My sister had a Sunfire. I hated that car.

Long story short she was driving home one day and, in her words: "The gravy boat light came on and the the car went BANG and shut down". I facepalmed myself when she said that.

She pulled off the freeway to the side and called me. I loaded up the St with tools and went to go meet her to see if I could fix the problem. When I got there she had the hood up and oil was everywhere. Also, there was a childs fist sized hole in the block.

I don't know how, but she either lost oil pressure (dead oil pump) or she lost lots of oil somehow (hence the oil light) causing the rod bearing to seize on the crank and snap the rod and send it out the front of the block. Either way that car got sold to some guy who dropped an engine in it and she bought a Mazda 6i.

 

Reading this thread has become part of my morning routine, even though most of the time I have no idea what you are talking about. Please continue.

Watched the Northfield Autocross video on youtube. Looks like a ton of fun. I would really like to ride along with someone in the spring if that's possible.

'04 with 54k milage. Any idea what kind of life I should expect from my stock shocks? I was going to start with just getting lowering springs, and then upgrade as/if needed, but if I don't have much life left on the shocks, maybe cheaper on labor to tackle both at same time.

 

By replacing your stock springs with lowering springs you are increasing the amount of work that your stock shocks must do therefore shortening the life expectancy of them. How much shorter that is...who knows.

 

NGill:

What is your goal with the car? We talk about this a lot in the forum... i sucked at figuring out what I was going to use my car for and now I have mods I don't need and wasted time+money.
My car was my daily driver and in real nice shape with some light cosmetic and performance mods. Then I added a stereo... which I now have to remove each time I want to autocross... bought nice daily driving summer tires... which now are too narrow to be agressive, and not good enough for autocross...

You see my point.

So my question is, why do you want to lower your car? Performance and better handling would lend itself to purchasing upgraded shocks now, or even a coil-over system if the $$ allows.
But, if you're just going for looks, keep the stock shocks, and when they start to fail on you, buy some used stock shocks for cheap. I have 2 sets right now, and other here would help you out.


As for saving on labor, there are some skilled folks in here that are able to "teach" you how to do the work yourself. I started in a similar spot as you where I didn't know much about cars, and I could barely change my own oil, but everyone here has helped me, taught me, put up with my stupid comments, and now I can do way more than when I started, but obviously i'm a long way from being an expert. So, in terms of labor, just ask for help.

Lastly: i'm sure you can snag a ride along from any of us at an autocross. You'll have to get my girlfreind to give up her seat in my car, but chances are you'd want to ride along with one of the "more experienced" drivers.

 

In case someone needs a new hemlet...

http://dealnews.com/Up-to-67-off-HJC...-h/341393.html

 

You are more than welcome to ride along with me at events next year to get the feel for it.

As for the lowering springs...

I always preach this: Do it right the first time. Yes you can lower your car and use the stock shocks, that is not an issue, but the problem that then lies is at what price? Dampers that are not properly tuned to meet the springs that are on them can wear out much faster. Damper stroke length and spring length go hand and hand. By putting on a shorter spring you are shortening the stroke length of the stock damper. You are doing this by basically pre-compressing the damper so basically it is always going to be in some form of compression, thus constantly working more. Also, you will have a tendency to come closer, if not hit the bump stops more frequently.

It's not a matter of if the dampers will wear out faster, it's a matter of when they will wear out. I always say match your dampers with your springs. Now, I'm not telling you to go out and buy a set of Koni shocks or Tokiko adjustable dampers, but buy a set of dampers that will work with lowering springs.

By just putting springs on the stock dampers you are eventually going to have to replace the stock ones one they wear out. If you can't find someone to do this on the cheap then it's basically going to cost you twice. Once fo rhte time you put the springs on, then again when the dampers wear out. If you just do it right the first time and get matching dampers with your springs (dampers meant to be used with lowering springs) you won't have the headache of having to replace the stock ones time after time.



Hell dude, we named a freakin tool after you. That is an honor right there.

 

Newbie! Got my 8 a month and a half ago, so that I can keep it in my garage...but I'm glad I found some people around here with 8's and answers for my questions because i was wanting some springs for my 57K mile car and considering the total overhaul too and now I have my answer. thanks

 

Welcome to the club Jtaylor3.
With all newbies we here like to inform them of this forum and how it works.
First off, this site has a TON of information and most answers can be found by searching, though I would suggest the "Advanced Search" to narrow down the results to a specific area.
If you start a thread asking a question that has been discussed MANY times... you will get flamed.
But if you have a question, I would start here in our local thread since we are nicer to newbie questions.
Last, feel free to come to local meets and installs.
You'll learn a lot and feel free to ask questions while we're tearing stuff apart.

 

Thanks for the warning and the invite. I've been searching around on here for a long long time, including before my purchase. I will need help at some point though because I plan on doing most of the work myself and I would love to see\help with installs cause that sounds like the best way to learn. Now I just need a large loan to buy everything I want...or the lottery.

 

Well each one of us here (locally) has a particular skill that can help you with almost any problem.
I don't recall anyone having install/mods they are considering this spring, but I plan on pulling my SSV and also try out a compression tester I plan on buying soon.

 

Any suggested mods? Since I see you have more than a few...

 

Depends on what your final goal is with the car.
Do you want to get into auto-x or go out to the tracks?
Do you want to accelerate a little quicker (because little is all you'll get without FI)?
Do you want the car to sound a little more aggressive/louder?
Do you want to focus on cosmetic mods to make the car more visually appealing?
Do you want to focus on more electronic mods like stereo or lighting?

You don't want to waste your money on something that won't benefit your final goals.
Like me I plan on going FI in a few years, so I studied and read about the flaws in our cars when upgrading to FI and I started upgrading those components.

 

Well considering the miles on my car, the only way I would be going the FI way is a total rebuild anyways so that's not really a likely choice. As far as the way I want my car to turn out is good overall...a little bit of go and a good amount of handling. I'm in no way interested in stereo and all that heavy stuff. I know I want exhaust (looking at the AP), CIA, springs, sways, pulleys...which raises another question, do you put your cat back on every other year?

 

1) If you want a CAI, go with either AEM or Racing Beat w/ the duct.
For the price, I would go with the AEM.
And don't expect noticeable gains either. But it looks good in the engine bay.

2) Don't bother with the pulley sets... waste of money.

3) My cat-back never comes off.
I have to install my cat every other year for e-check, but no reason to remove the cat-back.

 

Yeah I read about a million things on CIAs and realized that those were the best choices, but damn ohio and their front license plates! It is so hard to decide what to do first...exhaust is most likely number one.

 

Most of us took the front plates off

If you want a little extra "go" someone is selling the Racing Beat mid-pipe for a GOOD price.
I would jump on that if possible because that is the best mid-pipe I've heard IMO:
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...14#post3384114

 

Yea, I see the points made for both sides, starting with just springs or doing it right the first time.

I guess my immediate goal is appearance (and to be able to dodge pot holes The ideal plan should be to wait for the next meeting and bum a ride around the block with a couple different setups, to see their street manners.

I will be taking people up on their autocross ride along offers. I'm pretty pumped.

 

Welcome to the group JTaylor

 

Temptation wearing "toyota sapphire blue"

http://akroncanton.craigslist.org/cto/1548627494.html

I'm sure its molested, but of the RX cars, this is the one that will hold some value.

 

welcome to the forums!

depending where you live, you dont have to get e-check. Vyn and i dont. we live in the canton area.

I refuse to put my front plate on. my car originally came from Florida where front plates are not necessary. my grill was never drilled for the mount bracket. Had my car 2 years now and no issue what-so-ever with police and it not being there.

definitely come to the get-togethers if you are able. they are a lot of fun. no one in this section will steer you wrong with advice. You really can't ask for a better group to turn to.

 

Does not trust....

 

I wonder if he'd trade for my "other" '04 RX8... lulz!

 

We're all supposed to be getting together this Friday, 15th. Who's in??? Newbs?

Not been much chatter about it.

1) Doc and Pit Crew

 

Some assembly required


Doc, there is a g2g for this Friday? Where is this suppose to be? Depending on when and where I may show up with Megan.

 

Yeah, we mentioned it about 5 pages back. Probably the Outback at Macedonia. That seems the most centrally located for everybody. Mutually inconvenient.