Ruby's Thread

[rzerob]

Damn, that thing looks mean! How thick is the steel, and did it say the hoop has to be welded to the car? Do you know if it will clear a Garagistic X brace?

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The hoop does not get welded to the frame, the mounts do, then the hoop bolts to the mounts. And the plate bolts to that. You won't need the x brace with this setup but I think you can still use it if you want to. Better to just sell it because it would just be over redundant.

The steel is thick but I never really measured it. But I can assure you that if you had this on your car you probably would not have damaged your oil pan. My 24v E30 is lowered and I have hit dips from road work at 60 mph and I have done no damage to my oil pan.

[Levy3Poop]

The hoop does not get welded to the frame, the mounts do, then the hoop bolts to the mounts. And the plate bolts to that. You won't need the x brace with this setup but I think you can still use it if you want to. Better to just sell it because it would just be over redundant.

The steel is thick but I never really measured it. But I can assure you that if you had this on your car you probably would not have damaged your oil pan. My 24v E30 is lowered and I have hit dips from road work at 60 mph and I have done no damage to my oil pan.

Good to know, thanks for the info. I'll have to save up the $330 for one and get it

[Levy3Poop]

In the quest to always improve her, I needed to get the AC working not only when driving 75, but when sitting at a red light.
My dad suggested investigating the aux fan, so that's what I did.
Following the thread from RTS auto on checking if you fan works by jumping the connectors, I discovered that my fan does indeed work.
According to RTS, if the fan works when the connectors are jumped, then you need to replace the resistor.
Mine had the not-Bosch one, so I ordered a new resistor from Pelican.

Here's the old. I can imagine that thing not working.



And here's the new! This fucking thing....
I snipped the wires from the old one to splice the new resistor in, put some butt connectors on the new resistor's wires, and set it up for a test.
I put the wires from the car into the butt connectors that had the new resistor wires attached, and fired up the car.
Fan wasn't moving....and then the resistor started smoking!
WTF! Immediately I shut off the car and pulled the resistor out (grabbing the wires, not the resistor itself that was hot as shit).

I did some research and found out resistors generate heat just by their operation, and they don't have a polarity to mix up.
Regardless of no polarity to worry about, I wanted to see how it would go flipping the thing upside down.
No dice, smoke again.

WellFuk.jpg



I decided that bypassing the resistor would be a good way to go so the fan works.
According to this thread ( https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/sho...d.php?t=255993 ), you just splice out the resistor, and replace fuse 3 with a 30A fuse.
The wires for the high and low speed fan gears are both the same wiring, and the high speed fuse takes a 30A fuse.

Guess what. IT WORKS! No smoke, no excitement, it just works!
My AC was blowing coooooold ass air yesterday even when idling.
However, the temperature was pretty mild yesterday because we got a rain storm (in the middle of wrenching, mind you).
That said, I won't dismiss the problem as COMPLETELY fixed, but it appears to be fixed now.

Also, I wrapped this butt connector in electrical tape to keep water out.



NEXT! While I have the grill off, why not re-paint my kidney beans??
One of the previous owners (I suspect Isohi based on pics he has of Ruby), plastidipped the beans black.
Nothing against plastidip or isohi, but the black was peeling just from age.

I busted out the abrasive pad and got rid of all the plastidip (not thick enough to just peel).
Not only did I opt for the abrasive pad to get rid of the plastidip, but to also rough up the surface to make a better surface for the paint.

Afterwards, I wiped it off with some alcohol.



Using a paint+primer spray paint, I did about 4 or 5 layers, and here's how they turned out.

NICE!



And finally all installed on Ruby.
Looks MUCH better now.

I really want to go around on all the (once) chrome trim and paint them black again.
That would definitely be a cheap and subtle way to greatly improve the looks of this ol' gal.

[zwill23]

I have had the HIK severe duty skid plate for a couple years now, it is fantastic and has saved my ass countless times. Jeff actually installed one on his car too. I highly recommend it!

There was one dude on R3v who hit the plate so hard his airbag went off and he still had an intact oil pan. Now that's peace of mind :up:

Here are some details on the install:

https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showpost.php?p=4759357&postcount=52

Edit: Good info on the fan resistor, that explains why I've been blowing 15amp fuses from time to time. I need to bump my fuse up to a 30amp it seems since I bypassed the resistor as well!

[Levy3Poop]

I have had the HIK severe duty skid plate for a couple years now, it is fantastic and has saved my ass countless times. Jeff actually installed one on his car too. I highly recommend it!

There was one dude on R3v who hit the plate so hard his airbag went off and he still had an intact oil pan. Now that's peace of mind :up:

Here are some details on the install:

https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showpost.php?p=4759357&postcount=52

Edit: Good info on the fan resistor, that explains why I've been blowing 15amp fuses from time to time. I need to bump my fuse up to a 30amp it seems since I bypassed the resistor as well!

Just make sure you're bypassing the resistor before swapping in the 30A fuse. I'm assuming the resistor can only handle a value less than 15A (hence the original fuse being 15A), and if you put a higher amp fuse in that slot and you're putting current through the resistor it could catch fire. Just cut the resistor out and connect the wires and you should be good :)

Everyone's raving about that HIK plate, and now I really want one. Damn you guys for showing me the best things that happen to cost the most!

[Levy3Poop]

I can't just not share this picture [emoji7][emoji7][emoji7]
I mean, come on... it's the freakin' GOOD YEAR BLIMP!


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[kid8]

Nice! Did you get to go in it, Levi? It's one of the more memorable trips I've had, it's amazing the angles they climb at!

[Levy3Poop]

Nice! Did you get to go in it, Levi? It's one of the more memorable trips I've had, it's amazing the angles they climb at!

Nah, I just stopped for a couple quick pictures. I had an hour drive ahead of me through traffic that I really wanted to get done with lol. The blimp is crazy seeing it approach in the sky. Looks like a UFO from far away!

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[Levy3Poop]

First oil change at our new house! Oh yeah, WE GOT A HOUSE NOW!

I added a few pics of Ruby just looking right at home in the new house ;)

I'm so stoked to not have to carry my jack, stands, tools, and everything else into an apartment parking lot any more. Now my jack and stands and tools and all that is just right there, ready to be used!

[Levy3Poop]

I spent a good 8 hours washing and detailing and trying my hand at using a dual action polisher today (TorqX thanks to my in laws). It would have turned out better in the hands of a seasoned pro, but I think I did well for a first attempt. No paint burns!

I pretty much totalled my first compound pad because I overloaded it and it started flopping and being a piece of shit (to match my polishing skills). I started to get the hang of it about 40% of the way though the body panels and was feeling more confident with the dual action polisher. I was having a problem with dried compound product chunks flinging off. I think I may have been working in too big of sections and half was drying. Any tips from someone with more DA experience would be great.

Also, the TorqX makes waxing SO MUCH FASTER! I waxed the whole car in the time it took Lindsay to make dinner. Hard work pays off [emoji1690]

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[Levy3Poop]

Basic oil and filter change with the tried and true Valvoline high milage 5w30. Nothing special here except that this was my first change inside the garage and it is SO NICE to not have oil draining out and being blown all over the place by the wind. Also, the garage lights were definitely an awesome move [emoji106]

Next change due at 247,337



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[zwill23]

Looking good! Might not hurt to send out an oil sample to Blackstone Labs to check if you're changing your oil prematurely.

I used to run mine out to 3k miles using a synthetic blend and after sending a sample they recommended increasing my intervals to 5k. If you're running full synthetic you might even be able to run it out longer.

[Levy3Poop]

Looking good! Might not hurt to send out an oil sample to Blackstone Labs to check if you're changing your oil prematurely.

I used to run mine out to 3k miles using a synthetic blend and after sending a sample they recommended increasing my intervals to 5k. If you're running full synthetic you might even be able to run it out longer.

I've seen the old Chris Fix video of those guys and it looks pretty interesting. I'd be afraid they'll reply back with "Your engine is about to grenade itself" lol. The oil I've been using is a synthetic blend...so it might just be something like an ounce of synthetic with regular haha. I'll check out Blackstone though. Thanks Zach!

[zwill23]

Hahaha, admittedly I was wary when I sent my sample out too. Although I ended up being pleasantly surprised with the results! I'm sure you will be too

[4ce30]

You’ll have to change her name my girl dont play nice she hungry for some stock 150hp