I need to get this leaking exhaust thing fixed.
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11.05.2009
11.02.2009
Update on Macy
So she died, then was fixed, then died again...and is now running great, stopping alright and sounding better than ever.
On my way to my parents house one weekend, she died. I thought it was the distributor, once again, since she had started skipping, but no. After a trip to the shop, and over $1200 later, she had a new timing belt, tensioner, cam gears and hardware, as well as a new sound. Some of you may remember my car as the 'diesel' because of the noise the spring on the cam gear. Not anymore!
Since then she feels like she has more power, and I don't have to turn her off at drive-thrus. Also way less embarrassing at car shows and meets...and people are less likely to point and laugh. She hasn't skipped at all anymore either, and the HEI mod with MSD Blaster is holding up well.
The second time she died was a bit cheaper, but just as much a pain. I was supposed to drive to CT to catch a flight to LAX, and in my driveway the brake pedal went to the floor. She'd been leaking brake fluid for the longest time, and the master cylinder finally went. Jamal and Ryan helped me change that, and in the midst of bleeding the brakes I snapped both bleeder screws off the rear calipers. So new master cylinder and rear calipers later, and she stops again. Still not very well, though, so bleeding the brakes again is needed.
Yesterday I brought her down to Matt's shop and he, Ryan and I installed both the PRD Moog sway bar links and the RR Racing polyurethane motor mount inserts. End result is marvelous...no more body roll around corners and engine rocking when I give her any gas.
Next up is to get the ball joints changed, brakes bled and alignment done, whoo!
On my way to my parents house one weekend, she died. I thought it was the distributor, once again, since she had started skipping, but no. After a trip to the shop, and over $1200 later, she had a new timing belt, tensioner, cam gears and hardware, as well as a new sound. Some of you may remember my car as the 'diesel' because of the noise the spring on the cam gear. Not anymore!
Since then she feels like she has more power, and I don't have to turn her off at drive-thrus. Also way less embarrassing at car shows and meets...and people are less likely to point and laugh. She hasn't skipped at all anymore either, and the HEI mod with MSD Blaster is holding up well.
The second time she died was a bit cheaper, but just as much a pain. I was supposed to drive to CT to catch a flight to LAX, and in my driveway the brake pedal went to the floor. She'd been leaking brake fluid for the longest time, and the master cylinder finally went. Jamal and Ryan helped me change that, and in the midst of bleeding the brakes I snapped both bleeder screws off the rear calipers. So new master cylinder and rear calipers later, and she stops again. Still not very well, though, so bleeding the brakes again is needed.
Yesterday I brought her down to Matt's shop and he, Ryan and I installed both the PRD Moog sway bar links and the RR Racing polyurethane motor mount inserts. End result is marvelous...no more body roll around corners and engine rocking when I give her any gas.
Next up is to get the ball joints changed, brakes bled and alignment done, whoo!
7.22.2009
Well it's about time.
Car was out of commission for over a week. A week!
Started off by dying on my way to work, then after 3 distributors from Autozone later, it died in Haverhill. I bit the bullet and installed an external ignitor module and coil, and started her up. Something happened and she wouldn't start again, so I replaced the ignitor module again, and grounded it better...then she would start and sound terrible.
After checking spark, timing and compression, we realized it was the MAF that was dead. My mom drove up from CT and brought me my spare MAF, and she ran! Then the disty went again (camshaft position sensor). Replaced that...she's been good since.
Oi.
It's time to start prepping for the New England Rally. As Director of Media I'm in charge of organizing the filming and photography of the rally. My car will be carrying myself and the roomie, and another car will be carry two more film crew peeps.
We'll be running two D-SLR's, as well as in-car video, and a handheld video camera, plus whatever else we scrounge up.
I need to do a few things before the rally...mostly install my wink mirror, and do an oil change. I'd also like to rework the wiring of some accessories, and install the police scanner and CB radio. Also need to make a list of everything to bring, and really clean out, and reorganize the car. If I get motivated I'm going to replace my rear shocks with the shocks I took off the car, but keep the lowering springs, so it'll ride a bit better. If I have the money (doubt it) I'll buy new shocks for the front as well.
Well that's all for now. Stay tuned for pics/info on prepping for the rally.
Started off by dying on my way to work, then after 3 distributors from Autozone later, it died in Haverhill. I bit the bullet and installed an external ignitor module and coil, and started her up. Something happened and she wouldn't start again, so I replaced the ignitor module again, and grounded it better...then she would start and sound terrible.
After checking spark, timing and compression, we realized it was the MAF that was dead. My mom drove up from CT and brought me my spare MAF, and she ran! Then the disty went again (camshaft position sensor). Replaced that...she's been good since.
Oi.
It's time to start prepping for the New England Rally. As Director of Media I'm in charge of organizing the filming and photography of the rally. My car will be carrying myself and the roomie, and another car will be carry two more film crew peeps.
We'll be running two D-SLR's, as well as in-car video, and a handheld video camera, plus whatever else we scrounge up.
I need to do a few things before the rally...mostly install my wink mirror, and do an oil change. I'd also like to rework the wiring of some accessories, and install the police scanner and CB radio. Also need to make a list of everything to bring, and really clean out, and reorganize the car. If I get motivated I'm going to replace my rear shocks with the shocks I took off the car, but keep the lowering springs, so it'll ride a bit better. If I have the money (doubt it) I'll buy new shocks for the front as well.
Well that's all for now. Stay tuned for pics/info on prepping for the rally.
6.22.2009
6.16.2009
tie rods, oh my!
The last few days have been nothing but blood, sweat, tears and tie rods. Went to swap tires and take a look at my brakes at a friend's house, and come to find out the outer tie rods were shot already. I replaced them a year ago or so...
Well try taking one off and nope, no dice...hard to work without air tools or a torch. So yesterday we ended up doing all four...inners and outers. The inners were SHOT and most likely the cause of the outers going so much, and the reason why my car can never hold an alignment.
Using some ingenuity and a huge wrench we were able to get them off the PS rack, and at the same time apparently flushed my PS fluid (yay power steering fluid EVERYWHERE).
dead outer:
dead inner and outer:
yay big ass wrench:
Went for a test drive around some back roads of Marblehead and man does she TURN! Feels so much better, safer and more solid. Next up, sway bar links that have prevented me from having a sway bar...oh yeah and shocks.
Well try taking one off and nope, no dice...hard to work without air tools or a torch. So yesterday we ended up doing all four...inners and outers. The inners were SHOT and most likely the cause of the outers going so much, and the reason why my car can never hold an alignment.
Using some ingenuity and a huge wrench we were able to get them off the PS rack, and at the same time apparently flushed my PS fluid (yay power steering fluid EVERYWHERE).
dead outer:
dead inner and outer:
yay big ass wrench:
Went for a test drive around some back roads of Marblehead and man does she TURN! Feels so much better, safer and more solid. Next up, sway bar links that have prevented me from having a sway bar...oh yeah and shocks.
6.01.2009
Newnewnew.
Lots of shtuff to report on.
Last weekend (as in the 22-25th) was the Mazda Corral at Limerock. I had a BLAST, met so many people, hung out with great friends, and got to drive the track a few times, and watch some cool racing. I also did something new and posted stuff, pics and whatever, straight to Twitter from the track, so that it would update to thecollegedriver.com
I don't know if I can even sum everything up, I should've posted this right after everything but I've been pretty busy and such.
Here are the articles:
Prelude
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
All my pics are here:
One
Two
Three
Four
I also did a photoshoot with the car one night at the parking garage:
More Pics Here
Other then that, scored one of the wheels from the Miata that crashed at Lime Rock (thanks Mahk!) and I'm turning that into a night stand thing. Also put up the Grand-Am flag I won at the raffle...
Tis all for now...the doorpanel is coming off for some reason, so I need to take it off (AGAIN) and reattach it. I think I'm going to hit up a JY for new clips first.
Last weekend (as in the 22-25th) was the Mazda Corral at Limerock. I had a BLAST, met so many people, hung out with great friends, and got to drive the track a few times, and watch some cool racing. I also did something new and posted stuff, pics and whatever, straight to Twitter from the track, so that it would update to thecollegedriver.com
I don't know if I can even sum everything up, I should've posted this right after everything but I've been pretty busy and such.
Here are the articles:
Prelude
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
All my pics are here:
One
Two
Three
Four
I also did a photoshoot with the car one night at the parking garage:
More Pics Here
Other then that, scored one of the wheels from the Miata that crashed at Lime Rock (thanks Mahk!) and I'm turning that into a night stand thing. Also put up the Grand-Am flag I won at the raffle...
Tis all for now...the doorpanel is coming off for some reason, so I need to take it off (AGAIN) and reattach it. I think I'm going to hit up a JY for new clips first.
5.17.2009
Boston Cars and Coffee
Went to Boston Cars and Coffee this morning. Met up with NEPOC at the movie theater beforehand, then headed over to tradecenter 128. We had pretty good parking, but not 5 minutes later Chris calls...MAF died. So Marc and I hopped into my car and went looking for him...right in the rotary, awesome! I provided the tools and Chris and Marc got the car going, enough to get to the meet.
It was raining and overall pretty dreary out, but inside the garage not so bad. A lot of cars there, including a guy with an FB RX-7 that apparently I had given the thumbs up to somewhere in Salem...small world.
Pics here:
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123740147&page=12
Blurb here:
http://thecollegedriver.com/posts/431-Boston-Cars-and-Coffee-3
On another note, this weekend is the big Mazda weekend at Limerock Park. I managed to afford a ticket, and therefore will be driving Macy on the track on Friday :D Plus watching some racing Sat/Mon and going to the OWTS show Friday, and hanging out with people on Sunday...good times!
It was raining and overall pretty dreary out, but inside the garage not so bad. A lot of cars there, including a guy with an FB RX-7 that apparently I had given the thumbs up to somewhere in Salem...small world.
Pics here:
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123740147&page=12
Blurb here:
http://thecollegedriver.com/posts/431-Boston-Cars-and-Coffee-3
On another note, this weekend is the big Mazda weekend at Limerock Park. I managed to afford a ticket, and therefore will be driving Macy on the track on Friday :D Plus watching some racing Sat/Mon and going to the OWTS show Friday, and hanging out with people on Sunday...good times!
5.03.2009
2009 OCC Mazda Meet
So finally home from the OCC Meet, and it was good times as always.
Started off bright and early on Saturday...well not so bright, was raining for most of the ride down. Met up with several people at Liberty Mazda, then cruised down the pike to the Charlton rest stop, and met up with the bulk of the group. Finally cruised to Waterbury and picked up three more, and headed to OCC.
We weren't able to park together since there were so many Mazdas but no worries.
Day went great, remembered to wear sunscreen this time, and there were plenty of goodies that OCC handed out for coming to the meet. Also won a shirt at a raffle, as well as buying a Mazda shirt, and getting a few others from random places...Mazda wardrobe is getting bigger...
Chris (subspeed) won best Mazda6/Speed6, Bruce won best Miata and Jeff from NETC won best 'other' with his '88 GTX. NEPOC members also won quite a few prizes from the raffles, which means another work meet is in order!
The aftermeet festivities were fun...to make a story short: beer, food, great friends, ricers, etcetc.
This morning we gathered again at OCC for some hanging out, photo-ops and such, but ended up all rolling out before the rain hit too bad. Cruised back with a bunch of people and slowly trickled down to cruising home alone.
Video:
Pics:
OCC Pics
Pics of Macy and I when I find them from other people.
Started off bright and early on Saturday...well not so bright, was raining for most of the ride down. Met up with several people at Liberty Mazda, then cruised down the pike to the Charlton rest stop, and met up with the bulk of the group. Finally cruised to Waterbury and picked up three more, and headed to OCC.
We weren't able to park together since there were so many Mazdas but no worries.
Day went great, remembered to wear sunscreen this time, and there were plenty of goodies that OCC handed out for coming to the meet. Also won a shirt at a raffle, as well as buying a Mazda shirt, and getting a few others from random places...Mazda wardrobe is getting bigger...
Chris (subspeed) won best Mazda6/Speed6, Bruce won best Miata and Jeff from NETC won best 'other' with his '88 GTX. NEPOC members also won quite a few prizes from the raffles, which means another work meet is in order!
The aftermeet festivities were fun...to make a story short: beer, food, great friends, ricers, etcetc.
This morning we gathered again at OCC for some hanging out, photo-ops and such, but ended up all rolling out before the rain hit too bad. Cruised back with a bunch of people and slowly trickled down to cruising home alone.
Video:
Pics:
OCC Pics
Pics of Macy and I when I find them from other people.
NEPOC Spring Cleaning Meet
Well this was LAST Saturday, and I forgot to post the pics/video and such...so here they are!
Vid:
Pics:
PICTURES
Fun times as always...got burnt like a lobster and have been recuperating all week, but I learned my lesson.
Next up...pics/vid/writeup from this weekends OCC Mazda Meet!
Vid:
Pics:
PICTURES
Fun times as always...got burnt like a lobster and have been recuperating all week, but I learned my lesson.
Next up...pics/vid/writeup from this weekends OCC Mazda Meet!
4.24.2009
Parts Galore
In preparation for the Mazda meet tomorrow, and work on the car Sunday as well, I ordered a few parts that need to be replaced.
I'm not sure what I'm going to get done tomorrow, but at the least it'll be a good time, and hopefully, somewhat, productive. I've found I'm more productive at these meets then anywhere else though, mostly from the ribbing of the other club members.
Here's a pic of the parts I got this week:
1- wink mirror
2- front motor mount
3- rear motor mount
4- complete A/C oring kit
At the least I will get the mirror in...anything else will depend on how motivated I am and what space I have to work in.
To do before the meet:
-get gas
-clean out garbage from car
- empty trunk of crap
- fit bike in car (washing that too!)
- charge cameras:P & S Canon
- wake up RFE (really fucking early)
Pics and videos from the meet sometime tomorrow!
I'm not sure what I'm going to get done tomorrow, but at the least it'll be a good time, and hopefully, somewhat, productive. I've found I'm more productive at these meets then anywhere else though, mostly from the ribbing of the other club members.
Here's a pic of the parts I got this week:
1- wink mirror
2- front motor mount
3- rear motor mount
4- complete A/C oring kit
At the least I will get the mirror in...anything else will depend on how motivated I am and what space I have to work in.
To do before the meet:
-
-
- empty trunk of crap
- fit bike in car (washing that too!)
- charge cameras:
- wake up RFE (really fucking early)
Pics and videos from the meet sometime tomorrow!
4.20.2009
Curves, racing and mirrors, oh my!
My mirror fell off my car yesterday. Again.
Friday afternoon drove down to my parent's house in CT, and on the way took one of my favorite roads in that area...here's a video showing the curves coming down the mountain.
Saturday was spent cleaning the car...didn't get a chance to take any good pics...went to the Pike for the first time in months, and saw some people I hadn't seen in a long time. Again...no pics...I was tired.
Sunday was the first Auto-X of the year for CartCT. I managed to drag my dad down, since I've been going for 4 years and he's never been. Real people racing real cars in a town 20 min away...how could you not?
Anyway...didn't race, of course, but that will change this year. Here are the pics:
http://redd-design.com/albums/2009/4-19-09_autox1/
Jamal is going to talk to his boss about maybe bartering working on my car for design/photography work...so we'll see how that goes, maybe I'll get my car fixed sooner than I thought.
Pics and such when I get my mirror in!
I have thus ordered a 'wink' mirror, which I'll get this week hopefully. It's a 4 panel one...allows me to have almost no blindspots in my car. Here's an example:
Friday afternoon drove down to my parent's house in CT, and on the way took one of my favorite roads in that area...here's a video showing the curves coming down the mountain.
Saturday was spent cleaning the car...didn't get a chance to take any good pics...went to the Pike for the first time in months, and saw some people I hadn't seen in a long time. Again...no pics...I was tired.
Sunday was the first Auto-X of the year for CartCT. I managed to drag my dad down, since I've been going for 4 years and he's never been. Real people racing real cars in a town 20 min away...how could you not?
Anyway...didn't race, of course, but that will change this year. Here are the pics:
http://redd-design.com/albums/2009/4-19-09_autox1/
Jamal is going to talk to his boss about maybe bartering working on my car for design/photography work...so we'll see how that goes, maybe I'll get my car fixed sooner than I thought.
Pics and such when I get my mirror in!
4.12.2009
Disty...again!
I've had a replacement distributor sitting in my apt for several months, was always too cold or too busy to replace it, finally got around to it today. The old one would act up on longer journeys, and one bolt was stripped from the cap...so new (reman) disty, cap and rotor were installed earlier.
After driving around I feel the car is much smoother, power-wise. I know there must have been power loss from the cap not being completely connected, and the fact that the disty was on its way out.
I made sure, for the first time, that the disty was lined up according to the old one, since Bahr had timed the ignition when Macy went in for emissions. I'm hoping they timed it correctly and didn't leave it advanced at all. I've never done timing myself so I really don't want to mess with it.
Soon it's going to be getting warm out again, which means I'm actually going to be able to get work done on the car, instead of procrastinating about it. Thankfully, most the parts that need to be replaced are under warrentee.
On another note...I'm an avid cyclist, and as such am looking for a new jersey...preferably from a team. I can find those no problem, but finding a womens size is another story. Thought of the day...a womens professional cycling team sponsored by Mazda. Now that would be nice.
4.10.2009
Oh yeah and...
I completely forgot to mention that last week I took off all the stickers on Macy. I left the NEPOC, NETC and the front NER stickers on, but the rest are gone. Reasoning is I want to start doing some bodywork, and it was time to see the real Macy again. Here are some cell phone pics:
Long lost...belt?
So I brought a friend to Boston last Monday...then went out for food and beer and such. Was raining out pretty bad on the way back...heard a weird noise...thought nothing of it.
Later on I noticed the charge light and rear taillamp light were on...figured the rain was doing screwy things, or maybe the alternator was dying...thought nothing of it.
Then it started getting weird.
The radio started cutting in and out...the guages started dropping...the radio shut off completely...the wipers started slowing down...
dubya tee eff?
Long story short...very nervous drive home, nursing the car really...brought my friend home, then barely made it home myself. Parked her in the driveway and popped the hood...
Yup...alternator belt was missing.
It had been squealing for awhile but I was always too damned lazy to tighten it, so first reaction was...oh...a/c compressor seized...broke the belt.
Bought a new belt earlier today...just the alt since the p/s was still on there, and figured out how to put it on. It wasn't that bad really...just had to make sure it was on tight, and all lined up. Shining the flashlight down...making sure the belt was on completely...I noticed something laying on the splash guard below. Go underneath...pull it out...and...
It broke across...as if a rock hit hit it. Regardless, I had put on a shorter belt so it would bypass the a/c compressor, since that doesn't do anything right now anyway, so that'll free up a tid bit of power. Went to start her up and the battery is dead (no surprise) so I'll just wait for someone to give me a jumpstart and all should be well.
I'm getting my tax refunds back next week, and I'm going to use half to fix up my car, mainly the motor mounts and exhaust as first priority. I priced out the parts, but not sure how much the labor will be. I'm not comfortable at all with doing it myself, I'll leave it to the pros.
3.15.2009
Yuppie Racing Meet
Forgot to post pics and vid from the last meet...
Here's the pics:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2002781&id=108400085&l=13d91e8921
Onto today's meet! Met the NEPOC crew + some at Showcase Cinemas in Woburn, took pics, then headed over to Tradecenter 128 where the real meet was happening. We ended up being one of the first ones there, and got, I think, some of the best spots.
Pictures are posted here:
http://redd-design.com/albums/2009/3-15-09%20Yuppie%20Racing%20Meet/index.htm
Highlights:
Here's the pics:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2002781&id=108400085&l=13d91e8921
Onto today's meet! Met the NEPOC crew + some at Showcase Cinemas in Woburn, took pics, then headed over to Tradecenter 128 where the real meet was happening. We ended up being one of the first ones there, and got, I think, some of the best spots.
Pictures are posted here:
http://redd-design.com/albums/2009/3-15-09%20Yuppie%20Racing%20Meet/index.htm
Highlights:
2.28.2009
NEPOC meet on the cape
Went to Altspaces today on the cape to change the oil on the car and help whomever with whatever. Chris and Chris changed the diff and trans fluids in their respective MS6's, I put some Royal Purple in Macy and Jimmy installed a Mazdaspeed CAI.
Here's some pics from Josh (Altspace). Pics and video from me to come later on.
the combination of these two pictures is amusing:
"how many guys does it take to work on a car?"
"none, the woman does it!"
tis all.
2.21.2009
been a long time...
So not much new with the car, still plunking along. I moved to Beverly so I'm trying to bike to school more (healthier and saves on gas). Ran into a major obstacle last week when my mom informed me my registration had expired. Had to re register the car but first pass it through emissions.
Macy had failed emissions twice two years ago when I first got her going, and I didn't think to fix it, till now. Took her to Bahr Auto in Torrington, CT (since she's registered in CT) and they didn't me a huge favor and managed to pass her. Nothing illegal, but he held open the EGR sensor, and she passed with flying colors. What had happened was the EGR wasn't hitched up since I'm still using the '95 EGR with the '93 harness. I'll just have to swap them out over the summer (either with new or the EGR from the old motor).
I have a year to fix it before she has to go through emissions again, I'll try not to forget.
In a week or so I'm going to look into getting the motor mounts replaced and completely welding up the exhaust, so that should fix it permanently, as well as fixing my wheel hop problem :)
tis all.
1.11.2009
Sunday Snow!
Well oops. I knew we were getting snow last night/this morning but I didn't realize how much. In the end it was about 6/7 inches. I remembered to put up my windshield wipers but not park at the end of the driveway, so lots of shoveling was in order.
Macy first thing this morning...
There was lots of sand on my tires so she left some tireprints!
Had to shovel :X
Victorious! What you don't see is me making the Captain Morgan stance haha.
Cleeeean and out of the snow
My back is now killing me, no more shoveling for me today. Almost got stuck in the breakfast places parking lot, the road down the street, and my driveway coming home.
I have a new toy/project that I'll post about later :D
Macy first thing this morning...
There was lots of sand on my tires so she left some tireprints!
Had to shovel :X
Victorious! What you don't see is me making the Captain Morgan stance haha.
Cleeeean and out of the snow
My back is now killing me, no more shoveling for me today. Almost got stuck in the breakfast places parking lot, the road down the street, and my driveway coming home.
I have a new toy/project that I'll post about later :D
1.04.2009
NETC meet a success!
The car club had its first meet of the year last night. Started off with a few games of bowling, at which everyone who said they'd be there were there. Then we went to the usual hangout at Dunkin Donuts with the older muscle car crowd, where we froze our asses off, and also got a vid of one of the members having a bit of fun in his car. Vid:
Afterwards a few of us went to Hops for some late night brews.
Afterwards a few of us went to Hops for some late night brews.
On the way home I got this vid:
Pics from the meet are here:
http://redd-design.com/pictures/v/2009/1-3-bowling/
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