LEAP DAY GATHERING.............

OK...after seeing some interest for a gathering, here's the plan...

When: SUNDAY, February 29th 2004 @ 4:00 PM

Where: 'The Mall at Wellington Green'

Who: Anyone with rotary interests

Why: Why not.

The Plan: Meet up in a timely manner. After saying hello and introducing ourselves, and posing for pictures (of the cars, not us)we'll file out and go for a spin. We will have decided on a route by then and maps will be available to those without NAV systems (ha!). Probably drive the scenic route, then have an optional second gathering at an area restaurant. Afterwards, we'll disperse and spread the rotary gospel to all who have ears.

Directions: The Mall is at the intersection of Forest Hill BLVD and US 441. From I-95, take the Forest Hill exit WAY west and you'll run into the mall when you hit 441 (duh!). We will meet in the NORTHEAST corner of the grouds....should be visible from the intersection.

What do you do now?: Let's open the discussion to how long/ far we'd like to drive in 'caravan' style, what restaurant we can invade, and that's about it. Plan on washing the car Sunday morning so it's clean and looks good.

As this 'event' draws closer, we should PM Cell phone contact info to make this run smoothly...but that's about it...see you there!!!!

I'm down. My cell# is 561-248-6747 (ask for Jon). I'll have my midpipe installed by then, so you'll hear me coming. :D

Are you talking about meeting in the Barnes & Noble parking lot? The back of the lot (north end)is always pretty empty. Good for pics.

is this for the wpb ppl only?

That sounds cool to me, I hope lots of 8's will go!

Let all our '7' buddies in... and where are we going for cocktails? Parrot's on the water?


*edit*

This is open to ALL...

Killing me that cant make it as I will be in Vegas. Let's not make this the last one!

My wife thought I was crazy when I told her about this. I want to go, but my time may be limited to the pics t the mall. At least I'll get to see all the 8's in one place.

BTW, I scratched my 8 today with hangers from the dry cleaner. The first one is the worst, especially since I did it myself. Already put four coats of Zaino on it. Its probably only noticeable to me, but damn, it was stupid.

As long as people show up, this won't be the last one. If noone makes it out, we'll do the next one next leap year!

Where is this thread? I's not on the SE forum!

Sorry! It's a sticky!! Way cool.

I got my midpipe today. It's going on tomorrow. I'm gonna be the baddest sounding 8 out there. :D bwahahahaha!!!!!!! Wait till I get this monster re-tuned.:D

Just got word some out of town family coming in that weekend. Doing the Zoo at Dreher Park that Sunday. Hoping to be able to get away but who knows - that really sucks - every other weekend I have NO life - been looking forward to it too. Well, will try my best - if not - let's do it again and I want DETAILS!!!

Oh!, my lady...no worries, we'll post pics and have all the gossip for you....but do please try to get out.

Bad news. My 8's down for the count. Transmission went. I'll be out there, but I don't know if I'll have my car.

"my 8's down for the count"

Oh no....what did you do?

My friend (who knows how to drive and owns a heavily modified rx7, and may be out there on the leap day gathering) missed a HARD 1-2 shift. Pretty sure it's a bent linkage.

So....with a few days left...let's see who's in for this weekend....ME!

Booster is in Vegas...........

I'm in. My 8 is not. The transmission needs to be torn down. no idea what the specific problem is, or if it's covered yet.

I'll be rollin in the pimpin' sunfire.


We should all go out for a few drinks or something later on. I could use one after this week. On the bright side I was supprised to learn that I get my bonus this week. The timing could not be better. 1000 dollars. Now I'm ballin'. ;)

I'm still not sure if I can ditch the family in time to get there. Is there anyone's cell phone I can call to see where you guys are at in case I can get there but you're not at the mall anymore?

check earlier in this post. I left mine just in case.

I should be there as well. No stage 1 though as I just shipped it back to Canada for upgrading.

So which specific part of the mall will we be meeting at?

I was thinking the corner closest to the intersection....kinda wide open and visible out there...

If you're talking about by the olive garden, there's not much parking there. I think a better idea may be to meet in the back part of the lot in front of barnes & noble. Much more parking, and it's more wide open and visible. Right next to forest hill, just west of 441.

OK

I'm in, especially since I started this thread!!!! It was called any 8's in WPB, remember? My wife still thinks I'm nuts, but my kids want to go, so bring the digital cameras.

BTW, I will not be sporting my Gator gear 'nole fans! It's all about the car on this one. Football season is a long way away.

I'll be in my sunfire. It's a red 4-door. I'll probably be at the bookstore before everyone gets there. The bookstore is my place of solace in times of pain...........I got the call from mazda about my transmission..........I'll save the news for the meet. I'm still trying to cope. :( :(

What's with the crappy weather now? I thought it was supposed to be nice! Not good for a meet. Hopefully, it clears up.

omg - omg - where are the "what happened" posts....I just got home from a day full of family, wishing I could get to the meet, and hoped there'd be some gossip and pics - and there nothing!!!! Oh, no. Ok - I'll check back later. And what happened with transmission?????????? Paradigm???

Sorry I didnt make it, but had a very late night last night, and awoke with a migraine this morning that has yet to go away at 8:45PM. Hope it was fun for those that went.

For those of you who missed it, it turned out to be me, English, and rx8gator. My friend Jack, the transmission breaker, showed up in his rx7. We only hung out for a bit. English, his girlfriend, and I went to parrots in downtown west palm. Had a few beers. All in all it wasn't so bad. I'm looking forward to the next time, when I should have my car back. Sorry to disappoint you guys. I know you were looking forward to hearing it. :D

MyLadyDeb, here's the post about my tranny. http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=21945

Hey guys....it was very nice to see that there are a few people around town as passionate about their cars as I am. It was great to put a face with the avatar and I look forward to the next, more populated gathering. When I get home tonight, I'll post up a couple of the photos.

Sorry again to have missed it, will certainly make the next.

Basically, we had two cars and a keychain. Not bad, but not good. Here's a couple of pics....RX8Gator belongs to the sweet red one with all black leatha, and English belongs to the black one with a plastic front end....

In the background in the above photo, please note the SWEET soundin' souped up RX-7. As mentioned above, at least two other 8's were spotted in the mall parking lot (yellow & black), but didn't find their way to this "intimate" gathering.....

Paradigm has suffered an unfortunate incident, which prevented him from driving the full sized 8 to the gathering. In it's place, however, we offer......his keychain.

Great cars, dear family, new friends, and OK food.....yes we had it all!!!! The first WPB meet is in the books, so let's look forward to increasing our numbers exponentially at the next gathering....see ya' there!

Increase we will - I'm looking forward to the next one too. My yellow would've looked real cool next to the black and I LOVED the keychain.....lol

Thanks for the pics....makes me feel a little better. Does anyone know of another yellow RX8 with the name Moonraker on the front windshield? Saw one in my neighborhood in the gardens - we waved and I thought he posted he but does not.

Since I'm new at the triptronic shifting - and I'm even experimenting with the paddles now (lol) - other than listening and feeling the shift is there a standard RPM or speed to shift at? Hope I don't sound too geeky - it's nice to be a newbie at something again.

Originally posted by MyLadyDeb
is there a standard RPM or speed to shift at?

REDLINE. Always at the REDLINE. :D:D:D

I did't know that you took that pic English. Instant classic, "The Keychain"

Here's a pic under the hood of that 7. Something for us 8's ti aspire to. Intercooled, twin turbo. SWEET!!

wow - the red line???? I'm scared to go past 5 - hehehehe - boy have I got alot to learn. Do they make that keychain in yellow?

I'm sitting here browsing the threads, watching NYPD Blue and thinking....THE RED LINE??????? If I do that I'm going way way to fast - as it is with shifting at 4K I have to pull it back big time.

Let the car go!! It is a blast to get those RPM's up. I get a rush when I pass someone in third who is already cruising along I-95. That's what that 5th lane is for around northlake and blue heron! It's also an easy exit if you do spot the FHP....


RXG8gator....keeper shot of the the 7. Any more?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6763&item=2462460742


keychain in yellow. they have them in all colors I think.

okay - need someone to help squash my fears....for the first time I shut off the car and the fan continued to run. I had just filled up the tank at Shell. I turned it back on thinking something was weird and shut it off. It shut down just fine and as I exited the car the fan started running again. It's now about 10 minutes later and it's still running.....is this normal? Should I be concerned?

nice shot of the 7 guys glad you all had a good time

I've been pushing it a little more today. Soooooooo cool. Also picked up 2 more miles per gallon since I started using the gears. Thanks for your support and for not making me feel like a moron - lol

;) ;)

Deb the fan thing is normal. Caught me off guard the first time as well. We should expect a lot of that come summer time here in two weeks ........:D :D :D :D :D

I'm with stupid *points up* ;)

The fan thing is quite normal. If you don't give the car adequate cool-down time before shutting it down the fans will kick on for a while. Quite a desirable feature, especially with the hot-running rotary engine. This was the thing everyone wished the FD RX7 did, and it's something many of us 7 owners did on our own. Just ask any 3rd gen RX7 owner about the "Fan Mod". :D


As far as using the gears.....do you mean using as in "using the paddles to shift and not letting the car do it for you" or using as in "all the way to the redline". Unless you're REALLY using them you still have much to learn, my rotary apprentice. ;)


I'll have to take you for a spin in mine when I get it back, which BTW will be thursday or friday. Anyone up for a short-notice meet this weekend? :D

I'm not around this weekend, but Lemme how the car is when you get it back.

I may be in the mood to show the car off this weekend at the beach. And besides, I need some sun!

MORE bad news. The dealership broke something else in the tranny during reassembly. Now they have to have another part overnightede before work can continue. :(

That sucks, driving the Sunfire for another week? We are still anxiously awaiting the arrival of the mod 8!

Have faith, my friends. The 8 will ride again!!! Lol. After this I need some new tires, then maybe a computer and I'll be broke. *sigh* Boys and our toys. ;)

Wish is was Saturday again....oh, well. No, I mean using the gears and in using the gears. I use the shifter tho - not the paddles. The tried the paddles but they're very sensitive and I wasn't paying complete attention and downshifted without planning on it. I've beed redlining some too - but fear of police sirens keep me very (and I mean very) curtailed. Had to add a quart of oil - down 1 full one. Anyone else unhappy about where the dipstick is? Can't they make these things a little easier for our manicures? lol - Ok, now a question about downshifting. I use it alot - it seems natural to come from 4th to 3rd to 2nd without using the brake. Is there anything I need to know about downshifting - can you do it too much? (sorry if that sounds really lame - it's been a long time since I drove anything near manual). and how slow to do I need to be going to downshift to 1st or should I? Oh - I saw 2 Rx-8's up here in PGA for the first time end of last week - a red and a black one. Beeped both times and got no response. They looked nice tho. My son is home from college for the week. So - you got it - now RX for me this weekend ::::sigh::::

I mean "NO" RX in the last line. I need to go to sleep. Have a good Monday.

I wouldn't recomend downshifting to first in an automatic (or manu-matic in this case) unless you're going pretty slow. It gets kinda dicey because the engine revs climb so fast in 1st, so the engine & tranny have a hard time matching revs to shift smoothly at higher speeds. It's a bit tricky to do in a manual, even trickier when you can't control the revs as is the case in an auto. I tried this once in my RX7 (yes. It was an auto), and it gave me the feeling that I probably shouldn't do it often. As an experiment, put the car in drive. Roll on the gas slowly till the car upshifts to 2nd, then floor it. Most automatics will not downshift to 1st on their own unless you're going REALLY slow, because it's easier to match the revs.




And NO. You can NEVER downshift too much. :p: Seriously though, at these power levels there's not much you can do to break an automatic. Remember, this engine loves to rev. While normal street driving I usually don't shift until at least 6k. :p:


And if you think the dipstick is bad, try changing your own oil. lol.

anyone up for a drive. I would love to discuss some mods with folks. blue 8