Yeah shit way to start the day.

At least I slowed down as much as I did before hitting him and now the car doesn't look like I just left the scene of an accident..

I'm more than likely fighting the ticket. I don't have anything to loose.

It just sucks to bring this car from ashy to kinda classy then revert.

Yeah shit way to start the day.

At least I slowed down as much as I did before hitting him and now the car doesn't look like I just left the scene of an accident..

I'm more than likely fighting the ticket. I don't have anything to loose.

It just sucks to bring this car from ashy to kinda classy then revert.

Yeah I would fight it for sure!

What a shame! Fight that bs ticket!

My interior got a little nicer..

Newer stuff: steering wheel, seats and floor mats.

The wheel was pretty bad..

Newer Pics:

My car got reallly loud a few weeks ago and here's why:

I got an OEM muffler and hangers at the junkyard for $5. That allowed me to get rid of the Mickey Mouse stuff that the PO used to hang the muffler up.

And I may get JIC coilovers for the car this week.. I hate how wobbley and squatty the car is and can't stand the stance.

I was going to look at a set of blue drivers doors while I was up in NY Saturday but the place was closed. I didn't think to call since it was noon on a Saturday and there aren't very many places that are closed then. It sucks because I was in a cargo van too.

Interior looks better! at the muffler

Soo.. I just paid $2k for $3k worth of parts.

JIC Magic VIP coilovers

Cattman headers & full exhaust (equal length Y makes it sound 350z/G35ish)

Granted this still falls under this:

Anything that I do to it will either increase the value of the car by that amount or could be sold for close to purchase price.

It's safe to say I'll be holding on to the car for a while.

Wow, seems like this car is getting an upgrade from beater every time

Very good sir, very good. I await pictures.

I'm going to pull the engine and fix the oil leaks while I'm installing the new parts.. It makes sense to me since a header install is a 1/3 of the way there anyway..

So, I ordered all the parts for the engine pull.. The rear mains, front bearing seal and crank seal, timing cover o rings, Nissan sealant, new valve covers since the spark plug o rings are integrated, and maybe a couple other things I'm forgetting for the engine.

I also got new front control arms with new bushings/ball joints, and sway bar bushings since it's metal on metal on the one side.

After I ordered all that, the car wanted to show me who's boss by losing the alt/aircond belt in center city Philly during rush hour. I parked it, pretended it didn't happen for a few hours, started it and I drove 40 mins home.. lol. I lost the power steering belt on the way home too. I replaced the belts this morning and it started up without having to pop start it.

Pic of what was left of both belts and the headers/cat/cat-back and JICs.

The goal is to get all this stuff done the weekend of July 9/10th.

Today the i30 goes under the knife for:

Resealing the timing covers, oil pans, mains, new valve covers (spark plug rubbers are leaking), new front LCAs, FR wheel bearing, coilovers, and full exhaust.

I'll be at my buddies shop for about 3 hours today and all day tomorrow. I hope to get it all done by then.. I will have help so we'll see.

Wanna see wanna see wanna see!

I swear, you are constantly busy.

Me busy? Nawwww. Lol.

I took off last semester from grad school (mech engineering) to get the Bonneville done. It and all the crap associated to it in my garage are keeping me from moving out of my parents place. If I would have moved the Bonnie would have never gotten done and I wouldn't have been able to find anything. So I've just been banging out as much crap as I can so I can potentially move out and it's not over my head when I'm back in school plus working full time.

Trans, axles, LCAs, UIM, engine harness, flywheel, Midpipe/B-pipe/muffler, fuel rail, are all out/off. It's been a min since I worked on a lift. Sooo pimp.

The engine will be out and on the stand early tomorrow morning.

I didn't get quite as far as I had planned Saturday. We spent probably an hour or two checking and re-checking the timing and I started to loose steam after we ate some good vietnamese food.. So, I'll be taking a 'sick day' tomorrow and wrapping it all up.

We did get the engine back in right before they closed up shop. So the brunt of the work is finished.. Cleaning the timing covers suckkkked.

And due to the limited amount of time, I didn't really get to clean things like the bay etc.

Looks much betterer!

Thanks!

Almost got done today..

The rear main was a complete pita and impossible to do until I took the dowl pins out of the block.

Got that figured out,

Axle seals

Trans went in

New LCAs with new bushings/ball joints, endlinks and sway bar bushings (outer/inner tie rods looked good)

Did the p/s wheel bearing with this.

Axles (need a new drivers side, might get that tomorrow)

Then the JICs all around

And finally the full exhaust

Insert misc necessary b.s. in between each step

Other than the possible d/s axle, intake mani, and fluids I'm pretty much done. Since I'm taking another full day off, I'm hoping to get it on the rack.

Wow busy beaver here!

Started it up around 9:30 this morning.. The nightmare is over.. just waiting to get on the rack.

It's wayyyyy quiet, smooth, and leak free now.

I did get that drivers side axle in and did align it..

I'm flat out exhausted. But, I am happy the thing starts right up like a new car, the exhaust has a very nice mellow tone, it rides good, and all those little suspension squeeks are GONE. It's like driving a completely different car. I'm also kinda siked that I did all that, albeit with help, in less time than the suggested book time for just the engine removal and re-seal. That's a nice little notch on my belt.

One of my two buddies that owns the shop had a couple 3.5 covers. So, I threw one on. I'm generally not a fan but it's a lot easier than cleaning the bay up.. and it was free.

After first start up:

Covered:

Quietness:

And that's as low as it's going. The LCAs are at a crap angle and I get slight axle vibes when I get on it.

I got some maintenance stuff done on the i30..

I replaced the lower rad support since mine finally took a dump.

This involves drilling out 50+ spot welds and welding the new part back in. Add to that my front end being mangled a couple different ways and it gets interesting.. I had to use a 10lb slide hammer, mini sledge, various pliers, and clamps to make it all line back up. After I got it in and welded I por-15'd all affected areas.

The alignment is pretty decent. A lot of the damage associated with the bumper and rad support was fixed. The fog brackets need adjusting as well asthe driver side bumper support could. But, at least the front end is one piece again.

Other new parts: bumper support, support brackets, hood struts, and cross member bolts.

Oh wow, thar be some rust

Why hello there rust, my old 'friend'. *Shakes fist*

Why hello there rust, my old 'friend'. *Shakes fist*

Don't. Even. Get me. started.

Shake harder boy!

*Shakes fist harder*