I have these for $40 on Craigslist, but if someone here wants them, free to you.

5x 225/60R17 Tires

1x Goodyear Integrity, 5/32 tread, 2011 date code
4x Cooper CS3, 2/32 to 4/32 tread left, 2013/2014 date code

All appear in good shape and hold air.

Taking off wheels this Sunday. If no one wants them then they will go to the dump. Must take all 5.

I was cruising CL this past weekend and came across an ad that piqued my interest:



It's a 2009 Homelite Mighty Lite 26CS, Model UT21004 in (heavily faded) red over black.

With my IS never being a real "project", I missed turning wrenches and being able to make some sweet noise, while firewalling the throttle and hitting some high revs. My goal is to bring this out on the weekends when the weather is nice!

Back at home, in the garage:



I quickly traced its starting issue to be some fuel lines that were well past it, which crumbled apart almost immediately. Thankfully it looks like I won't have to bend any new ones, and/or cobble together some AN fittings and all that. Seems like a pretty direct job to fix.




The carburetor up close. I know I'm not alone in wondering just how in the hell these actually do their magic, so I'm looking forward to tearing into this one at some point:



And lastly, the fuel tank which was chock full of eroded bits of fuel line and other gunk. I'm thinking it sat with bad gas in it for a long time. Thankfully, it wasn't too much trouble to drop this tank from the chassis.




So, a new tank & lines are on the way, as well as a new plug. I went with a Champion copper, though had half a mind to really kick it up a notch with an iridium or platinum plug.

I'm thinking of a new paintjob and am open to ideas - I hope you'll enjoy following along on this build, I'll get into more detail as I really get into it as time allows :thumbup:

So the Challenger has to go. I was going to wait until I had the title in hand but the thought of paying insurance on a car I'm not driving for the next 6 months just doesn't sit well with me. That's $900 that could go to the project. The problem is I'm not really getting ANY hits. Not even getting lowball offers.

So far I've taken it to the Dodge dealership in town, CarMax and Jeff. The dodge dealership in town just straight said they don't wanna touch it because they'll "have" to change out the katzkin interior ... that was put in by Dodge. CarMax gave me 14k which was actually higher than I was expecting but not high enough to seriously consider. KBB has it around 15-16k for a trade-in and 17-18k for a private sell. I have yet to see one for sale for less than 18,000 and most are a lot closer to 20.

I've posted it to a large (55k) Mopar only trading group and Craigslist. Any other place I should consider? Is a small lien really that big of a deal? I plan on doing the transaction at my bank regardless so it's no difference to me personally.

What's pissing me off the most is the dealership even had a 2010 with similar mileage on the lot for $21500.

Here is a highly unpublished PCA autocross in Verona this Sunday. $30 for at least 6 runs. Usually the layout is much more open compared to an SCCA event and way more laid back. You can't beat it for seat time.

https://www.motorsportreg.com/events/she...ter-080985

For some reason I thought that when I graduated, I'd live somewhere I could play these, but that's not the case. I'm trying to offload these and drop some money on a decent e-kit. This kit is definitely not the same quality as a DW or Pearl kit, but they sound pretty good with nice heads on them (which I have.)

I can't remember the exact dimensions so I'm not even going to bother to guess, but it's a standard 5 piece kit. Evans G2 coated batter heads on the toms, Evans Power Center Reverse dot batter on the snare with an Evans Hazy 300 clear reso head, Evans EMAD Batter and ported reso head on the kick. Stock cymbals (pretty bad) with an upgraded clutch on the hi hat. Pictured drum throne comes with it, has a small hole in the top that I taped over. I also own a ride with a stand, but I don't have them with me and honestly won't affect the price much. Some heads have moon gel damper pads on them.

I'm asking $300 from you guys. The kit retailed for $400 and these are really good heads that most drummers use. (Think the Koni Yellows of Drums). I'll toss in a pair of Vic Firth 5b sticks and let you keep the pillow in the kick





Short clip of how they sound.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/-WhcNgr5ja/?taken-by=senor_taylor">https://www.instagram.com/p/-WhcNgr5ja/ ... nor_taylor</a><!-- m -->

At some point the better half decided this was officially too much of an eyesore and banished it to the basement. Since then it rarely gets used, and when I decided to actually go for a RallyX build, I figured I might as well free up some cash.

You get:

- Thrustmaster T300RS PS4/PC compatible wheel
-Add on 7-speed manual shifter
-Add on 3 pedal set
-Super ghetto e-brake lever I made by cutting up the original 2 pedal set
-Number pad to map extra functions to (lights/ignition/assist toggles/wipers/etc)
-E36 sport seat on locking casters with a DC converter power supply soldered in so you can still adjust it. (Note: the tilt and slide works but the gear or cable for the seat back angle is messed up)

Plus my PVC frame to hold it all together. It's a bit rickety but relatively portable. If I was doing it again I'd want to do something more solid, but what I have works pretty well as long as you aren't a total brute on the pedals. The metal loops sticking out of the back are where you drop the front casters of the to keep you in place, and they are on threaded rods so you can adjust it for your height, however if you're a lot shorter than me you're probably going to want to relocate the pedals.

Asking $450. Brand new the individual pieces add up to $650, and you're getting the seat and my fantastic PVC engineering thrown in as an added bonus.

Sorry for the crappy photos, it's dark in my basement and I'm not dragging it all the way upstairs.

So Taylor and I are planning to "build" a shoestring budget RallyX car. The idea is to find something in running condition, ideally for <$1000, that we can do a minimum amount of work to have a halfway decent rallyx car.

The rough plan is to purchase the vehicle, do any desperately required maintenance items or repairs, install a set of slightly higher profile winter tires, rip the interior out of it, possibly install a seat (only if my helmet is hitting the roof in the stock seat).

Requirements:
-Cheap
-Running or near running condition
-Can still pass inspection
-Manual transmission

Preferences:
-AWD preferred, FWD considered, RWD prolly not because anything in this price range will be open diff

Current frontrunner is a high mileage GC8 Impreza with the 2.2L and 5spd. Persuasive cases for other vehicles will be heard, but we're really holding out for the right Impreza at the right price. I found one that was damn near perfect for $1100 this morning but it was an automatic. :evil:

Timing: The second half of the RallyX season starts in the middle of September, if we can find something before then and finish off the season that'd be great, I won't be heartbroken if we end up doing it over the winter.

Jess and I are 99% moving down to Lake Norman in Mooresville, NC. We have lived in the Reston/Vienna area our entire lives so this is a big move for both of us. A couple guys on this forum have made the moves so looking for advice on getting rid of extra junk/moving logistics/staying in contact with friends.

I have already been approved to work remote but Jess will most likely need to find a part time job. Her job with the DOI is flexible but unsure yet if they will let her be part time and remote so any suggestions for searching for telecommute jobs would be hugely helpful.

Our house will most likely be built in the next 3-8 months and we are in no rush (helpful suggestions on dealing with his is helpful as well).

Picked up this GS500 for an absolute steal this last weekend



19k miles with a few aesthetic mods but stock otherwise besides a drop in k&n filter
Previous owner installed short led turn signals and lopped off the lower half of the rear fender to clean it up a bit. Nothing I wouldn't have done anyways


Also has renthal bars which are a little too cruiser to be comfortable, but that's easily fixed

Me and my dad went up to pick it up from a shop where it was being kept and worked on, which is why the tank and seat are removed. The shop apparently "cleaned, rebuilt, and balanced the carbs" and couldn't figure out why it was still running poorly... turns out one of the main jets was clogged solid, one pilot jet screw was 1/2 a turn out, and the other was 2 turns out. Hard to balance carbs when one isn't getting fuel :roll:


Got it home and up on the lift and cleaned and balanced the carbs. Still is running lean and is touchy because of the k&n filter, will have to rejet for the filter. Gave it a good cleaning and adjusted the chain as well.


The next day we took the front forks off to add preload spacers and 15w fork oil to help remedy the wayyyyy soft front end these are notorious for.


Also gave polishing/waxing the tank a go, removed a lot of haze but theres still some swirls that I couldn't get out by hand.

The reflection in the tank makes it look like its got a giant scratch behind the fuel filler in that pic, I had to go back and check when I was looking at these pictures :lol:

I think it's been dropped at least once at some point, has a broken brake lever and just a few small scratches on the case.


Used the broken brake lever as an excuse to grab some chinesium adjustable brake and clutch levers. Same price as one suzuki oem brake lever so why not?


Lastly today I refinished the gauge cluster mount which was chipping and rusted. I had some wurth wheel paint and clear lying around from another project which matched the original finish almost perfectly. I'll probably end up using the same stuff to touch up some chips on the frame


I've got a new rear tire, new bars and grips, throttle cable, and jet kit for the k&n filter on order. Should be running 100% within the next week or so

I'm on my phone, so I'm just gonna post some links for now.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://family.derecola.com/tag/camping/">http://family.derecola.com/tag/camping/</a><!-- m -->

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://chris.derecola.com/2016/07/rafting-north-umpqua/p">http://chris.derecola.com/2016/07/rafti ... h-umpqua/p</a><!-- m -->