Stewy

This showed up in my email earlier this afternoon. I actually LOL'd at it so I thought I'd share.

Ren has a 2.5" Corsa exhaust, bank 1 & 2 manifold ZZP PLOG's, ZZP high performance converter with, which is also heard at startup, a Mazere flexplate. The only thing stock about the exhaust system is the crossover pipe (transverse engine mount). The crossover is OEM only because the aftermarket one I wanted wasn't in stock. At idle (especially cold idle) she sounds great. While cruising (i.e. little throttle) she quiets right down so no drone but as soon as even a little throttle is added she wakes right up. The only way I can think of to make her sound any better is to do an aftermarket cam but I likely won't (for a few reasons). This clip is actually several years old but she still sounds the same 🙂 cold_startup.mov

I heard this morning on the radio that, at least in Michigan, the price of a gallon of regular gas is the lowest it's been in SEVENTEEN years! For the car we drive the most ("Bleen"), I pulled up my fuel spreadsheet ('cause I log fill up information for all the vehicles 🤪) thinking it's been longer than three weeks. Funny thing is, Bleen is at 3/4 tank and this coming Friday (the 1st) it will be three weeks since I last filled up. I estimate we're getting a good three and a half to four weeks to the tank! 😁

Oh that's just freaking cool!!!!! Love it!! Apologies, @Frosty, for the delayed response. I know the episode you're referring to but I haven't watched the that particular show in it's entirety.

Welcome! Beautiful paint! 😃

No offense taken. I really did lol 😀 Fair enough. I have seen, from personal experience with gasoline engines, where things with a given engine are fine from the outside (sounds, performance, etc.) however the oil sample did catch an issue that was in its infancy. I have also seen, second hand, where others have been in the same boat (the report caught things early enough for them to save their engine). Additionally, I have had analysis run on transmission oil samples as well. Again, speaking only from my experience, I feel the reports are very much valuable in not only the analytical breakdown provided but also in regard to "keeping an eye on things". I very much agree that hacking the filter apart would give a great source of insight but I like data so augmenting the filter dissection with a metallurgical & chemical analysis is right up my alley. Really what most things with multiple schools of thought come down to is what legitimately works for one person may not be the best thing for someone else and that's totally cool - we all find a method / process / item / etc. that works for us we run with it. 🙂 As a high school math teacher would often tell the class, "There's more than one way to skin a cat" 😁

Loud and proud, baby! 😁 An oil "stool sample" - lol. Never thought of it like that but I can't disagree 😄

Hi, Mando 👋. Get a chance, we'd love to see pictures of your Catalina! 😀

I will say that quite possibly the only thing good to come out of these current circumstances is that there have been memes that have given me a good, deep laugh. 😁 After all, isn't the adage "laughter is the best medicine?" 😀

I've been a Mobil 1 (non-extended life) fan for many years. Run the proper weight of it in literally everything I have that has a four-stroke engine (including lawn mowers & snow blowers). I've gotten flack for it but it doesn't stop me - I still change the oil every 3,000 to 4,000 miles (the type of driving will determine if it's 3k or 4k). Then, roughly every six months, I send a sample of the oil for analysis to Black Stone labs (http://blackstone-labs.com). Below is an excerpt of the report they send back (note that, if I request it, a TBN test - the measurement @Last Indian mentioned above - will be run on the oil I send in)

Nice G8! Welcome 🙂

LOL 🤣 A pencil sharpener!!! 😁. Sweet! (thought they went the way of the dinosaur). Funny thing, I still have a fully functional electric one in my office 🤪

LOL - love how the lint roller looks like it's on display 😁 I'm looking forward to building a much larger cabinet setup so I can keep all of my detail products and tools in one place AND have room to grow! Only thing, though, is I'm waiting, in part, until "recent events in the news" are no longer in the news so I can go to the lumber yard at a normal hour (and not be there right when they open) so I don't have to wait in line to get in 🤪

Funny you mention that - I've been toying with the idea of starting a side hustle in the area of detailing 😉 This is last year's spring detail to-do list (the fall detail list is longer...). This is actually outdated as I have added a few steps but have yet to update my spreadsheet. Even though I have the columns broken out into "Days", each "Day" actually takes me multiple days (2 - 3 depending on the specific steps). I mainly use this list not to schedule the detailing steps but to 1) remind me what to do and 2) remind me the order things need to be done in; I should really ditch the "Day" schema and restructure things to just be in the order they need to be done in. I saw this meme a while back and got a kick out of it because it's SO true. What I should post (but don't currently have) is a picture of my shelves of detailing products and tools... I'm actually designing a new shelving unit (likely build it out of 2x4's & OSB) so I can house everything in one location.

Those were all good, @Frosty, but this one really got me - LOL! 😄

LOL 😄 That's actually pretty good! When I detail any of my vehicles (I'm the "car cleaner" in the family), I budget at least a week of down time for the vehicle (detailing typically only in the evenings - can't forget the day job!) while I detail the outside and inside. Even with keeping the cars (in and out) clean year-round, I still do a "full detail" every six months so if the cars were really dirty I have no idea how long it would take me to do a "deep clean". For Ren (show car), I used to budget 40 hours for an in-and-out full fall detail (and that's even with keeping her METICULOUSLY clean year-round) right before her winter hibernation however that time allotment has been totally blown out of the water to the point where I start her fall detail the second week of October each year and hope I'm done by October 31st. My spring detail, however, typically takes less time as when her cover comes off around the beginning of April I just need to do a "sprucing up" from her winter sleep (don't get me wrong, spring detail still takes a while!). So question to everyone (@Ringo64?), is there a dedicated detailing section of the site? After making multiple checks, I don't see one (and thought about starting one) - but I've been known from time to time to miss things right in front of my nose - and I want to make sure I'm not duplicating anything. I've been doing automotive detailing for 20+ years now and it's something I LOVE doing. It's exhausting but I LOVE the shine at the end!

From this morning's email...

Ditto. Although, engine quality issues for the 3400 in general coupled with a few other Aztek-specific quality issues (e.g. A/C compressor line rubbing issues and other things I saw while working in the shop) have always been a turn-off for me regarding the Aztek. However, again, I do like this from a design standpoint. Me too.

This was in my morning email from a car show / cruise periodical I'm subscribed to. Thought it was kinda funny so I thought I'd share.

Love the T/A color!

Oh boy *face palm* 🤦‍♂️ 😂

We have binary, decimal and hex - don't forget octal 😁

Yeah, from what I've been reading that sounds spot-on. The way I view it in my mind, and in part to check my understanding, is the hex values are similar to reading live data from a vehicle (how some scan tools can show real-time sensor voltages, MAP In/Hg's, etc., etc.). Essentially the "$7EA", for example, is the "stream" and contained in that stream are the various values for whatever component $7EA references. Then, if one of those values (lets say an O2 voltage value) is out of specification, THEN a P-code (or B or C code - depending on the fault / component) is set and so long as the P-code is active you are the proud owner of an illuminated MIL.

Ahh... you have the inside connection 🙂. Originally I did do some digging but everything I was finding was from, what I consider, garbage sources (think along the lines of the credibility of those posting on Yahoo Answers) or it was an individual posting things along the lines of "that's [the $7e8 code] not a real DTC - you have to have something that starts with 'P'" and so on.

Ok, gotta ask how you were able to decipher those codes (internet search... ?) so I can do it should something like that come up again 🙂