KinLM's ****show Garage

[KinLM]

Hi everyone,

Well, it's definitely been a long time since I've even posted on this forum much - let alone post anything about any of my cars.

However, as time has gone on and my life has gotten so busy, I've found that there's no longer really any time to go to car meets, shows, events, etc. and talk about cars with people like I used to. I honestly really miss those experiences, and so perhaps posting about my cars on here can act as a bit of a substitute for that.

Unfortunately, my fleet of cars is - how do I put this - affordably sourced. For better or worse, each car is its own small adventure of ownership. I guess we can start with where we left off. I used to have an 07 STI which I sold for a Miata (more to come on that below) as well as a 2012 Mustang GT with a Supercharger.

This is how that Mustang ended up:

Needless to say, I'm not driving that much anymore. So let's move on to what I'm actually driving now.

1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata:

View attachment 1241746

Not much needs to be said about this car because it's simply the best 'driving experience' of any car I think I'll ever own or ever drive. I purchased it during COVID for $10k with a free film camera thrown in. At the time it had about 14,000 miles on the odometer. It's now just past 19,000, but it resides a few hours away from where I'm living now and I only drive it when I'm in Fort Worth visiting my family.

This car is the most excellent, most pure joy to drive. Top down, engine note is clearly audible without ruining anybody's day. All of the bushings etc. are still fresh and offer plenty of connection. The only maintenance items I've had to take care of is:
-Replacing the Master Cylinder (much easier on this car than on the Subaru, but we'll get to that)
-Replacing the valve cover gasket
-Replacing the ignition coils/leads

Otherwise, it has been 5,000 miles of trouble-free operation. By far the most reliable car I've owned, which is sad considering its also by far the oldest.

Miata truly is always the answer (which is why I have two, but again, we will get to that).

I guess we have to address the car I actually drive the most:

2006 Subaru Impreza WRX STi

Unlike the Miata, there is a LOT to say about this one.

I bought it from some poor kid during the pandemic who was clearly in need of some cash. I believe I picked it up for $14k with 95,000 on the clock. It needed some work right off the bat, with no tune on it despite quite a few poorly executed mods. A cheap "Air Oil Separator" was leaking oil all over the damn place, some sensors weren't reading correctly, you name it.

All I needed to know about the previous budget it was run on, is that the car came with "Raceland" coils (???) and "Triangle" brand tires. Why on this beautiful planet anybody would name a tire company "Triangle" when tires are generally round, is beyond me. Ride quality and handling was unbearable. That has since been fixed.

There is SO MUCH to detail with this car, from blowing up a clutch and snapping axles, to master cylinder issues, to the pedal assembly breaking and having to be replaced, to the I/C Water Spray pissing water inside of the cabin, to it getting damaged in the Mustang fire due to being parked next to it, the list truly does go on and on.

However, I think I'll detail these various adventures of the Subaru in subsequent posts; even if its in retrospect, I think this car is where the best storytelling is to be found.

Some quick cool notes on this car: It had 6 Black Ice Trees on the rear view mirror when I bought it. I have no idea what kind of activities or smells someone would use 6 of these to cover up, so I just don't think about that.

It now uses the Corbeau CR1 seats out of the toasted Mustang, so at least a small portion of that car continues to live on in this one. Oh, and it is NOT the same one I owned before. Even though I told myself I would never want another silver STI and wanted a black or white one instead. Yet here we are.

Much more on this car to come since I feel like its the one people end up most interested in.

1993 Mazda MX-5 Miata (1.6):

I really thought I had more photos of this car. I guess not. Thats okay. It's a little rough, to put it lightly.

I liked the first Miata so much, I wanted a second one to mod. Picked this up for $3.5k with 202,000 on the clock.

It has rust, parasitic draw from something, an unbearable beep from the dash because the light for the Airbag warning went out, and despite changing the cooling fan, fan switch, thermostat, and ECU Coolant temp sensor, it still refuses to run at a truly 'correct' temperature for some reason. Or maybe the gauge is just off.

Also, the soft top rear window just kinda said no. So it smells a little nature-y inside, especially after it rains, despite being covered. Oh well.

Oh, and it has a completely straight piped exhaust. So everybody can hear all 85HP

I might just sell this car as I just don't have the time or money to do what I truly want to with it.

Oh, and it broke down on me the first time I drove it and refused to start because of the parasitic draw on the battery. I had to steal the battery out of the other Miata and swap it in just to get home. Good omens.

And last but not least... well, actually DEFINITELY least. But whatever:

2004 Ford Mustang GT

I thought I had more pictures of this too, but it doesn't really matter. I picked this up for $100 (no, that's not a typo; less than the cost of Netflix for a year) with about 102,000 on the odometer.

My boss' son gently crashed it into a guardrail, and instead of fixing it they purchased a new car. It then sat for a few years before being sold to me. Its really only needed new headlights (as I'm sure you can see why) and some new rubber hoses here and there due to everything rotting because Ford and because sitting for many months in Texas without being driven.

Idk what I'm going to do with this either. It's amazing because I've never driven something that feels so much like a truck without being one. Thats really my only takeaway from it. And that the interior plastic should have whoever designed this at Ford put in jail. And that for $100 it's one amazing car.

So that's mostly it for now. I will try to keep y'all updated when I can, or post some stories about what I've done to these cars since purchase since some of them might be a bit of a laugh.

I work at COTA (yes, the one you're thinking of) and between F1, NASCAR, MotoGP, and other events, it's pretty rare to have ample free time to work on cars like I used to, but I'm sure there will be some free time sprinkled in here and there.

Anyways, this is my ****show fleet. Good to be back on here at GTP and hopefully I can meet some new and old members here in the process.

Also yes I know some of these photos are sideways. I think it's because they were ripped from another app. I'll get that fixed.

 

[wfooshee]

A 1990 with 14K?!?!?! Apparently they didn't like it as much as you do! I've got a '99, first year of the 2nd-gen, that's my daily driver, in my own jalopies thread here. It's been through some... stuff.. while I've had it. A hurricane, a flood, and while it's lost some of its beauty (the clearcoat is peeling all over the car) it's mechanically sound and a blast to drive. "Only" about 126K on the odometer.

 

[KinLM]

Small update,

I took the Subaru on a bit of a trip with the girlfriend. Working at COTA, I planned my vacation to be immediately following MotoGP (back in April).

Left San Marcos, drove to work, left work to head to DFW. 200 miles

From there, it was a nice 800ish mile drive to Florissant, Colorado (basically Pikes Peak area for those not familiar with the area).

We stayed at this fun house on the side of a mountain. The road to the house was pretty rough, so I aired down the tires to 15psi and used the STI's AWD to climb the steep gravel road without issue. The main thing I remember about this location was the wind. 55-65mph gusts all night long relegated us inside, meaning no drives up Pikes Peak this time.

Following this was a drive South/Southwest. We took the scenic way (because why wouldn't you take the scenic way when going through Colorado in an STI?) and went through Cripple Creek which was a cool but - interesting, town to say the least.

After heading out of CC was an absolutely incredible backroad blast to Canon City. We wanted to visit the Royal Gorge but of course now everything is off limits and costs a fortune. At least the drive there was fantastic, with mile after mile of perfect roads for the car.

Following this stop, our next night's stay was in Salida. This involved more driving on amazing, high-paced switchbacks until we finally arrived in the town.

Our lodging was, once again, up a very rough, very steep gravel road. Air down tires again and no issue. The biggest threat here was ground clearance; heavy snow and rains meant the gravel road had deep ruts, so we had to drive off the beaten path, as staying in the ruts would drag the exhaust through the gravel.

The next day was probably the most extraordinary day of all. We took a trip to Leadville? Ledville? I dont know. Somewhere WAY up in the mountains at 10,500 feet or so. Off-and-on snow the entire time. The only issue was my GFB BOV acted very strange at this altitude and wouldn't open up nearly as early as normal, even after softening the spring. But it made for some WILD squirrel-mincing sounds.

On the way back we headed up Twin Lakes (? again no idea exactly where I was. I just went where she said we should and turned when she said to turn). I think the photos of this area sum everything up. Car was in its element. I mean this is once-in-a-lifetime driving road stuff for something like this. A performance Subaru, in the snow, on a windy road, with nobody else in sight.

We stayed one more night in Salida before heading home the following day. The best I averaged in either direction (even with the thin air and trying to get good MPG) was 25.9. For a four-cylinder engine. At least the fuel consumption wasn't as bad as the oil consumption. This thing goes through a quart every 700-1000 miles, even with an IAG AOS. Lots of oil always in the turbo so maybe that's the culprit. Or maybe because it was thrashed its whole life by 18 year old kids as its owner. Oh well. Motul 5W-40 keeps it happy, even if it needs a lot of it.

I did a lot of little fixes to the car, but I'll save that for a separate post.

A 1990 with 14K?!?!?! Apparently they didn't like it as much as you do! I've got a '99, first year of the 2nd-gen, that's my daily driver, in my own jalopies thread here. It's been through some... stuff.. while I've had it. A hurricane, a flood, and while it's lost some of its beauty (the clearcoat is peeling all over the car) it's mechanically sound and a blast to drive. "Only" about 126K on the odometer.

I know, it truly is wild. Apparently he owned it in Shreveport but lived in Dallas, so he only drove it on rare occasion.

The 'rough' Miata I own has the clear coat issues, but otherwise it's 80% the experience of this one. Just kind of a shame (for everybody else, not for us two) that these are fetching such high prices these days. It really is something that everybody should experience at some point. You physically and legally cannot build a car like this anymore. Even the new NDs aren't the same; the automotive trends of refinement somehow remove that intrinsic connection between the driver and the road. Little things like the mechanical throttle, hydraulic power steering, etc. are items which deem this car impossible to recreate in these times.

As a quick aside, can anybody tell me why images I'm pulling from my iPhone Camera are sideways? It's only ones taken by my phone itself. Any easy fix?