I'm starting to get that itch again. Looking at miatas on craigslist. I can get a 96 for $2500, or a 97 with some deer related headlight and fender damage for $1700. I think I'm gonna turn some guns into money...
I'm starting to get that itch again. Looking at miatas on craigslist. I can get a 96 for $2500, or a 97 with some deer related headlight and fender damage for $1700. I think I'm gonna turn some guns into money...
What kinds of guns, how much, and can you ship them?
Check Engine Light has been on for ~10 years for the O2 censor. The mechanics I was working with back then trouble-shot the thing and couldn't come back with a definite answer.
ABS light came on just recently. Seems to only be active when things are icy. Which is kinda a concern.
Power steering problems. I'm comfortable with it, but needs to be fixed really.
A lot of rust in general. Also old components that are pretty beat up.
Driver's side door plastic/metal is all falling apart from the inside out. Still fully functional though.
Electronics are sometimes flaky and I think the motor on the fans for the heater are going out. Air conditioning needs to be charged yearly due to some leak that nobody seems to be able to find/diagnose/fix.
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I was going to ask if I should work on fixing it or just jump ship, but listing that out answers my own questions. Guess I shouldn't have bought those two new tires (though being out 150 bucks isn't the worst thing ever).
Nope. I forget the deal but I visited two shops at the time when it first cropped up and they both implied they didn't see any problems at the time. I just neglected ever checking again since... 2006?
I know I'm horrible about caring about my car, it was old when I got it, but it's also so little used. It's a 1996. I got it in 2003 with 54k miles. It just this year hit 103k. I'm the grandma that drives her car to the grocery store and church. What's sad is half the problems pre-date me even owning it (the rust in particular, as well as all the shitty plastic bits on the inside that have decayed/broken).
The mechanic shop I usually take it to usually tells me that the engine is in good shape and all the really critical parts are fine, but I'm kind of tired of it. It's been my car since I first started college. I've had a career-type job for five years. I'm just tired of the little issues.
I just don't want to pay money to get a new car either. I've always been banking on some-day it would just stop functioning or cost enough to fix to justify scrapping it, but that day has never come.
Also for the A/C, get Quest's Super Seal. It works like your blood does, and coagulates and hardens in contact with air. It'll seal up any tiny holes in the system, and has conditioners for rubber o-rings and seals so they'll leak less.
Okay, downside to The Mighty Van - Trying to get in and pull the throttle back, from where it was sticking. Can't access it from the top. Access from the bottom means cramming myself under the front axle, fucking gumby-ing my arm around and through a nest of fucking cables, lines, supports and other nonsense, and then feeling around blind till I catch what I THINK is the throttle cable, and then playing it back and forth completely blind. I don't even know if it worked, because it's a two person job finding that out.
I recall another chap who did something similar, but instead of putting him with a partner, they took a formula Ford champion and made him play the sim, while the sim driver was taken out to drive formula Ford. He did reasonably well - not blazing fast, but respectable - until somewhere between the second or fourth lap. Not because of a lack of skill, but he had to stop because he started puking uncontrollably in his helmet, and was physically unable to continue even after he finished puking. Turns out that a sedentary lifestyle in front of a monitor doesn't really prepare you as well as you'd think, no matter how many sims you play or races you watch. Sorry to dash anyone's hopes.
Also, I'm suss about one thing - I play racing sims, and I've driven in amateur and charity races before - no matter how good you are in a sim, driving a car is something entirely else. While it says they lacked racing experience, I've no doubt they had plenty of driving experience - after all, the video in the article shows them doing just that, outside of race conditions, in everything from go karts to formula ford. They didn't just take them from a sim and dump them into a GT race like the article tries to imply - they trained them physically, they gave them extensive driving training and track hours, as well as playing the sim.
That said, more than half of racing is all about knowledge. Track knowledge, getting a mind for where to brake, accelerate and maneuver, when to change gears, etc, etc. So I don't doubt in the slightest that it can certainly help. I know many drivers of all levels of racing will play sims, as it's a particularly good way to learn the track layout and commit it to memory.
V8 in an RX-7 is sacrilege! Have to change the name from RX to VX or something.
I dunno,l I wouldn't say the same, but I guess it's a matter of personal opinion. I'm a huge fan of the RX series, but I don't think that taking the clapped out rotary away and dropping in a V8 is that bad. It's his car, and he's done a decent enough job - sure, it's a bit of a shitbox, but he's put love, time, care, and hard work into it, and when I look at it, that's what I see, rather than any sort of complaint about an RX-7 body stuffed with a big V8.
But, like I said, it's a matter of opinion. To me, no big deal, but you're not so into it, that's okay.
I'm starting to get that itch again. Looking at miatas on craigslist. I can get a 96 for $2500, or a 97 with some deer related headlight and fender damage for $1700. I think I'm gonna turn some guns into money...
Do I need to bring up old conversations we had about you buying cars and you wanting to save money? :P
If you want to drop a V8 in a crappy car, it's all good. Just not in place of a rotary. Maybe try putting it in a rusty MR2 instead.
It genuinely makes me chuckle, how odd this is. I'm the big car guy, born with wrench in one hand and wheel in the other, so to speak. It almost seems like I should be the one saying your lines, and vice versa.
I can see where you're coming from, though, and in some respects I agree. The RX-7 was designed around the lighter Wankel Rotary engine, mounted right behind the front axle, with a nice, smooth power band all the way through. It's not built for a big fuck-off 5 Litre 302 Windsor V8 mounted further forward with a power band that looks like a fuckin' arizona mesa, and making it front-heavy like a bitch. The running gear wasn't designed for it, the chassis isn't made for it. This car is as likely to kill you as it is to kill itself.
The RX-7 was a beautiful car, and that thing is ugly as sin. In fact, I think it would have been a sin, if moses had the forethought to bring down a bigger tablet to write on. But good lord, I fuckin want to drive that thing - because it's my style, it's old, jerry rigged, it's rickety, dangerous, it's raw as old offal, brutal and powerful. It's not something you pull up at a nice resturant in, it's something you burn up and down the mountains with, cranking out smokey doughnuts on a skidpan or throwing it through a corner like you're trying to see which of you dies first.
But I won't deny, that particular vehicle is a fuckin' abomination. That shit would see someone burned at the stake, if we still went in for that sort of thing.
Though, if there is one thing I'd change about it - Dude, why the hell isn't the starter motor on a sprung switch? Seriously, come on now.
If you want to drop a V8 in a crappy car, it's all good. Just not in place of a rotary. Maybe try putting it in a rusty MR2 instead.
You've watched too much initial D, rotary engines are crap. If it was a good design with as many advantages as it's fan say it has, then everyone would use them.
If you want to drop a V8 in a crappy car, it's all good. Just not in place of a rotary. Maybe try putting it in a rusty MR2 instead.
You've watched too much initial D, rotary engines are crap. If it was a good design with as many advantages as it's fan say it has, then everyone would use them.
My non-expert knowledge on them was that their primary drawbacks were short lifespans and expensive maintenance (and possibly upper limits on their power curve).
I don't know why you guys like V8 so much. It tastes like cold tomato soup.
Have you ever driven a muscle car? or anything with at least 6 cylinders, and just cruised down the empty road? it's not something for the city dweller though.
Boys and their toys. Bet my 1.8L will beat anything with a V8
The thing is, how much money do you have to put into your 1.8 to make it better than a V8? and with that same amount of money on mine, would you still beat me?
Comments
the jalop article here, for those who are Spanish impaired.
Check Engine Light has been on for ~10 years for the O2 censor. The mechanics I was working with back then trouble-shot the thing and couldn't come back with a definite answer.
ABS light came on just recently. Seems to only be active when things are icy. Which is kinda a concern.
Power steering problems. I'm comfortable with it, but needs to be fixed really.
A lot of rust in general. Also old components that are pretty beat up.
Driver's side door plastic/metal is all falling apart from the inside out. Still fully functional though.
Electronics are sometimes flaky and I think the motor on the fans for the heater are going out. Air conditioning needs to be charged yearly due to some leak that nobody seems to be able to find/diagnose/fix.
-----
I was going to ask if I should work on fixing it or just jump ship, but listing that out answers my own questions. Guess I shouldn't have bought those two new tires (though being out 150 bucks isn't the worst thing ever).
I know I'm horrible about caring about my car, it was old when I got it, but it's also so little used. It's a 1996. I got it in 2003 with 54k miles. It just this year hit 103k. I'm the grandma that drives her car to the grocery store and church. What's sad is half the problems pre-date me even owning it (the rust in particular, as well as all the shitty plastic bits on the inside that have decayed/broken).
The mechanic shop I usually take it to usually tells me that the engine is in good shape and all the really critical parts are fine, but I'm kind of tired of it. It's been my car since I first started college. I've had a career-type job for five years. I'm just tired of the little issues.
I just don't want to pay money to get a new car either. I've always been banking on some-day it would just stop functioning or cost enough to fix to justify scrapping it, but that day has never come.
Also watch this.
Also, I'm suss about one thing - I play racing sims, and I've driven in amateur and charity races before - no matter how good you are in a sim, driving a car is something entirely else. While it says they lacked racing experience, I've no doubt they had plenty of driving experience - after all, the video in the article shows them doing just that, outside of race conditions, in everything from go karts to formula ford. They didn't just take them from a sim and dump them into a GT race like the article tries to imply - they trained them physically, they gave them extensive driving training and track hours, as well as playing the sim.
That said, more than half of racing is all about knowledge. Track knowledge, getting a mind for where to brake, accelerate and maneuver, when to change gears, etc, etc. So I don't doubt in the slightest that it can certainly help. I know many drivers of all levels of racing will play sims, as it's a particularly good way to learn the track layout and commit it to memory.
But, like I said, it's a matter of opinion. To me, no big deal, but you're not so into it, that's okay.
I can see where you're coming from, though, and in some respects I agree. The RX-7 was designed around the lighter Wankel Rotary engine, mounted right behind the front axle, with a nice, smooth power band all the way through. It's not built for a big fuck-off 5 Litre 302 Windsor V8 mounted further forward with a power band that looks like a fuckin' arizona mesa, and making it front-heavy like a bitch. The running gear wasn't designed for it, the chassis isn't made for it. This car is as likely to kill you as it is to kill itself.
The RX-7 was a beautiful car, and that thing is ugly as sin. In fact, I think it would have been a sin, if moses had the forethought to bring down a bigger tablet to write on. But good lord, I fuckin want to drive that thing - because it's my style, it's old, jerry rigged, it's rickety, dangerous, it's raw as old offal, brutal and powerful. It's not something you pull up at a nice resturant in, it's something you burn up and down the mountains with, cranking out smokey doughnuts on a skidpan or throwing it through a corner like you're trying to see which of you dies first.
But I won't deny, that particular vehicle is a fuckin' abomination. That shit would see someone burned at the stake, if we still went in for that sort of thing.
Though, if there is one thing I'd change about it - Dude, why the hell isn't the starter motor on a sprung switch? Seriously, come on now.