- Sun Apr 13, 2014 3:08 am
#344477
I have been avoiding making a post about my car, choosing instead to make the most of the search function and contributing to the posts of others, but I feel that maybe the time has come.
So, here it is:
I was driving a truck for my daily commute, but it was getting to the point where it was costing me $130 a week in gas, so I listed the truck and started looking for something more suitable. Not long into my hunt I stumbled acorss a guy who had this car, near my work, and was open to a trade for the truck, and after a test drive and a quick safety and e-test the deal was made.
During the safety, my shop pointed out that the timing belt was quite severely cracked and quoted me $500 to have it done. My next call was to my local parts vendor who could get me a timing kit (belt, tensioner and water pump) for $100, SOLD! Next was a Chilton Repair Manual, $50 shipped from Amazon in two days (!) and after a couple days of carefully commuting (so as not to break the timing belt) I managed to change everything myself. When you do the math on my fuel and parts/labour savings I was ahead $450.
That is, of course, until my driver's window fell out of the track some how and I manged to break it in my driveway... Managed to find another one the next day, nearby too, for only $50...and it was already tinted!
The window went in no problem, and finally I had a little reliable car to whip around in. Time to see what this little 5-speed, with exhaust, intake, coilover sleeve set and D15B7 could do!
Man, these things go! I had been babying it to and from work trying to save money on fuel, but holy cow it comes alive above 4000 RPM! The garbage suspension makes it a little hard to trust on these country roads at speed, but what speed and power on demand....aaaand then the white smoke came. Great.
Called my parts guy again for a head gasket set. Grabbed a thermostat, oil and coolant while I was there and set to work this morning. Only took a couple of hours and some help from a buddy who had done a few head gaskets before, and I had successfully completed my first major repair!
The car started with ease, idled normally, and the white smoke from the tailpipe was there at first but started to subside during the bleeding of the cooling system, almost nil within 20 minutes.
Tomorrow's plan is to fix the harsh, bouncy suspension. I swear I could drive over a quarter and tell you what year it was made. I have a complete ITR suspension ready to go in, just concerned about the rear LCA bolts, apparently they're notorious for seizing and breaking.
So, here it is:
I was driving a truck for my daily commute, but it was getting to the point where it was costing me $130 a week in gas, so I listed the truck and started looking for something more suitable. Not long into my hunt I stumbled acorss a guy who had this car, near my work, and was open to a trade for the truck, and after a test drive and a quick safety and e-test the deal was made.
During the safety, my shop pointed out that the timing belt was quite severely cracked and quoted me $500 to have it done. My next call was to my local parts vendor who could get me a timing kit (belt, tensioner and water pump) for $100, SOLD! Next was a Chilton Repair Manual, $50 shipped from Amazon in two days (!) and after a couple days of carefully commuting (so as not to break the timing belt) I managed to change everything myself. When you do the math on my fuel and parts/labour savings I was ahead $450.
That is, of course, until my driver's window fell out of the track some how and I manged to break it in my driveway... Managed to find another one the next day, nearby too, for only $50...and it was already tinted!
The window went in no problem, and finally I had a little reliable car to whip around in. Time to see what this little 5-speed, with exhaust, intake, coilover sleeve set and D15B7 could do!
Man, these things go! I had been babying it to and from work trying to save money on fuel, but holy cow it comes alive above 4000 RPM! The garbage suspension makes it a little hard to trust on these country roads at speed, but what speed and power on demand....aaaand then the white smoke came. Great.
Called my parts guy again for a head gasket set. Grabbed a thermostat, oil and coolant while I was there and set to work this morning. Only took a couple of hours and some help from a buddy who had done a few head gaskets before, and I had successfully completed my first major repair!
The car started with ease, idled normally, and the white smoke from the tailpipe was there at first but started to subside during the bleeding of the cooling system, almost nil within 20 minutes.
Tomorrow's plan is to fix the harsh, bouncy suspension. I swear I could drive over a quarter and tell you what year it was made. I have a complete ITR suspension ready to go in, just concerned about the rear LCA bolts, apparently they're notorious for seizing and breaking.
