Installed the new all-aluminum radiator today and it seems to be working pretty well--there's really no way for it to not work well other than not to leak or break. My cooling system seems to be fairly stable so hopefully it holds up for a while.
Got some new tires also, ready to try to get some drift practice in on Sunday which is the final event of the season.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Radiator leak
Spotted a small pinhole type leak in my radiator. This is the radiator that came with the motor so it probably has a billion miles on it and didn't look that amazing to begin with.
Ordered a new all aluminum radiator from Euro Dyne for a pretty good price. Oh well, better safe then sorry even if it's another expense. Means more work I have to do when it gets here too :(.
Ordered a new all aluminum radiator from Euro Dyne for a pretty good price. Oh well, better safe then sorry even if it's another expense. Means more work I have to do when it gets here too :(.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
$$
As I leave for work on my bicycle I ride past my car and notice something is a little off as I glance at it. My focus is directed toward my right rear wheel which is flush against the ground because the tire is FLAT. I inspected the tread of the rear tires and notice that there really is not much there on the insides, it's pretty much bald.
I change out my rear tires with my old 15" SSR/Azenis RT-615s and can't really see what caused the right rear tire to get flat, there are some marks on the bald part of the tread that look like sharp cuts but I can't really tell. On the other tire there are pretty big chunks missing from the tread with cords showing. It's pretty surprising that I didn't have any issue getting home yesterday on the wet roads.
Dunlop is currently running a special where if you buy 4 tires you'll get a $75 Amazon gift card. I might have to bite on that so I can have some spare rears for future practices / events. Another giant dent to my CC debt. I need a bailout!!
I change out my rear tires with my old 15" SSR/Azenis RT-615s and can't really see what caused the right rear tire to get flat, there are some marks on the bald part of the tread that look like sharp cuts but I can't really tell. On the other tire there are pretty big chunks missing from the tread with cords showing. It's pretty surprising that I didn't have any issue getting home yesterday on the wet roads.
Dunlop is currently running a special where if you buy 4 tires you'll get a $75 Amazon gift card. I might have to bite on that so I can have some spare rears for future practices / events. Another giant dent to my CC debt. I need a bailout!!
Monday, September 7, 2009
Drift event + practice
Went to a drift event yesterday with the new motor and suspension bits and the car is great, it's just that I'm terrible. The whole time I felt like I wasn't in control of the car at all and that's definitely not in a good way. I actually went off the course one time and thankfully wasn't kicked out. The weather was really bad also, pouring rain pretty much the whole time which made it impossibly hard and when my group had to work it was cold and windy and I got soaked even though I had an umbrella.
So it nearly felt like an event / day wasted.
Because I felt like I wasn't accomplishing anything I really wanted to get some solid seat time / practice in on my own without having to worry about run groups, time, or anything. So I basically found an empty area with a friend and did just that while getting a few pointers here and there. I pretty much spent the whole time trying to do donuts and failed for a while doing that which made me sad considering donuts are supposed to be really easy. Eventually I got the hang of it sorta and with the tires super hot was able to initiate a slide a little easier. I also got the hang of a proper clutch-kick as well. Basically I need to work on the transition from one sliding direction to the other now which is pretty tough to master.
I chewed up the insides of my rear tires pretty much completely and will probably need to get replacements before the next event / practice session.
The car has been pretty good so far, it seems to toss a check engine light randomly here and there for what so far has been nothing serious and the cooling system has been finicky. The system isn't bleeding air properly and seems to be overheating at idle. Hopefully the car will continue to be reliable for a long while until I can master the art of drifting...
So it nearly felt like an event / day wasted.
Because I felt like I wasn't accomplishing anything I really wanted to get some solid seat time / practice in on my own without having to worry about run groups, time, or anything. So I basically found an empty area with a friend and did just that while getting a few pointers here and there. I pretty much spent the whole time trying to do donuts and failed for a while doing that which made me sad considering donuts are supposed to be really easy. Eventually I got the hang of it sorta and with the tires super hot was able to initiate a slide a little easier. I also got the hang of a proper clutch-kick as well. Basically I need to work on the transition from one sliding direction to the other now which is pretty tough to master.
I chewed up the insides of my rear tires pretty much completely and will probably need to get replacements before the next event / practice session.
The car has been pretty good so far, it seems to toss a check engine light randomly here and there for what so far has been nothing serious and the cooling system has been finicky. The system isn't bleeding air properly and seems to be overheating at idle. Hopefully the car will continue to be reliable for a long while until I can master the art of drifting...
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