What have you done to your car today?

No pictures for what I did today. I started out today by taking my door apart to find out why my doors won't lock and unlock from the out side. First I thought that it was the latching mechanism in the door but after I got it out I found out that the piece of plastic that I thought was broken was actually good. So I put it back in the door and put every thing back together. After taking with my dad he suggested that I take the lock it self out and see what it looked like. So I looked at it and found that one of the pieces in the lock was catching on something, Some WD40 and about 45 seconds later the lock was working perfectly! Next I went after why there is a loud BANG when the passenger door is opened all the way. I found that the slide that lets the door open about a foot and a half and not close was not even being held in with any bolts. I found a bolt that went in and presto it didn't got BANG when I opened the door all the way. Then I decided to find out where this odd green wire that is in my trunk and in the passenger compartment we to. From what I could see it was taped in to the power for the trunk light and ran in to passenger compartment, so I started taking pieces of interior out and found that it went under the dash and ended. Based off of that I knew that the car had an alarm at one point in time. *Snip**Snip* no more green wire and no more random box for the nonexistent alarm. When I was under the dash I found that the top of the clutch peddle assembly had a bolt missing and was only being held in by the two blots going through the fire wall. A lot and I mean A LOT! of swearing later I had the clutch peddle assembly out and put in the missing bolt and now my peddle feels much better and it sits up a little higher now. Before the whole assembly was flexing before the peddle was even pushing in on the clutch master cylinder. Then I noticed that the latch to open the hood was out of its bracket. So I pulled the knee panel and put it back where it was meant to go. So now I am missing some interior fasteners because I used them on things that had nothing holding them together. And tomorrow I will see about getting a battery hold down and see if I cant find out how much its going to cost me to have a rock chip on my windshield repaired and how much a locksmith would charge to make it so the key that I have will work with the lock on the trunk.

[serious]Man I love cars![/serious]
 
Going to get a K&N next week, but within the past week or so:

-A top off of all fluids (A Quart an oil a month is bad, right?)
-Aired the tires up to 42psi
-greased some joints
-had it washed (it rained)


Other than that, everything is peachy
 
Going to get a K&N next week, but within the past week or so:

-A top off of all fluids (A Quart an oil a month is bad, right?)
-Aired the tires up to 42psi
-greased some joints
-had it washed (it rained)


Other than that, everything is peachy

Yes it is bad, but its not that bad. I had a rear main seal go out on me and it was so bad that it took 2 quarts every time I filled up. Anyway don't think that just because you keep putting in new oil in that you don't have to change you oil. It still needs an oil change ever 3 months or 3000 miles.
 
-A top off of all fluids (A Quart an oil a month is bad, right?)

Depends on the mileage that you're putting on the car. I think a quart is perfectly acceptable if you're doing a few thousand kilometers (er... say half an oil change's worth of mileage) between top-ups. I, for example, add between 1 and 1.5 litres of oil to my car between oil changes (at roughly 5000 KM intervals).

-Aired the tires up to 42psi

That's a great way to put premature wear on your tires. I only ever put my tires up to that kind of pressure when I'm autocrossing.
I think 35PSI is a happy medium - Keeps the tire fairly stiff while hardly effecting ride comfort.
 
I have 32 psi. 30 in the fronts whenever I feel like it. 42 is way too high IMO.
Depends on the type of tire, I suppose. Like I told you last night, the all seasons on my Sol performed best with 40psi in the front and ~35 in the rear. Of course, they would have only lasted maybe 2 years like that, but hey. Your summer performance tires don't need a lot of air in them to wear properly because they have really stiff sidewalls.
 
I'm glad to see the Caviler is still running around James 👍!
Yeah, she's still kicking for sure.
I've done a ton to prep it for the track days I'll be doing and for some occasional autocross.
A high compression, n/a build of the motor is coming soon along with a swap out of the auto tranny with the Getrag F23 tranny to take it's place.
LSD will be installed along with stage II clutch and aluminum flywheel.

I've still got a couple of years or so until completion but when it's done, will be a one of a kind.
Cavaliers are hated upon but don't care and will have a car that will humble many.

Thanks Joey. 👍
 
I'm preparing to change my oil on Tuesday. Now I just need to have my tech buddy drop off a Honda oil filter tomorrow at lunch.
 
I'm preparing to change my oil on Tuesday. Now I just need to have my tech buddy drop off a Honda oil filter tomorrow at lunch.
You bought Dino oil when there were quarts of Mobil 1 full synthetic sitting on the shelfs around you.

Cheap bastard.

And my plugs aren't messed up either. But maybe it's cause v-tak doesn't kick in in my car.

EDIT: I'm just waiting to start working again so I can finally buy my flywheel. Then brake upgrade.


And then.

P.I.C. coilovers. Yay!
 
Tyre pressure depends on the tyre and the load, my wide low profile tyres on my Nissan recommend 40-45 psi.
 
Today I went out and bought an antenna adapter for my car/stereo and a harness kit. When I got back from Circuit City and Car Toys I realized that I didn't have any connectors for the wires and no way to strip the old wires. Luckily my dad is a mechanic and has the tool for crimping the connectors. The only down side is that they where at the shop, so I made a trip to the shop and stopped in at NAPA because they are right next to the shop and got some connectors. The stereo had plugs for an Alfa so I cut them off and started to attach the new plugs. It was actually very easy to do seeing as the wires coming out of the stereo and the wires on the new plugs where the same colors and for the same things. After I got everything hooked up I went out in the garage and plugged it in to see if it even worked. Well it did work but I found out that the speaker in the drivers door doesn't work. I have a friend that might have a spare one laying around and I hope that he does!

The old connectors
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After I got done wiring it all up
DSC024351.jpg


Getting ready to go in
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Hmm
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I know!
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I don't have a dash kit yet, but I ordered one a few hours ago. So right now I have one of my quarter drive extensions holding it up.

And yes I know I need a new shifter! I will be ordering one after payday! I am going to get a B&M short shifter.
 
Get a short shifter and then get a big dildo shift knob that all the drifters use.


You know the one, I'm sure you do.

Yeah the bubble dildo knobs like this one. They are hella hard to find!
sknob.jpg


But I was thinking of going with the Nismo GT style shift knob
ntnsracing_1982_73146406


that one is Titanium and $144 but I can get a urethane one for about $60
 
Today:

- Noticed the oil was really, really low. Put two quarts in, $8.25. Will get a full change done later this week...

- Changed the distributor cap, been an ongoing issue, $15. Seems to have fixed the start issues for now, we'll have to see what she does in the long-run.

Given that it was a BOSH cap, it looked to be the original one that came with the car (or it was replaced at some point at a VW dealer). There were some cracks, it appears, on the outside, letting moisture in (I think). The inside was pretty dirty, so it looks like stuff just wasn't connecting. Actually, it almost looked like there was a burn on one side of the cap...

I'm eager to see what she does this week with the weather. Normally, wet weather is what kills Volkswagens. If it stays much the same, I fear I'm going to have to replace the plug wires, at $70 for the set. Crap...
 
Bought a 3000 watt subwoofer. Hooked it up and for some reason it isnt sounding even as good as my 1200. I think I might have wired it up wrong and its running at 8 ohms resistance instead of 2 ohms drastically reducing the power that it is getting.
 
Went outside and learned I have a flat tire:grumpy:.

Might have to try to pump it up with a bike pump and take it to the tire center.
 
Yesterday I put the car up on ramps and did an oil change. Scared myself for a minute when I thought the filter adapter (It's a remote filter) had broken, but instead was simply loose. 24mm Deep socket fixed that once I figured out that I wasn't royally effed.
Switched from Mobil 1 10-30 Synthetic over to Castrol 5-30 Synthetic on account of price - almost $50 for the Mobil compared to $36 for the Castrol.

Last night I broke the drivers side handbrake cable, so today I removed the console from the vehicle & popped the drivers side back wheel off to confirm that it was non operational. Ordered in a new cable (Only $30+tax) for Tuesday. Installation will be interesting, as I'll be fighting fasteners that have surely corroded-in-place.
I also adressed a sticky/slow drivers side window by cleaning and resetting the window tracks, and attempted to replicate an occasional fault I've been getting with the drivers side door lock and central locking system. Couldn't replicate it, so I couldn't fix it. I lubed the fittings and hinges for the locking system in the hope that it was simply something sticking or binding.
 
So went outside to do something with that tire and we were in the middle of a long sun break so I decided to wash it. Got that done and got the tire fixed (there was a screw in it) and took my finally fixed and clean car out for one last drive through Bellevue.
 
Washed Greyhound and had some nice plans laid out to fix some things that had been bugging me until my girlfriends front passenger window regulator decided to give up the ghost finally while in the down position :ouch: If the window motor wasn't so damn powerful I might have been able to salvage something but instead something broke causing the window motor to shred everything else... Window is now chocked with a block of wood and will probably remain that way for the next 30 years.
 
Switched from Mobil 1 10-30 Synthetic over to Castrol 5-30 Synthetic on account of price - almost $50 for the Mobil compared to $36 for the Castrol.
Castrol synthetic is petroleum-based even though they claim it is "synthetic". It's not a full synthetic ester like Mobil1 is; it's based on organic oil. Yes, putting 7 quarts of Mobil1 in my car puts a dent in my wallet, but I think it's worth the premium over Castrol's semi-synth crap.

I finally got both the parts and the free time in one place and did the rear brakes on the 325i. I remain impressed at how easy this car is to work on, even though I did have to struggle a bit to remove the driver's rear rotor because of the parking brake. BMW protocol must be to tighten the left rear brake when "Customer states parking brake out of adjustment" because in all the research I did, nobody had trouble getting the right rear rotor off and almost everybody had trouble with the left rear.

And yes, both rotors have a parking drum in them.

So now I've got new stoppies all the way round and I'm good to go for another couple years.
 
I finally got some new tires on my car today. Now I have matching tires all the way around. Before I had 3 different tires on there.

I had Kuhmo Ecsta AST's put on

ku_ecsta_ast_ku25_ci2_l.jpg


AND.... I got them for $52 each! (Me thinks I know what tires I will be drifting on!)
 
I put my summer wheels and tires back one. I just fed up with the bald, crappy, no grip tires I had on there for winter.

Finally some grip.
 
Yeah the bubble dildo knobs like this one. They are hella hard to find!
sknob.jpg


But I was thinking of going with the Nismo GT style shift knob
ntnsracing_1982_73146406


that one is Titanium and $144 but I can get a urethane one for about $60

I have been looking at getting a good gearknob lately, My current Razo one is good but scratched up. I want a Nismo GT urethane in black (doesnt standout as nismo but thats how I like it) but all the importers (good priced ones) overhere are out of them at the moment, they have tons of the 'dildo' sized Titanium and aluminum ones...... Still chasing them up.
 
Castrol synthetic is petroleum-based even though they claim it is "synthetic". It's not a full synthetic ester like Mobil1 is; it's based on organic oil. Yes, putting 7 quarts of Mobil1 in my car puts a dent in my wallet, but I think it's worth the premium over Castrol's semi-synth crap.


I'm aware that Castrol 'synthetic' is merely a more refined petroleum oil - But from literature that I've read, so is Mobil 'synthetic'.

Again, from what I've read, it's only once you step up to the specialty oils - Royal Purple, Red Line, etc - that you get a synthetic ester.

Either way, both Castrol and Mobil oils meet the same specifications. I'm happy to stick with Castrol until the next oil change, when my wallet is a little thicker and I'll have no qualms stepping back up to Mobil.
 
New Bosch Excel+ wiper blades, a car wash, and a fill-up.

I was tempted to get a set of Silverstar hi/low beams to go with my high-onlies, but I was in there for wiper blades, better not run the bill up when the lights are okay as is...
 
Switched from Mobil 1 10-30 Synthetic over to Castrol 5-30 Synthetic on account of price - almost $50 for the Mobil compared to $36 for the Castrol.

$50? How many quarts does that thing take? I usually buy the 5 qt. jug for about $23. (Which should be relatively close with the new ex/rate.) If you're buying the regular 1 qt. bottles you're looking at about $6-$8 a piece which might be where your price is coming from.

Just curious. :indiff:
 
Mobil in the 5 litre jugs is very hard to come by around here. I'm stuck with buying one liter bottles at $8-9 each.

It takes four and a bit litres, plus a bit over the life of the oil for consumption.
 
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