What have you done to your car today?

[nobuffalo]

Won't really hurt anything, just gotta get it out of the fuel system.

 

[CyborgGT]

Oil/filter change.

Rotating tires, vacuuming and cleaning the inside of the windows tomorrow; they're kinda hard to see through in direct sunlight. My stereo was stolen a while back so I finally got a new wiring harness adapter, and hopefully I can find a dirt cheap CD player at a junk yard soon (I've been listening to my iPod through some tiny headphone-jack speakers), I don't feel like paying full price for a new deck just yet.

 

[bergauk]

Here in America high-sulfur diesel fuel used for anything from heating to farm tractors is tinted red. It's not legal to use it in a registered street car.

Pray to God you didn't just pump off-road diesel through your fuel system.

I'm sure no one did that. I still can't figure it out though. I've looked for information on it and haven't come up with much. All I know, is I have about 6 gallons out and they all look like red coolaid. Smells like gasoline still though.

 

[Keef]

It seems a type of aviation gasoline is also red. Apparently that fuel was phased out in the 90s though.

Maybe the gas has been stained by rust from inside the tank? Some sort of chemical additive?

 

[bergauk]

I'm hoping its one of those last two. Hopefully not aviation gas. It's not as if someone could've poured anything bad into the tank though, its got a locking cap. I drained out another gallon today and the fuel pump sounded different so I think its nearly all out of there. Probably gonna put some fresh fuel into it now and see what that does. If nothing. I guess I'll start looking at learning more stuff about engines. My brother suggested the carb might be frozen. Worth a shot? The car has sat for quite a while.

 

[Keef]

Stuck or clogged maybe but not "frozen". Carbs actually can freeze, lol. Most have a tube going from the air filter to an exhaust manifold. The point is for the intake to draw in the hot air from the manifold so the carb doesn't ice over in cold temps.

 

[bergauk]

Well, it wouldn't do any harm for me to rebuild it just for the heck of it would it?

 

[Keef]

I suppose not, as long as it's done right. You might as well start diagnosing the problem by checking everything. And ask around why gasoline might be red!

 

[stumpydino]

Japanese? What parts are you after?

PM me. I can source some stuff.

american i know where to get the stuff, still a hassle of doing it lol theres a couple of places that do that get stuff in, or ebay of course if im lucky its in this country, or use bits from another car...its already got lights from an MR2, and a ford fog light

 

[homeforsummer]

Remember this?...

This is what it looks like now (finally got a chance to take a photo in natural light)

Ignore the darkness of the first pic, that was just to highlight the dirt. Notice how it's all the right colour now though! And no damp spots! Only one more panel like that and the driver's seat to go, then...

 

[Barracuda]

I had a much more interesting night than I thought I would tonight.

My friend stopped over and we decided to do some off-roading since we were bored. Near his house there's a good place with some soft sand that's fun to go through, which we went through a few times with no real problem. Well also near his house there's an L type street with a large pit with really soft sand in the middle that many people get stuck in. We were already hyped from going through the other sand so we tried it:

A little more than halfway through we were stuck, and that picture doesn't even show the worst of it. After I took that picture we tried different things to get out and ended up burying it pretty much to the frame. I called another friend to get some shovels and pieces of wood and we dug it out. It took two times of digging it out, putting boards under the wheels, and pushing like hell, but we got it out. It would have been a lot easier if we could have just pulled it out but the road it's on is pretty busy, must have had like five different people stop around the corner and ask if we needed help, lol.

 

[Keef]

Awesome! I'd rather be stuck in sand than mud any day. At least it doesn't get slathered all over you and ruin your clothes.

 

[Barracuda]

Awesome! I'd rather be stuck in sand than mud any day. At least it doesn't get slathered all over you and ruin your clothes.

Oh yea, definitely. That sand was pretty much quick sand even for me though, and i'm only 200 something lbs, let alone close to 6000lbs. It was ridiculous when I poured the sand out my shoes, just wouldn't stop.

Not to make excuses but we went into it at only 25mph, his tires are pretty much bald, and having four subs and generally a ton of stuff in the back didn't help either. He plans on doing a 1 inch lift, and getting some meaty 30"s instead of his regular 28"s, but even with that I don't think he could make it. Hell my other friend said he's known people with trucks where the body starts at the top of his Cherokee that have buried it real deep there. There are tracks going all the way through it though, but they must have been going at least 50mph with something serious to get through it.

 

[eiriksmil]

I brought it out to sunlight today, first time this year

 

[mustangGT90210]

Where's the Ronal Turbos???

 

[Jay]

I think the Ronal Turbos are getting whored around


https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=115224

 

[slidesquad#1]

Haha that's awesome, quite possibly the only Charade in the world that gets put away for winter?

 

[Kylehnat]

I bought some new springs--which will drop my car about 1.5"--and a Vibrant exhaust header, which should add 10-12 hp. Cannot wait to install these!

 

[eiriksmil]

Haha that's awesome, quite possibly the only Charade in the world that gets put away for winter?

Haha, my buddies GTti does also Maybe the only 1.3 that gets put away though.

The GTti:

 

[Keef]

Awww, look who's creepin' in the background...

 

[eiriksmil]

I didn't wanna try my luck getting up the curb..

 

[Patrik]

Haven't done much I can say. Lowered about an inch, Eiker E1 17" rims, clear indicators, painted the front spoiler the same colour as the body instead of having it black and that's about it I think. No wait a minute. I've changed gearbox, clutch, exhaust system and fuel pump as well. Oh, and a few details on the interior have been done. Oh yeah, the cylinder head has been restored as well. That's it...

Before:

After:

Needs to be lowered at least one more inch, don't you think?

EDIT: Sorry, didn't notice it was what you've done today... Then its just looking at it being under the snow.

 

[Boz Mon]

I changed my oil today, and vacuumed out my car

 

[ExigeEvan]

I washed it and did a fluid check.

8 weeks without a wash and lots of road salt meant it was pretty disgusting. Need to get hold of my mums pump to do tyre pressures tonight and needs a clean inside aswell but that can wait.

 

[Keef]

I've had some suspension clunks for the longest time now with this damn EM1. Never ws sure what it was. Worn bushings? Old shocks? My technician friend even thought I should check my sway bar end links. All these parts do have 145,000 miles on them, after all.

So, two days ago I developed something new--a really loud pop/bang whenever I stopped, started, or turned a corner. Hmm. Today, after some experimentation backing up and down the curb of my driveway 20 times I finally realized it was coming from the right rear. Time to jack it up!

So yeah, Donovan might be called a technician for a reason. My right rear end link was broken. Nice! The socket at the top that the ball fits into eventually got wallered out and the thing just popped right out

Also, it turns out you have to have a special tool that I don't have in order to take these things off. I was just going to take the end links and sway bar off and replace the end links with something sturdier soon. But I couldn't take apart the end links. My options are A) cut it off, or B) duct tape the hanging part of the end link to the lower control arm and wait for the weekend, since I have to go to work tomorrow. Guess which option I took.

 

[Slicks]

I'd go with hidden option C.

New [bigger] swaybar and poly endlinks.




Today: Washed and gave it a quick detail. Took nearly three hours to get all the ski hill dirt off the car. Tested out my new foam gun... works great! Uses alot of detergent, though - Probably triple what I'd use for a two-bucket wash job.

 

[Keef]

I'd go with hidden option C.

New [bigger] swaybar and poly endlinks.

Eventually. Also, polyurethane end links? Baha! I don't have no stinkin' bushings in my end links. These things are solid! But made for a 13mm sway bar, which means they're also not very sturdy.

 

[Perfect Balance]

Eventually. Also, polyurethane end links? Baha! I don't have no stinkin' bushings in my end links. These things are solid! But made for a 13mm sway bar, which means they're also not very sturdy.

They shouldn't be solid unless they're aftermarket.

Also, what do you mean by "sturdy"?

 

[Keef]

They shouldn't be solid unless they're aftermarket.

Also, what do you mean by "sturdy"?

They're stock Si end links; they don't have any bushings.

Also,

"strongly built; stalwart; robust"

 

[Perfect Balance]

They're stock Si end links; they don't have any bushings.

Also,

I know what it means, I'm wondering how you're applying it to endlinks.