As I graduate in May, I have lots of thoughts...like Taylor. I want something a bit more practical other than a 19 year old Mustang GT. Not that i'm selling it or anything, but it would be nice to have something to get around in bad weather in. 

My first thought is ecoboost f150. Granted I will probably use a trailer a handful of times maximum owning a truck, but I would haul items in the bed. I am leaning more towards a truck than an suv. So let your opinions flow. What should Chris look into purchasing...

So, it looks like I'm being roped into helping my friend swap a motor in his 04 Forester (non turbo).  This will be my first time actually doing the full motor swap myself.

I've found some decent instructions for doing the swap on youtube and forums, but are there any common pitfalls?  Anything in particular I need to watch out for?

We'll be buying a habor freight engine hoist and load leveler.  I also recently purchased a Quickjack so at the very least I won't have to mess around with jackstands.

So, I've been having knocking and clunking sounds coming from the front suspension for a while. Spring break I took a look around everything seemed good, but I had some scratches on my cv joints from the end links. I thought I followed mini forums instructions properly with matching stock length, then dropping it down to let the suspension set. Then do minor adjustments to make sure there is no pre load on the sway. The lock them down, but it still clunked. Therefore, I did the opposite over spring break, I put the car on ramps to see and clearance issues and determined the end links had to be shortened. I put them to the lowest setting which gave the cvs good clearance from the links. Yet, when I checked today I have more scratches on the cvs. What is going on here? [emoji36]



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What's up everyone? We're having a Classroom Meeting tonight in ISAT 350 from 7pm-8pm or whenever we finish discussing what we need to discuss. There may or may not be pizza there, okay there will be...but don't let that be the main reason you come. We have a LOT to cover tonight. TONS of upcoming events. Be there or be square. 

Since this question comes up fairly often from our young race-bois, I'll make a post we can reference in the future.

If you're signing up for an autocross, you see the option to save $10 if you have an SCCA membership, so you think, maybe I should sign up and save money on all of my autocrosses this season! Well, if you don't do 5 autocrosses, you're not saving any money. However, there is a way to get it a little cheaper.

1. Do your first autocross event of the season - $40
2. Take your Weekend Membership number and use it to save $15 when signing up for your membership (I remember hearing in the past that you can use two weekends to double this, but I'm not sure how to do that on the SCCA website) 
3. Use one of our friendly alumni and use them for their referral bonus. Ask them for their Member number and you'll get another $15 off and they'll get a bonus too! 

Look at that, with one weekend and a referral, your $50 membership only cost $30! Possibly less if you are able to use two weekend memberships!

Suppose I should go ahead and make a build thread instead of just posting things in my intro thread...

On 12/31/16 I sold my TT-swapped 3000GT and picked up a bike. Unable to go a full year without a sporty car, I picked up this '11 Volvo C30 R-Design on 12/30/2017

I'd looked around at C30s and Mk6 GTIs for a while. What sold me on the C30 was their styling and fun out of the box. The GTI is a bit more of a tuner platform, but as a stock daily, the C30's 2.5L T5 has more power/torque and turns a few more heads. Plus I've always wanted to have a few prancing moose badges.

I found this one at a dealer in Townsend, DE in early December and inquired about it before she'd had a chance to upload pictures of the car. It was the closest of four 6-speed manual R-Designs for sale in the country at the time - so I didn't wanna pass it up. I ended up putting a (refundable) deposit on it and driving up in a friend's Mk7 Performance Pack GTI (relevant) on the 30th.

Man, was I glad I did. The car was in pristine condition on the inside, with only a few scrapes on the lip from shitty driving/parking on the outside. We did feel a vibration when test-driving, though. Both during acceleration and while cruising. Ended up making a deal with the dealer that she'd pay for a new wheel since we believe that to be the problem.

 

Naturally, I did a few pulls against the GTI on the way home - and ended up being faster! Odd, since the performance pack Mk7's apparently make a good bit more power to the wheels than C30s generally do.

Got the car home, did some research into the vibrations, and ended up replacing 2 engine mounts (should probably do the third, as well). I also used this as a chance to do a common Volvo upgrade to the 'e-focus' torque mount that's much stiffer than stock, and to replace a cracked/leaking coolant reservoir. 

Unfortunately, not all vibrations were cured by the new mounts. So I took the car to a shop and got the news that all 4 wheels were fairly bent -_- And that it would be ~$3,000 for OEM Volvo wheels. Mmmmmmmmm NAH.

Ordered a set of Enkei TY-5's in Pearl Black and slightly larger 235/40-18 BFG Comp-2 A/S tires instead and love em! Much better fitment and I love the look. Needs maybe a tad more low though...

   


My end goal for the car was originally gonna be a stockish daily. Oops. I'm now planning to go stage 3 and shoot for a bit over 300whp/340wtq (which is about maxxed out for the stock turbo). The next mod will likely be exhaust, because I really need some more 5-cylinder moose-noise

Ash she sits right now - 
 

I'll possibly start threads for the CBR & 4Runner when I've got time. But at least wanted to get this one out there!

I have a project thread. I drive an old Z. Currently in BHS but looking to go to JMU.


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Hey y’all. I’m Joe and I drove the 2014 Hoonigan Jeep Cherokee kL. It had a Dobinsons suspension lift, muffler delete, intake, custom built front bumper and a crap ton of lights and other gear. I just sold that a couple of weeks ago because I was sending it to hard on the trails and too much broke. At the moment I’m driving a 2015 Nissan Frontier and am about to pick up a Mazda Miata.... I’m a first year engineering major. Really hoping to use my engineering degree somewhere in the automotive field.... I really loved off-roading the jeep with some of y’all and am looking forward to get into autocross/track with the Miata and keep up a little off-road with the Frontier.



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I doubt any of you assholes will do anything other than talk smack.

But if you or a loved one is looking for the perfect appliance to get from point A to point B with, then here ya go.

CarGurus link:
https://cargur.us/mDwjP

2010 Prius IV
117k
$8k
MM/Friends of MM, $7500

Leather, Nav, Sunroof/Solar roof
Tires are 6ish months old.
New VA inspection 2/18
Dealer records since it rolled of the showroom new

$60 oil changes every 10k is all you need to budget for.

Scuff on front bumper, driver's side. Working to buff it out, but I know it won't come out 100%

Worked well for what it is, hauled a kid and a dog with ease for 3yrs. Has a hitch with 1.25in receiver for a bike rack.

Anyway, if you or a loved one is tired of sitting in a manual, coupe, without A/C or heat for your 2hr 10mile commute. Hit me up.

I'll post pics if any of you are truly interested, otherwise, let the shit talk begin.

Wow. It's hard to digest everything that was seen and experienced over the last few days but I'll try my best to put it into words. To start things off I'll share how this whole adventure even came to be. It all started with MAAP that just recently was founded as a non-profit partnered with JMU and run by Cole Scrograhm. The whole point of MAAP (Madison Automotive Apprentice Program) is to teach students the basics of how cars work, but more importantly to get students connected with those in the fields of the automotive industry they want to work in, and to give them the skills to manage and lead teams rather than simply be the mechanic at the dealer. I started off with MAAP by hand building from the ground up an air-cooled Porsche 356 engine back in August, and since then have seen the shop grow, even seeing Dr. Rose (As in the former president of JMU) have his 997's IMS bearing replaced as he watched with us and answered our eager questions. 

So fast forward this was the first big trip Cole had planned and gave out the opportunity for three students to accompany him on the trip. We had four students looking to fill these seats, and when it came down to it, Stephen actually stepped back to allow the rest of us to go, I still cannot express my gratitude for this. It ended up being David, Plaugs, and I who made the 13 hour roadtrip down to Amelia Island in Florida, and then back again to Virginia the last day of spring break.

We started off the trip with a first for me, running out of gas and having to wait on the side of the road. Luckily this happened not even five minutes after leaving my house thanks to David's keen eye on the gas gauge as he tried to show the power of the C63 AMG we were taking down   So I gave my dad a call and had him meet us on route 7 with a gas canister so we could limp to the nearest gas station. OKAY, now we were off, leaving at 9pm or so with an expected time of arrival at 11:30am in Florida.

After getting to Florida, we got our nice clothes on and headed to the RM Sotherby's auction site at the Ritz in order to meet the people running the operation, and who'd we be working with the following day. After meeting we were able to look around at all the amazing cars and memorabilia they had up for sale. It was surreal to say the least, first the room FULL of yellow 993 Porsche's, Diablo's, 1900 era Rolls Royces, and more. Then walking outside it only got better with a Lamborghini LM-002, 488 Speciale, 90's Aston Martins, and so many more. I have an album of 300+ pictures I'll link to at the bottom because there are so many cars I had never seen before, and so many I didn't even take pictures of that hopefully David and Plaugs can fill in the gaps for me.

Anyways, the next morning we woke up bright and early to meet with Collin, as he had two cars he wanted US to present for him at the PCA event. I chose to drive #71 production 1993 RS America and let me tell you is this a cool car. I drove it from the transporter, onto the golf course (which is such a weird feeling), and into it's spot so I could warm up and meet some people around me before presenting the car to the judges. After winning 2nd place   I used the rest of my time to look around on the golf course that was filled to the brim with Porsche's of all era's, from 930 Turbo's, to 918's, prototypes, and even some Boxsters for me. 

Afterward is where Joesph and David will have to fill in because I got some nasty stomach bug and had to sleep out the opportunity to drive some crazy cool cars for the Sotherby's auction. 

But the next day I was able to attend the Concours de'Elegance which was almost too much to appreciate everything that was there. From old classic racecars, to the G-Wagon that hasn't even premiered yet, to F1 cars, and even the new Mercedes Project One. We were able to meet with more people that could help further our careers and other schools who have similar programs, as well see some crazy costumes people were wearing to accompany the era of the cars they were driving. This was one of those places that you can't ever spend too much time at, and simply can't see everything there is to see in detail, but I tried my best and will let my camera do most of the explaining. 

Anyways, I know this isn't a great write up but I just thought I'd try and share my experience with everyone here, and show what opportunities MAAP has created for current and future students in the automotive field. Onto the pictures that everyone actually cares about! 

https://flic.kr/s/aHskxqQwcN