Dustin's UltraMarine FR-S (Engine Blew - LS3 Time)

[DustinS]

Schroth Rallye 3 harnesses ordered. I also order Speedhut Revolution Gauges. I think the Prosport Evo Gauges would have looked better, but I know the quality can be a bit off. They are saying about 2-3 weeks for the gauges to be shipped.

I plan on going back to my stock seat for awhile as well. It will get swapped out when the Harnesses go in. I am getting tired of the creaking from the seat. I also need to sit up a little bit taller(being short sucks). I will save up for a set of Blue Brides in the future. I need to start saving for the engine rebuild/manual swap on the 9-5 :/. I also want to start paying the FRS off early.

Edit: So we got hit with a crazy snow storm and because they didn't start salting till very late, I couldn't drive the FRS home from work. So I had to get a ride home and get the old land cruiser running:

[DustinS]

This was the view yesterday morning(battery working). Went out last night after work only to find the battery Completely dead. Due to my work scheduled I won't have time to jump it and let it run before having to go back to work. So I am thinking about upgrading to a smaller battery. I have heard people going to Lawn and garden battery, which I may do. I was also looking at Miata batteries. The are AGM and somewhat small.

Driving my saab in the mean time:

[DustinS]

Found out the tires do NOT like snow/slush.


I also accidentally left my OFT plugged in a killed my stock battery, no better time to upgrade.



Miata battery ftw.

Girlfriend grabbed this on the way out of the parking lot. Super Glad everything was dry so I could get her home


The guys that helped push my car into that place in the first picture must have ripped my spoiler off and didn't say anything. It flew off shortly after the last picture was taken and my girlfriend almost ran it over. It will need new paint.


but she made it home:


Harnesses come in tomorrow, and the gauges are currently at the "Art Department". Can't wait for those to come in.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTd0g2AWAaI"]Cold Start with the new Battery[/ame]

edit: May have an awesome project coming up with the rear quarter windows + LED's + mirrors. I really hope it turns out.

[DustinS]

Can't wait to get these installed.

[DustinS]

Went to St. Louis to pick up some WRX wheels for winter.



They almost fit over the Wilwoods(need 20mm spacer). Seems the corner of the outside brake pads sits up and rubs the wheel. I am going to touch it up a bit and see if that fixes it. If I could run these brakes that would be the best. I really don't want to have to switch back to stock bakes for the last month or so of winter.

Got the harness in on the passenger side. It still needs some tweaking. Just need to finish the driver side.

[DustinS]

STI Rotor with Wilwood superlight caliper will fit under a 16" WRX Wheel(Slight modification needed).

I also filled up with e85 in St. Louis and the minimum is 70% ethanol, compared to the 50% here. My car started no problem with the e85 here, but will barely start with the e85 from STL. This is my first time have problems starting with e85 in winter. Takes 10-15+ crank overs to sputter to life. I am most likely going to switch back to 93 tune for the rest of winter. The Miata battery is holding up well. So that will likely stay.

[DustinS]

The rear end is sagging due to the extra 200lbs of gravel in the trunk.

This pretty sums up the 100 Acre Wood Rally. I unfortunately had to leave after the first stage on Saturday. Took a hour and a half to make it the 27 from Salem to Rolla before a crazy wreck had us staying at a hotel. Glad we did, the roads took many more cars that night, all while my car was parked safely for the night.

Lesson I learned from this years. I need to get new snow tires for next year, these last minute very used set I grabbed (while doing okay, were still very sketchy at times) weren't enough. I also need to raise the car. I plan on going stock suspension with 1" lift kit. Still deciding between some Nokian Hakka R2/ Hakka 7 or General Grabber AT2.

[DustinS]

Luckily my one day off work for the week is looking to be the warmest/not rainy. So I am hoping to get quite a bit done tomorrow. I am going to paint and re-install my bumper beams, do a good wash/wax, interior cleaning, stock seat back in?, clean wheel wells/suspension of all the road grime and salt, and possibly paint the calipers(They have some bare spots due to sanding to get the 16's to fit.)

[DustinS]

Well I didn't get anything other than Washing/waxing her. I also got the interior wiped down. She does look gorgeous though!

I also got my gauges in the mail. I can't wait to get them installed:

[DustinS]

Wing was sent to the Painters, not sure when it will be back, but I'm not too worried. Also got some pictures with the Storm we got yesterday:


Storm Pictures by Dustin[Smith], on Flickr


Storm Pictures by Dustin[Smith], on Flickr

[DustinS]

Got the gauges installed:



My good friend owns a machine shop and makes 02 bungs from stainless, and they just so happen to be the same thread as the galley plug. So instead of waiting to get one shipped, he drilled and tapped the center. Looks sweet, and always up for supporting a local business.



The Blue isn't exact, but I love it anyway.

[DustinS]

Went ahead and bit the bullet. I pulled the stock tails off and cut them open. I am currently waiting on the second trim piece to dry before I put it back together. The RTV is taking way too long to dry (or maybe I am just too impatient).

I am also hoping to order the SBD Turbo kit here within the next week.

[REAV3R]

Originally Posted by DustinS

Wing was sent to the Painters, not sure when it will be back, but I'm not too worried. Also got some pictures with the Storm we got yesterday: Storm Pictures by Dustin[Smith], on Flickr

Nice photos; good looking car!

[DustinS]

Thank You!

On another Note. The paint on the taillights scratched when putting them back together -_-
So Taillights will be the next purchase after turbo kit.

Edit: Payment for the turbo kit has been sent. The wait is going to kill me. It's the largest sum of money I have spent on one thing(besides my cars, heck my 9-5 only cost me 3k). So it has me sketched out a bit.