Okay, update time.
Audio
The Alpine 9825 has a history of being a fantastic headunit. Mine however, has crapped out in the time its been in storage. My comps sounded weak, sub was distorted... it was just shitty. Swapped in my trusty Pioneer, and MUCH better. Whew. Eventually down the road I'll get a proper unit.. but thats going to be around winter time. I'm also beginning the third sub box, this one i think i'm going to stick with. Downside is I won't be able to use the targa latches, but I don't have them anyway so no big loss.
I've made a few revisions since this, included are a solid front plate for the mounting ring so it seals without having to glass it seperate from the main face. Second, I've added platforms on the backside of the side braces, one side for the component amp, the other for the crossovers.
Interior/exterior
Haven't been able to spend any time on this area cause of the FRIGGIN RIDICULOUS WEATHER. June and sub 50*?? What the hell.
Drivetrain
Pretty much done. The filter pipe needs finishing and then wrapping... Oh, and I got a set of Marlin Crawler bushings for the R154. Good stuff, it was a little tight to get in, but with some oil and blunt force got the sucker in. Shifter is MUCH tighter, but the plate that holds it to the transmission is worn and the dome cap on the stick is very close to popping out. I need to replace it.
Suspension
Ugh. I was putting some miles on the car... and then some serious brake squeakage started. Sounded just like extremely worn pads. Except it only made the sound when I was OFF the brakes. Checked my pads just to be sure, and they were fine... Then I found out it was my wheelbearing. Driver's side was shot, gone, kaput. Likely causes were 1) the car's old 2) the H&R springs create some NASTY camber.
When I bought the car, the passenger side hub had 4/5 of the studs... which isn't any huge issue.. 4 is fine to drive on as long as you're not doing stupid shit, so I planned on redoing those studs as well. Then I noticed that my ebaytastic Slotted and Drilled rotors (again, previous owner) were scored to hell and back. So, I decided it would be prudent to replace both wheelbearings, seals, rotors, pads, steering rack boots, lower ball joints, tie rods, and rebuild the calipers while they were off (driver's side was sticky, and after the wheel bearing issue, it would have needed rebuilding soon enough).
I'm a bit paranoid about wheel bearings. When I worked with the 360 Challenge cars, one of our cars had a wheel bearing go out around Road America....
So yea. Immediately put the car in the garage and started tearing it down.
Ordered bearings, seals, caliper rebuild kit, and boots from rockautoparts.com. Fantastic place, shipping was insanely fast. I bought my stuff at 10am, and by 7pm i had shipping notices for everything, coming from 3 different warehouses. Everything fit like a charm.... except the piston seal on the caliper kit. UGH. So, I had to go to the dealership to get one that would fit.... which of course meant they'd have to special order it.. and it ONLY CAME IN A FULL KIT. Ughh. So, I have enough parts to rebuild a few cars worth of front calipers.
First batch of goodies:
While I was waiting for the rest of the brake parts to come in, the calipers needed some fresh paint anyway, I decided to clean em up a bit and smooth them o ut by grinding off some of the casting marks. A few minutes with the grinder and a smooth caliper was born.
(They're both painted black now, I just haven't taken pics yet)
Today I got Powerslot rotors and PBR pads from Driftmotion. As always, great communication with my questions and fast shipping. AND as I found out... Axxis pads == PBR Pads. (If I sounded like an ass, sorry Aaron!)
One of the rotor's bag wasn't sealed, and it had some rust/pitting/something on it.
Talked with Aaron to see if this was anything he had run into with Powerslot before, to which he said it wasn't. I hit it with a scotch pad and some scrubbing later, it came off. The rotor surface is in good shape, no actual pitting (whew!)
Tomorrow I get balljoints, tie rods, the caliper piston seal, and axle nuts. Should be back on the road ready for alignment thursday or friday! YAY!
Deal of the week
I was at Home Depot picking up some MDF, and as I was checking out, I glanced over to the clearance rack to see if there was anything useless they could sell me. Well, on the ground below the table were a few boxes with anodized red aluminum floor jacks. I thought "hey, that sure would be nice", and looked at the price. Normal price: $129.00 - About what I was expecting.
Now before I get to the sale price, let me say why this is so nice for me to have. Again, the H&R springs make my car sit LOW. The floor jack I currently have is meant for lifted trucks, so to get it under the car, I have to drive up onto 2x4's, then slide the jack in. Low profile aluminum jack = no more driving onto blocks! YAY!
Its upside down..but yes. The price really was $25.00 $104 off!! Woot!
