Pulled someone out of the ditch this morn with the jeep.

that being said...

They got nervous as hell when they saw my .45 as i bent over to hook them up.

2/26/2015 7:20:19 AM

Went to Piedmont the other day. Saw Remy and Ahmet there. Found a few pics surfacing from the event.





Seriously, you guys should come hang out there next time for some fun ride alongs. It's a fun way to kill a Saturday. Next event is March 28th last I heard.

3/2/2015 9:37:03 PM

Yea couldn't make it, was getting a smoking deal on HPtuners off craigslist. Now if only I could find a spare ls car to learn to tune on.

Looks good, that porsche is leaving a little smoke. I'm sure thats the most expensive car to show up at those events.

[Edited on March 2, 2015 at 11:08 PM. Reason : ,]

3/2/2015 11:08:15 PM

Thanks for posting the pics! Black G, really glad I went, even though it pains me to see my car with those terrible skinny (and wrong offset) chrome rear wheels on it. You should’ve come. It’s very fun, and very informative as well. You should def. come next time!

RE: Smoke. I was above 6k rpm in 2nd gear near 6500rpm the end of the first compound drift, not of the course, but the one I could do -occasionally at that- lol, and hit the limiter at another point -though the car wasn’t straight- that’s almost 85mph, lots of wheel spin, but at a high rate of speed.

OH! there’s an in car vid. of the GT3 to show what I’m talking about;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX6Z4_mJIR4
at about 16 secs for straight line at 6krpm + and rev limited at ~45 secs.

Anyway, riding in the IS300 was great, as was Remy’s. I’m probably being sold partially on the drivers, but I’d like a car I can beat on without feeling guilty. :/ Current thoughts are 240sx, IS300 or yet another M3. God help me...

3/2/2015 11:44:36 PM

I might will be attending one of these soon...

[Edited on March 3, 2015 at 12:13 AM. Reason : m]

3/3/2015 12:11:11 AM

this may be silly.... are there any trucks, or diesel trucks attending these events?

I'd love to get the black truck all out of shape, but I assume I may get laughed out the door gate if I tried to enter one of these things.

[Edited on March 3, 2015 at 8:03 AM. Reason : -]

3/3/2015 8:03:19 AM

Due to liability and rollover concerns, I highly doubt they'll let you try to slide a truck.

3/3/2015 8:59:32 AM

I don't think black lung would roll over lol.


It's a pretty Low short bed 4 link converted cummins truck.

3/3/2015 10:27:52 AM

Hey, I don't make the rules, I'm just telling you the likely outcome. Feel free to argue your case to the track owner.

3/3/2015 10:48:43 AM

Do y'all not sign waivers removing all liability from them?

3/3/2015 1:08:51 PM

Yes, there is a waiver, but the dragway still might have limitations on what vehicles are allowable for a drift event.

3/3/2015 1:12:38 PM

So I'm guessing there's not been any trucks out there



....it can be done, though....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9sCMdGV7io

3/3/2015 3:45:11 PM

No one here is saying that it can't be done, but you'll probably still have to argue your case to the track owner.

The only "trucks" that typically go drifting are little Datsun 520/620/720s and Nissan hardbodies.

And yes, plenty of big trucks come to these events... They're just pulling drift cars on trailers

[Edited on March 3, 2015 at 3:53 PM. Reason : .]

3/3/2015 3:50:58 PM

yeah, man, I understand where you're coming from

[Edited on March 3, 2015 at 3:53 PM. Reason : I like egging it on, though ]

3/3/2015 3:53:18 PM

Oil change...

3/9/2015 12:40:20 AM

yay, water pump shit the bed on the way to work

cooling system on this thing has been complete shit for the last year. Thermostat, leaks from random ass places, now this.

3/14/2015 9:34:04 AM

After a 7 week absence, the Integra has returned to my garage, with:

-new clutch, resurfaced flywheel
-rebuilt transmission
-LSD installation
-new intermediate shaft

The shop was amazed at how well my transmission's guts looked for having 308k miles. There was very little metal on the magnet, and all gears and synchros were re-used. Only thing super weird were half the pilot bearings were missing

I kept a box of all the original gearbox parts that were replaced

4/1/2015 9:49:26 AM

Jebus how much was all that?

[Edited on April 1, 2015 at 11:00 AM. Reason : asking for saps]

4/1/2015 10:44:31 AM

why an LSD?

4/1/2015 11:39:00 AM

Put a radiator in my FILs Jeep liberty.

4/1/2015 12:13:20 PM

Threw 8 rods on 40 west last night at 12:01 AM. Ordered a forged LSX 454 with 9:1 compression, donkey dick cam, and some degreaser to clean my engine bay.

More details to come.

4/1/2015 12:39:47 PM

Quote :

"4/1/2015 12:39:47 PM"

4/1/2015 1:12:35 PM

^^^^^^

what broke in the transmission?

and that had to cost as much as the car is worth...I'm not sure I understand the calculus on this one. I think maybe I would have sold it for $1000 or whatever and said "it's been a good run for the last decade and a half."

4/1/2015 4:54:23 PM

308k miles


[Edited on April 1, 2015 at 5:28 PM. Reason : egg hunt time = no tricks]

4/1/2015 5:06:43 PM

^BJ, sorry to hear that man. Time to build the beast I guess.

It cost...too much. If other parts of the car were in rough shape (other than the exterior which is, in rough, shape haha) maybe I would have sent her to the junkyard. But the engine doesn't burn oil, still gets great gas mileage (in the context of it's EPA rating) and still pulls strong to 8,000 rpm. Given that Japanese cars built between the late 80s and late 90s are some of the most over-engineered and robust cars ever made I decided to keep it going. Doubt I could find another comparable vehicle to buy for close to what these repairs cost me.

LSD because they were already in there, why not? And spinning an inside tire while accelerating hard in 1st or 2nd gear (while turning) is annoying. I didn't get a fancy LSD - this upgrade only cost me $300 extra.

What broke was...more like worn out, but the culprit were the carrier ball bearings. Car had horrible drivetrain vibrations under moderate to hard acceleration because of too much play in the shaft coming out of the left side of the transmission. Upon disassembly, it was also discovered that half of the pilot ball bearings were...missing. Half of them were no longer in the ring, lol. Ridiculous. My mechanic told me that the condition of almost everything else in the transmission was great, and that he was impressed with the care that I'd shown the transmission in my driving style. I then informed him that while I'm not one to crunch gears, in the past I hadn't been afraid to do 7,000 rpm clutch drops

Anyway, other than probably needing a new timing belt within the next 1-2 years and maybe a starter, this car should be rock solid for another 150k or so (knock on wood).

...oh, probably need new springs too but that's cheap and not horrible to do. Seriously, how many people wear out their car's springs?

[Edited on April 2, 2015 at 10:10 AM. Reason : k]

4/2/2015 10:07:25 AM

April Fools

Although the white supercharged G8 that was beside mine at C&C did blow up at VIR the Monday after C&C.




Installed bmr front sway bar, could not for the life of me get the rear in with the 3" exhaust so I have to go back to the exhaust shop to get some clamps added so I can remove that section of exhaust. (I had them weld it solid last time because I cannot stand exhaust leaks)



[Edited on April 2, 2015 at 10:30 AM. Reason : .]

4/2/2015 10:16:17 AM

Quote :

"LSD because they were already in there, why not?"

because its a 20 year old integra, that's why! don't you have a cayman for getting on it?

4/2/2015 10:54:07 AM

4/2/2015 12:05:35 PM

^^^that's annoying. Ahhhhhhhhh, nice April Fools, haha. Wish mine had been a joke too, instead of a 4 figure bill

^^I drive the Integra 5-8,000 miles a year so if I can increase the fun factor for those miles why not? Plus exclusively in snow/slush and occasionally muddy roads when I go camping. LSD will help out a lot in those situations.

4/2/2015 12:29:25 PM

daughter and I did engine oil & filter change, coolant change, air filter change, and cabin air filter change on the Insight.

she also replaced the blades and air filter on my Honda walk-behind mower.

4/2/2015 6:59:08 PM

That’s really neat to teach/do with your daughter. Smart also, for when you need somebody with small hands to help.

4/3/2015 10:45:40 AM

^^time to start involving with her with go karts.

4/3/2015 5:53:55 PM

yeah dude, she loves working on stuff. She did a transmission fluid change on my Insight without me touching a thing other than kicking a wrench to break the drain plug free. Same thing with changing spark plugs and valve cover gaskets on my motorcycle. I helped her with one side, then I deliberately went in the house and let her do the other side unsupervised to build her confidence (obviously I QA'd the shit out of it when she got done)...but yeah, she had it right. Spark plug torqued to spec and everything (I had already set the torque wrench), at 7 years old!

really, she likes seeing how things work. maybe I'll make an engineer out of her.

[Edited on April 3, 2015 at 6:13 PM. Reason : ]

4/3/2015 6:10:52 PM

Oil/filter and coolant change today:







(actually, it was just water before...now it has antifreeze in it. I can always drain it back out if I attend an event that requires water only. I think that's more of a motorcycle thing, though)

4/4/2015 10:02:21 PM

I can't express how cool that is. I wish more parents would teach girls how to care for cars. My GF can't even check oil


Whats the wheelbase on that? It looks LONG in that sideshot.

[Edited on April 5, 2015 at 8:33 AM. Reason : .]

4/5/2015 8:32:06 AM

Random question, can you even get on track with that thing without having a full cage?

4/5/2015 10:59:27 AM

Not sure on the wheelbase. I have to go measure some dimensions on it later; I'm trying to figure a way to transport it Barber or NOLA. I'll try to measure the WB. It's not as small as you'd think (I mean, it's small...but I'd guess pretty close to a 1st-gen Miata in footprint. It's just reaaaally low and...minimalist). I think it looks long because it's 2' tall, haha.

The original builder tracked it. I can't remember where, probably either Barber or Little Talladega. Lack of cage shouldn't be an issue with the bar.

I haven't tracked it yet because it was a fucking widowmaker when I got it. It changed hands quickly a couple of times between the original builder and me, and some dumbass did some dumb alterations to it (like, the worst was the driver's seat being moved to fit a different sized driver--legit--but being fastened down with a shitty booger weld between aluminum seat and steel sheetmetal, with a fucking 2x4 supporting the back of the seat. I literally rocked the seat back and forth a few times and yanked it out). At any rate, I wanted to shake it down really well at a few autocrosses before tracking it, and then I also found the the oversteer characteristics were about like a FWD car "tray sliding". It was totally unmanageable. I got that sorted pretty well with alignment and tire pressure. Oh, and I destroyed the hood and had to have a new one fabricated. Oh, and then I was unemployed for almost 5 months. There have been a series of things precluding me from hitting the track with this thing!

4/5/2015 12:23:44 PM

Changed the front rotors, pads and pad sensors on the Cayman this past Saturday. Had to re-use one sensor though b/c either I misplaced one or it was left out of my shipment inventory Took 3 hours, and would have taken less if I hadn't run out to the store to buy a Torx 55 socket. Figures that the caliper bolts I took off had a Hex 10 pattern, but the OEM replacement bolts a Torx 55 pattern

Ahmet, is there some secret to removing the brake pads easily? Because removing them was a bitch and a half for me. Removed the pin and tension spring and they wouldn't budge. Had to leverage them out with a flathead screwdriver and the force required to do so was so high that even though I was protecting the caliper paint with a towel I still screwed up the paint a bit on the edge.

Also couldn't get the pad backing plates off either. I had 4 replacements but with the existing ones stuck and looking to be in fairly good shape I left them on. Bleh!

[Edited on April 13, 2015 at 8:56 AM. Reason : ]

4/13/2015 8:55:46 AM

Drove the sister in law's 09 caymen and made some decisions.

The car is under powered but handles amazingly well.

This made me decide that my DD i would rather have something muscly than something like that Porsche.
Don't get me wrong it's not slow its just well the Father in law's 350z seems quicker when you drive it (its the lightest year and model of the 350 and has the track package) I'm not sure if it really is though.

This brought me to... who cares if it really is... a car with a limit so high it's hard to enjoy on the road isn't really that fun... i'd rather have a hoon mobile.

I'll probably test drive the focus RS but i may be getting a mustang as my next car .

4/13/2015 9:07:36 AM

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/lil-29100

^ I bet this will fix all your problems. A friend that tracks his G8 with brembo's uses one of these and we did his front pads in about 10 minutes.

4/13/2015 9:10:54 AM

I haven’t had trouble changing pads somewhat easily before, but I usually open the bleeders and get some fluid out at the same time. Perhaps yours were harder because they hand’t been replaced in some time, ditto for the brake fluid...

As for Cayman vs. hoon mobile... Different strokes. I find the Cayman to be quite the hoonigan, just not in the way that a car that FEELS fast, but isn’t i.e.: 350z.

4/13/2015 10:29:10 AM

ohh i know.. i wouldn't get a z either..

I realized wow 2 "fast" cars and neither of them did i prefer to daily over my jeep.... i found this odd..
I thought i didn't drive a fast car because it would get me arrested.

still 2015 mustang or the focus RS should both have a nice balance of kidney punch torque and trackable balance.

4/13/2015 10:33:17 AM

Quote :

"his made me decide that my DD i would rather have something muscly than something like that Porsche. Don't get me wrong it's not slow its just well the Father in law's 350z seems quicker when you drive it (its the lightest year and model of the 350 and has the track package) I'm not sure if it really is though. "

Is your sister's '09 Cayman the S model? Even if not it should still be faster than the 350Z due to it being around 400 lbs lighter. If it is the S model they're not even close

Quote :

"I haven’t had trouble changing pads somewhat easily before, but I usually open the bleeders and get some fluid out at the same time. Perhaps yours were harder because they hand’t been replaced in some time, ditto for the brake fluid..."

Well, beats me. I took the pads out in November (after the light came on) just to see exactly how much pad material was left (and also to practice the removal). And it was a bitch then too! Any suggestion for the backing plates?

BJ, yes! That device would make this a breeze. If I buy separate track pads for this car I think buying that item will be a smart purchase.

4/13/2015 10:40:48 AM

Nope not an s

It's only 100lbs different for hers being loaded and his being stripped.

The z is also tastefully modes with aluminum control arms and such from other factory cars as well as chip and intake.

Now doubt the Caymen would be faster but if you left soft and rolled into it the z responded better while the Caymen took till 3500 ish to wake the hell up.

4/13/2015 10:49:37 AM

Prob a significant torque advantage for the Z? 3.5 liter versus 2.9. I thought the Cayman is around 3100lbs loaded (I'm figuring 2900 stripped)? Isn't the 350Z 3350lb or so?

[Edited on April 13, 2015 at 12:21 PM. Reason : k]

4/13/2015 12:20:49 PM

Z gained weight as it went on this was an 05 so should be high 29s and low 31s for the two cars

also that should have said "no doubt the caymen is faster"

[Edited on April 13, 2015 at 2:17 PM. Reason : .]

4/13/2015 2:15:45 PM

This is more of a "potential" post than an "I've actually done this" post.

All the recent drag racing talk, real life meetings, and ride alongs in new rides has me wanting to build another go fast old Mopar. I don't think my current Fairlane can cut the mustard against TWW Garage's current offerings.

Got my eyes on a $1200 Coronet right now (1965). That's a lot of leftover $$$ for the motor, etc...

TO BE CONTINUED

4/13/2015 5:23:33 PM

^nice throw up some pics when/if you go that route

4/13/2015 6:44:59 PM

Ewwwwww it costs way too much to make a Mopar fast. You sound like a candidate for a LS swapped foxbody. Cheap, light, and fast.

4/13/2015 7:37:05 PM

I'm pretty confident I can build a 500hp 360ci-based Mopar smallblock for less than $4k.

Cores everywhere and cheap local machine shops I've used forever-

Building a good Torqueflite (the best transmission ever) would probably be the largest single expenditure / headache. Haven't done that job since 2002.

BJ you should be happy; the Coronet is a four-door

[Edited on April 13, 2015 at 9:08 PM. Reason : ;]

4/13/2015 9:07:52 PM