An H2! What, buying gas for the 8 wasn't bad enough? lol.

Seriously though, you will like it. a guy i used to work with had one and had nothing but good to say about it. Def can't go wrong in the winter with it. It's just a gas hog.

 

Congrats on your new purchase Jon. Didn't you have an F150? Did you ditch that, or planning to? Given the economy and fuel prices and Hummer at the end of its civilian life, were you able to strike a good deal?

 

You can lift the h2 and then park the 8 underneath it. So you will never lose your parking spot at the apartment

And the rattle was the shield around the cat. I ended up using some adjustable hose clamps to attach it.

 

Well, as those with facebook know. My clutch in the S2000 bought it at autocross this past weekend. With a 138k miles on the S and how quickly it went when I raced it consistently, I'm guessing it was the original.

I have the parts on order and they'll be here Tuesday or Wednesday. I'd like to have the flywheel blanchard ground before installing the new disc.

I'm going to begin this myself. However, I know I don't have the tools (trans jack and perhaps stands high enough) to do it right by myself.

My initial thought was get it done and replaced so I can race this weekend in Steel Cities Autocross. However, its probably not the best idea to try to fix something like this "quickly".

I've spoken to Jon outside of the forum, but I'd welcome a few helpers/spectators Friday evening and perhaps into Saturday if the need is there. I know we're not working on an RX8, but if anyone has something they want to do to their 8s, feel free to bring it down. I have room in the garage.

And if you're curious as to what we're looking at: http://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/7143...h-install-diy/

 

just dont go racing immediately once the new clutch is put in. you want to get about 500 miles at least on that thing before beating the **** out of it.

 

Myth...

Not an oem organic clutch, and I hardly believe it to be true for an aftermaket disk...

Hell, I put an Exedy Hyper Single in my Focus (which at the time was making 25 lbs of boost and putting over 300hp down at the wheels, I have dyno graphs to back it up) and I put ~45 miles on it, from my house to BeaveRun Roadcourse, where it received a full day of abuse at the track.

65k later, it hasn't slipped yet.

 

I gave the F150 to another tech at work and he is taking over payments, which is one reason why this H2 has become affordable.

After a couple hours of negotiations, I was happy with the end result.
Got to the point where they made an offer I couldn't say no to anymore.

I have an appointment at the dealer on Friday at 11am to inspect/change a couple items on the H2, and its scheduled to take a couple hours.
So I wouldn't make it down to Canton until Friday evening, so unless you guys start early without me, I would expect this job to carry over into Saturday also.

 

True... to a point...
While the recommended break-in mileage can be exaggerated, its labeled as such to accommodate those who don't properly heat cycle the disc.
With organic clutch material, a couple good heat cycles is good before getting aggressive with it.
The organic material is more forgiving than ceramic or kevlar, so the more aggressive clutches will require more heat cycles to properly/fully seat the material.

 

Perhaps we will just plan for Saturday then. I started the work the last night and got most of the crap in the front of the engine pulled out per the DIY. I don't have the right combination of extensions and wobbles to get to the front starter bolt. So I just skipped it for now and continued removing heat shields and stuff.

I won't have time to do anything tonight, but I should be able to make some more progress on Wednesday and get the car in the air and begin work on the bell housing, slave, and exhaust removal.

 

Steve i'd like to come down and watch / hand tools. But I don't know where you live now. Its in Massilon isn't it?

 

For those of you with iPhones, the MyMazda app has been released (Aug 3, actually). I've no idea if there was one made for Droid.

 

i killed the thread again...

 

I'll bite. What does a MyMazda app do?


Sorry i didn't make it down to help out Steve I forgot and woke up late. Did you ever get your clutch replaced?

 

had a brief moment of surprise when i talking about cars a gal here at the office. she had said she was a lead foot and owned an early 2000 corvette. loved the speed but wasn't so happy about the weight and size. wanted something smaller and more agile. i mentioned my RX8 and that i loved the car for that very reason. She hit me with, "Oh! that's got the rotary engine in it, doesn't it?" Woah... Said, yes it does. fun, hi revving engine. then... she kept going and the whole thing turned to disappointment... "Yea, i heard about those engines, aren't they a 5 cylinder engine?"

all thoughts turned to, "Sammiches... go make them" :p

Oh well. at least i can relate a funny to you guys.

 

Just when you thought you was about to have a normal conversation about our cars it backfires lol, been there done that. At least she was into cars to begin with.

 

Well... its replaced now. Jon and I labored for a health 6 hours getting only to get stuck by one bolt in the bell housing that we just could not reach. Instead of getting angry like I have been known to do sometimes, we called it a day.

I had to remove more crap, but eventually I was able to get the bolt and over the course of this last week got everything changed and I put everything back together with the help of a co-worker Wednesday. So I'm driving it now getting the clutch disk bedded enough to race this Sunday.

Did some other crap to the car too while it was up, but it seems with every little project I did I discovered something else that needs done or that I would like to replace/enhance.

 

Is this girl single?


Nevermind

 

Bah. Find a girl who even knows that a rotary engine is a something that goes in a car and you're already into rarified air. Forget it if you think you're going to find more.

Heck I don't think Megan knew what it was until Brian crashed into her life.

 

Hey guys, I'm looking for recommendations for a new car for my . . . wait for it . . . 86 year old mother in law. We can skip over the "wtf does she need a car for!?" and the "Holy crap! Should she even be driving?!. The answers are "she probably doesn't" and "she's well above average for someone of her age, but, well, she is 86." I've been over all this with her, and the fact is she wants one and she's going to get one whether I help her or not, so I'd rather she at least gets something decent (unlike her last car).

So, the criteria: she has about $6-7K to spend. It should be easy to climb in and out of. Automatic transmission. Reliable (obviously). Not overly complex to operate (i.e., can't be like my wife's old Maxima that had a separate poorly marked micro-button for every stupid little function). Good sight lines. I guess that's it.

She won't be driving it on the highway. If she puts 5,000 miles on it the entire time she owns it, it'll be a miracle.

Thoughts?

 

Tom,

There are the normal stand-bys for elderly drivers, more or less, the fossils of American muscle cars. Your town cars, crown vics, and pretty much any Buick from the last 5 years.

Problem with some of those is that they're not actually that safe and they're difficult to manage in the parking lot of the grocery store. Which I'm guessing would be the car's primary destination...

What about one of the "little/big cars"? Small cars with large windows to give great visibility and the illusion of being larger inside than they are. Some of these actually sit up higher than older sedans to try to draw away some of the cross-over drivers into something smaller. Plus front wheel drive to be better in bad weather

This class is populated by the Honda Fit, Scion XB, Kia Soul, Nissan Versa, Ford Fiesta, Mazda2...

Some are too new and you won't find them. The only thing about these is that they're also targeted at High School kids... so the while there isn't much equipment, there may be some funky designs that your mom won't like. (The center mounted gauges in the XB come to mind)

Just ideas...

 

Civic cheap reliable and economic.

 

Thanks for the input, guys.

Yeah, Steve, the last thing I want to see her in is a big old car. She's pretty good, but I visions of her taking out things while trying to park. I can't see her in a new car since I really don't think she has many driving years left and it will end up in the clutches of her ne'er do well niece (the one who I gave an air conditioner to because she was crying about how hot it was for her kids, and then days later boasted on Facebook that it had sold on Craig's list in no time flat).

I think a Civic would meet all the criteria except her being able to get in and out easily.

 

I've never owned a civic so I wouldn't know about getting in and out of one I'm afraid. But I can't imagine it being too bad. What about a Camry or a corolla? Mitsubishi lancer or Ford focus?

 

For not too many more $$, i bet you could step into an accord which would sit a bit higher.

 

You should just take her to dealerships and see what cars she can get in and out of. Some may be different just on seat design or if it has the 'oh ****' handle. My grandma had a Focus until she was 97 that she could get in and out of. And she only hit a few curbs and light posts with it haha.