Ruby's Thread

[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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[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]

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]

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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[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]

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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[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!

[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]

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.

[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

[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]

I did something similar with a big chunk of concrete and it felt like I destroyed my car but there was no damage except for a destroyed lip, a dent and some scratches on my skid plate. I suggest you get a better skid plate. I have a HIK skid plate. http://www.hikfabrication.com/arvixe...2-m52-s14.html There is no comparison to any other skid plates on the market. And they are worth the extra money.

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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[rzerob]

I did something similar with a big chunk of concrete and it felt like I destroyed my car but there was no damage except for a destroyed lip, a dent and some scratches on my skid plate. I suggest you get a better skid plate. I have a HIK skid plate. http://www.hikfabrication.com/arvixe...2-m52-s14.html There is no comparison to any other skid plates on the market. And they are worth the extra money.

[Levy3Poop]

Hope everyone had a good independence day! I'm on mobile so the formatting will be not up to spec in this post, but my oh my what a day.


I was heading to my parents when I hit this giant solid chunk of concrete the size of a head on i35 (no way to avoid it, shit in all lanes). Also, keep in mind, this is how it turned out WITH a Red46 skid plate.

I immediately pull over to check any damage, and I see blue smoke trailing in my mirror. Well fudge. I stop, and all 5 quarts just drains out into the parking lot of the Colin Street Bakery. I knew it broke the oil pan, and I could see the skid plate was dented as hell.

I call AAA to get towed home, call the TXDOT to tell them how bad 35 is, and get home.

Thank God that last year I preemptively installed a new oil pan and gasket and still had my old pan. No one in town had the gasket, so I had a buddy run to auto zone with my credit card to get some gasket maker. I got the broken oil pan replaced, installed the new (old) oil pan, filled her up with oil, and still made it to my parent's house for 4th of July. Badass [emoji106]


Now, look at the crack I the oil pan. The skid plate got pushed inwards and ended up minimizing the damage, cause if I didn't have the skid plate, it would have just straight up shredded the oil pan immediately. So it was able to at least hold oil until I could pull over and let it bleed out with the engine off. The skid plate has disintegrated a cinder block before, so the plate did a damn fine job considering it was a 75mph bash on a solid chunk of concrete.

The skid plate is so strong that it took a ton of effort (bouncing on it with one end resting on a curb) to bend it back enough to not be touching the oil pan, but I got some safety space back.

While I had the car on jack stands and waiting for my buddy to get back with the gasket maker, I replaced the O2 sensor because I've gotten a couple check engine lights that flashed the code 1221 (O2 sensor) in the past couple weeks. Bosch sensors were $80, so I opted to try the china made Ultra Power sensors from Rock Auto for $20. We'll see if it lasts the recommended 30,000 miles lol. Also, I went ahead and FINALLY installed the ABS sensor that Eddy got and put in the glove box when he had the car. I always meant to do that when it was on stands, but always forgot. Now my anti-lock light is off :)

Also, I guess this counts as an oil change lol. Current odometer 239K, next change due at 242K

All in all it started out a shit day, but thanks to all you guys in the forums who inspired me to DIY my car maintenance, I wasn't at the mercy of shops who are all closed for the 4th of July.

Lesson learned: the 2 second rule while following a car isn't necessarily enough [emoji32]

[Levy3Poop]

Oil change time at 237,937 miles! I was supposed to change it at 237,200, but I haven't had time.
PLUS! Since my speedometer reads 10% faster than actual, my miles add 10% faster than actual.
By that logic that means I only missed it by 437 miles :D



Again, sorry to the apartment. the wind was blowing all my spent oil everywhere lolol
Don't tell the EPA on me



OKAY, TIME FOR SOMETHING INTERESTING AND UNUSUAL!

So as you know, the Garagistic rear subframe alignment tabs are great. The only bitch about it is that it's hard to get your wrench on the outside nut on the toe alignment.
That means you have to tighten it 1/64 of a turn at a time, and you can't always get your wrench off to put back on for another 1/64th of a turn easy.
So my solution was to cut off some of this metal piece that blocks the wrench!

I felt on the back side of it to feel where I can cut, marked that in the silver box, and put the diagonal lines in the area I knew at LEAST had to be cut.
That way I know where to start, and I know how far I can actually go without just cutting into the body.



Lines all marked, time to work



I used my dremel and cut out this nice chunk here.
LOOK AT ALL THAT WRENCHIN' ROOM!
It ended up being more than I originally though, but that's fine.



Now to prevent rust from forming on the freshly exposed metal, I opted for some Bondo rubberized spray.
I figured this stuff will be more resilient to chipping (which would lead to rust) than normal paint.



I tried blocking off the subframe and bushing with the blue towel in the above picture, but anything aerosol goes EVERYWHERE.
Still, That should do!



If you're going to do this, mark the cutting areas like I did, and cut out about 1/4 more than what you think you need at least.
I cut out a big triangle and it wasn't enough, so I had to try and grind the edge back which took ages.