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I'll have the tires on the wheels before I have the car ready, so maybe i'll put them on my miata and get you an a/b comparison vs 225 RS3's on road noise
Interesting. So the Continental Extremecontact Sport would be a good choice for a DD tire? How is the noise?
They aren't noisy at all and they handle water like a champ. PERFECT DD tires. You are in Cali, so you guys don't even go below 40 degrees outside, right? The only warning with them is to not immediately drive on them in the temperature is below 40 degrees or something like that. I have to watch out for that here in NM
Pulled the turbo off today. Check out this oil feed line banjo bolt:
The gunk that came out of it was very gritty. Not metal, just oil that had been cooked to well-done.
That being said, the turbo spins freely and has virtually no play. So now is decision time on this front:
Do I send this thing off to be cleaned? If so, where do I send it? I'm thinking to find someplace who is willing to look it over and determine if it needs a rebuild, then do the rebuild if necessary.
Unless you're gonna have it rebuilt, there's no reason to really "clean it".
I'm just kinda shocked that the turbo didn't oil-starve and die with that feed bolt
Guys, I need help to make this happen for Dad. Set up a GoFundMe. Just no way to get this done before MRLS this year without some help. Anything y'all can contribute would be hugely appreciated.
Or... if anyone is looking for a good cheap 3/4 ton Chevy Gasoline/CNG dual fuel pickup... let me know.
GREAT NEWS! I have won a 2004 Mazdaspeed at auction, and now just need to get it from Tulsa, OK to southern Utah. Do we have any members near Tulsa that might be able to help me arrange a short tow?
More pics will be incoming, because the car is on the way to us, should arrive within a week or so. Ordered a Supermiata clutch and ebay flywheel and qmax reroute. going to build this thing the right way so Dad has the best experience possible.
Car arrived Monday night. Friggin' Copart insisted on loading it on the part of the trailer that made it most difficult to remove. We were able to pull it down into the belly and then unload with a forklift.
Started tearing it apart. Had to cut through the passenger side frame rail: it was pushed way over in front of the engine. Here's a video I took shortly after getting the car situated in the garage.
Started tearing into it. Once we got the end of the frame rail removed:
This gave us access to the alternator. It was just sitting in the space below the engine, detached. Came apart in my hands when I picked it up.
The hole where it came from:
Currently that broken upper alternator mounting ear is the most obvious concern.... aside from a very dirty intake tract and oil covering pretty much everything. This thing has some oil leaks. Thankfully I planned to reseal it before putting it in. Looks like it was mostly valve cover and rear main seal, since everything below the valve cover is caked in grime.
We found pieces of the broken wheel inside the car, since insurance companies typically keep everything with the vehicle. It really was quite a hit.
That's where we ended the first (Monday) night after about an hour's work. Dad plugged away on stripping the doors and interior during the week, and Thursday night after work we went to town on it. After about 3 hours, this happened:
Hoping to get most of the rest of the car stripped tonight so I can get the shell out of the way, then get the engine on a stand after separating it from the transmission.
The transmission thankfully is undamaged -- great news. The diff mounting arm broke at the normal spot. Both of these components will be for sale, and I can have the diff arm repaired before sale.
Three of the OEM shocks are undamaged, the 4th one I think will work. These will be for sale as well. 111k ish miles (last odo reading taken about a month before the wreck).
PM if y'all want any parts. Keeping the seats, steering wheel, and ebrake from the interior. pretty much everything else will be available.
Definitely a real bad hit. Both motor mounts were torn. The whole drivetrain moved back over an inch, which no doubt is what broke the arm on the diff.
Interior was totally clean. Looks like airbag/seatbelts did their job. Seatbelts will be going in the trash.
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they look much looser than they actually are. just some extra at the fingertips.
