tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60304080220909369812024-03-05T16:25:30.864+10:00modern_day_hagmaking life difficult since 2009_Clinno_http://www.blogger.com/profile/15758751614854894618noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030408022090936981.post-85201021444416776672013-12-24T13:12:00.003+10:002013-12-24T13:12:43.112+10:00The Christmas Extravaganza<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Alright!!! Indeed it has been a while, and I do apologise for that... but as you'll read these last few months haven't really been what you would call smooth sailing... thankfully everything with The Custard Pod is all good, but the same couldn't be said for Kim's car... but more on that soon :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6YGSqX448ABCbQq2lSx5-Aa280bOYEhMECtuxPa4xTGrfDgnOfweZ19magTWTcEIb107o_ZncaRImOo1GMuMbGuz5qTiBIhJLJiD7oO9f8L_Hh7YutY_qiL4XF86LWLFdh95nDOENPk8R/s1600/IMG_2344.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6YGSqX448ABCbQq2lSx5-Aa280bOYEhMECtuxPa4xTGrfDgnOfweZ19magTWTcEIb107o_ZncaRImOo1GMuMbGuz5qTiBIhJLJiD7oO9f8L_Hh7YutY_qiL4XF86LWLFdh95nDOENPk8R/s320/IMG_2344.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I realised I never actually got a photo of the amp mounting solution showing off its great feature of being removable whilst still being plugged in - rather happy with how the whole thing is working I must say! </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgaYmxGZvq1KHukmpoZb4Wcf6eYPBQJPocmG-cE7oPx6FBkdJNM6flGV8U9VG-0wVawxTc0sl0uDYGYX4qrqd5s8RPsyMU-rJW1v4kQ5Sz15kOhBQDvfUc3RiCjRhAy2q6fwJOnYxZDuq4/s1600/IMG_2351.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgaYmxGZvq1KHukmpoZb4Wcf6eYPBQJPocmG-cE7oPx6FBkdJNM6flGV8U9VG-0wVawxTc0sl0uDYGYX4qrqd5s8RPsyMU-rJW1v4kQ5Sz15kOhBQDvfUc3RiCjRhAy2q6fwJOnYxZDuq4/s320/IMG_2351.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyways, onto business. Super Cheap Auto had a nice sale on oil and filters, so I decided to get onto an oil change just so I knew what the state of the oil was and where I was up to with servicing - kind of important as I didn't really know the state of what was in her. I was a little bit concerned when I saw the design of the sump though... anyone who knows anything about Physics and gravity and how fluid behaves would be able to conclude that with such a sump design, it would be impossible to remove all the oil from the car as it was. Normally you tilt the car to help push the oil towards the drain plug - but in this case, you would end up getting oil moving past the drain plug and collecting either side of it. Not the end of the world but certainly not ideal either. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbYRt6quCoQc0yaQvbSF1MLm6V3RiOQomwBcIy7w9fwqQJ5FZUrRjeHYTKxyjidRvCzum3x4dvs0ZwAwzWRp9YmUOgkn0EhlS9UnnPdPXW82O35xveFXxE-EQFOR6WAFVzsYhUX0X1Z7ju/s1600/IMG_2353.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbYRt6quCoQc0yaQvbSF1MLm6V3RiOQomwBcIy7w9fwqQJ5FZUrRjeHYTKxyjidRvCzum3x4dvs0ZwAwzWRp9YmUOgkn0EhlS9UnnPdPXW82O35xveFXxE-EQFOR6WAFVzsYhUX0X1Z7ju/s320/IMG_2353.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I began by jacking the car up to give me the most room... It was certainly a strange sensation to be working on the rear of the car for all of this =\</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3w2V8sP0cMtD0O8QuhAtxsZ4nSmS_AsBRf6X7KyeqZJC3gS31VB67m0znME0bpY8zioTTVSP8aJG7POfHYBaA_fL621VCVN7eQWVQFaT0PwSnrzy6Q4vQUT-NZe98UlXTX0_IXUzltjE3/s1600/IMG_2355.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3w2V8sP0cMtD0O8QuhAtxsZ4nSmS_AsBRf6X7KyeqZJC3gS31VB67m0znME0bpY8zioTTVSP8aJG7POfHYBaA_fL621VCVN7eQWVQFaT0PwSnrzy6Q4vQUT-NZe98UlXTX0_IXUzltjE3/s320/IMG_2355.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To my pleasant surprise though the oil filter was in an absolutely perfect position!!! No engines to reach around, no places for arms to get stuck, no hot exhaust manifolds to get burnt on... it just sits there ripe for the picking!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkNsI7kDM8FaXftxK1ZDMGv43zHXml-YrSXr9zjcZit_1LpCS_IWvFhp58Ub0EJ13g9IyT3I05SQfQ9MqwU6JQRY38dNLcUXes3dM8xc8gt5bRLVvwxqtIgfJmBYQIbTRVZfppRd-umpNS/s1600/IMG_2356.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkNsI7kDM8FaXftxK1ZDMGv43zHXml-YrSXr9zjcZit_1LpCS_IWvFhp58Ub0EJ13g9IyT3I05SQfQ9MqwU6JQRY38dNLcUXes3dM8xc8gt5bRLVvwxqtIgfJmBYQIbTRVZfppRd-umpNS/s320/IMG_2356.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the process of pulling it off however I managed to collect the 2 wires from the oil pressure sensor... whoops! I did a proper job of it too - wires pulled straight out of the terminals that were still sitting in the plug.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMKZ01UFpghFbIWjuYNm00-5vZj6zHKZs9GwCuCiblIasvOfRDe-jL9lKMhJkecvboWnltjt42s2bIPJjj8voz_X1rVj3Hujy8QOvu0V3mLhGlOQ5tpsf-UNeA6frfB4VcsUgRsjVbVHPC/s1600/IMG_2358.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMKZ01UFpghFbIWjuYNm00-5vZj6zHKZs9GwCuCiblIasvOfRDe-jL9lKMhJkecvboWnltjt42s2bIPJjj8voz_X1rVj3Hujy8QOvu0V3mLhGlOQ5tpsf-UNeA6frfB4VcsUgRsjVbVHPC/s320/IMG_2358.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thankfully I was able to extract the lot, and nothing was damaged to the point where it was going to require replacement. Putting my electronic engineering skills to use I re-attached the plugs, checked for continuity and re-assembled it all... Crisis averted!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWdsY8yJHsci7qg6ZO6NDaf9B9PTuj0ApPQ_PupxhntKPkO-sZu0EKKYVdNuFVbXVYQOEgPB1-yTL0feoR11dn6KrwDZhLFRej3KxpsoXDCghJ89jtfMYDeiexbMxr5xBAVrxZyMNvTtaH/s1600/IMG_2360.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWdsY8yJHsci7qg6ZO6NDaf9B9PTuj0ApPQ_PupxhntKPkO-sZu0EKKYVdNuFVbXVYQOEgPB1-yTL0feoR11dn6KrwDZhLFRej3KxpsoXDCghJ89jtfMYDeiexbMxr5xBAVrxZyMNvTtaH/s320/IMG_2360.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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While I was looking around the car checking things out, I found the fuel filter had a date scribbled on it - most likely the date it was put in. Very handy :) I think more people should do this, it would make servicing so much easier!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDi4s8xVYDaDEUftCbjdOL6fQFQOkxh5EXy2lWVyvA20HzvzhIaYQFKfxU79fZQPoRJcyIpayEOx-Ue_z8cpNg_nL6fbbLXKDn0m6fuf414bhciLSZ_zFpETkCgG86o7gHN70eWEp1a1p0/s1600/IMG_2350.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDi4s8xVYDaDEUftCbjdOL6fQFQOkxh5EXy2lWVyvA20HzvzhIaYQFKfxU79fZQPoRJcyIpayEOx-Ue_z8cpNg_nL6fbbLXKDn0m6fuf414bhciLSZ_zFpETkCgG86o7gHN70eWEp1a1p0/s320/IMG_2350.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The next project for me was replacing the clutch fluid. While installing the amp I found the state of the clutch fluid both disgusting and incredibly concerning. You can see above just how black the fluid actually was (you are supposed to be able to see through it). The writing on the finger says it all! This is what I pulled out directly from the reservoir, to save me pushing all of this through the whole system whilst bleeding the clutch.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGIjsqu3mYz6B45wtGtjjdCc7qFnih7WFWhfK1vA_3EPyXp7Mu9LvJd4eONNKOV8Ck7fpoofQFj4a4bKmhgf59y-l2fiEi0v5ETr5CorfOUt-Cqbtqd16Icn1JD8julGP6X_bifz7_SlKu/s1600/IMG_2363.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGIjsqu3mYz6B45wtGtjjdCc7qFnih7WFWhfK1vA_3EPyXp7Mu9LvJd4eONNKOV8Ck7fpoofQFj4a4bKmhgf59y-l2fiEi0v5ETr5CorfOUt-Cqbtqd16Icn1JD8julGP6X_bifz7_SlKu/s320/IMG_2363.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is what it should look like. It's important when you're bleeding brake/clutch fluid that you sit the hose used for bleeding in more fluid, so that if the system manages to get negative pressure during this process, it's only pulling back fluid and not air.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIfAqz2QOtMHEpWk3oldMpxL9e22LvHXbu8Hr7LOdq0vgRFt3zC_ZzRt__JTF6SNVzbcfduQaY7c8WglB74_CdqyEB5FZyZjA97frxDlLQJ6ofnAtgTgIhNPukuvd2r3gullyi_i0ZujJB/s1600/IMG_2372.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIfAqz2QOtMHEpWk3oldMpxL9e22LvHXbu8Hr7LOdq0vgRFt3zC_ZzRt__JTF6SNVzbcfduQaY7c8WglB74_CdqyEB5FZyZjA97frxDlLQJ6ofnAtgTgIhNPukuvd2r3gullyi_i0ZujJB/s320/IMG_2372.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This picture shows just how disgusting the fluid coming out actually was. You can see it exiting the bottom of the hose - it's thick, brown, and kind of resembles snot that comes from a child that's incredibly sick... but better out than in :) After nearly an hour of bleeding thanks to the engine being at the complete opposite end of the car in relation to the reservoir, I ended up with a clutch system that contained nothing but fresh fluid. What I wasn't prepared for though was the difference that the fresh fluid made to the pedal feel of the clutch! I didn't realise just how thick the old fluid was, and the effect it had on how heavy the clutch was. In hindsight it makes complete sense, as the clutch pedal simply pushes fluid around to move the clutch - but wow, what a difference! The pedal was lighter, the clutch action more defined, and a horrible shaking I once had was gone - winner winner, chicken dinner. Not bad for $10 of fluid and an afternoons work. On that note, it's about here where work on my car ceased and Kim's headaches began.</span><br />
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It all started with some dodgy valve stem seals. Kim had been blowing smoke out of his exhaust for quite some time, and it had been getting progressively worse. The likely cause was the valve stem seals weren't sealing correctly and the engine was burning oil - hence the smoke. What exactly is a valve stem seal you ask? In a nutshell it prevents oil from the top of the engine entering the combustion chamber where the fuel and air ignites and causes you to move. That doesn't seal properly, and you end up burning oil with the air and fuel, which while it isn't catastrophic, it certainly isn't ideal. With the right tool the job should take maybe an hour or 3, no more. Little did we know this was the start of 5 weeks of headaches...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG6Oc6y4_Lag91c4CWS44SE8cH0eCwxs1p8baQPTDdwRBQvqczoiaoZ6RLe3BPp1cEt53Z1YcH61eKMU-6FfAo9R2opWHYHE7_75cxRGuc6nUzdaKUP6ttCIhgvjfQ8qWtxuE0sYwHxR_0/s1600/IMG_2379.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG6Oc6y4_Lag91c4CWS44SE8cH0eCwxs1p8baQPTDdwRBQvqczoiaoZ6RLe3BPp1cEt53Z1YcH61eKMU-6FfAo9R2opWHYHE7_75cxRGuc6nUzdaKUP6ttCIhgvjfQ8qWtxuE0sYwHxR_0/s320/IMG_2379.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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Above is a row of valves (the black circles with the silver circle in the middle) and these are automatically opened and closed as the engine spins to allow the correct amount of air in to the cylinder. Without going into the whole theory on how an engine works, we were only interested in one of the many components at work here: </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_mSE56V3s9npBLZgBnxpmJroMUl1YZbM7jwiiiK3zVmmnYHe0gz6hYEwhtUgifqFJeqcMZTC5TSeqWSvClgsIZsipMmv_dFvZV4tq1n-Mm94p3S4jDJUCNuuvhR_05MbqHrWEpp4noNek/s1600/IMG_2378.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_mSE56V3s9npBLZgBnxpmJroMUl1YZbM7jwiiiK3zVmmnYHe0gz6hYEwhtUgifqFJeqcMZTC5TSeqWSvClgsIZsipMmv_dFvZV4tq1n-Mm94p3S4jDJUCNuuvhR_05MbqHrWEpp4noNek/s320/IMG_2378.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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You can see here the difference between old valve stem seal (right) and new (left). Yerp, that would certainly be the cause of 'yer fault right there! Although to be fair the old ones are destroyed as you pull them out... but trust me when I say they were knackered =P</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8NAwacZGfTcemdVEb9HxKQvQtBjxXisbAOcix6pnsBV9vRlzSAXYyJ1hchDUA0NGThaSyZK0ZSOQpy3Wjcj6Lb35KmtDj2_sKg2XP2XGRKHOGG3Y5yonb66yajti_Q6-NWywRoTy9iANf/s1600/IMG_2377.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8NAwacZGfTcemdVEb9HxKQvQtBjxXisbAOcix6pnsBV9vRlzSAXYyJ1hchDUA0NGThaSyZK0ZSOQpy3Wjcj6Lb35KmtDj2_sKg2XP2XGRKHOGG3Y5yonb66yajti_Q6-NWywRoTy9iANf/s320/IMG_2377.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We found a couple of interesting things along the way too - for one, the spark plugs are not meant to be swimming in oil! This kind of set the tone for everything that followed: things not being as they should...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Replacing the stem seals is actually pretty straight forward - provided you have the correct tool (which we did, thankfully). Unfortunately, valve #3 would not go back in, no matter what we tried. When we finally got it in, it wouldn't release. This was a pretty big problem... with the valve not moving, the engine would have one of its four cylinders doing nothing. The only way around this was to pull the head of the engine off... something neither of us particularly wanted to do, as it is a mammoth job to say the least. It's also something neither of us have ever attempted. What we do know is that everything has to get pulled off the engine, new gaskets are required, new bolts, the whole kit and caboodle. Luckily I own 2 cars, so undertaking such an ambitious job for the first time removed some of the time pressures as it meant Kim could still get around while we sorted this out.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6T4i6biSC1VAVnpifWOZ7Ou_jT9nLseLeJqDVaskiPDVqYz-r17lQUP06tfmhFrxqwA0an7E1KeUJAnC7_bP6Nw-qTb0yaDj25IGnGUr8couJT3zTCApviTddUNCO3wiptpG6Jazrw5Xn/s1600/IMG_2387.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6T4i6biSC1VAVnpifWOZ7Ou_jT9nLseLeJqDVaskiPDVqYz-r17lQUP06tfmhFrxqwA0an7E1KeUJAnC7_bP6Nw-qTb0yaDj25IGnGUr8couJT3zTCApviTddUNCO3wiptpG6Jazrw5Xn/s320/IMG_2387.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can see how the valve in the middle is wide open? Yeah. Big problem. For a number of reasons. First, no compression in that cylinder, so it's not possible to ignite the air and fuel to create the explosion that engines use to create power. Second, with the piston moving up and down thanks to the other cylinders still working, the likelihood of the piston hitting this valve became a certainty - and if the two collide, it's really bad news. Finally, it also meant there was no way we'd be able to repair it short of taking everything into a shop to get it pulled out and fixed by a professional... something that wasn't going to happen at 6 pm on a Friday afternoon. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />Kim conveniently had another head that was floating around which meant we could ditch this knackered head and put on a fresh one. He was originally saving it to build another engine, but at this point we had no choice but to use it. Thankfully it was all set up and cleaned and ready to go, so we took the opportunity to fix a few other things as well.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVMohHKunlPGm-qVMb9yBo4vNwexVIuqSELYLx0292UO4GCHpRXheFAuKkrcEWF0fBel21oz6hbMwUZ1d_pwpj8dmrWSwIRYVH5ydiziVeNpGPnlGO5qgSzzWamIWHSUEC8teSN14GlvEX/s1600/IMG_2388.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVMohHKunlPGm-qVMb9yBo4vNwexVIuqSELYLx0292UO4GCHpRXheFAuKkrcEWF0fBel21oz6hbMwUZ1d_pwpj8dmrWSwIRYVH5ydiziVeNpGPnlGO5qgSzzWamIWHSUEC8teSN14GlvEX/s320/IMG_2388.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We did find this though... a bunch of oil sitting in cylinder 4! This also isn't normal... and would certainly explain why the engine was blowing so much damn smoke. It's pretty damn safe to say this engine was not loving life...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX5kB4ajXfe7oRrw_j-un_utzIqWUToj57JaR9SfKvn0SE8ruaguEhfP34gF_iTet9B4Ueyl-xbsmAZOF0qzgEnu7F5wU3lrVUIewEqPNdelRcjyKFhETnZnrtwDTO2ssFHrsuvVdpr2oQ/s1600/IMG_2392.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX5kB4ajXfe7oRrw_j-un_utzIqWUToj57JaR9SfKvn0SE8ruaguEhfP34gF_iTet9B4Ueyl-xbsmAZOF0qzgEnu7F5wU3lrVUIewEqPNdelRcjyKFhETnZnrtwDTO2ssFHrsuvVdpr2oQ/s320/IMG_2392.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Needless to say our garage was a pretty sad sight and the mood sombre when we finally called it at about 9pm on Friday night... Half the engine gone, crap everywhere, nothing where it's supposed to be and the knowledge it wasn't really going to get better anytime soon... Gutted. The supposed 3 hour job just got a hell of a lot bigger.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbHDXQJOlHs_o2PGiECakDAHyAmlqt5mGXSiQtbu5TbX4wa-kgQ4kJvUNSQxWgYhv9u2GrPyyXPP8VmXqWfvBpGTULa2-yKHA57W7E_VauFDv8D9Wk29uE9_lun7pj4iEE-PulS8V0aSWp/s1600/IMG_2396.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbHDXQJOlHs_o2PGiECakDAHyAmlqt5mGXSiQtbu5TbX4wa-kgQ4kJvUNSQxWgYhv9u2GrPyyXPP8VmXqWfvBpGTULa2-yKHA57W7E_VauFDv8D9Wk29uE9_lun7pj4iEE-PulS8V0aSWp/s320/IMG_2396.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The next day we did a massive supply run... yes beer certainly counts as supplies!! Fluids and oils were high on the list, as well as cleaning implements, specialty tools, new components where needed, and oil storage...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicw-GBBEre1cnzUd95tXK1qFV2naxUo41Ud5rcyL_1FtQbZQVlJocRea7MSfisGTDIg6qvDpuTRKI9Jk___3brLghP2Z329oFUA-7JBZ34oqZdmcogt6T4Vm6XLMO6yG3t4Woh9gPXPS_-/s1600/IMG_2397.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicw-GBBEre1cnzUd95tXK1qFV2naxUo41Ud5rcyL_1FtQbZQVlJocRea7MSfisGTDIg6qvDpuTRKI9Jk___3brLghP2Z329oFUA-7JBZ34oqZdmcogt6T4Vm6XLMO6yG3t4Woh9gPXPS_-/s320/IMG_2397.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... because we go through a fair bit of oil at our place. These 20L buckets are great for it though, as it turns out the local tip allows you to dump 20 litres at a time - convenient! </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRYTA5V7ZDQX1LnRQHiubwcBB6h4a-9ySYIJzFwMC-tgnC1IbBvqKwTNQnkqiCytuH4yVAlBvgbhvnbyECJ6GTFbbCvnOB6weiWnRRt0pBFjKj45oAIfh7YrxQr42ZMfE67uvcqpeG1sMk/s1600/IMG_2398.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRYTA5V7ZDQX1LnRQHiubwcBB6h4a-9ySYIJzFwMC-tgnC1IbBvqKwTNQnkqiCytuH4yVAlBvgbhvnbyECJ6GTFbbCvnOB6weiWnRRt0pBFjKj45oAIfh7YrxQr42ZMfE67uvcqpeG1sMk/s320/IMG_2398.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To say that the engine needed a good degrease was an understatement... 30 years of road dirt and leaking oil will do that!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijixMWRqA-IzCYrs058w0a2530yTGvcqIXVNUpJRMWnhdHCL1gN5-z1o90Gvy_Sv7oOtKKf_wQEhJlzZi0ls5jnaY0vsh2lLODWNI4AwA_V57DQY4zPpwhJvPIoJ4kOa052RsseHsvbg3i/s1600/IMG_2399.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijixMWRqA-IzCYrs058w0a2530yTGvcqIXVNUpJRMWnhdHCL1gN5-z1o90Gvy_Sv7oOtKKf_wQEhJlzZi0ls5jnaY0vsh2lLODWNI4AwA_V57DQY4zPpwhJvPIoJ4kOa052RsseHsvbg3i/s320/IMG_2399.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Seeing the 2 heads side by side, I hope you don't need me to tell you which one was new =P It certainly made for an interesting comparison though, seeing one that had been fully acid dipped compared to one that has seen many, many years of use.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYE9LXEcXBnrHt67ZeQzVMNfl1CKgMM0Wd91LOMhF4u9w0kKnLLZ41dxc0lwG77udZo-YcnvcXFCprYU47OR2KYK4AxEn_zRmwvHQpeIxpQCxOuNaNgwHHYv8hqDX06-ZoEwSL2tCnm7mr/s1600/IMG_2401.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYE9LXEcXBnrHt67ZeQzVMNfl1CKgMM0Wd91LOMhF4u9w0kKnLLZ41dxc0lwG77udZo-YcnvcXFCprYU47OR2KYK4AxEn_zRmwvHQpeIxpQCxOuNaNgwHHYv8hqDX06-ZoEwSL2tCnm7mr/s320/IMG_2401.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We set about transferring what components we needed from the old head to the new: head studs, various brackets and inlets/outlets, trying to get as much assembled as we could outside of the car.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEfV9gg4Z8Jh2TUsZ4WSNHQDrDXgOdo7riJKxJaVKmfwP7gnRfB0RMGohKkArqjs_CgaY7AGfPiSbFV_OfYXK9Ywph-XBrgPR34CFYFPc7K6M_czY51qrn5zoj408Z4hyxsBOXKdYzsT11/s1600/IMG_2403.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEfV9gg4Z8Jh2TUsZ4WSNHQDrDXgOdo7riJKxJaVKmfwP7gnRfB0RMGohKkArqjs_CgaY7AGfPiSbFV_OfYXK9Ywph-XBrgPR34CFYFPc7K6M_czY51qrn5zoj408Z4hyxsBOXKdYzsT11/s320/IMG_2403.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Painting was also on the list, in the spirit of freshening everything up so it wouldn't need to be touched again for a while. The exhaust headers went from rusty rust to a nice matte black, and the tired blue on the engine covers became an anodized blue... I think it's scary how much we want to paint things... do we need help? Regardless, you cannot argue with the impact some painted items can have to something's overall appearance :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJBMxRP2nha3Fd9ElbQuqvsXwm2Qc-KiXbmqw7hr7pXmG_JYIPeNbw1ieH8zMUlwoA2PUSNGqzsudTeq9Rp2PH-3x-U6D_feBv6HFNMnPqACDBtNB3W2Yexkxuj2MoCL-vz6t8S2uf3ni3/s1600/IMG_2405.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJBMxRP2nha3Fd9ElbQuqvsXwm2Qc-KiXbmqw7hr7pXmG_JYIPeNbw1ieH8zMUlwoA2PUSNGqzsudTeq9Rp2PH-3x-U6D_feBv6HFNMnPqACDBtNB3W2Yexkxuj2MoCL-vz6t8S2uf3ni3/s320/IMG_2405.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">From here we tried to make the most efficient use of our time. Kim started working on cleaning up the engine. Soaking up oil, removing the old head gasket, removing carbon where possible, basically anything he could think of to make the most of this opportunity...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq2ew-aLCrW4AP4AAoWXtHAky_QLaJBQnm1dfi5PFqiNUDjgClsEXQY6xVpoapWaZUKfITwmhO9GnsT2wVsl1zznXJxbw0517upGHtTeFNzKeiqnJcc-sDupbUVfv90gHzqJ5tt8t3aSHx/s1600/IMG_2407.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq2ew-aLCrW4AP4AAoWXtHAky_QLaJBQnm1dfi5PFqiNUDjgClsEXQY6xVpoapWaZUKfITwmhO9GnsT2wVsl1zznXJxbw0517upGHtTeFNzKeiqnJcc-sDupbUVfv90gHzqJ5tt8t3aSHx/s320/IMG_2407.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... while I continued to attach various bits and pieces to the head. We used a spare engine block as a table, which gave me uninterrupted access to everything I needed. The thing spun too, which made accessing the bolts underneath very easy! I have to say, working on an engine outside of the car is so much nicer than dealing with cramped spaces, hot surfaces and an inevitable sore back... I just wish it was under better circumstances.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaxpLkdWzi9YDXTV7wo-jmwIvbBHanIPSPZpyQz5k98Vg2VLdKni1WoVmLACIIfArcHEyxqQ4nnp9hZa9vRlA9JdTEXACERyxafSd9haMQjKlcVzld6SOdtcKPHaMcWIVBs3SjDw0uwdZz/s1600/IMG_2417.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaxpLkdWzi9YDXTV7wo-jmwIvbBHanIPSPZpyQz5k98Vg2VLdKni1WoVmLACIIfArcHEyxqQ4nnp9hZa9vRlA9JdTEXACERyxafSd9haMQjKlcVzld6SOdtcKPHaMcWIVBs3SjDw0uwdZz/s320/IMG_2417.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Beer always seems to make arduous tasks go faster, and make them more bearable :) Great work beer inventors!!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVQJaNm7xWXfkzxJS8t_LTO5AWKBv-b4zNx4_EKole_z-eUtHLEEcQGVY3aGSSxgw5mA47R_7dztTCGg4DfUtqx_PCiGajcuVoL2_oKhHaVrjyUq7O4tCtlgS_cjNgF3FfmXd-2HKTrPSH/s1600/IMG_2420.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVQJaNm7xWXfkzxJS8t_LTO5AWKBv-b4zNx4_EKole_z-eUtHLEEcQGVY3aGSSxgw5mA47R_7dztTCGg4DfUtqx_PCiGajcuVoL2_oKhHaVrjyUq7O4tCtlgS_cjNgF3FfmXd-2HKTrPSH/s320/IMG_2420.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As we drew to the end of Saturday, things were starting to come together... The head (of the engine) was actually starting to look like an engine again. At least that's how I saw things, Kim was having a completely different experience!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNstB9jW5Gx5Zxa0ZXG_GPT7XITXCnzbVKKWMjbx1w92CKfsvUkxCXV4BqNXugaGuHPsrwCPmifqXdekWKRR6cN5m47d9dbwYRQOWzRi5C5hRXd6HfC_FLX4zpQqKr1QqgWQLKl67yiQrW/s1600/IMG_2421.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNstB9jW5Gx5Zxa0ZXG_GPT7XITXCnzbVKKWMjbx1w92CKfsvUkxCXV4BqNXugaGuHPsrwCPmifqXdekWKRR6cN5m47d9dbwYRQOWzRi5C5hRXd6HfC_FLX4zpQqKr1QqgWQLKl67yiQrW/s320/IMG_2421.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He was busy taking the opportunity to sort out some teething issues with the gearbox that had been outstanding for some time. A while ago he replaced his gearbox with a newer item for the sake of getting gears that engaged freely and synchros that actually worked. For the record, synchros help bring the different gears up to speed as you change through them, to help alleviate the 'crunch' that happens as a slower gear mates with a faster gear.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit9sgseCEDtvla0f4xaeAyrzHPgy6wQVpeqOGfjaoD_COPVzCuRIYZg1d9-5ZWq3zg7OQr9Sq9F9I0ueftC4UZ2tTv2qgVHrbNvmbgq6iZ173nPtbEG-y7bVfMBPUbk0adhP35Xq-XMRN-/s1600/IMG_2423.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit9sgseCEDtvla0f4xaeAyrzHPgy6wQVpeqOGfjaoD_COPVzCuRIYZg1d9-5ZWq3zg7OQr9Sq9F9I0ueftC4UZ2tTv2qgVHrbNvmbgq6iZ173nPtbEG-y7bVfMBPUbk0adhP35Xq-XMRN-/s320/IMG_2423.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thankfully we had a tarp down underneath the engine... although I do feel sorry for Kim. He was the one that had to roll around in this disgusting oil/radiator fluid concoction that had pooled underneath the car, whereas I was able to lie on clean concrete and operate the jack from a distance while we sorted out the gearbox... yeah I was pretty smug about that!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Over the next few weeks, we attempted to piece the engine back together, trying to get it to a point where we could start the car. Headache after headache ensued, making sure there was always something that needed to be sorted out. In no particular order:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thermostat was too big, so new thermostat had to be ordered</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thermostat housing cracked and sheared in 2</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gasket issues x 1,000,000,000 (all to do with the water pump)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">O-rings not fitting correctly</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Alternator belt sizing took a couple of attempts to get right</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Perished hoses causing grief</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fuel rail o-rings</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Long and short of it? It seemed like a list that grew more than it shrank, the goal of getting this thing started becoming more and more unobtainable.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO4u5YzFfAv4AAEUsbGTDAMV10Vut6aeWECTcYdN17PiIuwe0buIaNQaqcCkK26Obl0ISTUsmgYSIL2aVp7_EZGXkfchwY7fSkUf6YNjEYodTtvUKHX8FxhSviwQB7OjmvcFIWHy0IcBew/s1600/IMG_2530.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO4u5YzFfAv4AAEUsbGTDAMV10Vut6aeWECTcYdN17PiIuwe0buIaNQaqcCkK26Obl0ISTUsmgYSIL2aVp7_EZGXkfchwY7fSkUf6YNjEYodTtvUKHX8FxhSviwQB7OjmvcFIWHy0IcBew/s320/IMG_2530.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Slowly but surely though it started coming back together...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0TpNoVrtWwOaCpp7iDSueJ3q5e5vIPAFiP8rGihPCA4j9k0fnm2MjF3gIJgqFpHouSJ6ct9NjIa6OWBQanPzTAuUHqxOCoMxXr7cYC0C_Owpc1X4-ycSXU-GKNfwCTtwgs5V3-194T3g7/s1600/IMG_2569.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0TpNoVrtWwOaCpp7iDSueJ3q5e5vIPAFiP8rGihPCA4j9k0fnm2MjF3gIJgqFpHouSJ6ct9NjIa6OWBQanPzTAuUHqxOCoMxXr7cYC0C_Owpc1X4-ycSXU-GKNfwCTtwgs5V3-194T3g7/s320/IMG_2569.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... until one day we were finally at the stage where we were able to start her. Or at the very least, attempt to start her. There must have been a dozen attempts at getting her to start - no fuel, flat battery, leaking fluids etc. but thankfully nothing too serious. These are all normal teething issues as there's so much involved with working on engines that forgetting something is inevitable.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span id="goog_1867026605"></span><span id="goog_1867026606"></span><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dy_cERraVMBm-vflwPFpJm2Da71HdikafhQ8kWnUwcD3xwloBFxid95BOaKkn6i3k-I4zzOejRfaF4VvG15Ew' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Eventually we got it to a point where it started - and boy did it sound rough. It sounded like a cross between a Subaru and a Lawn Mower on steroids! It was completely incapable of idling, and required constant attention so that it didn't stall. Check the video above... if you know anything about small 4 cylinder engines they're normally high-tuned screaming masterpieces. But, at least it started, and ran without blowing up :) That in itself was a massive accomplishment, and while it deserved a pat on the back, we were still a long way from a proper celebration.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE6ZTUwK3V55fVKZ3TN8ZygoFHwPz8kBWaSkY5KXvf6AJfmyC2mHzhnQqnNUnlsK3IEligy8W7yClCCN3eRfsIbqxq1s-pBXe-pY7lVdm_hSOg_iDkE6PoQUzlouD84ZAA2J02-mRcTnGz/s1600/IMG_2671.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE6ZTUwK3V55fVKZ3TN8ZygoFHwPz8kBWaSkY5KXvf6AJfmyC2mHzhnQqnNUnlsK3IEligy8W7yClCCN3eRfsIbqxq1s-pBXe-pY7lVdm_hSOg_iDkE6PoQUzlouD84ZAA2J02-mRcTnGz/s320/IMG_2671.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And so the troubleshooting began... Adjusting the timing. Checking that the cam gears were set correctly. Making sure there were no vaccuum leaks. Ensuring the spark plugs were receiving a spark. Looking for fluid leaks. Seeing if all any sensor had been missed. Adjusting the timing again... and still no closer to making any headway. Nothing we did worked, so it was time to bust out the manual and dig deeper. The only thing that we were hoping for was that it was due to a rookie mistake we'd made along the way, as opposed to something seriously wrong with the engine.</span><br />
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The next thing was a compression check and lo and behold, no compression in cylinder 1! The good news was that the other cylinders all had perfect compression, so at least we knew once this problem was fixed, the engine would sing. Now that we knew what was wrong we could start digging deeper... We checked the torque settings on the engine head - all good. Kim noticed that one of the brackets holding the cam gear in was backwards, so that was swapped around, but no change. We then checked for valve clearances (the gap between the valve and the cam gear, which is responsible for actuating the valves). Toyota normally recommend a gap of 0.15-0.3 mm - so we're talking a bee's dick here... and on valve one, we had a gap of 0. What this meant was that the valve was being continuously held open - once again, air and fuel are not able to combust thanks to the cylinder not sealing properly. We tried swapping shims on the valve but it made absolutely no difference, so we decided to dig a little deeper...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWTYBl4L1GfeOqdtcgSIT3t0lspOAQjvuYXr9FLrwcClIgiA9Nj-YwD4drwWFVQoDlgIW0oconAIdzJpVXYDF9vy5Huf-sD1KP2MBi68X43mF_Jwcl_XXoEwcSG2d0kJeri__flrcsKPpZ/s1600/IMG_2705.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWTYBl4L1GfeOqdtcgSIT3t0lspOAQjvuYXr9FLrwcClIgiA9Nj-YwD4drwWFVQoDlgIW0oconAIdzJpVXYDF9vy5Huf-sD1KP2MBi68X43mF_Jwcl_XXoEwcSG2d0kJeri__flrcsKPpZ/s320/IMG_2705.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... and found this. Rookie mistake :) WIN!!!! Originally, Kim had decided to replace the valve stem seals on the new engine head, as he had bought them and might as well use them - however after doing 3 he decided it was going to be a futile effort as the rest of the head was already in awesome condition. Lo and behold, one of the valve retainers accidentally got put in upside down. Whoops!!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB-x7nY4hcok8CHpRtNU_oNr7hz6DYNbqrgztQBcky7Y8ym6bw7d3xHZjkmYlwVcrsnyClY5h_1izR-5UoaRdkO5qBaUSTD5XCCrfr-g0HyRhY67M_3WmtCsqE1MsphRl2eOMKpNz2NXT9/s1600/IMG_2670.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB-x7nY4hcok8CHpRtNU_oNr7hz6DYNbqrgztQBcky7Y8ym6bw7d3xHZjkmYlwVcrsnyClY5h_1izR-5UoaRdkO5qBaUSTD5XCCrfr-g0HyRhY67M_3WmtCsqE1MsphRl2eOMKpNz2NXT9/s320/IMG_2670.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After sorting that out, the engine went back together for the final time, and boy did she sing! So much tighter, so much more composed and the sound... absolutely awesome. We put the car fully back together and took her for a drive, and what a difference! The engine had a noticeable increase in both power and torque, in a car as light as Britney (Kim's AE86), that increase translated to a sublime driving experience. NOW it was time for those celebratory beers :) :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A week on and we found a few more teething issues that will require some more attention, although hopefully not too many headaches. There were a couple of rattles that developed from a pretty hard shakedown, thankfully they only turned out to be loose bolts - nothing a bit of Loctite can't fix. She also has a bit of a high idle, but hopefully that's an easy fix as well. The main problem at the moment is the car overheats something shocking. We've noticed that the thermo fan in front of the radiator isn't running at all, but more importantly we let the car run for 40 mins, and the radiator hoses were rock hard. They were under that much pressure that some radiator fluid was actually starting to seep through the hose. Is it the water pump? Is it the thermostat? We have no idea... Alas it is Christmas, so this is a job for later. The good news is she starts, and runs, and moves under her own power. And most importantly, she doesn't blow smoke anymore :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After that 5 week hiatus with Kim's car it was time to get back into mine. I must say it certainly is a nice feeling working on your own car again :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyTEol2BKqFUJSPg1lUCFd8HJdf4bVOhytBDl85hm2iyi0TFyXj94gW46-uWM4MHZz1ve-5r8AAWRIq7z2DJhuY2n03TmcKE6EfAgKbUwo0LyR90li-VW8jQ8aTY0LBiXPrwAEWbAqJZhz/s1600/IMG_2735.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyTEol2BKqFUJSPg1lUCFd8HJdf4bVOhytBDl85hm2iyi0TFyXj94gW46-uWM4MHZz1ve-5r8AAWRIq7z2DJhuY2n03TmcKE6EfAgKbUwo0LyR90li-VW8jQ8aTY0LBiXPrwAEWbAqJZhz/s320/IMG_2735.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While not necessarily a big modification ($8 from Autobarn), I found this cup holder that clips into your door card by hanging off the gap where your window sits. Voila! A cup holder in a holder-less car =P Sure it's not the prettiest thing, nor the most stable, but it works so I'm chuffed. The only real problem with it is because it sits in the window gap, if you put the window up it is capable of leaving a nasty scratch in your glass... bugger! Ah well, lesson learnt.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihj0z085Qhy7ezOG-8zLpRxCrDtxve5R4E2ZSquvQ3fmUm7AaQZVqldMmcNNS3leK1Mx4mkzDmlw_fb3s54GrwUP2GTqNGRe5p09i_9wv1qBEyA0QXwN4qaTLeLNKt9Wp68GIhF0uU-5EG/s1600/IMG_2739.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihj0z085Qhy7ezOG-8zLpRxCrDtxve5R4E2ZSquvQ3fmUm7AaQZVqldMmcNNS3leK1Mx4mkzDmlw_fb3s54GrwUP2GTqNGRe5p09i_9wv1qBEyA0QXwN4qaTLeLNKt9Wp68GIhF0uU-5EG/s320/IMG_2739.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The big job for me was the brakes. It's been something I know I've needed to do ever since I bought the car, but due to time and money constraints it has always been put on the back burner. I set myself the goal of sorting them out before Christmas, so with 5 days to go I decided to pull my finger out of my ass and actually do something about it. After a quick inspection, I found that while the current brake pads still had some life in them, I knew they made a lovely groaning noise when cold, and the rotors where in dire need of being machined - time to do a full brake service.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtI9Lmk1-9RPF_J7vr_n5Iv-TZbO-USYj95DqIsFipI0khRxpTERcKCChs7E1gSADdWmviyn-Q5LCF73GWtTmVXIqcQ7VxftiHDYNngTcQNFITxp5w1evgQv1xDykq-M3LkitxQKCFoNJd/s1600/IMG_2742.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtI9Lmk1-9RPF_J7vr_n5Iv-TZbO-USYj95DqIsFipI0khRxpTERcKCChs7E1gSADdWmviyn-Q5LCF73GWtTmVXIqcQ7VxftiHDYNngTcQNFITxp5w1evgQv1xDykq-M3LkitxQKCFoNJd/s320/IMG_2742.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had no idea that things were this bad though! The idea with a brake rotor is to provide a fully uniform surface for the brake pads to work on... You can see on the photo above that there is actually a 1-2 mm lip on both the inside and outside of the rotor - I wouldn't want to even chance a guess at when they were done last. The problem with this is that the pad wears its own mark into the brake rotor over time, so if you put in new pads without sorting out the rotor surface, you will get a lot less life out of your brake pads, and also compromise your braking performance. It was to the extent that if you ran a finger nail across the surface of the rotor you could feel bumps and ridges everywhere =\ I had to laugh though, while trying to take everything apart (on a Friday night no less) I did make a pretty big booboo... I was trying to undo bolts and was baffled as to how tight some bolts were, only to find I actually had the ratchet set the wrong way.... *sheepish grin*</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL6TCnYA_h3p_UQ45rIMfAyhOfXtLeE1JiNzKgeHRMSaDL0QRzS4FVvyhHFSSqn-DqfKOGXtD0-0Hd5XSEavHqLLk6Xg94OsIwgsXWMm5traVpUirexUsD2FqpVn20D6H0YYXNVh-6_Nc-/s1600/IMG_2743.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL6TCnYA_h3p_UQ45rIMfAyhOfXtLeE1JiNzKgeHRMSaDL0QRzS4FVvyhHFSSqn-DqfKOGXtD0-0Hd5XSEavHqLLk6Xg94OsIwgsXWMm5traVpUirexUsD2FqpVn20D6H0YYXNVh-6_Nc-/s320/IMG_2743.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The next day I took the rotors to get machined. $80 and an hour and a half later, I had 4 fully fresh rotors ready to be put back onto the car :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLgrC9wzBg2iihgvpbhYSpHya9i3V_UxKVeJco5w4Qyi1_4tFOy36hkughOqAnAzdFs8ncvTLe-Nao5KvHcSNFSpV6Uc7seun-toqZXvT9rOgJFF_IF5_NcBMxbnxtsK99HvLxOmsk1DND/s1600/IMG_2744.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLgrC9wzBg2iihgvpbhYSpHya9i3V_UxKVeJco5w4Qyi1_4tFOy36hkughOqAnAzdFs8ncvTLe-Nao5KvHcSNFSpV6Uc7seun-toqZXvT9rOgJFF_IF5_NcBMxbnxtsK99HvLxOmsk1DND/s320/IMG_2744.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can see just how much nicer this surface is compared to before. I do apologise, I should have actually gotten a photo of the rotors pre-machining in the day time so you could get a better idea of just how bad they were, but for all intents and purposes let's just say I was very much looking forward to getting these back onto the car!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoK0_2QB-PKAXvgQLLeXhmG1vCINpwNdrjcfaZ9RBiq2zWZKApSLoaYvVWdWwSTgLclnalTDQvLatJQW_kJrv4QTLW52iMD28VHOEl8mFGoCJYfdGZ1WA6x5mvNEMXcAlrj9NDfNp7TrEg/s1600/IMG_2745.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoK0_2QB-PKAXvgQLLeXhmG1vCINpwNdrjcfaZ9RBiq2zWZKApSLoaYvVWdWwSTgLclnalTDQvLatJQW_kJrv4QTLW52iMD28VHOEl8mFGoCJYfdGZ1WA6x5mvNEMXcAlrj9NDfNp7TrEg/s320/IMG_2745.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The one thing I'm amazed with is how good the brakes are from the factory when Toyota made the car. The front rotor (in the foreground) is stupidly thick, and the rear rotor is actually larger in diameter than the front! In most braking setups the fronts are much bigger than the rear thanks to simple physics - as you brake, the weight in the car transfers to the front and therefore takes a lot more force to brake reliably and consistently, especially when you're driving hard. I'm guessing here it's a case of compensating for the change in dynamics that comes from sending the engine to the rear of the car... Either way I'm certainly not complaining, I won't need to upgrade rotor/calliper size for quite some time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pushing pistons back is always a fun job (not)... Effectively the piston is what actually moves when you press the brake pedal. As the pads wear down the piston comes out further and further, and simple common sense will tell you that if you try to put something larger into the same size gap it's simply not going to fit - you need to make the room. What has always baffled me though is the variety in setups I've come across over the years... even on the same car you need different tools/methods for the front and rear of the car, and the MR2 was no exception. This little silver tool I bought is a great addition to any tool set though - at under $10, it's a great way of pushing back pistons in callipers where the piston needs to rotate to retract. Plus it fits into a 3/8th" socket, so turning it is a breeze! Don't forget too to take a wire brush to the hub face before you put the rotor back on... the last thing you want is wheel wobble due to the rotor not sitting flat =P</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can see here the difference between the old brake pads (left) and the new (right). Much thicker, and actually stands a chance of wearing properly. FYI as you can see, the old pad had actually worn pretty badly on an angle - this is not normal at all. I'm hoping it was a case of poor workmanship from the previous mechanic, but I will have to keep an eye on this particular pad to see if the new ones wear the same. For those interested I went for a set of QFM HPX pads - I've used them on both Edna and Stacey and have been very happy with them. Great everyday driving performance while still standing up to the challenge of a much harder drive... a very good compromise in my opinion. They're also pretty damn good at not coating your wheels in brake dust, and are locally made here in Brisbane. Nothing like supporting local businesses - winning all around :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Annoyingly enough the new pads for the rear of the car were missing some holes that held springs to help push the pads back apart after you release the brakes. It's a small gripe which was thankfully easy to overcome, even if I did go through 3 drill bits drilling these holes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The pads were put back into the callipers, the rotors put back onto the hub and the callipers back onto the rotors. It's like that song 'The hip bone's connected to the, leg bone. The leg bone's connected to the, knee bone...' Or is that just me? At least you can see the springs I'm talking about! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The front callipers were more or less exactly the same as the rear, although instead of using the wonderful multi-tool, these required a nice and crude block of wood and a clamp... just as effective but goes to show that it's far from a 'one size fits all' mentality. The one awesome bonus here is that the front callipers are actually 'twin-pots' - i.e. they have 2 pistons in them for better braking performance as opposed to just one on the rear. Love it! Thankfully the front pads at least had the holes for the springs drilled into them, which was awesome because I had run out of 2 mm drill bits =\</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With everything back together it was time for the obligatory coat of paint. In my younger days it would have been yellow or red or something crazy to make them stand out, but I'm really starting to appreciate the improvement that subtlety can make to the appearance of the car. Gloss black it was :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The finished product! From here it was a case of bleeding the brake lines to get rid of any air, but I also took the opportunity to completely replace the brake fluid. Thankfully brake fluid manufacturers are smart enough to produce 2 colours of the same specification fluid, so you can see once you've pushed all of the old fluid through the system. Wheels back on, car for a drive, yep so damn happy with the result! No noise, and the brake pedal has a much better feel too. I can't wait to put them properly to the test and see what they're capable of... but first things first I had to figure out why my handbrake isn't functioning properly... I got a rude surprise when I came outside and the car was sitting half on the road after rolling down the driveway by its own accord =\</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once again it was a venture into the multitude of plastic underneath the car. I eventually found the handbrake mechanism, which I thought was very strange because most handbrakes can be adjusted within the car itself. The one bright side was seeing a part of the car I hadn't seen before: the fuel tank, radiator hoses and various cables that ran down the centre console. The adjustment itself was pretty straight forward, tighten/loosen 2 locking nuts until I had it correct, without over tightening so that the brakes don't drag when the handbrake is off. Mission accomplished!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I also took the liberty of capitalising on a sale and adding some seat covers. While I'll eventually get the seats re-bolstered or replaced (lumbar support is non-existent at the moment and is wreaking havoc with my back on longer drives), this is a great temporary fix for making the seats a little bit more comfortable whilst ditching the look that the lovely 90's carpet is able to provide. My belief has always been if you get more and more black in the interior (as opposed to faded navy with red and grey stripes), the interior becomes a much nicer place to be, and so far it has not let me down. The other issue I was hoping to address was how hot the seats get if left in the sun. Fingers crossed with a different kind of fabric they don't retain too much heat!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The final thing I wanted to sort out before Christmas was this - the power window module. What about it you ask? Well something quite small actually, while the drivers side has auto-down functionality, it does not have auto up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Luckily for me (and all over MR2 owners), the circuit board is already set up for this! For some reason, Toyota decided to allow this functionality but not actually implement it. Bizarre! Using my electronic engineering skills (and also the help of an online DIY guide), all I had to do was add a Diode to the circled location and Voila!! Auto-up for the drivers window for the grand total of 10 cents.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Unfortunately I didn't read everything the guide properly and pulled the module apart more than I needed to... which resulted in the switch hardware (springs, rocker switches and plastic clicky bits) going everywhere... It took me the better part of 2 hours to figure out how everything went back together, and in the process I wrecked one of the springs so now I don't have the power window lock functionality. Not a great loss... I'll be honest I'll probably never use that functionality in the MR2 at all, but still it was a headache I could have easily avoided - especially given that it took me 5 attempts to get all the switches to work correctly. After a lot of persistence and a bit of cursing, I eventually got everything back together and it all worked! Needless to say I am luuuuurrrrvvving it :) I must admit I'm a big fan of these easy mods to get functionality that the manufacturer didn't intend you to have. Another great example is in my X-Trail.. I have steering wheel controls that have the capability to be lit up but for some reason they never implemented it in Australia. One wire and 30 minutes later and I can now see my steering wheel controls at night. Ah sometimes I love being an engineer :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well, I think I'm going to leave it there for the year!! What a journey it has been... from the headaches with Stacey to the headaches with Britney and the interesting shenanigans with Tegan/The Custard Pod. All I know is seeing this car in the garage, jumping into her and taking her for a drive... it always puts a smile on my face :) and that's what makes it all worth it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To everyone reading this... Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! See you all next year!!!</span></div>
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</span>_Clinno_http://www.blogger.com/profile/15758751614854894618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030408022090936981.post-41075889285792510622013-10-22T17:34:00.003+10:002013-10-22T17:34:55.373+10:00Baby Steps<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Continuing on with the whole mentality of small things that make a big difference, I've been slowly chipping away at some very small things just to make Tegan both nicer to be in and nicer to look at. The list seems to constantly change as I spend more time driving her... due to the fact I haven't had her for long it's been growing faster than it's been shrinking. Nothing serious, just small things as you find out what kind of life it has lived.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjE3mfexk3PG3xJ3U8JrYQeco85Z6mJamNyye0_D5IIeiY12w_TS7SaFBmQlfrZaDP6LB1fhFtsiLMcAlrZjMeAzMJ3EHAPx9drKfyvCGpUMeoP08A9AFjeSuRiRUZs0COrseudMbASJ1l/s1600/IMG_2110.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjE3mfexk3PG3xJ3U8JrYQeco85Z6mJamNyye0_D5IIeiY12w_TS7SaFBmQlfrZaDP6LB1fhFtsiLMcAlrZjMeAzMJ3EHAPx9drKfyvCGpUMeoP08A9AFjeSuRiRUZs0COrseudMbASJ1l/s320/IMG_2110.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The motorised antenna is one of those things that is ultra cool as a 90's item... well, it would have been if it actually worked. I got reception, but the motor seemed to be incapable of making it extend and retract. Instead of replacing it with another option, I decided to take the opportunity to tastefully modernise it instead - with a small, stubby carbon fibre item off of eBay. Unfortunately these are typically designed for newer cars, with ideal installation times being in the order of 5 minutes as opposed to 5 hours... what can I say, I like a challenge :) Let's begin interfacing!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpWLPtxk3sM1gUadMx8OnsKqZrfCUaGuEaZza8dgUjTKV-kTC2T4-QBk3VbonMMK4tgV6hYk2CUT2YENtWpDgPJh9kVZAdVcp8AR6udGwL-u7R128mvX8WNhGoZA-czGztedc8LdLNvk5w/s1600/IMG_2111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpWLPtxk3sM1gUadMx8OnsKqZrfCUaGuEaZza8dgUjTKV-kTC2T4-QBk3VbonMMK4tgV6hYk2CUT2YENtWpDgPJh9kVZAdVcp8AR6udGwL-u7R128mvX8WNhGoZA-czGztedc8LdLNvk5w/s320/IMG_2111.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The first step was to mate the antenna cable to my new solution. I didn't want to ruin the original cable just in case I felt the need to go back to the factory solution, so I bought 1m extension cable that I could bastardise instead.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidcYtxKHiblm2TvkmA4wTmxbDvJaByAaDKp0JH4pylssuWkDKBRyt-tjOsWXFHPWRopW9lgbhmRYweOBSdRzIpS7w89-ubHvEdFMkJRIVkyxnljA6cd9wDx2EWLzfq9tmoRO8lSm7yo7wj/s1600/IMG_2112.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidcYtxKHiblm2TvkmA4wTmxbDvJaByAaDKp0JH4pylssuWkDKBRyt-tjOsWXFHPWRopW9lgbhmRYweOBSdRzIpS7w89-ubHvEdFMkJRIVkyxnljA6cd9wDx2EWLzfq9tmoRO8lSm7yo7wj/s320/IMG_2112.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The next step was to work out how to attach it to the body using the existing hardware I had from the previous aerial. I ended up being able to make something work with a selection of rubber grommets, washers and nuts.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNFgl4oVhoTtmS1XsJPPue6166-VdjZvC1sL1WT7LKz6fuqW6b5ybUHyDWqjHn8wF5oGvUea8kuSwG4dzecPxlpYZnVoQb9alr3cj2nnCReD-eDLuPng-NQgOxeSgCRU9LNKJPm4ERjNk7/s1600/IMG_2113.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNFgl4oVhoTtmS1XsJPPue6166-VdjZvC1sL1WT7LKz6fuqW6b5ybUHyDWqjHn8wF5oGvUea8kuSwG4dzecPxlpYZnVoQb9alr3cj2nnCReD-eDLuPng-NQgOxeSgCRU9LNKJPm4ERjNk7/s320/IMG_2113.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I crimped on a ring terminal and attached that as well so I could actually use it as an aerial. The old aerial actually screws in and is nice and secure - I lost the ability to secure it when I made the switch, so I had to improvise with what hardware I could salvage from the old aerial in the hope of making something that would work... Kwik Grip to the rescue!! At least that's what I thought... turned out it didn't bond as strong as I would have liked... Sikaflex to the rescue!!!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbF93VcHQATOYQlzBP3-GKBd8-42CNBu5azxKmjAufYtASVRbWoH2FhK2XjhYP2GBOixFWbCRjsG9wRwBQxN2kG0RkP7pxpNo5nrv_ZglJHuNbxZGhS8VHshu0nq9GOhnRWAWgRM2Ay8Bc/s1600/IMG_2117.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbF93VcHQATOYQlzBP3-GKBd8-42CNBu5azxKmjAufYtASVRbWoH2FhK2XjhYP2GBOixFWbCRjsG9wRwBQxN2kG0RkP7pxpNo5nrv_ZglJHuNbxZGhS8VHshu0nq9GOhnRWAWgRM2Ay8Bc/s320/IMG_2117.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Quite a nice little update I'm sure you'd agree :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next on the list was the shifter and shifter boot. Given that it's something that my left hand is pretty much on the entire time I'm driving, it's something that needs to be comfortable, functional, and aesthetically pleasing for me. The old items were wearing pretty bad, with the shifter boot getting dangerously thin in some spots with cigarette holes in others thanks to a previous owner.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6T0kdslRyGU_PYJsmm22XWZPA4YK6B94BZsbC38EpDqBc0bnUoo1skHq5GgtczwA2tfjYDJzcWDwbC3LzIPguyPUc0PPR1TZ-DK95h1qnQLPZMFWntAB5GzLyyl_Hy0sbN7PTKHEzNbNM/s1600/IMG_2209.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6T0kdslRyGU_PYJsmm22XWZPA4YK6B94BZsbC38EpDqBc0bnUoo1skHq5GgtczwA2tfjYDJzcWDwbC3LzIPguyPUc0PPR1TZ-DK95h1qnQLPZMFWntAB5GzLyyl_Hy0sbN7PTKHEzNbNM/s320/IMG_2209.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you've never heard of Redline Goods, I suggest you educate yourself very quickly. They do all sorts of fantastic accessories for cars in terms of replacing items with leather, alcantara, suede etc. in any number of colours, patterns and stitching variations. They custom make for pretty much any car too! This little bad boy above cost me a grand total of $50 inc. postage from the UK - genuine leather with white stitching. If you consider you'd get a generic faux leather boot from Super Cheap Auto for $30, this is really not bad at all :) </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicFDhw339kJWgUhlNpF5oJtLL7ECQfNr_XWckVQtRshTlv7vVKkZiiaI0OIzEakvXb8T5chXgscssWVUTWVer_BDsDZK70KyyF0vox0w1zo8aWAk1hhnoBv5cGR_YU8xBBnNDuiCV_K4_a/s1600/IMG_2211.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicFDhw339kJWgUhlNpF5oJtLL7ECQfNr_XWckVQtRshTlv7vVKkZiiaI0OIzEakvXb8T5chXgscssWVUTWVer_BDsDZK70KyyF0vox0w1zo8aWAk1hhnoBv5cGR_YU8xBBnNDuiCV_K4_a/s320/IMG_2211.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The glue holding the old boot to the bracket was that shot that it just peeled off - nice and easy, and no snapped plastic. I lined up the new boot, making sure the stitching matched the corners of the bracket, and waited for the glue to dry before pressing the two surfaces together. A heat gun made life a hell of a lot easier too, making the normally stiff leather become much more malleable.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFr-qZ_cG_jJerBB-kmCbrvHUDfK9ZLOIJKTbqj5eXdX0xFd-OPIpagfGsgsT1hi8GXiqCS1SnWn0sZTZRfUd5mZTpPUI7aMPbBRhX5bPeixxcPOE-7C4tuBDFfpsvKtyhlV0-pADP4Ofv/s1600/IMG_2214.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFr-qZ_cG_jJerBB-kmCbrvHUDfK9ZLOIJKTbqj5eXdX0xFd-OPIpagfGsgsT1hi8GXiqCS1SnWn0sZTZRfUd5mZTpPUI7aMPbBRhX5bPeixxcPOE-7C4tuBDFfpsvKtyhlV0-pADP4Ofv/s320/IMG_2214.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Old vs. new... cannot argue with the results. The smaller shift knob works very well, as it gives you a lot more options when man-handling it. I did have to add the shift pattern sticker you can see down the bottom though... it's the law in QLD that you have to be able to see the shift pattern - so if you swap the knob to something that doesn't have one on it (like the old shifter on the left), this is the only option. Not the end of the world, but just something to keep in mind.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">From here I moved onto the final step of the audio system - amping the speakers. If you spend good money on speakers you want to make sure they're being looked after - headunits can only give so much power, and aftermarket speakers generally need 2-4 times that amount of power to operate effectively. Unfortunately, amplifier mounting locations are pretty limited in the MR2... under the seat requires spending a lot of money on a slim-line amplifier. Behind the seats means you lose the ability to store the targa roof. You could put it in the boot, but it's a very long cable run as the battery is still in the front of the car, and all cables (including audio) have to run through the engine bay, not good at all. Next best option? In the frunk - it's sealed from weather, and has enough room to be useful for what I needed. It also means that I don't have to run any cables past components that would induce noise :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4AfJJ4mLi6KXeqEYlxpNNmtaDe56GpFwCPwXA-Kw_BREpnuRqdrKQ56cP1f9pQWZgDGcu38qRRqCIWDbvabmEiiwlRIG-dLX6sk4NVPorZZMLjkdFTKzj_T3ML0ctvkMmHKjHTNdoFKLu/s1600/IMG_2252.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4AfJJ4mLi6KXeqEYlxpNNmtaDe56GpFwCPwXA-Kw_BREpnuRqdrKQ56cP1f9pQWZgDGcu38qRRqCIWDbvabmEiiwlRIG-dLX6sk4NVPorZZMLjkdFTKzj_T3ML0ctvkMmHKjHTNdoFKLu/s320/IMG_2252.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I found a guide for mounting the amp in the frunk, and pretty much disregarded all of it with the knowledge that I could probably do it better... to be fair he was also going for a completely different setup, so I'm not being too arrogant here ;) Can't knock that it wasn't a good place to start though. I grabbed a piece of MDF from Bunnings and set to work sizing everything up. Measure, cut, test fit, trim, test fit again, trim again... etc etc.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj60q6iEj1-ycHu3P4D9Xma2A68rQH3G65hkERYy_V-vdNaDnsRTQ4YlY_G8QYk05IqwRQZKWGYLt8RuCb17l0noIUARU5BlWAxxA74CjXfJB0ioMdtJIKqORblnr0cGulK3sExYs2AKwwb/s1600/IMG_2253.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj60q6iEj1-ycHu3P4D9Xma2A68rQH3G65hkERYy_V-vdNaDnsRTQ4YlY_G8QYk05IqwRQZKWGYLt8RuCb17l0noIUARU5BlWAxxA74CjXfJB0ioMdtJIKqORblnr0cGulK3sExYs2AKwwb/s320/IMG_2253.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The trickiest part was getting the MDF to sit flush with all of the different shapes and accessories in the frunk. I must have pulled the MDF out over a dozen times just to make sure I got everything sitting right.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once I had it all figured out I set about painting it. You can get a bit of an idea of how much modification was required just by looking at all the different edges and what not along the front of that board. I also added 2 cut-outs to help with cable running.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In between coats of paint I set about starting the wiring. I've never pulled the plastics out before, and was absolutely amazed at all of the auxiliary systems that are housed up here! Yes it makes sense for a lot of them, but when you picture an engine in the back of the car you kind of picture everything else moving with it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As is always good practise, measure twice cut once - same rule applies with cables, especially when they're going to be cable-tied to a bunch of different components just so they're tidy. I will state at this point, I wanted to leave myself with enough cable length so that I could pull the amp out and access the spare tyre/battery without needing to disconnect anything.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next up came the cable pull - never ever a fun job, but has to be done so might as well get on with it. I used an old wire coat hanger as an initial pull wire, taped the remote cable to that and taped everything else to the remote cable. This was going to be my pull wire once I found it on the other side of the car... The theory here is that I didn't particularly want to pull the entire coat hanger through, especially given how tight space is on the other side - you certainly run the risk of damaging something.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS84RAQXE9nS1ucBX1OjoWNPgUE6r5WH0PBR-cK5nGqM3j63e5L1vhJpYzlE1uSmkFDwN9m44apYzxjuFqTrrKbSW61LgSKzwxB-BgKQQs_mBkRUhIvy4K90GurD8T8FW01PU8LmNxq0mn/s1600/IMG_2262.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS84RAQXE9nS1ucBX1OjoWNPgUE6r5WH0PBR-cK5nGqM3j63e5L1vhJpYzlE1uSmkFDwN9m44apYzxjuFqTrrKbSW61LgSKzwxB-BgKQQs_mBkRUhIvy4K90GurD8T8FW01PU8LmNxq0mn/s320/IMG_2262.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yep - this position is always great for your back... Once I had the remote cable in hand I set about pulling everything else through. A few hiccups along the way but nothing a bit of wriggling can't sort out!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was actually amazed at the space once I got the wiring through the firewall - was even able to get my full hand through the centre console to grab all the cables - nice! Not something you see every day... surprise!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNLEIzKJe7FoR-N5Ctth8uzTfqTD5jnmJ9Fj8UbE7GHm9R8YVZH2Q2_DmHTHQ3TPtuUsTV76wwHDaKuAWIe_DsjCq7MruxTIregBZ0masBR_6P6_186BX99E-2pVP_sG8SW1borGPjOXdW/s1600/IMG_2265.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNLEIzKJe7FoR-N5Ctth8uzTfqTD5jnmJ9Fj8UbE7GHm9R8YVZH2Q2_DmHTHQ3TPtuUsTV76wwHDaKuAWIe_DsjCq7MruxTIregBZ0masBR_6P6_186BX99E-2pVP_sG8SW1borGPjOXdW/s320/IMG_2265.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">From here it was a case of wiring everything into the headunit - splicing and soldering cables, none of this twist and tape business going on here... I am a professional after all! I had to do the headunit side of things first though, as I needed to make sure I had enough cable length to still be able to remove the amp without disconnecting...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmKw-yCbvUAekqMWNZ-DxG14EPwyAB7XkCofwDdHe-3DwPRvQxvaUO0HESZEC2WOT5DWN2QzlPjiLXFIW1KIxgq30wFLVSO1uVUTAg94j3wt20PsyJmnhgtNGTOQp34Mfyfu7Puem6BwdN/s1600/IMG_2267.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmKw-yCbvUAekqMWNZ-DxG14EPwyAB7XkCofwDdHe-3DwPRvQxvaUO0HESZEC2WOT5DWN2QzlPjiLXFIW1KIxgq30wFLVSO1uVUTAg94j3wt20PsyJmnhgtNGTOQp34Mfyfu7Puem6BwdN/s320/IMG_2267.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... turns out I didn't. I had to cut 4 more sections of speaker wire and extend them. In the long run I'll look at re-running all the cables with single sections, just for the sake of quality and peace of mind. Light was running out though, and given how close I was to finishing it, this would have to do for the time being.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I also took the liberty of looming all the cables together - like I said, professional ;)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCkYSa5CFfXxltYWz6O97N_tgWxVYBQWU-qPbMRR0_luQblMMWsZIR2eY-biVP145-qYPD1swmX4xlgDypqZgAfXP8EzP-zlsS9xRHPbLwlyzFyxbvPdJCHOlulFeRFFNJH3xPD3YlSEKX/s1600/IMG_2269.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCkYSa5CFfXxltYWz6O97N_tgWxVYBQWU-qPbMRR0_luQblMMWsZIR2eY-biVP145-qYPD1swmX4xlgDypqZgAfXP8EzP-zlsS9xRHPbLwlyzFyxbvPdJCHOlulFeRFFNJH3xPD3YlSEKX/s320/IMG_2269.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With the mounting board now dry I secured the amp to it, and set about wiring everything up. Man how I don't miss working under fluoro lights... Given that every single speaker wire was the one colour I had to mark all the cables with what they were connected to via a series of stripes marked with a Nikko. That little piece of paper you can see there was a life saver... e.g. 'II -> Grey -> Front Right'</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo5JQDjbIpRRilL8iejaCBVZ61EWvxharXH1kp8WWAzw5g-NdkviN_bsNq7gp6jFpQ2NIAXfI2cBv7nfttv6VU9_YO2LPb3DJZBJ2BCA7asf5KwM3ppg4XUnydCmtYvsDjNTtKKTC75dUT/s1600/IMG_2270.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo5JQDjbIpRRilL8iejaCBVZ61EWvxharXH1kp8WWAzw5g-NdkviN_bsNq7gp6jFpQ2NIAXfI2cBv7nfttv6VU9_YO2LPb3DJZBJ2BCA7asf5KwM3ppg4XUnydCmtYvsDjNTtKKTC75dUT/s320/IMG_2270.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While it was sitting up here I made sure I had enough cable length... evidenced by the fact that everything is connected up while the amp sits outside the car. Amp done!! Now to put everything back together...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Heck yes :) :) cannot argue with that! Cabling all out of sight, and it doesn't move thanks to the weight of the amp and the fact that it's held down by the radiator hose. Win!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGWwKu1QlLqT6h8sL0_cgMnwIUF5H2EyflmwznZXh8RS2HOM0Hbdjv_bPq3FBz88tgyIkBOwKYyo5oFxnAYZ3KKSqlzo1IyGp2A4ws9UhBHleL_P4KxP8krvP458BmEyHI4tTee3q1tits/s1600/IMG_2274.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGWwKu1QlLqT6h8sL0_cgMnwIUF5H2EyflmwznZXh8RS2HOM0Hbdjv_bPq3FBz88tgyIkBOwKYyo5oFxnAYZ3KKSqlzo1IyGp2A4ws9UhBHleL_P4KxP8krvP458BmEyHI4tTee3q1tits/s320/IMG_2274.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next comes the actual fun part... testing. First things first is to make sure everything is connected up correctly, i.e. that the front right speaker is actually the front right speaker. With that test done it was onto tuning and auditioning - and I really cannot argue with the results. I now have the capabilities to hear what's being played when I'm at full pelt on the freeway with the roof off and the windows down, woot!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Another thing that's been bothering me is a lack of functioning windscreen washers... try as I might I just couldn't get any water out of them. After checking that the water reservoir had water in it, I decided the pump must be at fault. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've got to say I'm learning very quickly that parts for these cars are a hell of a lot harder to find than they were for the Silvia... when I went to Global Auto Spares (read: absolutely awesome spare parts supplier), they didn't even have this part in their computer. Autobarn (read: hit and miss for spare parts) ended up coming to the rescue, although I still had to wait a couple of days to get one in.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Zk8jxqbKjisov-QLOYjSZubjurKmEG6ILWq3xLk_BKVYf4nl6jU3LlIKRDruw3DTlngFKOWOwNHdZEmjvCnzEYw-VT8Fy6CpLkNhyphenhyphend85H3FMDXjtx9YATa6tldJEA4Z_8QrdJLVjexHx/s1600/IMG_2279.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Zk8jxqbKjisov-QLOYjSZubjurKmEG6ILWq3xLk_BKVYf4nl6jU3LlIKRDruw3DTlngFKOWOwNHdZEmjvCnzEYw-VT8Fy6CpLkNhyphenhyphend85H3FMDXjtx9YATa6tldJEA4Z_8QrdJLVjexHx/s320/IMG_2279.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To get to the washer bottle and motor, I would have to come at it from underneath the car. Holy plastic!!! It seems that there is a bash plate for absolutely everything under here =\</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVrghi-gltilrHhIsZyaKr7gEuHN6uh7AGh8PIjC-CutTnpoFm6iU3e42bHjNxO3EZEcVusNJoAtG6g0Rab5FAjjgFtv6ZKNCSuSMJnkK2tgFqFj1_8-V2ZtNOwgHveda5vN83kriDfV7n/s1600/IMG_2280.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVrghi-gltilrHhIsZyaKr7gEuHN6uh7AGh8PIjC-CutTnpoFm6iU3e42bHjNxO3EZEcVusNJoAtG6g0Rab5FAjjgFtv6ZKNCSuSMJnkK2tgFqFj1_8-V2ZtNOwgHveda5vN83kriDfV7n/s320/IMG_2280.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Given I'd only recently filled everything up, there was a fair bit to drain before I could pull it out... turns out this sucker took 2.5L! </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhekqyDsX-NN0ug_ncReK-qvNHCdyrCs6DnkFrm7sZ8wxsbKlRIJibJMLqEH6IKoz4jZrPeN_LwyP6YS2_cd3xZ26ke6yfq1UnMD8Ei_YB-zA5DsZHG9cQNzQoQgCuKqG2tTeDVcUz9Jfik/s1600/IMG_2281.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicOCPBQQZt5-Tv-jkQGeZYv1aixne8L_LZx9BwdWHBxOroLGMnXTDnTAw5GK6FPzLNX5-6KZCPVXlkbvLjed0gdzBhSz9hlifrY8w5AOv-h51_qZxkf5IOqW8owMv62rZnr6DOtEsBAMug/s1600/IMG_2283.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicOCPBQQZt5-Tv-jkQGeZYv1aixne8L_LZx9BwdWHBxOroLGMnXTDnTAw5GK6FPzLNX5-6KZCPVXlkbvLjed0gdzBhSz9hlifrY8w5AOv-h51_qZxkf5IOqW8owMv62rZnr6DOtEsBAMug/s320/IMG_2283.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The photo doesn't really show it too well, but there was a lot of crap that dropped out with the water. I took the opportunity to give it a good flush before swapping the motor out and putting it all back together. Tested it again and - nothing. What the hell??? I had a closer look at the washer stalk and found another button that I'd never seen before... pressed it and voila! *facepalm* turns out the old motor could have been working all along, I just wasn't using it right. With most washer stalks, you pull the stalk towards you to engage the washer motor. Turns out in this car it just activates the windscreen wipers once - e.g. for a mist or that situation where you don't need them on fully. Ah well, at least I know I have a clean washer bottle and a fresh motor. At only $30, not a great loss at all.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRr_OWaxbOQRIzohXENZZghzcTVCxk-tUR1nF8B_S93CQ-MP7j0mS0PWIflnhyphenhyphenNs_c0jXeOzQBUXPGLvhNnSOHn_8BwNmrMGzo8rUsYUroy0Ycthbt94wUppx7-6_k_31lgeBZAC1rnDbu/s1600/IMG_2070.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRr_OWaxbOQRIzohXENZZghzcTVCxk-tUR1nF8B_S93CQ-MP7j0mS0PWIflnhyphenhyphenNs_c0jXeOzQBUXPGLvhNnSOHn_8BwNmrMGzo8rUsYUroy0Ycthbt94wUppx7-6_k_31lgeBZAC1rnDbu/s320/IMG_2070.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The next thing I wanted to sort out was the Toyota badge on the backside of the car. Toyota colour coded them back in the day - while this was all good and well, the colour didn't fade as quickly on plastic as it did the rest of the car. Consequently, the paint fade was a lot more obvious (even though the photo doesn't show it) and as a result a bit of a sore thumb. We'd recently obtained some plasti-dip for the first time, and decided to give it a whirl as it would be perfect for what I was trying to achieve.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWb2fkvSvyyx-M6-LN2XjeTNt6Z6db9y6VgGnXIBzvSJz4OgYu4WfuYRuZ0NTLLWXJoaMbefpsB0YO69Z62-dwwBDoFRhMy4yxln_DbCXM_neO0go1k4xuVAZ28lVJ_GbLABqOd0lStGe3/s1600/IMG_2216.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWb2fkvSvyyx-M6-LN2XjeTNt6Z6db9y6VgGnXIBzvSJz4OgYu4WfuYRuZ0NTLLWXJoaMbefpsB0YO69Z62-dwwBDoFRhMy4yxln_DbCXM_neO0go1k4xuVAZ28lVJ_GbLABqOd0lStGe3/s320/IMG_2216.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Take 1 - ignore this, I only put it in because I thought it was pretty rad =P I kind of rushed it the first time and stuffed it up completely, so I ended up having some fun with it for the sake of shits and giggles.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUTLPhBJtkGwp0NmgAuRokEWIL-E6vkDG6Z4jODgKpyxOMsvfSqbIykBSv4_Xl561zvU_uyoMbvuiBBIqUZ7QVb6ugW-vA92ierYlmjp_Fpp6KKd6qPOitUtmsuQ40rET-T3u1kNuKCvCA/s1600/IMG_2284.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUTLPhBJtkGwp0NmgAuRokEWIL-E6vkDG6Z4jODgKpyxOMsvfSqbIykBSv4_Xl561zvU_uyoMbvuiBBIqUZ7QVb6ugW-vA92ierYlmjp_Fpp6KKd6qPOitUtmsuQ40rET-T3u1kNuKCvCA/s320/IMG_2284.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Take 2: not at night time and it was actually warm. I began by masking off the surrounding area, and went nuts with the plasti-dip. 30 minutes between coats, requiring 3-4 coats and a setting time of 4 hours... not the quickest of products to work with, but for those of you who don't know what it is, it's kind of worth it. Why did I paint the body as well as the badge?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpvIbspGxTeWPMxdu29OIiWascVKFMHltmLRH0vnVW5xzDcADeReCx9BJRBUGt1rmbgvCkZa1T_2tRAeREvOvT4Lxto_MSp5Q3fQj16gwZSi6mhoA6tmvSVkWz_tn1xmXpUofkPq4W00Im/s1600/IMG_2286.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpvIbspGxTeWPMxdu29OIiWascVKFMHltmLRH0vnVW5xzDcADeReCx9BJRBUGt1rmbgvCkZa1T_2tRAeREvOvT4Lxto_MSp5Q3fQj16gwZSi6mhoA6tmvSVkWz_tn1xmXpUofkPq4W00Im/s320/IMG_2286.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's why: it just peels off - leaving no damage to the paint whatsoever. It also separates really easily from variations in surfaces, in this case leaving the TOYOTA black and everything else goes back to yellow :)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRFIA05kjdHYuxW3DnWIs3ymV-gL0RxS-KtICeL7lFz3mkBc5H1MqXRRg6qf-PAzziZ2o0RZpi-2agg0VyOEnptd_1_9UWTS5edJkmp_12ZQC0-34UsXrZSTrg2CvrGAxepYEO3-NxBiOb/s1600/IMG_2287.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRFIA05kjdHYuxW3DnWIs3ymV-gL0RxS-KtICeL7lFz3mkBc5H1MqXRRg6qf-PAzziZ2o0RZpi-2agg0VyOEnptd_1_9UWTS5edJkmp_12ZQC0-34UsXrZSTrg2CvrGAxepYEO3-NxBiOb/s320/IMG_2287.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If at any point if I want to take it back to yellow I just peel it off, no harm done. That, ladies and gentlemen, is plasti-dip. People do whole cars in the stuff without requiring any prep, and just peel it off if they get sick of it. Not a bad product at all. At the very least it's made a massive difference to the ass end of the car, now matching the 'Toyota' logo with the 'MR2' logo colour wise. Yeah? Yeah.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While there are a few more things in the works, I'll save them for another time, as this post is already a tad lengthy. I've spent a fair bit of time focusing on little jobs that haven't cost a lot of money, all with the intention of slowly sorting things out one at a time... and while I don't necessarily care what other people think, I do believe that my car is most certainly a reflection of me, so yes aesthetics do come into it a lot. Coming up next is a few more bigger things to help the driveability and reliability of the car - stay tuned :)</span></div>
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</span>_Clinno_http://www.blogger.com/profile/15758751614854894618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030408022090936981.post-89279973778785683372013-09-24T21:31:00.003+10:002013-09-24T21:31:46.932+10:00A post of small things that make a big difference<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My whole week was more or less spent counting down to when I could work on Tegan again. Now before we go any further, I know some of you aren't crash hot on the name, but to be honest that's not my problem :) Although for some reason, the numberplate 'TCP' has been given the acronym 'The Custard Pod'... for some reason that's sticking pretty well! Anywhoo I was only really able to drive her on Tuesday to get the rego swapped out and also to tennis, but practicality meant I had to use the X-Trail for the rest of the week... until I got to Friday :) Thankfully I had a pretty quiet day on so I decided to chuck just a couple of things into the boot and see what she was like in some stop-start driving on my way to the office in Brisbane.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivd1HHtjX8TTCMwiiZ0OZojIVEtrcyh1NmHYtGQsF5Sf_hM2n81Cx3Z7MafFl65XY1RTabHm3DPaVzpKfVKtHWTgX47z94t5tzOkB146YB0JlUhXBViY5MEdJpZX5KlMl8yQMx0Kc5SjNz/s1600/IMG_2010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivd1HHtjX8TTCMwiiZ0OZojIVEtrcyh1NmHYtGQsF5Sf_hM2n81Cx3Z7MafFl65XY1RTabHm3DPaVzpKfVKtHWTgX47z94t5tzOkB146YB0JlUhXBViY5MEdJpZX5KlMl8yQMx0Kc5SjNz/s320/IMG_2010.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While the boot isn't massive there is still a boot. This photo doesn't really do it justice - there's room for 2 sets of golf clubs in there. There's also enough room for my backpack, some tools and some test equipment so I'll call that a win!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEx36rEW_GJ7UNd8nhyBYcJcAfA7XZcfLgsuMAPc2xPlcOUnPbyzFYjdCcomLuzD2XcZbKO80AFI6G50rC0QudY9Yo4Oj-G-dq7GRrxe9cEwfheZwQOsaVdZNLCpbFnm8_KVNXcoSJkYOy/s1600/IMG_2011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEx36rEW_GJ7UNd8nhyBYcJcAfA7XZcfLgsuMAPc2xPlcOUnPbyzFYjdCcomLuzD2XcZbKO80AFI6G50rC0QudY9Yo4Oj-G-dq7GRrxe9cEwfheZwQOsaVdZNLCpbFnm8_KVNXcoSJkYOy/s320/IMG_2011.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Content is how I'd sum up the above picture :) Yes selfies while driving is a heaps bad idea, I know that... but the moment was too good to not share. Driving to work on a sunny Friday morning with the roof off, hells yeah!! I will say the drive home was stressful though, it's stressful at the best of times because people seem to be in too much of a rush to drive sensibly - let alone when you're in a tiny car with pretty average visibility. But... worth it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Saturday rolled around, and before I could do anything my first stop was supplies. Car mats and a clay bar kit was on the shopping list...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj60-0PfYJ5V3eZXs-v5Sasbo7kqMvu45MGP-JWYRV6xIvSR-kuznDiEFoS-XvfNtVlZ_IQ74u7-Ywq6ppXkZybYzWx8PZByNpKFlXqDbsfILzP_d1_cBt4OQCluU3bagaEKgjVkDlGqWWG/s1600/IMG_2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj60-0PfYJ5V3eZXs-v5Sasbo7kqMvu45MGP-JWYRV6xIvSR-kuznDiEFoS-XvfNtVlZ_IQ74u7-Ywq6ppXkZybYzWx8PZByNpKFlXqDbsfILzP_d1_cBt4OQCluU3bagaEKgjVkDlGqWWG/s320/IMG_2012.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... $450 later I also had some plasti-dip, wheel paint, a replacement light for the boot and new speakers (front and rear)... freaking whoops! It was not my intention to get any of that, but there was a sale on and I saw lots of things that were going to be fun projects and... yeah, no excuses. Naughty me. Kind of screwed myself financially for the rest of the month. Calm down Clinton, you've got time... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All stupid-ness aside, the speakers I knew were going to happen at some point. The old ones sounded absolutely rubbish, and after having a track car that couldn't be streeted, I wanted a street car that I could occasionally take to the track. The car so far has felt pretty damn good mechanically, so I wanted to improve my personal driving enjoyment in another way, by starting off with the audio. Autobarn had an awesome sale on some banging speakers, and back from my days of being young and dumb playing with car audio, I knew it was going to be a case of quality gear or nothing at all. With a price drop from $400 to $270 on the front speakers alone, I couldn't let that go unnoticed.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwYAlpeUkB4_hUE17u3ME9XLr7prGoyEYbaYjOaU6XUKPwt55flRy-f7ySkzVi1TUkYaSH9C6pTICh5L3NPVt4yzeOz5JBEOZPAHMUKzFHJ46eYOnMkusk1zL516YTgDW4aUjm_cf366vG/s1600/IMG_2013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwYAlpeUkB4_hUE17u3ME9XLr7prGoyEYbaYjOaU6XUKPwt55flRy-f7ySkzVi1TUkYaSH9C6pTICh5L3NPVt4yzeOz5JBEOZPAHMUKzFHJ46eYOnMkusk1zL516YTgDW4aUjm_cf366vG/s320/IMG_2013.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Even though the MR2 is only a 2 seater, they still manage to fit in front and rear speakers. Admittedly the rears are only little 4" drivers, but they do a decent enough job of giving you a bit more fill.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho1uI2pBidJw71vMJ_PSrzDGtEoGVMYSQRkezw1ONGQjrEtC3Qmui2Ch8qyQWkCl006HTVJfZ80a6ure9ptP4LXUDy6XRBFRMJ0sDIGdQ_KqfiKnGDKGSJLRiUWbp92T53AmiOG22WiqUf/s1600/IMG_2014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho1uI2pBidJw71vMJ_PSrzDGtEoGVMYSQRkezw1ONGQjrEtC3Qmui2Ch8qyQWkCl006HTVJfZ80a6ure9ptP4LXUDy6XRBFRMJ0sDIGdQ_KqfiKnGDKGSJLRiUWbp92T53AmiOG22WiqUf/s320/IMG_2014.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At least Toyota were kind enough to give me front splits - makes getting quality audio that little bit easier, and in a manner that doesn't require cutting holes in things to get everything to fit!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMcdhf1bCLzkpuKX3UIj2C9RBCLswMUg9MAgX-7mHgo_5iF4mNE65buu05awAhJ7SiLEaYiJAwpXNCw6ze4ZBdfilugCJQQHwO82gBJfG452vk8x5fV8JTJMHNQMxaeBfCD3dt5Sj_HqtB/s1600/IMG_2015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMcdhf1bCLzkpuKX3UIj2C9RBCLswMUg9MAgX-7mHgo_5iF4mNE65buu05awAhJ7SiLEaYiJAwpXNCw6ze4ZBdfilugCJQQHwO82gBJfG452vk8x5fV8JTJMHNQMxaeBfCD3dt5Sj_HqtB/s320/IMG_2015.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I thought the terrible sound quality just came from cardboard cones. While I was kind of right, the problem stemmed from something a little bit more dramatic... the rubber surround that attaches the cone to the body of the speaker was no longer - you can see what's left of it on the ground next to the it. She ain't gonna be making any noise ever again! You can see the difference in quality here though... just a little upgrade ;)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg68y_hJlC8ciirzsJcieXzzdwpXYMhogvlXmE3teyBUxFA29uijfQOn4vNZ_QSYUtuq_r7TXIzcDd-zEeJKHHe3_juAAlstBZ0pis0eRVNI5HNebYOGuNhwop7cZRnalNDmSteQdn2qMxm/s1600/IMG_2016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg68y_hJlC8ciirzsJcieXzzdwpXYMhogvlXmE3teyBUxFA29uijfQOn4vNZ_QSYUtuq_r7TXIzcDd-zEeJKHHe3_juAAlstBZ0pis0eRVNI5HNebYOGuNhwop7cZRnalNDmSteQdn2qMxm/s320/IMG_2016.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The tweeters required a little bit of tweaking - the old one on the left and the new one on the right. While there was a bracket there I could use, they of course had completely different mounting solutions. Nothing a pair of engineers couldn't fix though, after about 30 minutes of experimenting we had a solution that meant we didn't have to change a thing.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDNuMlN5g0VMHSn-ghicpV6rywOGiPS1glCAVdKysQL50yqxp8kdNUWN_95lIiQhAKxm7GaG53hMpSMISr3usSq0INcKv1So92X9FK5eKcnhmQPbNjxx2gP5dXfuYOJ8Sy_kRGpTgGLNZ6/s1600/IMG_2017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDNuMlN5g0VMHSn-ghicpV6rywOGiPS1glCAVdKysQL50yqxp8kdNUWN_95lIiQhAKxm7GaG53hMpSMISr3usSq0INcKv1So92X9FK5eKcnhmQPbNjxx2gP5dXfuYOJ8Sy_kRGpTgGLNZ6/s320/IMG_2017.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's the whole door wired up - woofer, tweeter and crossover all put into factory mounting holes without fouling on anything, yew!!! The woofer did require a little bit of screwing around as the speaker basket ran too close to the edge of the speaker, so we had to space it out so it would actually fit in the door. Turns out there was a bit of wood we could salvage from the old speaker that did the job nicely! We even managed to mount it using the factory mounting holes... Most factory audio speakers mount using 3 bolts, yet most aftermarket speakers use 4. Joys of using good quality gear, we could make it work with 3 which meant no drilling into the door. WIN!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1zzSLhMuAZKrByIouNOysIN0NgTB1P2k80dWrbKEQQpJv2pYxBkHWiLAb0r5jD6_ee2Sc-KfIZSPHWj2HTI9ga-h7n5dG0EXQBE3KEBgW5w61qkYdYvoQBOtKQ4LNXGAe-dK1ZZtkONZf/s1600/IMG_2018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1zzSLhMuAZKrByIouNOysIN0NgTB1P2k80dWrbKEQQpJv2pYxBkHWiLAb0r5jD6_ee2Sc-KfIZSPHWj2HTI9ga-h7n5dG0EXQBE3KEBgW5w61qkYdYvoQBOtKQ4LNXGAe-dK1ZZtkONZf/s320/IMG_2018.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Someone was a little bit bored while we were doing this though... not looking at anyone (Casey).</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpHPKVQRe4xPQGW7sc1Y-5Q9gEmJZ7W9i9H2k01VaUWBEngb0VwkA9yDeTTIsmFjddpuGtahZvatp1XCjLUWlBLsfAJS3bzF0Ui2tYu_g_wYd8OsZk0w4O07ODWhXQ0PaavMUWoraNTXcH/s1600/IMG_2020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpHPKVQRe4xPQGW7sc1Y-5Q9gEmJZ7W9i9H2k01VaUWBEngb0VwkA9yDeTTIsmFjddpuGtahZvatp1XCjLUWlBLsfAJS3bzF0Ui2tYu_g_wYd8OsZk0w4O07ODWhXQ0PaavMUWoraNTXcH/s320/IMG_2020.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Best bit is you'd never even notice there's some decent speakers behind that door card. I unfortunately didn't grab any photos of the rear speakers but they were most certainly an upgrade from the factory solution and fit with only a few small modifications, nothing a drill and a screwdriver can't handle. Overall result? Massive improvement :) Certainly need to look at adding an amplifier to get the most out of them but I can definitely live with it for a while.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6xaElyw7BBsGCTQCFz1ZdoqIhLe6g4nFJgkXCoABGo7qknGmTeQSoZf9WAQ2LuAbAIJ8xZ1Tiu2THP55wCqCOz2vWgyPeGDU_ChQr4vFQnw48ZyYuhy5SS0TAHHNDPRbgdTMQBprY5eU5/s1600/IMG_2087.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6xaElyw7BBsGCTQCFz1ZdoqIhLe6g4nFJgkXCoABGo7qknGmTeQSoZf9WAQ2LuAbAIJ8xZ1Tiu2THP55wCqCOz2vWgyPeGDU_ChQr4vFQnw48ZyYuhy5SS0TAHHNDPRbgdTMQBprY5eU5/s320/IMG_2087.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sunday we decided to finally get into the paint. It was faded, and although the previous owner looked after it very well we suspected he didn't use the best quality products to do it - something that can actually have a significant impact on the condition of the paint. Regardless, before starting anything, the car needed to be washed! I used dishwashing detergent, as most good quality car washes now add protection to the paint which we didn't want. I must say, not a bad car to wash! Nice and small :)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6A7CU2_Dqd-Kerzft6HrT5D2Dcw_qgDd6pjiG5-xiXVBY-OfgylvsrdFOqaIDcRGOW2CTRgvVSfR_eSUOEtd05SDuOkExKQBKih9iqM45aP9iOfkRphYKfD6vt9VbOduiUSOUENRxyX57/s1600/IMG_2088.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6A7CU2_Dqd-Kerzft6HrT5D2Dcw_qgDd6pjiG5-xiXVBY-OfgylvsrdFOqaIDcRGOW2CTRgvVSfR_eSUOEtd05SDuOkExKQBKih9iqM45aP9iOfkRphYKfD6vt9VbOduiUSOUENRxyX57/s320/IMG_2088.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is why I got wheel paint - in spite of putting a lot of elbow grease into the wheels some stains just wouldn't come out. I suppose 20 years of road dirt will do that.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1X9B9-G02MGBzYCAxQNkHoVSpfV9TlsI8f7bN89Utlrsd0dhb-tkzqOHJzverec4k2YAqpZmC3AlMaznxTTMfHoNOBEt8nLo3P74DM5t5ucUS9ihlmOq50-cixEJUo-fjPNjwNLcZcQe2/s1600/IMG_2089.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1X9B9-G02MGBzYCAxQNkHoVSpfV9TlsI8f7bN89Utlrsd0dhb-tkzqOHJzverec4k2YAqpZmC3AlMaznxTTMfHoNOBEt8nLo3P74DM5t5ucUS9ihlmOq50-cixEJUo-fjPNjwNLcZcQe2/s320/IMG_2089.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We started off by claybar-ing the car. For those that don't know, this is a wonderful little invention that when rubbed against the paint (with some detailing spray for lubricant) it works at pulling all the surface dirt off the car. This was just off a quarter of one panel... yep we had a lot of work ahead of us. What's probably most amazing is that the car didn't look dirty at all, yet this still came out of the paint.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ssUvYKXF0B5iyhF_rjBoePjJCDl7nitbMWSazE3b-TUCgSdyH9_qhshvxpEVvDdFdZ-m1glzUShKGF7pXtbf4s0_9pAYN0eK8XPbtwNQ3jq-aRJgKuSKSXOE24TVApjR_dhyphenhyphenUcEaIxdP/s1600/IMG_2090.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ssUvYKXF0B5iyhF_rjBoePjJCDl7nitbMWSazE3b-TUCgSdyH9_qhshvxpEVvDdFdZ-m1glzUShKGF7pXtbf4s0_9pAYN0eK8XPbtwNQ3jq-aRJgKuSKSXOE24TVApjR_dhyphenhyphenUcEaIxdP/s320/IMG_2090.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is what we were dealing with - quite a significant colour difference between different panels. We knew the paint would be faded, but we also suspected that a fair bit of the discolouration was coming from hazing in the clear coat. We set about rectifying it as follows:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Meguiar's Professional Grade Swirl Remover 2.0 (Cut)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Meguiar's Professional Show Car Glaze (Polish)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Meguiar's NXT Generation Tech Wax </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Needless to say we love Meguiar's products, although there are a few Turtle Wax products we use quite liberally, such as their tyre black and foam applicator pads. Anyways I digress!! 4 hours later we had ourselves one very nice feeling surface, which actually brought out a fair bit I must say! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8cCB82dqbkI9L8qB8Vt8ZJ9lvq3eMYgwu3my2Fr302skp6vB0Rhqtbn2NQvghMKJv-tlukJU0R7sg4q2qNK2WpwmHPP5-NPsiYPUi64xGEgfhiFyzOteq1I6EMNyrS_a8kBblHIDChbCa/s1600/IMG_2099.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8cCB82dqbkI9L8qB8Vt8ZJ9lvq3eMYgwu3my2Fr302skp6vB0Rhqtbn2NQvghMKJv-tlukJU0R7sg4q2qNK2WpwmHPP5-NPsiYPUi64xGEgfhiFyzOteq1I6EMNyrS_a8kBblHIDChbCa/s320/IMG_2099.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The photo doesn't really show it but you'll notice that the bonnet in this photo is nowhere near as dull as the photo above. Yes it's not the same yellow as the bumper, there's several other areas where the difference is just as obvious if not more, but overall the difference in colour is a lot less noticeable than it was before - more graduated if you will, so I'm going to call that a success :) I'd be inclined to say that that's something I can deal with for a couple of years at least.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYz9MgYli4eF1TGIQ__cq4u_zijYOFR54rYk_S9vPvW4OFd5bHWCR0AC0uDzXs8r-B3ltxaqxNGzofbNw7CMhNpE9FPozMHBc1P5iVAMu6fEPBWPq04sWMffznbIUD_efuSryiufN6mMWm/s1600/IMG_2093.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYz9MgYli4eF1TGIQ__cq4u_zijYOFR54rYk_S9vPvW4OFd5bHWCR0AC0uDzXs8r-B3ltxaqxNGzofbNw7CMhNpE9FPozMHBc1P5iVAMu6fEPBWPq04sWMffznbIUD_efuSryiufN6mMWm/s320/IMG_2093.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The wheels got done in a Metallic Graphite colour, which actually has a really nice fleck to it in direct sunlight. I tried to mask off the rubber, but there was that much grime in the rubber that no amount of masking tape was going to stick. I ended up deciding to wing it and just attacked the hell out of it with paint thinners, which while it was a bit more involved I achieved the same result in the end.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik-KvqzhcrmbV9EQckKvBgoohFMvNKeYsjFmVAHA2yAkgFb0dqiiDVTqyl5mlactEqylzFJ-vYowXaZHOAa5Cmbotwfadb6-yRrGsddHRGmKfr5sRpbMrXGfeuQCRfGQwGhGy1JHUz9SVS/s1600/IMG_2096.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik-KvqzhcrmbV9EQckKvBgoohFMvNKeYsjFmVAHA2yAkgFb0dqiiDVTqyl5mlactEqylzFJ-vYowXaZHOAa5Cmbotwfadb6-yRrGsddHRGmKfr5sRpbMrXGfeuQCRfGQwGhGy1JHUz9SVS/s320/IMG_2096.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The interior carpets are in awesome condition, and a very nice-feeling carpet at that being a cut plush pile. Unfortunately there's a hell of a lot of wear near the drivers feet, and this isn't something I can justify replacing all the carpet for, especially when the rest of it is almost like new. That and I also haven't had any luck finding any (just for curiosities sake).</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_w1eve87ndsa5lWKfDx16hGRmzkxgykSKWwJW02pwV8hw6UTRAR8ZpI5vyHtkVL2FIOnCHJZd2jeNXzDcVXgXfC_RmG99DrNU0NVSBUDWhXQ01s2eb-ULP7ur2RrK1_CeZfGDwl-2k8yH/s1600/IMG_2098.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_w1eve87ndsa5lWKfDx16hGRmzkxgykSKWwJW02pwV8hw6UTRAR8ZpI5vyHtkVL2FIOnCHJZd2jeNXzDcVXgXfC_RmG99DrNU0NVSBUDWhXQ01s2eb-ULP7ur2RrK1_CeZfGDwl-2k8yH/s320/IMG_2098.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nothing some universal floor mats can't fix :) Not the best fit of course, but they'll do the job!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvfegfYwMirkruxikz6443A9bK7HgcyEwDgnF2Lt9e6h8kU4lVusKo5H5e-4hTwAJoMPnDcL4ShME7e-E48iY-Kvwc2MyPfpYVrac7RUL66BoBMNlJGJwceyDfH70lovm4TDipzUoFGzii/s1600/IMG_2104.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvfegfYwMirkruxikz6443A9bK7HgcyEwDgnF2Lt9e6h8kU4lVusKo5H5e-4hTwAJoMPnDcL4ShME7e-E48iY-Kvwc2MyPfpYVrac7RUL66BoBMNlJGJwceyDfH70lovm4TDipzUoFGzii/s320/IMG_2104.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I also wanted to replace this pathetic excuse of a boot lamp. It sits up there in the left corner and would be lucky to throw out the same amount of light as a tealight candle.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ibtmHyU5-C1EMKC_YCg3T-tPFS5zA4r69mbdX731yRMZHkv3qXPo3KED7B2aPgUxr0CEELR0Krzxl6o7esBu1EEgyT3xgi7d4OxOQXQ7CpmL_vnt0m45stWjHJ4FiBzt1fk-RkUP9loL/s1600/IMG_2105.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ibtmHyU5-C1EMKC_YCg3T-tPFS5zA4r69mbdX731yRMZHkv3qXPo3KED7B2aPgUxr0CEELR0Krzxl6o7esBu1EEgyT3xgi7d4OxOQXQ7CpmL_vnt0m45stWjHJ4FiBzt1fk-RkUP9loL/s320/IMG_2105.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">LED strip to the rescue! FYI it is white, not blue like the photo shows. Due to the shape of the boot there weren't many places I'd be able to hide it, so I ended up going with at the back under a recess in the carpet. Sure you can see it in this photo but honestly how many times would you pull something out of the side of the boot? Certainly throws a lot more light, so I'm happy :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx58gxAuL80mPPYX-5nPRL1PbyeKS9zOUkggUJjIJWg4-4wU17PsaoXd0FLDi6aZhyi6ssGhkbKNRKEDFCAqze7KZdyA0d-mBz7WPFW0czqz99U4tb4uLxJ4WMTFSxm07-fliHbYQmaSEs/s1600/IMG_2106.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx58gxAuL80mPPYX-5nPRL1PbyeKS9zOUkggUJjIJWg4-4wU17PsaoXd0FLDi6aZhyi6ssGhkbKNRKEDFCAqze7KZdyA0d-mBz7WPFW0czqz99U4tb4uLxJ4WMTFSxm07-fliHbYQmaSEs/s320/IMG_2106.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I then turned my intention to the interior. I could tell the previous owner loved his Armourall products, simply by feeling how much grease was engrained into the various interior panels. I'm not going to say Armourall products are bad, I'm just saying that there is a hell of a lot better out there. Proof? This rag contains all of the product I was able to lift from the panels, which was then replaced with some quality stuff. Same look, but a much better finish. There was also twists in the seatbelts that had been bugging me ever since I got the car, so 30 minutes, some silicon spray and a hell of a lot of determination finally got the both of them sorted!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yep. Much, much, much better. And to think all we've done is chuck some elbow grease into it both inside and out, and a fresh coat of paint onto the wheels - what a difference it has made :) I've still got to black out the front indicators to match the black stripe down the side of the car, but all things being equal this will be it for quite a while - spent too much money recently and now need to just recover and pay off some of that debt on the credit card!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mind you, now we've actually had a chance to pull things properly apart we have a better idea of where everything stands. The next thing will most certainly be brakes. The pads don't have much meat on them, and the rotors are in dire need of being machined. But I did have the pleasant surprise of finding twin pot callipers up front and vented rotors front and rear, so that's a win :) Just needs a bit of work to stop the squeaking and squealing that goes on when it's cold.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next update will probably be a while off, but stay tuned! I'm going to be busy enjoying :)</span></div>
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</span>_Clinno_http://www.blogger.com/profile/15758751614854894618noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030408022090936981.post-66992819198078023892013-09-15T19:27:00.001+10:002013-09-15T19:27:43.657+10:00Everyone... meet Tegan :)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So here I am, starting the next chapter of my motor vehicle escapades :) Let me start of by giving you a bit of a prelude as to how this chapter began. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I inspected a car on the same Saturday that my last chapter ended, and while it was the first one I'd physically seen in person or driven, I knew I wanted one. I had to have it. Although I wanted to put an offer in straight away, I knew I had to wait until the shenanigans with Stacey were finalised. With the news that old mate had gotten home safely and in one piece, I decided to contact the seller and see what I could do.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What ensued was one of the easiest negotiations I have ever been involved in. Based on what I saw, and what I gathered from just talking to him, I knew he wasn't going to budge much on price. I put forward an offer, he came back $200 higher (which is what I was shooting for anyways) so my exact words were 'You sir, have a deal'. His reply? 'Glad to hear it - it's yours. I hate negotiating'. Love it :) Thanks to the issues with Stacey upon selling her, I was not in a position to purchase it straight away - I would have to wait 2 weeks until my next pay check came in. I explained my situation, which he was more than OK with, so I put a deposit on it to secure it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Move forward 2 weeks and I'm trying to fit in a time to put the rest of the money down and pick it up. I normally get paid on the 15th of every month - however in this case the 15th fell on a Sunday. Due to the fact that most companies run Mon-Fri, payroll has to compensate accordingly. This means I had nothing in concrete as to whether or not I'd have the money on Friday or Saturday (I've had both, banks are weird). The other thing to keep in mind was I had a wedding that I was very heavily involved in that also fell on the same weekend. I checked with the bride and groom as to if I could shoot off Saturday morning, and with that confirmed I confirmed a Saturday morning pick-up with the seller.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDgnBwWfZ7fzgSvcGRBfZRYKquNzTcYOIln9Y17J5JBSJQgYcU3aXbxEyLQ9XyjN-mQMydLBpIXUpZIHKAyzdrIH52HisA-sNDx_pudIxtXnaLdFk_j7itrYZbtwai9g8_6l_tasRe7824/s1600/IMG_2042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDgnBwWfZ7fzgSvcGRBfZRYKquNzTcYOIln9Y17J5JBSJQgYcU3aXbxEyLQ9XyjN-mQMydLBpIXUpZIHKAyzdrIH52HisA-sNDx_pudIxtXnaLdFk_j7itrYZbtwai9g8_6l_tasRe7824/s320/IMG_2042.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Cue Saturday morning, and I went down to pick up this :) a 1994 SW20 Toyota MR2 Bathurst Edition. 180,000 k's on the clock, manual (of course) with a 2.0 litre normally aspirated 3SGE engine (read: non-turbo engine of awesomeness). It has a targa top, which means the roof consists of 2 removable panels, providing a convertable-esque feel without losing structural rigidity in the car. It's also a 2-seater, meaning it's not going to win any practicality awards, but that's the point of owning 2 cars - flexibility. The 'Bathurst Edition' badge gives me the added benefit that both power steering and ABS had been deleted, which for those that know and enjoy cars know that this is a good thing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyways, back to the story. Due to my prior commitments with the wedding, it was literally a case of driving it back home, getting back into my other car and heading back to the bridal house to get ready for the wedding - I effectively had all of 20 minutes with it and that was it. Not the end of the world by any means, as the wedding was certainly something I was looking forward to :) but difficult none-the-less.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fast forward to lunch time Sunday (after an absolutely awesome ceremony, reception and chill-out session) and I come home to...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHgL097oe-nU2IcvDc04bnABMDwhfW6OIF9HhdEPJTgtJpAAUkWi_YGr1PtvKRsb7q3STcAvvBE54qy8wl20l84saMzpkJhqf1m1IBySmWZvD5uZOVaZwEAoJuMJQglLf3CAoS6uvR_ePm/s1600/IMG_2059.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHgL097oe-nU2IcvDc04bnABMDwhfW6OIF9HhdEPJTgtJpAAUkWi_YGr1PtvKRsb7q3STcAvvBE54qy8wl20l84saMzpkJhqf1m1IBySmWZvD5uZOVaZwEAoJuMJQglLf3CAoS6uvR_ePm/s320/IMG_2059.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... this. Not a bad sight if I don't say so myself! Kim had decided to clean up the garage and get both cars in. Can I just say, I don't actually remember the last time we had 2 cars in the garage - so strange! Alas, it was finally time to go sink my teeth in and have a proper look at what I purchased.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgelambhDCi8_nxEb_XGfNWNHLEKlEx_cQMjxsL_D8ctFkN0k5QUi_oFkBJXtMRgVp-hgdniNQ0jOqibYD2C2my7KgaT_H3lUE4CDYRngni0R2WYwst8GE7iD5m_TuECSnit_jHHRDhL6S6/s1600/IMG_2060.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgelambhDCi8_nxEb_XGfNWNHLEKlEx_cQMjxsL_D8ctFkN0k5QUi_oFkBJXtMRgVp-hgdniNQ0jOqibYD2C2my7KgaT_H3lUE4CDYRngni0R2WYwst8GE7iD5m_TuECSnit_jHHRDhL6S6/s320/IMG_2060.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For those that don't know, an MR2 is a mid-engined, rear wheel drive sports car made back when Toyota knew how to make a decent car. It was often called the cheap man's Ferrari as it was designed to make good quality performance and handling accessible to the masses. Long story short, they succeeded and produced a fantastic little pocket-rocket that eats up corners like nothing else. (Note: the ding just above the tail light is one of the things that helped drop the price).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Can I just say, I'm getting rather fond of pop-up headlights. Something about lights turning on with an accompanying mechanical movement just appeals to me - a bit of fanfare if you will, making a mundane task that little bit special :) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now in most cars you open up the bonnet and you find an engine... not with this car. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Instead you get a spare tyre and not much else. Consequently, the bonnet gets renamed to 'frunk' or front-trunk. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1T5F2wPgKzolmhYT_RpjZovh4MTOdr-nPAy594jcLlMsxRRaqrDlq07crCnF_C7XpHdRM48vlc7DynAqOKp6UE4edmviqZ2G7u6CXezWTLx8iOdLNd452R4searTNbKaowRbucg0k8R_D/s1600/IMG_2063.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1T5F2wPgKzolmhYT_RpjZovh4MTOdr-nPAy594jcLlMsxRRaqrDlq07crCnF_C7XpHdRM48vlc7DynAqOKp6UE4edmviqZ2G7u6CXezWTLx8iOdLNd452R4searTNbKaowRbucg0k8R_D/s320/IMG_2063.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The engine is actually back here, behind the driver. Mid-engined means the engine sits between the front and rear axles. Given the placement of it, it does mean it's going to be a tad challenging to work on, but there are numerous benefits that make it worth it. The main one is a better weight distribution (meaning the car is more balanced). This improves the handling, as well as stability, traction and ride quality. Effectively you end up with a car that provides one of the most rewarding driving experiences around.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL0mZWlBfV-HQuj9C-mpflsAtW9oLc7KIoWAuqegUv98oWPrKULCZARtbLgv5xNImHou3DQxjvqoxmUT9PXav1IDapXHFJwJUhwyHGZ82YVR9lB3sBFQHzxquRZJZof-DasT2uYYEo8i_X/s1600/IMG_2064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL0mZWlBfV-HQuj9C-mpflsAtW9oLc7KIoWAuqegUv98oWPrKULCZARtbLgv5xNImHou3DQxjvqoxmUT9PXav1IDapXHFJwJUhwyHGZ82YVR9lB3sBFQHzxquRZJZof-DasT2uYYEo8i_X/s320/IMG_2064.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's the heart of the car just in case you're wondering. It's not a massive engine, nor an overly powerful one, but this cars strength lies in its ability to handle corners, not go quickly in a straight line.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqL1qKa2x8AazZBWCVr3FTdFoYdTvgz-S-1ocFjIf9tEqzq1CWmCxk_0QbaAwEAn9weS5YSRk3Zo0LC_UjGPOLxZDvSOc4Ud2kJgBP3UmzC_HwBw4sCdkpEKiLGZkUu2TCd6S5oYgfUuQp/s1600/IMG_2065.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqL1qKa2x8AazZBWCVr3FTdFoYdTvgz-S-1ocFjIf9tEqzq1CWmCxk_0QbaAwEAn9weS5YSRk3Zo0LC_UjGPOLxZDvSOc4Ud2kJgBP3UmzC_HwBw4sCdkpEKiLGZkUu2TCd6S5oYgfUuQp/s320/IMG_2065.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thankfully the engineers at Toyota were kind enough to factor in a boot, which is big enough to fit 2 sets of golf clubs if required! So not all practicality is lost :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had originally intended to go over it with a fine toothed comb once I got back from my responsibilities and completed some others that had been missed due to being away the whole weekend (i.e. laundry), but the day was too good to not consider just taking it for a drive with the roof off for the first time and seeing what it's all about.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKIMaeMNsEm2liNwyg9d9kfYNGDG151C-V2MB3tP5Z-ppOETrYqckzUlqRA5kwrs6wOvgtTVhnaMajziTCGNfVbGSfxkL_M7fQE-QU9d6lPYo34ZQVKOetOnAulcvXyZkStHB23aM8Fsvn/s1600/IMG_2051.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKIMaeMNsEm2liNwyg9d9kfYNGDG151C-V2MB3tP5Z-ppOETrYqckzUlqRA5kwrs6wOvgtTVhnaMajziTCGNfVbGSfxkL_M7fQE-QU9d6lPYo34ZQVKOetOnAulcvXyZkStHB23aM8Fsvn/s320/IMG_2051.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Regardless, I wanted to be able to enjoy some decent tunes (and super cheap auto had a sale on), so I decided to tackle just a couple of small things to start making it mine. I grabbed some stuff to install my old head unit - wiring harnesses and a pocket specifically designed for this car, which meant it would be all plug and play vs. identifying each and every wire and soldering them individually. I also took the opportunity to grab some new windscreen wipers, and some spare oil in case of emergencies.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2qa_CAtKlE4Zqbrw8TwYgDlN0D1JJi4iRSeqw7AbJJQ0a4cIEnYV0rVxuhK6n4DUd4t4Iu1b0uxCr2dXEzKJWWpa3ZWed_gewvR5X1RDl-SHJNmn9b9Uq0jk7whavrbIVzLUhnx7h-ZtJ/s1600/IMG_2052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2qa_CAtKlE4Zqbrw8TwYgDlN0D1JJi4iRSeqw7AbJJQ0a4cIEnYV0rVxuhK6n4DUd4t4Iu1b0uxCr2dXEzKJWWpa3ZWed_gewvR5X1RDl-SHJNmn9b9Uq0jk7whavrbIVzLUhnx7h-ZtJ/s320/IMG_2052.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can see why I thought new windscreen wipers were a necessity... the old ones were haggard and in dire need of replacement! The uni-blades are something I've done to every car, and although its about $25 more expensive than a standard wiper refill (normally only $5), it's most certainly worth it.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8YAsKtbQUEDjyRsUKgNeKUbLjn45L1kfqF03EvBlrtxEJF7K8SqaSudcRjHn2eRy1oJHG3daaeyDTn1VxpqQR_1S6lUxxBx_ff8CTKp9I-lvZYM6LRjDQfE1iWRCWJ9MRGoyWCJXabAEL/s1600/IMG_2049.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8YAsKtbQUEDjyRsUKgNeKUbLjn45L1kfqF03EvBlrtxEJF7K8SqaSudcRjHn2eRy1oJHG3daaeyDTn1VxpqQR_1S6lUxxBx_ff8CTKp9I-lvZYM6LRjDQfE1iWRCWJ9MRGoyWCJXabAEL/s320/IMG_2049.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Being made in 1994, the factory audio solution was a tad... shall we say, dated. Rocking a cassette player and an (optioned) CD player, I wasn't going to get my iPod integrated anytime soon. Also, who even uses CDs anymore these days?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4bHV3iLO73XUJbkHfAXF3RZDg-_dib4uJAx7PLlUHD-kqTf9fYbM_ElXHiL4dngKBcdaNvkzmYEkdx6mHOTHCAyNVvb2pY-Gd9A0pVwQwzbYapEt47lqeyIBZQ_04HiwgTTPjR_IB3gEg/s1600/IMG_2050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4bHV3iLO73XUJbkHfAXF3RZDg-_dib4uJAx7PLlUHD-kqTf9fYbM_ElXHiL4dngKBcdaNvkzmYEkdx6mHOTHCAyNVvb2pY-Gd9A0pVwQwzbYapEt47lqeyIBZQ_04HiwgTTPjR_IB3gEg/s320/IMG_2050.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Surprisingly there was still a tape in it! I hit play, and lo-and-behold, some old-school rap/hip-hop. Not bad.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The panelling was pretty damn easy to remove, using more clips than screws. There was a fair bit of dirt and gunk behind it so we took the opportunity to vaccuum it out and get a start on the essential cleaning process. Thanks to the wiring harnesses, installation was a breeze - neither Kim nor myself could believe how quickly we were able to install it all!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSxvmtNL8zM-nKP41vNldo7LMhuNfSDNo1HOgvAFFqiQdn9qjJq5_SXFBDJf38eUNkiFHNtMC_NotofP3jl1sL5AhArhJZUe83kT61K_9_lYTzsBMdV-S3VqiRzTnvsqzamTLB8mJQc1Yj/s1600/IMG_2061.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSxvmtNL8zM-nKP41vNldo7LMhuNfSDNo1HOgvAFFqiQdn9qjJq5_SXFBDJf38eUNkiFHNtMC_NotofP3jl1sL5AhArhJZUe83kT61K_9_lYTzsBMdV-S3VqiRzTnvsqzamTLB8mJQc1Yj/s320/IMG_2061.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here we have the finished product. Can I just say, Toyota knew how to make the driving position a pleasant place to be. The way the centre control panel is angled towards the driver, and how the centre console sits so high... </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I also like that it doesn't look dated - just classic :)</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge1zjuQ9MapzUSgicfliGyx8OzUrxkb-CF7Tdle3pGh4LMsWuLgGg5c7kWIiE_KHmQId_A2dx05rOorupnOExP_6365ooqnVfxaXGQijAvdZgM3mN4JDVvRhQVW19oZckPZnEvpDKrRC5e/s1600/IMG_2067.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge1zjuQ9MapzUSgicfliGyx8OzUrxkb-CF7Tdle3pGh4LMsWuLgGg5c7kWIiE_KHmQId_A2dx05rOorupnOExP_6365ooqnVfxaXGQijAvdZgM3mN4JDVvRhQVW19oZckPZnEvpDKrRC5e/s320/IMG_2067.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The rear lights had a bit of hazing on them, so we decided to attack them with some Plast-X - a fantastic product offered by Meguiars which is great at improving the look of plastic. The light on the right shows what we were working with, the one on the left shows the difference we were able to make. It really is the little things that make a big difference :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvwduSebS-r3KTi5bv8bpjIHF5EjmosBwWqaq68fM_XKwP8iggA2ufRh7mAoLz2QocN3mWvVPhkNqs27irU9TacU0zjCmXgxNY9emvbpYbBoteNHj5KBgrJCAztxLfj7OE97m_2Az8vBvZ/s1600/IMG_2069.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvwduSebS-r3KTi5bv8bpjIHF5EjmosBwWqaq68fM_XKwP8iggA2ufRh7mAoLz2QocN3mWvVPhkNqs27irU9TacU0zjCmXgxNY9emvbpYbBoteNHj5KBgrJCAztxLfj7OE97m_2Az8vBvZ/s320/IMG_2069.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the spirit of little things that wouldn't take much time I also attacked the exhaust pipes with some metal polish. Have a work in progress shot to see what I'm talking about.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilr724gUVTBStEb0TNKeu_hpk3yANGs5bx6dgwktSbw6bILRMUpXrgKyofZfkrVnsdFNRT-Y03DL3IZl612tW8m5V_L2w6uHXQaVtffQ9zs4OkxKZVl2lJgxMlwuqMDz8j9FpBfB_BQyKW/s1600/IMG_2070.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilr724gUVTBStEb0TNKeu_hpk3yANGs5bx6dgwktSbw6bILRMUpXrgKyofZfkrVnsdFNRT-Y03DL3IZl612tW8m5V_L2w6uHXQaVtffQ9zs4OkxKZVl2lJgxMlwuqMDz8j9FpBfB_BQyKW/s320/IMG_2070.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Can I just say, I rather like the look of this tail end :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuv8Gi8pPgma8nNNFlZfx3NgvbVID0xCTkJy2Fe1Vl6TvY64bxM-tWrfiKTlP06TeN7ZFEppofxcI7LozyfYgH8NcYfzaSjT25WTXS02bxulAzzCd-HSjNgUFWX8WO53AkOsu4xKSMxj93/s1600/IMG_2056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuv8Gi8pPgma8nNNFlZfx3NgvbVID0xCTkJy2Fe1Vl6TvY64bxM-tWrfiKTlP06TeN7ZFEppofxcI7LozyfYgH8NcYfzaSjT25WTXS02bxulAzzCd-HSjNgUFWX8WO53AkOsu4xKSMxj93/s320/IMG_2056.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It became that time to go take her for a drive. You'll notice 2 things in this photo - what a targa top is, and there's a massive grin on my face =D Kim and I were off to see first hand what I'd just bought.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">An hour and a half later I felt we'd appropriately broken it in... and can I just say, what a car. It truly is a car to be enjoyed and driven. The way it feels on the road, the way it handles, the noise that it makes and the fact that noise comes from behind you... what's not to love :) We also decided the car was a female, and henceforth shall be known as Tegan!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So now I've had some time to go over it? Let's have a look at what I've gotten myself into...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The good:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The car handles well, and has excellent road-handling capabilities</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Driving without a roof is an absolutely amazing sensation</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">She's been very well looked after by her previous owner(s)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Plenty of tread on the tires, and all fluids are in great condition</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are hardly any of them on the road, which is important to me</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I honestly believe I've got a car that I can enjoy and take pride in, something I've missed since owning Edna</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The bad:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Major service due in 20,000 kms (including timing belt)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Paint will need some work as it's a bit faded</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Engine blows a bit of smoke under hard acceleration, but can be sorted while the major service is done</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Driver's seat needs re-bolstering</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All in all? I look forward to the path that lies ahead :) This is going to be a great car and a fantastic project. What I want out of it is a clean car, one that is tidy and commands respect. Nothing ridiculous, nothing outrageous, just something sensible. Game on :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEvOaw6l8Xpdp1o6kMUTqZW8Mt3iW4DtwMtkP6YeoKQ8aPYkgqcxIn0imqDZ5SRn-UFcC1-nOuZi_QzEDA_4sM9Q7uCPgwb265P4jXtkKFeB7NNiAic4NsU5AS73w_duf6eoemUx3A9P8_/s1600/IMG_2071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEvOaw6l8Xpdp1o6kMUTqZW8Mt3iW4DtwMtkP6YeoKQ8aPYkgqcxIn0imqDZ5SRn-UFcC1-nOuZi_QzEDA_4sM9Q7uCPgwb265P4jXtkKFeB7NNiAic4NsU5AS73w_duf6eoemUx3A9P8_/s320/IMG_2071.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'll leave you with this parting shot - not a bad way to spend my first day with Tegan :)</span></div>
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</span>_Clinno_http://www.blogger.com/profile/15758751614854894618noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030408022090936981.post-17408429965795096712013-09-02T17:02:00.000+10:002013-09-02T17:05:39.777+10:00A True Adventure from Start to Finish<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So this is it. The last hurrah. The fat lady hitting the final note in her encore performance. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">She has been sold, and she is no longer in my possession. Can I just say this has been one of THE most stressful weekends I have had, full stop. I learnt a lot about myself - perceptions I've maintained for a long time got blown out the window, and I haven't coped. I've always thought that one of my best qualities has been the ability to be completely objective; to shut off all emotions and take things for what they were. Yet this weekend I've found myself being completely overwhelmed by my emotions to the extent where I've struggled to function as a human being. This is something I've never ever experienced before.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm sorry if this is all a bit too serious or full on, but I want to use this blog entry as an opportunity to try and make sense of what's gone on. Getting thoughts out in writing has always worked well in slowing my head down - doing so in such a public manner is a risk I'm prepared to take. Look, I know that a lot of you as readers have shared my pains and triumphs with this - consider this my way of concluding this journey for both myself and you, the reader.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Let's rewind a little bit to where this all started.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A bloke approached me with an offer on Stacey. He was the first person to actually give me an offer - everyone else was more interested in trying to get me to swap - motor bikes, low lux's, a motor bike with a car, etc. While the offer was a fair bit lower than what I was originally asking for, realistically I knew it was a decent enough starting point for some negotiations as I knew I was asking too much. Problem was the guy lived in Miriam Vale (near Gladstone, ~600 km's away), so all of this was done over text message. His brother lived locally, and was able to inspect the car on his behalf. He liked what he heard over the phone and so began the negotiations.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Questions were asked, answers were given, and a price was eventually settled on. A date was put in the calendar as to when he'd be down to pick it up, and I began to get her ready to be sold. I should note here that the conditions of her being sold weren't exactly kosher, so I had a lot of vested interest in him getting home in a) one piece and b) with as little attention from the boys in blue as possible.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA_Dk0x9cLtW40yd0uyR-2y6dHGgueWRuUbXzQNBh2Qxm-9tUIoiK4jafjAsgMIsrAOa8IaXyyVSJGRPxEHtOyR82NGPpBMh0_rQbltVY0gzfe-_NlzdaAuR0ui_wK9wNk2BQB_mQybp3V/s1600/IMG_1962.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA_Dk0x9cLtW40yd0uyR-2y6dHGgueWRuUbXzQNBh2Qxm-9tUIoiK4jafjAsgMIsrAOa8IaXyyVSJGRPxEHtOyR82NGPpBMh0_rQbltVY0gzfe-_NlzdaAuR0ui_wK9wNk2BQB_mQybp3V/s320/IMG_1962.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While there were a lot of little things that needed addressing, my biggest concern was her being driven such a distance in such a poor cosmetic state. Cops aren't forgiving on imports at the best of times, let alone one like this that makes a dogs breakfast inviting. I raised my concerns in the negotiation stage and said I would do a rattle can paint job if he bought the car. He said nothing on this, yet the next day confirmed he was purchasing it, so I assumed he agreed with this idea.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwaix8xg7hHuusgLjYRBSlT1RPD6NR0d3Tsrq-QH7HYQXYs6pv1TjfXW1R9AJcP5PdzyOIJ-tt6kgbDA-0x-WUKsyEP85ErWKPDQOJ3qotlZ-jYIuvIurjqMauejavBmS3sCLYE9UimtAD/s1600/IMG_1963.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwaix8xg7hHuusgLjYRBSlT1RPD6NR0d3Tsrq-QH7HYQXYs6pv1TjfXW1R9AJcP5PdzyOIJ-tt6kgbDA-0x-WUKsyEP85ErWKPDQOJ3qotlZ-jYIuvIurjqMauejavBmS3sCLYE9UimtAD/s320/IMG_1963.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was only really interested in the mismatched panels, as the rest of the car was already black. My experiences with a gloss black rattle-can not coming out glossy led to a decision to go with a satin black instead, as it's non-reflective nature would work in our favour. $30 later I had 8 cans of the stuff and plenty of drop sheets and masking tape to get started.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ7Sbg83NP1lGCudBWKz4xDdqYpb34yyjHHFy3x3oFYGabB7vInRop_5aJUYvR09aDfQgtAlG6D_iTn8CgAZ10m8sgOHs81i3XuVNrUCxYtkPtVwCfPzZRhvGo0gW_eKqQ04SUxRT5I3xt/s1600/IMG_1966.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ7Sbg83NP1lGCudBWKz4xDdqYpb34yyjHHFy3x3oFYGabB7vInRop_5aJUYvR09aDfQgtAlG6D_iTn8CgAZ10m8sgOHs81i3XuVNrUCxYtkPtVwCfPzZRhvGo0gW_eKqQ04SUxRT5I3xt/s320/IMG_1966.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With one side completely finished, I was actually amazed at how good it came up for such a care-free job. Unfortunately it left quite a stark contrast between the already black panels... couldn't leave it like that!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMzGTYEWDMjuqKA37aGtBTpNXCn-ckwxL791Vc-B1kw7A8Ukae6VXFgOvi5zMEoEn-lwvqS1IlSZwFb-AOekjTF8bBeyf7Q9fXKa0TjiUgGI5KavQMqF5AxRDgpZup6x_T394oVKQydDXI/s1600/IMG_1967.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMzGTYEWDMjuqKA37aGtBTpNXCn-ckwxL791Vc-B1kw7A8Ukae6VXFgOvi5zMEoEn-lwvqS1IlSZwFb-AOekjTF8bBeyf7Q9fXKa0TjiUgGI5KavQMqF5AxRDgpZup6x_T394oVKQydDXI/s320/IMG_1967.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I proceeded to do the rest of the car in the satin black. With prep work being minimal (quick sand with a scotch-brite and a rub down with wax and grease remover), this wasn't an overly time consuming or difficult procedure.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIvwiGII2PyhMRBGYGvk8tIGHBsI7QvILHnQSEkvQDswWdmGW_iLDU2evAWnM-2bZNHnv6n4K90KZYiYP0WTLVTVdfWmYPy7zOPY5jIiBxcTRc2KZwH-5DHJQsxWJMGYE-dWf1t2NuzGVz/s1600/IMG_1969.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIvwiGII2PyhMRBGYGvk8tIGHBsI7QvILHnQSEkvQDswWdmGW_iLDU2evAWnM-2bZNHnv6n4K90KZYiYP0WTLVTVdfWmYPy7zOPY5jIiBxcTRc2KZwH-5DHJQsxWJMGYE-dWf1t2NuzGVz/s320/IMG_1969.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With the whole car done, I showed this exact picture to old mate expressing my elation at how much more subtle she was. I'm sure you can imagine my surprise when he came back saying he wanted to drop the purchase price by a grand - I'm not meaning to bad mouth the guy so I won't go into specifics, all I'll say is that took me a good 2 days to convince him that I wasn't hiding anything by doing this, and that the value in her was due to the parts that were in her, not her appearance. He did request that I leave the wing off...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibF1f4wA8_ue57kP8nsXk_glJlIOZeSXmM_EUJyIJR9l296b9sTozEj4-1KFVdqi3N-hNFtOASMQq4riqtklyKvi_LJo7-QZTxMQS5kxzF4Dba1DBidY_muMLjGr3zFDJ0I6O6yuF5gxLQ/s1600/IMG_1970.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibF1f4wA8_ue57kP8nsXk_glJlIOZeSXmM_EUJyIJR9l296b9sTozEj4-1KFVdqi3N-hNFtOASMQq4riqtklyKvi_LJo7-QZTxMQS5kxzF4Dba1DBidY_muMLjGr3zFDJ0I6O6yuF5gxLQ/s320/IMG_1970.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... but I had to see her as I knew her COMPLETELY one colour. Wing, eyelids, everything the one colour and one finish. While I always knew she would look great as the one colour and finish, but actually seeing it come to fruition (even as a cheap and care-free job), I was stunned as just how much of a difference it made. I found myself commenting on several occasions that she actually looked good for the first time since owning her.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ntugWvVZ6UGgdSgq-J1Q1HS50LGB9cFqTJOJHYu6KxI6BheBviBBVFTehed73QRLv6CPomrjC2ERxKcQsrWxttGAJv0b1DWA5CPOLAiAmKyavw8q_vOstBQjzaGx248wWfbCB2TYMUN8/s1600/IMG_1976.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ntugWvVZ6UGgdSgq-J1Q1HS50LGB9cFqTJOJHYu6KxI6BheBviBBVFTehed73QRLv6CPomrjC2ERxKcQsrWxttGAJv0b1DWA5CPOLAiAmKyavw8q_vOstBQjzaGx248wWfbCB2TYMUN8/s320/IMG_1976.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I proceeded to work my way around, finishing up small outstanding jobs that needed to be done before she left my possession. Since I had replaced the front pipe, I no longer had a mounting solution to support the exhaust (the previous front pipe had a bracket that lined up beautifully with the gearbox mount). Nothing a little bit of ingenuity can't fix!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiarA3X8i6DlBtSfoG9pJMyh0KuxNytGzFxj6samRsmc_DB3k93Hz-8O1FFWOKiFl_JVZdqE9xbbfajWtISLNal308R7YaU6rnE-zDZnQVOQo_H9AK2q1uOifLLxZLYyD-_OkxkVFGx8lTo/s1600/IMG_1982.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiarA3X8i6DlBtSfoG9pJMyh0KuxNytGzFxj6samRsmc_DB3k93Hz-8O1FFWOKiFl_JVZdqE9xbbfajWtISLNal308R7YaU6rnE-zDZnQVOQo_H9AK2q1uOifLLxZLYyD-_OkxkVFGx8lTo/s320/IMG_1982.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After I finished getting her ready, I moved her out to the road so she was ready to go. I couldn't resist the opportunity to grab a final couple of snaps as this was the last time I'd see her in daylight.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlYwB7f9hoSQLMUb6NAsgVvOWKQ4oWFVlcOSWGjTLnVKjecnZjlzSabCeiS66_6t6TSuvz5iWWaBuLeoJ9zg_vIcvO8wEVQ0pxT7LD5DcEfp-kGLM3YSMjgTPeCkSKEWcP_gCxK9wIPmFO/s1600/IMG_1983.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlYwB7f9hoSQLMUb6NAsgVvOWKQ4oWFVlcOSWGjTLnVKjecnZjlzSabCeiS66_6t6TSuvz5iWWaBuLeoJ9zg_vIcvO8wEVQ0pxT7LD5DcEfp-kGLM3YSMjgTPeCkSKEWcP_gCxK9wIPmFO/s320/IMG_1983.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What really blew me away was seeing this effectively 'done'. Sure, it's nothing like what I would've done had I gone to the effort of seeing her the whole way through, but for all intents and purposes this was a complete car. From the outside she looked good, and when you popped the bonnet she looked amazing.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDhrrBvWpVBaF2xC4hdTPet-C4R-cksKfXyE4G2izfe9XvR2BRXmP_pzMAQL0LQQTtsw8DWHAhICT9htqIOWgv04D7BU_kTIhhmaHHg3AgaVhmYlb-OE_5AIZqykXN5SLFuOuOB6yFVrmG/s1600/IMG_1984.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDhrrBvWpVBaF2xC4hdTPet-C4R-cksKfXyE4G2izfe9XvR2BRXmP_pzMAQL0LQQTtsw8DWHAhICT9htqIOWgv04D7BU_kTIhhmaHHg3AgaVhmYlb-OE_5AIZqykXN5SLFuOuOB6yFVrmG/s320/IMG_1984.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was also very impressed with the difference that the guards made vs. the old bolt-on fenders. I know I've said this before, but I think seeing it like this really did validate the point. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By this stage we were edging pretty close to the time frame we were given as to when they'd be arriving (the drive home was being shared and required a 3rd to actually drop them off), so Kim and myself sat on the driveway, killing time until they rocked up. Once they did, I greeted them and went to unlock the car so he could look it over for the first time in person...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV6SAFwQmjkBKdFqk5x8FjlybbqGTz2Z7qjdzj3kVTHqbAlQMC9jtxKV6f3KAas8SksFPokKVupVMOTtSBCKTrbaIRtmD7TmMQRscxOpRHqnFDZdOKTsOAsRk1eKNg29ADBQ-nZ9MfKcaE/s1600/IMG_1985.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV6SAFwQmjkBKdFqk5x8FjlybbqGTz2Z7qjdzj3kVTHqbAlQMC9jtxKV6f3KAas8SksFPokKVupVMOTtSBCKTrbaIRtmD7TmMQRscxOpRHqnFDZdOKTsOAsRk1eKNg29ADBQ-nZ9MfKcaE/s320/IMG_1985.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... then this happened. Yes, unlocking the car for a guy who's just travelled 600 km's to look at the car and I snapped the bloody key. SERIOUSLY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! This car has never life made easy for me ever since she's been in my possession, and even right up to the bitter end she decides to keep this going. Little did I know this was only the start of things to come... (apologies for the lack of pictures from this point, kind of the last thing on my mind with everything that went down).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Being 6pm on a Saturday night, we knew our options were extremely limited, so we began the ring around to who could do the cheapest call out to cut a new key. Once we had confirmed a bloke and a time frame, I told the guys to go grab some dinner while we waited, as we knew it wasn't going to be a 2 minute job. After what seemed like an eternity, the locksmith rocked up and was thankfully able to cut a new key from the snapped specimen. It took some tweaking to get it to work, but the bloke was good enough to talk us through what he was doing, so that was a bonus. Due to the cut though, it actually puts the thinnest point on the key right next to the twist point. Planned obsolescence much? Apparently this is pretty common with a lot of keys. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We finally got into the car, and I proceeded to show the buyer around, showing the features and characteristics, explaining how she worked and the random 'quirks' she had and how to get around them. Once again questions were asked and answered, and it all climaxed in him taking her for a test drive - it was all systems go. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I counted the cash, double counted it, but was 100% certain it came up short. I got him to double check it and he agreed, which then proceeded to send him into a bit of a frenzy as it would have appeared he had lost a good couple of hundred dollars. Half an hour later it was sorted, but it was just another stress to add to an already unstable Clinton (I should mention here this is the first time I've formally sold a car to a stranger!).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With all of that sorted, they drove off... once she rounded the corner and she was out of sight there was a massive sigh of relief and a hi5, finally seeing this chapter of my life and nightmare of an evening come to an end. I needed to decompress and I knew it. To say I was peaking (read: highly strung) was an understatement. I would have been lucky to have done 600 km's in the year and a half I've owned her, and here he was about to do more than that in one evening. The major overhaul that had recently happened also meant there was a lot of uncertainty as to whether or not things would work. Sure I'd taken her for a couple of drives but I had nothing that was really conclusive prove she was fine. Being a long weekend down here, I also knew cop presence would be higher than normal, which just compounded the issue. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A couple of beers and some cranked favourite songs helped a lot - but half an hour later I got a message saying there was something seriously wrong with the diff... my heart sank quicker than a block of concrete in water, and my stress levels hit a new high. It got even worse when he mentioned it now wouldn't go into gear - they had to push it to get it started. Understandably they were on their way back so I could see for myself and either fix it or give them a refund.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They said they'd be there 'soon' but an hour and a half later we were still waiting. By this stage my brain had pretty much given up the ghost - I blatantly didn't know what to do. After everything that had happened leading up to this it was the last thing I needed. Thankfully Kim was on hand to come up with a solution or 2, the most likely thing we could think of was air in the clutch lines. This was further backed up when we heard that the clutch had started working again. To explain the methodology here, this thing has a pretty aggressive 2-way diff in it. The fact it wouldn't go into gear could only mean the clutch was having issues. If the clutch was having issues the diff wouldn't know what to make of the sporadic power coming from the engine, and would be carrying on like a toddler who just had their toy taken away from them (which it was). My brain gave me enough brainpower to come to the conclusion that both the diff and clutch/gearbox had felt fine right up until they drove off - and neither of them just give up the ghost in an instant. Combined with the fact we had so many dramas bleeding the clutch when we re-filled all the fluids, it become the logical choice that there was air in the lines.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After what seemed like yet another eternity, they finally rocked up and we took the car for a quick spin. Our theory was instantly verified when we heard the throw-out bearing whirring while the car was in gear (it's not meant to do that). We got the car into the garage and began bleeding the clutch once again... I should note by this stage it was about 11:30 pm.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The good news was we straight away got air out of the master cylinder. We continued to bleed it until no more came out and I took it for a drive around the block. It still wasn't perfect, so we pulled it back into the garage to bleed the slave as well - same story, got air out of it straight away. We thought it wise to check the diff oil just for peace of mind, so the car went up on all 4 corners so we could get a level reading. Lo and behold, we couldn't get the filler plug open, and with the time now pushing 12:30 am it was certainly going to piss neighbours off if we started using power tools/mallets.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The buyer was supposed to be home by 4 am as he lived on a farm and had work to do, so we were well beyond getting him home in time. That said, they still wanted to get on the road just to get the drive out of the way. Given the success we had bleeding the clutch, they decided to chance driving once again with the hope it was all sorted. I was that out of it that it took me 3 goes to successfully drop one corner of the car, but we eventually got the car down and I took it for a (quiet) test drive around the block to see if we had indeed fixed the problem. I went around every single roundabout in our estate to be sure, and while I felt like we had fixed it, I was conscious of the fact that the car was working fine when he first drove it off and couldn't be 100% certain it wouldn't happen again. Alas we were out of time and options, so we took the chance and handed the keys back. I also gave them a handful of cable ties just in case, with the parting words 'if you can't fix this car with cable ties, you don't deserve it'. Way to go brain, seems you had enough left to give me that little gem!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Editors note: To their credit, they were really good about all of this. If I had just bought a car that was having clutch and diff issues, I would be asking questions and asking for my money back, or at least some of it back for pain-in-the-ass tax. When we suggested we thought we knew what the problem was, they were more than happy to give us the opportunity to try and fix it, so to them, a massive thank you for their patience and understanding.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Given how wound up, stressed and delirious I was, I knew there was no chance of getting to sleep any time soon, so I had a beer to try and calm my nerves. It didn't really work though as I kept looking at my phone dreading another text message or phone call saying the problem was still persisting... Fantastic =\ By the time 2 am had rolled around though I still hadn't heard anything, and my eyes really were fed up with looking at things. I decided to chance some sleep... It kind of worked, although my brain decided it wasn't done yet and was still freaking out - waking me up almost every hour, each time checking my phone just in case.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Morning eventually rolled around and still nothing. I could only assume no news was good news, but so much of me still ached to know what had happened. I sent a message at 10 am Sunday morning just asking how things went... 'Yeah got home at 9, all sweet' was the reply.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Was I relieved? Yes. Could I switch all this emotion and anxiety off? No. I'm still working on that as I write this. It wasn't helped by a number of texts during the day from the buyer wanting to clarify things, each time me fearing something's gone wrong. I'll get there, I know that for a fact. And another fact, she's finally been sold and moved on to someone else.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'll be honest, I'm not sad to see her go. I won't miss her. If anything I'm glad this chapter of my life is over. I haven't been for a drive in MY sports car for over 2 years, and I really do miss it. I've been too scared to drive Stacey around simply because she is what she is. I'm now free to get something I want instead of something that got me out of a sticky situation. Don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly appreciative that I got given such an out, but I'm yearning for another car that I can properly take pride in. All things being equal, that could be happening in a matter of weeks :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What does suck out of all this though, is that this car represents a freaking impressive amount of time and effort on my behalf. I've put so much blood, sweat, tears and effort into this car - and I honestly believe she is going to her grave. Surprisingly, that's not an easy thing to accept for a car I haven't really cared about.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">---------------------</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: center;">With this chapter of my life over, I think it's fitting to reflect on the last year and a half. To look back on what exactly has gone on. There's already more than enough words in this entry, so I'm going to keep this short and sweet.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE29YkWKBKFAzX_wrXoPSS5PNIE3Ou6Y1Srj-M-4S6P6pR4dhmO6FGsc192bIr5UmQzuSpvNeITGi51kazc85gIc8cT2vM9UEvmhEfgrFF3DBOIFJvaWifIQae_Hqwcm6Y-xovxICxtmY1/s1600/IMG_5400.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE29YkWKBKFAzX_wrXoPSS5PNIE3Ou6Y1Srj-M-4S6P6pR4dhmO6FGsc192bIr5UmQzuSpvNeITGi51kazc85gIc8cT2vM9UEvmhEfgrFF3DBOIFJvaWifIQae_Hqwcm6Y-xovxICxtmY1/s320/IMG_5400.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To start off with something as hap-hazard as this...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRkx78B0__7hi2alW-oDmUbWhb2AQ3h3OFMRxwhdF1rOR4csHCvPWBTCHor-8dF1bDpC91bnc7PODaS58TKLWMpAVsUpCLIPSWu5XEC-qUz2G6K9lczr88kNTFnL57Ze3mEoboolOGBCL5/s1600/IMG_5401.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRkx78B0__7hi2alW-oDmUbWhb2AQ3h3OFMRxwhdF1rOR4csHCvPWBTCHor-8dF1bDpC91bnc7PODaS58TKLWMpAVsUpCLIPSWu5XEC-qUz2G6K9lczr88kNTFnL57Ze3mEoboolOGBCL5/s320/IMG_5401.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... and end up with something that's half respectable. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxOuYs5R4UCgKrow9NC2AlYqMo8VZQAp1PmOV6AYkqvV_dxP76QcDbEBbdypF1NDqMcDEIPp8pUTxG08y3F5QudsnoGz0JMW1I_bb-X2Rfn78UuSdOX673ZyTIM22SNs5uQYt3znJZSvk-/s1600/IMG_5415.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxOuYs5R4UCgKrow9NC2AlYqMo8VZQAp1PmOV6AYkqvV_dxP76QcDbEBbdypF1NDqMcDEIPp8pUTxG08y3F5QudsnoGz0JMW1I_bb-X2Rfn78UuSdOX673ZyTIM22SNs5uQYt3znJZSvk-/s320/IMG_5415.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Looking back I can't believe that this is the state of the engine bay when I first got her...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8GSGVGbGC_D7znfZ6-iuXcn7FPCMmlhUQrBCmB7SsKxpkwDz16VlBZb9_mAuKIAU5u9PSaWXicZ9K5EbMKG3sopSt5z2UH7cH_Yy4gNM3IXQEWdz9Sl9HZqIZAe4B9EEwPKRuBI0rwpo1/s1600/IMG_5416.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8GSGVGbGC_D7znfZ6-iuXcn7FPCMmlhUQrBCmB7SsKxpkwDz16VlBZb9_mAuKIAU5u9PSaWXicZ9K5EbMKG3sopSt5z2UH7cH_Yy4gNM3IXQEWdz9Sl9HZqIZAe4B9EEwPKRuBI0rwpo1/s320/IMG_5416.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... especially given that this is where it's at now. I'm damn chuffed with that effort!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvdkfCkOPf6ok5CGzUL3poo8ED-jbKaKmOQH8qUyyYmdesMoc0qYvByKE0Om8H_zVegkKt0R_wdwB5txfctDiwh0zDgr6xWbvxZckdXL61BUL2N23tKO2I20WIh-1N0Is9JVRTYVycJkeK/s1600/IMG_5420.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvdkfCkOPf6ok5CGzUL3poo8ED-jbKaKmOQH8qUyyYmdesMoc0qYvByKE0Om8H_zVegkKt0R_wdwB5txfctDiwh0zDgr6xWbvxZckdXL61BUL2N23tKO2I20WIh-1N0Is9JVRTYVycJkeK/s320/IMG_5420.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">She's been ever-evolving...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBoTyPY8PlPJ6cYYl_K0NxJVQODDPGhZUeSv5kgJi4Qx0P5IZiA0M_J8zSoJqQqQHEBOClMRhVQNrGBsvl-yKclCs5v0Eoi27f7i6W0QGynWXROT98OJpNlysOaJVYgFCg0IjtQ8cbbNMn/s1600/IMG_5429.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBoTyPY8PlPJ6cYYl_K0NxJVQODDPGhZUeSv5kgJi4Qx0P5IZiA0M_J8zSoJqQqQHEBOClMRhVQNrGBsvl-yKclCs5v0Eoi27f7i6W0QGynWXROT98OJpNlysOaJVYgFCg0IjtQ8cbbNMn/s320/IMG_5429.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... inching closer and closer to that dream of being able to drive her on the street.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJkLD2wK4jEpEoyRCKZBD4BsoBEjWKH5xRxTNljqNiQ5L2bcOMUVSU_er_yeceEijeCM1RZtpuFnSapPvzWSPD9lKVeytcA6wbB4DBcYilC_4c0kUO6tsTk4KI-0zbcA3hfu4UWOVx9jrs/s1600/IMG_5430.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJkLD2wK4jEpEoyRCKZBD4BsoBEjWKH5xRxTNljqNiQ5L2bcOMUVSU_er_yeceEijeCM1RZtpuFnSapPvzWSPD9lKVeytcA6wbB4DBcYilC_4c0kUO6tsTk4KI-0zbcA3hfu4UWOVx9jrs/s320/IMG_5430.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This 3-month headache was the first time I properly got to know her, pulling her apart further than any car I had before.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim1_5KJVtrDqtiRMgY1oHxnCmh1rbsMEgvnrA-Wq9wyBJckAfLD4Oovp9gZ2B1Dd807ij1W-rDrQIL_j3gwdHppS5JwY_WJ44eFRjn0wi2QsK6lpB-PSBBDYJXav5gqt6DqX977p-yj-mO/s1600/IMG_5440.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim1_5KJVtrDqtiRMgY1oHxnCmh1rbsMEgvnrA-Wq9wyBJckAfLD4Oovp9gZ2B1Dd807ij1W-rDrQIL_j3gwdHppS5JwY_WJ44eFRjn0wi2QsK6lpB-PSBBDYJXav5gqt6DqX977p-yj-mO/s320/IMG_5440.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Working under fluoro lights became an all-too-familiar feeling...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilHQgjlzltOnT1b9kye662jErEewH8MwL_oNWnv_t64IcfpJCeUrnB3nZCPb9l4C7XC9Vik0LLfY6H0x2bDvQgQonva_WbPZKLPVSi8-nd920k7iYk_C1e-AdDWi719FizW8TvZTeevGvd/s1600/IMG_5444.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilHQgjlzltOnT1b9kye662jErEewH8MwL_oNWnv_t64IcfpJCeUrnB3nZCPb9l4C7XC9Vik0LLfY6H0x2bDvQgQonva_WbPZKLPVSi8-nd920k7iYk_C1e-AdDWi719FizW8TvZTeevGvd/s320/IMG_5444.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... as did attacking her with power tools. Grinders, drills, sanders, buffers, jigsaws, welders, rattle-guns... she's seen them all.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCrG7LpMCbytY_4yx7LPNBDWsI1w07Sjl4XfVYlvwETiiq_t3YqqSi7ZChx8L-ypZnVD9ojWJjHhbEHh_gV27VcNv5QStLPZLMBiAEU642TlckDvbwd_Mkje_uyPNhNrm7V9g-OG4Oc32D/s1600/IMG_5448.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCrG7LpMCbytY_4yx7LPNBDWsI1w07Sjl4XfVYlvwETiiq_t3YqqSi7ZChx8L-ypZnVD9ojWJjHhbEHh_gV27VcNv5QStLPZLMBiAEU642TlckDvbwd_Mkje_uyPNhNrm7V9g-OG4Oc32D/s320/IMG_5448.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think she probably spent more time off the ground than actually on it.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVVPizbH-Sqz11i8fJnhP8H0OZs0tRfJB_21GiwzALu73BqLlPzlC6MZYqePcTfgTV0ZykzskQqOrD3mOeJQFP_boTBntmkKb7vIv33Ralll5qFVSd3YUroJ-v3QS3Y7btdqBtTKGAptLd/s1600/IMG_5452.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVVPizbH-Sqz11i8fJnhP8H0OZs0tRfJB_21GiwzALu73BqLlPzlC6MZYqePcTfgTV0ZykzskQqOrD3mOeJQFP_boTBntmkKb7vIv33Ralll5qFVSd3YUroJ-v3QS3Y7btdqBtTKGAptLd/s320/IMG_5452.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I tried to do what she was designed for, I failed epically. I gained a lot of respect for the guys who do it and do it well, and will always be something I wish I could do just to have as a skill.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_301RGN0HlUEjtLdici-naHZb6X2ZSW0iauz0qq9puyswbaU061VshGKmgb6lyrlwCoKRfN1R2I9mLOr77UBsLRZBGAjfEJGfJVHMzXDSCCND1-voNaWQCsRn_qScyobx7-YaqpYwVCSP/s1600/IMG_5480.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_301RGN0HlUEjtLdici-naHZb6X2ZSW0iauz0qq9puyswbaU061VshGKmgb6lyrlwCoKRfN1R2I9mLOr77UBsLRZBGAjfEJGfJVHMzXDSCCND1-voNaWQCsRn_qScyobx7-YaqpYwVCSP/s320/IMG_5480.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have learnt so much from this car it's not funny. There is so much I would not have dared attempt on Edna because I gave a damn about her. I'm truly thankful I haven't cared so much about Stacey, simply because I would not know what I do now, nor have the confidence to attempt bigger things.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6BhRB5XttfFKh9sNVw7x6UgeA1Qnlj0QeqXquJ8LuemMi_nyPT4yXVPJamdQ13JESwzd_1RJOMdbi7DFYxgBAq1WyPjRjkVSL0ymGBYumH7UkV4ggJT_EZ-3mbeMMyw16L6WZmEKTADgK/s1600/IMG_5484.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6BhRB5XttfFKh9sNVw7x6UgeA1Qnlj0QeqXquJ8LuemMi_nyPT4yXVPJamdQ13JESwzd_1RJOMdbi7DFYxgBAq1WyPjRjkVSL0ymGBYumH7UkV4ggJT_EZ-3mbeMMyw16L6WZmEKTADgK/s320/IMG_5484.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I spent that much time on this car, it was hard to not get comfortable and enjoy it for what it was. And as much heartache as she has caused...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiu6eMj7TDt8nM9kvbV6ZYzIJ01WJFKwMU5ppS9plxmJWTg1ts5DFWtZz3WkicUbPr0w8esLHYIDewzm5dnUzcPtzOFztzZYTVwYMhdiPlWHrZuk-GWNF9QFeadoxTgFdpvYXvB-iD1xQ2/s1600/IMG_5488.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiu6eMj7TDt8nM9kvbV6ZYzIJ01WJFKwMU5ppS9plxmJWTg1ts5DFWtZz3WkicUbPr0w8esLHYIDewzm5dnUzcPtzOFztzZYTVwYMhdiPlWHrZuk-GWNF9QFeadoxTgFdpvYXvB-iD1xQ2/s320/IMG_5488.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... this made it all worth it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHYmAW0Ju5iO1pfi3j67ssC1JJ-oWPult529cFBVDsD9vkS_MoS3Nu2WOVwnppr1boyaVeMCcr2lt3qVzgXlcHrgCQ0t55mEci6La2Ci9R1UWsvbRln3tivywHWLaZQdYBkd6FtnWW0pJp/s1600/IMG_5490.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHYmAW0Ju5iO1pfi3j67ssC1JJ-oWPult529cFBVDsD9vkS_MoS3Nu2WOVwnppr1boyaVeMCcr2lt3qVzgXlcHrgCQ0t55mEci6La2Ci9R1UWsvbRln3tivywHWLaZQdYBkd6FtnWW0pJp/s320/IMG_5490.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Being able to drive her flat out on a track surrounded by some of my best mates: priceless. That memory is something I will cherish for a damn long time. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So long Stacey, it's certainly been an adventure.</span></div>
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</span>_Clinno_http://www.blogger.com/profile/15758751614854894618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030408022090936981.post-67717955559348236122013-08-11T22:15:00.000+10:002013-08-11T22:18:06.239+10:00Project Correct-a-Car pt. 10: Roller Coasters ain't got Nuttin!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Alright!! Carrying on from last week you may remember we were trying to get the engine bay to a point where we could start her. Unfortunately due to time, motivation and light we to leave it in a non-startable way. Thankfully Monday yielded me a couple of extra hours after work so I was able to keep progression flowing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSzGGV8y_-CRUyl1NQxJdknpp0F7ByVC9oXN8yMz6XEpgvaVyKGebRlFa-esGcElWcOccQi73xa6N9EK4IE5m4D8woJ0K6tjA6KpcKhxMjCTc8DXNwZrFTIXB-04xd8ZPr6Zvv1SzUXZC_/s1600/IMG_1861.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSzGGV8y_-CRUyl1NQxJdknpp0F7ByVC9oXN8yMz6XEpgvaVyKGebRlFa-esGcElWcOccQi73xa6N9EK4IE5m4D8woJ0K6tjA6KpcKhxMjCTc8DXNwZrFTIXB-04xd8ZPr6Zvv1SzUXZC_/s320/IMG_1861.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I must say the engine bay was coming along very nicely! This photo exists only because I realise the one I posted last week was actually incredibly terrible quality.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7xWmpzm1kByv8THNEVCJU2CG8ThsoP1i7I7DTSPeywNT0e9nQs5B6bleOXCARAh6K0VGdjkBSVcdN4pH41KwQcmW9BP0zWUaKPnoPVPH0o6SyFnsF1OL01Xd78apvknSFKG5elDDUhrF-/s1600/IMG_0633.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7xWmpzm1kByv8THNEVCJU2CG8ThsoP1i7I7DTSPeywNT0e9nQs5B6bleOXCARAh6K0VGdjkBSVcdN4pH41KwQcmW9BP0zWUaKPnoPVPH0o6SyFnsF1OL01Xd78apvknSFKG5elDDUhrF-/s320/IMG_0633.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKZwkZ4887QainNW7R_IxVcOH1BDzKx5L4sm4oNH_pnzr4ZXyo9EK-jIKuv5sSUv4NTAnWQeclm24zGHvJeAq4JkI8YSequn3JmTcUtwh_syRotzDfOJ_jzADtUB6D-_iNUDZyWpHfSnpw/s1600/IMG_1864.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKZwkZ4887QainNW7R_IxVcOH1BDzKx5L4sm4oNH_pnzr4ZXyo9EK-jIKuv5sSUv4NTAnWQeclm24zGHvJeAq4JkI8YSequn3JmTcUtwh_syRotzDfOJ_jzADtUB6D-_iNUDZyWpHfSnpw/s320/IMG_1864.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Continuing on from last week, here's a before and after of the battery tray modifications finished with all auxiliaries installed. Very very VERY happy with how it has come up I must admit! Almost looks like it's meant to be there :) I proceeded to go around all of the hose clamps and make sure everything was tight. Due to the fact that we left the car in a bit of a limbo state on Sunday, there were a couple of loose clamps I certainly knew of, but it never hurts to double check.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9iC0NV5_twR-qTvTXBDsd0H-6pds-Nv8Yqm4qDs8XHuM5SRBHXjphQS8qq270cl8bFDy0mBBXEH6B4-TeNxGpSkHDc2dxZBnnYJ66eQ_xjGfM-qo7eT1VoW1d72G6TsZ4GCGmOPw7kZGr/s1600/IMG_1865.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9iC0NV5_twR-qTvTXBDsd0H-6pds-Nv8Yqm4qDs8XHuM5SRBHXjphQS8qq270cl8bFDy0mBBXEH6B4-TeNxGpSkHDc2dxZBnnYJ66eQ_xjGfM-qo7eT1VoW1d72G6TsZ4GCGmOPw7kZGr/s320/IMG_1865.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To comply with current QLD laws, the pod filter was secured with a small little bracket bought from Super Cheap Auto, cut to size with some tin snips and massaged into shape with a mallet... I like knowing how to adapt :) works well for me!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-m11YF6m-j1ykL4A0-mqRLK-4oWGMttnrpWjuVETRsv-rlFnQX1CN2WNNUGK8P7-dbHIJzPgLAzn3Wea-AotNKvXjB2a63X0LF0WMXF-gYFzOxjCKZNLF_xrwNLfPIlKBtTjrTx2PFUwm/s1600/IMG_1866.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-m11YF6m-j1ykL4A0-mqRLK-4oWGMttnrpWjuVETRsv-rlFnQX1CN2WNNUGK8P7-dbHIJzPgLAzn3Wea-AotNKvXjB2a63X0LF0WMXF-gYFzOxjCKZNLF_xrwNLfPIlKBtTjrTx2PFUwm/s320/IMG_1866.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fluids were the next thing to go in. Brake, clutch and power steering fluids were added just so the engine wasn't starting with nothing in them, and gearbox oil came in at a lucky last. I never enjoy filling this sucker up... As you can see in the photo the fill port is on the side of the gearbox. Given you've kind of got a lot of metal next to it, it can be very tricky to actually get oil in there. Thankfully a little hand pump made the job a hell of a lot easier :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsSsxgsmUDlhxx-Cy9978PQxGl9UnR0ibwSpi3tUEUh6lzhfhP-k0sT6d9AVDdsNnv7EtQJVZJhdwkEFSWkwcVT7mfpm0fIq5Bajc-cTMc_Sx8FjC_cReECBFa5FoIX6yJEfKrUzahQfKt/s1600/IMG_1867.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsSsxgsmUDlhxx-Cy9978PQxGl9UnR0ibwSpi3tUEUh6lzhfhP-k0sT6d9AVDdsNnv7EtQJVZJhdwkEFSWkwcVT7mfpm0fIq5Bajc-cTMc_Sx8FjC_cReECBFa5FoIX6yJEfKrUzahQfKt/s320/IMG_1867.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By this point I was ready to start the engine. It's always a good idea to manually crank the engine if it's been standing too long - just helps circulate the oil a bit and provide that bit of extra protection when they crank over. Due to the compression in the engine it's not as easy as you may think, yet while this isn't a 'necessary' step it certainly does help for peace of mind.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje-b1sIwU5LQD1F_cy1Wp-xJlXMkF4xWZzZ_E8A86AnU5hOwW-ue1LxHiEwIrZBNuHbRch25DLR50hh0hvcbT9-Xeco0YvyX9KFiNEtiXGWKcKDiaWoGc9mtmgjx0w-4riuBJzNgGvLNDd/s1600/IMG_1869.MOV" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje-b1sIwU5LQD1F_cy1Wp-xJlXMkF4xWZzZ_E8A86AnU5hOwW-ue1LxHiEwIrZBNuHbRch25DLR50hh0hvcbT9-Xeco0YvyX9KFiNEtiXGWKcKDiaWoGc9mtmgjx0w-4riuBJzNgGvLNDd/s320/IMG_1869.MOV" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is what greeted me. Took a couple of goes to actually run thanks to fuel being so far down the line and blowing out some cobwebs, but once she was running she wasn't a happy camper! She had a misfire, and would also 'hunt' on idle... basically the air/fuel mixture is wrong, and as a result it revs high then low then high etc. It's worth noting that it sounds so ridiculous because the exhaust isn't on yet =P While it was great news that it started, it meant I had a bit of work ahead of me figuring out what was causing the odd behaviour.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwNpX44jyot9AFXLamOpyQVZ8UUjj2bBEsJQxxG2P0gorV5lLkGB7uPAMQdKAjGayazAsW5_lk0COsk-CSwFBg3YdCr4aMzQpyJiYYcQF551SYk9-UkTNVD2aEtzMnY6Raw18G_5w8zKX8/s1600/IMG_1871.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwNpX44jyot9AFXLamOpyQVZ8UUjj2bBEsJQxxG2P0gorV5lLkGB7uPAMQdKAjGayazAsW5_lk0COsk-CSwFBg3YdCr4aMzQpyJiYYcQF551SYk9-UkTNVD2aEtzMnY6Raw18G_5w8zKX8/s320/IMG_1871.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The first point of call was the vacuum lines. They are the most common cause of engine shenanigans - as the engine spins it creates a natural vacuum effect that is used to power everything from emission control to brakes. Because we'd made a few modifications along the way, I found that there were 2 nipples on the intake that are used as vacuum sources that were no longer being used thanks to some items we deleted. I made sure to block them off, but unfortunately it did not help with any of the engine dramas. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifj2UEDtzOW0Lv2waKO5CH4LMBSJjGu8DvmWn3JYPbDSIl7JpKTePPF3SceHxXnTSO89TiEx18X3mmkxyDhLp2uRp0PMvkmNHb4juGBS6nGhgoy_V2bjf6PU-KWXjFjVnxK4eb45lkd8Tk/s1600/IMG_1873.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifj2UEDtzOW0Lv2waKO5CH4LMBSJjGu8DvmWn3JYPbDSIl7JpKTePPF3SceHxXnTSO89TiEx18X3mmkxyDhLp2uRp0PMvkmNHb4juGBS6nGhgoy_V2bjf6PU-KWXjFjVnxK4eb45lkd8Tk/s320/IMG_1873.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I also noticed the high-pitched sound of pressurised air leaking from the engine after it was turned off. It's safe to say that it probably made that noise the whole time, I just couldn't hear it over the other noises that are generated by a running engine. Given that the only real thing I had changed on the engine was the rocker cover gasket, I decided to check that first. Although I didn't find anything obvious, I was informed that it's always a good idea to put some gasket goo around the critical areas of the rubber seal. Back together and goodbye noise :) Unfortunately it still didn't fix the issue.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAUY_ow7HpkFviyxdYQoxdzDbbZ-cnAJJGuaWAyvy8A_y0v3yIqRMIY0BeDZ9zmwHJOJ1mOFb9bCG3TQvuN-RRj2zKUXIhb-AbC8oidWT2wbTSIsMM5-Sk2GpGVsKy2wua4pyXkoBBQWKj/s1600/IMG_1875.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAUY_ow7HpkFviyxdYQoxdzDbbZ-cnAJJGuaWAyvy8A_y0v3yIqRMIY0BeDZ9zmwHJOJ1mOFb9bCG3TQvuN-RRj2zKUXIhb-AbC8oidWT2wbTSIsMM5-Sk2GpGVsKy2wua4pyXkoBBQWKj/s320/IMG_1875.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It then occurred to me that the fuel in the tank had probably been sitting there for at least 8 months - probably a lot longer than that but I knew for a fact it was at least that old. As a precaution I proceeded to pump 15 litres of old fuel out, to be closely followed by 15 litres of new fuel. Unfortunately Nissan in their infinite wisdom decided to not include a drain plug in their fuel tank. The solution? Bridge the relay for the fuel pump, disconnect a fuel line and pump all the fuel out manually! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The bright side was at least it worked :) It was off to a bit of a shaky start, but once she was getting solid clean fuel into her, she was happy as Larry! Monday wasn't so bad after all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Engine done :) I really am chuffed with how well it has come up hey... and in a way I really am disappointed that I won't go to the same amount of effort on the rest of the car - just seeing this difference alone really is a great vote of confidence for what I've been able to achieve.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyPZ1I5tC-qfXb55ICQQjWrxsY_JhbGh43EZSUOfJVE6e9owvCaYpMAIukuUnyKeOSoQj55Mm1o_SEJKUWroTECkqgRqjGam-RYqhkO9Fl06AR40iJjKEDQXk9D0JLOFsmEMQmTpmo7XGy/s1600/IMG_1876.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyPZ1I5tC-qfXb55ICQQjWrxsY_JhbGh43EZSUOfJVE6e9owvCaYpMAIukuUnyKeOSoQj55Mm1o_SEJKUWroTECkqgRqjGam-RYqhkO9Fl06AR40iJjKEDQXk9D0JLOFsmEMQmTpmo7XGy/s320/IMG_1876.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With the engine completed I moved on to the body work during the rest of the week. Given how stripped she was I had a fair bit to do - but I decided to start with attaching the new fenders. Before I got too far into it though...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTPHr9x2YfBFtJXBlxHcL6HRxwuh6oimYeU7IjAtvij_qHc0bKo0WJWhIrpC7Fw6MlZdIYfbeaooiQhMFO8M0V_TqWn7tVAELmdWPCkFOhtkCC7-nVuT_ES3YBBN-i3z-QEuXqkMxxG3TB/s1600/IMG_1885.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTPHr9x2YfBFtJXBlxHcL6HRxwuh6oimYeU7IjAtvij_qHc0bKo0WJWhIrpC7Fw6MlZdIYfbeaooiQhMFO8M0V_TqWn7tVAELmdWPCkFOhtkCC7-nVuT_ES3YBBN-i3z-QEuXqkMxxG3TB/s320/IMG_1885.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... it would only make sense to start with something that's going to take some time - the sunroof. Bogging was the first step to fill in the imperfections. While that was drying I moved back to the fenders.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixXreCEl7lKyk_-uLmMX0nDpwJ_7A0wkkZQwLlQmGeUZ-0GSYHZs1AGdVdWElJzfcHLX0YMOHXE5LqIBlN5xyYBoJ6NoqT6nnV1kdUXDGLaMQep_GlJNSlyvvWs1_fdrZ5rgkxCLL80WFg/s1600/IMG_1886.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixXreCEl7lKyk_-uLmMX0nDpwJ_7A0wkkZQwLlQmGeUZ-0GSYHZs1AGdVdWElJzfcHLX0YMOHXE5LqIBlN5xyYBoJ6NoqT6nnV1kdUXDGLaMQep_GlJNSlyvvWs1_fdrZ5rgkxCLL80WFg/s320/IMG_1886.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The hardest part of the fenders was making sure everything lined up. It is hard though when no holes are pre-drilled... I had to guess and check umpteenth times before just taking a punt, drilling a hole and seeing if it worked. Needless to say there was some trial and error involved... especially when you've got 6 different panels that the stupid things have to line up to. Door, bonnet, front bar, lights, pods and body work.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5DshRC_rKw5UE7mMPowUAflcorCT6j1oRX-zQW-r7DYrejGmqKQDk-Feb0q9NiPSf3na5OUUcro8tcpTcnziAVI6FajgrQnRBThGkB3ec2nWFZdPBTJAkjItrZXWD428VX46r2u5xmg8l/s1600/IMG_1887.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5DshRC_rKw5UE7mMPowUAflcorCT6j1oRX-zQW-r7DYrejGmqKQDk-Feb0q9NiPSf3na5OUUcro8tcpTcnziAVI6FajgrQnRBThGkB3ec2nWFZdPBTJAkjItrZXWD428VX46r2u5xmg8l/s320/IMG_1887.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It wasn't until I had both sides fully together, bolted and cable tied where needed until I realised that I had forgotten to install the front reinforcement bar - Nag dabbit!!! Had to pull it all apart to get it in, and re-bolt and cable tie everything back together, something that took the better part of another hour (sigh).</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP0xjBcCkmNBuZ6LbFq_LE_lmFmmYmvybzCsOyokYL3qulog6JwdV4ZbO-G4E2wpdpcl2VHst4gmkknX66r73ZXItFuHaD2yqZ9wItDICyUrJJs4QmdlvtonG_MiujQQ01nL9OavjxNfG5/s1600/IMG_1888.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP0xjBcCkmNBuZ6LbFq_LE_lmFmmYmvybzCsOyokYL3qulog6JwdV4ZbO-G4E2wpdpcl2VHst4gmkknX66r73ZXItFuHaD2yqZ9wItDICyUrJJs4QmdlvtonG_MiujQQ01nL9OavjxNfG5/s320/IMG_1888.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The guards also required a bit of love and massaging to get everything to work. The front indicators were a great example, necessitating the use of several different sized files to get the hole to the right shape so the damn indicator would fit. Thankfully fibreglass is pretty easy to work with, so it didn't take too long!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr7wGVCSwfGMJpOWW4MQfDCFiUg8vvErAJktlIdKSG4Y2d8Td7sH5NxD5fyCAE8ARnx-HXut0iwai0Ma3bPQh2xjAviL3t9Xtkj1KnXVshi_aEJc1hAsj9dMW0O8zp88RkmIV_0IOEQrBS/s1600/IMG_1889.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr7wGVCSwfGMJpOWW4MQfDCFiUg8vvErAJktlIdKSG4Y2d8Td7sH5NxD5fyCAE8ARnx-HXut0iwai0Ma3bPQh2xjAviL3t9Xtkj1KnXVshi_aEJc1hAsj9dMW0O8zp88RkmIV_0IOEQrBS/s320/IMG_1889.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And here we have the front end kind of back together, with everything installed and lined up :) Small steps I tell you, small steps!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNHiVAagqF6Cyv-q8ytsKbz5b5CqVWENIjiDUVJGzlFrgKWXXwvlG7B6stj5q5AwgwKcrnj0KuVdu8T6OplJshtHayHPEhjeZNSwbWwehVG0kSXDfnBeu13jgO_LKdnlWu9Zntg9oZZ4Wb/s1600/IMG_1890.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNHiVAagqF6Cyv-q8ytsKbz5b5CqVWENIjiDUVJGzlFrgKWXXwvlG7B6stj5q5AwgwKcrnj0KuVdu8T6OplJshtHayHPEhjeZNSwbWwehVG0kSXDfnBeu13jgO_LKdnlWu9Zntg9oZZ4Wb/s320/IMG_1890.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I continued working my way around the body as afternoon turned into evening. It's been a while since I've worked on a car at night with a portable fluoro light for a friend, and strangely enough I found myself missing it! Thing was, I had motivation and drive, and I thought it would be a shame to let it go to waste. I proceeded to install other panels including the side skirts and other pods until it was dinner time... having to clean yourself up to eat is a pretty good excuse to leave it there. No point getting dirty again!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWybSXvEc1KBz0wrjesin_6IJUEhc4ee47PxKRzBjgbGdDoliaYgGkdkHnsK_Vr9ZUKktxmpOBG2hvXZ4Xp8zy35AqhRTR5U5y5dcakNovO8qHLJCUt8c_MRv9HZL-49nKAg3r4LSbTqzW/s1600/IMG_1893.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWybSXvEc1KBz0wrjesin_6IJUEhc4ee47PxKRzBjgbGdDoliaYgGkdkHnsK_Vr9ZUKktxmpOBG2hvXZ4Xp8zy35AqhRTR5U5y5dcakNovO8qHLJCUt8c_MRv9HZL-49nKAg3r4LSbTqzW/s320/IMG_1893.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pretty damn chuffed with the progress I was making :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4cxJFJHAyY7pWkuvIG9GgapDkGTRqPJ1Xl7eegblB5303FhbcQi5rTDl8wWC-1WBsMzbJtAWfEWfiF4AXkLoYlpG4nIVDWfHQhppoqywSrQVajnhEH3_kISZULfVYHTCytU4UaXnuWuuX/s1600/IMG_1896.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4cxJFJHAyY7pWkuvIG9GgapDkGTRqPJ1Xl7eegblB5303FhbcQi5rTDl8wWC-1WBsMzbJtAWfEWfiF4AXkLoYlpG4nIVDWfHQhppoqywSrQVajnhEH3_kISZULfVYHTCytU4UaXnuWuuX/s320/IMG_1896.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Rear fenders were the next thing to cross off the list. 3 drill bits and 40 odd rivets meant the rear guards were attached. A little bit more stable than just masking tape that's for sure! The right side required a bit of man-handling as it didn't sit quite right, but all in all I'm really stoked I decided to go for over-fenders vs. bolt ons. It really does tie the look of the car together much cleaner... Even un-painted they look the goods :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEe8zH6CCdchn_htmUBGxYzm4n6BAHt5HUeWIBYMVxox7LcDpGvjI1EcK9Q9maDEdCzv044n_L64EQadgcvRpmrgMNAzBQVz7loGGlZq5ZQBiG_nH8YbDWbu13z4na6OY7mSd0FBicn8Xh/s1600/IMG_1898.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEe8zH6CCdchn_htmUBGxYzm4n6BAHt5HUeWIBYMVxox7LcDpGvjI1EcK9Q9maDEdCzv044n_L64EQadgcvRpmrgMNAzBQVz7loGGlZq5ZQBiG_nH8YbDWbu13z4na6OY7mSd0FBicn8Xh/s320/IMG_1898.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Back to the sunroof, some sanding was done to be closely followed by some primer-filler to fill in the imperfections. Some more sanding and some paint equals:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht65WGYCDgrSWaPDtfXi1Vc9qY2tlfwedKCMWnDMVXHij3yaZlrlQ_L57zAbdOUBhKXdFRiuY-cv-rDU5stDyprrL2By_qaCATnMFDyZEvq1yPRRrFRRt0Xbk4450o9W0dn6qtp3ChUZ3b/s1600/IMG_1903.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht65WGYCDgrSWaPDtfXi1Vc9qY2tlfwedKCMWnDMVXHij3yaZlrlQ_L57zAbdOUBhKXdFRiuY-cv-rDU5stDyprrL2By_qaCATnMFDyZEvq1yPRRrFRRt0Xbk4450o9W0dn6qtp3ChUZ3b/s320/IMG_1903.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Something that resembles a bit more of a roof.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now while I don't have photos for the next part, let me tell you that's simply because I was too busy and a tad stressed to consider them. Kim (my flatmate) needed the garage ASAP to fix his car. In order for that to happen, I had to get my car to a point where I could completely seal it, and that it would move under its own power. For this to happen, the windows had to go in, the sunroof re-installed, a seat was required in order to drive, the exhaust had to go back on, and the brake and clutch lines filled and bled.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Everything for the most part went to plan, until we got to the clutch lines. For the record, I've never had to bleed a clutch before (for those that are wondering, I'm talking about removing all the air from the lines - not slashing it until it drips fluid in a sinister manner). The idea is pretty simple really, pump the clutch pedal until pressure builds up, hold the pedal in, undo the bleed nipple so the built up air can escape, and rinse and repeat until you get no more air - only straight fluid. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We did this for a good hour on the clutch slave cylinder (where we thought it would need to be bled from). From what we could tell we had all the air out of the lines, but there was one massive problem - the clutch pedal would only return halfway. With a bit of coaxing from a human, it would return to its original position, but it couldn't do it of its own accord. It also didn't fully engage the clutch when the pedal was pressed, meaning I couldn't select a gear. This had me rather worried! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfRMS_VaEUhPH-mpZHK1-rJwxm-Yi5CpTvjTiVmTFj6V8M-kv-S_4jxTiFKjxMbE6m15olZl_-7JfEz_96CER6am255juBW220oVChomLiIn5kcW2xto51g82DuOe9IGbbTybMRByOUE6O/s1600/IMG_1904.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq1a0J2XZ5rP9bX-W9naz_L5xWxlpaGvA_tTVwOWohAn4zRA1MkG_d69744zHL1xCjlelnt_7YHn4RN9e4R2uB4Knz3eoLFkgdFlqNxUiH5uo9hndWr7Qqs9gymowI2u63v5mxo7Dw48LO/s1600/IMG_1906.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq1a0J2XZ5rP9bX-W9naz_L5xWxlpaGvA_tTVwOWohAn4zRA1MkG_d69744zHL1xCjlelnt_7YHn4RN9e4R2uB4Knz3eoLFkgdFlqNxUiH5uo9hndWr7Qqs9gymowI2u63v5mxo7Dw48LO/s320/IMG_1906.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I decided to keep going with other work while I tried to come up with a solution. It's a great theory - distract your mind and you end up coming up with what you're chasing... Thanks for the idea Sheldon! (Big Bang Theory reference for those that aren't following =P). Given how close I was to finishing the exterior, I decided to knock that fully on the head before moving onwards. It was certainly bizarre seeing her back together after so long apart!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq1a0J2XZ5rP9bX-W9naz_L5xWxlpaGvA_tTVwOWohAn4zRA1MkG_d69744zHL1xCjlelnt_7YHn4RN9e4R2uB4Knz3eoLFkgdFlqNxUiH5uo9hndWr7Qqs9gymowI2u63v5mxo7Dw48LO/s1600/IMG_1906.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfRMS_VaEUhPH-mpZHK1-rJwxm-Yi5CpTvjTiVmTFj6V8M-kv-S_4jxTiFKjxMbE6m15olZl_-7JfEz_96CER6am255juBW220oVChomLiIn5kcW2xto51g82DuOe9IGbbTybMRByOUE6O/s1600/IMG_1904.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfRMS_VaEUhPH-mpZHK1-rJwxm-Yi5CpTvjTiVmTFj6V8M-kv-S_4jxTiFKjxMbE6m15olZl_-7JfEz_96CER6am255juBW220oVChomLiIn5kcW2xto51g82DuOe9IGbbTybMRByOUE6O/s320/IMG_1904.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My priority with the interior was to first make sure I could close her up - if she had to spend a night outside while Kim sorted out the issues with his car, I wanted to know she was going to be lockable and weatherproof. Windows were the first thing to go in, but while I was at it I decided to finish the doors off, as they weren't going to require too much more work and I could say they were done.. Unfortunately this mindset didn't really stop.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQgWvk3Lkl8Mc9vapXwmDkCZZjVsBMZq8MJwyVWoP3enUGv-KQCFd5y3-TBPbxLi6ofamNkji3eXynCpPSHFU0yBabrKpsHQ9u3_TG2raxAjzIh0YMYOl1nD7e9Q_w3uboCvoupvNrUHl6/s1600/IMG_1907.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQgWvk3Lkl8Mc9vapXwmDkCZZjVsBMZq8MJwyVWoP3enUGv-KQCFd5y3-TBPbxLi6ofamNkji3eXynCpPSHFU0yBabrKpsHQ9u3_TG2raxAjzIh0YMYOl1nD7e9Q_w3uboCvoupvNrUHl6/s320/IMG_1907.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Before I knew it I had half the interior back together =\ Screws were absolutely everywhere, so there was certainly a lot of trial and error trying to figure out what went where. Lucky for me there's only so many combinations you can try before you figure it out. There were a hell of a lot of spares, but I had one for every hole so I could only assume they were left over from parts I was no longer using or screws I replaced with new ones. Enough farting around though, back to the clutch problem.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After some reading was done, some things were contemplated, some work was performed and some beers were had, I decided to also bleed the clutch master cylinder. Now while it also has a bleed nipple on it, my lack of experience and gut feeling assumed that you bled fluids at the end of a line, not at the start. Given I was out of ideas I decided to give it a shot. Lo and behold, after 20 minutes bleeding the master cylinder, the clutch pedal acted as one would expect!!! So incredibly thankful it wasn't anything more serious, I was very close to buying new clutch master/slave cylinders =\</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNmXuYmdD9V9T9XcSrJ0DfbBhvqZIrPFql2bbmeiQDKTZ3kl66R7jPpUh7JbopPmr8aGT2iqBVRAHHc8PMsXBShQ-qgsPM-UQNMmSwZfv6n3n-0_hKtU8aH0QKsM7Lnnr0_4yFWgElWTkq/s1600/IMG_1908.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNmXuYmdD9V9T9XcSrJ0DfbBhvqZIrPFql2bbmeiQDKTZ3kl66R7jPpUh7JbopPmr8aGT2iqBVRAHHc8PMsXBShQ-qgsPM-UQNMmSwZfv6n3n-0_hKtU8aH0QKsM7Lnnr0_4yFWgElWTkq/s320/IMG_1908.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With how close I was to finishing the interior I decided to smash it out and knock it completely off. You may notice that there is no carpet installed - that's simply due to the fact that the old stuff was sodden and stank, and as a stripped out track car, the carpet would be the first thing to go so I've decided to leave that at the buyers disgression.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The exterior? Done completely. The interior? Also done completely. Driveability? Time to find out. Not only did she move, she also got out of the driveway with only a minor scrape thanks to the suspension lift I did a while ago! I took her for a quick shakedown around the block, and man it felt good to be back in a proper car!! As expected for a car that's been fully pulled apart and put back together over a couple of months, there are a number of teething issues that need to be sorted out, but for all intents and purposes I think she's at the stage now where it's time to look at saying goodbye.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoRLwg_V12rMPjKl-MLvYljM3JWsaVNHoiRbJnJ9OLa57C4lTNjwYQhyphenhyphennlhEN2OukayA-z2P_UvvXPurh7rt7X0N4vnMzcis5swyNFskaOenbGQfWH6nh8RIQqEvXtQ6CB7f02LNTy1U5a/s1600/IMG_1909.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoRLwg_V12rMPjKl-MLvYljM3JWsaVNHoiRbJnJ9OLa57C4lTNjwYQhyphenhyphennlhEN2OukayA-z2P_UvvXPurh7rt7X0N4vnMzcis5swyNFskaOenbGQfWH6nh8RIQqEvXtQ6CB7f02LNTy1U5a/s320/IMG_1909.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It really is a damn shame that the exterior is so all over the shop - every inch of me wants to sort her out and get her as one colour with the same finish all over... it's something I've never ever seen in the two and a half years I've owned her for. I'm sure a lot of you know what it's like to have an image in your head - I do genuinely believe she would look properly great if I took the time, money and effort to see her through to the end. I still maintain though, for the time, money and effort it's going to take for that to happen, I honestly don't believe I'm going to see that back afterwards on a sale price, nor will the satisfaction in finishing her compensate for that. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On that note I guess this is it for Project Correct-a-Car. She is back together, she drives and she has registration. While it's not the ending I had originally envisaged, it certainly is an ending none-the-less. I almost feel at a loss leaving things here... it doesn't feel quite right. I suppose that's one of the benefits of having an engineer's mind - it gets easier and easier to recognise smart decisions and make them objectively. That said, the subjective side of me really does struggle when I open her bonnet and see that shiny new engine bay... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So where to from here? First up, a look back at everything that's happened - the highs, the lows, and everything in between. I've taken the time to go through all the photos I've taken, and I honestly do believe it's worth it to summarise this epic journey. From there, it will be another project. Another love/hate relationship with another money pit that exists for the sake of keeping me busy, inflicting pain wherever possible, educating me and putting a smile on my face.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Because at the end of the day, that's what it's about. And at the end of the day, it is oh-so-worth-it :)</span></div>
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</span>_Clinno_http://www.blogger.com/profile/15758751614854894618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030408022090936981.post-62112386815915519212013-08-04T18:54:00.000+10:002013-08-04T18:54:00.491+10:00Project Correct-a-Car pt. 9: A Milestone of Sorts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My objective these last couple of weeks has been to sort out the engine bay completely. So far I've been able to properly address the appearance and integrity (kind of) of what was the abomination I started off with, which involved an awful amount of: screws, nuts, bolts, clips, hard lines, soft lines, degreaser, sanding, wire-brushing, blood, welding, wax and grease remover, bogging, more sanding, spray paint, rags and sweat. I'm just thankful there were no cir-clips to deal with =D Irrespective of all of this, I still had more to go - so let's get to it!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkw03_F8UzSnHMswH4c9Kg4JG4L0KQoWfw4BTsi4z48KqY3yLMrnT9fjseXf50j7ouZO-5y1vQZLwX7IMwvEnV3lw2ow1KW6UiG7R9FtCTJ1RV6ZgZtWEXPQVdxcH9csBwKqff8kHSioHO/s1600/IMG_1817.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkw03_F8UzSnHMswH4c9Kg4JG4L0KQoWfw4BTsi4z48KqY3yLMrnT9fjseXf50j7ouZO-5y1vQZLwX7IMwvEnV3lw2ow1KW6UiG7R9FtCTJ1RV6ZgZtWEXPQVdxcH9csBwKqff8kHSioHO/s320/IMG_1817.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Carrying on from my last post, I had the engine bay to a point where I could start re-installing everything I had taken out. It really made no difference where I started as it all had to go back in, so I began with the brake and clutch master cylinders. While it's more or less a case of just reversing what I did to take it out, that also happened over 2 months ago so there had to be a bit of trial and error until I got it right. The trickiest bit was to try and line up the mechanism with the pedals inside the car, closely followed by where I put the nuts and bolts I needed =\ At least with Japanese cars, there isn't too much variety in what they use, so I just picked up whatever worked and ran with it. I'll also mention here that I tried to replace what nuts and bolts I could with new items.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The other big challenge was the hard-lines that ran to both master cylinders. In the process of doing all this work, some of them had been bent slightly in the process of trying to remove them or get them out of the way. A little bit of man-handling managed to sort that out, but I'm sure I'll keep tweaking them as the bay gets fuller.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can also see the list I started developing for random things I found but would tackle later... while I'm sure there's going to be things I'll forget, I want to limit that as much as I can - thanks windscreen!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHl4M93b_W-A0hYVZZGh_cEiqJG-gk5hu_oKtsYNz0j8Oicg-4xR-LK5XF3NMZno2SqwoDqt9MTscdIWGBtuXgOwzap2em4lqUsjmUqQ7AMcNTG8bmh11pcNxnrze_BV8Piovan8CXW6o5/s1600/IMG_1818.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHl4M93b_W-A0hYVZZGh_cEiqJG-gk5hu_oKtsYNz0j8Oicg-4xR-LK5XF3NMZno2SqwoDqt9MTscdIWGBtuXgOwzap2em4lqUsjmUqQ7AMcNTG8bmh11pcNxnrze_BV8Piovan8CXW6o5/s320/IMG_1818.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The next task was to get all of the wiring looms re-installed. This was pretty straight forward thanks to all the electrical faults I've had while owning this car - to say I'm familiar with it is a bit of an understatement! The only time consuming part here was cleaning everything as it went back in. A fair bit of dirt and grime had certainly accumulated over the years, so each section got wiped down in wax and grease remover as it got put back in. I also tried to tidy it up as I went, deleting obsolete plugs and re-wrapping it in electrical tape where needed.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm8ycWiwfXnmG2j9ZBAxeME6Fglkcve8qFOdCPTRe2R_byDp6tpF-sGCMQj48DzLau7AmXIAENOWsSVvaieveuJ6UMpbZcEkJzPADHqjlJr5J1veSzhXeK8Kjrrgs6I0m1c_shcbsvkCKd/s1600/IMG_1821.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm8ycWiwfXnmG2j9ZBAxeME6Fglkcve8qFOdCPTRe2R_byDp6tpF-sGCMQj48DzLau7AmXIAENOWsSVvaieveuJ6UMpbZcEkJzPADHqjlJr5J1veSzhXeK8Kjrrgs6I0m1c_shcbsvkCKd/s320/IMG_1821.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I knew the engine would be going back in shortly so I made a quick order from GKTech for some bits and pieces that fix some outstanding problems and make improvements elsewhere. From top left:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">New aluminium wheel nuts (to replace the 2 half-sets I currently have)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Coilpack cover (never had one)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Radiator overflow bottle (see below)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Solid shifter bushing (improves shifter feel by replacing nylon bush)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Coolant neck spacer (to make installing a water temp. gauge much neater)</span></li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmesPlL3IL9GAKpEXPmyGvpZZz4lJPamj-3h4YeDNZCz-nbTeWi1pPtpMoRn4IGZAn_QBOrBnhAW389aI76uvDSrOh-v7va97qIhyphenhyphenb8IGEhIHyZd-i_6S4xJdphtG-UjVccIMqFT7exKz_/s1600/IMG_1822.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmesPlL3IL9GAKpEXPmyGvpZZz4lJPamj-3h4YeDNZCz-nbTeWi1pPtpMoRn4IGZAn_QBOrBnhAW389aI76uvDSrOh-v7va97qIhyphenhyphenb8IGEhIHyZd-i_6S4xJdphtG-UjVccIMqFT7exKz_/s320/IMG_1822.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can see why I felt the need to replace the radiator overflow bottle... The old one was a generic P.O.S from Super Cheap Auto - it also used 'custom' brackets to keep it in place. I decided to replace it with a factory replica that would both look better and install the way it was designed to vs. a hack. The way I figure it, the tidier this all is the better!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMB0OTEmCLv0NrFyDM60OTyDCCfVucSYXFjjVQaUmEFLQD_Lmd9J8oVbjmB8-fv-DNXxH0hW_h_lto9QzXD_kl_SQtZjlY1hyoNXzhxynqIxTcG18Rff6M7q8PAAnAcl0mjoNQHP3E-IWw/s1600/IMG_1830.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMB0OTEmCLv0NrFyDM60OTyDCCfVucSYXFjjVQaUmEFLQD_Lmd9J8oVbjmB8-fv-DNXxH0hW_h_lto9QzXD_kl_SQtZjlY1hyoNXzhxynqIxTcG18Rff6M7q8PAAnAcl0mjoNQHP3E-IWw/s320/IMG_1830.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I moved from here to re-installing the various ID plates and such that I pulled off. While I don't know exactly what this particular plate is for, it was too cool to leave off the car!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEierUiMcsGY8SknHxew-SxC7h0jfa9ZClvb4LTJEaLYoZLl1Ra9SV8I9mAKArXoU-JZ_2aKCXdCpmYrcWzHxpJ2VK8j_2w89qljdxN0XBsPZFO8hm9tKgEVGdZI75TY7jAe6Z6sVMsSBjPT/s1600/IMG_1831.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEierUiMcsGY8SknHxew-SxC7h0jfa9ZClvb4LTJEaLYoZLl1Ra9SV8I9mAKArXoU-JZ_2aKCXdCpmYrcWzHxpJ2VK8j_2w89qljdxN0XBsPZFO8hm9tKgEVGdZI75TY7jAe6Z6sVMsSBjPT/s320/IMG_1831.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chassis/engine/compliance plates riveted back in - yes it is intentionally blurry to hide the numbers =P</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ZW5dp-vaJRk10KQ0XCYRXAq72hgwy5QgokbabysP7eWJWrJUjWo-GkiFHtVQTXnQQb3j_CTYmwf30vfm2QoRc71XugKPrXy2681GHCssnYoWuTw43SpO84XzClosFStE3vg1eN8SZFJi/s1600/IMG_1833.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ZW5dp-vaJRk10KQ0XCYRXAq72hgwy5QgokbabysP7eWJWrJUjWo-GkiFHtVQTXnQQb3j_CTYmwf30vfm2QoRc71XugKPrXy2681GHCssnYoWuTw43SpO84XzClosFStE3vg1eN8SZFJi/s320/IMG_1833.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I also finally put the replacement power steering reservoir back in AND in its original position. Because QLD laws keep changing, a pod filter now only needs to be secured, not covered... so for the sake of keeping this as clean as I can I decided to go with factory looking and change it further down the track if required.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7M9FDNa7j9Yxu4z7riM1PNHZoCeEzxWK2uJaNOOob0xKjzrTvamto6f5Shq6GNeqnsbbzJBJGqiZSndhb75WqvScuwRis6x4QDCb3KsHzIfXWpsZBK8n8jQhmnixFSj597aZRrQg0nLYB/s1600/IMG_1837.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7M9FDNa7j9Yxu4z7riM1PNHZoCeEzxWK2uJaNOOob0xKjzrTvamto6f5Shq6GNeqnsbbzJBJGqiZSndhb75WqvScuwRis6x4QDCb3KsHzIfXWpsZBK8n8jQhmnixFSj597aZRrQg0nLYB/s320/IMG_1837.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At this stage I decided a trip to Super Cheap Auto was in order for supplies... $230 later I had the fluids I'd need once the engine is back in to get her running, as well as some other random bits and pieces to tidy up some other jobs. Thankfully they also had a sale which means you end up getting things you know you'll need down the track (but not just yet). Come to think of it though, I can't remember the last time they didn't have a sale on =\</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCSE61dSH8bvHxiBb_WAFGFxrlNef3nJA1UKdSjvzNlotLETh8WUw8rGPc9V0-Np4l48jPSvyFeZxibjIJTadjDhqFU0RP9W9yM3nlKhVvgTbiKhUkiJiELlmEfPEkMZzcGgn2EVqcnt73/s1600/IMG_1838.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCSE61dSH8bvHxiBb_WAFGFxrlNef3nJA1UKdSjvzNlotLETh8WUw8rGPc9V0-Np4l48jPSvyFeZxibjIJTadjDhqFU0RP9W9yM3nlKhVvgTbiKhUkiJiELlmEfPEkMZzcGgn2EVqcnt73/s320/IMG_1838.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's the water coolant neck spacer about to go on - the idea is very simple, it simply spaces the water outlet on the engine and allows you to thread a temperature sensor in there... this is a lot tidier than the other option, which involves slicing your coolant hose in half and tee-ing off of that. $40 well spent.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg90miM2c_8m8x9dmy67CytfeYb6IIdv3Wt0lUeIknXRV9DKGgpupHtKzQkAk5H7TLPrKMf_NFD5i3FfZtaXZL9PKhFrxTA0bn4tKAr4FjpaaV-gwiShsW1eB_gjWJSn9CaUZQ19jteJ-UL/s1600/IMG_1839.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg90miM2c_8m8x9dmy67CytfeYb6IIdv3Wt0lUeIknXRV9DKGgpupHtKzQkAk5H7TLPrKMf_NFD5i3FfZtaXZL9PKhFrxTA0bn4tKAr4FjpaaV-gwiShsW1eB_gjWJSn9CaUZQ19jteJ-UL/s320/IMG_1839.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While I was working on the engine, I decided to also clean the engine up as much as I could. A can of degreaser and 2 brushes later, I had a (semi) clean engine. As has been the case with everything else in the car, while it's not perfect it's still 100% on what it was - hopefully the combined effect of all these little touches will make a massive difference :) :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi4V798FgKwS0r4gV6Jy30jQhdhP_Pk2MiJDjz0VDiPKz_oYfGxPauU6eY-RetrNARlontmC83ksNYvMo4vT4aGQJioEnIvDCEXZdd_PP9bqLljvX96NjxinnqkCmC804w5acCMg3u3Mjy/s1600/IMG_1840.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi4V798FgKwS0r4gV6Jy30jQhdhP_Pk2MiJDjz0VDiPKz_oYfGxPauU6eY-RetrNARlontmC83ksNYvMo4vT4aGQJioEnIvDCEXZdd_PP9bqLljvX96NjxinnqkCmC804w5acCMg3u3Mjy/s320/IMG_1840.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Both belts got replaced while I was at it... </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSAMcdXEOd57aXYSlqk0PHRzWDD1AHt6xurp1rehKwHS8D9tiFh58fpdPvOGrjRKsAA7_pReQkruROJG4CCQiEd4AUCi28FwVkjgq9RVGrEtxpslvEAfAS93rHdsmDf1UnSYfDqENj_GQp/s1600/IMG_1841.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSAMcdXEOd57aXYSlqk0PHRzWDD1AHt6xurp1rehKwHS8D9tiFh58fpdPvOGrjRKsAA7_pReQkruROJG4CCQiEd4AUCi28FwVkjgq9RVGrEtxpslvEAfAS93rHdsmDf1UnSYfDqENj_GQp/s320/IMG_1841.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Because I deleted the catch can I needed to plumb the oil pickup back into the engine block. I had originally hoped to use the hose I already had from the catch can but it was that worn and dirty I figured it best to just straight up replace it. You can also see to the left of the dipstick (yellow handle) that coolant neck spacer installed.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk-MVABxLfo4-7EzddeJq1JWwZFCmiE4NNqRfsLaFL5mJztL5sWF8L2leRdE3ssbovRDoiZupXegPyRDB5SaodXdF5Ajc2lCxXwRlfyEoWpL0QawrwDc-jKvIf9gzMPosQuRvjUBNbMenx/s1600/IMG_1843.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk-MVABxLfo4-7EzddeJq1JWwZFCmiE4NNqRfsLaFL5mJztL5sWF8L2leRdE3ssbovRDoiZupXegPyRDB5SaodXdF5Ajc2lCxXwRlfyEoWpL0QawrwDc-jKvIf9gzMPosQuRvjUBNbMenx/s320/IMG_1843.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You may remember a while ago I bought new rubber stoppers for the bonnet. When I started all of this I only had 2 (you're supposed to have 6) and they both got destroyed trying to remove them for painting. I won't know what to do with myself next time I close the bonnet!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpg_HUQP3esT6dxAT_hC3lo4XN9UYFZ2HKkXdCXSHVQ_zRt8Nd9kkp5RiY_uaj1sF7Hh64c7U1YHhIddQagk-jlBlk7ugIJePATjuNXfp0z4veZUugTLlWQIri33jcisCnXczNFQx7QvPS/s1600/IMG_1844.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpg_HUQP3esT6dxAT_hC3lo4XN9UYFZ2HKkXdCXSHVQ_zRt8Nd9kkp5RiY_uaj1sF7Hh64c7U1YHhIddQagk-jlBlk7ugIJePATjuNXfp0z4veZUugTLlWQIri33jcisCnXczNFQx7QvPS/s320/IMG_1844.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And here we have the engine bay as done as it can be... I've installed everything I could either think of or find, cleaned up as much as I can and got it to a point where there was only thing left to do...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Put the engine back in :) Big thanks again to Casey for lending both his engine crane and time to get this done.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwIJ63B2dXFSRaFk1XVXp5CJZap3x7rUrs4WH1tLLPchDmNfDcbCkN_CPxXqgsIkOQ8F2eRS9rVAm1jSFI3l4S7KHX0DcUtMytE4f4m-bGqxuX1kajmQp2JpLKzRytDgL4YsBOQQAyZfue/s1600/IMG_1848.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwIJ63B2dXFSRaFk1XVXp5CJZap3x7rUrs4WH1tLLPchDmNfDcbCkN_CPxXqgsIkOQ8F2eRS9rVAm1jSFI3l4S7KHX0DcUtMytE4f4m-bGqxuX1kajmQp2JpLKzRytDgL4YsBOQQAyZfue/s320/IMG_1848.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ah just like old times... lifting donks around and putting them places =P Just a disclaimer, you will notice both Casey and Kim in these photos - that's because I was responsible for manipulating the engine crane. No, not lazy!!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglooLjqQZVSFaGQjSOPYPXQSW7XxnwLu033T0HruoHVZksNRmES2Kcz9YOfFIO-a31X3o1tNTDPVqmwIXH95VUR_WOWYQ8ywSuujtGWhVq7akq6bZrjKx_E51mYCuV4UlUYWALKoFaEqv7/s1600/IMG_1849.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglooLjqQZVSFaGQjSOPYPXQSW7XxnwLu033T0HruoHVZksNRmES2Kcz9YOfFIO-a31X3o1tNTDPVqmwIXH95VUR_WOWYQ8ywSuujtGWhVq7akq6bZrjKx_E51mYCuV4UlUYWALKoFaEqv7/s320/IMG_1849.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Getting it in was easy enough, just lift it up and make sure that you can get enough angle on it so the gearbox bellhousing clears the transmission tunnel. We took the opportunity to plug in as many cables and bolts as we could while we still had good access to the engine.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ccsCP_cMpa690DrRzgm9KBsd-WL5y5mFwg7FXneP-IF3W_0dYXAXZnDgHSBo8W58W4EtZA7r0G1buX-dtJlfe1RFGORazzeJCLOdyi52O1lKsfNKuoeMh6maEeNkoWaowPez2-yOosDf/s1600/IMG_1850.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ccsCP_cMpa690DrRzgm9KBsd-WL5y5mFwg7FXneP-IF3W_0dYXAXZnDgHSBo8W58W4EtZA7r0G1buX-dtJlfe1RFGORazzeJCLOdyi52O1lKsfNKuoeMh6maEeNkoWaowPez2-yOosDf/s320/IMG_1850.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The biggest issue we had funnily enough was getting the new engine mounts in - they just wouldn't line up no matter what we did! It's tricky because the SR20 doesn't sit flat, it has a natural angle to it. Trying to compensate for this is always fun. We did eventually get it to line up, and proceeded to bolt everything in. The gearbox was challenging though as there's play in the gearbox mount - at least while the bolts are loose. When I first bolted it to the gearbox it went in fine, but it turned out that nothing lined up when we were trying to bolt it to the chassis. Nothing serious but a tad frustrating none-the-less. We did find one thing while we were down there though...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb-n7i-eLUNZjXptAXVn7AZW3RHUdVnDyYd8QYdSGEmd4sFnWhj_07rQfGT43fIXPpdDWlh8XtOZYTb0qWHoNROhiNxuzRO_5wxUVI3FxzoTJGkxH2NwfeW7GtoPcvnwMh6-j-2Uj5YLXp/s1600/IMG_1851.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb-n7i-eLUNZjXptAXVn7AZW3RHUdVnDyYd8QYdSGEmd4sFnWhj_07rQfGT43fIXPpdDWlh8XtOZYTb0qWHoNROhiNxuzRO_5wxUVI3FxzoTJGkxH2NwfeW7GtoPcvnwMh6-j-2Uj5YLXp/s320/IMG_1851.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">...what was left of a Redback spider. Got to love Australia!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW8PKY1cmqcuS-GikkRze43QrJh4NTNmdNEunaqQlR1muL2A16rsVWtUWgoGQqWNudvgcP0f5tFhxWFPoo-u2UPxdnO820zYXkjjbR2s4LQze7EdRCKyXvM7UYdzOhuu46kNcQQLIcxW5y/s1600/IMG_1852.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW8PKY1cmqcuS-GikkRze43QrJh4NTNmdNEunaqQlR1muL2A16rsVWtUWgoGQqWNudvgcP0f5tFhxWFPoo-u2UPxdnO820zYXkjjbR2s4LQze7EdRCKyXvM7UYdzOhuu46kNcQQLIcxW5y/s320/IMG_1852.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">From here it was simply a case of systematically working around the engine, finding plugs and lines and connecting them all.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTlyPq5ED-lfHKFR3TlMbL7SkMRCA3G9fqZuclgO57q6pBSyHJMlnvRQVyyk5OY6FIOG6aOadUtgwKzezY1Q6IPC4R6xocBpMJsadxf0oNumeXyPWcxlYgfAjJd1Q3umIokPfsyHZ9Fi8f/s1600/IMG_1855.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTlyPq5ED-lfHKFR3TlMbL7SkMRCA3G9fqZuclgO57q6pBSyHJMlnvRQVyyk5OY6FIOG6aOadUtgwKzezY1Q6IPC4R6xocBpMJsadxf0oNumeXyPWcxlYgfAjJd1Q3umIokPfsyHZ9Fi8f/s320/IMG_1855.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fingerless gloves are great to work in, as they protect your hand but also still provide you with dexterity... Not a good look they give you though!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBudUYiM4HAjN27GDQZ5ZImqV5qWhnZOdBWTHBvmuvRvTe674wqB4-BzfFu004p8Wvya3_Yc0ATYC2mU9l_iZADgQ64pIbV3M10NvyQD4I-5AyTKxRJgMP8ZOoOuWdOVJofUTbI2ZDLxvU/s1600/IMG_1856.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBudUYiM4HAjN27GDQZ5ZImqV5qWhnZOdBWTHBvmuvRvTe674wqB4-BzfFu004p8Wvya3_Yc0ATYC2mU9l_iZADgQ64pIbV3M10NvyQD4I-5AyTKxRJgMP8ZOoOuWdOVJofUTbI2ZDLxvU/s320/IMG_1856.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pieces continued to be put back in one by one as they were either discovered or needed. Room naturally starts to get a little bit scarce but you do what you can. Unfortunately though thanks to some of the new parts we found a problem.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVqSFGgZesGwS5g2zUwbml8VHJtXySR8XCnbiglwzuNXvGZkJ-4WcGkxNun0Zqa7FpMXftouh3BJ-3B_xercTQh7swiOqS3m9RVXDNqdIWUEAsW7ze0kSu5zUuctpWC78aYz9c8yV14Wtp/s1600/IMG_1858.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVqSFGgZesGwS5g2zUwbml8VHJtXySR8XCnbiglwzuNXvGZkJ-4WcGkxNun0Zqa7FpMXftouh3BJ-3B_xercTQh7swiOqS3m9RVXDNqdIWUEAsW7ze0kSu5zUuctpWC78aYz9c8yV14Wtp/s320/IMG_1858.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The new intake pipe wouldn't fit no matter what we tried. It fouled on the intercooler piping, the power steering reservoir and the lines that ran to/from it to the pump. We tried everything - manhandling, different silicon joiners, different angles, adding extra piping, relocating the power steering reservoir... nothing would work. Fortunately with some persistence we were able to figure out how to do it while leaving everything in its original place - we just had to tighten one hose clamp before another to give us that little bit of play we needed.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Hsdn2TkEVb7YoRINZW67tlhPHJYIWfF8YfEMmi2kI45oEGw0Ae6n1pAbD9plEWq8JW89YEUIEkOT4Gue6NVMaU8aSEYZ02spNXsleTsSpoypcyKAtpR9ivJ-xQYZtKtIPMJ8Q8ys0SZl/s1600/IMG_1861.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Hsdn2TkEVb7YoRINZW67tlhPHJYIWfF8YfEMmi2kI45oEGw0Ae6n1pAbD9plEWq8JW89YEUIEkOT4Gue6NVMaU8aSEYZ02spNXsleTsSpoypcyKAtpR9ivJ-xQYZtKtIPMJ8Q8ys0SZl/s320/IMG_1861.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Turns out there's several improvised cup holders you can utilise around the engine bay :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnjk2fDXF7zxC43HRJDUfQJnblin66yNsAx31cQAYo29uAN16Ss4wSwPIRbPKNoFAtiUPHHf2gEOwY_YmqzzOi1BUy970ZyVlTFigqX0Knv_P1Wi5cdU3WJt1JYH3lt6jhUsiUnorCo1te/s1600/IMG_1862.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnjk2fDXF7zxC43HRJDUfQJnblin66yNsAx31cQAYo29uAN16Ss4wSwPIRbPKNoFAtiUPHHf2gEOwY_YmqzzOi1BUy970ZyVlTFigqX0Knv_P1Wi5cdU3WJt1JYH3lt6jhUsiUnorCo1te/s320/IMG_1862.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We got to a point where we were running out of daylight and energy, so this is how she sits at the moment... and I could not be happier :) it looks schmick as! To know that all that hard work has made such a difference feels damn good. We were hoping to be able to start her but we weren't able to get to the point where we could get any fluids in her, so that will have to happen during the week/next weekend.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You all know my original goal has been to see this project through to the end - to make turn this car from a pig into a somewhat dignified lady. Because of the amount of time and money I've invested in this thing so far, I more than anyone else would love to see that happen. However, I've never had any real intention of keeping her for long after she was finished though, as she's just not what I'm chasing in a weekender. While she could be, it would take even more time and money on top of what I'd be doing to see this through, and that's a cost that's getting harder and harder to accept. The fact stands that she is a drift car - it's what all the parts in her are for, and I honestly believe it would be silly of me to make her less of what she's designed for in the interest of making it what I want. Why should I de-tune her and swap out parts that would soften her up when I could sell her as a drift car? And a good one at that!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Given the impending Matsuri Drift, I have come to the conclusion that it's in my best interest to sell her as a drift missile (car designed to be absolutely thrashed) for Matsuri. My time from here would only be spent fixing the body and painting her, an endeavour I believe would not net me the gains I'd be hoping for. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While it is a decision that is not made easily, I do believe it's the smart decision. I could pursue parting her out but that's just too much time and effort for what it's worth - so I'm better off leaving her as a complete, working car. There's still work to do before I get to that point though, e.g.</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Finish putting the engine back in including refilling of fluids</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Rivet rear guards in and install front guards</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Put all body panelling back on</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Re-install interior in a manner that would keep her functional but stripped for a track car</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Basically I want to get her to a point where she's a together, working drift car that would be beautifully suited to the track. To put this in perspective, here's the parts list:</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><u>Under the Bonnet</u><br />Stock Sr20det w/rocker arm stoppers<br />999 Automotive 42mm alloy radiator (modified)<br />High pressure steering pump hose<br />Hybrid limited edition Intercooler<br />Recently serviced with all new Nulon/Penrite fluids (engine, brakes, clutch, gearbox, radiator etc.) and new belts<br />Cusco brake booster brace<br />999 engine brace (not fitted)<br />Brand new Nismo Engine/Gearbox mounts<br />NPC custom clutch<br />Rebuilt t25 turbo from MTQ w/adjustable actuator<br />Apexi Intake<br />PBM flex front pipe, HKS cat back<br />Bosch 040 fuel pump<br />PowerFC tuned by Matt @ FAT333, putting out ~220BHP, 700nM</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><u>Suspension/Brakes</u><br />Cusco front strut brace<br />Cusco rear tower brace<br />HSD coil overs, 12kg front and 10kg rear<br />KKR castor rods<br />PBA LCAs (custom)<br />Option1 drop spindles and tie rods (inc. spare set)<br />Rack end spacers<br />999 solid cradle c rings<br />JIC camber arms<br />Ikeya formula traction rods<br />Cusco rear toe arms<br />Cusco/KTS 2 way diff (can't remember which brand)<br />4 to 5 stud front spacers<br />5 stud rear conversion (r33 calipers/rotors)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BM44 Brake Master Cylinder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Upgraded front brakes:<br />RDA front rotors, slotted and vented with QFM A1RM pads</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><u>Wheels</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Genuine Work Emotion XT7s</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Front: 18 x 8.5 +32, Rear 18 x 9.5 +38</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kumho KU31s all round (60% tread with camber wear on front, however already ripped and flipped)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">GKTech open-ended steel wheel nuts</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><u>Exterior</u><br />Full 180sx front conversion (panels all genuine Type X plastic where applicable) including:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Genuine 180sx bonnet<br />Type X front bar<br />Type X side skirts<br />Type X pods and spats, front and rear (no rear center section)<br />Type X wing</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">DMAX Fenders (30mm Front and Rear)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jun Yan front parkers<br />Genuine Type X front indicators<br />Grenade mirrors,non electric<br />T5 tint, rear quarters and rear<br /><br /><u>Interior</u><br />S15 driver and passengers seats<br />sAAs steering wheel<br />Autometer boost gauge</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Autotechnic water temp gague (using GKTech Water coolant neck spacer)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Drift button<br />Nismo gear knob</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For those in the know, there's some quality kit in here - and I really would be stupid to mess with this setup. If you're reading this and you are interested, I'm more than happy to talk business.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am probably letting myself down more than anyone here, but the more I think about it and the further I get into this build, it really does make an increasing amount of sense to go down this path - to move this on and start fresh with something that is a lot closer to what I'm chasing in a weekender. While I'm sure this isn't the way a lot of you expected this blog entry to end, I couldn't not say something given that my mind has been made up on the matter.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On that note, I guess stay tuned to see what happens from here! I'll be damn sure to keep this blog going while I finish this, and then move on towards other motor-vehicle shenanigans :)</span><br />
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</span>_Clinno_http://www.blogger.com/profile/15758751614854894618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030408022090936981.post-91414455344400830582013-07-28T15:42:00.003+10:002013-07-28T15:42:54.114+10:00Project Correct-a-Car pt. 8: 'bout That Time!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Right!!! My sincere apologies for the monumental amount of time between this post and my last one... Reasons are quite simple, all that was really holding me up was the welding PPE (personal protective equipment) that was ours but had been lent to someone else... long story short it was no mean feat getting it back due to clashes in schedules and unexpected events occurring on both sides of the fence.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Unfortunately I was at the point in this project that it was really holding me up not being able to weld. While I had other things I could be doing, this was the biggun. Weld bits and pieces in the engine bay, sort out the various imperfections, re-paint it and then get the engine back in - this would then allow me to then focus solely on the exterior. I can appreciate the scepticism some of you may be feeling, especially given that in the previous posts you would have certainly gotten the impression that what I was working on would change on a minute by minute basis... But let me assure you, I couldn't rightly start on the exterior when I was so close to finishing something completely.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On the topic of the exterior, all of the over fenders arrived from Japan not long after my last blog post. DMAX, 30mm front and rear, which is a hell of a lot cleaner than running the ridiculous bolt ons I had before. Enough talking, let me show you some pictures :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwJhsOcMhdt9OTOdk1nkzEu-le5AKHXqHFBvlHdldOYMVKaWhV527v6HV3a6EWRh6LudI5lmbM-k4Vq5tTqfgp_eskm6R3R_9MhN__wvLqtUjQPFFH0Twb7hGaAYrv6o74JLDeqmfhdPB6/s1600/IMG_1618.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwJhsOcMhdt9OTOdk1nkzEu-le5AKHXqHFBvlHdldOYMVKaWhV527v6HV3a6EWRh6LudI5lmbM-k4Vq5tTqfgp_eskm6R3R_9MhN__wvLqtUjQPFFH0Twb7hGaAYrv6o74JLDeqmfhdPB6/s320/IMG_1618.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Rears taped in place, sits beautifully with the stupid spacers I'm running!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1DHP4MSVA6VYShUfJKvKjJVGcMJOgkPMdl-89h9DgIXXZspMydmZLUg5Dg9pOabpI9xrwVnucBqRRmWyhrKJnNtyLWP5jkrd9CQmuHh7EOCWvLk8SWvDR-sI7O2wIp4O9qrB7h3nd0vbA/s1600/IMG_1619.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1DHP4MSVA6VYShUfJKvKjJVGcMJOgkPMdl-89h9DgIXXZspMydmZLUg5Dg9pOabpI9xrwVnucBqRRmWyhrKJnNtyLWP5jkrd9CQmuHh7EOCWvLk8SWvDR-sI7O2wIp4O9qrB7h3nd0vbA/s320/IMG_1619.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fronts installed, little bit 4WD spec thanks to the suspension lift but that will change once I have an engine back in I'm sure!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMnVq73t93qirVOTfy-Rkj5TevWlwkrTaNQzvnmPhKGU5Bc4sDxNjAHYk1MJ9TWUfT-Xb_2VDtAFKrMzvvHxazDG6exBmdhc33PSwCaf5c2uOwbv-5AUjv8o4PVrdGFWXjIS4VK72RA59F/s1600/IMG_1620.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMnVq73t93qirVOTfy-Rkj5TevWlwkrTaNQzvnmPhKGU5Bc4sDxNjAHYk1MJ9TWUfT-Xb_2VDtAFKrMzvvHxazDG6exBmdhc33PSwCaf5c2uOwbv-5AUjv8o4PVrdGFWXjIS4VK72RA59F/s320/IMG_1620.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Entire view from the front.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxvVOANmFBZmR14fCr5zUCEnb5pUworyE-hm0ViymwYD1G5yZBNUFkn1ZEuodMx6JD1CsV3gsnVCBWDQ_M_mlCpEXM_LKGWb15YMznSg9fyAOlCEZthYVcQ7rTcjC0gO_GwELLyHinkGyW/s1600/IMG_1621.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxvVOANmFBZmR14fCr5zUCEnb5pUworyE-hm0ViymwYD1G5yZBNUFkn1ZEuodMx6JD1CsV3gsnVCBWDQ_M_mlCpEXM_LKGWb15YMznSg9fyAOlCEZthYVcQ7rTcjC0gO_GwELLyHinkGyW/s320/IMG_1621.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Entire view from the back.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All in all very very happy :) For those that are wondering, the white comes from the gel coat that they seal them with after manufacturing - that will all be painted in due time once I've filled and primed them to remove any imperfections. My goal is to properly blend them in (vs. riveting) to get a completely smooth look... it's going to be a lot of hard work I know but I think it's definitely going to be worth it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Any-dang-ways, onwards with what's been keeping me from doing anything for so long!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCFWXgFpkJ5gRDjx-22ylvwSxKOUEF_MslaslNLbweYcueBRA2b-Fs8X_ZiQB-k-UC5P10Jz9r9oj7PLNX6ob6LamIh9guhmRDGORR-V5X678TnW2gLFRFK2oUnXZx5Gwr6MzmkYB__XUX/s1600/IMG_1762.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCFWXgFpkJ5gRDjx-22ylvwSxKOUEF_MslaslNLbweYcueBRA2b-Fs8X_ZiQB-k-UC5P10Jz9r9oj7PLNX6ob6LamIh9guhmRDGORR-V5X678TnW2gLFRFK2oUnXZx5Gwr6MzmkYB__XUX/s320/IMG_1762.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You may have remembered I cut up my old door for practise... it was a disaster. You can see on the first two cuts I had a lot of blowouts, no success whatsoever. I figured it must have been due to not enough metal, so using the first thing I could find (which just so happened to be a tool for removing discs off an angle grinder - totally don't need it), I had a bit more success. I will admit straight away, it's not clean, it's not pretty, but so long as it does the job, I can live with it. What I'm welding in isn't going to be under a lot of force at all so hopefully this will be enough. Plus, there's plenty of things you can do to tidy up imperfections as you will see later on.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdNCvsHiqHnlaQIAf6pOEPCO8ecBvsULOpzWAeASeNlEv4IG1PMNNo7MBfCqxYJiNBMaFDpq7NVsGLydY-hj9ZaeMNel2BSdEXCgKFW1JKNcIeBv-ZMcKLfIEcVcbYrEHQ8jj3xzhmdAMD/s1600/IMG_1764.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdNCvsHiqHnlaQIAf6pOEPCO8ecBvsULOpzWAeASeNlEv4IG1PMNNo7MBfCqxYJiNBMaFDpq7NVsGLydY-hj9ZaeMNel2BSdEXCgKFW1JKNcIeBv-ZMcKLfIEcVcbYrEHQ8jj3xzhmdAMD/s320/IMG_1764.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This was proof in the pudding as to how long it had been... this much surface rust had built up on my fabricated goodness!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6idbShXFeCvhwhDQHZNSYkxVBUoS1AV7uvLE2jBLYbCQ6PAiksp-akH-8kyuohLzYvVQtNO3og58qb094k_vaGG-TSyA2_lIEpZucqGPRwq_z16GOb8AAEA8ja1HN6o5coFtXZCZ2p_BK/s1600/IMG_1765.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6idbShXFeCvhwhDQHZNSYkxVBUoS1AV7uvLE2jBLYbCQ6PAiksp-akH-8kyuohLzYvVQtNO3og58qb094k_vaGG-TSyA2_lIEpZucqGPRwq_z16GOb8AAEA8ja1HN6o5coFtXZCZ2p_BK/s320/IMG_1765.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I figured my first job was to weld in this battery tray replacement. Based on how this went would dictate my feelings regarding welding up other bits and pieces in the engine bay... needless to say after my practise I was filled with optimism!!! Clamp in, it was time to start tacking.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwTvIpRvht0_H6_9kaw_aukT2CBYwlEN-Vhl48PoJ1dla9czbSjEo-8sgnRiP-rGX_JIweXW3SVNcjRX_8Cfug_pnl_x09CS7e_dADeAoXPHnqbyVU_kjkvD2V8k_-nRNW32aOe2Kurnhs/s1600/IMG_1767.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwTvIpRvht0_H6_9kaw_aukT2CBYwlEN-Vhl48PoJ1dla9czbSjEo-8sgnRiP-rGX_JIweXW3SVNcjRX_8Cfug_pnl_x09CS7e_dADeAoXPHnqbyVU_kjkvD2V8k_-nRNW32aOe2Kurnhs/s320/IMG_1767.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My original goal was to get a nice bead of weld around the entire battery tray, even if it was only in inch-and-a-half sections to keep the heat down. Unfortunately the blowouts kept occurring thanks to the sophisticated settings on our gasless-MIG welder from Super Cheap Auto. In regards to amperage? I got a choice between 'MIN' and 'MAX'... if this was a buffet I'd be very disappointed! Had to do what I could with what I had though, so I ended up just tacking the whole damn thing in. Hey now, it worked!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUX3uzeZXZKacuhUFZ7RDR9uo3DJWabAGlz5ncJox5_OCj7lqD520_nfQhaCqFjjNj-iW1dAk9u0O8RZSDmwK6-y8_wyWUVUogW_pNeCS-uilelq8Lch9aCdhXB7UTOnxpkOa6kcLnc71M/s1600/IMG_1771.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUX3uzeZXZKacuhUFZ7RDR9uo3DJWabAGlz5ncJox5_OCj7lqD520_nfQhaCqFjjNj-iW1dAk9u0O8RZSDmwK6-y8_wyWUVUogW_pNeCS-uilelq8Lch9aCdhXB7UTOnxpkOa6kcLnc71M/s320/IMG_1771.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Based on the success I had with this I decided to attack a nearby crack... By this stage I'd realised that if I had plate behind where I was welding I had more success, so I cut sections out of my door and reinforced where I could. It wasn't a perfect solution but it helped me achieve what I was chasing.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTs5BEutbtSYuIyBoOAulQbEUHNYu-cDEM_KzMSR8snJkbf6p5ACFVNn16SdAsTpUZ0tIMziqnj-ewIIIapuDeyiEk7m1zuPIwRnOxIPM2wlrABJiTP_Cb9R7wvW8PySKlVmNMPu-8F510/s1600/IMG_1773.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTs5BEutbtSYuIyBoOAulQbEUHNYu-cDEM_KzMSR8snJkbf6p5ACFVNn16SdAsTpUZ0tIMziqnj-ewIIIapuDeyiEk7m1zuPIwRnOxIPM2wlrABJiTP_Cb9R7wvW8PySKlVmNMPu-8F510/s320/IMG_1773.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Looking underneath revealed that a lot of welds had indeed penetrated which was good news. You can also see the burn marks from where I set fire to the sound deadening on the inside of the wheel wells... whoops!! Thankfully I had a bottle of water nearby that helped to quell any spontaneous combustions that decided they wanted to be friends with my car. Needless to say my fluid supply turned fire extinguisher was incredibly handy :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh69yf8WwGBTT_TU3cO-cpcO5lQpSXcjCEScAvV6m5s6EVWJdu52cJjKWJ8zPCMu2W0wUOmWBs49srz-9i19fZlywOs0wRoP1BI0fZE1kPaW3pOlzyllz1HlOvyMPMS31S1aovg034t_tU6/s1600/IMG_1776.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh69yf8WwGBTT_TU3cO-cpcO5lQpSXcjCEScAvV6m5s6EVWJdu52cJjKWJ8zPCMu2W0wUOmWBs49srz-9i19fZlywOs0wRoP1BI0fZE1kPaW3pOlzyllz1HlOvyMPMS31S1aovg034t_tU6/s320/IMG_1776.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just an action shot to prove it was me I guess =P Can I just say, working in a flanno really does add to the manly-ness factor *flexes*</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ5iSt08vEtfr3gVaJpbjWaGRB1xef9m931vlC7aDi6BZpKkG8lO-HMECGvX7s7KX2PpPtIgLrSoXfz1W8ziFrCHuDL316Z7XplbIASG3o_vDa0gu_FxxdMa8_x9tduJ-BK-72NHL1f8JY/s1600/IMG_1778.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ5iSt08vEtfr3gVaJpbjWaGRB1xef9m931vlC7aDi6BZpKkG8lO-HMECGvX7s7KX2PpPtIgLrSoXfz1W8ziFrCHuDL316Z7XplbIASG3o_vDa0gu_FxxdMa8_x9tduJ-BK-72NHL1f8JY/s320/IMG_1778.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yet more flames as I continued to weld on the other side of the engine bay =\</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje-czx__nHMu_AACnSinbFHFvTXf1hyU44d0jKfIuAdDe8BRbVvV8htUAdDhX4kY10_YrvlWuqJbLUvT-JHPjUqKmkSPG51arMM7zYej_PPMGNDTaC2KwcNMWac6uVFWCguiIK7_PhZI-G/s1600/IMG_1779.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje-czx__nHMu_AACnSinbFHFvTXf1hyU44d0jKfIuAdDe8BRbVvV8htUAdDhX4kY10_YrvlWuqJbLUvT-JHPjUqKmkSPG51arMM7zYej_PPMGNDTaC2KwcNMWac6uVFWCguiIK7_PhZI-G/s320/IMG_1779.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yeeeaaaahhhh I made a real mess of it... I welded, blew out, pooled molten metal to fill the hole, blew out some more... rinse and repeat. I eventually got it to a point where I didn't have any more holes, and decided to call that as done as it could be with my skills. The cracks were gone and replaced with metal, it's got to be better than it was right?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixfbTF7X6u3_pEvF3UPjekxjjJhkdeDoveakTznTDR1PpurkUdX_iBOI_LSNSQWksEm3TL9U9lePWoS_Zs_jmbUSZrVBrz38ogpxsIb6s1k8OKIFDm28zKNi0dH2Qjy-zBCrzPDG_63Xcu/s1600/IMG_1781.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixfbTF7X6u3_pEvF3UPjekxjjJhkdeDoveakTznTDR1PpurkUdX_iBOI_LSNSQWksEm3TL9U9lePWoS_Zs_jmbUSZrVBrz38ogpxsIb6s1k8OKIFDm28zKNi0dH2Qjy-zBCrzPDG_63Xcu/s320/IMG_1781.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The next step of course was grinding... You probably can't see much of a difference between this picture and the picture above, and to be honest I wouldn't really expect you to see much of a difference. It still needed to happen though to move onto the next step:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAEX6xkK2gymvwPVU5ygxiHcoCdhvt8IriQcezIP1u6hh8tCGQDvcacoCkA8E1z9D72JHmmIUoldcYwf7X63OcHV0WjmyG4iOR160io6u5f1kVDBhcLWempFmiA3w5bW_OIweRzDogKucB/s1600/IMG_1782.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAEX6xkK2gymvwPVU5ygxiHcoCdhvt8IriQcezIP1u6hh8tCGQDvcacoCkA8E1z9D72JHmmIUoldcYwf7X63OcHV0WjmyG4iOR160io6u5f1kVDBhcLWempFmiA3w5bW_OIweRzDogKucB/s320/IMG_1782.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Bogging.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyB9SDokM8xt9hvsQ43XwYiPpJFkb3IdnECPDo0CPNJbMVqA-VpicCaqB1cvMduJbpqjwED6QqBrivS3VuZGDCE6EuGWtcdEZ0fk6pI0NKO-1CdOKr8uUB46LG9trFgD6ZOkuNyK_fYqnV/s1600/IMG_1783.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyB9SDokM8xt9hvsQ43XwYiPpJFkb3IdnECPDo0CPNJbMVqA-VpicCaqB1cvMduJbpqjwED6QqBrivS3VuZGDCE6EuGWtcdEZ0fk6pI0NKO-1CdOKr8uUB46LG9trFgD6ZOkuNyK_fYqnV/s320/IMG_1783.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lots of bog!! There was unfortunately a lot that I needed to do thanks to the dodgy welding, but I suppose things could be worse... Cue Monty Python's 'Always look on the bright side of life'.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7L2XnrT-c3O4vNVWk0WnZn50hNEYzCnrv0R9o7GgSLjPe8QVO1AhQDuAEbjFlbbAaILb8DYXuz5Rdct1cglig_kzAtiNoJKxg3cVqJXb4rI-ulkKBom8w_iDFeUzlWik9csXWQJmkB_fI/s1600/IMG_1795.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7L2XnrT-c3O4vNVWk0WnZn50hNEYzCnrv0R9o7GgSLjPe8QVO1AhQDuAEbjFlbbAaILb8DYXuz5Rdct1cglig_kzAtiNoJKxg3cVqJXb4rI-ulkKBom8w_iDFeUzlWik9csXWQJmkB_fI/s320/IMG_1795.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This was followed by sanding... sooooo much damn sanding... At the very least you can certainly get an idea of the difference it makes.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK_DlIhnc3dS81gsZZlY2zGhx-2u-p9TtVIpMe8EtDxkNJm4tKDmFz-lglQCG7kK3uQjCDZRUubCoQcQiRx9xvYG8TMVFjbA0jJG1ddncU26AfVwK8DwvgKwBFcfaF4W0SvgSmLTo_ru2t/s1600/IMG_1801.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK_DlIhnc3dS81gsZZlY2zGhx-2u-p9TtVIpMe8EtDxkNJm4tKDmFz-lglQCG7kK3uQjCDZRUubCoQcQiRx9xvYG8TMVFjbA0jJG1ddncU26AfVwK8DwvgKwBFcfaF4W0SvgSmLTo_ru2t/s320/IMG_1801.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While I was sanding I found areas that needed re-bogging around the battery tray. I decided to at least do something while it dried, so I started prepping some of the engine bay for painting. I had originally already painted the rad support, but I kind of messed it up so I sanded it back and included it in the area to paint properly.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilVjr0ldbgLZoUFmlwvXiMsafuGd4RbWMCZrkfMTi6y0QATnGPgF7FMwPTUuDQp2gWavKVtq0LKoA-iHmZ-of3UCRnJd4Y5MNsDINe26BDNL5x0hRkuTK9PwMdFU413f_Yg8qse5Xwd4GZ/s1600/IMG_1802.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilVjr0ldbgLZoUFmlwvXiMsafuGd4RbWMCZrkfMTi6y0QATnGPgF7FMwPTUuDQp2gWavKVtq0LKoA-iHmZ-of3UCRnJd4Y5MNsDINe26BDNL5x0hRkuTK9PwMdFU413f_Yg8qse5Xwd4GZ/s320/IMG_1802.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Much better!!! So much cleaner, tidier, whiter etc. etc.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtqXG0MIWw8A2d1ilwR7AgeH7wtnPmZ9WELhfjCbgs8XIt9vIfXZthSA0oHbY8znSH_cBR-oDWfyK00dY-1Zl7YWrpqBKygdePE0kKaCa8zrPbMtGEFUooOBW9AVTnDrRb-PL5_6bWtPlm/s1600/IMG_1803.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtqXG0MIWw8A2d1ilwR7AgeH7wtnPmZ9WELhfjCbgs8XIt9vIfXZthSA0oHbY8znSH_cBR-oDWfyK00dY-1Zl7YWrpqBKygdePE0kKaCa8zrPbMtGEFUooOBW9AVTnDrRb-PL5_6bWtPlm/s320/IMG_1803.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I put down just a cheap-ass rattle can white on the bottom, and finished it off with a top coat of high temperature clear. To be honest I have no idea how it's going to wear colour wise (i.e. if the white will discolour with heat) but at least it's sealed and should help repel dirt. I can acknowledge that there are areas that are still 'lumpy' thanks to the bog, but the way I see it, by the time you get the engine and all its auxiliaries in there it shouldn't be too bad. Here's to hoping! Regardless, I'm still very very VERY happy with how it's turning out. 100% on what it was and then some :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPkolIHRaFXoXDazEL_83IhAoia3locKp7UEVvQ6tIoRrZPV-grtSUX35EeLK1MuOctIMVyZIyrrWp_jCa5WfYKjXwN-_a0ZZZYj7fTnlFz_SoU1_2aorvQldiozXPoKnWTMursoOsmYY1/s1600/IMG_1808.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPkolIHRaFXoXDazEL_83IhAoia3locKp7UEVvQ6tIoRrZPV-grtSUX35EeLK1MuOctIMVyZIyrrWp_jCa5WfYKjXwN-_a0ZZZYj7fTnlFz_SoU1_2aorvQldiozXPoKnWTMursoOsmYY1/s320/IMG_1808.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I continued to move my way around the engine bay. Masking all of the random fittings, pipes and cables was indeed tricky, but it was a sacrifice I could live with due to being too lazy to remove everything completely.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZo7tl_6d7T_OTE8B6AhpCS5B7fpN-WAHRnSS-vJQpA2sue8mNWqXyTu7LGealXEg_uyHMMWRn_RRbQ0Pzas6QhqNPFWVlhHghFLEdL7-469vJFWWAoLvVJW8aZ6ZpNftGgpX6wlANmzqy/s1600/IMG_1809.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZo7tl_6d7T_OTE8B6AhpCS5B7fpN-WAHRnSS-vJQpA2sue8mNWqXyTu7LGealXEg_uyHMMWRn_RRbQ0Pzas6QhqNPFWVlhHghFLEdL7-469vJFWWAoLvVJW8aZ6ZpNftGgpX6wlANmzqy/s320/IMG_1809.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I kept working my way around the bay in sections so I knew where I was up to. That's the problem with a clear coat, you have no real indication of what you've just done! It also gave me something to do while I waited for the coats to dry in that I could prep another section. There was a hell of a lot of dust from all the sanding, so just clearing that and rubbing it all down with wax and grease remover was a good little job to keep myself busy.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIsaro_o7bKw12ncLnnHJID3Q8OKs_Wp4Ykk-XOBkEMiz0ihcT3ERhE3pFAm1EAUxJZQa7oBmidF0XzJKXzIaclVf0jQNIV64PUNeL8D1JJfnc7nVb36gCMPmn2rvH8GqY1RmhNSkdpsgN/s1600/IMG_1811.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIsaro_o7bKw12ncLnnHJID3Q8OKs_Wp4Ykk-XOBkEMiz0ihcT3ERhE3pFAm1EAUxJZQa7oBmidF0XzJKXzIaclVf0jQNIV64PUNeL8D1JJfnc7nVb36gCMPmn2rvH8GqY1RmhNSkdpsgN/s320/IMG_1811.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I only started off with buying 3 cans of white - I knew I would need more but I had no idea how much I would need. I had bought them ages ago though as I thought I would be welding a lot sooner than what I had. By the time I came to buy more, it turns out that particular brand I bought wasn't stocked any more, so I had to buy a different brand. This new stuff had the fantastic benefit of being sprayed upside down, which helped massively with all the odd angles and surfaces I had to coat - unfortunately it also ran like a mofo, so I finished doing all my coats, sanded back the runs and topped it all off with yet another brand of white before finishing it all off with clear.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0RD9F13sEokOOMlOGFKZBNdwTArFMaihNSOdk9SC1ly2w7IJ02TtYmyhsdpoXzMIFjG07KAPWmjHPINIt6PLbYUa9AN02ELJRKUVy1lLvaowTWvEOk2l_mbmbY2Me8yO8qv0tMijiWCja/s1600/IMG_1593.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0RD9F13sEokOOMlOGFKZBNdwTArFMaihNSOdk9SC1ly2w7IJ02TtYmyhsdpoXzMIFjG07KAPWmjHPINIt6PLbYUa9AN02ELJRKUVy1lLvaowTWvEOk2l_mbmbY2Me8yO8qv0tMijiWCja/s320/IMG_1593.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbZruB1nJhPwoNgaosmWNXA8BVYuqM3iGYAZXhM2hf6THoNqW9QIxlTLsHiSgpX-QTOBVH_LZsDoM4h-B0a0R43w7i913EqQAOTfELxSMlkWayyLvYxSzTezcP0-T-jo6V3Q3yMDJJRps0/s1600/IMG_1812.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbZruB1nJhPwoNgaosmWNXA8BVYuqM3iGYAZXhM2hf6THoNqW9QIxlTLsHiSgpX-QTOBVH_LZsDoM4h-B0a0R43w7i913EqQAOTfELxSMlkWayyLvYxSzTezcP0-T-jo6V3Q3yMDJJRps0/s320/IMG_1812.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And here we have the finished product!! I thought I'd include a before and after so you have an idea of what I accomplished.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhJmlxrXnyBfleXrilXBXsqAUlkwyAe888o6rzTDcFDaRXxu273Q1YWEo8ngLhFeDonqW00FA7P-YJuLjqUm3nsIVnN23d-vF35tEOFIutsgkR-tlR4rVtdlEqZ-QmkIdv42TagJDjsZX4/s1600/IMG_0631.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhJmlxrXnyBfleXrilXBXsqAUlkwyAe888o6rzTDcFDaRXxu273Q1YWEo8ngLhFeDonqW00FA7P-YJuLjqUm3nsIVnN23d-vF35tEOFIutsgkR-tlR4rVtdlEqZ-QmkIdv42TagJDjsZX4/s320/IMG_0631.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS8TMN9dxUlNI1abGaXGjfbQz9q0eWrB8qhxUSCzDWomA-Dx7m71FAfO2-m_IiK_xIUeHbIVJ3QSuC0cpy3Cqk_8kD3bdlTR-kUNpkjzsTDFTSwj-WHZ5Pq_GbZ96aMu74ClNjgWbHlDhF/s1600/IMG_1815.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS8TMN9dxUlNI1abGaXGjfbQz9q0eWrB8qhxUSCzDWomA-Dx7m71FAfO2-m_IiK_xIUeHbIVJ3QSuC0cpy3Cqk_8kD3bdlTR-kUNpkjzsTDFTSwj-WHZ5Pq_GbZ96aMu74ClNjgWbHlDhF/s320/IMG_1815.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of the main reasons for all of this work was to tidy up where the battery tray used to reside... and needless to say I am DAMN chuffed with how that has come up :) Once again I am aware that there are a few imperfections, but I simply cannot argue with the difference that has made to the overall cleanliness to the engine bay.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You know I have to laugh, since getting that PPE it has taken me only 2 weekends (not even full weekends) worth of work to get this done... I can only imagine how far I could have been along if things were different. Regardless, better late than never hey? From here I'll be working on re-fitting everything back into the engine bay. First all the auxiliaries and cable looms, then the engine itself. I must admit I am damn excited to see the difference once this is all back together... between the rocker cover, strut brace, cleaning and degreasing of as much stuff as I can and the re-painting of the entire engine bay, I can only imagine the difference all of this work has made. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Stay tuned to see just how much :)</span></div>
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</span>_Clinno_http://www.blogger.com/profile/15758751614854894618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030408022090936981.post-22860683868701229182013-06-10T22:05:00.002+10:002013-06-10T22:05:29.232+10:00Project Correct-a-Car pt. 7: Prep School<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Many would consider this an update of sorts vs. a considerable progress demonstration... I'd also agree, so let me update you!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbttoWcqesMfLmwDc4GDq-GuFmzHBrIPgsCu0L5ru0BV1-Aa2e4WjAuQhcC9s4p_JpZ8WBGh-OEHclESUBSQuewQ3FbhZ96T5gTuNFq7f80y1UXKy0yJlgcqEd2yATbvan6U7juqE50rXi/s1600/IMG_1547.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbttoWcqesMfLmwDc4GDq-GuFmzHBrIPgsCu0L5ru0BV1-Aa2e4WjAuQhcC9s4p_JpZ8WBGh-OEHclESUBSQuewQ3FbhZ96T5gTuNFq7f80y1UXKy0yJlgcqEd2yATbvan6U7juqE50rXi/s320/IMG_1547.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After finishing the prep work on the rear guards, I must say I'm rather pleased with how they've come up! Oodles of unnecessary clearance, but more importantly they're now sealed from the cabin. I did seriously contemplate cutting the sikaflex down for the sake of making everything as tidy as possible... however thanks to said sikaflex I now don't know where the guard joins with the inner skin. The last thing I want is to re-seal thanks to over cutting, and I have an inkling of a feeling I'd be doing it several times before I got it right. Given that the new guards are going to cover it anyways, I'm going to employee procrastination-like techniques and pass them off as working smart, not hard =P</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC6MMCMQ1LFZfdgYwkgKMen9i9z9tVDAI6w5fMyfu-K8-ZnjS7nyDZ8bpRWeoqO2R7FLUm6XFovHHJuHAkwTiwqMUp2YU4oaSlhQtZKcgBBaO1zARpCTvKm21dUExywsM8-yAMupkTFz1V/s1600/IMG_1548.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC6MMCMQ1LFZfdgYwkgKMen9i9z9tVDAI6w5fMyfu-K8-ZnjS7nyDZ8bpRWeoqO2R7FLUm6XFovHHJuHAkwTiwqMUp2YU4oaSlhQtZKcgBBaO1zARpCTvKm21dUExywsM8-yAMupkTFz1V/s320/IMG_1548.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I finally got around to obtaining some new (read: second hand) door cards, as I've always thought my existing ones were rather tired. My main gripe with them pertained to a bunch of random screw holes - I always thought that someone had mounted something there, so I wanted a pair that didn't have them. It was night time when I picked up the replacements, so I didn't even notice that they had the exact same screw holes... nag dabbit!! After doing some research, I discovered a couple of things - 1) All Silvia door cards came with carpet inserts vs. the vinyl looking sections above. 2) It's really common for people to pull the carpet inserts out which leaves the vinyl looking sections above. 3) The holes exist for the purpose of using a vaccuum to seal the carpet to the rest of the door card, holes that now appear after removing the carpet insert. End result? I now have 4 door cards to pick the best 2 from, and I'll have to deal with the holes. Yay. At least they were cheap :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7p1Ku5jpCN_tbP-0SjQ15oDkf6nx7q6xeKq2mTHG_nL5ovKdTSeB8gd7Ms81wTC_dk1yssXbw6fuR_J1ME3l4_XNVMNndgDiZSgUllPZZfvupN9ucGSe__27DpR6Fv6SBZv-pRCxTU8qD/s1600/IMG_1550.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7p1Ku5jpCN_tbP-0SjQ15oDkf6nx7q6xeKq2mTHG_nL5ovKdTSeB8gd7Ms81wTC_dk1yssXbw6fuR_J1ME3l4_XNVMNndgDiZSgUllPZZfvupN9ucGSe__27DpR6Fv6SBZv-pRCxTU8qD/s320/IMG_1550.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've had these for a while, but it was only after I did a massive clean up in the garage that I remembered I had yet to mention them. Compliments of Casey, an Apexi intake pipe (top) and a PBM front/dump pipe (bottom). The intake pipe exists to replace the Frankenstein setup that I had previously - what can I say, it was free and did the job! It was also incredibly untidy and looked like a dogs breakfast, so in the spirit of a bunch of small things that will make a big difference, voila. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The front/dump pipe is necessary for the end goal of keeping this as legal as possible. For aesthetic reasons, I want to keep this car as low as possible whilst keeping it legal. What I am working on is having the chassis rails at lowest legal height (100mm) and adapting everything else to sit above the rails - not an impossible task. Interestingly enough, S13s came illegal from factory - the front pipe would actually dip to around the 93mm mark before any suspension changes were even considered. Most aftermarket solutions also fail to address this fact. This lovely little number above actually comes out sitting above the chassis rails, which allows me to do whatever I want with the suspension. I will need custom fabrication to make the rest of the exhaust comply, but this is one very important piece of that puzzle.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Rear guards finally arrived from Japan too! Stay tuned for pictures on fitment and what I'm shooting for :) but enough of shiny new things, onto what work has been done.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBuLf3mDkjJ8obhxhq9ei0OJ77q3y15O_IyOjzWF0tJEGQPF0YisxxBINq1N0wlQQKMlFSEJJosgF6CALaX8H-2mLuR0MI9qK0imGX14ZygZz7-_hpZySbtFrXHTrRRHheolmMBuKeyuMf/s1600/IMG_1551.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBuLf3mDkjJ8obhxhq9ei0OJ77q3y15O_IyOjzWF0tJEGQPF0YisxxBINq1N0wlQQKMlFSEJJosgF6CALaX8H-2mLuR0MI9qK0imGX14ZygZz7-_hpZySbtFrXHTrRRHheolmMBuKeyuMf/s320/IMG_1551.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The battery tray is something that has been bugging me for a very long time. I keep putting it off due to the fact that I knew it was going to be a bit of a time investment. I decided to bite the bullet and just get it done. Above you can see what I'm working with - I cut out all of the haggard metal so I at least had something decent to start with - unfortunately this left me with quite a significant area to fill.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Finding decent weld-able metal was not easy at all. I must have visited 4 or 5 different stores in the hope of getting an off-the-shelf sheet I could work with, all with no luck. Everything was either aluminium or galvanized, none of which are weld-able with a MIG. My next idea was to visit a steel fabricators, but before I enacted that plan, I realised that I did in fact have a wrecked door I was just going to throw out, which is made from the steel I'm looking for. Light bulb!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgRrmj4P9xW32LLRjWZnitkPrsFSF4yENaQEpX7fiRksbrMvyMon3yyImHntbODHUFVSM0bPltVhyphenhyphenlOFDRr4RJA3-OV_wEsBIr2OfFQ2D4S8dak3OuoZ_WI8MXkJEiLuto-l5V9VOZMjoq/s1600/IMG_1552.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgRrmj4P9xW32LLRjWZnitkPrsFSF4yENaQEpX7fiRksbrMvyMon3yyImHntbODHUFVSM0bPltVhyphenhyphenlOFDRr4RJA3-OV_wEsBIr2OfFQ2D4S8dak3OuoZ_WI8MXkJEiLuto-l5V9VOZMjoq/s320/IMG_1552.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I proceeded to trace out the shape I was needed...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5aaBxdv8Z8i8PQMoyTJUCbte-SgADQipOQIhBkE4L7cHwHgZe68cGP0JDCUgKWV24C04dInccfdM9s1EGzN2_-uZjqoHO_wY82xuXqEi0NykpEMOGhbJ3q-FsBBfHxY-XBlt_uIKMLNYg/s1600/IMG_1553.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5aaBxdv8Z8i8PQMoyTJUCbte-SgADQipOQIhBkE4L7cHwHgZe68cGP0JDCUgKWV24C04dInccfdM9s1EGzN2_-uZjqoHO_wY82xuXqEi0NykpEMOGhbJ3q-FsBBfHxY-XBlt_uIKMLNYg/s320/IMG_1553.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... and thanks to the angle grinder of doom, I ended up with a section I could work with :) After I finished cutting it, the damn thing just would not lift out. I was trying to figure out if there was a bit I hadn't cut, but by using a screw-driver as a crowbar, I heard a distinct 'un-sticking' noise (to use the scientific vernacular). Some perserverence revealed a solid bit of reinforcement in behind the outer shell... makes sense in hindsight, but this isn't something you can see from the inside of the door. Anyhow, I digress!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXtzMm-mqfGUKCOdsLDhNTjO4fWl0r9eT_LjoCYUDWz6W0KHjcaSxIH-5bp5eRITKV7UKRvlAk1KTa7yIK3fcOWr-wHaVB1f00ZhJNzV1YFav2XgBQyqL-J_NESRcattC7ZrWprok9SEc_/s1600/IMG_1556.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXtzMm-mqfGUKCOdsLDhNTjO4fWl0r9eT_LjoCYUDWz6W0KHjcaSxIH-5bp5eRITKV7UKRvlAk1KTa7yIK3fcOWr-wHaVB1f00ZhJNzV1YFav2XgBQyqL-J_NESRcattC7ZrWprok9SEc_/s320/IMG_1556.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I replaced the cutting disk on the angle grinder of doom with a flapper disk - you dirty minded people stop right there! Heaps of sand paper stuck to a rapidly spinning disk equals all paint and glue stripped in no time :) I then employed my newly developed metal working skills to achieve a shape that would help with what I was hoping to accomplish. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb-YuNnhjDiSIzwqNcSz6tLNuYYE45c4cdXuihaLrdoqN_HiPaWAZIPXUUztcBy_hzfS5xP8Gohfb8UMK_RPprHP0hy2BJipgJNx_fB3Fz0xR4l5s2ksU3sfGOZliHdSpiqpBAMztv8PET/s1600/IMG_1557.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb-YuNnhjDiSIzwqNcSz6tLNuYYE45c4cdXuihaLrdoqN_HiPaWAZIPXUUztcBy_hzfS5xP8Gohfb8UMK_RPprHP0hy2BJipgJNx_fB3Fz0xR4l5s2ksU3sfGOZliHdSpiqpBAMztv8PET/s320/IMG_1557.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I also took the liberty of marking and cutting a hole for the intercooler piping, as it's a hell of a lot easier to do it while I can actually work with it vs. dealing with a cramped space. I'm sure you'd agree that that is going to work quite nicely!!!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_7UMP_R0JRNxyB0IURPt3eswUOqrazswm36Pb0gcrxanaJ0IpX0P-cKF1z4JokgPZ268GWks1Nfrw73o0aC0Oc3s2BNJb2r_iyybC7wnDhsu32hCPrSn0Rp5WqHlT63RqqZyn_F0DKPLN/s1600/IMG_1578.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_7UMP_R0JRNxyB0IURPt3eswUOqrazswm36Pb0gcrxanaJ0IpX0P-cKF1z4JokgPZ268GWks1Nfrw73o0aC0Oc3s2BNJb2r_iyybC7wnDhsu32hCPrSn0Rp5WqHlT63RqqZyn_F0DKPLN/s320/IMG_1578.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Given that I haven't welded since 2003 (over a decade ago... wow), I thought it might be wise to get some practise in. I figured the door would be as good a test piece as any, especially given that it's the exact same metal I'll be working with. This will allow me to get the wire feed and amperage right before I attempt the real thing. The above picture shows you just how effective that flapper disk is at stripping whatever is underneath it!!!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYkl0i-sy_sTOp2BnULGxeRZF1yuiNgzbZRNqwfs3yA8lmyEu5FGrLzaL6wkQxqDHpQynMYTyd9B0_VsEOBwzjXffIWiyLyO8j1MiPMQ57Kw_7YJGyviru4b6eqmOzF618SoD11YcypGga/s1600/IMG_1579.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYkl0i-sy_sTOp2BnULGxeRZF1yuiNgzbZRNqwfs3yA8lmyEu5FGrLzaL6wkQxqDHpQynMYTyd9B0_VsEOBwzjXffIWiyLyO8j1MiPMQ57Kw_7YJGyviru4b6eqmOzF618SoD11YcypGga/s320/IMG_1579.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The one thing that happens regardless of what I'm doing is sweep. It's amazing seeing how much crap comes off the car while I work on it - especially when it's all condensed into a dustpan =\ I've emptied too many of these recently... is there going to be anything left of Stacey when I'm done?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrCoXngeGeiTfuCOS_CquP_eegIxb9kZxw8QqgRr3nvMyEIJlULZV2dSwYvYXVs4GeLRUhBopzQXJDe-6qYx4F4TOPCY6yu9-GmyrfowX9n-aBfYIQOLQygEkrN5_hXShqZnd0nsG6Dl67/s1600/IMG_1580.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrCoXngeGeiTfuCOS_CquP_eegIxb9kZxw8QqgRr3nvMyEIJlULZV2dSwYvYXVs4GeLRUhBopzQXJDe-6qYx4F4TOPCY6yu9-GmyrfowX9n-aBfYIQOLQygEkrN5_hXShqZnd0nsG6Dl67/s320/IMG_1580.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Door prepped for practise! I'm sure there's better ways of practising, but for all intents and purposes, if I can fill those lines without getting any warping or blow outs, I'm going to call that a validation of my ability to weld ;)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I then found out our welding PPE had been lent to someone who is currently overseas... (sigh). Still plenty of prep work to be done though, so onwards.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1aufuObkpxSFJEiNYd1ytfrQ2S8fPNUwQRJqXuAymP7Hk9ukkfK9vR-TOU8yAlJR5hRq65urDlMd2f62FgSq8O4hIYO-74J-pksilget83tPJPnapinFOY2rDz-Pl_XlJwWvRwWhB_jwI/s1600/IMG_1585.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1aufuObkpxSFJEiNYd1ytfrQ2S8fPNUwQRJqXuAymP7Hk9ukkfK9vR-TOU8yAlJR5hRq65urDlMd2f62FgSq8O4hIYO-74J-pksilget83tPJPnapinFOY2rDz-Pl_XlJwWvRwWhB_jwI/s320/IMG_1585.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One critical thing is to remove all of the remaining wiring from the engine bay. The less things in the way, the better!! A lot of cable ties lost their lives for the greater good here... lest we forget.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPaFI4KMcrxeC6bSA_Y-Rb3bL9vl-a7yG7wNoup6PYqo9luKIlLI75dm_Mg9hdXJPJdgaOuN7EFIoW94pR7zPn-TLSeVnrXabeoAnuWnz1kLuCGZI-ovKIJyLNICN7LQr7-0IHcxgnIAYf/s1600/IMG_1589.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPaFI4KMcrxeC6bSA_Y-Rb3bL9vl-a7yG7wNoup6PYqo9luKIlLI75dm_Mg9hdXJPJdgaOuN7EFIoW94pR7zPn-TLSeVnrXabeoAnuWnz1kLuCGZI-ovKIJyLNICN7LQr7-0IHcxgnIAYf/s320/IMG_1589.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I also took the time to address the cracks in the engine bay to get them ready for welding. First task was to beat them into shape so that all the cracks at least lined up, and then all paint is removed so I've got a clean surface to work with. It's amazing what you can accomplish with a wire brush that's attached to a drill...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYUwsNTHlXSL6BPq756-63hoBA05BeOJcuvW1_V_-5uN1l26I6F0t2zMKThZKSt3DUZGSMhqYI__qv8z2J4a3iBZHx3TW_c_JqHREP4aUrPyUo7f2cXVhyphenhyphen3bE25VFSOMIHZkRDYntUzRMC/s1600/IMG_1593.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYUwsNTHlXSL6BPq756-63hoBA05BeOJcuvW1_V_-5uN1l26I6F0t2zMKThZKSt3DUZGSMhqYI__qv8z2J4a3iBZHx3TW_c_JqHREP4aUrPyUo7f2cXVhyphenhyphen3bE25VFSOMIHZkRDYntUzRMC/s320/IMG_1593.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here you can see the engine bay completely prepped!! Nothing overly hard, everything just takes time. There's a lot of odd surfaces, holes, bumps and obstructions you have to take into account, plus random components that you wouldn't normally pull out are also removed for the sake of making things easier.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwwdOXIwjGRjs-bQjYTSn6PxZVeczoWUP7vs0ThnSjimGbBmJMIJKIjdpF-mhNCv58vQZFEAwcKBT-Fr-OWkWlnQumb4Zeyvy6sghADqj34JePrkmchGN6ywbq1c-Lrre9nCBM6H0zKusB/s1600/IMG_1595.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwwdOXIwjGRjs-bQjYTSn6PxZVeczoWUP7vs0ThnSjimGbBmJMIJKIjdpF-mhNCv58vQZFEAwcKBT-Fr-OWkWlnQumb4Zeyvy6sghADqj34JePrkmchGN6ywbq1c-Lrre9nCBM6H0zKusB/s320/IMG_1595.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Needless to say, the sway bar does make for a fantastic (albeit uncomfortable) seat, with the rad support playing the role of arm rests, and leg room facilitated by the transmission tunnel. Add good music and beer, and a tedious task becomes slightly less tedious.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next?</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Test fit guards</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Practise welding</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Perform welding for real</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Paint engine bay</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Re-assemble engine bay</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Re-insert engine</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Move onto body</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No promises on time frames people, but it will happen. See you next time!</span></div>
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</span>_Clinno_http://www.blogger.com/profile/15758751614854894618noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030408022090936981.post-14236532411812561522013-05-25T18:40:00.001+10:002013-05-25T18:40:48.414+10:00Project Correct-a-Car pt. 6: Christmas Time & a Turbo Tear-down<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've finally had some of those parts arrive that I've been banging on about for a while, and it could not have been better timing! Spare time on the weekends still seems to be eluding me, but as I learnt today it all comes down to making time. That said, a lot of it also comes down to having social events to attend to and not wanting to be too dirty or greasy =P Anyhow! With the arrival of a bunch of parts, motivation sky-rocketed and I decided to make some much needed progress.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN9MPftJ2GW9KAoM-NhzFrWmvts9OSy4d6TLfg8eI4dvexCWzCxYpE6k5H6PWbSnqfkY_kOE3BQXHnLLRsRJOZdZdX2EfJj-CAco8enCzd5-Td1PTylzVxoqeWG0YXPB_28Jpu7J3zP5I7/s1600/IMG_1479.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN9MPftJ2GW9KAoM-NhzFrWmvts9OSy4d6TLfg8eI4dvexCWzCxYpE6k5H6PWbSnqfkY_kOE3BQXHnLLRsRJOZdZdX2EfJj-CAco8enCzd5-Td1PTylzVxoqeWG0YXPB_28Jpu7J3zP5I7/s320/IMG_1479.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thanks to all the chopping and changing I have been doing in regards to whatever project has taken my fancy, room in the garage has become a bit like ocean-front living... next to no room left, with the room there is being sold to the highest bidder. Car parts are everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE. In order to simply walk around you're stepping over panels, brackets and parts all the while trying not to get any screws stuck in your foot. It truly is a much more expensive game of 'The Floor is Lava' we all used to play as kids :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Let's take a look at what's arrived to add to my Lava game!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi__00FadVMD6h_VXBiX1v_c3_sIKN8oraZ6Dx6XseRChaZbXKn9JnmKa_rSsuegf6Vj9j16SK_d6-31fGxKrnXJgbKJ0Vu5ZYLt5qCm99UGGatjLwBBSLTqa221VsykN6SX-jTcS39uphk/s1600/IMG_1480.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi__00FadVMD6h_VXBiX1v_c3_sIKN8oraZ6Dx6XseRChaZbXKn9JnmKa_rSsuegf6Vj9j16SK_d6-31fGxKrnXJgbKJ0Vu5ZYLt5qCm99UGGatjLwBBSLTqa221VsykN6SX-jTcS39uphk/s320/IMG_1480.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Item #1: New guards finally arrived from Japan. Unfortunately there was an ordering mishap and the rears turned out to be for the wrong car... thankfully this has been sorted out and is now just waiting on postal companies to do what they do best. Good thing I'm not in any real rush :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic9OoATDPCcEEU90Nlz-pXAgrCCWcFwtpUS6LP3Eyj8smr3pD2N9HzmVxjgAbo6eoxCS3wkeO5l3TpzHBjuxkWBIEdWkG4MC3s1b9xczpAg7nzNa0ExosO_ob01vXQXWGDzI-tVU9fd4TX/s1600/IMG_1487.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic9OoATDPCcEEU90Nlz-pXAgrCCWcFwtpUS6LP3Eyj8smr3pD2N9HzmVxjgAbo6eoxCS3wkeO5l3TpzHBjuxkWBIEdWkG4MC3s1b9xczpAg7nzNa0ExosO_ob01vXQXWGDzI-tVU9fd4TX/s320/IMG_1487.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Item #'s 2-5: Thanks to TAARK, I've sourced a bunch of genuine Nissan parts to replace damaged or missing components that only Nissan make. From the top left: New rubber boot that surrounds the gearstick (old one damaged), a cup holder that replaces the ash tray (yes it's not genuine Nissan but fixes a fatal flaw all S13s have had), new bonnet rubber stoppers (was missing 4 out of a potential 6) and a new drivers' side door handle (old one cracked and damaged).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In regards to the cup holder, for some reason Nissan decided drivers had no need to put cups or cans of absolutely anything in their cars in the late 80's to the early 90's. The work around that most drivers accepted was to remove the ash tray, which left a hole that was big enough for cups to fit in. While it did work, it was far from ideal as cups weren't exactly held securely. Thankfully, TAARK has seen a need and gone to the effort of fabricating a direct replacement for the cup holder that sits where the ash tray normally would... I honestly don't know why it hasn't been done before!!! $35 well spent in my opinion :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy-wsk2krv7Un2YFMBOQwL8cnGcBelMl36OYhjzxvyDGZPWIBjIUXeEqbd3xeZi_WQ2d_du1H_X7xjhyXW4O7Q-3P5agv9Eg5MY3iC5k5Hr7T0-W4IxkPEGZr3-huDkZx9ZFYgWmIFCRKp/s1600/IMG_1505.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy-wsk2krv7Un2YFMBOQwL8cnGcBelMl36OYhjzxvyDGZPWIBjIUXeEqbd3xeZi_WQ2d_du1H_X7xjhyXW4O7Q-3P5agv9Eg5MY3iC5k5Hr7T0-W4IxkPEGZr3-huDkZx9ZFYgWmIFCRKp/s320/IMG_1505.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Item #6: Turbo rebuild kit to hopefully sort out the smokey exhaust once and for all.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO7hMsa7C1L0fug1AcfsW5gvAWZ1suRzeHUK9GYtfAR44GXwuhWz-Eui76_SbLL2PtgOXefCdMHOYu2XlrmitMAosu7Hak3GF0uqVIuKQI0UG5jAMt7RXgz0mQn34UBtWn0NoBw3LOh3iw/s1600/IMG_1506.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO7hMsa7C1L0fug1AcfsW5gvAWZ1suRzeHUK9GYtfAR44GXwuhWz-Eui76_SbLL2PtgOXefCdMHOYu2XlrmitMAosu7Hak3GF0uqVIuKQI0UG5jAMt7RXgz0mQn34UBtWn0NoBw3LOh3iw/s320/IMG_1506.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Item #7: Gasket kit for the turbo to compliment the rebuild kit above</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Item #8: New door cards to replace the existing ones which are wayyyyyyy too tired and have had holes drilled in them for some reason (pic incoming)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Item #9: Replacement power steering reservoir to replace the one I hacked up when doing the Pod filter enclosure which I will no longer be using</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Like I said, plenty of motivation :) Got to make all the $$$ I spent on these parts worthwhile!! Thanks to the arrival of the Turbo-related goodies, I decided my next project would be to knock this turbo on the head for good. With the investigation performed previously, I had come to the conclusion that a full rebuild was in order - yet another task I've never undertaken before. How hard can it be right?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyKRpE-4VnqAAFx1_OCvMdQqy0jjcXiTmN-Ybngo_Ts2xYpIW2OnI4b9MehEt0KUzq5O4uSRdkz1ypWeuYZP8U0_RpCsjeMRYDo7bGLKpC9GYgq7U09Uvn88W3WKXZMJdZ8lp6aIafFPeY/s1600/IMG_1507.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyKRpE-4VnqAAFx1_OCvMdQqy0jjcXiTmN-Ybngo_Ts2xYpIW2OnI4b9MehEt0KUzq5O4uSRdkz1ypWeuYZP8U0_RpCsjeMRYDo7bGLKpC9GYgq7U09Uvn88W3WKXZMJdZ8lp6aIafFPeY/s320/IMG_1507.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of those things on my to-buy list as we continue to flesh out our garage with tools and such is a work bench. Unfortunately it is on the to-buy list for a reason, so the outdoor setting had to do. Mind you it wasn't all bad, plenty of light and fresh air :) Now normally I just wing any mechanical work wherever possible (like any decent male would), but a turbo is something that is pretty critical to get right. The guy I bought the turbo rebuild kit off of provided a brilliant DIY guide complete with pictures and detailed explanations, so the iPad took on the role of User Manual for the day.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh0AsAOgLU5lsz6413GDzgXPrdGtDY4ptqqPHBY9DcKNcB5vKEMgjqtSnwAolMpu2clD1QMrOhTQPH4nn6jJba0bQq3BvKnS5HbkFPE9d2Lk2s5HysAHO4CgrWjU6g5i8C3tokRNjwc1YL/s1600/IMG_1508.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh0AsAOgLU5lsz6413GDzgXPrdGtDY4ptqqPHBY9DcKNcB5vKEMgjqtSnwAolMpu2clD1QMrOhTQPH4nn6jJba0bQq3BvKnS5HbkFPE9d2Lk2s5HysAHO4CgrWjU6g5i8C3tokRNjwc1YL/s320/IMG_1508.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The more I work on cars, the more I hate cir-clips... A turbo is no exception, rife with the bloody things!! Consequently, an armament of cir-clip pliers was required. Internal. External. Thin. Fat. 0 degrees. 90 degrees. Long. Short. The pair on the right I had to buy specifically for doing this job, as I needed the extra opening width for a big-ass cir-clip. $50 thanks! (sigh) anyways...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9JpsMRTKQd5FMQpjqdrmqvOZktoVPxzqscTQ0w_BAu9ms2sXaOGc7N8ix6cDvja_TI06g3PrHCTGUIURLMdUS5WfVzyZtq6zCSUP1i-ea5XW8iRrO-gxUT3kxA6jQZqWruGBtstuQO8ik/s1600/IMG_1509.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9JpsMRTKQd5FMQpjqdrmqvOZktoVPxzqscTQ0w_BAu9ms2sXaOGc7N8ix6cDvja_TI06g3PrHCTGUIURLMdUS5WfVzyZtq6zCSUP1i-ea5XW8iRrO-gxUT3kxA6jQZqWruGBtstuQO8ik/s320/IMG_1509.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Given that the turbo was already off the engine and half apart from prior investigations, most of the hard work was already done (at least that's what I thought). I continued stripping bolts and components off it until... </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3CJkYPqWShT825_mvjCjCqddk5o6WkdjkBFn46HjoXpg9wTtuOuHUHgpr19AdcZNL6thi9a1lcpdPaqdGfx2H0maIgGBkNSoPljBf8pSP1niNqE0PV4evRsq8VhlOkWhgX81j8S20GKhs/s1600/IMG_1510.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3CJkYPqWShT825_mvjCjCqddk5o6WkdjkBFn46HjoXpg9wTtuOuHUHgpr19AdcZNL6thi9a1lcpdPaqdGfx2H0maIgGBkNSoPljBf8pSP1niNqE0PV4evRsq8VhlOkWhgX81j8S20GKhs/s320/IMG_1510.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... I was left with this: the turbo core. This is responsible for housing all of the bearings, as well as feeding oil and water around the core to keep temperatures down. It also has seals that (if I were to guess) would be the cause of my problems.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiMQe5wwgeLyQs1fhG77thffPlyi978QfoRDBwCLTggq6EuojW7Lb2Rqcj0UnDAufcc4PCWDuXLCpHBrunp6h5ZDxhv1t9L9igfT4phKXLDmcmf46d2yRGiv7Q8Hx3td2i5DJGJiZr8mJm/s1600/IMG_1512.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiMQe5wwgeLyQs1fhG77thffPlyi978QfoRDBwCLTggq6EuojW7Lb2Rqcj0UnDAufcc4PCWDuXLCpHBrunp6h5ZDxhv1t9L9igfT4phKXLDmcmf46d2yRGiv7Q8Hx3td2i5DJGJiZr8mJm/s320/IMG_1512.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Apparently the black bit in the center should just fall out... after 15 minutes of being soaked in Inox and multiple attempts at bashing it it still didn't fall out. I decided to take a gamble for the sake of saving time and drilled a hole so I could get an edge to lift from. Thankfully I didn't damage anything in doing this, WIN!!! Just had to be sure that I removed all of the metal shavings... historically speaking, fine bits of metal and bearings haven't been the best of pairings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFJFCUt-xRCXPVhWkHlXLDRgtg4-8cXK597gQcCHbVYSNrROYvHZBJeZuFHlF9hPNdOsn76bHRWhDNNojRei3HW3ukjr4HLA5x0JL2dLiUr2113jEQQn4fGOU1T52hNfJPUqhwkq884U6S/s1600/IMG_1513.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFJFCUt-xRCXPVhWkHlXLDRgtg4-8cXK597gQcCHbVYSNrROYvHZBJeZuFHlF9hPNdOsn76bHRWhDNNojRei3HW3ukjr4HLA5x0JL2dLiUr2113jEQQn4fGOU1T52hNfJPUqhwkq884U6S/s320/IMG_1513.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Removing the guts of the thing was pretty straight forward... cir-clip, bearing, cir-clip, bearing, o-ring... have I mentioned how much I hate cir-clips? The ones in the core were tiny! I ended up having to use 2 scribes to get the things out, and the second you do that you lose all articulation, so you end up playing around with them for 10 minutes just to get them out. As a result, I would like to revise my first sentence for this paragraph...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Removing the guts of the thing was pretty straight forward provided you acknowledge that some things are just going to take some time and patience :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrmuMo_iKF5sufqrM7045L_HXDB6G_emWo6vYWk_vtFhMlSh3s55ezW2-rPk5d1uNXOR_QgASPFrGqEVFThTvBLMNYcIJIlBOc46hMmP_y74wg-JzIQ6rVePWvAc4Fmxcxwz9REuvEAqRt/s1600/IMG_1514.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrmuMo_iKF5sufqrM7045L_HXDB6G_emWo6vYWk_vtFhMlSh3s55ezW2-rPk5d1uNXOR_QgASPFrGqEVFThTvBLMNYcIJIlBOc46hMmP_y74wg-JzIQ6rVePWvAc4Fmxcxwz9REuvEAqRt/s320/IMG_1514.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some time and patience later, I ended up with a completely gutted core =P</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUb8aneCa6p25lVLutRFVf9rfbhJCgHYLGmXvtvIi0vxTnMieZPC9QTmv0C3_kCDRrG6mK9CI40pJbOI0ypF7KJWML6FLXhrGF-oFdMekumG8u6woATW8Y9wxbMRUtDVPmZ1rVu3yTbOkc/s1600/IMG_1515.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUb8aneCa6p25lVLutRFVf9rfbhJCgHYLGmXvtvIi0vxTnMieZPC9QTmv0C3_kCDRrG6mK9CI40pJbOI0ypF7KJWML6FLXhrGF-oFdMekumG8u6woATW8Y9wxbMRUtDVPmZ1rVu3yTbOkc/s320/IMG_1515.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can see here the difference in components, old and new. I hope that you, the reader, are intelligent enough to work out which was which :) it was pretty amazing though knowing that I was about to put all new shiny bits back in.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2dpeOw4Ewh8FHtJoroRdu96m2LWzb08smaa9Crfz6UJ9IcUcV-HbVJYUFn8hlvC_EcQ8yJbBIvOzELKxq8_X7fJfwX1md1vXPov74upwaakTDntWEaknpsAXOM2IF1VeeAI44SZaC-x9Q/s1600/IMG_1518.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2dpeOw4Ewh8FHtJoroRdu96m2LWzb08smaa9Crfz6UJ9IcUcV-HbVJYUFn8hlvC_EcQ8yJbBIvOzELKxq8_X7fJfwX1md1vXPov74upwaakTDntWEaknpsAXOM2IF1VeeAI44SZaC-x9Q/s320/IMG_1518.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I took the time to soak the entire core in some degreaser to try and remove as much grime and sediment as I could. Thankfully, the colour of what's left reveals that it was indeed a worthwhile endeavour.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuqI7bKNce_o0KVEgfNcJ5hc0HH1QQEEJUnwj5AnDqZabUh6ytO1H6H9uO2FIX8Ezz25ZHYtc0TNbhHfqJbOMknpaNc2hxnQN4IWlzD1kzBoNrGwF9415Z6Ct7FYVctwrvy-0446XRA5QA/s1600/IMG_1520.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuqI7bKNce_o0KVEgfNcJ5hc0HH1QQEEJUnwj5AnDqZabUh6ytO1H6H9uO2FIX8Ezz25ZHYtc0TNbhHfqJbOMknpaNc2hxnQN4IWlzD1kzBoNrGwF9415Z6Ct7FYVctwrvy-0446XRA5QA/s320/IMG_1520.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Rebuilding the turbo with new components was simply a reversal of the removal procedure. Just re-install everything in the order they came out with a healthy lathering of assembly lube. The instructions really did a great job of going step by step, so I could be 100% sure I didn't miss anything.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ2oip4LPVZ28cAGDHhgtPkgnU4v10x4fSfRSRz8d7IJE4062743l-3HahTFcegC8qmvphZilrzAL7NTKdvsgwfc4PIuVKNR4RZtJKCdQCsn-4TtYM_s44iNZo1u5XMmXZuwbjDhlvwx0f/s1600/IMG_1521.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ2oip4LPVZ28cAGDHhgtPkgnU4v10x4fSfRSRz8d7IJE4062743l-3HahTFcegC8qmvphZilrzAL7NTKdvsgwfc4PIuVKNR4RZtJKCdQCsn-4TtYM_s44iNZo1u5XMmXZuwbjDhlvwx0f/s320/IMG_1521.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Core done :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4160wmaEIu6QxkD3khVNgHhnGldR0q9p1_6Crtl4wiFEwW0s_pBXX3dhEL784nyu8AdKMpYu3cpfgu50kzkSHgN2TnD4QhKfN-oVzlVulN3URgsMuMOWHeULBtDcw0z6hFC8b0WJy488r/s1600/IMG_1523.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4160wmaEIu6QxkD3khVNgHhnGldR0q9p1_6Crtl4wiFEwW0s_pBXX3dhEL784nyu8AdKMpYu3cpfgu50kzkSHgN2TnD4QhKfN-oVzlVulN3URgsMuMOWHeULBtDcw0z6hFC8b0WJy488r/s320/IMG_1523.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Re-assembling the core with the housings was unfortunately a lot more difficult than I was hoping. I tried to take as many pictures as I could along the way so that I had references for when I got to this point, but it turns out that I did not take enough. After a bunch of experimentation I eventually got it to a state I believed was correct, but there was one massive oversight I forgot to take into account. The compressor wheel is actually balanced, and needs to be orientated correctly in relation to both the locking nut and the shaft to prevent unnecessary vibrations. I marked the turbine with the locking nut, but forgot to mark the turbine in relation to the shaft. Here's to hoping it all works out =| I guess I'll know soon enough!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJX9cILTEbhzqbFZ4v_xpME_AByLMSRiWJpVwO72jkuUSE1VYodAxYgyP3d0DWeFjseQ5ysg8HMqtrnjrc14L6ph1vJub8Y0-lIvJR8l2sf0_r9-6lLZ2UrrCUT341ygLkt3chKrYXSyqR/s1600/IMG_1525.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJX9cILTEbhzqbFZ4v_xpME_AByLMSRiWJpVwO72jkuUSE1VYodAxYgyP3d0DWeFjseQ5ysg8HMqtrnjrc14L6ph1vJub8Y0-lIvJR8l2sf0_r9-6lLZ2UrrCUT341ygLkt3chKrYXSyqR/s320/IMG_1525.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Turbine aside, the turbo fitted back to the engine block beautifully :) I also took the liberty of replacing all of the gaskets related to it in the process of bolting it back on. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lesson's learnt?</span></div>
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<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Don't ever take your turbo off while the engine is still in the car... It was hard enough accessing all of the bolts with the engine out!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mark absolutely everything that has to be re-installed in a specific way</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Take more photos</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All things being equal though, it could have gone a lot worse. I now have a fully rebuilt turbo, with new seals, gaskets and bearings. I've done as much as I can to get rid of the oil leak. I've also gained a lot of knowledge and experience. I'd call that a win - even if the turbo is now potentially unbalanced and self-destructs as a result. In all honesty given how small the turbine is and how low-volume it is, I don't think it's going to be too much of a problem... because, you know, I have so much experience and all =P</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzKuNHpbVcppKWaYMs9EM4rtW_hU4YVa3Zl8GvDrWwNjZA2oqcI0lo8rsFJtjk7bS8AKDowqenud0D8fdP_nXcYiBiAY-M9gJjW13xEfOJVo66DtM70hCLxF8J4of-Lh5oWRO7vDEw1STX/s1600/IMG_1527.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzKuNHpbVcppKWaYMs9EM4rtW_hU4YVa3Zl8GvDrWwNjZA2oqcI0lo8rsFJtjk7bS8AKDowqenud0D8fdP_nXcYiBiAY-M9gJjW13xEfOJVo66DtM70hCLxF8J4of-Lh5oWRO7vDEw1STX/s320/IMG_1527.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On a side note, while I was shopping for assembly lube I came across some high temperature clear spray paint. Perfect for the engine bay, to help keep the white white and clean, whilst repelling heat. Only did a test section (above) but should look and wear quite well methinks!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next project? I'll give you a hint... it involves the engine bay, a welder, a grinder, some sandpaper and some paint. Stay tuned.</span></div>
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</span>_Clinno_http://www.blogger.com/profile/15758751614854894618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030408022090936981.post-45980802392928387302013-05-05T15:19:00.001+10:002013-05-25T16:48:40.500+10:00Project Correct-a-Car pt. 5: Engine Bay & Guard Shenanigans<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Let the progress continue!! Monthly paychecks suck - just going to throw that out there. Like I said in my last post, a lot of money has been spent recently on acquiring parts (which are still arriving). It unfortunately means that until my next paycheck, my options with what I can do to Stacey are limited to cleaning and prep work... not glamorous but necessary none-the-less, especially when the sum of a whole heap of small things can make a big difference. Not like I've got anything better to do =P</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIJZt-7N48A61GGLiYFwBdhjGhKR7EITLupr3PBaxDWlr4AGImq48F8oBjmqfdfoC60wFcgAaSjFH17Mjz1I7a8nM0ol4dxBgigdGNxeAj3t9uPoEHV8Lafbm0RnFZ_PrqYrCJcKNnQZwX/s1600/IMG_1433.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIJZt-7N48A61GGLiYFwBdhjGhKR7EITLupr3PBaxDWlr4AGImq48F8oBjmqfdfoC60wFcgAaSjFH17Mjz1I7a8nM0ol4dxBgigdGNxeAj3t9uPoEHV8Lafbm0RnFZ_PrqYrCJcKNnQZwX/s200/IMG_1433.JPG" width="200" /></a></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlRChA8yHuU4y6UlmVwPuL1xZ3TWyMAjSlWuM8b0CoqRJdPiLafawKUs0K5Y4YdHcdsM8tpwanQ1CVFMWYZdHNwI-Lo3qF1HTkHXKPoDqOiYpmxEBpeMYy7mlw2j35vHQ-I-DzolK2Y96D/s1600/IMG_1434.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlRChA8yHuU4y6UlmVwPuL1xZ3TWyMAjSlWuM8b0CoqRJdPiLafawKUs0K5Y4YdHcdsM8tpwanQ1CVFMWYZdHNwI-Lo3qF1HTkHXKPoDqOiYpmxEBpeMYy7mlw2j35vHQ-I-DzolK2Y96D/s200/IMG_1434.JPG" width="200" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In light of that last comment, I started working on the engine bay. Looking at the above photos, it's pretty crazy to think that this car is supposed to be white. It's not even close to off-white, or beige for that matter!!! A massive build-up of road dirt, actual dirt, oil residue and general grime over the years has not been kind to the factory white finish... So to start this whole process I began with degreaser and a gerni (high pressure sprayer) to try and remove the solid gunk. The 2 photos above are a before and after... while there is a bit of a difference it really isn't as much as I would've liked.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_ZeHokIhcTA8goxpaxOIvtGpVLCsXUDe1rdZdaP3eVDVp2cHaN3jlKR6QdfOoXDIr1ijXniM3Li5Stiez4tUM7vzIRjDgkEqNs_5xOKd2F0fvnAPlY6d1ceyGy_aee9M-nFoiYd7hNWEJ/s1600/IMG_1435.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_ZeHokIhcTA8goxpaxOIvtGpVLCsXUDe1rdZdaP3eVDVp2cHaN3jlKR6QdfOoXDIr1ijXniM3Li5Stiez4tUM7vzIRjDgkEqNs_5xOKd2F0fvnAPlY6d1ceyGy_aee9M-nFoiYd7hNWEJ/s320/IMG_1435.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I also found a few concerning areas of interest, like this here. The metal has cracked or torn thanks to the stresses of track shenanigans combined with super stiff suspension and solid engine / gearbox mounts... not good. Not good at all. I guess I'll just add it to the list of things to do before the engine goes back in.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg3c1k5KbBwBqJa-6bvTHW5sxsRyealJzc12nowjoEwqmfd7cMiC6wx4FiCvNWEiDxe7V8O6tC7S6t1Sv9_Yd7oEcS-G5kbBUwrKbm8k_g5tNWdL084UzcG48h9ciUoQp618abetHTApMx/s1600/IMG_1436.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg3c1k5KbBwBqJa-6bvTHW5sxsRyealJzc12nowjoEwqmfd7cMiC6wx4FiCvNWEiDxe7V8O6tC7S6t1Sv9_Yd7oEcS-G5kbBUwrKbm8k_g5tNWdL084UzcG48h9ciUoQp618abetHTApMx/s320/IMG_1436.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I decided to do a spot test to get an idea of what I was trying to accomplish here by sorting out the rad support first. First it was attacked with a stronger degreaser and a rag to remove what the gerni couldn't. Then ground down / sanded where necessary, and finally a coat of paint. I must admit, I am very happy with the result, and can't wait to see how the whole engine bay looks when it's done! That said, I'm really sceptical as to how this paint will wear... I have a feeling it will end up dirty before too long. At least she'll look good when she first goes back together :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhU6n5IO4Rdt7KHeBaMeIlGgRrI67VggWXZKNKeKNJr2xwRg010SxFt8nr9kh3_htYOJZzgU3Gorj5BYrbt6lSdQi3oVa0zsU-chr6s4zXRFsdxiE7Dl9aoZlKLShG6eOmhx2sRs97a78g/s1600/IMG_1441.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhU6n5IO4Rdt7KHeBaMeIlGgRrI67VggWXZKNKeKNJr2xwRg010SxFt8nr9kh3_htYOJZzgU3Gorj5BYrbt6lSdQi3oVa0zsU-chr6s4zXRFsdxiE7Dl9aoZlKLShG6eOmhx2sRs97a78g/s320/IMG_1441.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the spirit of cracking the sh*ts at various stages of this build, I decided to move onto another project before doing more to the engine bay. After watching a couple of YouTube videos on turbo rebuilds, I decided to take a closer look at the turbo (again). I figured out how to pull the core apart, and whilst doing so found a lot of 'coking'. Coking is the name given to a process where the oil doesn't cool properly and solidifies... Similar to mixing flour with water, you end up with a substance that doesn't do anything any favours. It's quite a common problem with turbos, especially when they aren't cooled down properly. I initially thought that by just getting a clean seal, it would fix my oil leak. I then thought that it would be great to have a rebuilt turbo just to be sure, so I put it back together after cleaning it just so parts didn't go missing - the end goal here will be to get a rebuild kit off of eBay and sort out all the bearings and seals to hopefully kick the oil leak for good.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After I finished with the turbo I ended up back in the engine bay, go figure. I decided to continue on with the task of prepping, and the next logical step was to remove both the Brake and Clutch master cylinders. These are basically responsible for translating what you do to the pedals to their respective components. While they are fantastic pieces of equipment to have in your car, they do hinder painting quite significantly, so they had to come out... once again something I've never done before.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIuCx3BGZb-LATYRPlSxHz73xuGo1XCJ02J7mIjjpIv9tKQbnTb4spS94W7UXy17e86P6NCkR34LmrcCDuv4Krkb_HV2Y-QidjStVdsFGNpas5hMv6P5q0etEn7k3YG02eBSAVQCwPWrPD/s1600/IMG_1444.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIuCx3BGZb-LATYRPlSxHz73xuGo1XCJ02J7mIjjpIv9tKQbnTb4spS94W7UXy17e86P6NCkR34LmrcCDuv4Krkb_HV2Y-QidjStVdsFGNpas5hMv6P5q0etEn7k3YG02eBSAVQCwPWrPD/s320/IMG_1444.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In order to pull them out, you have to disconnect them from the pedals. Whilst doing so I found that one of the bolts had been purposefully notched (see above). It seems that the further I dive into this car, the more stuff I find that is concerning or I can't explain!!! I mean seriously, what benefit would be gained from doing that to a bolt? If it was designed to help with pedal feel, how would you keep the notch in the same spot for the sake of doing whatever it is it's supposed to do?? I dunno... in that regard I guess I've just stopped caring. It certainly does make for an adventure though.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_lrOt_j3M2oEb9RbrXjildnou_y2HvZls-yPAzzJtSBgYG5zWzXMhO5RqK8DcAdw5bzgrld1oMYnu3uVQU3U4r0N3n5JXj6SaqroGEabfreh-BaKjRDgTY5GC2xC7YkZPEjt4lyqhF6lE/s1600/IMG_1445.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_lrOt_j3M2oEb9RbrXjildnou_y2HvZls-yPAzzJtSBgYG5zWzXMhO5RqK8DcAdw5bzgrld1oMYnu3uVQU3U4r0N3n5JXj6SaqroGEabfreh-BaKjRDgTY5GC2xC7YkZPEjt4lyqhF6lE/s320/IMG_1445.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyhow, I eventually got both those cylinders out and started cleaning some more. You can see on the firewall (top of the picture) the difference that some good old fashioned elbow grease can make!!! It really gives you an idea of just how far gone this engine bay was. I've still got to clean the rest of it, sand and paint it all, but it's certainly steps in the right direction. I also took the liberty of grinding out some brackets and what was left of the battery tray to tick some more boxes, more on that in a later post.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">From here I moved on to the rear guards. I'm not sure if you'd remember, but I did comment on the fact that the rear guards needed a lot of work just to tidy them up and re-seal the wheel wells. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4HI9oTgL4CLrggvKCU245B9ORQG-3GMDANo6XO2vrUQDfoLv5yNp0U34L_yONArJt92M5ULrCTnz9SbHTP_TjJ0ZRUPy5uGhwCBVM0V2wl9mUJqHW3OKhdpAy8jXSxl5Bv-Haq5IP-4yJ/s1600/IMG_1448.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXDAYHjLE8hfPrmaM4tHuI7uzZqgbmvxx3Awkw-RY88K_qJdYjQnSuWTH37duG0kmqb1Zxk8Thfrg3dyLJIsvurJT9N-PLZYsDhM17KDE73KZZ6orsiAfNzW9BJIRqOzwp6-1536Lde4K2/s1600/IMG_1451.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXDAYHjLE8hfPrmaM4tHuI7uzZqgbmvxx3Awkw-RY88K_qJdYjQnSuWTH37duG0kmqb1Zxk8Thfrg3dyLJIsvurJT9N-PLZYsDhM17KDE73KZZ6orsiAfNzW9BJIRqOzwp6-1536Lde4K2/s320/IMG_1451.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I began with removing the original cancer... nothing an angle grinder can't fix! I must admit, it is incredibly liberating being able to hack into panels and not care at all if I mess it up. That said I still wanted to do a decent job of it, because at the end of the day, the less sharp edges the better for everyone :) Safety first!!! I was also taking lessons from past experience and making sure that I myself had the proper PPE on - nearly took my foot off once from being careless with angle grinder, plus the use of my eyes, ears and hands are something I don't want to miss. I can certainly appreciate the safety features that PPE can make, I just wish that it wasn't such a big issue in the workplace! I mean come on, working on a finished building site that hasn't been handed over yet with steel caps, long sleeve shirt, high-vis vest and a helmet? What's there to protect me from!! Got to protect the stupid from themselves, seems no-one is capable of taking responsibility anymore... and those that are sensible about it have to pay the price. Way to go idiots. #endrant</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4HI9oTgL4CLrggvKCU245B9ORQG-3GMDANo6XO2vrUQDfoLv5yNp0U34L_yONArJt92M5ULrCTnz9SbHTP_TjJ0ZRUPy5uGhwCBVM0V2wl9mUJqHW3OKhdpAy8jXSxl5Bv-Haq5IP-4yJ/s1600/IMG_1448.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4HI9oTgL4CLrggvKCU245B9ORQG-3GMDANo6XO2vrUQDfoLv5yNp0U34L_yONArJt92M5ULrCTnz9SbHTP_TjJ0ZRUPy5uGhwCBVM0V2wl9mUJqHW3OKhdpAy8jXSxl5Bv-Haq5IP-4yJ/s320/IMG_1448.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here you can see the end of stage one - it's already a hell of a lot cleaner than it was before, and this made me very happy.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3FTAs3i02ZzPmF-0IzrnXSIzkpbJ3aB_xem6LF5bWXxIJRwdIXT9fXjXbVJKYLANQVIZExuSzRY0WutaSj433S5Jsg3LGEtP2WzGUvoUcjVPJBD2xcDzJK_sCM7ExFfM6vrODLL_dt3J7/s1600/IMG_1453.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3FTAs3i02ZzPmF-0IzrnXSIzkpbJ3aB_xem6LF5bWXxIJRwdIXT9fXjXbVJKYLANQVIZExuSzRY0WutaSj433S5Jsg3LGEtP2WzGUvoUcjVPJBD2xcDzJK_sCM7ExFfM6vrODLL_dt3J7/s320/IMG_1453.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It did leave quite a gap though - normally the wheel well seals to the guard. In this picture you can look through and actually see the transmission tunnel on the inside of the car as well as the gearknob... this made me very unhappy.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOda3LnQJaI6a4ib7xv8ZTNf8LvJ_q7OJaVokjJeXONRA6gra7PaC8tZvkBCC0rcUwlXR_NsMT131wF6VlKuNe_yhR-F2QWRn4PRJP6FEnQcyWy_RQrG3M9mFnicqRAde5UnSd_0ge4FSl/s1600/IMG_1454.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOda3LnQJaI6a4ib7xv8ZTNf8LvJ_q7OJaVokjJeXONRA6gra7PaC8tZvkBCC0rcUwlXR_NsMT131wF6VlKuNe_yhR-F2QWRn4PRJP6FEnQcyWy_RQrG3M9mFnicqRAde5UnSd_0ge4FSl/s320/IMG_1454.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And so began the task of making the two meet. Quite simple really, just bash away with a mallet. I began with a rubber mallet as I didn't want to damage anything too badly. Unfortunately it required a hell of a lot more hits to get pieces of metal to where I wanted them, and then I realised it didn't really matter if I damaged anything - it was all getting covered up anyway!! I moved to my 3 lb dead-blow mallet and voila! Metal meets metal :) I must admit though, my wrist is a little bit worse for wear after swinging such a heavy mallet in such a restricted space for so long... ah well, life goes on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The final step was to throw on some Sikaflex to seal up the remaining gaps... it was an incredibly messy and sticky job. It's also not the prettiest job I've ever done (that I can openly confess) but despite my best efforts with the mallet I still had a couple of areas that weren't as close as I would've liked. The result was a requirement to throw in a heap of Sikaflex to get it to seal properly. At least I can cut off the overlap once it's set :) and even if it's still not tidy? At least it's all properly sealed and will stop unnecessary dirt and water getting into the car... winner winner, chicken dinner.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And so concludes part 5 of this epic series... Stay tuned for part 6 to come out whenever I feel I've accomplished enough to warrant a new entry ;)</span></div>
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</span>_Clinno_http://www.blogger.com/profile/15758751614854894618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030408022090936981.post-35913414368972951972013-04-25T18:07:00.000+10:002013-05-25T16:48:35.447+10:00Project Correct-a-Car pt. 4: Aesthetics & Procrastination Galore!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Onwards with progress... although I will admit not as much as I'd like. The last few weekends have been full of everything but working on the car - birthday parties, bucks nights, gardening and helping people move amongst other things. A fair bit of time has also been spent on acquiring parts as well... an expensive but necessary endeavor that has made motivation dry up a tad - having nothing shiny and new to play with really does put a bit of a dampener on things!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyways, as I said before, onwards. You might remember in the last post I bought a bunch of genuine Nissan bits and pieces. This meant I was able finally get around to updating the dreary rocker cover in the form of a new coat of paint. I had an anodized coat on Edna's which I was quite fond of, so I decided to do the same thing again only in a different colour.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">An anodized paint (at least out of a rattle can) contains what appears to be a really fine glitter to give you a faux-chrome finish. For the effect to be as effective as possible, you apply a base coat followed by a top coat - both of which are full of sparkles and glitter and ponies and lollipops. The base coat provides a nice and shiny foundation, so by the time you put on the nice and shiny top coat, the 2 paints work together to give you a finish you don't get out of a standard enamel paint. Watching this stuff go on whilst the sun hits it is quite mesmerising I must say!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkErdipBWxq8e8aOaxJBH3AnxvYfHnRpset_kqXESApZMXXgpMHhzPpOqaXGAWp6WPEoqUjZ9AaEt3yuGGvLJSz8HAtII-jF2GyoGOC3PbsloXn8HjkZ14tgj2rbc7mEdruZurCTw1NgUf/s1600/IMG_1351.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkErdipBWxq8e8aOaxJBH3AnxvYfHnRpset_kqXESApZMXXgpMHhzPpOqaXGAWp6WPEoqUjZ9AaEt3yuGGvLJSz8HAtII-jF2GyoGOC3PbsloXn8HjkZ14tgj2rbc7mEdruZurCTw1NgUf/s320/IMG_1351.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here you have the end result, complete with the obligatory sanding of the letters to give you some great contrast. I'm sure that you'd agree that it immediately makes the engine look 100% better. Before I put the rocker cover back on though, I took the time to inspect the spark plugs, cams, timing chain etc. which were all in good nick, although I found out the engine had rocker-arm stoppers installed - a fact the previous owner forgot to tell me about. Not that I'm complaining mind you, they help extend the engines life, especially when it's regularly getting up to the red-line. Winner winner, chicken dinner :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhIQnbi1eFKM1uEBIGeEyf9tVD-mUJdp6zd0pUHTqFCZ7A2wDB5T7KO8GDvkmnA6kmnngw5hyphenhyphen21hS1ytT8Odhuw14PFbhhc6Go6JyHArLSlyZttfDAZXCGd7CqpHGg5Zvg78DTkwgzXxda/s1600/IMG_1414.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhIQnbi1eFKM1uEBIGeEyf9tVD-mUJdp6zd0pUHTqFCZ7A2wDB5T7KO8GDvkmnA6kmnngw5hyphenhyphen21hS1ytT8Odhuw14PFbhhc6Go6JyHArLSlyZttfDAZXCGd7CqpHGg5Zvg78DTkwgzXxda/s320/IMG_1414.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I also decided to give the strut brace a bit of a freshen up while I was at it. The original finish was cracking and showing signs of surface rust, so the same paint was used for the sake of consistency. I also painted the centre section black as opposed to tarnished metal. Can't wait to see it all back together!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">From here I moved onto the turbo to try and find the source of the oil leak that has been plaguing this car ever since she came into my possession. The diagnosis was pretty simple - smoke comes out of the back of the turbo as well as the exhaust when the engine is up to temperature... but to throw a spanner in the works you can turn the engine off and back on and the smoke disappears... try diagnosing that.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI5pAClwdYUOYBdngLQNT6D34Me9EMpCeHwXkt1t8QK5KRBGTLmy5aPRBNPvdQZu6DJpdCbOnsnEExJIJ1yca36nyCI9gHW95xTwzn7R68D-alCvYnDHxL96AiiFvivxWgemyy8g2IESnw/s1600/IMG_1352.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI5pAClwdYUOYBdngLQNT6D34Me9EMpCeHwXkt1t8QK5KRBGTLmy5aPRBNPvdQZu6DJpdCbOnsnEExJIJ1yca36nyCI9gHW95xTwzn7R68D-alCvYnDHxL96AiiFvivxWgemyy8g2IESnw/s320/IMG_1352.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyhow I got into pulling the turbo off the engine (first time doing that as well), and upon inspecting the back of the turbo I couldn't find any traces of oil. The surface above looks quite shiny, but running my finger along it showed no oily residue... it needs to be noted though that the turbo can exceed 1025'C in temperature so any oil could have simply burned off. I decided to go deeper...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc7Rr4NiUzUPKwZL-zioKp3KwU2Q0fOZtAm5wOi-5P2BrNePinzIRpC8kPlM4dCZ1OB60LWZDls3u2hvtvxcot2t0DbWxuHoYaumoD3OUlEL3rvta4igMe8-kCkJJNcTKlVSunw3eEEbFK/s1600/IMG_1354.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc7Rr4NiUzUPKwZL-zioKp3KwU2Q0fOZtAm5wOi-5P2BrNePinzIRpC8kPlM4dCZ1OB60LWZDls3u2hvtvxcot2t0DbWxuHoYaumoD3OUlEL3rvta4igMe8-kCkJJNcTKlVSunw3eEEbFK/s320/IMG_1354.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">...and I'm glad that I did. Once I separated the back of the turbo housing from the turbo itself, I found quite a lot of oil around the outlet turbine. Further inspection shows that one of the seals is either loose or has dirt in there which is preventing it from sealing properly. Now that I know where I stand, I'll look into repairing it first to see if I've fixed the problem, and replace it further down the track if necessary. I'd simply like to avoid spending more money than I have to, which any decent person would certainly agree with.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0LVvFLGrA2xOvYYGbGs0qmwOzXEvnSDLgZiRSI4s-zOhNY5HKgY3DRp7oecc3mf2-RgEONUO9X2-FoUK7gQMcFBrNr_bmDnB5JTUlA9z-dBWT94cIoO_Db2YAsIoE-YEvU11GStFlVAd6/s1600/IMG_1398.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0LVvFLGrA2xOvYYGbGs0qmwOzXEvnSDLgZiRSI4s-zOhNY5HKgY3DRp7oecc3mf2-RgEONUO9X2-FoUK7gQMcFBrNr_bmDnB5JTUlA9z-dBWT94cIoO_Db2YAsIoE-YEvU11GStFlVAd6/s320/IMG_1398.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I still can't figure out what to do with this damn sunroof!!! I tried looking into body soldering, and had very limited success with this i.e. not enough that I want to keep going with it... back to the drawing board once again (sigh).</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiauoJG3nEJi-k04mSSNLkl8YydrpSi7qAaY52OtU_-ECPGdT85bHLuM8RePCjVn750vMEZFC-SJlkhDVW7iaFFvIq3XWgQ3mLsjamsy1Tu3jb2B28KyHSGmOX47V9Dd-bTikjflNusWe5a/s1600/IMG_1413.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiauoJG3nEJi-k04mSSNLkl8YydrpSi7qAaY52OtU_-ECPGdT85bHLuM8RePCjVn750vMEZFC-SJlkhDVW7iaFFvIq3XWgQ3mLsjamsy1Tu3jb2B28KyHSGmOX47V9Dd-bTikjflNusWe5a/s320/IMG_1413.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thankfully I was able to source another stud for the coilover to replace the incredibly stripped one I pulled out. Not easy to track down I must say, but thanks to the boys at Nizzpro for sourcing a stud out of a wrecked pair of coilovers. At least I can drive with a bit more peace of mind now :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The engine bay was the next thing on my list... the sooner I get it sorted, the sooner the engine can go back in and the sooner I can re-claim some room in the garage to get ready for painting. I started off with the wires for the pop-up headlights... while they're a popular modification to drastically change the look of the car, they do require re-wiring the entire headlight loom to suit the new setup, as well as adding controls/power for the motors so you can raise/lower them.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOhcGgMCfU9psIm8YUPGfcmWGy1eFX0Zpo5gMb6OCbPxWTi9C34SjG6WhDGZmuGlfwX6gCcZyBLfu1rnVPED2riR6xLYh8Jubn1dvR1xYjLEcFh-kyPVX9CbVp2jplEylns2JCZ_V70H3m/s1600/IMG_1419.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOhcGgMCfU9psIm8YUPGfcmWGy1eFX0Zpo5gMb6OCbPxWTi9C34SjG6WhDGZmuGlfwX6gCcZyBLfu1rnVPED2riR6xLYh8Jubn1dvR1xYjLEcFh-kyPVX9CbVp2jplEylns2JCZ_V70H3m/s320/IMG_1419.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While the existing configuration wasn't terrible, I did want to re-route the wires and also add some plugs so I could disconnect / reconnect them at will. Trimming, soldering, terminating, insulating and cabletie-ing... all in a days work!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1gX44U2612iZB5h1qo_1mIAd1ddgUo5EEut6zR0ZSHFz401_IwT2vMXet0fTf3pA8HdFezLR0eD8RbFf5dDjt_WlBiM_FetBMf9Q8Dl1UiP0jOz6evaMDDizmAojUNNkP-uH1fCraf98G/s1600/IMG_1420.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1gX44U2612iZB5h1qo_1mIAd1ddgUo5EEut6zR0ZSHFz401_IwT2vMXet0fTf3pA8HdFezLR0eD8RbFf5dDjt_WlBiM_FetBMf9Q8Dl1UiP0jOz6evaMDDizmAojUNNkP-uH1fCraf98G/s320/IMG_1420.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Working on an engine bay is so much easier when there's not an engine in there!!! I know I'm pointing out the obvious here, but I haven't really had the luxury of doing this before, so it was a very pleasant surprise being able to do what I wanted to without having to jam my hand down the smallest hole possible to reach a bolt that I can only turn 1/4 turn at a time. Not only that, the radiator support provided a pretty effective seat, and the K-frame a good foot rest... Awwwwwww yeah!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgA6-fFTisNJ3I9ATg01sklFxxRUzLdj6_lF24x9wzooh_ISHw1f5vlO9SB0LrSCVuEzI_fw7d4SejyXphpFIQvaM4hfMy16Aud7SpqVR1Xcy9XRlzCrY9bcq9e27Buo3I0SZxLgWiohyphenhyphenH/s1600/IMG_1423.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgA6-fFTisNJ3I9ATg01sklFxxRUzLdj6_lF24x9wzooh_ISHw1f5vlO9SB0LrSCVuEzI_fw7d4SejyXphpFIQvaM4hfMy16Aud7SpqVR1Xcy9XRlzCrY9bcq9e27Buo3I0SZxLgWiohyphenhyphenH/s320/IMG_1423.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While I've still got a few more things I want to pull out, it's certainly a great start, and gives you a very good idea of what I have to work with / improve. I've removed all of the factory identification plates, disconnected all wires where possible, marked the holes I want to keep (the others are being welded) and tried to give me as much room as possible to start cleaning her guts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So that's the work that's been done in the last 2.5 weeks... Have a list of what's currently in the works :)</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Over-fenders currently on their way from Japan</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All new air vents and surrounds ordered for the dash, as the existing ones are cracked and broken beyond belief</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Preparing to grind back the rear fenders to sort out the abomination of body work there</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fix turbo and put it back together (inc. to engine)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Start prepping engine bay for painting</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Paint said engine bay</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Still a lot of work ahead of me, as this is only a list of the short term goals I want to accomplish in the next month or so... but with each week I get closer to getting to where I want to be.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Onwards :)</span></div>
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</span>_Clinno_http://www.blogger.com/profile/15758751614854894618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030408022090936981.post-53815062422164269782013-04-06T19:29:00.001+10:002013-05-25T16:48:23.093+10:00Project Correct-a-Car pt. 3: Ride Height & Coronary Removals<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had full intentions of throwing up something at the end of the long weekend - as is always the case though life got in the way. While I was able to get some stuff done Sunday, Monday was full of editing photos and doing work around the house, joy of joys! What I did manage to get done on Stacey I decided wasn't enough to warrant a whole new post, so let me start this off with what I accomplished with the remainder of the Easter weekend.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Super Cheap Auto had a massive 20% off store-wide, so I went and raided their stock for a bunch of things I knew I needed, others I wanted, and other general supplies as well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPuLqVG_Z4c3S5O9TJ12V8UM2jNMEkEcomCX5mKJAFBTIwgIGbgtltn7TW66Q20hNaI3teoq2D6LePP1oSmWknKMEJmYx0sSMkOBNp10kjj9wUMq5ExqE5ppx-Bd5pR1AiPw2r0bk1mqNh/s1600/IMG_1290.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPuLqVG_Z4c3S5O9TJ12V8UM2jNMEkEcomCX5mKJAFBTIwgIGbgtltn7TW66Q20hNaI3teoq2D6LePP1oSmWknKMEJmYx0sSMkOBNp10kjj9wUMq5ExqE5ppx-Bd5pR1AiPw2r0bk1mqNh/s320/IMG_1290.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One thing that I've seen done is to swap out the boring interior light for something a little bit more modern... and a hell of a lot more brighter. The kits are fantastic as they only cost about $20, and come with every single fitting you could possibly need to interface it to the system your car uses. I'll be sure to throw up a picture of how it looks when the interior gets put back together!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2hmS9UsoF67SGqnKNadnjOJN3SwOKZ1qnshzjjEIgTdli4FSwZ36eU6DtkayoydUZfdFzhTrh5eNbb8xQfiqvBbjXMaut-YNEbOu2gq3NubNHE_VnkAIZLMmBmLKo3tPJ3cP_CE5wFWc3/s1600/IMG_1294.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2hmS9UsoF67SGqnKNadnjOJN3SwOKZ1qnshzjjEIgTdli4FSwZ36eU6DtkayoydUZfdFzhTrh5eNbb8xQfiqvBbjXMaut-YNEbOu2gq3NubNHE_VnkAIZLMmBmLKo3tPJ3cP_CE5wFWc3/s320/IMG_1294.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">An oil change was also on the cards - she's never been done in the 15 months I've owned her. While this is sacrilege to even myself, there were 2 main reasons for this... 1) The oil was fresh when I got her, and 2) I would've been lucky to do 1,000 kms in her since I've owned her thanks to the various problems she's had combined with how conspicuous she is on the road. Excuses aside, I decided to bite the bullet and just do it - regardless of how little the car has been driven, the oil itself only has a limited life span, one that I'm sure expired a while ago. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY245g9i4qzavzXW4mWr5264HJZ4MqXU4Ut1ynwfwvWVZuAv3D_IOKnQylQyP_1X96JWRrAc9AvQOcDZqKihd8LNc1NqK-o5Ax2kNN87zWAmla3W6uaiWFab3SRMYYVJtOJiOLz0r7S4YM/s1600/IMG_1295.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY245g9i4qzavzXW4mWr5264HJZ4MqXU4Ut1ynwfwvWVZuAv3D_IOKnQylQyP_1X96JWRrAc9AvQOcDZqKihd8LNc1NqK-o5Ax2kNN87zWAmla3W6uaiWFab3SRMYYVJtOJiOLz0r7S4YM/s320/IMG_1295.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Draining the oil verified this - while it could've been worse it could've also been a lot better. Mind you, I did drain it all with an engine cleaner in it, so this could also be the gunk that's built up over the years. All I know is that I'm glad she's got some fresh fluid in her.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtHYcLD-JzArn3DzAybOAuc54DeOVAQJ24erP-kgCegDpAB880e8cOebwpQGzP3IrePgpAzEtxJ7gpbdSDrtLPwwzguyn_K3PalaPq69i_sz7YtQ2y1EZRnZQWPTO__8ILby3RP6TwUHn1/s1600/IMG_1296.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtHYcLD-JzArn3DzAybOAuc54DeOVAQJ24erP-kgCegDpAB880e8cOebwpQGzP3IrePgpAzEtxJ7gpbdSDrtLPwwzguyn_K3PalaPq69i_sz7YtQ2y1EZRnZQWPTO__8ILby3RP6TwUHn1/s320/IMG_1296.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I moved on to address the sunroof (my sincere apologies for the blurry photo). The condition of the paint suggested the rust had come back in force, so I decided to strip it back (again) to see if I could maybe hinder its progress a lot more better I did last time.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzC2a3br3in6aoxYm-2WmIVm9KCm1V26Vj324jGt5oo6-_0LWNyVQPjA2R5DcwKrnrwza1J9tWBFDVobYETQSQImvkvRTwUnVnKt1otLZUflMCb6U6WHIvKkevAJKvIDRa818L2cSeLJB9/s1600/IMG_1298.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzC2a3br3in6aoxYm-2WmIVm9KCm1V26Vj324jGt5oo6-_0LWNyVQPjA2R5DcwKrnrwza1J9tWBFDVobYETQSQImvkvRTwUnVnKt1otLZUflMCb6U6WHIvKkevAJKvIDRa818L2cSeLJB9/s320/IMG_1298.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Using only a flapper disc, I found that it wasn't all that bad - it was more the paint itself that was in terrible condition. Regardless, I threw on some rust converter and came up with a plan of attack to sort it out while it dried. More on this later.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8vFeAiia-ChE_6E5EJVdHqa46OpdzD-ZNmwMYMNYjpDoplXfgo970giutSkQBohp4z3bptZKwCPoA9Xj7licyrISEbBUcZfkHuuySe40RgOhHEPhZez9kF8gg4IMneR8YWovxqu1jhsOM/s1600/IMG_1300.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8vFeAiia-ChE_6E5EJVdHqa46OpdzD-ZNmwMYMNYjpDoplXfgo970giutSkQBohp4z3bptZKwCPoA9Xj7licyrISEbBUcZfkHuuySe40RgOhHEPhZez9kF8gg4IMneR8YWovxqu1jhsOM/s320/IMG_1300.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As I mentioned early on in this project, I've had issues with fuel leaking from the filler cap. After a bit of poking around I found that the filler throat (if it has an official name I don't know it) was completely loose. While there was evidence that it was secure once upon a time, it seems that that time ended a long time ago. Time!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivpoQJgnJN4IUNTxyfeKZQRtoag5iuq5_nH9mid-wyNV8cshbrzSlyt1lJw26WDSCwAKdFWEnQFQsSbMNQBaRGipfdtqIX51b27riwmI1Sen4OTgPlrFcIlVbjDGIeQrZLWhehOu9Mt0E8/s1600/IMG_1302.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivpoQJgnJN4IUNTxyfeKZQRtoag5iuq5_nH9mid-wyNV8cshbrzSlyt1lJw26WDSCwAKdFWEnQFQsSbMNQBaRGipfdtqIX51b27riwmI1Sen4OTgPlrFcIlVbjDGIeQrZLWhehOu9Mt0E8/s320/IMG_1302.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I got recommended this stuff - basically its sole purpose is to repair surfaces that come into regular contact with fuel. Can't remember the name of it for the life of me but the idea is very simple... You cut off however much you need, knead it until it all becomes the one colour, then mould it to whatever you need. I ran 2 strips, one on the inside of the throat and another around the outside just for some extra seal-age.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8vFeAiia-ChE_6E5EJVdHqa46OpdzD-ZNmwMYMNYjpDoplXfgo970giutSkQBohp4z3bptZKwCPoA9Xj7licyrISEbBUcZfkHuuySe40RgOhHEPhZez9kF8gg4IMneR8YWovxqu1jhsOM/s1600/IMG_1300.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Ro-6YJKI_fq3ac5b_h9S3oc8Yy8d6f8-BNW6TCgF8He0oLGvu2IqUnHecXhcA7kl7W4kRDw7Wil3OnPr3Q4HMOm4Zwz-nQgZRJxzgQl6gqk6EEHLRmr-AXh4AVvrvawlc7nzVcKmzECu/s1600/IMG_1303.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Ro-6YJKI_fq3ac5b_h9S3oc8Yy8d6f8-BNW6TCgF8He0oLGvu2IqUnHecXhcA7kl7W4kRDw7Wil3OnPr3Q4HMOm4Zwz-nQgZRJxzgQl6gqk6EEHLRmr-AXh4AVvrvawlc7nzVcKmzECu/s320/IMG_1303.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I decided (thanks to some pretty persuasive convincing by Casey) to make the move to over fenders vs. my existing bolt-on flares. The advantages were many...</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Don't have to repair existing damage</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Don't have to fill in any holes</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fixes issues with the state of the rear fenders</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Raising the ride height would make the car look ridiculous if left as is, no thanks to how high the previous owner had cut the cards, and there's nothing I can do to the existing fender to fix that</span></li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxTGxBVWirKxQHzMQ-PX9nn6rTq7zQKXjbH5ICJT64US_pzSmwnhowUShgII-_pWLAudG2M_RhYyQyocTltxJZs-57OS6VrtLyE-VY35aqbZxBXAEkMBivIKbyH0YzadgGfMc01GHKfcZ8/s1600/IMG_1304.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxTGxBVWirKxQHzMQ-PX9nn6rTq7zQKXjbH5ICJT64US_pzSmwnhowUShgII-_pWLAudG2M_RhYyQyocTltxJZs-57OS6VrtLyE-VY35aqbZxBXAEkMBivIKbyH0YzadgGfMc01GHKfcZ8/s320/IMG_1304.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This really does prove my point... I physically cannot make that look decent once I've raised the ride height. With over fenders, I at least have the luxury of hiding all of that, and it gives me a wheel arch (at least on the exterior) that will allow me to run a higher ride-height without looking like a complete spaz. Unfortunately these panels do cost money, and there's not a lot I can do with the paint until I get them, so I decided to fill in some time by raising the ride height anyway.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thanks to some decent adjustable coilovers, the ride height is easily adjusted without affecting the performance of the suspension itself. With some cheaper products or conventional suspension setups, the load on the spring changes with the ride height, which then drastically changes the performance of the coilover. It lamans terms you end up with a spring that is way too powerful/weak compared to the damper - your bump (spring compression) and rebound (gas strut returning to original length) end up different to each other. Far from ideal.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhieJ39wHAyZHCNV75Q_JiWERLCQiq2tGoXY2XiuiFU1-CYFLb5j05ZnXDb3mNuGkWmYBiJJhUthqgvmdiO4msKeexuB4wCzRB30CUvAar4eZfeK4RDL7FayibIMZY839lQz3V9a8lY01KW/s1600/IMG_1305.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhieJ39wHAyZHCNV75Q_JiWERLCQiq2tGoXY2XiuiFU1-CYFLb5j05ZnXDb3mNuGkWmYBiJJhUthqgvmdiO4msKeexuB4wCzRB30CUvAar4eZfeK4RDL7FayibIMZY839lQz3V9a8lY01KW/s320/IMG_1305.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">^^ Ideal. Yay!! With these (and most other) decent coilovers, the idea is simple. Loosen the locking collar (bottom green ring) from where the strut attaches to the hub (black bracket), undo the lower mount from the hub, and wind the lower mount down the threaded core to achieve the ride height I'm chasing. You can see how much I was after here - raising the ride height by approximately 10mm would hopefully get my chassis rails to 100mm, the lowest legal ride height I'm allowed to run.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE8q3XX5UMDL-i3ZoftT7TrZ4CkWDyUrUlxoZdJrdgDnMUYgUVIrNtKRFe-dX8vyiM8MlOn4lBMx6mnmA1Qu3hK1QSTk2uY_1uT4J6Moz1o4k_qRkRYz1KNQnhYPbwpodipONfXdAcuX8j/s1600/IMG_1306.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE8q3XX5UMDL-i3ZoftT7TrZ4CkWDyUrUlxoZdJrdgDnMUYgUVIrNtKRFe-dX8vyiM8MlOn4lBMx6mnmA1Qu3hK1QSTk2uY_1uT4J6Moz1o4k_qRkRYz1KNQnhYPbwpodipONfXdAcuX8j/s320/IMG_1306.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As is always the case, nuts holding your suspension together are generally done up as tight as possible for obvious reasons. Breaking them typically involves a tonne of Inox and quite a large breaker bar. Thankfully I had both :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwQ3_DfDp1UDkQuXqA-NW4A18BruSYX4LsZT1IWW6Yun3K_2Bw1mtcwmFpMF_JMHpNj034Rl_gtUGiBRrNoVgcNxkCzv5yr_jsdhCbh_eIw5jXp6oTRO-5zUBr44eE8MaF0s_3PACTPgEd/s1600/IMG_1309.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtoWRzLY5RLSno5ccAp0MA-iGuKGd7YUn6jLL1OXboA-j8ulGtGz3662N5pbZifHrplb_D670aQsdym_HB2LS4BPeBv_yYu4gIDFT62Ff3EfGrUW9S3futSd0b7j8z3haB4gxtJ4vUbXko/s1600/IMG_1308.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtoWRzLY5RLSno5ccAp0MA-iGuKGd7YUn6jLL1OXboA-j8ulGtGz3662N5pbZifHrplb_D670aQsdym_HB2LS4BPeBv_yYu4gIDFT62Ff3EfGrUW9S3futSd0b7j8z3haB4gxtJ4vUbXko/s320/IMG_1308.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can see how much I've wound the lower mount down. From here it was just a case of winding down and tightening the locking collar, and re-assembling the suspension components to each other. Rinse and Repeat x 4 and voila! You have a car that is now sitting at 100mm :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwQ3_DfDp1UDkQuXqA-NW4A18BruSYX4LsZT1IWW6Yun3K_2Bw1mtcwmFpMF_JMHpNj034Rl_gtUGiBRrNoVgcNxkCzv5yr_jsdhCbh_eIw5jXp6oTRO-5zUBr44eE8MaF0s_3PACTPgEd/s1600/IMG_1309.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwQ3_DfDp1UDkQuXqA-NW4A18BruSYX4LsZT1IWW6Yun3K_2Bw1mtcwmFpMF_JMHpNj034Rl_gtUGiBRrNoVgcNxkCzv5yr_jsdhCbh_eIw5jXp6oTRO-5zUBr44eE8MaF0s_3PACTPgEd/s320/IMG_1309.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I showed you a picture 2 posts ago about how one of the nuts from the front-left coilover was completely stripped. Thankfully I was able to extract it, so this little bad boy can be replaced... peace of mind is so underrated.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhObg1acAXrAJ9-mF2wLpZF5PodNWFusS73Qs8yZ5bt5cQAjK4ula30lp8q6mLFUgAt5oU9sop5QAFRTY_84_Lzb2-Oc4-S3AD9dOOOJi8nuphVWJ9ykFZ-xKO7UZ9cshvTIJN5m1Q81fNF/s1600/IMG_1310.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhObg1acAXrAJ9-mF2wLpZF5PodNWFusS73Qs8yZ5bt5cQAjK4ula30lp8q6mLFUgAt5oU9sop5QAFRTY_84_Lzb2-Oc4-S3AD9dOOOJi8nuphVWJ9ykFZ-xKO7UZ9cshvTIJN5m1Q81fNF/s320/IMG_1310.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Running out of time for the day meant time for another small job to be knocked off. Pink brake calipers -> black brake calipers saw the end of my work on Stacey for the long weekend.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This weekend started off innocently enough. I had originally planned to take it easy - after last weekend I wanted to have at least some time to myself where I didn't do anything... Yeah fat chance of that! My original plan was to borrow an engine crane and extract the engine on Sunday - Casey, who I was borrowing said engine crane off of was bored and had nothing to do today, so what the hell, might as well get it done.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh5P6FOi_s_qaCIZj0_EQiJMVMmvGJab3KF-A1B0I9Vo1CKVLklYTHFIz1m-kYfCkAybZ4Cwao48bvIaEm5ekjf_7f-_j5oWPcsfEKGopJ2Hz6YMJigJY22kIL4OlYSsG-llmuCtsn6J-Y/s1600/IMG_1316.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh5P6FOi_s_qaCIZj0_EQiJMVMmvGJab3KF-A1B0I9Vo1CKVLklYTHFIz1m-kYfCkAybZ4Cwao48bvIaEm5ekjf_7f-_j5oWPcsfEKGopJ2Hz6YMJigJY22kIL4OlYSsG-llmuCtsn6J-Y/s320/IMG_1316.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It all starts off with stripping the engine of anything that connects it to the chassis. Cabling for the coilpacks, fuel lines, intercooler piping, radiator hoses, alternator wires, you get the idea.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's the engine bay stripped (for the most part) of everything connected to the engine. So much more room!!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt6c3GLFQDX1EM6t_9tianQBOF7iw6NicKQo6DZXGDackXaxlSs3nV2aZs3B3EOl7ThprPWSS2Yu-PcAqLJijHyatwYDUsgsJ6Rvt0-GMKJzm41v4KJFXZmX5Ymp7ovyeNFwgOPaBeUnQ0/s1600/IMG_1320.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt6c3GLFQDX1EM6t_9tianQBOF7iw6NicKQo6DZXGDackXaxlSs3nV2aZs3B3EOl7ThprPWSS2Yu-PcAqLJijHyatwYDUsgsJ6Rvt0-GMKJzm41v4KJFXZmX5Ymp7ovyeNFwgOPaBeUnQ0/s320/IMG_1320.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I then proceeded to disconnect the tail shaft and the exhaust so the engine was free of anything that would've stopped it from coming out. The other goal here was to disconnect anything that's free to fall out or down once we start pulling the engine/gearbox out. For those that don't know, it is a hell of a lot easier to pull the engine and gearbox out as a single unit.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh5P6FOi_s_qaCIZj0_EQiJMVMmvGJab3KF-A1B0I9Vo1CKVLklYTHFIz1m-kYfCkAybZ4Cwao48bvIaEm5ekjf_7f-_j5oWPcsfEKGopJ2Hz6YMJigJY22kIL4OlYSsG-llmuCtsn6J-Y/s1600/IMG_1316.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijShFgb8IZhCA3UuEcIHmBVxJnd-wND2za8L0-ZSJhBb1uKM5xEUHZORaHtxPA4h7DCkSi8_YDpNF-EnKWqc8WHe8nCHfeQBy36BHYcx32kLWatK3Yf6oid96t-jy_-ImM4-sYM9YippDp/s1600/IMG_1321.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijShFgb8IZhCA3UuEcIHmBVxJnd-wND2za8L0-ZSJhBb1uKM5xEUHZORaHtxPA4h7DCkSi8_YDpNF-EnKWqc8WHe8nCHfeQBy36BHYcx32kLWatK3Yf6oid96t-jy_-ImM4-sYM9YippDp/s320/IMG_1321.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Casey's car was also enjoying testing the limits of our driveway...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDkF5f1u8T4-NNWl-4keUt4oVZvHJ0VEJYIqerRAE9uHJBS0XKy17PdPHyb9S_xlj13UyjLYtLpY1me85UbxiowyNuH0NEaUwh8wMF2i9t1yAUmysGTgpdjc7dJzxeTu18V4SLgycmwoKY/s1600/IMG_1323.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDkF5f1u8T4-NNWl-4keUt4oVZvHJ0VEJYIqerRAE9uHJBS0XKy17PdPHyb9S_xlj13UyjLYtLpY1me85UbxiowyNuH0NEaUwh8wMF2i9t1yAUmysGTgpdjc7dJzxeTu18V4SLgycmwoKY/s320/IMG_1323.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While I was under the car removing bits and pieces, Kim and Casey set about removing the gear stick. They found that the rubber boot that protects dirt from entering through the top of the gearbox was completely shagged, but the biggest fight here was the circlip that holds the gear stick in... Got to love a lack of proper tools (admittedly, one of the few instances where we don't have the right tool on hand).</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1eNL-_5oCFW6hVkQ1Y8hSv4dV0pdwr-vZ4ZuEKcEgaVz6eD5O03P0z6jV51087apS9K8gM2NwnlnPOV7y_KUFVivOQFL4eEPt98c8ODjCYym24M4qsKvWGJtFgC3XmA8uGDpDFuuqWhqY/s1600/IMG_1322.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1eNL-_5oCFW6hVkQ1Y8hSv4dV0pdwr-vZ4ZuEKcEgaVz6eD5O03P0z6jV51087apS9K8gM2NwnlnPOV7y_KUFVivOQFL4eEPt98c8ODjCYym24M4qsKvWGJtFgC3XmA8uGDpDFuuqWhqY/s320/IMG_1322.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The exhaust ended up coming completely out just so it wasn't crushed when we dropped the car onto all 4 wheels so we could give ourselves enough room to pull the engine out. First time ever removing a complete exhaust I might add! The tail shaft stayed in though, as it's design prevented it from moving into a position that would cause it to get damaged.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJYPkzWxLgaYYCY9TRrLNIjmiBG4kfq5BqtP-Zg4ct4GhiIFEqdSjafME61-pOE8ZcNPfXEdHQwOc4es8HR1T8tM2_rGW3CxVwRJSIorImL1GQ0M_tJXuoAZvSMtVuXfGYloh5XVTHSu8D/s1600/IMG_1324.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJYPkzWxLgaYYCY9TRrLNIjmiBG4kfq5BqtP-Zg4ct4GhiIFEqdSjafME61-pOE8ZcNPfXEdHQwOc4es8HR1T8tM2_rGW3CxVwRJSIorImL1GQ0M_tJXuoAZvSMtVuXfGYloh5XVTHSu8D/s320/IMG_1324.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Even with the ride height being raised, the car was too low to fit the engine crane under. We ended up having to throw the jack under her once again just to get enough clearance, and thanks to where the legs for the engine crane go, the jack ended up in a very tight spot indeed!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRcWF-AI97bthjgH6u1gLscw3VeALmk3RnBt59YNOCWloJlam8Fw88zYT5vsHnogrD9Quo1vobFS6D3fZvS12JZzej_b17Z9igHB2t-f9k-9Ewaat2zAQXJ0hcHrLcW0TtSZNyBSeKtnTz/s1600/IMG_1328.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRcWF-AI97bthjgH6u1gLscw3VeALmk3RnBt59YNOCWloJlam8Fw88zYT5vsHnogrD9Quo1vobFS6D3fZvS12JZzej_b17Z9igHB2t-f9k-9Ewaat2zAQXJ0hcHrLcW0TtSZNyBSeKtnTz/s320/IMG_1328.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And so began the task of pulling her heart out...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSN-xdE_pnwKAbdrnFCF5D0Q4kJ2dvPSr2Np25wfuo2fwMrkzSNOAekNoPBsqH_-676wgeoio7o4B4jAWbPIdNlawpj_8wHHObyfQ59EIenABt_mKWvmVXBHQfwKugzaaQ-ZMCbuBajlUW/s1600/IMG_1329.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSN-xdE_pnwKAbdrnFCF5D0Q4kJ2dvPSr2Np25wfuo2fwMrkzSNOAekNoPBsqH_-676wgeoio7o4B4jAWbPIdNlawpj_8wHHObyfQ59EIenABt_mKWvmVXBHQfwKugzaaQ-ZMCbuBajlUW/s320/IMG_1329.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The first job was to see if Casey's imrovised knot would hold... which it thankfully did :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFiT9AHmhr3MtTljL-Evfo17mNpDOzDbS-IOMyZ7zNXfUpSgQzRco8-QQ7N6ciCOr61mi61JYeqZg8uU3dfBcfm1NVbJ1jHvERzL1lXfMSytMsENCTAIF_TFnrI6JexW0mM_14deSHbWep/s1600/IMG_1330.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFiT9AHmhr3MtTljL-Evfo17mNpDOzDbS-IOMyZ7zNXfUpSgQzRco8-QQ7N6ciCOr61mi61JYeqZg8uU3dfBcfm1NVbJ1jHvERzL1lXfMSytMsENCTAIF_TFnrI6JexW0mM_14deSHbWep/s320/IMG_1330.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We got it to a point where it wouldn't come out any more. We originally thought that it was the gearbox catching on something as it was coming out, so we got Kim to push down on the gearbox while we tried to lift it... No success.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqWQZZgt5cXecUA3547ExMV0Z_Qrh79R9y9IUX-9oSrWobOP684W3z6iAhj7zAtCitrlKUVg-OcjOOR_RR0xucY6OR7izE12dTe2civ_GpgdQjSp1-0i6qkIk5Uq_EQ3GQ90_ItjLspFwX/s1600/IMG_1332.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqWQZZgt5cXecUA3547ExMV0Z_Qrh79R9y9IUX-9oSrWobOP684W3z6iAhj7zAtCitrlKUVg-OcjOOR_RR0xucY6OR7izE12dTe2civ_GpgdQjSp1-0i6qkIk5Uq_EQ3GQ90_ItjLspFwX/s320/IMG_1332.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It turned out that I'd forgotten to disconnect almost everything from the gearbox... when I say everything I mean the clutch slave cylinder and the speedo sensor. I had to facepalm myself given that they were the exact same things I forgot to disconnect when we pulled the engine out of Edna... Whoops! It looked like I might have damaged the hose that ran to the slave cylinder, but closer inspection revealed that I had dodged a pretty big bullet here. Always good to have more hands than are needed so we could remove the victims on the fly :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo_qqLhiZIcRsUcop0JWG4IT3xktKd2f3P55GT_V0wsXeEZbpiEWWuepXkU_OciPHVMbjhJecwouBwD2fnKVeY7M1eqeFO_1wK3ER0fySoGEcR7cG1Pf7euD5YMcWwsq2tIpRvZofkzIo4/s1600/IMG_1334.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo_qqLhiZIcRsUcop0JWG4IT3xktKd2f3P55GT_V0wsXeEZbpiEWWuepXkU_OciPHVMbjhJecwouBwD2fnKVeY7M1eqeFO_1wK3ER0fySoGEcR7cG1Pf7euD5YMcWwsq2tIpRvZofkzIo4/s320/IMG_1334.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And there we have the engine out!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihGqE8Z77OR9NV__fqFm4NRT9odHSq_AXiTYLx6oTt4hgnpxcPFyMs-V4hDUlxfoky0ooWQgXBin0JMe6tFx1q9wrWUSMuvysrPp3g_WUCcgNLzaMiYE1DhW9V5UX-zsbaWUciQJPa-CEe/s1600/IMG_1335.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihGqE8Z77OR9NV__fqFm4NRT9odHSq_AXiTYLx6oTt4hgnpxcPFyMs-V4hDUlxfoky0ooWQgXBin0JMe6tFx1q9wrWUSMuvysrPp3g_WUCcgNLzaMiYE1DhW9V5UX-zsbaWUciQJPa-CEe/s320/IMG_1335.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On a side note, I must say it is quite an impressive collection of panels and parts that's growing out the side of the house...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo_qqLhiZIcRsUcop0JWG4IT3xktKd2f3P55GT_V0wsXeEZbpiEWWuepXkU_OciPHVMbjhJecwouBwD2fnKVeY7M1eqeFO_1wK3ER0fySoGEcR7cG1Pf7euD5YMcWwsq2tIpRvZofkzIo4/s1600/IMG_1334.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj353_3MA4bGtgEOEPuMvyEo6XkD2TbWr-mk2Wnr1zB2HCGsRCLPWGgWyg7v4P1PxzeR5aIBlKXYbdyFN5aRB7mgEG0QL-Lbd0L39varCTlB5HnwqJxduwZi7Y_lqfntQiv-FLiRD-jcjWH/s1600/IMG_1336.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj353_3MA4bGtgEOEPuMvyEo6XkD2TbWr-mk2Wnr1zB2HCGsRCLPWGgWyg7v4P1PxzeR5aIBlKXYbdyFN5aRB7mgEG0QL-Lbd0L39varCTlB5HnwqJxduwZi7Y_lqfntQiv-FLiRD-jcjWH/s320/IMG_1336.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I also picked up some new parts... in particular, some Nismo engine and gearbox mounts, as well as some new gaskets for the engine. Because I want to paint the top of the engine as part of this whole 'freshen up', I need to pull the rocker cover off, and consequently the rocker cover gasket. It's always good practice to replace any gaskets once they are removed, and there's nothing better than genuine Nissan parts.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRDNcCsoBoZBr24JLinj1gVj8ZM_zqwy-JKw-eQmg5Ks2InaEXEDlFtnuzJn1i6mDhFlD7PVnkRsRWUl0Y_6Sfhwfe6viCsXkmGdbOCbE_PZq4AppPqB1htO1X0VYKgiM5WCaA2hxcLdsi/s1600/IMG_1337.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRDNcCsoBoZBr24JLinj1gVj8ZM_zqwy-JKw-eQmg5Ks2InaEXEDlFtnuzJn1i6mDhFlD7PVnkRsRWUl0Y_6Sfhwfe6viCsXkmGdbOCbE_PZq4AppPqB1htO1X0VYKgiM5WCaA2hxcLdsi/s320/IMG_1337.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The mounts are a bit different story as you can see... The previous owner had installed solid mounts (the orange suckers) - great for drifting, but useless on the street. With solid mounts, you don't get any flex from the engine/drive train which translates to more accurate throttle response. The unfortunate bi-product is that every vibration from the engine transmits through to the entire car, making for a very loud and uncomfortable ride. The Nismo mounts (black suckers) are certainly stiffer than the factory items which helps with throttle response, but still provide some much-needed flex.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm going to finish this long post with a picture of what's left of the engine bay... My next goal is to tidy that up as much as I possibly can. A clean will be a great start, but I also want to give it a fresh coat of paint because that paint is stained beyond belief - no amount of cleaning will give me a uniform white, or even an off-white. I'm also planning to remove a bunch of stuff that I don't need, and re-route a bunch of stuff that I do. Stay tuned :)</span></div>
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</span>_Clinno_http://www.blogger.com/profile/15758751614854894618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030408022090936981.post-13776088784058485042013-03-29T19:36:00.003+10:002013-05-25T16:39:34.156+10:00Project Correct-a-Car pt. 2: Panels & Interior<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No rest for the wicked as work continues turning this pig into much more appealing bacon... Here's where we sit after the first week.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Replacing the drivers side door was pretty high on my list - it was a big job that just needed to be done, so I figured why not do it next. While I've never removed a door before, I do have a Bachelor in Engineering so come on, how hard can it be? Turns out not hard at all. It was pretty straight forward to remove, just unplug/unclip all of the cables, run them back through the rubber grommet, unbolt all of the accessories (central locking, windows, power motors etc) and then unbolt the door itself. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-L-Vg6kid0YurpyUAksWzJzJxxSFlXqXgHboA-fXsWaGa1QNf0SjdAPV6Pc9H2bXB9S5yudkHCzPTvxCufBI1UPIjodEV5qbx3gq0lb2ZsV1IpymKI6VXTX8cLBhrNeiuFfB6tpZdmSah/s1600/IMG_1248.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-L-Vg6kid0YurpyUAksWzJzJxxSFlXqXgHboA-fXsWaGa1QNf0SjdAPV6Pc9H2bXB9S5yudkHCzPTvxCufBI1UPIjodEV5qbx3gq0lb2ZsV1IpymKI6VXTX8cLBhrNeiuFfB6tpZdmSah/s320/IMG_1248.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That said, I still had to remove the front fender to get to half of the bolts, but once that was done it was indeed pretty smooth sailing. I have heard that re-aligning the new door can be quite tricky in terms of getting the latches to line up, so I also took the precaution of spray painting over the old hinges which would give me an outline to help line up the new door properly.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwPT-9oicfD17Fv-1wFqIUlLnS6yIEIZonrlpxliPJImTVEVEQGD96UAHMEVMgMHVzIyE01lIzRqHUuKncuIMThEtE0qljD9EqrrGAq4cErMsD9SpYsrDSmx-h4uT4yqOZXlRAPq4PsgPA/s1600/IMG_1247.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwPT-9oicfD17Fv-1wFqIUlLnS6yIEIZonrlpxliPJImTVEVEQGD96UAHMEVMgMHVzIyE01lIzRqHUuKncuIMThEtE0qljD9EqrrGAq4cErMsD9SpYsrDSmx-h4uT4yqOZXlRAPq4PsgPA/s320/IMG_1247.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Couldn't resist the opportunity to sit in a car without a door though... I've never been in a situation where such a thing is possible! I must admit, it felt very strange looking out and seeing... well, everything really. I can imagine that the advantages for motor racing would be many, primarily being able to see the apex of a corner directly instead of trusting that it will be there. I then thought that the costs would outweigh the benefits, as any hard left-hander could potentially through you out of the car... Then I started off down the Mad Max route, picturing many many things... A boy can dream, and dream I did :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguJl57Gv_9i4oAGb1J8A9StH23auak8NLbp1g75mBKxgZzjaZk5IQ70kBuk4YHEUoNiatA7my6bDXGXHQx00kKfnA3dDIK24ncNj0ewfrKsN2XI2y82PjUxFPq6iC-ECB0RTNi9AdCy382/s1600/IMG_1249.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguJl57Gv_9i4oAGb1J8A9StH23auak8NLbp1g75mBKxgZzjaZk5IQ70kBuk4YHEUoNiatA7my6bDXGXHQx00kKfnA3dDIK24ncNj0ewfrKsN2XI2y82PjUxFPq6iC-ECB0RTNi9AdCy382/s320/IMG_1249.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Part of this job included swapping over the lock from the old door to the new one so that I could still use my key to get into the car - a pretty important step I'm sure you'd agree. It was only after I removed the handle from the old door did I realise just how messed up the old door was.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPgNR1rDKX4BRnIZDPf8SHtzVpSequsnqSl8r3jWieowM0z19rWeM7DIx_68u2UleL3Kl7o3WVzOt_g_U77lV4jiw3EpHWm-dJYPXsHxTqBb3q_zlXDPCeIfqTiVXRGQVR7P01jlHORlnF/s1600/IMG_1250.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPgNR1rDKX4BRnIZDPf8SHtzVpSequsnqSl8r3jWieowM0z19rWeM7DIx_68u2UleL3Kl7o3WVzOt_g_U77lV4jiw3EpHWm-dJYPXsHxTqBb3q_zlXDPCeIfqTiVXRGQVR7P01jlHORlnF/s320/IMG_1250.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">New door fitted!!! I will admit, it doesn't look very new at all thanks to it being a test panel, but it lined up beautifully with the handle and locks working as they should. It also allowed me to picture the whole car in that colour, and I've gotta say, I'm really excited to see how she comes together over the coming weeks/months :) :) :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE5Cmf5NG3oDFWhyrz2W8haqzpSRKpTS9ARnEO6d6BYCob0Luaqc9KU8dARjPaof6J0WFwQUf9kylwNGMrLxqVI-10omTYMx6xHIklKw9ZRDpXJskpYiPQn97kYdJUfUh32kTHAhFHzv_w/s1600/IMG_1251.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE5Cmf5NG3oDFWhyrz2W8haqzpSRKpTS9ARnEO6d6BYCob0Luaqc9KU8dARjPaof6J0WFwQUf9kylwNGMrLxqVI-10omTYMx6xHIklKw9ZRDpXJskpYiPQn97kYdJUfUh32kTHAhFHzv_w/s320/IMG_1251.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">From there it was simply a case of re-installing the wires and accessories. I got quite lucky in that the replacement door already came with the internal door handle, as well as all of the mechanisms, rods and latches that are required to allow a door to do what a door is supposed to do, which made my job incredibly easy. Dealing with a bunch of steel rods in a cramped space with a hand as big as mine is not exactly pleasant... so to be able to bypass that completely was a very pleasant surprise.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">From here I moved onto the passengers side to address a faulty power window motor that died about a month ago. When I was originally started planning everything, I was only chasing a drivers side door but ended up getting both a drivers and a passengers because the seller wouldn't let one go by itself - it was both or none. While the drivers door only really came as a shell, the passengers came with everything - mirror, motors, glass, regulators etc. I was originally looking at selling it as a complete door but in hindsight I'm really glad that never came off! This meant I had a whole new power window mechanism to transplant into the existing door.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE_F-6KEoW1Fh-QNENZYELCm2EldExyEGP_Zhe6cijBFUbS5A6kua2LCh3d7gmUWiv_9xVFu9LS6uoU0wB2p5iCeqvfTVFGsgx7IvtLYnPC2c3SxrmwunxtgkQxIuIPt8B9QY_j0kBiCy0/s1600/IMG_1271.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE_F-6KEoW1Fh-QNENZYELCm2EldExyEGP_Zhe6cijBFUbS5A6kua2LCh3d7gmUWiv_9xVFu9LS6uoU0wB2p5iCeqvfTVFGsgx7IvtLYnPC2c3SxrmwunxtgkQxIuIPt8B9QY_j0kBiCy0/s320/IMG_1271.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ideally you use the motor to put the glass in such a position so you can access the bolts that secure the glass to the motor so you can remove it - given that I had a dead motor, I unfortunately did NOT have that luxury (sad panda) and instead had to undo 4 bolts with a 10mm spanner a quarter turn at a time... all the while jamming my hand into the most uncomfortable position I could fathom just to reach the damn things.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXTqQB4K6k0yyckNFGSq2EMAQeWHgugbEhSHYLzWA6fCQNVOUiKCfI0bTFskNN1Cwk2UA3gAvxLnIT3YRvNoiB29_BwRAgzWPjRdtD92kDutmvGEPcSZsmksCyO8AnZl3XVcdxnTzt7Pkv/s1600/IMG_1272.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXTqQB4K6k0yyckNFGSq2EMAQeWHgugbEhSHYLzWA6fCQNVOUiKCfI0bTFskNN1Cwk2UA3gAvxLnIT3YRvNoiB29_BwRAgzWPjRdtD92kDutmvGEPcSZsmksCyO8AnZl3XVcdxnTzt7Pkv/s320/IMG_1272.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Needless to say I tested the new mechanism before I installed it... Great Success!!!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYD3ngXh-OSJdGvxmatEpCf2KkytoU0BR5sqNDy9AqF_m53iWhsM9Xxl8h5YcFco4PLZKJTFRZyJFnEgp2_ncVzX7b82YWxVzWhGFesYwBNBixQkLC3jO_kt0p1O55vmqIidGAQc438_di/s1600/IMG_1269.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYD3ngXh-OSJdGvxmatEpCf2KkytoU0BR5sqNDy9AqF_m53iWhsM9Xxl8h5YcFco4PLZKJTFRZyJFnEgp2_ncVzX7b82YWxVzWhGFesYwBNBixQkLC3jO_kt0p1O55vmqIidGAQc438_di/s320/IMG_1269.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gotta love older cars... They have so many flat surfaces that just turn into useful storage areas :) although apparently not by me... Katie was cleaning her car at the time, so sure, go for it =P</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1iZ9uAlEICSdBapmgePwL512qWXiAVndAtKvEStjrKH2S8607esVhL9QNAiUkcfqQMktGtfAy8mBN2knw6ttmz3YBiXO5E0kmPckU1HP4ULXnpBEFLmMVGmFMWuxM-DjMU7ujlR66OIum/s1600/IMG_1273.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1iZ9uAlEICSdBapmgePwL512qWXiAVndAtKvEStjrKH2S8607esVhL9QNAiUkcfqQMktGtfAy8mBN2knw6ttmz3YBiXO5E0kmPckU1HP4ULXnpBEFLmMVGmFMWuxM-DjMU7ujlR66OIum/s320/IMG_1273.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The next item on my agenda to address was the abysmal interior. The idea here was that if I could at least get it clean early on in the piece, it would allow whatever death and pestilence that had worked its way in over the years to properly air out. This becomes even more relevant given that I'm buying all new carpets for when I piece her back together, so I'd really appreciate it if I could start fresh and turn the interior into a place I'd rather be, instead of have to be.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgluEEMuEZoLqDxFyTbqgOiosIAf_ZLSlBwjRlX5i24_ImgDL4A4JbJvOpLbaZyGAESB5_VUnES2UscCa3vtC1IXlQfWlyDX-MgPOGgu7o43b3wDQMMQ16uSedPFON0HJjTTdcgdfSEWvvr/s1600/IMG_1274.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgluEEMuEZoLqDxFyTbqgOiosIAf_ZLSlBwjRlX5i24_ImgDL4A4JbJvOpLbaZyGAESB5_VUnES2UscCa3vtC1IXlQfWlyDX-MgPOGgu7o43b3wDQMMQ16uSedPFON0HJjTTdcgdfSEWvvr/s320/IMG_1274.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I started off with getting all of the seats and interior plastics out in the hope that the carpet would just lift out, but no, Nissan in their infinite wisdom decided to make sure that the carpet never moved, even in the most extreme of circumstances. They ran it completely under the dash - to the point that it ran both over and through some brackets, and required others to be completely removed to pull the carpet back. (Sigh) guess what that means...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9ioAogrFexjlg1dc80e2foR1Lbj-YEdza9DJpKsirBoZY2Oes7nSREmjq22xZ2wLQ0OhNZLXiXrfjI90IEi3R7geElZQ1gybcSpQuf0U9OwyP8lLOpjelnkhSf8_El335IqaicrbGXtuC/s1600/IMG_1276.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9ioAogrFexjlg1dc80e2foR1Lbj-YEdza9DJpKsirBoZY2Oes7nSREmjq22xZ2wLQ0OhNZLXiXrfjI90IEi3R7geElZQ1gybcSpQuf0U9OwyP8lLOpjelnkhSf8_El335IqaicrbGXtuC/s1600/IMG_1276.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9ioAogrFexjlg1dc80e2foR1Lbj-YEdza9DJpKsirBoZY2Oes7nSREmjq22xZ2wLQ0OhNZLXiXrfjI90IEi3R7geElZQ1gybcSpQuf0U9OwyP8lLOpjelnkhSf8_El335IqaicrbGXtuC/s320/IMG_1276.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... dash completely out so I could remove the freaking thing. Oh goody.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Seeing the carpet in its entirety under some proper light made me realise just how poor a condition it's in. Those stains you see are permanent, with dirt ingrained in almost every other surface. This photo really doesn't do it justice.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Fbh3ukNNKJj9i0tgMXd2DKL1Xl9ZJ08sCINMXvkJUWoGknRCotzB48pBmp9vQn5QLpFVpPlOU6XniyNkprmSegVI2iINBQg-_MHoB-vA3vljA1HO_g9vx6ahsPsPWX_V1BHmYu61WoWj/s1600/IMG_1278.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Fbh3ukNNKJj9i0tgMXd2DKL1Xl9ZJ08sCINMXvkJUWoGknRCotzB48pBmp9vQn5QLpFVpPlOU6XniyNkprmSegVI2iINBQg-_MHoB-vA3vljA1HO_g9vx6ahsPsPWX_V1BHmYu61WoWj/s320/IMG_1278.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The underside showed a much more dire situation - half of that padding was still sodden from rain we had back in January, with a fair section also full of mold.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj00SerB1XBRixsWn2QmWiiLjh5Hnq1ItbP9sqvGOxvFICYRDOvZ_VX18ehKsBEvG2Fg16OyjyMa7XMgYq8MOoAgGxLMYubyvFv2oa7LeHNBKsCzC5yDhT74cd76ipULvWdrOvnZecCXFEX/s1600/IMG_1279.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj00SerB1XBRixsWn2QmWiiLjh5Hnq1ItbP9sqvGOxvFICYRDOvZ_VX18ehKsBEvG2Fg16OyjyMa7XMgYq8MOoAgGxLMYubyvFv2oa7LeHNBKsCzC5yDhT74cd76ipULvWdrOvnZecCXFEX/s320/IMG_1279.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pulling it out showed me an interior that couldn't have been less hygienic if you tried. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJdQpZ6x5E7Whx86XoV66orxqhY69K1kV3ULII_p18AIbcoHrlaWOmV2skxsjDdLg17wET0Bmp4lf91P8PbW5veLKHCYU83lSf5UKxXk22IuQz1BpETEHVPCL4SCBsi6OEs5_u2vvrsdQQ/s1600/IMG_1280.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJdQpZ6x5E7Whx86XoV66orxqhY69K1kV3ULII_p18AIbcoHrlaWOmV2skxsjDdLg17wET0Bmp4lf91P8PbW5veLKHCYU83lSf5UKxXk22IuQz1BpETEHVPCL4SCBsi6OEs5_u2vvrsdQQ/s320/IMG_1280.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This picture affirms the notion behind this whole endeavor - it's no wonder why the interior smelt so bad!!! Possibly the most disgusting bit was actually having to get back in there, and your feet just slid thanks to the grease, grime, sodden moisture and general crap that had accumulated over the years. Once you got out, you left yellow foot prints on the garage floor... Woot. Certainly made me think back to the amount of time I spent on that carpet back when I had all of those electrical faults... *shudders*</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE99p4s68qZLYu4_vw1YS3hK7hceICapztjVpy5h6XPQrViFUbrCgE8Ewedohh5nmVAhsper1z3RsGdYAx8OoEyuFFgk1LsKFCDzcOUwcEMKMBU9bMtNaUbrabanEgmCPg74808bQOY6kv/s1600/IMG_1281.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE99p4s68qZLYu4_vw1YS3hK7hceICapztjVpy5h6XPQrViFUbrCgE8Ewedohh5nmVAhsper1z3RsGdYAx8OoEyuFFgk1LsKFCDzcOUwcEMKMBU9bMtNaUbrabanEgmCPg74808bQOY6kv/s320/IMG_1281.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I couldn't ignore the fact though that I had a completely stripped interior (sunroof included) ready to start cleaning, so it was a necessary evil.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYwOqDInDLVv-LPMk81D7C9OGouDfznxjNLZinfWyu3QaawVdKJ5I6RVjkV527TP-g1wpyhG1XJcrl1y0CSr6frjvNyFB0rOpzX_DcxAC93Kkhel-4utXb-hmOVMyHj_nN33cdvSu8hz0t/s1600/IMG_1283.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYwOqDInDLVv-LPMk81D7C9OGouDfznxjNLZinfWyu3QaawVdKJ5I6RVjkV527TP-g1wpyhG1XJcrl1y0CSr6frjvNyFB0rOpzX_DcxAC93Kkhel-4utXb-hmOVMyHj_nN33cdvSu8hz0t/s320/IMG_1283.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's amazing what you find when you have a completely bare interior that hasn't been cleaned in probably ever. Take this house key for instance...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuXrAEQNc9eiBF-EOIBC1yn5JNAq3wQr0S7J4g7h5U0NpBDvqGY1t6FGnynrW40q8TNiOKvO3XcWrWyaFVH2PlH9wsOXyDiIuW_mRcPjv5d6J3qJA0J0nVgZ8jglC0N6BqBDv1btwhWIjP/s1600/IMG_1284.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuXrAEQNc9eiBF-EOIBC1yn5JNAq3wQr0S7J4g7h5U0NpBDvqGY1t6FGnynrW40q8TNiOKvO3XcWrWyaFVH2PlH9wsOXyDiIuW_mRcPjv5d6J3qJA0J0nVgZ8jglC0N6BqBDv1btwhWIjP/s320/IMG_1284.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">...or a random hole that has been cut into the C-Pillar for no reason that comes to mind. Amongst the gunk there was also a ridiculous number of balls from some unfortunate ball bearing that lost its guts, 3 loose random screws (all in the one place strangely enough), some broken glass and a 10c coin. Not even enough to get a soft serve from Maccas for my troubles :(</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDpatWfSSfXyvfzpaFxBhlLcCFmk18YNFI-MLva4L-NNajuDIHhnzva11vHES5-ftlEgwz4uIEFSKjhIkijXnnrv-NDensAr11p-NFHrTdr7vsfAgEfEgaV_6zYrgKDnSh_O6I0rUVfvbz/s1600/IMG_1285.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDpatWfSSfXyvfzpaFxBhlLcCFmk18YNFI-MLva4L-NNajuDIHhnzva11vHES5-ftlEgwz4uIEFSKjhIkijXnnrv-NDensAr11p-NFHrTdr7vsfAgEfEgaV_6zYrgKDnSh_O6I0rUVfvbz/s320/IMG_1285.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So here we have all of the interior out of the car and stacked 'neatly' just to get it out of the garage. A literal 'Pile of Shit' if you will.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLefpoJseRNt529r76ZvuE83wLSj1gOBEnx7ftFBdiRYZhGZZSXP6ZzPwReasn_m99U9Zw1kzbo92iWUu4W0HOGTpOyj2unAEmaUgLrdkxm_4pAjgVHLUPQYcEMnaNEFGqUjn6zlb6TgC3/s1600/IMG_1286.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLefpoJseRNt529r76ZvuE83wLSj1gOBEnx7ftFBdiRYZhGZZSXP6ZzPwReasn_m99U9Zw1kzbo92iWUu4W0HOGTpOyj2unAEmaUgLrdkxm_4pAjgVHLUPQYcEMnaNEFGqUjn6zlb6TgC3/s320/IMG_1286.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And so the cleaning began. First with a scraper to remove the padding left over from the carpet, then with detergent and water and a sponge to remove what I could of the surface slime (scourer if necessary). Toweled dry, then attacked with a degreaser/multi-purpose spray to try and clean what was left. You can see the difference between the left side (half-cleaned) and the right side (not cleaned at all) above - what a difference, and this was only after using detergent.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJLh1WD_xK8Nfx_Szc5YBrCdFxiLLpxyGrwmkJn5aPSeVusX3rz73OwIBfna1LFBCIaztP4WqdASrpancIsypqt0y4ZIjnLyvGK3WGOsANh_0SI72G9kvqpMdQc1Pe892s7ObKy4Des3_w/s1600/IMG_1287.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJLh1WD_xK8Nfx_Szc5YBrCdFxiLLpxyGrwmkJn5aPSeVusX3rz73OwIBfna1LFBCIaztP4WqdASrpancIsypqt0y4ZIjnLyvGK3WGOsANh_0SI72G9kvqpMdQc1Pe892s7ObKy4Des3_w/s320/IMG_1287.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This was after cleaning just one half of the car...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBorerR6kEVAZAMqjmiiwTF_-4MJlCQub2mORPE-2f7cBZxiGJNl17MzKqzKGpe8x7PWaTLC5-qNqgKXgBxNxczh_d7Wr8z5sE15AEbjUecXyPC5iiEpPRpqOFaw7kjWYgO700a98DRGWj/s1600/IMG_1288.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBorerR6kEVAZAMqjmiiwTF_-4MJlCQub2mORPE-2f7cBZxiGJNl17MzKqzKGpe8x7PWaTLC5-qNqgKXgBxNxczh_d7Wr8z5sE15AEbjUecXyPC5iiEpPRpqOFaw7kjWYgO700a98DRGWj/s320/IMG_1288.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But you cannot argue with those results :) It certainly smells much fresher, looks much fresher... and gives me the opportunity to start afresh. I won't be re-installing any of the interior unless I have to to move her, simply because I want to give it every chance to wave goodbye to whatever foul ju-ju has been going on since 1993. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At some point I'll also be tracking down some dry ice to remove all of that sound deadening. Quite simple really, you basically snap freeze it with the dry ice, bash it with a mallet and it shatters - simple :) The goal here is that all of that sound deadening adds a fair whack of weight to the car - weight that I can happily do without.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So that's what has gone on in the last week... slow progress but sure progress. Stay tuned for another update at the end of this long weekend to see what else I've managed to tick off the list!</span></div>
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</span>_Clinno_http://www.blogger.com/profile/15758751614854894618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030408022090936981.post-87730345607181096242013-03-23T19:43:00.003+10:002013-05-25T16:42:19.334+10:00Project Correct-a-Car: The Beginning of a Long, Long Road<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well hasn't it been a while since I've posted anything here... Let me start off by showing you what's since happened to Edna.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBFdBEGYK6WLFR9bHZBxkuJfZXUwbj8K7UjpKQXn7QomNMel1Y-fzsfi4OSojwmkobTDEIMndcLQXJwAkaFco_zVvY6Qdb0-NjIdpbkZdcOiNRMjkoyQyXOZ7IUMwB133htaFwUR7Z0EBh/s1600/IMG_1008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9j_fDR6HEQ4BCxB7tbWDvP3lGmMSfOb_hnTpB4vf1cswt2QsLwjQQLP_fow31yfXo1SIo6RXX2iytzeSIhtMMmLe7HXm-_BotUrNcUZrvBu8eN3LeN-VNnDardyHZ5RtwR7KZITEVFt7q/s1600/IMG_1007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9j_fDR6HEQ4BCxB7tbWDvP3lGmMSfOb_hnTpB4vf1cswt2QsLwjQQLP_fow31yfXo1SIo6RXX2iytzeSIhtMMmLe7HXm-_BotUrNcUZrvBu8eN3LeN-VNnDardyHZ5RtwR7KZITEVFt7q/s1600/IMG_1007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6zMDznlhb2Otl-e23iqZ_ByqWor-OdwyrA_tZXck4uIp9pkc0PFq5DMdKSLwwgZrk8RT5HLdb3abrkHhQuL4jSj46cFCs1dm5K2HbGXcTtUzuz7R2q0hKuYMe7WfLkaryAnJulsk4IGod/s1600/IMG_1009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBFdBEGYK6WLFR9bHZBxkuJfZXUwbj8K7UjpKQXn7QomNMel1Y-fzsfi4OSojwmkobTDEIMndcLQXJwAkaFco_zVvY6Qdb0-NjIdpbkZdcOiNRMjkoyQyXOZ7IUMwB133htaFwUR7Z0EBh/s1600/IMG_1008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBFdBEGYK6WLFR9bHZBxkuJfZXUwbj8K7UjpKQXn7QomNMel1Y-fzsfi4OSojwmkobTDEIMndcLQXJwAkaFco_zVvY6Qdb0-NjIdpbkZdcOiNRMjkoyQyXOZ7IUMwB133htaFwUR7Z0EBh/s200/IMG_1008.JPG" width="200" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6zMDznlhb2Otl-e23iqZ_ByqWor-OdwyrA_tZXck4uIp9pkc0PFq5DMdKSLwwgZrk8RT5HLdb3abrkHhQuL4jSj46cFCs1dm5K2HbGXcTtUzuz7R2q0hKuYMe7WfLkaryAnJulsk4IGod/s200/IMG_1009.JPG" width="200" /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9j_fDR6HEQ4BCxB7tbWDvP3lGmMSfOb_hnTpB4vf1cswt2QsLwjQQLP_fow31yfXo1SIo6RXX2iytzeSIhtMMmLe7HXm-_BotUrNcUZrvBu8eN3LeN-VNnDardyHZ5RtwR7KZITEVFt7q/s1600/IMG_1007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9j_fDR6HEQ4BCxB7tbWDvP3lGmMSfOb_hnTpB4vf1cswt2QsLwjQQLP_fow31yfXo1SIo6RXX2iytzeSIhtMMmLe7HXm-_BotUrNcUZrvBu8eN3LeN-VNnDardyHZ5RtwR7KZITEVFt7q/s200/IMG_1007.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That's how she sits now, running and registered. The bloke I swapped her with for Stacey put an entirely new front end on and grafted together the various components from an S14a front end to work with the S15 chassis/body. Not a bad outcome, and one of the first in Australia to attempt such a thing. She's certainly not the car that I remember, and while I'm not a big fan of the wheel choice or the paint, that's a luxury I gave up when I let her go. Thankfully I had the opportunity to take her for a drive just before Christmas and to be 100% honest... damn I miss that car. It's amazing that given everything she's been through, her soul still exists, and exists exactly how I remember. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Alas, we make decisions and we move on... Unfortunately moving on with Stacey has been non-existent in the last couple of months. Come to think of it, the last time she had anything done to her (decently) was back in July last year. Given the amount of work I put into her to get her ready for that track day, I decided to just give it a break for a little bit... then the year got away from me. 5 weeks in Germany, Christmas/New Year break, crazy work period, moving house, settling in etc... Then once we got to the new place I couldn't even get her into the driveway thanks to an unnecessarily steep driveway. I'd love to say it's a fault with the house but that's really no excuse, car's just too low =P</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On top of all of that I've just finished spending the last month working on my mate's AE86, as his broomer has also been neglected since July (hell she didn't even have rego!). Due to him changing jobs, he was going to lose his company car therefore getting his car back on the road was top priority. Fixing rust, new paint, re-vitalising the interior amongst a few other things... That got finished this week, coming to a climax on Friday when she got a safety certificate and a new set of plates. Amazing to see how far she's come, and it has certainly whet my whistle to do the same to my veh-hih-cle (read: how American's butcher such a simple word).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've spent a damn long time wondering what to do with her... Do I sell her? Fix her up? Make her a track only car? I've been in a state of indecision for over a year trying to figure out what to do, but decided to bite the bullet and make an actual decision. Driving Edna made me realise just how much I miss having a streeter... so I decided to spend the time and money to get her to a point where I can (comfortably) drive her around on the street. Go for drives in the hills. Drive her to a racetrack. Take her to the shops. But the big kicker here is to be able to do that with the least chance of getting pulled over by the cops as possible. Let's be honest, her nature is to yell and scream for all attention to be on her, good or bad!!!! On top of that though, I would like to start tracking her properly next year in the IPRA (Improved Production Racing Australia) next year, but it would be nice to be able to drive her there and back without needing to get a tow-ball, trailer, and everything else that's needed for a track-only car.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKtqCj-1RTribqZCpypRhcUDE6PyXsMhJcHdtAD4XP-THdq12ZNULL0hEiGidCJvi2cNXv-5xHsQ6WSxtDV6bbo0BZUmlq7B1MLSFle0C8UdHg-8RebVcA5jsVO-d7E6H-MiWvO05bg_Ee/s1600/IMG_1180.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKtqCj-1RTribqZCpypRhcUDE6PyXsMhJcHdtAD4XP-THdq12ZNULL0hEiGidCJvi2cNXv-5xHsQ6WSxtDV6bbo0BZUmlq7B1MLSFle0C8UdHg-8RebVcA5jsVO-d7E6H-MiWvO05bg_Ee/s320/IMG_1180.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's the list of things I came up with in order to achieve that goal. It's by no means definitive, comprehensive or complete, but I figured it was a damn good starting point. You'll notice I've got it split up into needs and wants, that's because the needs alone total over $2000, however including wants (and wants that are not on the list like half-cage, upgraded turbo etc.) the total goes well beyond $5k. Got to start somewhere though :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Finally it was my turn to make some headway. It took us close on 4 hours to 'reset' the garage if you will... picking up rubbish, putting tools away, finding places for the various screws/panels strewn around the place, picking up all the drop sheets, sweeping everything out... you get the idea. Then came the daunting task of actually getting Stacey into the garage... </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj96tWGTgZx3lRi66DV9SG_cKlbrNY_QC4X7HSq1LZH-rnugzhPt9b6vdqgJnSC8Efj4bOE2ctTJyFwHS-QuOL6WTMF5TI0VuqKs8QpEcfuMOg4gh1QBR3nCu2EV-u8TyFBKPzSyG291OaI/s1600/156466_10152611876445221_985460128_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj96tWGTgZx3lRi66DV9SG_cKlbrNY_QC4X7HSq1LZH-rnugzhPt9b6vdqgJnSC8Efj4bOE2ctTJyFwHS-QuOL6WTMF5TI0VuqKs8QpEcfuMOg4gh1QBR3nCu2EV-u8TyFBKPzSyG291OaI/s320/156466_10152611876445221_985460128_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Getting her up the driveway as she currently sits is impossible, to put it bluntly. In the photo above the exhaust is sitting flat on the ground. However, I'd always thought it'd be possible to get her in by driving on the grass around the letterbox, as the grass has a much shallower incline, and at least has some give if I do bottom out. Unfortunately with all the rain we've had, I didn't want to chance messing up the lawn. Thankfully it's been pretty dry, and got her in without a hitch :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj93dJfh9qviOXmDW3gpCAauLxsJowkd2B6nVFpIDgbqP24M_SyGu-rkxobg27GxYl5bUKYm3iCbVD8kcerpRwGiGRHCVm5DuUBIaEdoL5Wix0Q0b9pvmPpUOaaDbjxTRnA5SkinymabBXD/s1600/IMG_1156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj93dJfh9qviOXmDW3gpCAauLxsJowkd2B6nVFpIDgbqP24M_SyGu-rkxobg27GxYl5bUKYm3iCbVD8kcerpRwGiGRHCVm5DuUBIaEdoL5Wix0Q0b9pvmPpUOaaDbjxTRnA5SkinymabBXD/s320/IMG_1156.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So here she sits in all her filthy glory...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhROEFBMlkC9MSHmkrf6BJcr-ALLjErxSpyUbhm120unbjjhBsd6cY45XFGYIzGi16EIeKuO0DmIDjzvCt5RvcSepq1H3VhQl24TabL3euR89fBPOKvuurfpBUyqCUlDZjgwRwD1y5Q_a2s/s1600/IMG_1157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhROEFBMlkC9MSHmkrf6BJcr-ALLjErxSpyUbhm120unbjjhBsd6cY45XFGYIzGi16EIeKuO0DmIDjzvCt5RvcSepq1H3VhQl24TabL3euR89fBPOKvuurfpBUyqCUlDZjgwRwD1y5Q_a2s/s320/IMG_1157.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A complete car indeed, but for the street she's about as subtle as a sledgehammer.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZy_TZIzRAO-9rgQ9KCa0bSgAiyPnU0dawg8PBZD2zGkPnC3FGp3Ku8d8y5TdeIyjFn12d08rUen9jZ5zBZGROtbDmiuKw9-aMElokWskt3NJQfpcpySJ6vnhXfxdTb8yO_l4YxPaOCONs/s1600/DSC00539.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZy_TZIzRAO-9rgQ9KCa0bSgAiyPnU0dawg8PBZD2zGkPnC3FGp3Ku8d8y5TdeIyjFn12d08rUen9jZ5zBZGROtbDmiuKw9-aMElokWskt3NJQfpcpySJ6vnhXfxdTb8yO_l4YxPaOCONs/s320/DSC00539.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Keep in mind though that this is how she entered my life. I can't believe how much work has been put into her to still look as crap as she does now... but what can I say, the price was right, and she's still 100% on what she used to be. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyhow, let's take a bit of a look at what I'm dealing with.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYYjjhPLIhlN0Wjxy9bjzg5aWd-mKnq1oca0zVjclZ8zYG_hTeenew8F6co9ziszmfOUTlHO4MJEsxtOtv8ZBnsY5Z7092gjWG60-R77HX6qJs1qO23k8s4QvgzOb-Y906CflxrX4ZOg37/s1600/IMG_1159.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYYjjhPLIhlN0Wjxy9bjzg5aWd-mKnq1oca0zVjclZ8zYG_hTeenew8F6co9ziszmfOUTlHO4MJEsxtOtv8ZBnsY5Z7092gjWG60-R77HX6qJs1qO23k8s4QvgzOb-Y906CflxrX4ZOg37/s320/IMG_1159.JPG" width="213" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some of the most aggressive rust I've ever seen in a car. Sunroof's on S13s are notorious for rust, but this is just taking the piss.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDJQB4waCZLfBTFmBFlZCHbY3K9lAXvZCtE668wcoiz4oAVeFUYq84aLWFt9TimYA9v4ZvCbwvvm1ZPFuJZiizkrTy-flJGzJ6qS-4s4_1SBu-j8oF8qwtdOdDBS6nW_DRPQX-qy8aYUeD/s1600/IMG_1158.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDJQB4waCZLfBTFmBFlZCHbY3K9lAXvZCtE668wcoiz4oAVeFUYq84aLWFt9TimYA9v4ZvCbwvvm1ZPFuJZiizkrTy-flJGzJ6qS-4s4_1SBu-j8oF8qwtdOdDBS6nW_DRPQX-qy8aYUeD/s320/IMG_1158.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The multitude of blacks on this car are an absolute atrocity, but at least she's (for the majority) the one colour. Note the line in the door that doesn't exist on the fender, something I want to standardise on the whole car.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinl0vKHsFfWQuxWEdBi6rifDT2V11AC90yVA-aC91wC_FUbdWXKT36jbRzowS9kpkLCakk2PLkXfu5BLslpox5XV75H0ei8BIWeAn5LJ9CeiSMSfUmlHLnk4GLpJ7dI5QYJJCQDIZYFFdX/s1600/IMG_1160.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinl0vKHsFfWQuxWEdBi6rifDT2V11AC90yVA-aC91wC_FUbdWXKT36jbRzowS9kpkLCakk2PLkXfu5BLslpox5XV75H0ei8BIWeAn5LJ9CeiSMSfUmlHLnk4GLpJ7dI5QYJJCQDIZYFFdX/s320/IMG_1160.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Rivets that were installed to hide drill holes for over-fenders that were installed prior to my owning her, plus various rattle-can paint patches.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_hA9zh8beGdqaOq5ZuYMSgzIDi8xU28hEHAJyMsoor42NNSfos4EO8sfM2SiqZWskSst1qq9lq8Bzt5Yj0Qr2e8H-JGWRzrPE5S5592Jp-2ly8FQlaaGTY8c2gEwq2GnxwZyIEmgfGl4B/s1600/IMG_1161.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_hA9zh8beGdqaOq5ZuYMSgzIDi8xU28hEHAJyMsoor42NNSfos4EO8sfM2SiqZWskSst1qq9lq8Bzt5Yj0Qr2e8H-JGWRzrPE5S5592Jp-2ly8FQlaaGTY8c2gEwq2GnxwZyIEmgfGl4B/s320/IMG_1161.JPG" width="213" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A rear bumber that doesn't fit properly, is chipped and cracked and has no element of 'decent' to it at all.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjihx-HKAAoBvhrpM-vAgSy_U3fWM_e-2vg9qdnI-MhIIvJS_Nkphm_SfmxygtWdXEQhyphenhyphengyem8_Qw6gHEENz4Rx4fLowLpVn3NmdZi0c5ToDlPrX6ycuOK3ZRE9EqL2OvqKdtVhxIdwCigv/s1600/IMG_1163.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjihx-HKAAoBvhrpM-vAgSy_U3fWM_e-2vg9qdnI-MhIIvJS_Nkphm_SfmxygtWdXEQhyphenhyphengyem8_Qw6gHEENz4Rx4fLowLpVn3NmdZi0c5ToDlPrX6ycuOK3ZRE9EqL2OvqKdtVhxIdwCigv/s320/IMG_1163.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A bunch of random scratches and what not on the drivers side, including all of the damage to the drivers door handle when she was broken into before I owned her.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh06ibFBX2HCxus-hxWDEjqUl1LohLNxfVTxdjbPGXQpYTH56xf_pBxlydOXWpMPl6XlGL6OCMqPYm9LDwbMgRAQW3QzTVeopszJYo0fSi6Do-h3XjFS-k30JI_PynL5Sw5MqSriM23dRmx/s1600/IMG_1162.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh06ibFBX2HCxus-hxWDEjqUl1LohLNxfVTxdjbPGXQpYTH56xf_pBxlydOXWpMPl6XlGL6OCMqPYm9LDwbMgRAQW3QzTVeopszJYo0fSi6Do-h3XjFS-k30JI_PynL5Sw5MqSriM23dRmx/s320/IMG_1162.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Not only that, look at all the damage to the paint around the fuel filler flap... There's issues with the throat to the fuel tank in that it doesn't seal properly, so whenever I have a full tank of fuel and I turn left with any real gusto, fuel comes pissing out. Joy.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimKTWg26g41OaMetYBj8ez1RJIqm7rL8l5vW-rwrSm1GE3jm9vYhLoNQ3X70o3xTYelQxPz57cEYMonSwRqf-4R1WmUSXsFtKbgKtRMenuwaUj8GEkVNF5TdARKZ9k5FcnEd0P8xmsDU-e/s1600/IMG_1164.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimKTWg26g41OaMetYBj8ez1RJIqm7rL8l5vW-rwrSm1GE3jm9vYhLoNQ3X70o3xTYelQxPz57cEYMonSwRqf-4R1WmUSXsFtKbgKtRMenuwaUj8GEkVNF5TdARKZ9k5FcnEd0P8xmsDU-e/s320/IMG_1164.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A bunch of mis-matched screws to hold panels on (previous owner doesn't really believe in glue... crazy thought I know).</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIll3SOVJoGJnt4MXr3IFMhesObUXYaMFfl7_J05AggucdW85sDEgYRI1Pxpg5MYqN19LcTGMRwKYxT9KWqdPADFk8gW4XvLFKra2xGQ5GTsehUUBox1jlBZhSkeRRv14vmVdhSwwSI1JX/s1600/IMG_1165.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIll3SOVJoGJnt4MXr3IFMhesObUXYaMFfl7_J05AggucdW85sDEgYRI1Pxpg5MYqN19LcTGMRwKYxT9KWqdPADFk8gW4XvLFKra2xGQ5GTsehUUBox1jlBZhSkeRRv14vmVdhSwwSI1JX/s320/IMG_1165.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The interior... Oh where do I start... Leaking sunroof = stagnant interior. Ex-race car = 0 care factor by previous owner. Ruined carpets, a smell that doesn't exactly invite you in, and a bunch of grime and dust and dirt that just doesn't come out. Paint that hasn't been done on the entire car means door jams are as contrasting as (literally) black and white. You'll also notice ant sand on the right hand side of the scuff plate thanks to an ant infestation that developed with all the rain we had. Body clips missing left right and center, and the rattles... oh the rattles...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyoDe88Ez6mF7duueSzDBne8cQX-AkV9QwdtV6c3ZOeNmBu7RBDddsrJ3XKnk8Y4Ms3WXrM6rZON28rUJmYekSGM36HM3YLva1-FKu-HIsiSJ1ahWoUZ-ScGArKqELIE8IdcMvfh-RhFSG/s1600/IMG_1166.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyoDe88Ez6mF7duueSzDBne8cQX-AkV9QwdtV6c3ZOeNmBu7RBDddsrJ3XKnk8Y4Ms3WXrM6rZON28rUJmYekSGM36HM3YLva1-FKu-HIsiSJ1ahWoUZ-ScGArKqELIE8IdcMvfh-RhFSG/s320/IMG_1166.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">An engine bay that is function over form... but come on, it can certainly be prettier.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There's also a bunch of stuff that needs to be addressed that can't be seen by your eyes... some examples include a stiffness in the car that warrants me taking out health insurance purely for chiro, a ride height that is just plain ridiculous, sorting out mod plates for the battery relocation amongst other things... the short of it though is that I have a heck of a lot of work ahead of me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Given that I only had half a day left I decided to start with little things... I changed the suspension to its softest setting, and also removed the engine brace.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggC0-c3SCN545HfyU-0LP0c1uFv3mrR0TTjtYlJU_BM0GYax3m0j7vfX5Msh3vxG6TF5ijL8WnFcioPLWtC3nIyq7FND3TkRv_qu5Lfc6TmoPJ-soYO4fbFbPSVRadR3nGTvILgaox5qPI/s1600/IMG_1169.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggC0-c3SCN545HfyU-0LP0c1uFv3mrR0TTjtYlJU_BM0GYax3m0j7vfX5Msh3vxG6TF5ijL8WnFcioPLWtC3nIyq7FND3TkRv_qu5Lfc6TmoPJ-soYO4fbFbPSVRadR3nGTvILgaox5qPI/s320/IMG_1169.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Unfortunately while doing so I found that one of the bolts on one of my suspension towers is completely stripped... just another thing to add to the list (sigh).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sorting out the rear bumper was as good a place to start as any I decided. I had issues with how much it sagged, as well as its overall condition.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikvY4xiXvd89_UbyMN2tFL1nrqYQ1GHeBBpUhA1jtOzXOZkZBBOMHf5EeEI4AAu5nN3c3pH3UDvQHb0T_DXpf_fXXM_4v4TUs5nNX4-wkMAHy-c6Xbt9wceBGhsAbeHSaSTWME3lz1RObv/s1600/IMG_1168.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikvY4xiXvd89_UbyMN2tFL1nrqYQ1GHeBBpUhA1jtOzXOZkZBBOMHf5EeEI4AAu5nN3c3pH3UDvQHb0T_DXpf_fXXM_4v4TUs5nNX4-wkMAHy-c6Xbt9wceBGhsAbeHSaSTWME3lz1RObv/s320/IMG_1168.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was able to pick up another bumper for free... yes free. Parts for S13s are so easy to come by they're simply giving them away. Hooray for me!! The original goal was to just replace the rear bar altogether - unfortunately this bar had sat in the sun for too long and was quite warped, but it did have some critical components I could salvage, namely a strip of bolts that secure the bumper to the reo (reinforcement bracket that provides extra metal between you and a vehicle in front or behind you).</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTaVdbf5nIIhf7bN84umYOy2wX8vsSt5xt00Nso8a0PkGmA8d9pYb_vMz_5SbLALbnFhZwzhV4QPAvHxYJdH786X56ZSHrK5l56o53BdHojSNIKQispK_yMxsZlIQ727tfkHoIAWbQcy5o/s1600/IMG_1180.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTaVdbf5nIIhf7bN84umYOy2wX8vsSt5xt00Nso8a0PkGmA8d9pYb_vMz_5SbLALbnFhZwzhV4QPAvHxYJdH786X56ZSHrK5l56o53BdHojSNIKQispK_yMxsZlIQ727tfkHoIAWbQcy5o/s320/IMG_1180.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I also decided to address the number plate issue that is inherent with every S13. When they were built, they didn't make the cut-out for the number plate wide enough for Australian plates. People have different ways of getting them to fit, cutting slots in the bumper seems to be a popular option however it then becomes a defectable item, as apparently you 'obscure' part of the plate. Come on, who cares if you can't see the maroon lines either side of the damn plate!!! One guy actually fought it, and the Department of Transport simply said that the only way he could rectify it was to get a personalised plate which is shorter. They wouldn't have a bar of any other argument, no matter how valid.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The easy workaround is to just bend the plate to fit (see photos above for proof), but given the goal of what I'm trying to achieve here, I want as little to stand out as possible. I ended up cutting out enough so I could flex the sides of the cut-out enough to make room for the plate to fit without hiding any of it.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEierOz4s4Wxkzc8IWk3nb_4qjpEfJSNSz9s-LGySDAz7G9hfn8v7HnqCGM-ZD3tXfLoGadsG83iBbaqh6xPR8LLhRsV7ORimM4jCMWB8NuX888jS7kV9KvwMhkH2uRGtos2ChDQ6UZMy2Ub/s1600/IMG_1181.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEierOz4s4Wxkzc8IWk3nb_4qjpEfJSNSz9s-LGySDAz7G9hfn8v7HnqCGM-ZD3tXfLoGadsG83iBbaqh6xPR8LLhRsV7ORimM4jCMWB8NuX888jS7kV9KvwMhkH2uRGtos2ChDQ6UZMy2Ub/s320/IMG_1181.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Not a bad outcome I'm sure you'd agree!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF9mlxezqbNlbhtxjJA29J3oDIbG7TdP4cDRKdviKPSwPR1DPUVPEtv5S0cyz7hhZ5l-sPbTVcc1YDb3PPeruA5Ipn2A2Rij_D-mm2EkFh-QpAHHZgwFHLtDrQ8fyU5Ex2UsrK1z5SwLF1/s1600/IMG_1174.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF9mlxezqbNlbhtxjJA29J3oDIbG7TdP4cDRKdviKPSwPR1DPUVPEtv5S0cyz7hhZ5l-sPbTVcc1YDb3PPeruA5Ipn2A2Rij_D-mm2EkFh-QpAHHZgwFHLtDrQ8fyU5Ex2UsrK1z5SwLF1/s320/IMG_1174.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here you can see the bumper bar now properly secured to the reo. That strip of 8 bolts across the top? Never had that before!! It's like botox for a bumper bar... no more sagging =D I was also able to secure the bottom part of the bar to the reo as well, which will just help to hold the whole thing together.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCwovo04z5E2jVUWalFLzHv5VtB1aNRQjEVz4m0zikulk-bCoEKyPF5MltkgSr8MU8OxOo-FBm0erWtq0-5Xi4EDefauF0M6awn3iJmPFWTBcNvg6CjBzVvdTNs3OJ-gPNkuO4cncRQFAu/s1600/IMG_1243.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCwovo04z5E2jVUWalFLzHv5VtB1aNRQjEVz4m0zikulk-bCoEKyPF5MltkgSr8MU8OxOo-FBm0erWtq0-5Xi4EDefauF0M6awn3iJmPFWTBcNvg6CjBzVvdTNs3OJ-gPNkuO4cncRQFAu/s320/IMG_1243.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Drilling out the rivets seemed like the next easiest thing to do... Not a big job but a job none-the-less.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQPIbAI25xj2ijUBTdU2swxc4BpTEKtJwAkI8Xy2m2SUMw3Gw2H-6E-Nk_W37Ln7O9MHGwuANulbcebiXtek-5CpwOa5GblFy_Lcq6U-tE556QQiD4WEhyphenhypheniS61mywGylBZsPlU6fOGd4nB/s1600/IMG_1244.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQPIbAI25xj2ijUBTdU2swxc4BpTEKtJwAkI8Xy2m2SUMw3Gw2H-6E-Nk_W37Ln7O9MHGwuANulbcebiXtek-5CpwOa5GblFy_Lcq6U-tE556QQiD4WEhyphenhypheniS61mywGylBZsPlU6fOGd4nB/s320/IMG_1244.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Didn't bother cleaning the drill until the end... certainly quite a few of them though.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH6u5xZ5lDFknIZ2SXkmTG8QHe_qjW7CflHIqZ7jp9fSLSk4C9BFkk96ZpG_Od4K8cH6r9D4FU4xlDOQ2ndZ6w5PscARtGGkA1tRknVnvorgrkWg1QpIBWvMlfKaD3x6Vh7oFXw67xvFGx/s1600/IMG_1245.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH6u5xZ5lDFknIZ2SXkmTG8QHe_qjW7CflHIqZ7jp9fSLSk4C9BFkk96ZpG_Od4K8cH6r9D4FU4xlDOQ2ndZ6w5PscARtGGkA1tRknVnvorgrkWg1QpIBWvMlfKaD3x6Vh7oFXw67xvFGx/s320/IMG_1245.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I also removed the rear wing and cleaned it all up, as well as cleaning the mounting points on the boot and removing the sikaflex that had been used to glue/mould the wing to the boot.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And so concludes the end of day 1. Stay tuned for more panel shenanigans and legalising goodness!! As a teaser though...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0xnFtluuwscc0WO7iKoUIt8dpuRZzvijx_vcHavwLrqyFMtIpZIblYVgkTVNhm0NNreKwBNlzwHtpisWyIGRNqgE924PCxRO1Ssfj4IcFqWPi5bu_2U-EwSaGIugTpNB2qGCqF1ru-RQq/s1600/IMG_1167.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0xnFtluuwscc0WO7iKoUIt8dpuRZzvijx_vcHavwLrqyFMtIpZIblYVgkTVNhm0NNreKwBNlzwHtpisWyIGRNqgE924PCxRO1Ssfj4IcFqWPi5bu_2U-EwSaGIugTpNB2qGCqF1ru-RQq/s320/IMG_1167.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is the colour I'll be doing her in. Bayside Blue, a pearl paint that comes off of the R34 Skyline, which I'm thankfully able to get in a Metallic. Sure it won't pop near as much as a pearlescent paint, but it's cheaper, 2 less layers of paint I have to worry about and is nowhere near as easy to stuff up. Pretty happy living with that trade-off :)</span></div>
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</span>_Clinno_http://www.blogger.com/profile/15758751614854894618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030408022090936981.post-5588912137990881922012-11-05T07:55:00.000+10:002012-11-05T08:14:59.217+10:00The Nurburgring... Whoa.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today was the day I finally drove the Nurburgring... 2 months of planning finally came to fruition, seeing myself and Mark Chambers get 12 laps around the most spectacular and phenomenal race track in the world. For those that want background or fun facts, let me fill you in :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCLRXQFOG7UaL4Ie3ODVhaeK_AAgC7co5l0V0ZS67chXAGzh3q4DUZ_YA37daB7Fjw_WE9pPunrUDeX2350AZAZ56Z3Sndwrrot3sn2xybAkWrGYuGVx76dCGMC672yx46uJGioFoyelxr/s1600/ringenmodell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCLRXQFOG7UaL4Ie3ODVhaeK_AAgC7co5l0V0ZS67chXAGzh3q4DUZ_YA37daB7Fjw_WE9pPunrUDeX2350AZAZ56Z3Sndwrrot3sn2xybAkWrGYuGVx76dCGMC672yx46uJGioFoyelxr/s320/ringenmodell.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Nurburgring is a motorsports complex based around the town of Nurburg, in Germany. It's about 120km northwest of Frankfurt, and exists as several configurations. The most popular part (the section we drove on) is called the 'Nordschleife', which translated to English means the 'Northern Loop'. This is a 23km race track, which is regularly used for races, testing sessions and training throughout the year. It was given the nickname 'The Green Hell' by Sir Jackie Stewart (world famous F1 driver), and to this day is considered the most demanding and difficult race track in the world. That said, it is still a public road that is open for tourist rides, with a lap costing 26 Euro.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some fun facts...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">- The track has 73 corners, with a total elevation change of 1,000ft/305m</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">- Because of the sheer size of the track, it's not uncommon for the weather to be completely different from one part of the track to another</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">- It was originally built in 1925 to help alleviate local unemployment and to create a testing facility for a failing German motor industry</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">- The fastest production car lap is 6m 48s, with the fastest ever recorded lap coming in at 6m 11s</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">- There are 7,000+ crash videos from this track on Youtube</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">- The 'ring has claimed a total of 72 racing drivers lives, and claims 3-12 public lives a year</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So to say that this is a track to be respected is an understatement... </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwaQgVKok-7qKR8LEDxOe31sdX46AT7C-cXrhG9uLUvxNWdBqJnArfIhb7dXsQsP6QeMnkkMsHNWLSh5_LtX-xxxfTnZ7egZf6EaRGxLjEIKurBWKjmdnzF_XWZWj_xRwSNk9gX3pFLRkk/s1600/178929_10152223574800221_1833980111_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwaQgVKok-7qKR8LEDxOe31sdX46AT7C-cXrhG9uLUvxNWdBqJnArfIhb7dXsQsP6QeMnkkMsHNWLSh5_LtX-xxxfTnZ7egZf6EaRGxLjEIKurBWKjmdnzF_XWZWj_xRwSNk9gX3pFLRkk/s320/178929_10152223574800221_1833980111_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The second I decided I was definitely going to the 'ring, I began practicing the only way I knew how, in a video game :) The game in question was Race Injection, a racing simulator that has a variety of cars and tracks, but one of the few in the genre that actually has the Nurburgring in it. 3 monitors helped with peripheral views, and a Logitech G27 providing a very realistic driving experience, including H-pattern gearbox, clutch, and force feedback that makes this setup more realistic to drive than most cars these days.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First lap I did? Rolled it. No kidding. Plenty of practice was needed, so plenty of practice was had!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgca0qs69lfSMbhiAhRXe8scONES1FzmdjmPNm1eTp1F9wjbmHnrUlCkIW9Tsct3JZzWVSsUo-u_bZcwqpyHukFgC9SLKodlWwHhkqLUiwWSOWR60ZHSIHZBqk8NlQ4dDUhix74TE9lS-_t/s1600/DSC00803.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgca0qs69lfSMbhiAhRXe8scONES1FzmdjmPNm1eTp1F9wjbmHnrUlCkIW9Tsct3JZzWVSsUo-u_bZcwqpyHukFgC9SLKodlWwHhkqLUiwWSOWR60ZHSIHZBqk8NlQ4dDUhix74TE9lS-_t/s320/DSC00803.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2 months of practice later, here I am... at the entrance to the ring :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeMVPfNiffMHtq_TDr7Mrl-iAfE0feOAFKPWZN4HEhqEM9yy0kjMxhzMw-X989oL32_i-82C6CVsN6n8IyxCvq8BMK9nIZiri6v7T3HrfK3eI24MNHGsYN8NMdGbMHfCFx9oHTqeDDMo4s/s1600/DSC00804.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeMVPfNiffMHtq_TDr7Mrl-iAfE0feOAFKPWZN4HEhqEM9yy0kjMxhzMw-X989oL32_i-82C6CVsN6n8IyxCvq8BMK9nIZiri6v7T3HrfK3eI24MNHGsYN8NMdGbMHfCFx9oHTqeDDMo4s/s320/DSC00804.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our hotel for the duration of our stay here was the Hotel Nordschleife - a very cozy place in Adenau, a town at the Northwest corner of the track.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxzOY6HQ0ZW-E5mz2RcdFPOngTc6LHoHm19yBiZIADPeRKCndbFHdNQpcWSPVo9Mv1dGP9L_owjR4sVpb-299kM_E2efHTl1CLqAKj0LhKIPhqd_wRRHtBnvt3MPtRovc0sZiJGyqs7rhz/s1600/DSC00805.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxzOY6HQ0ZW-E5mz2RcdFPOngTc6LHoHm19yBiZIADPeRKCndbFHdNQpcWSPVo9Mv1dGP9L_owjR4sVpb-299kM_E2efHTl1CLqAKj0LhKIPhqd_wRRHtBnvt3MPtRovc0sZiJGyqs7rhz/s320/DSC00805.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This was the view from our hotel room... looking over the corner 'Ex-Muhle'. Each corner has a different name with a different reason behind it, from something near that part of the track, to a description of the nature of the corner, to paying tribute to a driver who crashed or died there. Ex-Muhle translates to 'Water Mill', which stands on this corner next to a petrol station. Riveting stuff!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYuMEFRqhOvo09OeHTJo1o3vyjH04h5cGt1ZWsaIjXBJb2MKbrHpZiDbFyv_vXjAezrcu0gyVAz2K7OOXxosc3bR4Zg-N7nl8dtrSnxcKlC8HuAi6tkAbvblpMCj4ay0Rfh1mOCyXnYIdl/s1600/DSC00809.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYuMEFRqhOvo09OeHTJo1o3vyjH04h5cGt1ZWsaIjXBJb2MKbrHpZiDbFyv_vXjAezrcu0gyVAz2K7OOXxosc3bR4Zg-N7nl8dtrSnxcKlC8HuAi6tkAbvblpMCj4ay0Rfh1mOCyXnYIdl/s320/DSC00809.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Naturally, the hotel had a racing theme... But they also provided a free buffet. Breakfast is the most important meal of any day, let alone one where we're about to attempt to drive the legendary Nurburgring. I have to take this opportunity though to mention just how crap German bed linen is... Seriously, I don't know how the whole country gets by with pillows that resemble soggy bread.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After brekky we headed to the ring entrance. A lot of the hire car places have their own garages/car parks where you pick up your car. Ours just so happened to be right in front of the 'ring entrance :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipYUo78G5IK3W6uCSL_obajcqxkQYEd0GuSpxVfKT2e4qugL3_daWIYKR2tkM-UpXEt1SjHYx2ynpXfWsYGnoDQjRJAjdJ24w4mCrxKLI61QmGltLyV5JJQVWqZ8Z8AzG5o2t2t6r2c9fX/s1600/DSC00810.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipYUo78G5IK3W6uCSL_obajcqxkQYEd0GuSpxVfKT2e4qugL3_daWIYKR2tkM-UpXEt1SjHYx2ynpXfWsYGnoDQjRJAjdJ24w4mCrxKLI61QmGltLyV5JJQVWqZ8Z8AzG5o2t2t6r2c9fX/s320/DSC00810.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You get a massive amount of variety when it comes to cars... from Minis to Renaults to Porsches, and everything in between.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWIHRPKvjLW2XsruuOjZo_3hyphenhyphenFvycacPhpGTNLsd5WZopgUFXcn6wMgipWXwBD79LQZeELq2zLCVrLMRSq3PHnIdB5y1fXAYC8Iz-C5EypMEVf250B_3ngHgFz-2fjVfJmp5799PCzSRmP/s1600/DSC00812.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWIHRPKvjLW2XsruuOjZo_3hyphenhyphenFvycacPhpGTNLsd5WZopgUFXcn6wMgipWXwBD79LQZeELq2zLCVrLMRSq3PHnIdB5y1fXAYC8Iz-C5EypMEVf250B_3ngHgFz-2fjVfJmp5799PCzSRmP/s320/DSC00812.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While we were sorting out the paperwork for our car, I spotted these plates. Lol!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQw0kXZ1tB2lEMpBfFd_AmiZ9qP5woDkxvmsWuathHMP0D0v_L9W4egAQf52q8ALq0JK0mLB3R3PNxjWimAt0bEMVieRiFoPWAJh2R3U61ihg5W90KU_6uHST-vZWJILkOT8s7m_iEbep7/s1600/DSC00813.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQw0kXZ1tB2lEMpBfFd_AmiZ9qP5woDkxvmsWuathHMP0D0v_L9W4egAQf52q8ALq0JK0mLB3R3PNxjWimAt0bEMVieRiFoPWAJh2R3U61ihg5W90KU_6uHST-vZWJILkOT8s7m_iEbep7/s320/DSC00813.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is what we ended up with, a Suzuki Swift Sport. Originally I wanted the Mini Cooper S, but thanks to some strict insurance policies, this was the only option. To get most cars you had to be over the age of 25... nang-dabbit!! Turned out to be a good thing though, I'll explain later.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For the Swift, we paid 700 Euro for 12 laps (6 each), and this included both fuel and lap tickets, which in itself was worth 400 Euro, so not all that bad.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihI7fvDdBuKFxgBCsupDJuQYeKOLsarj8RRymM3UjF_88G2Wiuqq6_fxVnUIpmaMctNKoog886n7bb6ePO0Au2RHK2MyhOb9V1t4BuRdAT-Xi0npNJMpOflofwf_0WoxdqBe3K-FevOKNp/s1600/DSC00814.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihI7fvDdBuKFxgBCsupDJuQYeKOLsarj8RRymM3UjF_88G2Wiuqq6_fxVnUIpmaMctNKoog886n7bb6ePO0Au2RHK2MyhOb9V1t4BuRdAT-Xi0npNJMpOflofwf_0WoxdqBe3K-FevOKNp/s320/DSC00814.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It needs to be said, this little bad boy was still a force to be reckoned with - 130hp, Monroe shocks, EBC brakes, Yokohama semi-slick tyres and a half cage - all in a car that weighs less than a tonne.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghEqUvHDNjtlbYuDcRYpEfvXlxv3AEvUtSK3AiM-YzioY1K87bB19SIryPMtq5IM-4mugD7oSWa3yBfCQEPlKfgunNTttxEP1X5M3AaTeKfdZsX76ygs-6D29WCPIxcSWV8uO5hncca_Mq/s1600/DSC00815.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghEqUvHDNjtlbYuDcRYpEfvXlxv3AEvUtSK3AiM-YzioY1K87bB19SIryPMtq5IM-4mugD7oSWa3yBfCQEPlKfgunNTttxEP1X5M3AaTeKfdZsX76ygs-6D29WCPIxcSWV8uO5hncca_Mq/s320/DSC00815.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The front half of the car was pretty standard...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfwgCyM2lft7KbO_uuRIl4-UXnEhTFypbssAcJWmlubL9FzrEYBwY-jRQbqKLX4z1ITcHc51jwDQMDHoiRI70w6PbDka6aAXQpnIF-NLo1Y_RO2GDzm_Cw4-ewLFDsFLIWQwwHaPdE7ANN/s1600/DSC00816.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfwgCyM2lft7KbO_uuRIl4-UXnEhTFypbssAcJWmlubL9FzrEYBwY-jRQbqKLX4z1ITcHc51jwDQMDHoiRI70w6PbDka6aAXQpnIF-NLo1Y_RO2GDzm_Cw4-ewLFDsFLIWQwwHaPdE7ANN/s320/DSC00816.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But the rear half had been completely stripped of any luxury - seats, carpets, panels... everything was gone, and replaced with a half cage.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjttQkxWmM3WWsb4AxUd2fQZqII6D9AXOdXpFozJ8qG4yJx0jZ1JEzYUGFFq5cII9ZFFgWAgxBA728GktM1srWE8oXs_Ubaz-mJGlccECsfJqA1klAlYqipK6KT-wiMpQmtZvR7at6BMlNr/s1600/DSC00817.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjttQkxWmM3WWsb4AxUd2fQZqII6D9AXOdXpFozJ8qG4yJx0jZ1JEzYUGFFq5cII9ZFFgWAgxBA728GktM1srWE8oXs_Ubaz-mJGlccECsfJqA1klAlYqipK6KT-wiMpQmtZvR7at6BMlNr/s320/DSC00817.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The 1.6L engine was bog stock, but still had plenty of poke! Being N/A (normally aspirated), it was incredibly responsive, which turned out to be worth its weight in gold. In hindsight, driving a turbo charged car in the conditions we faced would've been absolutely suicidal.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-zIZPPnAnbP_a99xYOerkr6LUMi9BASlaU0xN1FuDjUE1vMXebBr9jLBoK1xYbsZOzq4_m9bAZWvqb_4NsGEzNm-8aoaPZFZw8vRDUE9nCUxZp_HbRizwOlAq_AxmejFuvsvZCDUow1Sw/s1600/DSC00818.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-zIZPPnAnbP_a99xYOerkr6LUMi9BASlaU0xN1FuDjUE1vMXebBr9jLBoK1xYbsZOzq4_m9bAZWvqb_4NsGEzNm-8aoaPZFZw8vRDUE9nCUxZp_HbRizwOlAq_AxmejFuvsvZCDUow1Sw/s320/DSC00818.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's Mark and I just before we headed out on track for the first time... Little did we know what lay ahead of us.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYePIkzR0968IKoJkT0t2-759ZvmVraeP3dVZGfA8qkaK5qHb0wkX5_p9PNUZ813wYUpFySfQgH4N9IE-i1gZ-fIcEpaPMq82X1uTd__VSHW3Ls9rxU9gWLc6SQ7igQUabW3vionC-YsmF/s1600/DSC00819.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYePIkzR0968IKoJkT0t2-759ZvmVraeP3dVZGfA8qkaK5qHb0wkX5_p9PNUZ813wYUpFySfQgH4N9IE-i1gZ-fIcEpaPMq82X1uTd__VSHW3Ls9rxU9gWLc6SQ7igQUabW3vionC-YsmF/s320/DSC00819.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We knew it was cold, but the car confirmed our suspicions...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgevuqJHZXj4vesaEkaS6ANvCbIKqffwAbRPxrIBPzcJVS-_m-lxqmGhCzSCmNw59fEH_hN2WKVAwWtvrih1Ag8An8lhkwPHCXNkkjnZCXlLBiJGJvLqY9xg8J4NRHyuK0bJ4FAxLScOR5k/s1600/DSC00820.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgevuqJHZXj4vesaEkaS6ANvCbIKqffwAbRPxrIBPzcJVS-_m-lxqmGhCzSCmNw59fEH_hN2WKVAwWtvrih1Ag8An8lhkwPHCXNkkjnZCXlLBiJGJvLqY9xg8J4NRHyuK0bJ4FAxLScOR5k/s320/DSC00820.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The entrance to the track is basically a toll road, with a couple of attendants directing traffic, and several boom gates that let you on once you have payed your dues. Because it's a public road, you aren't allowed to do consecutive laps. Each time you must come off the track in the middle of the home straight, and then head back out 200m up the road after paying your toll again.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX18GdkPHyCm6Tr3uG6ptKHzzqjM78KsrPs1h6ZjjfwrY2eLrPtGy3oChCkHaGWoEBTZRufZ5FiSQr9i1oTlPStvgCJyou-14ap6k7B7eZNbKzhL8IMsLRNU_2f78r30AQuheyIsE3VT1z/s1600/DSC00826.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX18GdkPHyCm6Tr3uG6ptKHzzqjM78KsrPs1h6ZjjfwrY2eLrPtGy3oChCkHaGWoEBTZRufZ5FiSQr9i1oTlPStvgCJyou-14ap6k7B7eZNbKzhL8IMsLRNU_2f78r30AQuheyIsE3VT1z/s320/DSC00826.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Believe it or not, we were first cab off the rank. We literally had the WHOLE track to ourselves :) well, until the next car came onto the track... but this is a technicality I really couldn't give a crap about if I'm to be honest.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It needs to be said though, conditions were absolutely terrible... and they stayed that way for the whole day. But still...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjADKZlVZCnlgxnrDkO0MQArrUhHo7Bxdf2ji4DO5KFowxD6fKibxmIQB5AIipYhxC54cJsA-cadIZKyA_EC651YHUClLPUbt-dMIXjlFOTcsqFyAOdrumkJNrpHgdiVifNF-YfLXqRMZnT/s1600/DSC00829.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjADKZlVZCnlgxnrDkO0MQArrUhHo7Bxdf2ji4DO5KFowxD6fKibxmIQB5AIipYhxC54cJsA-cadIZKyA_EC651YHUClLPUbt-dMIXjlFOTcsqFyAOdrumkJNrpHgdiVifNF-YfLXqRMZnT/s320/DSC00829.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Try wiping that smile off of my face!!!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip3cq5kJ7R2wcwHrz9Z-42-ic0TAqEggH2YX611QIO__JfUg9iWKJVw7xjpgamInhB_x8u4SR0jU3q5TMAUJS6YmVOnAcJF7DejhYy_ndLSdHglqCwdqNYNF-1gM8pQuPyefj0cYRMFM2a/s1600/DSC00832.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip3cq5kJ7R2wcwHrz9Z-42-ic0TAqEggH2YX611QIO__JfUg9iWKJVw7xjpgamInhB_x8u4SR0jU3q5TMAUJS6YmVOnAcJF7DejhYy_ndLSdHglqCwdqNYNF-1gM8pQuPyefj0cYRMFM2a/s320/DSC00832.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As I said earlier, the track forms a ring around the town of Nurburg. This is a truly picturesque area - plenty of hills and valleys, trees absolutely everywhere, and just all around stunning vistas. It was further enhanced by the fact it was autumn... the diversity in colour in the countryside was phenomenal!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGTITEtLUJz4lBPtXzyePwrGHUrqqMU1W1yBNZofJHYabRe74xiiYVd8wlmYbQXm_yD-z2NrjdJX8N_PWt5S9OLJoPleDdW30syykBmj2xXJdfTrX8GpkJ2IZ-eplou7fx_k4b6WKvc4CC/s1600/DSC00834.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGTITEtLUJz4lBPtXzyePwrGHUrqqMU1W1yBNZofJHYabRe74xiiYVd8wlmYbQXm_yD-z2NrjdJX8N_PWt5S9OLJoPleDdW30syykBmj2xXJdfTrX8GpkJ2IZ-eplou7fx_k4b6WKvc4CC/s320/DSC00834.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Naturally, the first lap was an incredibly precautionary one. The first thing I noticed? It was nothing like anything I had practiced... Sure the corners were in the correct order, and their general shape/direction was consistent with what I knew... but being out here, for real, in person, I mean wow. There's just so many little things you're not aware of, so many little dips, curves, bumps and cambers that you just don't expect. But before I knew it, it was over!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpPOZz8u6WTM8TNpyyiZtPX87hGFFjV8XevtjWYYrh4R_19ldUkKCccWba5dSWuPnWCR3FZzTUUoMjIan3GyXNE_Jxmr-UOpvnI3GZUZ1-03-Id5HHruAgc2MN6TgvVegk9ulFs8tM5D-i/s1600/DSC00844.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpPOZz8u6WTM8TNpyyiZtPX87hGFFjV8XevtjWYYrh4R_19ldUkKCccWba5dSWuPnWCR3FZzTUUoMjIan3GyXNE_Jxmr-UOpvnI3GZUZ1-03-Id5HHruAgc2MN6TgvVegk9ulFs8tM5D-i/s320/DSC00844.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To change drivers, you have to drive out and then back in, through a small car park where a lot of the serious guys fine tune their cars, or simply let them cool down. With the 'ring being the place that it is, you're always going to see some purpose built cars. This Porsche 911 GT3 RS was just one of many fine examples we saw.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCJcHuMUirpatXqIQNZVY2Q2nbQ5MK62ftyV5OyAuQP77JQTq9Ho-lEDLa9Yvls-i2MKS5KkscT4z_gPy71v5XeU3xRJK7cEleGNDq-AjXKmQNEmovPn06P95pf7aSN8_j-O53MQi2gQXh/s1600/DSC00850.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCJcHuMUirpatXqIQNZVY2Q2nbQ5MK62ftyV5OyAuQP77JQTq9Ho-lEDLa9Yvls-i2MKS5KkscT4z_gPy71v5XeU3xRJK7cEleGNDq-AjXKmQNEmovPn06P95pf7aSN8_j-O53MQi2gQXh/s320/DSC00850.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was then Mark's turn to head out... his smile was just as big!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioZp1hA3Dm2xwjZZ8rWZ46m6hyBWZwanSYpGEl-HxFSVuxn-cJtch5QCxOBnOmvneIvRr_UQfsBYXcgk49pTfDfvXuZj_3DZIgjYKLV02oc8RFg0JJKdiQkHGuhTMIRkTOFLbomghyphenhyphenxWDN/s1600/DSC00851.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioZp1hA3Dm2xwjZZ8rWZ46m6hyBWZwanSYpGEl-HxFSVuxn-cJtch5QCxOBnOmvneIvRr_UQfsBYXcgk49pTfDfvXuZj_3DZIgjYKLV02oc8RFg0JJKdiQkHGuhTMIRkTOFLbomghyphenhyphenxWDN/s320/DSC00851.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To say driving this track was difficult is an understatement. On a normal day, this would be absolutely crazy. But we also had to deal with rain, fog, the spray coming off of other cars, the unfamiliarity of a road we've never driven before and the sheer lack of grip. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin84ArHy91vwr4dK8ZMwMBp_6qj-OSomxa87EbvuJ6bIuxBsG_QoEC-58YCZMM3VPBHzik0gKANyXnxyItmxNgoNlarRSPvuFQ7rE3WR-9J0u0kxbV46qL70HlxrW-4ZCp4L6qUfeNi-_s/s1600/DSC00853.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjyvuIa8EFrKmQO_UERo6XK9Us9N3Ii88PfgsuC7pHdtWjbIZBoQaBmsdaF9FayzM_9fvVhbWAfKVwZnXYXJhvu5GR95vwo-xQRIvjxDgtZ-X67TJy9k0NQAjAr6GTP8mZewlgtvYrBZqW/s1600/DSC00857.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjyvuIa8EFrKmQO_UERo6XK9Us9N3Ii88PfgsuC7pHdtWjbIZBoQaBmsdaF9FayzM_9fvVhbWAfKVwZnXYXJhvu5GR95vwo-xQRIvjxDgtZ-X67TJy9k0NQAjAr6GTP8mZewlgtvYrBZqW/s320/DSC00857.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I say sheer lack of grip, I mean NO grip. You can see here just how wet the track was, and we were in a front wheel drive car. That means using the front wheels for accelerating, braking AND turning, on a surface that had the same amount of grip as wearing fresh socks and running on tiles.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjyvuIa8EFrKmQO_UERo6XK9Us9N3Ii88PfgsuC7pHdtWjbIZBoQaBmsdaF9FayzM_9fvVhbWAfKVwZnXYXJhvu5GR95vwo-xQRIvjxDgtZ-X67TJy9k0NQAjAr6GTP8mZewlgtvYrBZqW/s1600/DSC00857.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin84ArHy91vwr4dK8ZMwMBp_6qj-OSomxa87EbvuJ6bIuxBsG_QoEC-58YCZMM3VPBHzik0gKANyXnxyItmxNgoNlarRSPvuFQ7rE3WR-9J0u0kxbV46qL70HlxrW-4ZCp4L6qUfeNi-_s/s1600/DSC00853.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin84ArHy91vwr4dK8ZMwMBp_6qj-OSomxa87EbvuJ6bIuxBsG_QoEC-58YCZMM3VPBHzik0gKANyXnxyItmxNgoNlarRSPvuFQ7rE3WR-9J0u0kxbV46qL70HlxrW-4ZCp4L6qUfeNi-_s/s320/DSC00853.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">THEN you take into account the challenges that the track throws at you. Off camber corners, blind corners, corners that tighten on you, blind crests, corners that aren't actually corners... and if you screw up, there's no sand traps, no run offs, just meter after meter of Armco (safety barriers) and concrete.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNP5bQ_rLU89w4Xn5Lbfo6qYlBl1g9aS7BlXfDcrk3cGV6tfAEe8yBETkdODthqQlbxGt16iL6BoJLvPVDUjDUtsmjsxPOnUWNQQjQVmUb6Q1FsulmFdUG4ZL5FW5VXuBmv9PatwXhFXY0/s1600/DSC00861.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNP5bQ_rLU89w4Xn5Lbfo6qYlBl1g9aS7BlXfDcrk3cGV6tfAEe8yBETkdODthqQlbxGt16iL6BoJLvPVDUjDUtsmjsxPOnUWNQQjQVmUb6Q1FsulmFdUG4ZL5FW5VXuBmv9PatwXhFXY0/s320/DSC00861.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Time for our serious faces...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8885Ufye2hyphenhyphen-hGit4CoIfcOBCekz_KQYS6FMcGQwZQlqiN1QI_mobygPkpHrytPaBuQj5SUZBcTyMKzxjEsh5wZllZPEkZsLvRbWV3hIlajmWd3nh1XJvrry0d464nPQKbk8L4eBSNchz/s1600/DSC00872.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8885Ufye2hyphenhyphen-hGit4CoIfcOBCekz_KQYS6FMcGQwZQlqiN1QI_mobygPkpHrytPaBuQj5SUZBcTyMKzxjEsh5wZllZPEkZsLvRbWV3hIlajmWd3nh1XJvrry0d464nPQKbk8L4eBSNchz/s320/DSC00872.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The funny thing was, as much as the car would be inadequate on any other track or any other day, here it really worked in our favour. The lack of power meant we couldn't go too fast, and light weight body meant we could make use of grip that more powerful cars dreamed of. The rain also meant that we were extra cautious, taking corners a lot slower than you normally would. As weird as it sounds, the track was easier to drive when it was absolutely bucketing down. That said though, don't think for a second that we had it easy. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Understeer was rife every time you turned the wheel. Torque steer would happen in every gear except for 5th. If you even thought about carrying too much speed into a corner, you'd better hope you could scrub off enough speed with what little traction you had before you ran out of road. Accelerate too quickly out of the corner and you'd just keep going straight. As we consumed more and more fuel, the weight over the rear axle disappeared, and you had to be sure you were braking in a straight line. Otherwise the ass of the car would try overtaking the front. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What I will say though is that we had it easier than other people... there were a couple of casualties, including an s14 that spun out and hit both the front and back of his car. A mini cooper that decided to bump uglies with the barrier.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAVnzH4iegupOKmgd46dq2k9-n6hmd9d6FgtjfrwFT91J3XAJ2q6zVzDUN0kB12K81EhapFYvqhSsqqP88CdA_6rfpwdCPg17n5dnAhHVBDCIrjcbNFvdMZT6ktdMYimbCP_q-_-zNlovy/s1600/DSC00875.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAVnzH4iegupOKmgd46dq2k9-n6hmd9d6FgtjfrwFT91J3XAJ2q6zVzDUN0kB12K81EhapFYvqhSsqqP88CdA_6rfpwdCPg17n5dnAhHVBDCIrjcbNFvdMZT6ktdMYimbCP_q-_-zNlovy/s320/DSC00875.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The guy in the black BMW, first corner... got it crossed up and very nearly went into the wall. Needless to say he nursed it the rest of the lap.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As careful as we were, we also had our fair share of moments. Nothing serious, but each and every time you slid or felt the ass end get loose... it reminded you that this was dangerous, and any shred of confidence you have in your ability to drive needs to disappear ASAP. Having the 2 of us in the car worked out really well, as it meant we could keep each other in line and stop each other from getting too cocky and doing something stupid.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Bloody hell though, being a passenger in conditions like this was stressful. The driver gets plenty of feedback as to how the car is handling through the steering wheel and the pedals, but the passenger gets squat. While the driver has confidence in what he/she is doing based on how the car feels, the passenger is sitting there thinking that every corner is too fast, that the car is constantly out of control, that the safety margin went out the window long ago. You just have to have faith that the other guy knows what he's doing, and believe me, this is something both myself and Mark felt.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRlqniFuV4aKYivCKvb_hrNS6IfKLlmclpKB1WVamvczyXFrvuVoNaWFbBIHHyLLouptGoNUdF-2ejpD1TVMXHsCiPEanZObmXV_0OzDEolNySTYkHQ1GnJYoVZ1f7k3hpEk8FYtdQBskg/s1600/DSC00873.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRlqniFuV4aKYivCKvb_hrNS6IfKLlmclpKB1WVamvczyXFrvuVoNaWFbBIHHyLLouptGoNUdF-2ejpD1TVMXHsCiPEanZObmXV_0OzDEolNySTYkHQ1GnJYoVZ1f7k3hpEk8FYtdQBskg/s320/DSC00873.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On a side note, there's our hotel!!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAVnzH4iegupOKmgd46dq2k9-n6hmd9d6FgtjfrwFT91J3XAJ2q6zVzDUN0kB12K81EhapFYvqhSsqqP88CdA_6rfpwdCPg17n5dnAhHVBDCIrjcbNFvdMZT6ktdMYimbCP_q-_-zNlovy/s1600/DSC00875.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBXD9ksKrD07bOAYAcQcvgAULnMetmLoBe0Usb5jBeeHRqxhJnAYfYgXSMA5bbh_Isred4eNIOXBmcjp0pu9vcsiGnkmgoCNNXIryksZds-ymprf2YkjW86jxp91AmwpAHmtMWBizG-sZr/s1600/DSC00877.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBXD9ksKrD07bOAYAcQcvgAULnMetmLoBe0Usb5jBeeHRqxhJnAYfYgXSMA5bbh_Isred4eNIOXBmcjp0pu9vcsiGnkmgoCNNXIryksZds-ymprf2YkjW86jxp91AmwpAHmtMWBizG-sZr/s320/DSC00877.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As I mentioned before, weather changed constantly. The photo above and the one before that are all on the same lap... clear, then fog. Dry lines starting to form and then puddles wherever you look. You couldn't arrive at any corner and assume that it would be the same as the last time you went round.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzz8B0d-zLWRoHvRxsAuDp9RxkGadcRyaol7nBbmYJxq0u82LPCj6RJ66Zfy6YHodLSZktr2YVhQegM2TQUxwG8uT5jckXY81heuYtoPPmLA9AnHS-4kRKYdi2UdTlYsB12MSRdQSp7tZQ/s1600/DSC00882.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzz8B0d-zLWRoHvRxsAuDp9RxkGadcRyaol7nBbmYJxq0u82LPCj6RJ66Zfy6YHodLSZktr2YVhQegM2TQUxwG8uT5jckXY81heuYtoPPmLA9AnHS-4kRKYdi2UdTlYsB12MSRdQSp7tZQ/s320/DSC00882.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The only section you could rely on was the home stretch... Several kilometers of straight line goodness!!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiSa_ztVOgRa9wXfHiIqdBdCc2dntGnFBy2NlQ7DKga0vBuGUGYkEminn6u8CioRnKNGQ9YVESb1E496iCJ8rnVYXM1zHQzgRsOFYyNVR80sFYntBeJ8TjDKJfExcBl1VRgeu76JHkJuVY/s1600/DSC00883.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiSa_ztVOgRa9wXfHiIqdBdCc2dntGnFBy2NlQ7DKga0vBuGUGYkEminn6u8CioRnKNGQ9YVESb1E496iCJ8rnVYXM1zHQzgRsOFYyNVR80sFYntBeJ8TjDKJfExcBl1VRgeu76JHkJuVY/s320/DSC00883.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">180 km/h was about all you could get out of this puppy... but believe me that was more than fast enough.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/9-GQjAb12ig?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Have a video of one of my laps... I'll tell you right now, yes there's parts that look slow, but I'm not joking when that's as fast as you could go on some of those corners. That said, we were still taking a lot of corners in excess of 100 km/h. You'll also get an idea of just how crap the conditions are, but also what the track looks like from our point of view! Apologies for the camera continuing to go below the dash, you're not actually allowed to take any photos or film at all, and if you get caught, you get kicked off straight away... whoops!!! ;)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With each lap, we got better. Our lines improved. Our ability to judge speed and grip improved. Our confidence in the cars driveability improved. But there was one thing you always remembered... no racing. We did try timing ourselves, and we both came out at 12m 45s... but then stopped straight away once we realised we were starting to push the envelope trying to beat that time. We tried keeping up with a couple of cars (there was a chain of 3 BMWs drifting around corners which we were keen to keep watching), but they were going faster than we could safely, and after a hair raising entry to a corner, we let them go. Every time you thought you could go faster, you were reminded very quickly and very scarily that that was a stupid idea.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By no means though did that stop our fun. Here we were, on the freaking Nurburgring, driving around the freaking Nurburgring!!! As scary as it was, there was an unmatched level of pure excitement, a feeling of exhilaration and a geeky awe that I have never found anywhere else doing anything else... This is something that has been on my bucket list for years. A track who's reputation precedes it, a mecca for motorsport, a drivers holy grail... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And we did it :) It's still sinking in...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">12 laps went by so quick. At 13-15 minutes per lap, simple maths would tell you that worst case scenario would see you taking a grand total of 3 hours to do it all... Yet 6 hours later, we finished our last lap with half an hour before the track closed for the day. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp7Lj4S1oN1pWmw5vUehj9RQ-0Vj-oWaMt4P63iPkoj_0Iz2qr7zQaTqq2bT042TTuP9OMxR8-C5zHoGgtVA9tQEY6j3cSi_UCLU32cbNBEAudd8K7jSJvTDjBkamed3naeviAHYaKUjUc/s1600/DSC00887.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp7Lj4S1oN1pWmw5vUehj9RQ-0Vj-oWaMt4P63iPkoj_0Iz2qr7zQaTqq2bT042TTuP9OMxR8-C5zHoGgtVA9tQEY6j3cSi_UCLU32cbNBEAudd8K7jSJvTDjBkamed3naeviAHYaKUjUc/s320/DSC00887.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our little trooper after the days work... 12 laps of crazy nuts-ness saw us use a full tank of fuel, use up all the adrenalin in our bodies, and crap enough diamonds to open our own jewelry store. We were flat out exhausted...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3TirhqavBA6OCSBcRVKlS3E_S5rLgGyr1IeZNIGuh5Ic5WaU07sCWRT5J0osoIgZIMZfH6IybvIpWNnCKcz_fnI20Je89CloZ7DeWo0KdsY8ixp0I7zwRNu9pRPfvWymGcV2Ua3ieUTbS/s1600/DSC00888.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3TirhqavBA6OCSBcRVKlS3E_S5rLgGyr1IeZNIGuh5Ic5WaU07sCWRT5J0osoIgZIMZfH6IybvIpWNnCKcz_fnI20Je89CloZ7DeWo0KdsY8ixp0I7zwRNu9pRPfvWymGcV2Ua3ieUTbS/s320/DSC00888.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But you could NOT wipe the smile off of our faces... What a day, what an experience!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After handing the car back and passing on a big thank you to the company who lent us the car, we decided to see what kind of view we could get from the viewing area near our hotel.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV85jJkHKCk5h4crbKALMXCVE2ZVw8YLgk14DVddLmpm3v-yKYvANeL42HJgQMfXh83xau_JX1wb2L1LPfcw9WMxz33hxdX1J-9DA6DyMqSI6ADsXdp93ECQc6YHoMyBEdUxThnF3klATY/s1600/DSC00891.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="92" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV85jJkHKCk5h4crbKALMXCVE2ZVw8YLgk14DVddLmpm3v-yKYvANeL42HJgQMfXh83xau_JX1wb2L1LPfcw9WMxz33hxdX1J-9DA6DyMqSI6ADsXdp93ECQc6YHoMyBEdUxThnF3klATY/s320/DSC00891.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is a full panorama of what we could see, i.e. the whole of Ex-Muhle :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHqpfetV_s5sMmXdl7EphbxwLHge-o5029HQ5DuN8dhEnLXGUAJ95nwhz4LJLc2xHDeVVqabT1mhxde6RDjFxujrlUp0CWUZLKRpfozxpp6pSEuHpccH-yLP0tPsHT2ilp600LkJ_nIYwa/s1600/DSC00893.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHqpfetV_s5sMmXdl7EphbxwLHge-o5029HQ5DuN8dhEnLXGUAJ95nwhz4LJLc2xHDeVVqabT1mhxde6RDjFxujrlUp0CWUZLKRpfozxpp6pSEuHpccH-yLP0tPsHT2ilp600LkJ_nIYwa/s320/DSC00893.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What I found amazing was the sheer variety of vehicles that get taken around the track. From your hot little hatch-backs...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6g4qa8hbRyFNcT0ZF_AptDVt1zaggQpYvgVKaMGgB4WNJ4nQTUASnmRh3G03E36NzPBjJGMPQOqIz1bBkmFFXmifaT9aj8WBTc1lDRSjFLokWwdM7-DQXQEAlk4n4F5DrYc6LPls-uKei/s1600/DSC00896.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6g4qa8hbRyFNcT0ZF_AptDVt1zaggQpYvgVKaMGgB4WNJ4nQTUASnmRh3G03E36NzPBjJGMPQOqIz1bBkmFFXmifaT9aj8WBTc1lDRSjFLokWwdM7-DQXQEAlk4n4F5DrYc6LPls-uKei/s320/DSC00896.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To your purpose built sports cars (modified in many different flavours)...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOPsNslV33eTowzC_j4KFMvChOXVywYCSK34qplvcmNaZrlXOb0UHVfBnnkXzBcc7it2yl36UiAedVlq6Jtkazt4dJG0PSRLzF-zZ06QfNTQoBqejvWkA9_t_2vj1HxMygCxdPaoTn3uwW/s1600/DSC00897.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOPsNslV33eTowzC_j4KFMvChOXVywYCSK34qplvcmNaZrlXOb0UHVfBnnkXzBcc7it2yl36UiAedVlq6Jtkazt4dJG0PSRLzF-zZ06QfNTQoBqejvWkA9_t_2vj1HxMygCxdPaoTn3uwW/s320/DSC00897.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To even vehicles you would not expect... I mean a van, really???</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_tkTVO2g6-o1fuupXaWqg7zhPaqQRqgOGaf4e7_Mgyw62R28H4NgUuVDMi7OG-PwyzsB7ZqtrEs4FnxT-54_X2VyMWwIlIMQne6ttikSiacG09B1nkmX1WpnDMW-GLbFpw9FHclYVW4b2/s1600/DSC00906.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_tkTVO2g6-o1fuupXaWqg7zhPaqQRqgOGaf4e7_Mgyw62R28H4NgUuVDMi7OG-PwyzsB7ZqtrEs4FnxT-54_X2VyMWwIlIMQne6ttikSiacG09B1nkmX1WpnDMW-GLbFpw9FHclYVW4b2/s320/DSC00906.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can see just how much graffiti is on the track. Some of it is 'we waz here' messages, some of it was wishing people luck, but there was also a fair bit of graffiti that was dedicated to lost friends or family members. What really hit home was one message we saw on this corner, a tribute to a bloke who died, born 1989, died 2011. Whoa. Made us really appreciate just how lucky we were to get through the day unscathed, and that was only possible because we kept our heads screwed on straight, and were realistic about our driving abilities and the cars capabilities. My advice for anyone wanting to do a trip here? Know your stuff. Be prepared. Be sensible. But don't be put off by how dangerous this track is. Don't think that being safe is going to diminish your ability to enjoy yourself. Even if you were to do 20 km/h the whole time, I guarantee you that you will have the time of your life :) </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH3wOZh6UP6T_2itV_ioVmEUhWEV_CERuTjadfiQfWFtbTwRUB-cB31o3-4ALKCNyKYZlHu3Rx0tU8mV1kc27TXZHgQysD7AMZZVxZDlAXiNcF2norjgWNyHHWCjx5q5PpJHIK5xv2elcK/s1600/DSC00907.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH3wOZh6UP6T_2itV_ioVmEUhWEV_CERuTjadfiQfWFtbTwRUB-cB31o3-4ALKCNyKYZlHu3Rx0tU8mV1kc27TXZHgQysD7AMZZVxZDlAXiNcF2norjgWNyHHWCjx5q5PpJHIK5xv2elcK/s320/DSC00907.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Heading back to the hotel saw a beautiful sunset - something that topped off a truly special day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I could go on for hours, and I could upload twice as many photos, but I fear this is long enough as it is. I'm sure that there's heaps that I'm forgetting, but you know what? I'll happily spend every day for the rest of my life trying to remember everything about this experience. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's something I'll never forget.</span></div>
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</span>_Clinno_http://www.blogger.com/profile/15758751614854894618noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030408022090936981.post-32307193058427211122012-11-04T07:59:00.004+10:002012-11-04T08:31:10.830+10:00Ze Autobahn... Ze Baptism of Fire...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Alright!!! Something I've been talking about for quite some time... my trip to the Nurburgring. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First things first however: getting there. Let me throw in a little disclaimer here... I've never ever driven on the other side of the road before, which from those who have half a clue about anything, also means driving a left hand drive car.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigRFJlu-0jl2MAOvOmNUW8sJEabR9LLn8CGgb0n-AedCBGx0cmOPKm5dmmCpS3NvbWMDJU0U4qKitJHzbTY4Nu7e_Nf9Z8a3DQfi-RJ6SK59Y0Muf4OWieRYOF1xQ5tSH1xh2O1O7eYibc/s1600/DSC00787.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigRFJlu-0jl2MAOvOmNUW8sJEabR9LLn8CGgb0n-AedCBGx0cmOPKm5dmmCpS3NvbWMDJU0U4qKitJHzbTY4Nu7e_Nf9Z8a3DQfi-RJ6SK59Y0Muf4OWieRYOF1xQ5tSH1xh2O1O7eYibc/s200/DSC00787.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmq9mVARnWxrVudfpHVs92WxAUgflvu7cXXfiKQlTx5RgAJuLUMVnEJHhINDWdzybbDC0V57EWC_39wNqoXxU28m_3NNNvW2ZmjwTWIEQZlQPQKomGYBSVRAkka7DGOibCfvj06zuFSwcL/s1600/DSC00788.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmq9mVARnWxrVudfpHVs92WxAUgflvu7cXXfiKQlTx5RgAJuLUMVnEJHhINDWdzybbDC0V57EWC_39wNqoXxU28m_3NNNvW2ZmjwTWIEQZlQPQKomGYBSVRAkka7DGOibCfvj06zuFSwcL/s200/DSC00788.JPG" width="200" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This was the hire car I got... a lovely little VW Golf. I was quite astounded to get a manual car without any questions as to whether or not I could actually drive a manual... lucky for them, it's my specialty! I must say, as much of a pain in the ass as European cars are in Australia... for some reason (that I just can't put my finger on), they just make sense over here!!! =P In all seriousness though, it's a very comfy car that was very well equipped. Bluetooth, SatNav, rain sensing wipers, even headlights that moved based on where you turn. Not bad VW, not bad.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Naturally, first thing I did was stall the car. Whoops.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Moving on... Given that this was my first time on the 'wrong' side of the road (depending on your preference), there were several things to get used to:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">- Gear lever now on the other side. You look like quite an idiot wanting to change gears, and whacking your left hand on the door card in an attempt to find the shifter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">- Head checks are now completely reversed. It's a strange sensation looking over your other shoulder to see if it's safe to merge, or even to reverse!! You look over your left shoulder (as you normally would in Aus) and all you see is B pillar.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">- In Australia, when you turn, left turns are tight, right turns are loose. Not overly easy now remembering you have to make left turns loose and right turns tight. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I could keep listing difficulties that were faced, but long story short, instinct tends to override what you know and this can land you in some pretty interesting waters.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnGfYi4P_H3s9WAfyJY5Gn-LIzuAYRF0klmj0z973WZReMWLuvZXH3cm5AqQFgc7ItPMsmJJTfrGDvfvNh__FwrG2mmTs0biEwdKngy7SV-g6rIFTnzM_omcEgIkDkKjzjJhBEdDOr3vrS/s1600/DSC00778.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnGfYi4P_H3s9WAfyJY5Gn-LIzuAYRF0klmj0z973WZReMWLuvZXH3cm5AqQFgc7ItPMsmJJTfrGDvfvNh__FwrG2mmTs0biEwdKngy7SV-g6rIFTnzM_omcEgIkDkKjzjJhBEdDOr3vrS/s320/DSC00778.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The hardest thing for me to get used to was adjusting my reference points. In Australia, as a driver, you naturally line up with the rear-right light of the car in front of you. Doing that over in Germany results in you using bugger all of your lane, and spending most of it where other cars normally reside. I suppose the benefit of this is that everyone around me gave me plenty of room! It was in a constant adjustment though, and I regularly found myself drifting into the lane next to me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All shenanigans aside, I still had to get to where I needed to go, and that meant getting onto the one and only Autobahn :) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm1F75CtkNCJDmmSqSL-gUP2G_LNjuqLbML5qD36HOUcbe4edGRww_jUPvXHk8W37FQr-JpdvaCS-tFggmUM_zyMIi_AKtw8tcX3MjURIWIQ6LSYxn0an-i4kF_gIjedr2AWml9bIM4y6i/s1600/DSC00784.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm1F75CtkNCJDmmSqSL-gUP2G_LNjuqLbML5qD36HOUcbe4edGRww_jUPvXHk8W37FQr-JpdvaCS-tFggmUM_zyMIi_AKtw8tcX3MjURIWIQ6LSYxn0an-i4kF_gIjedr2AWml9bIM4y6i/s200/DSC00784.JPG" width="200" /></a></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbki_lIWAGI1GDFhSTIdDxtQZmTeyOjCXiRxsMyELISdAj2joFZFIgESogDdoHmzL6XZUNph8evVHpaJ1rb4OrD3JBE17F8zAQb139OTHnzk51aBRQ9s7yXdKANnLg_tzPXD_kFuR-BG9H/s1600/DSC00785.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbki_lIWAGI1GDFhSTIdDxtQZmTeyOjCXiRxsMyELISdAj2joFZFIgESogDdoHmzL6XZUNph8evVHpaJ1rb4OrD3JBE17F8zAQb139OTHnzk51aBRQ9s7yXdKANnLg_tzPXD_kFuR-BG9H/s200/DSC00785.JPG" width="200" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you click on the left photo, it will show a speed of ~130km/h. This was the SLOW lane... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For the majority of the trip, I was averaging the speed shown in the right photo... 160-170km/h. The crazy thing is though, it doesn't feel fast, simply because everyone is doing it. Granted, you have your crazy lunatics in the fast lane that are doing in excess of 250 km/h, but for most of the traffic, this is a normal and accepted speed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I would've thought with no speed limit, it would've made the Autobahn very easy to drive, but no, that is far from the case. If anything, it is MUCH more stressful to drive than Australian freeways. The basic rules are as follows... if you're a truck, stay in the right hand lane. If you need to overtake, go one lane to the left, and then the second you are done, return to where you were. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Simple, right? No. Well, on the sections of the Autobahn where there were 3 lanes, yes, but on the 2 lane sections it was a nightmare. Everyone except for the really slow vehicles seem to sit in the fast lane. Then you get the idiot who thinks they should still be able to do whatever speed they want, so they sit right on your ass. This results in the really slow vehicles doing whatever they want, and then a constant train of cars sitting in the fast lane, which I might add, once you get out of, it is very hard to get back into.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-TY-HXpqG8-TUn1vMCMbwEPhMU93_WRqQecQ9lGRoU5MXDnEqDwi-BLVF0cHhqwVkFde04VzTbgBA2UOhrT_wrcf9k6hW5fCq2JTvDsKFar2v3vfILG3tlX1Sb4AD35LB5wLTRkd6EH4X/s1600/DSC00786.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-TY-HXpqG8-TUn1vMCMbwEPhMU93_WRqQecQ9lGRoU5MXDnEqDwi-BLVF0cHhqwVkFde04VzTbgBA2UOhrT_wrcf9k6hW5fCq2JTvDsKFar2v3vfILG3tlX1Sb4AD35LB5wLTRkd6EH4X/s320/DSC00786.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To a point, this works until a slow vehicle decides to overtake another slow vehicle, and there are a LOT of them. Due to their lack of acceleration, they bring everyone down to their speed... selfish pricks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Moral of the story, you end up spending most of your time watching every single car around you. I must say, for once it's nice not having to watch my speedo like you do in Aus-land, but watching every car that's in front of you, behind you and on all sides, as well as trying to predict what said cars are going to do based on what is around THEM, it's far more stressful and exhausting. Somehow though, it works, and when it works well, its an absolute treat :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdYPrwJtcJiYtZxwoYMIjglv-GhXssZH5sRHy6sAtJ5oHZcdiFXEkyOIkMYdjfv1ve-AhaiuAPG0Yz3sEYZHcwSSoaEO1UbSkdxjvU7VvA_1KVNH4VxQxG55kvexjnk3Ow-Fp_9wJr2JCa/s1600/DSC00790.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdYPrwJtcJiYtZxwoYMIjglv-GhXssZH5sRHy6sAtJ5oHZcdiFXEkyOIkMYdjfv1ve-AhaiuAPG0Yz3sEYZHcwSSoaEO1UbSkdxjvU7VvA_1KVNH4VxQxG55kvexjnk3Ow-Fp_9wJr2JCa/s320/DSC00790.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I must say, they do have some very nice looking tunnels!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The original forecast for weather was cloudy and (unofficially) dreary, but then it started raining.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkJ0V7wvMms2JR-aPO2F3QJu8tCXCZE_mvSsJZe-ilpPvYvdSYVDQKXIwB3FlR9IZmURrCkGmVG9TZDdlc9HFudKlDVAThDl42_9W27SbW34xoQaOytOeRVV4wwY_8TUlKICZpb-J0OT10/s1600/DSC00792.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkJ0V7wvMms2JR-aPO2F3QJu8tCXCZE_mvSsJZe-ilpPvYvdSYVDQKXIwB3FlR9IZmURrCkGmVG9TZDdlc9HFudKlDVAThDl42_9W27SbW34xoQaOytOeRVV4wwY_8TUlKICZpb-J0OT10/s320/DSC00792.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Conditions got worse the further I drove on, and as night began to fell, visibility got worse...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRRbGhILeYcJV0r_YnM95eHWK-ZuqexL5xvywlzvS6Dx2bSR3nvqvGLbhQ3BcT1wEjpt2aVDsEsgP3aBpzD4V3B5mfQrEK1e_seXix6FlXhNAS3pi3aJufuAK5Nc497TeHPFia0n_AsyrP/s1600/DSC00793.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRRbGhILeYcJV0r_YnM95eHWK-ZuqexL5xvywlzvS6Dx2bSR3nvqvGLbhQ3BcT1wEjpt2aVDsEsgP3aBpzD4V3B5mfQrEK1e_seXix6FlXhNAS3pi3aJufuAK5Nc497TeHPFia0n_AsyrP/s320/DSC00793.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And worse...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2G0BBBhEjqEUmbQjl55P9zN2iKnAFEfn5dOzlhXaSjYmB5oZW5YRBhRqEtImI1vUTHzvGXOBJmoydHq0TwylvtED9Wg6dsJr706ubBgDN0p1_cguSHpt3g-DnaLkpI7D4fzlJ09LxIlkV/s1600/DSC00796.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2G0BBBhEjqEUmbQjl55P9zN2iKnAFEfn5dOzlhXaSjYmB5oZW5YRBhRqEtImI1vUTHzvGXOBJmoydHq0TwylvtED9Wg6dsJr706ubBgDN0p1_cguSHpt3g-DnaLkpI7D4fzlJ09LxIlkV/s320/DSC00796.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And worse. FYI I had picked up Mark Chambers, who was joining me at the Nurburgring, and he was taking these photos. Nice and safe :) What made this a million times more difficult, is that Germans don't believe in cat's eyes... the little reflectors that I now take for granted. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The above photo shows you literally all I could see - no more than 5 car lengths in front of me, with no idea where the other lanes around me were. Keep in mind that on top of the terrible conditions, I'm also trying to remember that I'm on the other side of the road, and everything is reversed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now I'm sure that not all experiences on the Autobahn are this bad... but bloody hell, to say this was a baptism of fire is an understatement. All I'll say is, you adapt really quickly to the situation when your life depends on it =P You don't really have any other choice! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I never envisaged my first experience on the Autobahn being this crazy... but what do you do hey? 5 hours of driving I eventually got to my destination in one piece... Here's to hoping the trip back is much better :)</span></div>
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</span>_Clinno_http://www.blogger.com/profile/15758751614854894618noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030408022090936981.post-26738341019535654642012-07-29T21:31:00.002+10:002012-07-29T21:45:26.885+10:00Holden Performance Driving Center... In a Nissan :)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today was the day to see all this hard work pay off... A day at the Holden Performance Driving Center, compliments of Hardtuned.net. Had to be there at 7.30 in the morning, so it was a very nippy start, full of chilliness and plenty of exhaust steam =P</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT_t5tgdut0ORCqWrhPaamwqEvpPFXg9Z6yFfJtKhmHXrJc-9mrth9BrnuM27KxfhG5nDeE5Rgv1i0njl7aAVMIWuG00wSCysSqWlcro05Kl4rsT6sAApDLrSY8LCZObXrn1n-chYnHUjO/s1600/IMG_0682.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT_t5tgdut0ORCqWrhPaamwqEvpPFXg9Z6yFfJtKhmHXrJc-9mrth9BrnuM27KxfhG5nDeE5Rgv1i0njl7aAVMIWuG00wSCysSqWlcro05Kl4rsT6sAApDLrSY8LCZObXrn1n-chYnHUjO/s320/IMG_0682.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilIKSl60YEjvkkmWSfMfXyNmik5K1PHWoYkkXhigXvqCxw4jmrO0ldFz7_R-SOz0tTvwXyUSj8MBWpIIog7mpDqiJPqQfqbUjLn2rWsPGk7_0z1TjoPdYITp2sB5gGDrKxswFDUAYL9LqW/s1600/IMG_0683.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilIKSl60YEjvkkmWSfMfXyNmik5K1PHWoYkkXhigXvqCxw4jmrO0ldFz7_R-SOz0tTvwXyUSj8MBWpIIog7mpDqiJPqQfqbUjLn2rWsPGk7_0z1TjoPdYITp2sB5gGDrKxswFDUAYL9LqW/s320/IMG_0683.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Needs to be said, what a way to start a winter's Sunday...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhphw3g2m5XCkxgJi7-Kv6yHayVpNXEtFZTbs_olsStNIGoM5pAXtripptXzv_4z54uy4mSxUxaPcFSXgpYCA0v35rVlxdoJ88W5JADy64eBJu4fH-c-Eszqxdj8Z_0U0mrht7yLSUunr_J/s1600/IMG_0684.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhphw3g2m5XCkxgJi7-Kv6yHayVpNXEtFZTbs_olsStNIGoM5pAXtripptXzv_4z54uy4mSxUxaPcFSXgpYCA0v35rVlxdoJ88W5JADy64eBJu4fH-c-Eszqxdj8Z_0U0mrht7yLSUunr_J/s320/IMG_0684.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After passing scrutineering, I got my very own sticker... yay! Number 23... first racing number I've ever been given :) Had to laugh at the irony though, just turned 24... swing and a miss! I wonder if I'll end up obsessing over this number like Jim Carey did...</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We had a quick drivers briefing, which was an overview of safety requirements, general rules, and what parts of the track to be aware of. Turns out this info came in very handy after we got into it.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-0ppt-P2Ea3Wt9yIS7CqagniFB_hC3WbWNEy6q4WhBYuQNV5Wj4yH_A4S21l2sY8ECcFEdb7pQ18Unf3U2c54-DGYD4ZnAihynOYJnZSj6z1FT5BU3jPgvYhGzK7ENLYjqy8LtQqO0Sze/s1600/IMG_0685.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-0ppt-P2Ea3Wt9yIS7CqagniFB_hC3WbWNEy6q4WhBYuQNV5Wj4yH_A4S21l2sY8ECcFEdb7pQ18Unf3U2c54-DGYD4ZnAihynOYJnZSj6z1FT5BU3jPgvYhGzK7ENLYjqy8LtQqO0Sze/s320/IMG_0685.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First look at the track... what a stunning day!!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3thHwAVlU9Qtl1Yjxfi22KppiqyYE9IiAUwgmi_LIW55IBwWoFDDhYcmiW5qKHmXO9veplniWAkXYwO6Pv8meWwTvvaw87YonMbcc5D8vLS5qX5VVsVVNOxemF0aj4SO2Y-rxfYuOFC_Q/s1600/IMG_0686.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3thHwAVlU9Qtl1Yjxfi22KppiqyYE9IiAUwgmi_LIW55IBwWoFDDhYcmiW5qKHmXO9veplniWAkXYwO6Pv8meWwTvvaw87YonMbcc5D8vLS5qX5VVsVVNOxemF0aj4SO2Y-rxfYuOFC_Q/s320/IMG_0686.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I ended up in Group 2 - there were 5 cars per group, 11 groups in total. They placed us based on car type and power output, with driving experience also influencing placement. Group 1 started the day off, so my day began with queuing up, ready for group 2 to grace the track.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWpwrwMq7Yl3uKqs1jA3IZ2Iu_r9SGVwhwPCO7CX_UMS7MKW_bS7VPaGWaNJkLVu_gWuh7emiu2BAh3ZZg2fv8ALcZjaqSoI1_J_JLaJ3nCIDLS2jdbykilbAWaX7roSDBgkpYGH8hyphenhyphenR_z/s1600/DSC00680.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWpwrwMq7Yl3uKqs1jA3IZ2Iu_r9SGVwhwPCO7CX_UMS7MKW_bS7VPaGWaNJkLVu_gWuh7emiu2BAh3ZZg2fv8ALcZjaqSoI1_J_JLaJ3nCIDLS2jdbykilbAWaX7roSDBgkpYGH8hyphenhyphenR_z/s320/DSC00680.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There ended up being 4 cars in my group. A 180sx, an s13, s14 and then my one via. All in all, we were very evenly matched :) although sprints was a bit boring, as the racing against each other was measured by a clock, nothing tangible. Honestly, I'm not a big fan, but hey, can't keep a closed mind when it comes to these things.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDyIiszKka_U4jKmEAHEuwudiNoPOCRIhUiL4z0EtW9ZnxKZcNUFulksYNdlfLJd7JZpK84Ynppu9pszoxXQmKn_FUz2ZRR5nynCHcBZ7BnrV_PkN6ZQ5gF8vewxkV_xBqMJK-3Ni6gOn0/s1600/DSC00693.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDyIiszKka_U4jKmEAHEuwudiNoPOCRIhUiL4z0EtW9ZnxKZcNUFulksYNdlfLJd7JZpK84Ynppu9pszoxXQmKn_FUz2ZRR5nynCHcBZ7BnrV_PkN6ZQ5gF8vewxkV_xBqMJK-3Ni6gOn0/s320/DSC00693.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Getting shots with a small point and shoot camera was tricky, and an iPhone didn't fare much better... my beautiful girlfriend got some very good photos none-the-less :)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The track itself was very small and tight. I was lucky to get into 4th gear let alone think about getting into 5th. There's some very high speed corners, and some very tricky sections, but all in all a very fun track.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After the first session out (we had a total of 5, i only completed 3 due to exhaustion and not wanting to do something stupid), I got pulled over coming off the track... Turns out my car was leaking fuel. The fuel was coming from the filler cap, although after lifting the car up and having a nosey around, I couldn't work out how that was even possible.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu__3cy1FmcY2wCaXyVKkM31CPdeOKvXP4nLONWWYyVmDMTD3LR7HLPXJQxofXKlQpr9snHEMTOoE0IWT9dXHy2AQI816ZfBt7jURWtpaI0vde2cp8igiCWXllQV1KQfpMVVB_wuapKKl1/s1600/IMG_0687.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu__3cy1FmcY2wCaXyVKkM31CPdeOKvXP4nLONWWYyVmDMTD3LR7HLPXJQxofXKlQpr9snHEMTOoE0IWT9dXHy2AQI816ZfBt7jURWtpaI0vde2cp8igiCWXllQV1KQfpMVVB_wuapKKl1/s320/IMG_0687.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Regardless, I couldn't deny the fact that there was an issue... the solution? Grabbed a rag from the boot and stuffed it in the filler cap hole. While it didn't fix the issue, it did slow down the leak enough that I could complete a session without having any more leak out. What it did mean though is that I was pulling the rag out at the end of each session and rinsing it (it was DRENCHED in fuel), ready for the next session.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNxyQfTZc_6Q8c38QmYv2P31GhQjlWOLGp-3B_j-6lmUJaCOzvTrLQu0vUGpRFYkAQz29W3ChtSVbGEN9puZmdunxgmziwfP7cra__LWd39F1A514yaNHwVO3we3sjE_vsb19QuvZqse3F/s1600/IMG_0688.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNxyQfTZc_6Q8c38QmYv2P31GhQjlWOLGp-3B_j-6lmUJaCOzvTrLQu0vUGpRFYkAQz29W3ChtSVbGEN9puZmdunxgmziwfP7cra__LWd39F1A514yaNHwVO3we3sjE_vsb19QuvZqse3F/s320/IMG_0688.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There was plenty of eye candy throughout the day... some very impressive motor vehicles graced us!! We saw a white Lexus LFA rock up... but within 5 minutes we saw this - a chrome plated LFA. All of a sudden the white one didn't seem to matter anymore... Some people have too much money =\ Wouldn't you hate it if you got a scratch or a ding in that paint?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjUVwQr4wCldBatuyOpco2eqIONWurxXHKJ4q4Q18bTFS3p7P-mhXp0RfSbIAq4dc0NbfYqONQrwdM7DUGNK9GB4_X7nQ8eLFpWK53EIN9L0NsxefPtw8rv8PQ0iJD7DedesG4PlCXuSus/s1600/IMG_0689.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjUVwQr4wCldBatuyOpco2eqIONWurxXHKJ4q4Q18bTFS3p7P-mhXp0RfSbIAq4dc0NbfYqONQrwdM7DUGNK9GB4_X7nQ8eLFpWK53EIN9L0NsxefPtw8rv8PQ0iJD7DedesG4PlCXuSus/s320/IMG_0689.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This was a treat... an Aston Martin DBS...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEt2ol9hg2UcfLhunR_hJ65h5LHUqBpg-IUr_Xu8L-M-ICCRyE9pQgkX4pH9-DSwoyuYM66JcQeSpU_r7LCMN3yR0DG1Gc27QDra7ZAolDuGn6VOpeOy-W5vTEhmMgx9EFPX55Bwmi9try/s1600/IMG_0691.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEt2ol9hg2UcfLhunR_hJ65h5LHUqBpg-IUr_Xu8L-M-ICCRyE9pQgkX4pH9-DSwoyuYM66JcQeSpU_r7LCMN3yR0DG1Gc27QDra7ZAolDuGn6VOpeOy-W5vTEhmMgx9EFPX55Bwmi9try/s320/IMG_0691.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... that headed out onto the skid pan :) What was quite funny was he spent most of his session turning off all the electronic assists that seem to grace exotic cars, but once he got that sorted, it did surprisingly well!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijnTLLTzhuopN8i_hPerxmFqRkZPkETTqgbeWp2eHwEFkt4APHbBXyLM8L5aVGwPdkL79SW3yfO9tKdLQ4hs_ZG17OHtiOztqdzj53oKXhbwRktOtJm8NGr_N2769ooJ-gdE9w_rl9GNNY/s1600/IMG_0692.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijnTLLTzhuopN8i_hPerxmFqRkZPkETTqgbeWp2eHwEFkt4APHbBXyLM8L5aVGwPdkL79SW3yfO9tKdLQ4hs_ZG17OHtiOztqdzj53oKXhbwRktOtJm8NGr_N2769ooJ-gdE9w_rl9GNNY/s320/IMG_0692.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Given that I'd never ever drifted before, I thought I might as well give it a shot! I mean, what better way to do it than on a skid pan, with plenty of water and nothing to hit.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just a tad nervous waiting to head out...</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It needs to be said, it was fuducking hard!!! And that's even in an ex-comp drift car on a wet track... I could only go off of assumed knowledge, I'd had no formal training per se. While it was easy enough to get sideways, maintaining that was a real challenge. Before I knew it, the session was over... back to sprints.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The second session brought with it a little bit more confidence, as I'd had time to learn the track. Seemed a little bit too much confidence though, had an off on my first hot lap. Nothing serious, just gave her a bit too much coming out of a corner, spun out and ended up on the grass. I went on to a third sprint session, nothing overly exciting, just working on improving my times (which I had no idea of... so it was kind of just more spirited driving lol).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What I was a lot more interested in was persevering with the skid pan. After having a yarn with a couple of guys regarding techniques and what I could improve on, I had to try and see if I couldn't put some of that to use.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Big thanks to Chris for jumping in with me and giving me some flying pointers for a session or 2 :) needless to say it did net an improvement, but I still had a long way to go...</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What amazed me was how dirty the car got!! </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The organisers then decided to throw out a Gymkhana track, which I gave 2 tries with Erin as my passenger... good fun! But a tad hard when I'm still learning to drift, let alone control one. The solution?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chris took me for 2 runs in my own car :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrQuzHoAGV-Rav3sCFvSC8G6purLqKZPonoknVbF3xOzPBgLQxtnJ9ONyTTzWjnXTgRt0lwzBdziPDJWxv4O4p0W9hKpyNTQoQb-J_RZ1YG-X1j-08aZpRd_36PtVWr6OcH2Nd3jA6L0uO/s1600/DSC00731.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrQuzHoAGV-Rav3sCFvSC8G6purLqKZPonoknVbF3xOzPBgLQxtnJ9ONyTTzWjnXTgRt0lwzBdziPDJWxv4O4p0W9hKpyNTQoQb-J_RZ1YG-X1j-08aZpRd_36PtVWr6OcH2Nd3jA6L0uO/s320/DSC00731.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thought a thumbs up was a good indication for what was about to happen...</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwLM1kq-46isg0UisRp9eIiUbY1QGwRwLGUk1zeJR0LmH5BqZXHNHZJ5jjY5S1ZE40OsaFeCs8ScYKCTB_enQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This was the second run... wicked fun!! Had an issue though that the water was getting into the rear brake pads, and basically rendered the handbrake useless. Didn't stop Chris from throwing it around, although you could see where it was affecting him. I'll be honest, I didn't pick up that much, was a bit too focused on having fun =P</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I managed to get in another 2 sessions on the straight skid pan (no gymkhana) with Erin as a passenger. She had a smile on her face, could only be a good thing :) The hardest thing to learn initially was throttle control. I started getting the hang of it, but then I had to deal with figuring out counter steer. Apparently less is more, but to me it was completely counter-intuitive =S</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Throughout the day there were also cruise sessions, got to take my beautiful for a couple of blips around the track! Match that up with drags with random people on the main straight, some good clean fun was had by everyone.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All in all, a very very fun day :) learnt a lot about both myself and Stacey... hopefully skills I can use in the near future! There will be more photos coming once the professionals start posting theirs (yay for trawling). Can't wait to see what comes up :)</span></div>
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</span>_Clinno_http://www.blogger.com/profile/15758751614854894618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030408022090936981.post-48666735454583173822012-07-29T19:01:00.001+10:002012-07-29T19:01:47.738+10:00Mechanical Panadol... Doesn't help!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So to catch you up... Brakes were knackered, battery tray was knackered. Yep, that pretty much sums it up. Allow me to give you some pictures to narrate...</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After unsuccessfully trying to remove the spacers, I began to try drilling the studs out... Yeah that went well, 20+ odd drill bits later, made no real dent. Had to get a bit more extreme!!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While I tried to figure out a solution, I went back to the battery tray. For those keen of eye, there's a bracket down the side of the chassis rail that's no longer there.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhJmlxrXnyBfleXrilXBXsqAUlkwyAe888o6rzTDcFDaRXxu273Q1YWEo8ngLhFeDonqW00FA7P-YJuLjqUm3nsIVnN23d-vF35tEOFIutsgkR-tlR4rVtdlEqZ-QmkIdv42TagJDjsZX4/s1600/IMG_0631.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhJmlxrXnyBfleXrilXBXsqAUlkwyAe888o6rzTDcFDaRXxu273Q1YWEo8ngLhFeDonqW00FA7P-YJuLjqUm3nsIVnN23d-vF35tEOFIutsgkR-tlR4rVtdlEqZ-QmkIdv42TagJDjsZX4/s320/IMG_0631.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Monday: After a bit of backyard fabricating, I plated up the absolute abomination that was the post-battery-tray procedure.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyWtlXRTQSd5xLhoSpKzOkxI9h2xr-4UiFgoFNK1zBOVIY3l82GIy0hmu3-wzhbxkk3UVdYxnmw5PHWK7DiIl-oIwl4uQJbjmM8Fu_U4AYPzuwUkS2MWunMbv1VjH0sJZdn2BitQXaHtUq/s1600/IMG_0632.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyWtlXRTQSd5xLhoSpKzOkxI9h2xr-4UiFgoFNK1zBOVIY3l82GIy0hmu3-wzhbxkk3UVdYxnmw5PHWK7DiIl-oIwl4uQJbjmM8Fu_U4AYPzuwUkS2MWunMbv1VjH0sJZdn2BitQXaHtUq/s320/IMG_0632.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">^^ see?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All back together :) Much cleaner! Not very permanent mind you, but for all intents and purposes, it does tidy it up a hell of a lot.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Turns out the only way to sort out the brakes issue was to remove both the hub and the LCA (lower control arm), and to take them into a workshop. That in itself was an incredible nightmare... I've never tried to pop a ball joint before, but once I knew the technique, turned out it was quite easy... good to know for next time.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhYkJT_hUVkHx4BC0DPzH7e9N7TbKlreHARmsi0-Q4IfdbTCrsqLnbICFjlzo9gCiJxtkzp6F0WbNfV3BzzB-SjA0azClx2e18xFfoXPP4G64DlPicbf0vpsB58g7S-k94S75LaPlrXhIS/s1600/IMG_0637.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhYkJT_hUVkHx4BC0DPzH7e9N7TbKlreHARmsi0-Q4IfdbTCrsqLnbICFjlzo9gCiJxtkzp6F0WbNfV3BzzB-SjA0azClx2e18xFfoXPP4G64DlPicbf0vpsB58g7S-k94S75LaPlrXhIS/s320/IMG_0637.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tuesday: Tobs doing some industrial drilling on the hubs... this took a better part of an hour and a half to sort out. Nice to know that studs don't break terribly easy, but at the end of the day that's very little consolation.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidESfGk_FZe7Dxz-QsccGnE45NTkPh3oxG4279EDJ8HjUYK1MGHZ9wNu5VE1DmdEe9lco72PRlBN6MSL_I0wkJCN7iJavrsIjUN-kunrjxjy0Y_puYjBGyHCa-Ef4wLBG-0A9tiraeF8uE/s1600/IMG_0638.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidESfGk_FZe7Dxz-QsccGnE45NTkPh3oxG4279EDJ8HjUYK1MGHZ9wNu5VE1DmdEe9lco72PRlBN6MSL_I0wkJCN7iJavrsIjUN-kunrjxjy0Y_puYjBGyHCa-Ef4wLBG-0A9tiraeF8uE/s320/IMG_0638.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The end result :) 2 new ball joints in the LCA's (the old ones were absolutely shagged) and some de-spacered and de-rotored hubs.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpWE-ZndPWYehM1oW1BG1-BmE4Ja5kYQTw0egATBk4H3w-rC_cyADcBFEGW8ceQG-2F6plNUmnmxJStxTtSWlzXZi-lbR7CFBX7XD6g7hn9O4Hn6t0HoXTPeAZTZEFIkM2zHL9tUEzYwE5/s1600/IMG_0640.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpWE-ZndPWYehM1oW1BG1-BmE4Ja5kYQTw0egATBk4H3w-rC_cyADcBFEGW8ceQG-2F6plNUmnmxJStxTtSWlzXZi-lbR7CFBX7XD6g7hn9O4Hn6t0HoXTPeAZTZEFIkM2zHL9tUEzYwE5/s320/IMG_0640.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Wednesday: Given that I was in Redcliffe all day for work, I didn't have daylight... unfortunately I also didn't have the luxury of waiting around. Always fun trying to work under a stupidly bright fluoro light, but that said it did help to see things.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqozuqwWAJXhBL4NpwakeY4gJ4V0-HfIP2OOP_zjkTRelXjAPyH9j_6RElWVmWATS_Ukepo3XpPtfvfEr5a9DTHLWnEpLDSV6AQXCDLU596p1rTZwrVL_0gXantFKwjACk33uOOo7L1LEq/s1600/IMG_0644.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqozuqwWAJXhBL4NpwakeY4gJ4V0-HfIP2OOP_zjkTRelXjAPyH9j_6RElWVmWATS_Ukepo3XpPtfvfEr5a9DTHLWnEpLDSV6AQXCDLU596p1rTZwrVL_0gXantFKwjACk33uOOo7L1LEq/s320/IMG_0644.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tightening the studs up... Always learning!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAtJdq0YYvaJ20U_J1C7Ek3pPr_1S9vthsmnEOfKQMOavJRhxeD02cCRZG7kgmKH8jt1u100MRmlXyQldrAK5QMRUfqM4SGue-9ef-HbfZDOzm7WWlFU6yg4F8YlwZR3-IeZB0DLYdqCW1/s1600/IMG_0642.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAtJdq0YYvaJ20U_J1C7Ek3pPr_1S9vthsmnEOfKQMOavJRhxeD02cCRZG7kgmKH8jt1u100MRmlXyQldrAK5QMRUfqM4SGue-9ef-HbfZDOzm7WWlFU6yg4F8YlwZR3-IeZB0DLYdqCW1/s320/IMG_0642.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At 9.30pm, I'd successfully installed only one rotor, including new wheel studs and spacer...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkxdTl1UgYoUBoEwAF-J1vwG_Inzasd5t4gF3EkS1LGI0eQQdJKWSUCIYmPf74N1-lsh4IzqogukXIFm-eI5AdWOG-hlBRq9lL9gkBWFjEhBBZGGH90y4deBwrVXcoBwtbmGjBuN5LXN8L/s1600/IMG_0643.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkxdTl1UgYoUBoEwAF-J1vwG_Inzasd5t4gF3EkS1LGI0eQQdJKWSUCIYmPf74N1-lsh4IzqogukXIFm-eI5AdWOG-hlBRq9lL9gkBWFjEhBBZGGH90y4deBwrVXcoBwtbmGjBuN5LXN8L/s320/IMG_0643.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">However once I put the calliper on, I noticed one incredibly big (or small) issue... the calliper was too small, by about 30mm in diameter. I measured the original ones before I ordered these, and I simply don't know how I could've mis-measured by 30mm... regardless, this posed one very big conundrum.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Doing a track day with ill-fitting components (especially brakes) is obviously a big no-no. Unfortunately, removing the spacers rendered the existing rotors useless. I could've limped the car as is, but that would've meant that I would not be able to return the rotors. I also didn't want to forfeit the track day, especially after all the work I'd put in for all this, plus the entry fee was a bit high to wave goodbye to... The other issue is that these rotors have to get ordered in, it's not just a pick up off a shelf kind of deal - and trying to get them sorted before the weekend would be very tricky...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqozuqwWAJXhBL4NpwakeY4gJ4V0-HfIP2OOP_zjkTRelXjAPyH9j_6RElWVmWATS_Ukepo3XpPtfvfEr5a9DTHLWnEpLDSV6AQXCDLU596p1rTZwrVL_0gXantFKwjACk33uOOo7L1LEq/s1600/IMG_0644.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJG0-yRJ9SEEpeLgEP6PHy3Bg1NHx5D0n39xoU8QfaQNpqv-uXpupnBllBr480tXi-HzAQaoufPM6O1oSy-bp8y-Z839lhliOVz4E_-n7_Z7vdSU3d59lvW2kMsNdWc3Gw5mfmp71ALQ9u/s1600/IMG_0655.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJG0-yRJ9SEEpeLgEP6PHy3Bg1NHx5D0n39xoU8QfaQNpqv-uXpupnBllBr480tXi-HzAQaoufPM6O1oSy-bp8y-Z839lhliOVz4E_-n7_Z7vdSU3d59lvW2kMsNdWc3Gw5mfmp71ALQ9u/s320/IMG_0655.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Luckily, it helps to know people :) I did pay out the ass for the privilege, something I'm hoping to make back once I have time to sort it all out, but I'd invested too much time and effort to say goodbye to this track day.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtdRpaLpa5tmbrAbsnryf4mFJd37iYKc0tP2B1Gi_KsZI36-CxYUCip8IDixQhmOOhjrwrHJkncsHf7Q4l2fjkZkvjdvfYK3wdtZVkZZ_CsddTJiKb_KbMk1eythu72lcxRr6VMw_toUte/s1600/IMG_0656.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtdRpaLpa5tmbrAbsnryf4mFJd37iYKc0tP2B1Gi_KsZI36-CxYUCip8IDixQhmOOhjrwrHJkncsHf7Q4l2fjkZkvjdvfYK3wdtZVkZZ_CsddTJiKb_KbMk1eythu72lcxRr6VMw_toUte/s320/IMG_0656.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Front hubs back together... thankfully they fitted the callipers properly this time! The spacers came with super long studs, so had to chop them back. I put nuts on them to protect the threads while I grinded them off.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*insert appropriately contexted comment here*</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_y0so1Kub-r5vsPqxoAbLMlYXGskSxusEi3tjYKvc4F7f_ESwuuZBltIqArdQQAsV3DIojj8TXKWS2tREn6Hd70D2KITOuhdQ2dx7chyuodVPbEXFEWnrg0Rc9Gu7jpa6kzr6HOO58Smq/s1600/IMG_0662.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_y0so1Kub-r5vsPqxoAbLMlYXGskSxusEi3tjYKvc4F7f_ESwuuZBltIqArdQQAsV3DIojj8TXKWS2tREn6Hd70D2KITOuhdQ2dx7chyuodVPbEXFEWnrg0Rc9Gu7jpa6kzr6HOO58Smq/s320/IMG_0662.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kim, if I'm to be honest, I'm a little worried about your obsession with taking pictures off my ass...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJQmoOfmFw297ej_lGsdURZ1qbo6OU4LJaL2sPEC2ExEI39-sKywTz25ecbuXVL59yYzq1QhZgpWEVjAUhVRHh_3L2iBvctKpMHnfP-WgtbP0-yEqqbGiosd_uKLRhedHiyH_EUc6Fyin6/s1600/IMG_0663.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJQmoOfmFw297ej_lGsdURZ1qbo6OU4LJaL2sPEC2ExEI39-sKywTz25ecbuXVL59yYzq1QhZgpWEVjAUhVRHh_3L2iBvctKpMHnfP-WgtbP0-yEqqbGiosd_uKLRhedHiyH_EUc6Fyin6/s320/IMG_0663.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once the brakes were sorted, I decided to tackle a few other outstanding things that I had time for... just random aesthetics more or less.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW-5T22noSofMX9X2OLaWHr0kcK8CSfQZhoiylWaeIk7JubHptuWzjBvPLbNgz4Td_NHnzRchS9bSIGwcvHP07Xr3MM29JilV69BDoG0ajjShh-JcKJ-OsWkOKCjFfAbMfGMo9QIJIBVEK/s1600/IMG_0665.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW-5T22noSofMX9X2OLaWHr0kcK8CSfQZhoiylWaeIk7JubHptuWzjBvPLbNgz4Td_NHnzRchS9bSIGwcvHP07Xr3MM29JilV69BDoG0ajjShh-JcKJ-OsWkOKCjFfAbMfGMo9QIJIBVEK/s320/IMG_0665.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tint was one of the big kickers for me that I wanted to sort out. It was relatively easy to remove, just used a heat gun to melt the glue, and a stanley blade to get me an edge. After that, just some windex to clean up any residue, and happy days :) You can really see the difference in visibility, and more importantly, legality.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7XwLr4EJa2JKpimEvJpyGLhNjgpOD-TBx20oGFe4blnUxCdFu2wEa9BjQt5QLpk4YCvx3J0wFs5jXAXBMkYOEDL8e7jhPu_g3nWvRPyHTEDp_lAeA7-S9UUmZ9xVruQHhgYN1HVe-LvAc/s1600/IMG_0666.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7XwLr4EJa2JKpimEvJpyGLhNjgpOD-TBx20oGFe4blnUxCdFu2wEa9BjQt5QLpk4YCvx3J0wFs5jXAXBMkYOEDL8e7jhPu_g3nWvRPyHTEDp_lAeA7-S9UUmZ9xVruQHhgYN1HVe-LvAc/s320/IMG_0666.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kim giving me a hand to improve the paint... The buffer did this really cool thing by dispersing the detailing spray, unfortunately the camera didn't capture it.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio4YTRfsV30ad0kwhImy0tkFJpKpksP3sfQpntEHpBUzNAx_wkENAlgRihA5rfcfocNHvnSntZBu1DnXbAXD3zp2AzJjyv_iy0T30SxlVF8_Cgdt5GsffU-5M8gG5gLoB1AgkrNe4YP_sS/s1600/IMG_0671.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio4YTRfsV30ad0kwhImy0tkFJpKpksP3sfQpntEHpBUzNAx_wkENAlgRihA5rfcfocNHvnSntZBu1DnXbAXD3zp2AzJjyv_iy0T30SxlVF8_Cgdt5GsffU-5M8gG5gLoB1AgkrNe4YP_sS/s320/IMG_0671.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Something cheeky for the track day :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfmiCeB3VUeoAjKgJQ84Ds-CeNaPhX5ouFMkFgPzfJVa46AhXPoh3i_tTWPSjMjUuHWKhwmp8u8ArwKelgmNPO9RvhhndR8sKmMimTRvaJPkrq3d_9VXYxL3EC32tbQDKDlgBYMa0Vf_-N/s1600/IMG_0673.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfmiCeB3VUeoAjKgJQ84Ds-CeNaPhX5ouFMkFgPzfJVa46AhXPoh3i_tTWPSjMjUuHWKhwmp8u8ArwKelgmNPO9RvhhndR8sKmMimTRvaJPkrq3d_9VXYxL3EC32tbQDKDlgBYMa0Vf_-N/s320/IMG_0673.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Annd all ready to go for Sunday!!! An absolute nightmare, but got there in the end... I guess the important thing is that I learnt a lot from this experience, but somehow that doesn't make me feel any better from the headaches that such a simple job has caused =\</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Alas, stay tuned for track day shenanigans :)</span></div>
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</span>_Clinno_http://www.blogger.com/profile/15758751614854894618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030408022090936981.post-43091503583901764482012-07-21T20:42:00.000+10:002012-07-21T20:42:10.764+10:00A week out, and... Headaches!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Carrying on from the post yesterday, today began with the expectations of accomplishing 2 simple things:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">- Replacing the front brakes/rotors.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">- Cutting out the battery tray to finish off the battery relocation</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Easy enough right? Yeah, that's what I thought...</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I started off with the brakes, as they were the most important thing. The battery tray is realistically only cosmetics to please the piggies. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The first thing that needed to happen was to pull the spacers off. The front hubs are 4-stud (standard for the s13), and I used 4-to-5-stud spacers to a) allow me to run my wheels off the s15, and b) fill out the gap in the guard created by using said wheels.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyihtzPht_nT_vXgVEFmy37c1amdBMcSnJjeoPzOpaUxK_iaDJXpXVwyMBg-vWOR5m3LFA0zbtjG71h9OQsHBF7cFSgBlL4PKYlk3OynmaXhy48JYnU472ywdEYsJgmH1enCxUAzmMhNvG/s1600/IMG_0606.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyihtzPht_nT_vXgVEFmy37c1amdBMcSnJjeoPzOpaUxK_iaDJXpXVwyMBg-vWOR5m3LFA0zbtjG71h9OQsHBF7cFSgBlL4PKYlk3OynmaXhy48JYnU472ywdEYsJgmH1enCxUAzmMhNvG/s320/IMG_0606.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What's unfortunately happened though is that over time, the heat from the brakes has fused the lock nuts on the spacers. Try as we might (using a rattle gun, spraying the crap out them with Inox (you can see the puddle of Inox underneath the rotor), using a massive breaker bar), we couldn't undo the nuts... 'We' because I needed an extra person to press the brake pedal to stop the hub from rotating while I tried to undo the nuts. Long story short? Rounded all the nuts... yep. Dead end. So onto the battery tray.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1fsCn-u72DQ6zHIPD6v92qTYvSf7DuWLlm1Igv3TGaUCWJzL9WI-gsEJ_h0mJVUFSGh4w3etMZ6MSD_cdxFYWmfHqW1syLqAQ3FovEr7DaUVQRjsi_O9mnrtce0QzXVeQiU2Jay65EDrS/s1600/IMG_0607.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1fsCn-u72DQ6zHIPD6v92qTYvSf7DuWLlm1Igv3TGaUCWJzL9WI-gsEJ_h0mJVUFSGh4w3etMZ6MSD_cdxFYWmfHqW1syLqAQ3FovEr7DaUVQRjsi_O9mnrtce0QzXVeQiU2Jay65EDrS/s320/IMG_0607.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpSPanAs_CpNfDizgab6bxW9aqqgrl8Bj9vN0F2OJ5HeFOcMYIMl5s1MXfyGHitDEMxLtCC5Rf7TwfDTZxFwftpmGZuCksCnfl4K1j3uTqUq3dq3EWeFNKSWIgXI_Mabozi6X8WQazlxh2/s1600/IMG_0608.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpSPanAs_CpNfDizgab6bxW9aqqgrl8Bj9vN0F2OJ5HeFOcMYIMl5s1MXfyGHitDEMxLtCC5Rf7TwfDTZxFwftpmGZuCksCnfl4K1j3uTqUq3dq3EWeFNKSWIgXI_Mabozi6X8WQazlxh2/s320/IMG_0608.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This was the hole I was hoping to sort out. It doesn't look so bad from the top, but underneath shows a completely different story. Told you it was a dodgy job right? =P</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Removing a battery tray is simple in theory - you drill holes where the factory has spot welded the tray to the chassis, and then use a crow bar or something similar to lever the tray away from the chassis.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqA8NOkNHy_CrFBhR45KGbLPD-GmMnj_MpE7tac7yr1sNPu8stwZZoyrbcg5BD3AuxZE05vQT3UfxQNrfy8JEmi6PBAX1NuMupz8J-ionk5-MZDivZFYya_XtiqA2bpbwwqdzP0qy21jf3/s1600/IMG_0611.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqA8NOkNHy_CrFBhR45KGbLPD-GmMnj_MpE7tac7yr1sNPu8stwZZoyrbcg5BD3AuxZE05vQT3UfxQNrfy8JEmi6PBAX1NuMupz8J-ionk5-MZDivZFYya_XtiqA2bpbwwqdzP0qy21jf3/s320/IMG_0611.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Never hurts to use PPE :) Glasses, muffs and gloves make Clinton a responsible boy!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQvk3az6dN7cfTDHZZoDHsLiMhfS7MaLuCCjnF5Y8BfPa8Z3HnHrUD9gZUQrPaMM6au605ox4duF-jYX1pWaK9W9TD5GsD_vcWwzK3M7yYrSXixq5ZDHvSGvOLf_SlhQFbnXsRo6ex7jsw/s1600/IMG_0614.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQvk3az6dN7cfTDHZZoDHsLiMhfS7MaLuCCjnF5Y8BfPa8Z3HnHrUD9gZUQrPaMM6au605ox4duF-jYX1pWaK9W9TD5GsD_vcWwzK3M7yYrSXixq5ZDHvSGvOLf_SlhQFbnXsRo6ex7jsw/s320/IMG_0614.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yep so the theory was sound... this was my progress after 3 hours =\</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-bK-PsPnJFYTSFyeLrIW22brnn7WhOXPTZinKLMRIUDxAUNijupOjlOPGOQ2TV_6Vm5fSTqH5fs8zL2Tk3R9taM6KbdnpPk0MzSVdlSg1f1bWNcf5DP6NJ-Wj7DSkYXxiIYSNF54ah8Lw/s1600/IMG_0615.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-bK-PsPnJFYTSFyeLrIW22brnn7WhOXPTZinKLMRIUDxAUNijupOjlOPGOQ2TV_6Vm5fSTqH5fs8zL2Tk3R9taM6KbdnpPk0MzSVdlSg1f1bWNcf5DP6NJ-Wj7DSkYXxiIYSNF54ah8Lw/s320/IMG_0615.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4 hours saw the easy half out. A tone of drilling, crow-bar-ing, dremel-ing, mallet-ing, chiselling, and grinding... the biggest issue was that the battery tray seemed to be made of metal that was 3 times thicker than the chassis that it was tacked to. What this meant was that I was tending to tear the chassis whilst trying to twist off sections of the battery tray. Tearing metal for crying out aloud!! Maybe I'm in the wrong profession =P</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's what's left of said battery tray... </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi34Vpf6XCfFPfVWk6VU-fNcBzJVBE9Y5Rcawm_qyfdIM380zcH_b89IgEAuuv3x4ItLOoEy13k_1drLy2XW3ZmfbuhE5uXMNm1Fzy-Jm_aGrLXrBc1uBTqlsv_K29x9ilbmlWN53pklDVJ/s1600/IMG_0617.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi34Vpf6XCfFPfVWk6VU-fNcBzJVBE9Y5Rcawm_qyfdIM380zcH_b89IgEAuuv3x4ItLOoEy13k_1drLy2XW3ZmfbuhE5uXMNm1Fzy-Jm_aGrLXrBc1uBTqlsv_K29x9ilbmlWN53pklDVJ/s320/IMG_0617.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And whats left of what's not left of said battery tray ;)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgih8qirNadoESVhiqVuMYvhmHS1MTnc_hMTyltl7neuEnhZV6m8MtURfaOPSf7BnT3WPH9lEZmdj9osVfOpppkYQZD2fVaKeRNlxucPQ-qqje1pdyCcKokfoT2M9sr0klsHu9kCT7baA6q/s1600/IMG_0619.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgih8qirNadoESVhiqVuMYvhmHS1MTnc_hMTyltl7neuEnhZV6m8MtURfaOPSf7BnT3WPH9lEZmdj9osVfOpppkYQZD2fVaKeRNlxucPQ-qqje1pdyCcKokfoT2M9sr0klsHu9kCT7baA6q/s320/IMG_0619.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can see here just how fragile the metal on the chassis is... the tears, the rips, the oddly shaped drill holes... I'm definitely going to have to plate this up once I'm done to reinforce the chassis. On the bright side, it will look a hell of a lot cleaner once done! It's also going to make tidying up the hole a tonne easier. There's still some bracket left on the side of the chassis rail (top of the photo) which will be tidied up (hopefully) tomorrow, but all I'll say is this - screw doing this job ever ever again!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi40mmgNXKlk6YJ5SnfnhnFKcRcJ-yLssWplkfLyc1rueXm6UBe3m7CFNfL-w51wN6zxQ5vFz0oaYeivx9In1cGrK4CLyghZg_w-Rxn5fOhr1r6WsJlrJ-PdbGNTzmoJUzpshBGvf-2Lbom/s1600/IMG_0618.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi40mmgNXKlk6YJ5SnfnhnFKcRcJ-yLssWplkfLyc1rueXm6UBe3m7CFNfL-w51wN6zxQ5vFz0oaYeivx9In1cGrK4CLyghZg_w-Rxn5fOhr1r6WsJlrJ-PdbGNTzmoJUzpshBGvf-2Lbom/s320/IMG_0618.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I decided to go back to the brakes conundrum with what little daylight I had left... After hitting a dead end with the rounded bolts, I had to get creative... That spacer is basically sandwiching the rotor to the hub - very frustrating given that I needed to replace that rotor in the middle!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The alternative? Well, there aren't many, I'll say that much. The only thing left is to remove the hub, and then drill out the studs. It'll wreck the current studs, as well as the locking nuts for the spacer, but if I want to replace these brakes, that's what's got to happen... and I can't do a track day on shot brakes - I did that back in April and it took a lot of fun out of the day! This poses another issue too - I can replace the studs, that will be pretty easy. But a 4-to-5-stud spacer is not so easy to come by. If I can't get one of them in time, I'll have working brakes, but no wheels to fit.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I began with the task of removing the hubs. Once again, more breaker bars, more Inox, and more rattle guns. Alllllll going well until I had to remove the ball joint at the bottom... yet another brick wall. Out of daylight, out of energy and out of ideas, I think that's as good a place as any to leave it for tomorrow - watch this space.</span></div>
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</span>_Clinno_http://www.blogger.com/profile/15758751614854894618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030408022090936981.post-74015049157435033952012-07-20T18:00:00.003+10:002012-07-20T18:00:37.236+10:00Battery-go-Bye-Bye<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
As this track day gets ever closer, I decided the next thing to do would be to relocate the battery. Performance wise it will probably have no effect what soever (4 kg weight re-distribution, woot), however it's another thing that I wanted to sort out from the defect list. One great cause of motivation was a friend in a pretty clean S13 getting pinned for a whole heap of stuff... I know mine is a pretty messy one, so, yeah... Anyway, enough history, lets look at the present :)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4hBEfO2gWuhVkfQRbKdR18GY5pHKhW1FlcSXiN-jvFfE-oa0oj8bkkpNjtJfC46aZqJzND7HLkNe5VJay8kgeUbUEDO5byyFAh124WkVNJtCOrzD1PjWeYrk8CkNWRdppp48-16iY2Gns/s1600/IMG_0589.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img $ca="true" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4hBEfO2gWuhVkfQRbKdR18GY5pHKhW1FlcSXiN-jvFfE-oa0oj8bkkpNjtJfC46aZqJzND7HLkNe5VJay8kgeUbUEDO5byyFAh124WkVNJtCOrzD1PjWeYrk8CkNWRdppp48-16iY2Gns/s320/IMG_0589.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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This is what I had to work with... Messy, dirty, and just outright cramped.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU6c0I-g2MM-p7Wk29PgODZqwke2bQtSAB28tIbs1qyF-AFZZZRB9lazaQP3qsZoXUZvJPB91wv3-tinkis2oAM9Z40adZ2lSmw5T8aQ-bHkOfcRcQJ3AKCmoxfQUS-YNJ-LkfdjTVEa7N/s1600/IMG_0590.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img $ca="true" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU6c0I-g2MM-p7Wk29PgODZqwke2bQtSAB28tIbs1qyF-AFZZZRB9lazaQP3qsZoXUZvJPB91wv3-tinkis2oAM9Z40adZ2lSmw5T8aQ-bHkOfcRcQJ3AKCmoxfQUS-YNJ-LkfdjTVEa7N/s320/IMG_0590.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here's the main reason for it though... Rust, corrosion, and one very poorly cut intercooler hole. Cutting through a battery tray is illegal of course, so the goal is to remove the battery tray, tidy up all that rust, and make a neater/better finished hole so the intercooler piping doesn't foul on the metal.</div>
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In order to relocate the battery, I first had to run the wiring I needed from the engine bay to the boot. Luckily there was some 8ga that had been run for a stereo install at some point, so I used that as a pull wire to take the 4ga through.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPvqxd36klgM7AX-Xx3XVEBaVYSFO9dinUJsLS9XNtpQO-mhpOb4-5tSh-Osue43kveFjJeJEEinkhnWblx8rsIFmO7mSBGu8I5f2efRQyw2twJndUcb5nhrqIpX2ERo0x8tlSePnkoo2s/s1600/IMG_0593.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img $ca="true" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPvqxd36klgM7AX-Xx3XVEBaVYSFO9dinUJsLS9XNtpQO-mhpOb4-5tSh-Osue43kveFjJeJEEinkhnWblx8rsIFmO7mSBGu8I5f2efRQyw2twJndUcb5nhrqIpX2ERo0x8tlSePnkoo2s/s320/IMG_0593.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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It's always good practise to put in a circuit breaker/fuseable link just in case things go south... It's a bit further away from the battery than I would've liked (within 30cm is ideal, I think I installed it around the 60-70cm mark), but the cable length wouldn't allow me to mount it any closer. I was going to order 4m, decided it's better safe than sorry and ordered 5m, and that STILL wasn't enough!!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAUTK4HPwilCRDs2Y9HCjpzFqEw9mksdbyqw6IHeJ07fM5kEVoIGNLbXg0DqTO0m_Oy5X_qBNbroxP-2FCrGEmP36XO33P_0jPBkxy6XEjFCdH_8OMaojkDB0lzQfJi0u1h-l5mLZ9uWbc/s1600/IMG_0595.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img $ca="true" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAUTK4HPwilCRDs2Y9HCjpzFqEw9mksdbyqw6IHeJ07fM5kEVoIGNLbXg0DqTO0m_Oy5X_qBNbroxP-2FCrGEmP36XO33P_0jPBkxy6XEjFCdH_8OMaojkDB0lzQfJi0u1h-l5mLZ9uWbc/s320/IMG_0595.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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After I finished running and terminating the positive wire, I got the earth cable mounted, as well as the removable earth strap for a bit of extra piece of mind!! The good thing about it is that you can't see it when the battery box is in place - instead it just looks like the earth cable runs straight to ground (which it effectively does)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIXWemqcKdDFynZz0ZXt5k0MTlpS7QNRKNK2b0n57OGsvT0nww4ZbzUToEsm-LhSSwDYd2gVhlHmFzx0C6HBur-153LPxvnngOXGc0dJkQqL6K0rbPx0QEG4aeEEe2FQbzuYxHJhKYLm72/s1600/IMG_0596.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img $ca="true" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIXWemqcKdDFynZz0ZXt5k0MTlpS7QNRKNK2b0n57OGsvT0nww4ZbzUToEsm-LhSSwDYd2gVhlHmFzx0C6HBur-153LPxvnngOXGc0dJkQqL6K0rbPx0QEG4aeEEe2FQbzuYxHJhKYLm72/s320/IMG_0596.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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This photo here is symbolic of a really stupid product designer.. You buy a battery box. You buy a battery tray from the same retailer. And the bloody tray doesn't fit in the box!! Had to sit there with a dremel for the better part of half an hour, cutting it back until it fat (you don't say 'sitted', you say 'sat'. Ergo, it didn't 'fitted', it 'fat') ;)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAuaT1OKosHl_h6hVuuxUwPnAfT1ecedtOiCa2N-iFmYk8yKjWLS-GxC-r9QFBtNbDkAHAaQzgcZTKku1M4LOsFX7iv3FtA_0OUveTHKWCxuzqjQEDVEuKfMXhZHFJ2g_lpXLOvaj6Olra/s1600/IMG_0597.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img $ca="true" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAuaT1OKosHl_h6hVuuxUwPnAfT1ecedtOiCa2N-iFmYk8yKjWLS-GxC-r9QFBtNbDkAHAaQzgcZTKku1M4LOsFX7iv3FtA_0OUveTHKWCxuzqjQEDVEuKfMXhZHFJ2g_lpXLOvaj6Olra/s320/IMG_0597.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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^^ The battery box all mounted and properly secured. There's 4 bolts going through the floor pan, a metal strap held down via hooks to the battery tray, and then a fabric strap to keep the lid on. Can't ever say it's going to get loose!!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQgvE17KsC1lhlLRuvWASPt7lccfs3TFTT2Be716DkKXXaSbJiLmsAm_jF2a_vM9qt4VMswpdRBHx2B4gY-VQY5qU5sG-ttyBAP_Af00PyF0rFf9PkNeabz62rx_GpVc6YKivMd_HA_dyX/s1600/IMG_0598.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img $ca="true" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQgvE17KsC1lhlLRuvWASPt7lccfs3TFTT2Be716DkKXXaSbJiLmsAm_jF2a_vM9qt4VMswpdRBHx2B4gY-VQY5qU5sG-ttyBAP_Af00PyF0rFf9PkNeabz62rx_GpVc6YKivMd_HA_dyX/s320/IMG_0598.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The end result (in the boot at least)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq71h7Jh7agHaAEt3RqzVflbQmBiIgjlCcLHKwzV5Y1EsP_tOB_aFuwWn8mVpQoUsIhcKtuF5XT-bFbuILTO3_xQ7o8VzjNdvwhxRIy1-fRM9RrIQspY_tS_IHv1eO6vUVIMgYkhIPp_Lj/s1600/IMG_0604.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq71h7Jh7agHaAEt3RqzVflbQmBiIgjlCcLHKwzV5Y1EsP_tOB_aFuwWn8mVpQoUsIhcKtuF5XT-bFbuILTO3_xQ7o8VzjNdvwhxRIy1-fRM9RrIQspY_tS_IHv1eO6vUVIMgYkhIPp_Lj/s320/IMG_0604.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The end result (under the bonnet at least)<br />
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I decided that this is where I'm going to leave this post... I've still got to actually remove the battery tray and tidy up the hole around the intercooler plumbing. The other work I want to do before the track day include replacing my front brakes (FINALLY!!!) and trying some clear coat on the front of the car to remove the half matte/half gloss look I've got going on.<br />
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So this is where I love you and leave you... Happy perusing and happy Friday!!</div>
</div>_Clinno_http://www.blogger.com/profile/15758751614854894618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030408022090936981.post-11417795075488532632012-06-27T12:48:00.001+10:002012-06-27T12:48:49.725+10:00Operation Happy Bacon pt 1<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well it seems that the electrical issues have paid their dues and are finally on their way :) Rego is due, and I hit a bit of a fork regarding what to do with her, and where I want to take her in the future. I toyed with the idea of taking her off the road and setting her up as a track car, but a) I would need to buy towball/trailer, and I have nowhere to store the trailer, and b) I would still like a streeter I can go for a cruise in from time to time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I decided to go with keeping her registered, giving me a car that I could go for a cruise in, and still be able to drive to the track to have fun with. It wouldn't be the quickest or most competitive car, but to me thats not the point. It's about having fun doing what I love, and past experience has shown me that thats definitely possible :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pursueing this path, I decided that it would be prudent to try and legalise her as much as possible - hence Operation Happy Bacon! We all know how many defect squads are getting around these days, and given the unnecessary attention we already get thanks to the stereotype portrayed by the media, it's only a matter of time before a piggy tries to give me a second a-hole.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If I wanted to sit down and list everything that I could possibly be picked up on, I'd run out of fingers and toes. That said, the amount of rape-age also depends on the mood that the cop is in, so the priority is the obvious ones - the ones that could get me pulled over in the first place, and the ones that people are most commonly defected for. The list I have so far:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Enclose pod filter (now has to be enclosed in QLD, not just secured)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Plumb back catch can (is currently venting to atmo)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Remove window tinting (yes officer, I know 5% is illegal)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Relocate battery/tidy up hole cut for intercooler piping</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tuck exhaust, and possibly raise ride height</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Replace wheels to something that still looks good and doesn't require spacers</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Remove drift button on handbrake</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Replace steering wheel with something padded (apparently you need padding on the middle of your steering wheel)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On top of this, the list of other things I want to sort out:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Replace/upgrade brakes</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Air diversion plate</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Respray car</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Resolve rust in the roof</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Get a proper alignment</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've obviously got my work cut out for me, but everyone has to start somewhere... In this case, I'm starting with a box. But not just any old box...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The idea here is that I wanted to construct a box that would both enclose my pod filter, keep the catch can atmo (wanted to keep the turbo/intercooler free from excess oil) and also tidy up the engine bay a little.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" rca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWlp1FZXEfNbSEzXB4ZEqbXXV3SP-csoqCMgxxl-TqQq0PFReliXUL4p14dV5_zPuyPmgE4a6EymniY5MNK9kZGoQ1mo0khepZfXKxzclGnplFoDfMe1yO-BWT_USPrAsIAz6Io8nsxwdT/s320/1.JPG" width="240" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The first thing that needs to be done is relocate the power steering reservoir, as it would foul on the enclosure. The only thing I had to keep in mind was that the reservoir has to be higher than the pump itself. Simple enough, just some custom brackets so I could mount it elsewhere, and then an extension of the hoses.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" rca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDgGWq3zoRQiDnpeysjvEYkLgkW3MnYbGgO8-cIWZBHYOnBtNeQ07UPAThQnlMu76Z7JBgmTt6fCIyJla6rHb1k_GAp6nY2l-FZn3KQgBeLttH7gQz-0J1uljGXQ9Cn1iAaBpds04bMovi/s320/2.JPG" width="240" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's the top section of the perspex that I rough-cut to size. The idea here is that I wanted to enclose the whole section from the rad support to the strut tower, so it looked both tidy and would also give me room to work with. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimb4CtjhFnQoCF-iBi4dbcpvSlnCXXTqP-WYwrc6g3X7bF-cyxXgPOeW7BHDUyXUSpN53gSMfHWwoVOU2Sn1T0drQU9s6x7F6ya38JV3jBS24T8HYIwXkRmqSolBx-e5lerNJsCNA0cvHE/s1600/3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" rca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimb4CtjhFnQoCF-iBi4dbcpvSlnCXXTqP-WYwrc6g3X7bF-cyxXgPOeW7BHDUyXUSpN53gSMfHWwoVOU2Sn1T0drQU9s6x7F6ya38JV3jBS24T8HYIwXkRmqSolBx-e5lerNJsCNA0cvHE/s320/3.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As I mentioned before, I wanted to keep the catch can (the black box on the left) venting to atmosphere, so that the turbo and intercooler didn't gobble up the excess oil. The previous configuration had the oil dripping onto the exhaust manifold, which would just burn off without leaving oil everywhere. All I did was add some piping and a filter, with enough length to allow me to add it to the enclosure, and out of prying eyes.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbxHbJ93sYuhZCOolBJ6DiW0lEpr0Ph9v5TxrXI-I9GPYeFaE2kyGWs4a-nRg84ed1RxRx39_YwZMKUUXwggtyY97Y_wzzdbAiLDm0ULrjf6r6_Z9LBdmYFhl3B9sqkCBrEznEF_IesIYk/s1600/4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" rca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbxHbJ93sYuhZCOolBJ6DiW0lEpr0Ph9v5TxrXI-I9GPYeFaE2kyGWs4a-nRg84ed1RxRx39_YwZMKUUXwggtyY97Y_wzzdbAiLDm0ULrjf6r6_Z9LBdmYFhl3B9sqkCBrEznEF_IesIYk/s320/4.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I also got a new intake pipe fabricated up. Unfortunately the factory one didn't put the air filter in a workable position. The pipe itself is a bit of a hack job (had to bung a hole, and there's a random flange coming off) but can't complain, it was free!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The intake installed, with the filter for the catch can. You can see on the right a screw hole where the power steering reservoir was sitting, this is why it had to be moved. Cutting this perspex to size was a hell of a lot more tedious - it's hard to mark sizes and locations that you can't directly measure.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" rca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9As53FaUn3mw-hpFIbwpyHwya1atNxdVZvfHPKv5kCt9qIvXrsllsPXT-GuqINs_a2C0jKcRTtLNVPfs7yoo0X5s_xpFwFaVFcQAX6Ofsb0m5JiBXwKGeWR6HFGvR-ZTczYMnskGnOFqw/s320/6.JPG" width="240" /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYlJV97jyrjBwKWu3lUT_T-fITEaBMfeDBy_fvwWxfCJr9wzZQCpMJhsibq3xx4hqnohkV5V3pLGNAyatuDtgFdIOzn0NHPtLkK8dZTRNHbeFbP7Qh1zLrEI9V1H7P13l1zGChnLeAsvEe/s1600/7.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" rca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYlJV97jyrjBwKWu3lUT_T-fITEaBMfeDBy_fvwWxfCJr9wzZQCpMJhsibq3xx4hqnohkV5V3pLGNAyatuDtgFdIOzn0NHPtLkK8dZTRNHbeFbP7Qh1zLrEI9V1H7P13l1zGChnLeAsvEe/s320/7.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The two pieces of perspex cut, drilled and cleaned up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I wanted to use some cable sheathing to edge the perspex. It's a lot quicker and easier than sitting there sanding and buffing each edge, and also provides protection from anything that could start rubbing against the perspex.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" rca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWOymkHBeoqWSEY7ujtehzZO0L3QvDzTo28jKbzQFBnj-Rlm_N21m_WhK9QxE0etOK2nWXJWkJB0lysV7ovNjLMX9nVrBoYFVrk97BCTXz7Vx9FBVCmYW0vaSjrKPURwqtBlXkZmL6uPFm/s320/9.JPG" width="240" /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi__5Grm6v8f5NH4pVzbGVdZDyblZ-6m7naOLulYfocu0hJkqbYlns3RshUobojJD9P6VyGoR71YEUgd8B9hco_BEVBaWE2Y7nlO0DeSNu-0OCJqbI2RxTJiN2LGjKPM8soKxUAPZieagTs/s1600/10.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" rca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi__5Grm6v8f5NH4pVzbGVdZDyblZ-6m7naOLulYfocu0hJkqbYlns3RshUobojJD9P6VyGoR71YEUgd8B9hco_BEVBaWE2Y7nlO0DeSNu-0OCJqbI2RxTJiN2LGjKPM8soKxUAPZieagTs/s320/10.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thanks to Tobs (once again) for the sheets of stickers used to finish off the perspex :) Quite happy with how they've come up, and you can see the idea behind the sheath as well. We ran out of stickers in the end, and quite a few were transparent, so I just painted the back of the perspex black to compensate.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXn7AUnQyvVHJUd9ebYdGvnhhShaDBdns2KYBhElxmXBkEk2fXTpk_evWyg9eUqWpCrPmeHVuFng5Rh-sRA_si7ePoBMo-T5g8heXxIuG4PiUH949hQrv3nmE-jh0zo1dEXNQC9kX9D6NA/s1600/11.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" rca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXn7AUnQyvVHJUd9ebYdGvnhhShaDBdns2KYBhElxmXBkEk2fXTpk_evWyg9eUqWpCrPmeHVuFng5Rh-sRA_si7ePoBMo-T5g8heXxIuG4PiUH949hQrv3nmE-jh0zo1dEXNQC9kX9D6NA/s320/11.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My girlfriend helping out with the sticker-bombing... First time either of us have done it, it's not overly hard but its not exactly easy either!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Mc1GWrEjOCx5gaptmDjIN6AT7Ynz8SAqiOCpzghrxXjfVx2FP_JV29zUWIZirpEaL8U0uvSL5CWnhfhW9UZwq5ieHGXB76hmlF7nht53D3Aa0kq5mtvZnZxhNmN06_Ta0FQJ2BHdreFR/s1600/12.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" rca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Mc1GWrEjOCx5gaptmDjIN6AT7Ynz8SAqiOCpzghrxXjfVx2FP_JV29zUWIZirpEaL8U0uvSL5CWnhfhW9UZwq5ieHGXB76hmlF7nht53D3Aa0kq5mtvZnZxhNmN06_Ta0FQJ2BHdreFR/s320/12.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I went with some right-angle to join the two sheets of perspex together. Combined with some pop-rivets, I think it was quite a sturdy solution, and has definitely ensured that it won't be coming apart anytime soon.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDJ6SEFe4a5RWffGgiYjy3LWcHtnb33bM1kvLA2WwMSa7uP9MHOpzj3MP1-dUKKu1LsDg6mTUdDRGqg-UPyJrl_QDasPAwbb0lhgxjkgHyMa8HVp5N7ksmcSuxMFAwcKdEDZ1i8cIVBIEf/s1600/13.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" rca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDJ6SEFe4a5RWffGgiYjy3LWcHtnb33bM1kvLA2WwMSa7uP9MHOpzj3MP1-dUKKu1LsDg6mTUdDRGqg-UPyJrl_QDasPAwbb0lhgxjkgHyMa8HVp5N7ksmcSuxMFAwcKdEDZ1i8cIVBIEf/s320/13.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The finished result!! It's secured by pop-rivets into the chassis, and is designed so that I can still remove the fender if need be. All in all I'm very happy with the final result :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFUlqWCkdS0A47upW-kO-1mXalUfsEGCIrW9Ulza1_18qKvTrsxqx7cCOFHVRsn0iLN5btUi_rtGmOkEWMHjGg5pfGM1S6ObeeV4t6HIsanck3gJDKbX7FgsOYWl0_lk5l-8dD4BCmrtx4/s1600/16.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" rca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFUlqWCkdS0A47upW-kO-1mXalUfsEGCIrW9Ulza1_18qKvTrsxqx7cCOFHVRsn0iLN5btUi_rtGmOkEWMHjGg5pfGM1S6ObeeV4t6HIsanck3gJDKbX7FgsOYWl0_lk5l-8dD4BCmrtx4/s320/16.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">A different angle... you can see how it lines up quite well with everything else in there to give a more flush result.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNkfwJEtLsNjnnGTrEK0sRKb5plflhc55s62Un14TpPDLzrUCAf7CpG6aw9qxog-wgsb7KbSk9XEBmqzGJ9Hp25g0nseNezhEQJwCrL4iDeCiZFEeyIRZZFo9X-uIDAZoiG1UsV4nhXLk7/s1600/17.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" rca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNkfwJEtLsNjnnGTrEK0sRKb5plflhc55s62Un14TpPDLzrUCAf7CpG6aw9qxog-wgsb7KbSk9XEBmqzGJ9Hp25g0nseNezhEQJwCrL4iDeCiZFEeyIRZZFo9X-uIDAZoiG1UsV4nhXLk7/s320/17.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The sheathing doing its job... You can also see the pop rivets down the spine of it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">It took about a week for me to finish it, but that's because I had other commitments that were a tad more important than finishing this. Had I have sat down in one go, I could've easily knocked it off in a day, but as we all know, life tends to get in the way. That said, for the total cost of $0, I'm incredibly chuffed with the result!!! Plus it's 2 things off of my to-do list :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Stay tooned - got another trackday coming up at the end of July, so hopefully you'll see more updates as I get ready for that. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Until next time!!</span></div>_Clinno_http://www.blogger.com/profile/15758751614854894618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030408022090936981.post-75258885113633142112012-06-15T20:38:00.000+10:002012-06-15T20:39:32.982+10:00On the mend<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
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After finally replacing all the wiring and getting her back to a point where she was ready to put back together, I decided to put her back together... but, first things first - had to take her for a drive. Albeit, around the block, but that's not the point!! </div>
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As far as the interior went, it was nowhere near driveable. The dash was just sitting on top of the steering column, there were loose components and screws all over the shop, and the fuse box hadn't been secured, so it was basically sitting on top of the accelerator pedal. Fun times trying to drive, while listening to everything roll around, trying to stop the dash from flying at me, and keeping my foot between the fuse box and the pedal. But... totally worth it :) </div>
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I'll save you the details - long story short, I put her back together.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6tAnBx5kzqQKnyk-he31y9Gi3-TsZipS-sEohmoYgr10h_GFLZLD9TxQ9bGQFc6caDpDQ4boLExNx5KiB4qA0FqYS6LxjslRxzEGSTi2ZnczHM0XV7x17tXBiIUqxQLmHIRcVurkyJIfu/s1600/IMG_0459.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6tAnBx5kzqQKnyk-he31y9Gi3-TsZipS-sEohmoYgr10h_GFLZLD9TxQ9bGQFc6caDpDQ4boLExNx5KiB4qA0FqYS6LxjslRxzEGSTi2ZnczHM0XV7x17tXBiIUqxQLmHIRcVurkyJIfu/s320/IMG_0459.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Finally got the chance to give her a clean too. After a full day at the track, and then 3 months sitting still, she was pretty damn filthy. Mind you, not that it made that much of a difference, that paint needs a lot of work =P Touched up the bonnet though, because when I painted it previously the polish stripped a fair bit of paint off.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmIxXiItqOH839_qaKQh5zUbbYAYRwnfg3vyy1rKpk5Ejr276zZkoUTBrpKuA21j0woDYxvAV6sWAojVn701e5z0ptGZjgq7kK7bMgrLxf4rP3O-kIFyIA8HLmlZvkg52A4mRDZbxSk0jg/s1600/IMG_0460.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmIxXiItqOH839_qaKQh5zUbbYAYRwnfg3vyy1rKpk5Ejr276zZkoUTBrpKuA21j0woDYxvAV6sWAojVn701e5z0ptGZjgq7kK7bMgrLxf4rP3O-kIFyIA8HLmlZvkg52A4mRDZbxSk0jg/s320/IMG_0460.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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However while I was at it, replaced all the sikoflex that was previously plugging the antenna hole with a rubber grommet I found in the boot - much cleaner!!<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Also got some black pop rivets to fill the holes that existed from when the bolt-on fenders were on. Amazing how much of a difference the little things make!</span> </div>
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Took her for a drive on Wednesday... soooooooooo good to be behind that wheel again!!</div>
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Stay tuned for Operation Happy Bacon :)</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"></span></div>_Clinno_http://www.blogger.com/profile/15758751614854894618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030408022090936981.post-49773022414590520472012-06-04T19:00:00.002+10:002012-06-04T19:00:29.731+10:00Well that thar be yar problem!!!<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This weekend saw me finally continuing on with these bloody shenanigans that seem to be the bane of my existance... Last weekend, I was driving from Melbourne to the Gold Coast, helping my beautiful girlfriend move. The weekend before was down in Melbourne for a going away party and social visits... While I would've loved to have just relaxed this weekend, Stacey wasn't going to fix herself. Alas, onwards!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you remember from my last post, I'd spent a lot of time separating and identifying all the different wires. And so began the repairs...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKgG18CPt5r2aW3wHDuSNNzd5BNp44wO7aB3_7F6MG7bfRRLQLk2FaCsI2eWeb7hc2fohuMtC0E95WJVlWmIPObG69MxuRFUc70mU_n7r4uFfPymdQBbXERDdnDFmQvfSbpcPSbn0iM8ge/s1600/IMG_04211.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" rba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKgG18CPt5r2aW3wHDuSNNzd5BNp44wO7aB3_7F6MG7bfRRLQLk2FaCsI2eWeb7hc2fohuMtC0E95WJVlWmIPObG69MxuRFUc70mU_n7r4uFfPymdQBbXERDdnDFmQvfSbpcPSbn0iM8ge/s320/IMG_04211.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To say it was an absolute nightmare is an understatement. Tracing each one, looking for damaged areas, cutting and stripping both the original and the new cables, soldering them in, taping them up... rinse and repeat many many many times!!! I only had the one colour cable to replace the damaged sections with too, so to make sure I didn't get them mixed up, I methodically but tediously went one at a time.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can see just how much was damaged... but at the same time, it wasn't really enough to justify re-looming the whole car, especially given that I still didn't know what caused it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As I was checking each cable, I came to a section that kind of kept going (again)...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil7G5lMzRliOsMPE-IMnKsafFkXG1vGsDmjCe7neuMgm0-bPf05otA-2T_z8MUQMiWiVQ1gOW0xzT6PD-WDwh4a-mcddfo26aFdLfRJ061WkfezfSYfHwyOLAT_ePMe4TwkesSmZstyab3/s1600/IMG_0422.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" rba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil7G5lMzRliOsMPE-IMnKsafFkXG1vGsDmjCe7neuMgm0-bPf05otA-2T_z8MUQMiWiVQ1gOW0xzT6PD-WDwh4a-mcddfo26aFdLfRJ061WkfezfSYfHwyOLAT_ePMe4TwkesSmZstyab3/s320/IMG_0422.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... and went through the firewall to the front end of the car. DOES THIS DAMAGE KNOW NO END???</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7w99lJrL5qT7jFjrzIQTzSgYFRxF7nzBUMDIGSdJi5JiujncqoJQyWwKPSNqKwOf7_ds5ZFYUU3CT21EBh65Bt7o285FdYmEkqS3qkAtFx3YfYdDVl73xFlTgkE4RYrxD4z4T48QkATd2/s1600/IMG_0423.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" rba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7w99lJrL5qT7jFjrzIQTzSgYFRxF7nzBUMDIGSdJi5JiujncqoJQyWwKPSNqKwOf7_ds5ZFYUU3CT21EBh65Bt7o285FdYmEkqS3qkAtFx3YfYdDVl73xFlTgkE4RYrxD4z4T48QkATd2/s320/IMG_0423.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A quick inspection showed that it had indeed gone that far, once again melting through the insulation. I had to wonder if this is what caused the damage initially, perhaps some rubbing through had shorted something out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After stripping off all the insulation however, I couldn't find anything to support that theory. Luckily, the damage in this section was limited to the troubled wire, it claimed no collateral damage. What makes it even more amazing is that given how many circuits it claimed inside the car, I'm amazed that it didn't affect any of these wires - we're now talking engine control territory, and had that been affected, I could've been in a world of hurt (well, a lot more than I'm already in =P)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After some rooting around in the front end of the car and not finding anything, I went back to looking around in the footwell as I kind of skipped this section while checking the front end.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEide_lDe2moLvsocAlbzZ_tRgF8TPSHvG35dRl4jHxswgLqcgnkz3LZ9_t3Xc7nWXtxIXJVKtdyeg4Wglnz6Qy6T75apwSgyAakaoXfl4k0sUy3QZ6J-d_qpVG71tSe83MNL5lkTwJ8j0mv/s1600/IMG_0429.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" rba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEide_lDe2moLvsocAlbzZ_tRgF8TPSHvG35dRl4jHxswgLqcgnkz3LZ9_t3Xc7nWXtxIXJVKtdyeg4Wglnz6Qy6T75apwSgyAakaoXfl4k0sUy3QZ6J-d_qpVG71tSe83MNL5lkTwJ8j0mv/s320/IMG_0429.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Not a comfortable working position... at least I had the seats out so I could stretch out to some extent, but I was still sticking my head in a very cramped space, fighting a fuse box, junction box, air con vents, pedals, relays and a tonne of wiring for room to work. By this stage lighting was very poor, and had a fluorescent light and not a lot else to help me out. Needed a flash to take this photo - without the flash you can't see anything, and my experiences were very similar without that light!!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZz_XEqkFgHBmfEge1hp_PhQA197S4_nhH7iYzX6TvY-ytuEZJYYFE-T8ooABiNwBqOtJ-6K3D78V1-7YXUVUaDisNN7ocxRh0xqdUx_ieH94RUiKzh-FUVQpVva7JzX4LJleuvZLoL29Y/s1600/IMG_04301.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" rba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZz_XEqkFgHBmfEge1hp_PhQA197S4_nhH7iYzX6TvY-ytuEZJYYFE-T8ooABiNwBqOtJ-6K3D78V1-7YXUVUaDisNN7ocxRh0xqdUx_ieH94RUiKzh-FUVQpVva7JzX4LJleuvZLoL29Y/s320/IMG_04301.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After some tracing, I found that the problem child wiring (i.e. the parkers circuit) wound up in this loom... could not for the life of me figure out what the purpose of this plug was! Factory-looking wires, in line fuse holders, but hacked to all hell at the other end where someone had spliced it into the factory wiring...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just for something different, pulled off some more panelling...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... and found out that it had aftermarket central locking still installed, although it wasn't plugged in. This confirmed that the plug was related to an aftermarket immobiliser/central locking system, as it tapped into the ignition barrel. For the sake of redundancy? DELETED!!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So I got the wiring to a point where I thought it was ready to test. I'd traced wiring over the whole car, checking every piece I could find and replacing the damaged sections, including any other wires it damaged on the way. I'd verified that the front and rear parker circuits worked (i.e. after re-wiring those circuits) so I began the task of plugging things back in and connecting enough so that I could turn the car on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As I was plugging the dash in, I found this random wire connected to the main plug. It was spliced into the same parker circuit thats been problematic over the whole car. After some investigation, I found out that all imported Silvia's have this wiring added for compliance reasons. The idea is that it then connects to a dimmer switch so you've got control over the brightness of your dash lights. Fair enough... except for one thing:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is the other end. I'm not kidding, this is how I found it. No insulation, no electrical tape, no solder, it's just been twisted together to complete the circuit, and there was no dimmer switch to be found. This wasn't connected to anything - it was just floating around in the dash, so it's my guess that this is what's been the cause of the issue, and could very well explain why the fault has been intermittent. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Time to test it all then hey? Plugged in the battery, turned the key, and...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNG7UqrTJXk5SWaWq_ZtvzpLq1EmbiQywHw0seWPJYKCtFv57Tuthbi7CRVH_r7ht7SUwpezoSgSoWsuo4YO7YjnVUAC5fuoehrwaUPrqqnG489-8LN8F-mehPfMj_ta0x8r1tWfaoRQ-7/s1600/IMG_0438.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNG7UqrTJXk5SWaWq_ZtvzpLq1EmbiQywHw0seWPJYKCtFv57Tuthbi7CRVH_r7ht7SUwpezoSgSoWsuo4YO7YjnVUAC5fuoehrwaUPrqqnG489-8LN8F-mehPfMj_ta0x8r1tWfaoRQ-7/s320/IMG_0438.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Voila!!! The promising thing was that the fuel gauge returned to a level that it was a bit more realistic (instead of waaaaaaay past full), and the clock was showing the time too - albeit, the wrong time, but who cares =P</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDgcQLlGQ86wiSkCmfSCSWtSMR_YPuCM9QbDMA-LvI-o3Gp3fRU3yrEwUPgPN_hTk2KWfbS4WTWOwx8xdCMulPuxfbdTsCy6lvv3_q0PXKSTl3dI8imhuSJmJfyWTpfLBKVfsr8MJhmlG7/s1600/IMG_0439.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDgcQLlGQ86wiSkCmfSCSWtSMR_YPuCM9QbDMA-LvI-o3Gp3fRU3yrEwUPgPN_hTk2KWfbS4WTWOwx8xdCMulPuxfbdTsCy6lvv3_q0PXKSTl3dI8imhuSJmJfyWTpfLBKVfsr8MJhmlG7/s320/IMG_0439.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Visual check of all the lights to make sure they were all happy!! I then left the car running for 20 odd minutes to make sure that nothing was heating up, which it didn't.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Decided to make the most of the daylight while I still had it, and began with taping up small sections of wiring, doing enough to be able to get the car back on all four wheels, and also started tidying up the interior ready for the panels to go back on.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana;">Here's my beautiful girlfriend getting her hands dirty giving me a helping hand :)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana;">After 3 months, it seems she's finally on the mend... a lot of panels out, a hell of a lot of tracing/troubleshooting, a massive amount of cursing and swearing and my fair share of headaches, but she's finally on the mend. The good news is that the fuel gauge, the clock and the radio all work again. I've only had to rewire the whole car to get to that point, but the positive thing to take away from this is I now know what she's like at her guts, and I have a really good idea of how the wiring sits - I can be reassured that I shouldn't need to check this stuff again.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana;">From here, it's still going to be a fair bit of effort getting her all back together again... Hopefully I have more luck than all the king's horses and men with humpty dumpty ;) That said, there's a lot of wires and looms that have to be taped back together, a lot of brackets that need to be re-fitted, and I have a million screws that need homes - I can honestly say I don't remember all of their respective locations, and I'll probably end up with a few left over, but that always happens. Hopefully I can find enough to make the interior at least stay together =P</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana;">The only thing I'm still not sure of is the exact cause of the issue. While chances are better than good that it was that random wiring coming out of the dash, I can't say 100% for sure that it was the problem. With the amount of damage to the wiring, I don't know if there was any rubbing thats attributed to the issue, or if there were wires that were crushed somewhere. Fingers crossed though, that I never see this issue again, and that I'll be able to drive her again soon :)</span></div>_Clinno_http://www.blogger.com/profile/15758751614854894618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030408022090936981.post-5719823747397439362012-05-13T18:37:00.001+10:002012-05-13T18:37:24.104+10:00Suicidal Tendencies - Not just a band name...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Time for an update on all things wiring in the context of Stacey. Here's where I thought things were at when I last looked at her...</span></div>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Hopefully I can cut out the wires, tape up anything exposed, and just the indicator stalk to control the parkers (provided there's no serious damage to that circuit as well). If that doesn't work, hopefully I can make it burn again so I can at least have a better idea as to what the next step is. But thats for another day."</span></i></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Seems that 'other day' came today, where I figured I better make some more progress.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Given how frustrating it was to figure out what was going on last time, I got around to downloading the Factory Service Manual for the car, printed off what I wanted and bound them (thanks Siemens for your office supplies =D). Very very useful, provides me me with what wires go where, into what plug with what pin number, and what colour said wires are!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzrgFbeW1QYLb2CsLsrTixyf00OsfdWm4stP1CO_sST62uVByg05Lz8f1AW9p_YN1pIsnz8jQfxtJEJoIGVRmR72s-rY56fLeEYaULISz777KXkUvfcxuE9abV8D-qH-SeUiygOkPtnEIt/s1600/IMG_0361.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzrgFbeW1QYLb2CsLsrTixyf00OsfdWm4stP1CO_sST62uVByg05Lz8f1AW9p_YN1pIsnz8jQfxtJEJoIGVRmR72s-rY56fLeEYaULISz777KXkUvfcxuE9abV8D-qH-SeUiygOkPtnEIt/s320/IMG_0361.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is what I kicked the day off with... it really is a depressing sight :( Alas, I started off by sorting out the wheat from the chaff, one wrecked wire at a time, tracing it back until I knew it could be deleted or replaced, separating it from any wires that it had melted to along the way, and taping up any collateral damage that I found. This was going swimmingly, until I got onto the 3rd wire... Where I traced it, kept tracing it, continued tracing it... until it disappeared.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Never mind, found it!! Running down the side of the car under the carpet... GRRRR!!!! Made even better by the fact that I could straight away see the melting... So, out comes yet more of the interior...</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Can't say I don't have room to work at least!! Trying to still see the positives I guess.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghOqPyW1liTcRV1nl14_MnIFfWVdaDDQk9D6lxLnwEC8nwOdVnH957oylvRUdxik5VEaoCB0x2VdKk69fKvUTFgEw47_VZ9OI3uvRiukszhu44gNBv9aKfH8ElHUb8-vz6bYAV9Mr_YUpm/s1600/IMG_0363.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghOqPyW1liTcRV1nl14_MnIFfWVdaDDQk9D6lxLnwEC8nwOdVnH957oylvRUdxik5VEaoCB0x2VdKk69fKvUTFgEw47_VZ9OI3uvRiukszhu44gNBv9aKfH8ElHUb8-vz6bYAV9Mr_YUpm/s320/IMG_0363.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can see the true damage to this loom if you look hard enough... there's a group of a good 9 wires that are well and truly fused together =\ and the best bit is that throughout the length of the loom, it changes which wires are fused together. The really weird thing though, is that the wiring runs down the side of the car to the ass end, and sorts out all your lights, antenna, speakers, fuel pump etc, but the melting stops a good meter from any of that. WTF?!?!?!?!??!?!!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And so began the sorting of the loom... wire by wire, tracing every single one, separating where necessary, and noting where they went and what they supplied... Keeping track of everything I found for future reference, and to help decide if it would be worth rewiring, or just buying a whole new loom.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My work space for all these shenanigans, with the growing collection of parts that I'm continually pulling out... I'm really not looking forward to putting them all back in hey! So many screws, and I have no idea where they all are... oops!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kitten guts thought that the 20 year old seat looked comfortable though :)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So what did I accomplish at the end of all this?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Where I decided to call it today after another 5 hours... tedious, painstaking, frustrating and just downright depressing...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOL4whpgY4ONrgZLtnvtZXvQbZ6boVy65fx3kjxsfQBd9-IhLTMYUIw65TJAAn3hE2DIrI-_S5MWmsc1uoKb8auQ34TtLGzJmPlUNm9JJYjywsFqwjhse1HmHUqRIphktFonoSp0q84wPz/s1600/IMG_0372.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOL4whpgY4ONrgZLtnvtZXvQbZ6boVy65fx3kjxsfQBd9-IhLTMYUIw65TJAAn3hE2DIrI-_S5MWmsc1uoKb8auQ34TtLGzJmPlUNm9JJYjywsFqwjhse1HmHUqRIphktFonoSp0q84wPz/s320/IMG_0372.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The mud map I've been building, keeping track of what I've figured out, what I can get rid of, what I need to keep/re-wire, and everything in between.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIliq7fuLKXkIH3JA4OLWB6-UJaw8_OhdAVdm1z3P0cdZsEbvt7F0xznI9pBDWr430tSZlXp1g9wL1oOHeagxJdRYjJAhDov0v0ZkCcFBdphMnoQnfEWQ7nAG1slCJOqqNtl0hT0TOQbaH/s1600/IMG_0373.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIliq7fuLKXkIH3JA4OLWB6-UJaw8_OhdAVdm1z3P0cdZsEbvt7F0xznI9pBDWr430tSZlXp1g9wL1oOHeagxJdRYjJAhDov0v0ZkCcFBdphMnoQnfEWQ7nAG1slCJOqqNtl0hT0TOQbaH/s320/IMG_0373.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What cancer I've cut out so far... the ruined wires, and alllllll the insulation/tape I've stripped so far... </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Where does it leave me?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Given I've properly stripped everything out, and have seen the ruined wires in their entirety, I'm going to try rewiring the loom first... I can save quite a few wires, so I don't think it's going to be worth replacing the whole loom just yet. I would more or less need to replace a dozen wires, and the ones that aren't too bad can be taped up. I've also been able to omit quite a few wires that no longer do anything, and thats helped the situation.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The goal is that I'll rewire these lengths, try and see if I can get things working, and if not, I'm hoping that I'll be able to pinpoint the issue given that everything is now exposed. If that doesn't work, replacing the loom will be the next step. The frustrating thing is though, I still have absolutely no idea whats caused this. There is nothing thats standing out that would indicate a problem, just a looooooooot of burnt, mangled wires. For all I know, replacing the loom may not fix anything. The bright side is I can safely say I know why the fuel gauge buggered up! The fuel sender wire was caught up in the middle of all the melting, and it normally reads ohm-age, not a 12V source =\</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Suicidal car is suicidal.</span></div>
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</span>_Clinno_http://www.blogger.com/profile/15758751614854894618noreply@blogger.com0