+1 I was laughing hysterically at that one last night

last night I had a horrible nightmare about my car.

I was under the car, and could feel (but not see for some reason.. it was dark IIRC) that the oil drain line was loose where it attaches to the oil pan. I tightened it a bit and CRACK the welds holding it on just broke. luckily, the 'full' oil level brings the oil up to just under the hole for the drain line.. but the drain line was severed and I was obviously not at home.. so it was the suck.

I'm not used to having concrete dreams like this.. it used to be really abstract stuff or no dreams at all

luckily I don't see this happening. The fitting is tig welded on the outside AND inside. The pan will just rust and fall off before that happens.

^^You, sir, have a problem. =P

If I'm lucky I just dream about whatever I'm obsessing over. Mostly I wake up thinking about it and can't sleep. Hence my frequent odd-hour posts. Obsession FTL.

It reminded me that I still need to eventually 'finish' my turbo install by drilling into the crankcase support plate for my oil drain (I already have the proper fitting to screw into the support plate) and redo my oil drain line so that it isn't 14" long and almost horizontal for most of that distance.

so add that to the list:
1. pull turbo/manifold and somehow get sheared off bolts out of head
2. get the bolts removed from the s-j pipe interface.. one is crossthreaded and there isn't even a nut on it. plus the oem gasket still isn't installed there, just some RTV black (which is holding up surprisingly well!.. ok so it's only been one day and 15 miles of driving haha)
3. new intercooler piping!!!!11!!1
4. new water pump.. I'm over 91k miles on the stock one.
5. new timing belt (it'll be my fourth).. since I'll have to remove it to do the water pump anyway.
6. tighten the alternator belt. If I run the radio while the car is off for like 30-45 mins while doin something on the car, it squeals when I start the car up. I don't think the bolts that secure the alternator are tightened.. I think it's in that state you have to put it in to adjust the belt.
7. clean the EGR and that other thing (IAT, IAC?? don't remember which acronym it is.. gotta pick up a Torx Security set (9.99 at sears))
8. clean air filter. I'm kinda glad the AEM I picked up is a white filter media.. but now it looks like the gray you see in the pictures of the dryflow lol
9. new front endlinks. One of them is loose and can't be tightened (the allen key hole is stripped), the other is actually broken (everything is tight but I think some of the plastic in the endlink is broken because I can rattle the endlink around with my hand.
10. new lower control arm bushings.. they're old and tired from too many winters
11. do somethin about the rear fenders before I look like so many early 90s civic hatchbacks
12. lube the rear sway bushings (grease fitting ftw)
13. full detailing this month.. gotta start prepping for winter
14. buy new snow tires, get them mounted/balanced somewhere
15. get an alignment. I still never did get one after installing my s-techs.. I bet my rear toe is off a lot since the s-techs (which I installed in april I think) actually raised the rear a full inch. The front should be sorta ok though. I do know that my strut mounts are rotated to different positions, but if I put them to the stock position, the steering wheel goes out of alignment.
16. flush and refill coolant. I know there's about a gallon of just water in there (the rest being 50/50 premix coolant) from the burned lower radiator hose fiasco
17. buy new senders for boost and egt gauge. drill the new egt probe in a place that I can access without pulling the turbo >_<

^^ the above list is not what I'm going to do to my 3rd gen today.. I might place parts orders, and clean the EGR valve and the other thing

right now though I'm gonna go wash her :) she hasn't been washed since August (and still looks QUITE clean.. even with two trips to Toronto in there haha)

and yes, that list I had pre-prepared on my computer :P

Looks like you got your work cut out for you Kansei, good luck mate.

What I'll be doing to my 3rd gen today is installing my Racing Beat catback ASAP, washing the car thoroughly, then clay-baring the living hell out of it in hopes of restoring some of that old shine.

Anyone have any experience with clay bar? I wouldn't mind some tips/advice on how to achieve the best results with it.

3 hours at sears to get oil change, tires rotated, and small tire puncture fixed...there was 4 maybe 5 cars in front of me with 6 ppl working and took dang 3 hours. the last time I was here they did oil, 4 new tires, and breaks in that time. After they start draining the oil and removed the old oil filter the tech came to me and said "hope you have a new filter..." I nearly lost it, then he did some searching and found the right oil filter, I dont think Im gonna go back there anytime soon.

After that I was finally able to stretch my cars legs back on the highway got a small break in traffic to hit 85 but then everyone went back down to 65 luckily didnt smell any burning oil or see any trails of smoke atleast lol.

Can anyone give me any pointers on how to remove the Kartboy exhaust hangers? I'm having a helluva time with them.. used some WD40 but those shits will NOT slip off!!

Today I drove it to work, where I am now, and will be spending my entire Saturday night :(

Internet access at work FTW though.

oh gosh.. yeah they're NO fun to get off, srsly

yay awr endlinks worked. zomg new awr endlinks are sexy! they redesigned, and i am impressed

Are they still chatty or did AWR change them up?

Krazie, try some channel locks or a big pair of plain ol' pliers. ;)

Finally got those damned things off!! Used a couple thin screwdrives to get them all the way through and stretch the hole. That was definitely the biggest pain in the ass .. whereas putting them back on was insanely easy.

So yea .. Racing Beat catback FTW!! Love the sound, love the look. Great exhaust :)

Just got done driving around a bit more with the catback installed and I love it!! The difference on the highway from the MS (Borla) Axleback and the RB is night & day. Greatest exhaust I've ever heard so far .. +1 Billion to RB!!

how do both of them sound? throaty or wind up toy? that would probably be the next thing I would like to do, but dont want to sound like a highschooler drivin a civic