What have you done to your car today?

[Philly]

I washed my car today, fully prepared for it to get messed up in a bit as rain is expected soon.

So then of course I was driving around tonight and it decided to drizzle. So there was no need for windshield wipers and my windshield is now covered in water spots. Saweet.

Replaced the wiper blades. Bought some Nu Finish Scratch Doctor just to see how well it works... it doesn't. Any recommendations?

How much buffing did you do? How many times did you apply? I also bought some and was rather disappointed with the performance I got.

I think a lot of it has to do with how you apply it. I detailed our Volvo with Ultimate Compound (similar product I assume) recently which hadn't been waxed in years. I went slow and made sure I did a good job on the hood, and that looks pretty good with almost no swirls. And then I went much quicker over the rest of the car because night was coming and it isn't nearly as good.

 

[GT]

Washed her completely and went to the beach for some awesome shots of her!

 

[Thatman]

Went and got my tranny and Diff oil changed!

 

[ND4SPD]

Got the ebrake fixed and went to the police station to get the fix it ticket thrown out.

 

[Slicks]

PB, What happened to your Civic? I searched a while ago about it, turned up nothing, and promptly forgot about it.


Recent changes to the Talon... Say, since the last time I posted here.

-Installed a mechanical boost guage. Found out that I get a bit of boost spike (13PSI, backing down to 11).
-Installed a 2.5" catless turbo-back exhaust. Can on the back, but the whole thing cost $50. Used, obviously. Now gets boost creep to 15psi in first and second, 17psi at the top of third.
-Purchased and installed a datalogger. Using an old Palm IIIe for monitoring. Found out that I'm getting knock when I creep up to 14+ PSI.

I also just purchased a water/meth injection kit to suppress the knock and let me climb to 17 PSI without worries. Won't arrive for a week or two.

Rotated the tires today after autocross.

Considering buying a Turbosmart eBoost 2. Used. So I can better control the boost levels, and as it comes with a water injection provision, the injection system as well.

The whole car needs a polish, and good cleanup. Tomorrow, hopefully.

 

[Rotary Junkie]

PB, What happened to your Civic? I searched a while ago about it, turned up nothing, and promptly forgot about it.

He wrecked it.

 

[Perfect Balance]

PB, What happened to your Civic? I searched a while ago about it, turned up nothing, and promptly forgot about it.

.

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=100540&page=85

Pics and story are there.

 

[Slicks]

That sucks hard, PB. Are you going to find another one and swap all the good bits over eventually, or make the 240 into your next project?

 

[Perfect Balance]

or make the 240 into your next project?

👍

 

[Thatman]

Bam FINALLY have SOUND!! And its got a tonne of rca ports on the back, was originally $200 got it at a pawn shop for $67!

 

[homeforsummer]

Not today - just before the weekend, but I've had very sporadic internet access given that I've been moving into a new flat. But for a day or so, the little Fiesta was replaced by this:

It's a Volkswagen Transporter T5 (if they still sell these in the US they're known as the "Eurovan", but I don't think you get the panel van version). Anyway, it was great fun, and I didn't want to give it back. Mine was a lowly 1.9 turbodiesel with probably less than 100bhp but lots of torque. The steering was better than a few of the cars I've driven recently and the gearshift was great, the little lever was quick and accurate and all the pedals felt good. Great fun.

It also marks:
a) The first van I've driven
b) The first diesel I've driven
c) The first Volkswagen I've driven.

And it didn't disappoint. I want a VW van!

 

[Philly]

And it didn't disappoint. I want a VW van!

Wait until you get into a VW car...

I'm busy polishing, glazing and waxing the GTI today. It is rather difficult to do while watching an F1 race.

 

[homeforsummer]

Wait until you get into a VW car...

The only VW I've even only passengered in was a Mk4 Golf (edit: I lie, one of my mates had a Mk2 Golf and I'd been in that too) before I drove this van (I've sat in lots but never moving!). Which is odd, because I really like VWs despite my lack of experience with them.

 

[Joey D]

Isn't that the van they drove on Top Gear back when they were roadies for The Who?

And the only VW van we get in the states is a Routan, which is basically a tarted up Dodge Caravan with a VW corporate face. Vans really aren't that popular here, more people are into SUV's and pickups.

 

[JCE]

Got my personalized license plate installed! And as soon as the Camaro gets drivable again the plate gets transferred.

 

[CyborgGT]

How much buffing did you do? How many times did you apply? I also bought some and was rather disappointed with the performance I got.

I'm not too worried about my car's paint right now, as there are scratches a-plenty and it sits outside, uncovered, in a lot of rain recently. So I'm not going so far as to buff/polish/clay it. It'll be a while before I'll replace the dented hood and have the entire car repainted for the attention to be worth it.

As for how I applied the Scratch Doctor, I followed the instructions: washed the area around the scratch and rubbed the stuff on with a cloth. Did it twice. Maybe I should rub harder...

By the way, what's good for taking out window water marks?

- - - - -

I changed my plugs tonight (SplitFire Copper Classics), but ran out of daylight before I could change the valve cover and plug gaskets. Yesterday I vacuumed (my friends, with their rock-infested shoes and sunflower seeds... wtf? ), and cleaned the windows.

 

[Thatman]

I cleaned my cars interior, my dads, and my bros cause it was raining

 

[homeforsummer]

Isn't that the van they drove on Top Gear back when they were roadies for The Who?

I think you're right, I'd forgotten about that episode. I think they had the 2.5 5-cyl version though, which has as much as 170bhp, it's bit of a beast. 5th Gear have tested it a couple of times, once doing their hotlap challenge against Mercedes' most powerful Vito van, and another time versus the A-Team's van. Both are on Youtube.

And the only VW van we get in the states is a Routan, which is basically a tarted up Dodge Caravan with a VW corporate face. Vans really aren't that popular here, more people are into SUV's and pickups.

I think I must have been thinking of the previous Transporter, the T4. I'm pretty sure they were sold over there as the Eurovan. In fact, yup.

 

[Famine]

What I've done to my car today is... buy it and fetch it...

Original on left, newbie ("Marvin") on the right​

He's a little unhealthy at the moment - though is about £20 of work away from being road-legal again. The plans for him don't include that £20 of work... He's part one of a project I'm tentatively naming "MXM". If you don't already know about this, you will

So far today I've done some extensive weight-reduction work by unscrewing that black numberplate plinth. Later I'll move to stage 2 by getting rid of those badges...

 

[homeforsummer]

The MX-3 looks fantastic in white, I've decided. What are those wheels on it, are they standard?

 

[Famine]

Yep. He's a 93 SE

Comes with those alloys and a very pleasant leather and suede interior. Also, he cost me £250 (which is just a hair over $400 at current exchange rates). Bwahahahahaha!


Somewhere between £1,200 and £2,000 will be sunk into him over the coming months, hopefully to get him into a completely finished, running, road legal state by about April. It was actually a condition of sale that he gets back on the road again - the owners turned down an offer of twice what I paid from someone who wanted to part him out.

 

[homeforsummer]

Incidentally, is the plan still...

plus...

For complete hilarity?

 

[Keef]

I won't give it away for people who don't know what's so special about those Millenias.

So is this what you're doing with the money saved from selling the Mondeo? I don't know man, that Mondeo was badass. This MX has some big shoes to fill.

 

[Famine]

No - the Mondeo went for about 4 times the entire budget of this project and, in any case, was merely an asset for my father's estate. I technically didn't own it - though I was the named owner and ran it for 12 months. It was pretty badass though

Plus it had less power (yes, the above is still the plan, but with some MX-6 thrown in by necessity) and was hauling more than 50% more weight about. In theory, at least, this project should just about match the Mondeo for off-the-line pace (the FWD law of diminishing returns) but from anything beyond the first gear change it should murder it. Though this is all paper-racing - when it's all ready I'll see what it can actually manage.

 

[stumpydino]

iv always kinda liked mx-3s, nice lil things a guy at work has a v6 one

today i went out to take a vid of driving through the forest just to show my mate what its like sitting in the gutter and holding my breath, it was a tad rough its mostly blurry

 

[JCE]

Nice MX-3's Famine. I've always loved those things.

 

[mustangGT90210]

So is the 210hp V6 from the millenia going into the MX-3?

 

[CyborgGT]

I'm interested to see what you'll be doing with the MX-3, Famine. Are both yours? If so, it's even cooler! 👍

I may have gotten my first speeding ticket today... possibly . There's this 35mph road that goes into a 30mph 'S', then back into a 35. I usually take the S at 40 (traffic is usually ~35), and did so this afternoon on my way to work. Occasionally there's a speed-radar SUV parked on the grass inside the turn, and as soon as I saw it, I braked down to about 35. Hopefully he didn't catch my 40, and is lenient about the limit changes. I dread the mail; my sister once got two tickets from this guy in one day... in the same car, when it was hers.

 

[Philly]

As for how I applied the Scratch Doctor, I followed the instructions: washed the area around the scratch and rubbed the stuff on with a cloth. Did it twice. Maybe I should rub harder...

By the way, what's good for taking out window water marks?

If it's a really bad scratch, you're not going to get it out with a lot of work. The best you can do is apply and rub for about a minute or so, then repeat a few times. If the Scratch Doctor is abrasive, you shouldn't have to rub harder, as it'll be working even without a lot of pressure.

Are you talking about water marks that are like dirt? Then they should wash off. Otherwise, some sort of alcohol should clean the windshield pretty well. especially if it's like a place where grease is building up.

I may have gotten my first speeding ticket today... possibly . There's this 35mph road that goes into a 30mph 'S', then back into a 35. I usually take the S at 40 (traffic is usually ~35), and did so this afternoon on my way to work. Occasionally there's a speed-radar SUV parked on the grass inside the turn, and as soon as I saw it, I braked down to about 35. Hopefully he didn't catch my 40, and is lenient about the limit changes. I dread the mail; my sister once got two tickets from this guy in one day... in the same car, when it was hers.

Is it a 30 mph warning with a yellow sign? Because I think the cops are there to catch people thinking those corners are a race track (probably like you ) If it was a warning sign, you should be fine unless you were screeching your tires at 40 mph. I've seen cops follow people into a 35 zone at 70 after a freeway ends without incident. Although, that speed limit change is probably there for a reason, so maybe they wouldn't be as lenient with the speed limit there.

Hopefully you'll get off just fine...

 

[Famine]

I'm interested to see what you'll be doing with the MX-3, Famine. Are both yours? If so, it's even cooler! 👍

Yes. The red one is a 1998 model and is one of the last batch of V6s Mazda UK brought over (I'm only aware of one newer one - by one day). The white one (called Marvin by his previous owners) is one of the 250 SE editions.

But I'll be doing this with it:

So is the 210hp V6 from the millenia going into the MX-3?

Yep. The supercharged, Miller cycle V6, to be more precise.

I've stripped much of Marvin's boot now, up to the rear seats and taken those extremely heavy badges off There'll be a little pause in events while I can get a couple of patches of the leather repaired and maybe dye the suede to match the unnamed red car, then I can transplant the seats (and put red's driving seat back in Marvin so we can move him about).