What have you done to your car today?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Perfect Balance
  • 6,674 comments
  • 416,004 views
replacing thermostat, maybe remove the dashboard to remove a ton of wiring that I've wanted to remove from back there.
 
I applied Rain X to Heathers Saturn and my Subaru Impreza. All the windows. And it rained today so that worked out perfect. :)

Then I started buffing and waxing both cars. Got about 1/4 of the way finished. Her car is very dark so every small light scratch shows up. This weekend I am taking my Subaru to my neighbors shop so I can do a tranny fluid flush, oil change, and service the brakes.
 
I've put my heaterbox and instrumentpanel back into my 635csi, removed the bitumen from the floor, painted the floor and trunk with Hammerite.
 
Taken delivery of my new Milltek Single Box Stainless Exhaust:

P1030569.jpg


P1030572.jpg


P1030574.jpg


IMG_1240.jpg


P1030586.jpg
 
Last edited:
Looks nice man, no cat?

I installed my new head unit last night, sounds ok but I have to tune it further to my liking, at least it improves the look of my centre console a lot - not only is it an attractive unit but the surround is black so it matches the console, as opposed to the cheap grey after market one that was in there.

Anyway stereos schmereos, back to real car talk - picked up these:
bushes.jpg


Unfortunately the rear trailing arm bushes are on back order and will be up to 6 weeks (what is it with things taking so bloody long to make - STILL haven't heard about when my rims are being dispatched yet) but I have everything for the front so I can do that when I get a chance, and when the rear trailing arm stuff comes in (3 more kits) Ill attack everything in the back at once, along with the camber adjustment bolts I got for it.

Then wheel alignment, fit rims, get windscreen re-sealed and I'll be a happy man!
 
Nope, no Cat, they didn't come with one until about '89 - '90 when the last revision of the quattro came out.
 
Finally got my gauges. Forgot that I also got a shift light though, since it took so long to get the gauges, so I'll install the shift light this weekend. It'll get mounted to one of the gauge pods, right in between the two.

photo_4.jpg


photo_3.jpg


photo_2.jpg
 
Is that a 2010+ mustang? ^^^



Me, well I soaked my upper ball joints/pinch bolts/camber bushings in PB blaster, going to re-apply soon, in anticipation of starting to replace the camber bushings to get my 3 degrees positive camber back into spec
 
Just take it for a little drive. I'm also considering a new stereo. I figure that it's unacceptable for a car from '06 to not have a aux jack.
 
I've started deconstructing my little project...

331141057.jpg


331142990.jpg


331328707.jpg

SCORE!

What're your plans... straight up restoration? California style? Volksrod?

I keep dreaming of buying one of these things and doing a Cal-look conversion... but if I had two toys eating up our savings, my wife would kill me... :lol:


800px-CalLookVolkswagenKurtVanPerre.jpg
 
Autocrossed. Somehow I only managed to remember to record three of the NINE runs I made today. And I know the first two didn't count, not sure where the third one fit in...

 
I spent Friday night and all day Saturday tackling the ordeal of taking my bumper off, covering my fogs with yellow vinyl, refinishing my front lenses, respraying some flat black on a couple brackets and plastic trims that had overspray on them, resealing some of those lenses (one of which failed), and then putting it all back together.

When I got it all back together I finally realized I didn't have to remove the bumper at all. Would have saved a few hours. I knew a Japanese company couldn't possibly have made it so complex - I'm just a big dummy! :lol:
 
SCORE!

What're your plans... straight up restoration? California style? Volksrod?

I keep dreaming of buying one of these things and doing a Cal-look conversion... but if I had two toys eating up our savings, my wife would kill me... :lol:

Straight up resto I think with a few "enhancements" as I progress. Once I'm sure I have a solid base to work from (metaphorically, since the actual car is surprisingly solid for something that's lived in the UK for 37 years) then I may give it a little extra power. Even approaching 60-70bhp would be a useful gain for something that was producing 44bhp brand new...

Autocrossed. Somehow I only managed to remember to record three of the NINE runs I made today. And I know the first two didn't count, not sure where the third one fit in...

Nice, could definitely see improvements each time. Bit of a handful with all that weight out back though!
 
Last edited:
I gave my car a wash and then polished it. It's so clean now, I really wish it could be in the garage tonight so it doesn't get any condensation on it. I also re-justed the nozzles for the water sprayers. I know this doesn't sound interesting but being on P plates in Australia means I can't modify my car for more power.
 
Nice, could definitely see improvements each time. Bit of a handful with all that weight out back though!

Yeah, it drove way better with a passenger. The course never did dry out...I think I could use an alignment with some toe-in at the rear. It felt good but I really couldn't get a feel for where the limit was until it was too late. I'm just glad I've never spun the car. On one run, that first real turn to the right I saved a slide with full opposite lock. :D
 
Just did some maintenance work on my 2003 Malibu(with the 3.1L V6) with my dad on Saturday. We changed the oil, oil filter, air filter(man that thing was dirty with dust and gunk glued on it), we washed out the cooling system and filled it up with water for the summer. The cooling system had some oil gunk in it which my dad said it was most likely a product to stop leaks. My dad also scanned the car and the scanner came up with a P0440 error. It won't affect the car being able to drive but it won't it pass emissions. Also had a mission of trying to find the car manual. I'm hoping my mom did not throw it away.

Ran the car a little bit yesterday and it's doing good so far. Feels smoother than before and it's ready for the 130 mile trip today. Can't wait to see how it performs today.
 
Yeah, it drove way better with a passenger. The course never did dry out...I think I could use an alignment with some toe-in at the rear. It felt good but I really couldn't get a feel for where the limit was until it was too late. I'm just glad I've never spun the car. On one run, that first real turn to the right I saved a slide with full opposite lock. :D
I haven't taken my car to any events yet but I plan to. Right now I'm trying to find time to replace a couple ill wheel bearings. The other night I booked it down some of my favorite curvy roads and...holy crap. Never went that fast in the Civic, and this was my first time driving the Rex that quickly. I have some learning to do lol.
 
Forgot to mention that I placed 5th overall with PAX. Less than 20 cars, the more regular members showed up. Was beaten by a '76 911 with full suspension and slicks, a Cobalt SS turbo, ~06 WRX on Star Specs, and an 08 STI on slicks.

Not bad for a stock 24 year old POS. :D
 
I have been wanting to try something like an autocross once I have the time. What is the usual requirements?
 
For a car to pass tech: Battery secure, functioning brakes, wheels/suspension all tight (no bad bearings, etc). Nothing loose in the interior or trunk.

Helmets are provided by the region. Show up, pay, register, get teched, attend the drivers meeting (this will cover pretty much anything a newbie needs to know), walk the course (there will be a novice course walk that explains the course in detail).
 
took a tire off to drop off at tire shop to get patched. Huge nail in it. Looks cool having my winter wheel up front (green OEM daisies) and silver RPF1 in back.
 
Front offside wing and both running boards removed. Running boards took maybe 45 minutes, most of which was waiting for WD40 to do its stuff.

The wing took pretty much another three hours. A few awkward bolts, a few stubborn ones, and the final bolt holding the wing to the body right at the front just wouldn't shift, so I took the hand saw to it. Worked a treat.

DSC_0091.jpg


Body under the wing was in remarkably good nick. Really does appear like I've got a fairly rust-free car for the most part. The rust there is looks like surface rust rather than anything serious.

Going back up North for the next few weeks though so no more progress for a bit.
 
Whoops. The paintwork can't be in brilliant condition if it peels off that easily though.

Just put another sticker over it...
 
Sold the 4AGE 20v motor... decided I'm not going to use it in the daily

Bought C Spanners for the coilovers in the Soarer... yay for no more screwdriver+hammer treatment :)
 
I noticed a new noise that happens whilst steering, both at a standstill and whilst moving forward, sounds like a bushing - it's a creaking noise, not a whirring or pump noise, it's defiantly only just started, but it is quite loud, only from inside the car, around the passenger footwell.

Jacked the car up and made an attempt to start the bushing replacement job for all the suspension components, hopefully I find the source of the steering noise while I'm at it. I got as far as the front sway bar bushes, replaced them, and another night I will do the control arm bushes. That's the front all done then and just the rear to do.

I have an oil leak too, traced it to the distributer, pulled the cap off and will try to replace just the o ring to see if that fixes it, if not will have to pull it apart and do the internal seal. I noticed there is a hairline crack in the rotor as well, so I'll pick up a new one - I don't want the small crack to turn into failure leaving me stranded on my way to Bathurst...
 

Latest Posts

Back