Good time today. Glad to finally meet everyone!

 

yup...nice to meet you and your lady. Today was fun...but then again when are Brian and Megan not a blast to follow around. Doc...sorry about your friend having to buy a ticket. I told Marlon Tuesday we had 16 people coming and he only gave us 12 tickets. Luckily only 14 people came so we only had to buy a couple tickets...especially with how disappointing the show was, at least for me. Had a blast with everyone though and I hope you all had fun.

 

Pictures of all the convertables John can and cannot fit in to follow And a few of me flicking them off.

 

Jon - Picked up a T-Clamp and a standard 2 1/4" exhaust hanger today to try and see if I can compress the hanger bushing.

 

A T-Clamp should be strong enough to compress and hold the grommets.
But I would check it every now and then just to make sure.

 

well I bought the other one and am thinking about putting them both on that one side since it is the only one that touches.

 

I would still do both because even though one side isn't touching now, it will on bumpy roads.
Just try to get both sides as centered as possible.

 

Easier said then done. :P

 

Danc - good to meet you. I figured I'd see the rest of you wandering around the auto show but only really saw Jamie and Doc. It wasn't THAT big of a place.

Car got off jacks yesterday and looked good. Drove it around the neighborhood and nothing leaked or fell apart. Can't ask for much more than that. Still putzing around with the gauges but I really think I'll be able to take it out for good in 2 weeks barring NEOhio weather. I'm going to schedule my alignment for that Sunday.

Completely forgot about the breaker bar. Hope it at least helped with the exhaust install.

 

Didn't even pick it up... its like John's bolts weren't even tightened by mazda... It was weird to work on a car that was cooperative.


Doc - I was thinking a lot Sunday about the question you asked... Between the ZR1, GTR, and R8, I think I would say probably the R8 based on the following:
It will probably have a limited production run (vs essentially a corvette and skyline, which have been out for years in some form)
They're making a V10 version next model year.
They say its a super car that you can live with.
The ZR1 looks like a fancy 'vette, and the GTR looks like alright, but the R8 looks better in my opinion. Its more tastefully done. Like a blend between the GTR and a Porsche. (In terms of balence of style and performance, not actually a cross in the styling cues)


Danc - I need a police escort to work sometimes when I'm late... help a brotha' out. . . And not the police escort where they follow with their lights on, make you stop and pay money.


Timmy-Tango: What are the chances of the anyone in the club getting some time at your buddies lift? It would be very helpful in diagnosing my exhaust rattle.

 

Too bad the transmission jack I have in the trunk doesn't go up that high

 

I'm sure we could shim it with wood, or just do this....

 

Brian, if you don't mind, throw one of those zoon freakin' zoom stickers in your trunk. I want to see how it looks...

Also, there was puke in the back of the parking lot at the autoshow... do you know anything about that?

 

Didn't you see it on the front of his car on Sat?

 

I was going to explore a couple of different mounting options.

 

 

The sticker or the puke?

 

Sticker

 

I've got mine on the rear windshield just below the black line at the top. But it's a smaller size then the one Brian has on the front of the windshield.

 

Not a problem. I'll give it to you the next time I see you


Yeah, that was me. Without going into tons of details, a combination of booze, nachos, and getting a phone call that my dad was being taken to the hospital caused my stomach to un-nerve itself.

I blame it mostly on the nachos though, they didn't sit right with me for some reason.

 

Hey guys thought I would drop by and say hello. I know I have been a stranger lately. I haven't been doing much of anything lately. I was laid up with a hernia repair recently. So I took the 8 to get it's E-check which it failed. I got there turned it off like they asked. They turned it back on and it had a CEL. P2070 was the code and that indicates that an intake port is stuck open. I disconnected the battery to reset the ECU and will be putting it back on the road today to see if it will pass this time.

 

If you go in and they give you crap about having just reset the battery tell them that you just got it back from your mechanic and didn't realize it would be a problem. They'll usually just sign off. That's how I got my 99 Exploder through even though it had a CEL for O2 sensors when I bought it and a CEL for O2 sensors when I sold it 3 years later.

I've got lots of Zoom Zoom cleaner too. Bought it in bulk when there was a good deal going on with Fleabay. If you end up taking apart and cleaning your intake manifold/throttle body/SSV/etc. and want to run the cleaner as well just let me know.

 

Even if you pass e-check, the problem may still exist. Is the CEL the only problem with the car? Or do you notice lower mpg, lower performance, etc... anything else that would lead you to believe that there is an actual mechanical problem and not just an electronic error?

 

I'm heading to Germany on Wednesday morning. I'll be gone for 11 days. Just wanted to get a quick opinion...

I've left the car without driving it for longer periods of time (this was also at the airport so the following wasn't an option)

I'm thinking I should take the battery out and store it inside where its warm. I can't really see any harm in doing this, but just wanted to throw it out there for consideration. I know John just bought a new one. And the last time I left the car for a few days I came back to it flooded, so I need my cold cranking amps in tip top if I'm going to have to deflood again.

So, any down sides to taking it out? Other than the 5 minute hassle and maybe breaking my battery cover?

 

Only downside is the normal downside of starting your car after having the battery disconnected. Resetting your PCU and (much more importantly) your radio station presets.

FWIW you probably don't need to pull the battery out and hide it inside. Not really gonna get that cold the next two weeks. But disconnecting your terminals will at least give you some guarantee that you're not draining the battery.

If you have another car at home I'd jump the car when you restart it just so you don't have to worry about the battery being a little low. But FWIW I can start mine with my shitty starter with <11 volts so you should be kosher.