Car Talk

[ep3_lol]

Some nice rides in here! I've gone through several cars in the past couple of years, but right now I've got a 2002 Boxster, 1992 Integra, and a 1986 Volvo that I'm about to get rid of.

In the past I've had a 13B FB RX-7, EP3 Civic Si (hence my username), and an '89 Accord coupe.

Edited September 21, 2013 by ep3_lol

[dr_spock]

Trying to save money for Lego and install a new muffler myself.

It wasn't much fun when the exhaust bolts broke.

[prateek]

What car is that?

[dr_spock]

What car is that?

Generation 7 Honda Civic.

[Stinky]

Some nice rides in here! I've gone through several cars in the past couple of years, but right now I've got a 2002 Boxster, 1992 Integra, and a 1986 Volvo that I'm about to get rid of.

Lovely Volvo 244 with German plates? Why sell it? It surely is the nicest car you've ever driven.

[ep3_lol]

Lovely Volvo 244 with German plates? Why sell it? It surely is the nicest car you've ever driven.

It may have been if it hadn't been falling apart. The rear end was in a bad way and so was the power steering.

Spock, I had the same thing happen to one of the muffler bolts on an EP3 I owned for several years. That should not be happening to cars so new!

Edited October 9, 2013 by ep3_lol

[dr_spock]

Spock, I had the same thing happen to one of the muffler bolts on an EP3 I owned for several years. That should not be happening to cars so new!

Ouch, did you have to drill out the broken bolt?

I put anti-seize on my new bolts. Hopefully, they'll come out easy in the future.

[ep3_lol]

Yeah, had to have it drilled out and retapped. I thought it was because I took my muffler off and put it back on somewhat frequently, but I guess it just happens.

[jfbat]

Ah, a car thread. Saw a Focus on the previous page, I'll ad mine to that then...

Well I say "mine", in reality it's a company car but I'm free to use it how I like.

[ep3_lol]

I had a bit of fun with the Porsche this weekend

[VBBN]

Nice! The Plastidip really makes the rims look a lot better. Any other mods planned?

Forgot I had posted that here,

At the moment my only other plans are to black out the ford logos with the plasti dip and apply these small outlines of Decep. logos to finish off the exterior. Interior I'm planning on installing purple underdash lights for local shows and such. (Again it's only a lease so I'm a bit limited. The underdash lights are most likely going to be a pain to run properly to hide the wires correctly because I can't do much wire rerouting but i'll see what I can do.)

And @ep3_lol Looks like it was a good time!

[dr_spock]

@ep3_lol, that looks like fun. How do you keep your 2002 so new looking?

My 2002 Civic is giving me grief. Somehow the stablilizer link broke.

[ep3_lol]

Spock, that picture was taken just a couple of months after I bought the car from a wealthy gentleman who spent good money keeping it looking so nice. It's picked up a few scratches and scuffs from all the new mileage I'm putting on it, autocrossing, and track days...the key is being willing and able to spend money on keeping it nice, or having the skill to do it yourself. I do care somewhat about the looks though and have a good example of what I'm talking about from this weekend. The car has a pop-up rear spoiler that has a separate painted piece of plastic covering it, it's the small lip in this picture:

Well, at the track this weekend, that part fell off the car. Fortunately, an attentive corner worker noticed where it landed and was able to get it back to me.

I can't paint myself, so the part is already at a local body shop waiting to be resprayed. Then, I'll reinstall it myself. You just have to correct what wear and tear from use throws at you. Sometimes it's worth it- in this case, severe paint damage is fixable on the cheap, as the part's not big enough to warrant a big charge from a body shop and I can resinstall it myself, avoiding a fee for that. Sometimes, it's not. I have some scratches on bigger body panels that would cost a couple hundred dollars or more to have fixed correctly. Rather than nickel and dime myself on things like that, I just plan to just have the whole car repainted when it gets bad enough.

You just gotta remedy anything that makes the car appear not-so-new

Edited November 6, 2013 by ep3_lol

[rriggs]

I've been through several cars myself over the years (about 38 at the last count). I did put one of my old cars on here about 4-5 years ago but this is the current one:

No plans to change this one for a while as it's a cracker!

Cheers

Rog

[ep3_lol]

I love the design direction of the new Mercedes. I'd be lining up for a CLA if it was rear wheel drive. Nice!

[Lasse D]

Having driven the new A-class with the smallest petrol engine (lowest output configuration) I can say that it's perfectly fine as FWD given the low output. It was quite a nice little car, but since I had to wait 3 months for an automatic+aircon, it stimply couldn't compete with the similarly priced Lexus CT. On the road those two cars are quite equal. The A-class is slightly less firm in the suspension, but had a tiny bit more body roll as well. Interior was equal for size and both cars had a couple of quirks (the screen looks cheap in the A-class and the radio equally so in the Lex) but the parts that you touch while driving are excellently made. Long story short. Congrats with the new A-class :)

[VBBN]

I'm looking to get some LEDs for under the dash and under the back seats just for photos and some local car shows, any thoughts as to what color? I know some have receivers that can cycle through various colors but they are a bit more costly and I feel as though they won't work as well. Right now I am debating purple as it goes with the Deception theme of my car. Since the color scheme of my car is primarily black, gray and silver, really any color would work

VBBN

[ToaJaller78]

I assume we've seen the 2015 Mustang?

[VBBN]

Detroit Auto Show is on right now, and it seems like they have really dumbed it down this year. Not as big as it usually is, and I can't say there was too much there that I'm excited for. I'm really enjoying the styling they have done for the 2015 Corvette z06 (though that was a lot of people's highlight this year) The nissan maxima 2016 concept was neat too, the headlights are an especially interesting design.

Not a fan of the 2015 mustang or Camaro though, they just lost a lot of their original personality it seems.

[VBBN]

This thread isn't nearly as active as it should be

First wash of 2014

When summer starts up it's going to be quite a chore repairing the paint after this hellish winter. Bunch of small "wind" scratches in the paint that calls for some detailing clay and such. Also someone knicked my driver door in a parking lot so there is a bit of restoration I'll need to do to the paint there as well.

[dr_spock]

First repair of 2014. Replaced the front engine mount on the Honda. You can see the rubber cracked right through on the old one. The change was easier than I thought. The bolts weren't seized like my previous muffler job.

[N-4K0]

I had my car in at Feb 14 for a repair.

Apparently my old VW Sharan doesn't have a service manual, so all papers from repairs and such are gathered in a folder. I've never found any info about the last timing belt replacement, and discovered that my car have run 15.000 km over the recommended change, so I got that done quickly to be on the safe side. So I got a new one put in, and new wipers.

[dhc6twinotter]

I just completed a roughly 25,000 mile journey around North America in my 2000 Toyota 4Runner. I love this vehicle, and having the rare manual transmission version makes it a bit funner.

On the Alpine Loop in Colorado. Elevation is around 12,800ft:

Somewhere on the Montana/Wyoming border east of Yellowstone National Park:

In the Sierra Mountains, California:

Abandoned mine along the Mojave Road, California:

Driving around Oceano Dunes in California:

Colorado side of Dinosaur National Monument:

Fun times!

Edited March 12, 2014 by dhc6twinotter

[dr_spock]

I just completed a roughly 25,000 mile journey around North America in my 2000 Toyota 4Runner. I love this vehicle, and having the rare manual transmission version makes it a bit funner.

Fun times!

That's some trip. Did you get a chance to venture into Mexico and Canada?

25000 miles, might be time for an oil change.

[dhc6twinotter]

That's some trip. Did you get a chance to venture into Mexico and Canada?

25000 miles, might be time for an oil change.

I did make a day trip to Waterton Lakes National Peace Park in Alberta, Canada. The CA border patrol took me in for questioning when they noticed my car full of stuff. That set me back an hour or so, but that wasn't as bad as the U.S. border patrol taking my tomatoes upon re-entry to the states. I also drove along the north side of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, and Vancouver Island was within view.

Never made it to Mexico, but I did get close a couple times. I drove along Arizona state road 80 and passed through Douglas, AZ. Douglas was a mile or so from the Mexican border. I also visited Big Bend National Park, and I was literally a stone's throw from Mexico. I even had a Mexican ride his horse across the Rio Grand to sell me some trinkets.

And yes, I've done plenty of oil changes. I actually put about 35,000 miles on the 4Runner during the 1.5 years I was away from home, but I didn't count 10,000 since most of that was driving around southern California while staying with friends for several months.