3g's GXE
07-30-2008, 06:59 PM
#81
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Also since I don't think I've ever posted it here, here are what my seat covers look like.
07-30-2008, 07:08 PM
#83
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Sounds good to me 
hey wait...why is that emoticon called ben?
hey wait...why is that emoticon called ben?
07-30-2008, 07:12 PM
#85
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My car rocks and rolls...beat that! Though...I think it needs to rock less *cough*suspensionupgradeplease*cough*
07-30-2008, 07:31 PM
#87
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I don't mind it enough to cry, still is better than pretty much every car I've ever driven.
I've driven:
1984 Dodge 50 Custom (trashy Dodge truck made by Mitsubishi...doors even "dong")
1983 Cadillac Sedan DeVille (RWD, EFI 4.1 liter V8, very sluggish)
2004 Nissan Xterra XE (RWD, VG33, sluggish, suspension is nice and stiff but maybe too harsh)
1996+ Nissan Pathfinder (RWD, VG33, okay ride)
~1990 Nissan Pathfinder (RWD, VG...idk, it drove like a real truck)
Chevrolet Lumina(?) (this car sucked, more blindspots and worse handling than the max, plus worse acceleration)
Is it just me or am I blessed to have my suspension?
I've driven:
1984 Dodge 50 Custom (trashy Dodge truck made by Mitsubishi...doors even "dong")
1983 Cadillac Sedan DeVille (RWD, EFI 4.1 liter V8, very sluggish)
2004 Nissan Xterra XE (RWD, VG33, sluggish, suspension is nice and stiff but maybe too harsh)
1996+ Nissan Pathfinder (RWD, VG33, okay ride)
~1990 Nissan Pathfinder (RWD, VG...idk, it drove like a real truck)
Chevrolet Lumina(?) (this car sucked, more blindspots and worse handling than the max, plus worse acceleration)
Is it just me or am I blessed to have my suspension?
08-01-2008, 10:06 AM
#88
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Okay well todays work is coming along smoothly. No sign of rain and its fairly cool outside (by fairly cool I mean low 90s and me with only a half sweat soaked shirt after 2 hours or so).
I've replaced nearly all of the upper hoses with my blue silicone ones. I've got all the hoses attached to the intake manifold and throttle body which is RTV'd and bolted in. The only thing preventing me from going further is the dual duct gasket which is the only one that doesn't seem beat up enough to just fall off when I pick it up. I'm still rather worried that I'll have a vacuum leak or something when it's all put back together. I also need to check what a few hoses under the hood do because I want to replace them but I'd hate to dump good fluids over my grimey hands. I'm probably going to autozone in an hour or so to pick up some PCV hoses or at least some form of reducers so I can use my smaller silicone hoses in place of the gigantic ones that come stock. While I'm there I'll get another can of silver duplicolor paint to paint 2 more pieces one of which looks kinda white after using my nearly empty can on it.
I've replaced nearly all of the upper hoses with my blue silicone ones. I've got all the hoses attached to the intake manifold and throttle body which is RTV'd and bolted in. The only thing preventing me from going further is the dual duct gasket which is the only one that doesn't seem beat up enough to just fall off when I pick it up. I'm still rather worried that I'll have a vacuum leak or something when it's all put back together. I also need to check what a few hoses under the hood do because I want to replace them but I'd hate to dump good fluids over my grimey hands. I'm probably going to autozone in an hour or so to pick up some PCV hoses or at least some form of reducers so I can use my smaller silicone hoses in place of the gigantic ones that come stock. While I'm there I'll get another can of silver duplicolor paint to paint 2 more pieces one of which looks kinda white after using my nearly empty can on it.
08-01-2008, 10:36 AM
#89
Finally got around to getting outside and snapping a pic of the installed valve covers (thanks to the wonderful invention that is the baby sling). I noticed 2 things that I haven't painted that I feel NEED to be painted. So I took one into the garage and pretty much emptied my silver rattlecan. I don't know if I'll get the other thing I want painted with the ridiculously low paint supply in that can but I'd really hate to pay for yet another can. I only have 3 different cans in my garage. The last of which is my brake caliper paint.
Without further interruption, my valve covers.
Without further interruption, my valve covers.
08-01-2008, 12:41 PM
#90
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No the intake plenum to me looks better with a lot of wire brushing. Give off a nice natural metal shine. My intake actually looked better before the project because now my greasy hands have been all over it so I need to finish up this project and return to brushing. I have thought about painting over the letters though because they don't look so hot anymore. Maybe I still will though it will be in the engine bay if I do paint it. Time to get some good painters tape and some newspapers together.
Glad to see so many positive comments already. I still consider this a work in progress and by no means amazing. I've seen plenty of Mustangs at local car shows that make this thing look like a 20 year old civic with 300K miles on it though I can definitely say it's been well worth my effort so far.
I wasn't planning on letting the cat out of the bag but I'm going to paint the distributor cover (the black thing that says ECCS) and the ignition coil cover (the black thing in front of it)
Either way you guys have yet to see the latest pics, they put that one to SHAME. I just asked my girlfriend to upload them so you can expect to see them soon.
Glad to see so many positive comments already. I still consider this a work in progress and by no means amazing. I've seen plenty of Mustangs at local car shows that make this thing look like a 20 year old civic with 300K miles on it though I can definitely say it's been well worth my effort so far.
I wasn't planning on letting the cat out of the bag but I'm going to paint the distributor cover (the black thing that says ECCS) and the ignition coil cover (the black thing in front of it)
Either way you guys have yet to see the latest pics, they put that one to SHAME. I just asked my girlfriend to upload them so you can expect to see them soon.
08-01-2008, 01:01 PM
#91
No the intake plenum to me looks better with a lot of wire brushing. Give off a nice natural metal shine. My intake actually looked better before the project because now my greasy hands have been all over it so I need to finish up this project and return to brushing. I have thought about painting over the letters though because they don't look so hot anymore. Maybe I still will though it will be in the engine bay if I do paint it. Time to get some good painters tape and some newspapers together.
Glad to see so many positive comments already. I still consider this a work in progress and by no means amazing. I've seen plenty of Mustangs at local car shows that make this thing look like a 20 year old civic with 300K miles on it though I can definitely say it's been well worth my effort so far.
I wasn't planning on letting the cat out of the bag but I'm going to paint the distributor cover (the black thing that says ECCS) and the ignition coil cover (the black thing in front of it)
Either way you guys have yet to see the latest pics, they put that one to SHAME. I just asked my girlfriend to upload them so you can expect to see them soon.
Glad to see so many positive comments already. I still consider this a work in progress and by no means amazing. I've seen plenty of Mustangs at local car shows that make this thing look like a 20 year old civic with 300K miles on it though I can definitely say it's been well worth my effort so far.
I wasn't planning on letting the cat out of the bag but I'm going to paint the distributor cover (the black thing that says ECCS) and the ignition coil cover (the black thing in front of it)
Either way you guys have yet to see the latest pics, they put that one to SHAME. I just asked my girlfriend to upload them so you can expect to see them soon.
08-01-2008, 01:14 PM
#92
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I'm probably going to go for keeping the letters silver. Thanks anyways...but I'm trying to keep black out of my engine bay. The whole idea is to make everything blue and silver (bright colors) and make everything stick out. It's not that I don't like the idea but hey, save it for your car since it would probably fit your colors better (whatever your color choices are).
It's just about $5 can of paint and it only takes a few minutes so I'd recommend anyone who wants a mildly modified looking engine bay go buy some and spray the fans and shroud and the above mentioned covers. If you are hardcore like me plan on breaking some hoses, buy an additional 2+ cans of paint, $9 tube of RTV, a pack of $15 spectre silicone hoses and spend a couple days taking it apart and putting it back together.
It's just about $5 can of paint and it only takes a few minutes so I'd recommend anyone who wants a mildly modified looking engine bay go buy some and spray the fans and shroud and the above mentioned covers. If you are hardcore like me plan on breaking some hoses, buy an additional 2+ cans of paint, $9 tube of RTV, a pack of $15 spectre silicone hoses and spend a couple days taking it apart and putting it back together.
08-01-2008, 01:20 PM
#93
I'm probably going to go for keeping the letters silver. Thanks anyways...but I'm trying to keep black out of my engine bay. The whole idea is to make everything blue and silver (bright colors) and make everything stick out. It's not that I don't like the idea but hey, save it for your car since it would probably fit your colors better (whatever your color choices are).
It's just about $5 can of paint and it only takes a few minutes so I'd recommend anyone who wants a mildly modified looking engine bay go buy some and spray the fans and shroud and the above mentioned covers. If you are hardcore like me plan on breaking some hoses, buy an additional 2+ cans of paint, $9 tube of RTV, a pack of $15 spectre silicone hoses and spend a couple days taking it apart and putting it back together.
It's just about $5 can of paint and it only takes a few minutes so I'd recommend anyone who wants a mildly modified looking engine bay go buy some and spray the fans and shroud and the above mentioned covers. If you are hardcore like me plan on breaking some hoses, buy an additional 2+ cans of paint, $9 tube of RTV, a pack of $15 spectre silicone hoses and spend a couple days taking it apart and putting it back together.
08-01-2008, 01:24 PM
#94
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Naw, unfortunately I think having the cover blue would look bad and having the letters look blue would be kinda corny. So it will be silver on silver just like stock was black on black.
edit: here is the new pic, forgive the fact that the distributor cover looks white, my paint can was low so it turned out bad and I'm waiting for a fresh coat to dry now.
edit: here is the new pic, forgive the fact that the distributor cover looks white, my paint can was low so it turned out bad and I'm waiting for a fresh coat to dry now.
Last edited by 3g94MaxGXE; 08-01-2008 at 01:29 PM.
08-01-2008, 03:46 PM
#97
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Yeah imageshack quality has been declining over the years...I've considered switching to imagevenue but I prefer being able to "fire and forget" my pictures rather than having them all conveniently located in a place I can lose track of them in the millions of pictures I host over the course of a few years so no bucket for me.
That pic was extremely blurry and I don't know why...my girlfriend's camera is like the best HP makes and it has 8mp and image stabilization. If you look most of my pics are 800x600 but I resized that one to 640x480 instead it was so blurry
I got everything painted and installed now. All I need is that damned gasket to come off, to find some hoses to replace the stock PCV hoses and everything should be up and running.
That pic was extremely blurry and I don't know why...my girlfriend's camera is like the best HP makes and it has 8mp and image stabilization. If you look most of my pics are 800x600 but I resized that one to 640x480 instead it was so blurry
I got everything painted and installed now. All I need is that damned gasket to come off, to find some hoses to replace the stock PCV hoses and everything should be up and running.
08-01-2008, 06:57 PM
#101
i cannot come to tampa area then. if i do i will kill you and steal your internetz. ionno i usually use photobucket and it works fine. allows for this:
<url="photobucket.com/blah/img.jpg"><img>photobucket.com/blah/th_img.jpg</img></url>
i copy the direct link. hit the img button on the post screen. add "th_" and click OK. doubleclick that whole img/img thing and click the hyperlink button. paste direct link unmodified. boom. little pic, click for bigger one.
<url="photobucket.com/blah/img.jpg"><img>photobucket.com/blah/th_img.jpg</img></url>
i copy the direct link. hit the img button on the post screen. add "th_" and click OK. doubleclick that whole img/img thing and click the hyperlink button. paste direct link unmodified. boom. little pic, click for bigger one.
Last edited by CapedCadaver; 08-01-2008 at 06:59 PM.
08-01-2008, 09:12 PM
#102
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It's not really worth going to jail over, my mom pays very little more for this connection than she did for DSL, I only really notice a difference when I'm downloading big MMO clients. When you've got a file coming in that is 500mb to 3gbs and it's a commercially owned server you can easily get 200kbps-3mbps download speeds and never notice any lag on anything else you are doing. I've actually downloaded 3-5 big files at the same time while playing an FPS online and never had problems. My mom doesn't see the performance difference period but eh women. My upload is actually fairly low when I took that test, I often upload at 4-5mbps. 20mbps is about what my download should be.
08-01-2008, 10:29 PM
#103
It's not really worth going to jail over, my mom pays very little more for this connection than she did for DSL, I only really notice a difference when I'm downloading big MMO clients. When you've got a file coming in that is 500mb to 3gbs and it's a commercially owned server you can easily get 200kbps-3mbps download speeds and never notice any lag on anything else you are doing. I've actually downloaded 3-5 big files at the same time while playing an FPS online and never had problems. My mom doesn't see the performance difference period but eh women. My upload is actually fairly low when I took that test, I often upload at 4-5mbps. 20mbps is about what my download should be.
08-01-2008, 11:25 PM
#104
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Location: Surrey, B.C
Posts: 1,355
i used to get warnings from my ISP cuz i used to download so many movies at the same time that my neighbors internet used to get slow cuz we have SHAW here which means SHARED CABLE connection but i didnt care and i was in high skool in grade 10 and eventually they cut my internet and banned my DAD LOL.....cuz internet was on my dads name...and now internet is on my name and i wont make that mistake again that so much downloading like 200GB in a month GEEZ i dont know wat i was thinking...lol
NOTE= IT WAS A LONG TIME AGO
NOTE= IT WAS A LONG TIME AGO
08-02-2008, 05:29 AM
#105
i used to get warnings from my ISP cuz i used to download so many movies at the same time that my neighbors internet used to get slow cuz we have SHAW here which means SHARED CABLE connection but i didnt care and i was in high skool in grade 10 and eventually they cut my internet and banned my DAD LOL.....cuz internet was on my dads name...and now internet is on my name and i wont make that mistake again that so much downloading like 200GB in a month GEEZ i dont know wat i was thinking...lol
NOTE= IT WAS A LONG TIME AGO
NOTE= IT WAS A LONG TIME AGO
08-02-2008, 06:53 AM
#106
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idk how much I download....most of it is just mmo installers, maybe a freeware antivirus, and this and that. I try to avoid breaking the law. My connection isn't shared, it's a dedicated fiber optic connection.
08-02-2008, 06:00 PM
#108
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Well I got what I could put back together. I am missing a PCV hose so I knew I wouldn't be able to run it without a vacuum leak so I disconnected the MAF just to try and move it back a few feet to look for some tools I dropped and well, my worst fears are becoming my reality. The car starts, running rough similar to when the MAF was misreading and my car was presumably misfiring on account of my lousy air intake installation (our MAFs are directionally sensitive it seems, tilt them the wrong way and they'll hate you for it). After running rough it will die out within 2 or 3 seconds.
I don't know what to do, I've done everything to the best of my knowledge and ability now I have to know why my car doesn't work right.
I don't know what to do, I've done everything to the best of my knowledge and ability now I have to know why my car doesn't work right.
08-02-2008, 10:19 PM
#109
Well I got what I could put back together. I am missing a PCV hose so I knew I wouldn't be able to run it without a vacuum leak so I disconnected the MAF just to try and move it back a few feet to look for some tools I dropped and well, my worst fears are becoming my reality. The car starts, running rough similar to when the MAF was misreading and my car was presumably misfiring on account of my lousy air intake installation (our MAFs are directionally sensitive it seems, tilt them the wrong way and they'll hate you for it). After running rough it will die out within 2 or 3 seconds.
I don't know what to do, I've done everything to the best of my knowledge and ability now I have to know why my car doesn't work right.
I don't know what to do, I've done everything to the best of my knowledge and ability now I have to know why my car doesn't work right.
08-02-2008, 10:44 PM
#110
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Everything is hooked back up but the PCV valve hose as far as I know and I've searched up and down on it. As I said I disconnected the maf so it wouldn't read it as a vacuum leak. I doubt it's the problem because I've taken that hose off in the past to make sure the PCV valve was working.
I don't think I can blame anything as far as the intake goes, I would hope that there is nothing wrong distributor wise because I made sure the distributor went back on not even a hair off from how it came off. I don't think I can blame the valve covers cause they are just covers. I can't blame the radiator fans. I just don't know what the problem would be and don't know how I'm going to find out what it is unless visual inspection tomorrow reveals something.
edit: or one of the diagnostic modes tells me something.
I don't think I can blame anything as far as the intake goes, I would hope that there is nothing wrong distributor wise because I made sure the distributor went back on not even a hair off from how it came off. I don't think I can blame the valve covers cause they are just covers. I can't blame the radiator fans. I just don't know what the problem would be and don't know how I'm going to find out what it is unless visual inspection tomorrow reveals something.
edit: or one of the diagnostic modes tells me something.
Last edited by 3g94MaxGXE; 08-02-2008 at 10:51 PM.
08-02-2008, 11:09 PM
#112
Everything is hooked back up but the PCV valve hose as far as I know and I've searched up and down on it. As I said I disconnected the maf so it wouldn't read it as a vacuum leak. I doubt it's the problem because I've taken that hose off in the past to make sure the PCV valve was working.
I don't think I can blame anything as far as the intake goes, I would hope that there is nothing wrong distributor wise because I made sure the distributor went back on not even a hair off from how it came off. I don't think I can blame the valve covers cause they are just covers. I can't blame the radiator fans. I just don't know what the problem would be and don't know how I'm going to find out what it is unless visual inspection tomorrow reveals something.
edit: or one of the diagnostic modes tells me something.
I don't think I can blame anything as far as the intake goes, I would hope that there is nothing wrong distributor wise because I made sure the distributor went back on not even a hair off from how it came off. I don't think I can blame the valve covers cause they are just covers. I can't blame the radiator fans. I just don't know what the problem would be and don't know how I'm going to find out what it is unless visual inspection tomorrow reveals something.
edit: or one of the diagnostic modes tells me something.
08-02-2008, 11:19 PM
#113
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Okay maybe I don't understand this as well as I thought. From what I'd heard the ECU without the MAF uses a less than optimal fuel map but should run and in the past I've disconnected the PCV hose to test that the valve was working as I've already mentioned so I didn't figure that by itself would cause it to run wrong.
It's not that I don't want my PCV hose plugged in, it just sort split in half when I was removing the rear valve cover XD. They don't sell anything to replace it at any auto parts store or home depot so I'm pretty much screwed since the dealer closed today at 1 and won't be open till monday and even then it will be overpriced.
Either way knowing that nobody would expect it to run right under these conditions certainly is going to help me sleep better tonight. Least there is some chance that known problems are messing things up.
It's not that I don't want my PCV hose plugged in, it just sort split in half when I was removing the rear valve cover XD. They don't sell anything to replace it at any auto parts store or home depot so I'm pretty much screwed since the dealer closed today at 1 and won't be open till monday and even then it will be overpriced.
Either way knowing that nobody would expect it to run right under these conditions certainly is going to help me sleep better tonight. Least there is some chance that known problems are messing things up.
08-02-2008, 11:37 PM
#114
Okay maybe I don't understand this as well as I thought. From what I'd heard the ECU without the MAF uses a less than optimal fuel map but should run and in the past I've disconnected the PCV hose to test that the valve was working as I've already mentioned so I didn't figure that by itself would cause it to run wrong.
It's not that I don't want my PCV hose plugged in, it just sort split in half when I was removing the rear valve cover XD. They don't sell anything to replace it at any auto parts store or home depot so I'm pretty much screwed since the dealer closed today at 1 and won't be open till monday and even then it will be overpriced.
Either way knowing that nobody would expect it to run right under these conditions certainly is going to help me sleep better tonight. Least there is some chance that known problems are messing things up.
It's not that I don't want my PCV hose plugged in, it just sort split in half when I was removing the rear valve cover XD. They don't sell anything to replace it at any auto parts store or home depot so I'm pretty much screwed since the dealer closed today at 1 and won't be open till monday and even then it will be overpriced.
Either way knowing that nobody would expect it to run right under these conditions certainly is going to help me sleep better tonight. Least there is some chance that known problems are messing things up.
08-02-2008, 11:48 PM
#115
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kinda hard to fix a damn close to rotting hose that is cracked all the way through so it is in 2 pieces. I will do as you say though.
08-03-2008, 10:57 AM
#119
should get you by until you can get a brand new hose from the dealer, if you wish. it has a lot of twists so that's why i don't like generic bend-it-yourself for that one... radiator hose is OK but not the pcv... it might pinch off if you don't get pre-bent.
08-03-2008, 11:04 AM
#120
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Yeah if I could use a universal hose I would but I knew I'd need a bent one if I didn't want kinks. Dealer hose is what I'm going to have to do, fortunately my dad's friend gets parts from his dealership (a buick dealership) for any car at the price a dealer would get it for so I'm giving my hose to my dad today.