission was then to find the origin of a very annoying squeak on the drivers door that has been driving me insane every time I drive the car. I've had the door card off around 5 times now searching for it.

Well today I pulled the glass out, removed the regulator, the side mirror, and after all that found the cause of the squeak - a little metal tab that cracked and was rubbing. The tab was surplus to requirements so I bent it on itself so it wouldn't rub. Took a good 2 hours and it was a bugger of a job but oh so worth it!

Next weekend I run my new power cable from the front to the back, removing the now redundant amp cable at the same time and make it ready for connecting once my battery box arrives. When I run that cable I'll also run 4 wires in to the engine bay from my ECU location for the boost solenoid and Intake Air sensor, and fit off plugs on the end of them so they are ready to just plug in once the ECU gets installed.
 
Keef
The "properly affixed" thing is just a rule which gives the cops authority to ticket you if the transponder is not "properly affixed", whatever that actually means. Obviously if it's not even visible, but you're getting through, they will fine you for that. Pretty bogus, given that the transponder will probably work just fine mounted under your dash. Anything they can come up with to get more of your money, they will.
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As far as I had thought, it should work, but I wasn't 100% sure until I tried it. But you're right, this is just a way for the government to get more money out of people.
 
Swapped my headlights over from the old sealed beam units to the much brighter halogen type, anyone who's ever driven a Mini at night will agree that this is a must do mod, next up is a HID bulb kit. :D

Also fitted new stainless wipers and uprated arms the combination of both of the above means I can now see where I'm going. 👍
 
I've actually just been looking around into getting a classic Mini. I didn't think swapping in a Honda motor would be so easy with the kits they've got out. No H/F support unfortunately, but still very cool.
 

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