What did you do to your ride today

[SharksInSpace]

Agreed; sometimes you just have to suck it up and have someone more experienced/better equipped do the work for you.

I recently added the new CS lower tie bar to my car, and ended up having to drop it at the shop for help because the driver side LCA bolts simply would. not. come out. (Thanks, WI road salt and brine). Apparently, the welded nut on the back (inside the LCA frame) had broken off and was spinning instead of letting the bolt back out, so they had to cut open the LCA, re-weld the nut, and then weld new sheet metal over the hole they'd made. That tie bar is like $150 and install typically requires only slightly backing out the two LCA bolts so you can slip it into place; and here I ended up racking up another $3-400 in labor, plus price of a new bushing and replacement suspension bolt on top of that, just so I could actually put the fucking thing on.

Mod lyfe.

 

[tmillner]

I was installing a cat back. Then this happened. I was so close to freedom before it rounded off.

I know you don't feel like fooling with it anymore but go get you a bolt extractor. You're so close, don't spend the money at the shop.

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[Redline]

If everyone else could DIY install parts on their cars and do the maintenance, then there wouldn't be a need for mechanics or auto shops. After I snapped a throttle body bolt when doing the coolant bypass tig install, which resulted in having my car towed to Mazda because I couldn't find a way to remove the stuck bolt (space was too tight), I figured I would saved a lot more money if I had a shop install it in the first place.

I try to do the easy installs myself (intake, tmic), but for the other more complicated stuff, I take it to a shop. Anything that needs to be installed under the car, or is suspension or brake related, I'll have a shop install it. If it makes you feel any better, just think of paying a shop to install your parts, as putting food on the table for the mechanic's family.

Brakes and suspension are safety items, too. It's a horrible thing to find out you screwed something up when driving on the highway and an installation error shows itself. It can quite literally be deadly o.0

 

[mangosmoothie]

Bolt extractor ain't gonna help. The nut is rounded. The stud is welded to the flange. My only hope is cutting the stud or cutting a notch in the bolt and using a chisel. But then I have to fuck with the other nut too.

I might give it another go

 

[SharksInSpace]

Any chance you can hammer a size-down socket onto the nut and finish backing it off? Of course then there'd be the issue of getting the nut back out of the socket...

 

[mangosmoothie]

Yeah that's plan b. Plan a was heat and vise grips again. I wish I had cutting tools. I'd cut the nut and hammer at it with a chisel. But.... No angle grinder for me.

I was also going to try to remove the nut on the other side of the flange before messing with the stuck one. Cuz if that one rounds off, it's GG no re anyway

 

[SharksInSpace]

We've used a dremel (electric, not battery) with cutting blades to chop through bolts before...cheaper alternative to an actual angle grinder. That may have been what we used on the aforementioned RP bolt (I can't honestly remember at the moment if we used the dremel or got out Pop's proper angle grinder for that one), and definitely was what we used to get the OEM front endlinks out.

 

[ToyCop]

We've used a dremel (electric, not battery) with cutting blades to chop through bolts before...cheaper alternative to an actual angle grinder. That may have been what we used on the aforementioned RP bolt (I can't honestly remember at the moment if we used the dremel or got out Pop's proper angle grinder for that one), and definitely was what we used to get the OEM front endlinks out.

I used a dremel with the reinforced metal cutting blade. I have since added a nice Milwaukee angle grinder to the tool collection. My only problem is I may some day get so mad that I cut the car into pieces.

 

[tmillner]

Bolt extractor ain't gonna help. The nut is rounded. The stud is welded to the flange. My only hope is cutting the stud or cutting a notch in the bolt and using a chisel. But then I have to fuck with the other nut too.

I might give it another go

Heating it up with a micro torch then putting and Irwin nut/bolt extractor will get that off for sure. From the way it looks. Just trying to save you money and time. Come to Savannah ga I'll knock it out for you

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[mangosmoothie]

Oh shit I didn't realize what you meant. Those look like exactly what I need! Thanks!

 

[mangosmoothie]

Well........ I ended up having a shop do it. Found a shop I liked. All the guys there were super nice.
Super glad I did, because they had to flare the ends on a couple of the pipes. I'm sure they got a little squashed during shipping. Sounds great, and the tips look awesome. I went with polished tips. Deep growl, not very loud at idle which is good. It's a tad louder than I'd like at cruise and above 2500 rpms during normal driving. I might have the shop that installed it weld a resonator in my test pipe. That way I don't mangle the CPe exhaust. All the guys at the shop were standing outside when I left. I doubt any of them know what a Mazdaspeed is, they probably thought it's just a 2 liter econobox. Lol. Now it sounds like it has balls.

I also noticed on Freek's OTS map I'm hitting 22 lbs of boost now. I used to hit 20.92. Freek said the current map is safe, just not optimal to take advantage of the potential power gain. Everything else looked the same. No real KR, same afr.

 

[SharksInSpace]

Glad you got it sorted out, homie. Sucks you had to defer to a shop, but sometimes them's the breaks.

 

[Redline]

Glad you got it sorted out, homie. Sucks you had to defer to a shop, but sometimes them's the breaks.

That modded lyfe, tho.... it happens.

 

[SharksInSpace]

Yes indeed. The lower tie bar fiasco ("this will be SUPER EASY to install!") taught me to not get too overconfident with even the basics, because you never know when extraneous factors (rusted bolts from road salt, for example) will come dickslap you down a peg or two.

Regardless, mod lyfe = only lyfe

 

[mangosmoothie]

I woulda been so pissed if I got the stocker off then realized the CPE wasn't fitting together.

 

[SharksInSpace]

I woulda been so pissed if I got the stocker off then realized the CPE wasn't fitting together.

No doubt; sounds handy that you already had it someplace where they could get right to doing the necessary flaring.

 

[Awafrican]

Went to check my spark plug gaps after 12,000km (7400 miles ish) out by 0.01-.002" not bad. Cylinder 1 appears to be whiter than the others on the tip.

Although at 69k km (43k miles) I've noticed something a little saddening...Some oil in the turbo / IC piping, very minimal but still there
Edit: before anyone asks I just switch to rotella 5w40 <12k km ago, (2 oil changes), I was not suspect just did it.

 

[Finch204]

Last Saturday, had oil change and tire rotations done on the car. Tech said that my drive belt is wearing out and will soon need to be replaced.

 

[SharksInSpace]

Figured out one of the irritating noises my car has been making lately...lower bolt on the rear passenger side strut was slightly loose. Oy vey.

 

[Finch204]

Last night, went out to get some datalogs for Jason. I'm on the 3rd map and haven't really been able to get on it until last night. There is a good amount of improvement compared to the 2nd map I got. Looking forward to progressing with the tune.