Weekend Projects

First car when I started driving. Bought my 3 after seeing one in someones driveway while on the job.
 
I started painting the protege today.

I started working on painting my car today. I got the front bumper, front lip side skirts and rear lip all sanded down today and primmer-ed. I still have to wet sand it tomorrow and get some of the imperfections in the pieces out where they were used.

I also am doing a Hood for one of my dads trucks that is going on his lot. Its for a chevy Colorado.

Front bumper all sanded up.
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One of the side skirts all most done.
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These are all sanded and ready just waiting on me to finish up with the front lip. I had to do some body work on the front lip, so I saved it for last.
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The front lip
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Front lip sanded down. Or at least partially sanded I forgot what stage it was in this pic lol.
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So all the hard work was done, I finally got to shoot some primer. I still have to go back and fix some divits and junk, that the primer didn't fully cover so I will more than likley have to give it a few more coats. I gave it two full coats and multiple coats over little dimples and such trying to get them out.
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Sorry for all the crappy cell phone pics. But its just so handy and I dont have to drag around my camera with all the dust and stuff on me cause sanding and everything. So like I said sorry for the crappy pics.
 
Need to get off my butt and install my Koni yellows/K-spec springs on the Speed, and new rear wheel brake cylinders and OMP lines on the RX-7. Gonna try this week.
 
Anyone know a shop that'll do a test pipe for a decent price? Just curious...

Also, looking to possibly do a turbo inlet pipe. I have a CAI and was curious the kind of gains expected without a TBE? I've read it's pretty much drivability (that would be great...) but wanted to hear it from the horse's mouth...

Daniel
 
hey who are you!!!! jk..... shop wise. eh all ive been to is autolab in jtown, seen at least a few mspeeds there. IM fixn to give them a buzz soon too. might have oil rings going out.. burning oil i believe cause i cant find any external leaks. . but um thats just my input on shop wise. Mjb3 gets work on done at his car at i think Dr Zoom and Automotion... (correct me if im wrong).
 
Thanks! I'm no...well, you know.

I get most of my stuff done at Evolution Msport (I've known and raced with drew for 15 years now) and I trust him. However, I was curious to see what you guys use and trust. I figured most of you had test pipes or knew who's down wit it, if you get my drift...

Daniel
 
Some don't like my choice, but I like Evolution Motorsport (Drew D). He knows a poopload about cars, has reasonable rates and does an excellent job. I've had him install 3 sets of shocks on my cars plus all of my work done for the last 15 years.

You could probably have it done faster other places, but better? Don't think so.

As an aside, you've been threatening to sell your MS3 for more than a year. Why don't you just sell the thing and get something you like and won't complain about? Just a question...

Daniel
 
just to update everyone.if you already didnt know autolabs is now called Roberts Imports LLC... go figure lol :)
 
What shop would be best for an install of struts/shocks? If I keep my MS3 I'm going to need some Bilsteins or Konis.
Winning Formula - 502-499-7459

Good work, good prices.


Some don't like my choice, but I like Evolution Motorsport (Drew D). He knows a poopload about cars, has reasonable rates and does an excellent job. I've had him install 3 sets of shocks on my cars plus all of my work done for the last 15 years.

You could probably have it done faster other places, but better? Don't think so.

As an aside, you've been threatening to sell your MS3 for more than a year. Why don't you just sell the thing and get something you like and won't complain about? Just a question...

Daniel


LOL, burn(lol)

I think it is a love/hate relationship.
 
I think it is a love/hate relationship.

You nailed it. I bought the car in July 2007 and I actually enjoyed driving the car for the first 15 months. When the LF strut blew at 25,000 miles(costing me a week of instructing and track time at Watkins Glen) I wasn't exactly pleased but I figured that no car is perfect. When the turbo started smoking 1,300 miles later I was not happy, and I began to seriously think of dumping the thing. In January I came very close to trading it for a 2003 540i Sport. This spring when the weather warmed up I mellowed out and decided to keep it; I installed the MSCAI I had bought a couple of years ago and I was even planning to fit Enkei RS-M wheels with Dunlop Direzza Star Specs. Come September the VVT actuator started making noise, but since it was a TSB issue I let it slide. My continued patience with the car was rewarded by the appearance of a CEL which turned out to be fault code P0401(Insufficient EGR flow)- which is not covered by either the powertrain or the emissions warranty. I'm thinking $500 or more in repairs.
Keep in mind I'm having the car serviced at Kings Mazda in Cincinnati because of the less than stellar reports I've heard about the service departments at Huffman and Oxmoor, so I blow at least a half day each time the car needs service or repair.
As for parts? Well, early on I thought that I'd give Oxmoor's parts department a shot at my business- I wanted a spare set of front brake pads. The parts guy comes back with a quoted price that is $57 over MSRP and $100 over the internet price offered by a couple of online Mazda dealers.
So there you have it. As it stands the car will soon need tires and brakes-don't forget the EGR repair-and Carmax just appraised the car for $13,000. What to do? If I actually believed that the EGR CEL would be the last major issue that I'd have to address for some time I'd probably hold on to it. Sad to say, I'm not all that confident about the overall reliability of the car. Believe me, I don't like the thought of taking a $12,000 depreciation hit, but I'm really not eager to find out if another problem-such as the timing chain issues some CX-7 owners are now dealing with-will eventually afflict my car.
Which means I'll probably take the money and run.
 
I ordered the Koni FSD's for my MS3 just today. There is a group buy on another forum with the best price ever for the FSD's and Yellow's. PM me if you want the info.
 
You nailed it. I bought the car in July 2007 and I actually enjoyed driving the car for the first 15 months. When the LF strut blew at 25,000 miles(costing me a week of instructing and track time at Watkins Glen) I wasn't exactly pleased but I figured that no car is perfect. When the turbo started smoking 1,300 miles later I was not happy, and I began to seriously think of dumping the thing. In January I came very close to trading it for a 2003 540i Sport. This spring when the weather warmed up I mellowed out and decided to keep it; I installed the MSCAI I had bought a couple of years ago and I was even planning to fit Enkei RS-M wheels with Dunlop Direzza Star Specs. Come September the VVT actuator started making noise, but since it was a TSB issue I let it slide. My continued patience with the car was rewarded by the appearance of a CEL which turned out to be fault code P0401(Insufficient EGR flow)- which is not covered by either the powertrain or the emissions warranty. I'm thinking $500 or more in repairs.
Keep in mind I'm having the car serviced at Kings Mazda in Cincinnati because of the less than stellar reports I've heard about the service departments at Huffman and Oxmoor, so I blow at least a half day each time the car needs service or repair.
As for parts? Well, early on I thought that I'd give Oxmoor's parts department a shot at my business- I wanted a spare set of front brake pads. The parts guy comes back with a quoted price that is $57 over MSRP and $100 over the internet price offered by a couple of online Mazda dealers.
So there you have it. As it stands the car will soon need tires and brakes-don't forget the EGR repair-and Carmax just appraised the car for $13,000. What to do? If I actually believed that the EGR CEL would be the last major issue that I'd have to address for some time I'd probably hold on to it. Sad to say, I'm not all that confident about the overall reliability of the car. Believe me, I don't like the thought of taking a $12,000 depreciation hit, but I'm really not eager to find out if another problem-such as the timing chain issues some CX-7 owners are now dealing with-will eventually afflict my car.
Which means I'll probably take the money and run.

If you fight with the dealer, they'll fix it. I did that very thing with OM and they did it for a CEL involving the MAF sensor.

NEVER deal with them (OM). Use any other dealer. They suck a$$. Of course they're going to do it to you with sandpaper on any part! What did you expect? Buy anything from PG or another supplier (even ebay), but not a dealer.

I wouldn't be so quick to assume if the CX7 is having problems with these engines that these cars will. Several things here--more weight, AWD, and probably a few other differences that I'm not mentioning here. These put more strain on this engine and can cause problems that wouldn't be seen in our cars.

Daniel
 
What.. CEL for real . dang it.. i got a P0421 code... Possible cause Exhaust Leak or Faulty catalytic converter... what to do.. what to do... anyone?
 
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