What did I do today? I put on some used 13" Nokia winter tires I got a while ago then drove around my yard to see if they hit anything. At that point, I found out that I forgot to tighten the (non-original) ball joint pinch bolt when I replaced the control arm last weekend. I found out when the ball joint stud freed itself from the knuckle. No apparent damage but spent a while in the rain getting things back in place. I put a stock bolt back in. The other bolt (probably 3/8") didn't fall out, it also didn't capture the groove in the stud. This all after I drove 70 miles round trip to work yesterday. Been sick the last few days and it hasn't helped my attention evidently!
Started running E85 in my b6 sohc turbo car, almost mostly tuned. Takes a lot more fuel...
OOH nice. Will be watching for more updates. With e-40 I changed nothing on my other car and was able to enjoy zero knock at the same boost level. I might have lost a little output but it's the safest way to play. Id have to go up on the injectors to do more. I dont have a local enough pump to commit yet
the aspire's "city lights" are the tiny 192 bulb. They do not throw out any light but they light up the housing so other drivers can see you. At dusk or bad weather it's enough. In Eurppe they care about 'light pollution' in cities.
This morning changed the oil in Green Car (finally! its been ~1000 miles since I put the motor back together :/ ). Also stuck the downpipe back in the hole where it has disconnected itself from the cat flange, and tried to figure out which side the bad rotor was on, or if its both... but its was raining so I gave up before figuring it out. I'll probably just replace both this weekend. Got 31.5mpg last tank which was 100% pizza delivery except driving to and from work. Not bad at all for an auto around these parts.
Finished up a rear trans mount job on a friend's festy. I did the steering rack boots, front trans/engine mount, and cleaned and reset a locked up parking brake 2 weeks ago. Advance sold us a rear mount for a manual. I ordered one from rock auto. SAME THING. :angry1:. I shaved the trans and used the one for the manual.
This thread does deserve a few awards. Yes its long length, and the award for the universal guilt trip that's thrown at people who see a bunch of updates in their mailbox when they haven't done a thing (me)
And you are right, a malfunctioning/poor alternator is going to hurt power output of the car more than a bunch of electrical items on full blast with a healthy alternator. Those hypermilers whine about a ~2mpg loss with their headlights on because it's wintertime but who knows if their charging systems suck ya know? The computer sees the drain and bumps the idle which burns gas just sitting at a stop light. I'm going to put city lights into my festiva housings so i can run a dim headlight like the aspires do.
Decided on a course of action: individual carbs on the b3.
Started a mild search for replacement body panels... Flooooooooooor pans!
The pinch point is folded on both sides, floors are gone in the corners up front, rockers are gone, lots of body work... Or rust neutralizer and fiberglass.
Thought about fitting my otto-R seats, possibly having a buddy make a fg single rear seat shell with 10"cutouts on either side.
Leave a comment: