Autocross Addict

QOTD

tby — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 07:17:17 +0000

Seen on the forums:

“Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car and oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car. Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall, torque is how far you take the wall with you.”

— Anonymous

Clamps

tby — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 02:35:13 +0000

Since replacing the cold-side intercooler coupling I’ve had a problem with it coming undone at the other end, on the throttle body. I ordered a bunch of replacement clamps a while back but with the transmission problems it hasn’t been a priority for me to fix. Today I finally got around to it. Pulled the pipe out completely, replaced all four clamps, and this time I’ve got the pipe jiggered so that there is much less movement — hopefully neither end will be able to work their way undone again.

Of course this probably means that I will soon discover the next weakest link in the IC piping…

My busted tranny is sitting on a pallet in the warehouse at the office. Next week I’ll get it strapped down and shipped to Andrewtech.

Annoyed

tby — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 02:53:05 +0000

So I talk to the guy selling the 6-speed, get a quote from Japtrix on the labor (stings but not too bad), talked to Jorge about maybe doing it ourselves at his buddy’s garage, and this morning I woke up to find that the guy started a new 10-day eBay listing for the whole car yesterday.

WTF?!

Not sure if I should wait it out or call Andrewtech first thing Tuesday. I’m really not enjoying driving around like a pansy for fear of breaking my original transmission…

I can has 6-speed?

tby — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 02:52:13 +0000

Got a lead on a local parting out his JDM STi Wagon conversion, including a complete JDM STi VII 6-speed drivetrain — everything from the clutch to the rear hubs plus aftermarket rear brakes. Not indestructable like a PPG gearset but ought to be fine at my power levels and the asking price is just 1.5 paychecks plus my take-offs. Only downside is that particular tranny has an open front diff but I can probably find a USDM Suretrac take-off for cheap.

Irresponsible

tby — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 02:15:17 +0000

I’m stunned that the “Hogan” family would let their barely 17-year old child continue to drive around in a purported 1,000HP sportscar after racking up a fistful of serious speeding tickets. I can understand them not having much concern for their own offspring, if he’s anything like most teenagers they’ve probably wanted him dead since he hit puberty, but what about the fucking rest of us?! We can’t watch your lame-ass reality television show if your progeny kill us on the highway.

In theory this incident should get the kid off the road for a year, except the weak-ass Florida points suspension law makes an exemption for “business purposes.” When your career is Celebrity Fuckup and you have a camera crew following you most of the time, what isn’t a business purpose?

My prayers go out to John Graziano, the poor sap that was riding shotgun and is still hospitalized in critical condition.

And once again I’d like to thank my Dad for making sure that my first car was a shitbox that could barely hit 85MPH going downhill.

Busted

tby — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 03:18:45 +0000

Transmission shop says I blew second gear. It doesn’t make sense to me but there’s no arguing with the truth. Was hoping to fix and flip this STi-geared 5MT but prices on NASIOC have fallen to the point that it’s not worth it. Instead I’ll be using this tranny as the donor housing for a PPG gearset. It’s like 3 paychecks (OMFG!) but at least I won’t ever have to worry about it breaking…

Tranny Noise

tby — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 01:03:49 +0000

Second gear on my transmission started working again just as suddenly as it stopped. Had been fine for a couple weeks, then suddenly I’m getting an odd noise coming from the transmission and in second gear it becomes extremely loud.

[See post to watch Flash video]

Bringing Sexxxy Back

tby — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 02:42:55 +0000

Bryce 2, Ron 0

tby — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 02:04:02 +0000

My boss somewhat resembles Dwight from the US version of “The Office”, and some time ago someone (our Product Manager?) gave him a Dwight bobblehead doll. From the moment I first saw it on his desk I have been wanting to photograph Mini Ron around our office. Today I finally got my chance:

Here’s the complete photo set. Real Ron is out for another day or two so I’m hoping to get a few more shots. I suspect that he won’t be leaving Mini Ron on his desk during future trips away from the office…

PS: Peer 1 Dedicated Hosting is way more fun than your current web host!

Rotors

tby — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 04:05:25 +0000

My new front rotors finally arrived and hot damn do they bring sexxxy back. I’ll get a picture later.