Does anyone have any old video cards laying around? I recently built a new computer for my grandma and she gave me her old one. I'm thinking about overclocking the old core 2 duo up to 3.5ghz and throwing something like a GTX460 in there so that my girlfriend can play some newer games with me. Her laptop couldn't run Terraria without slowing down, so the desktop even with old parts should be a huge upgrade.

Boost rots the brain, kids, and if you let it go long enough you have terminal manifold failure. Apparently there's some kind of rot for having an affliction for German vehicles, too.

I picked up this 2013 135is from a dealer last weekend in Rhode Island and drove it home. Shitty photo, will have more later - color is carbon black (more like Navy), same as Jake's M3 drop top.



Car seems to be well cared for and the price was right.

Details on the "is" model sales brochure - <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.auto-brochures.com/makes/BMW/1%20Series/BMW_US%201SeriesCoupe_2013.pdf">http://www.auto-brochures.com/makes/BMW ... e_2013.pdf</a><!-- m -->

And the tl;dr

Quote:Performance Power Kit bumping it from 300hp/300tq to 320hp/317tq.
-Performance exhaust (this thing sounds fucking fantastic, its loud in all the right ways and doesnt drone at all)
-M Sport package:
--Sport seats with lots of nice bolstering
--M sport steering wheel
--M badged door sills
--Aero Kit:
---Rear spoiler
---Front air dam
---Side skirts
---Shadowline trim
---Lowering springs (0.6" lower than stock)
-BMW style 313 wheels

So we have a gear grinding thread which gets some pretty healthy traffic on this forum, but I am making a concerted effort this year to be more positive about everything, especially in light of how much of a shit show 2016 was in general (ok, that's the last negative thing for this thread :thumbup: )

I'm starting a positive thread. You know what I freaking love? Having one of the busiest/best days at work ever, I see a local farm we love post up fresh bacon for sale on their Facebook page, I text my wife about it because it always sells out instantly, she walks in my office door less than 5 minutes later with a bag of it. She saw the pic before I did and ran over and snagged some along with some fresh eggs :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

And then I get a call from Gamestop that the PS4 Platinum headset I ordered just came in after I had called them earlier today and they said that they would be in later this week. AND THEN wifey brings home the mail and I have mail from my office and it's a $200 gift card they gave out to employees at the Christmas dinner we couldn't attend because it was across the country. WHA?! Pays for the headset and then some :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

I freaking love awesome days. And it's Friday :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

I don't actually have anything to talk about right now, but it seems like there's good reason for us to have this.

GO!

this is my escape pod. there are many like it, but this one (will be) mine.




a teardrop camper has been on the "some day" list for a good long time. i love how they look, you can pull them with anything, they're great for camping, and i think they'd make a pretty kickass little utility space/paddock sleeper unit for track events. most importantly...you can even afford to build one with your bare-ass hands and a little masochistic overconfidence, of which i am equipped with an abundance.

the semi-short, boring story that led up to this:
we took a couple trips last year into the north GA mountains and it was awesome...we're hill people at heart, anyway, so big surprise. my son has grown some big long legs and totally wants to start exploring, so we're trying to get him involved as much as possible too. after a couple weekend trips it became really clear that (A) we want to start doing a lot of this, (B) lodging adds up super fast in the long term, and © hotel rooms are boring....we want to be out around a campfire instead of in a room that smells like wet socks and stale butt.

but not so fast - the wife is a picky sleeper. laying on the ground, possibly getting wet, minimal cushion and plenty of night-time noise from the woods....it was a hard sell and a recipe for a Bad Time. but, for whatever reason, I ran the teardrop idea past her last year thinking she'd give it the old "yeah cool....so anyway you gonna help me with dinner or what" but she was super enthusiastic. we ran some measurements, did a little budgeting, and realized this was actually a real option if i built it myself. the final push were a few events within our friends/family circle that, i guess you could say, rekindled our respect for how much (or little) time we're given in this world. it pretty much confirmed that we wanted to get out as our little family and go as hard as we can, while we can, and this was a good way to get us into roadtrips and national parks that we previously only daydreamed about.

so up to this point, the plan was:
• get spousal approval
• acquire moneys
• ????
• tow to all the places

phase 2 of this thing actually happening is me fixing the fact that i have no idea what i'm doing. i'm a weekend woodworker at best...i mean i'm very enthusiastic about it, i've built up a very manly pile of tools, and i can make some simple, if ambitious stuff. basically, i know enough to be pretty dangerous. in 2015 i built my wife a gardening bench that didn't suck, and last year i just finished a loft bed w/stairs for my son that hasn't collapsed/killed him yet. each project got a little more complex and i strayed a bit further from established plans. its been enough of a learning experience that i feel pretty good about how to get the most out of my tools....but i came to find out that these campers are a whole new world of weird, even though they're still really simple.

i started researching construction techniques and plans in earnest around January of last year. its taken a full year to feel pretty good about stepping into the deep end of actual building. turns out these little things share as much with boat building as they do with house construction and trailer engineering....so i've had to familiarize myself with a LOT of different construction disciplines and products. i also got to find out that basically nobody builds these things the same way twice, and every "old sage" builder has a different idea of what works and what's a disaster in their mind. so it was really tough to nail down a game-plan based on a proven path.

in September i found a plan i liked for a very "classic" teardrop profile on a widely available trailer, and since then i've been amassing a list of parts and trying to build something that is sort-of accurate as an estimate so i don't nuke the budget in the first month (spoiler: it'll probably happen in the third month)

BASIC GOALS
• ~1000 lbs. total once assembled so either of my cars can tow it
• 5x8 trailer platform to allow for a queen mattress inside
• must stay simple. no TV's, fancy cabinetry, refrigerators, AC units, etc
• can hold 2 adults and 1 kid if necessary
• has to look the business (not like a can of Spam on roller skate wheels)
• $2,700 upfront budget, up to $3,500 total by the end
• tagged and roadworthy by September

the hope is to end up with a scene like this, coming to a campground/paddock near you (but not looking this nice, probably)


so join me, won't you, as I crash face first into an attempt to put one of these things together in my garage!

Hey all,
Graduation is in 4 months and I'm starting to think of what I want to do car wise. I know this is early, but I hate to be in a rush and this will take lots of thinking.

What I have:
Hopefully a good job come graduation, the Tacoma and the miata (both are paid off now)

I'm thinking about selling the Tacoma, but I think the Miata will stay, at least for now. I'm pretty much committed for a while since my gf bought me a hard top.

What I want:
I want to track something, but it doesn't look to be the miata.
I also want something that's more comfortable than a half-way lifted Tacoma or an old Miata. I have nothing to take on long trips or that seats more than 2 people.
I also would like another truck to replace the Tacoma because I want to be able to tow and drive in the snow.
Later on down the road I'd like to offroad again, but whatever I get will be a downgrade from the Tacoma most likely.

I understand not all of this is possible and I should be grateful that I have what I currently do, but I really want to change things up. Both of these cars are bad for my back and not practical at all. I've thought to sell the Tacoma, buy something to track occasionally that I could also DD some times and take on trips, and make a payment on a full size truck (doesn't have to be new. I really like mid 2000s Silverados and would love a Duramax from those years). Way into the future I'd like a buy an old Wrangler or XJ Jeep to offroad again.

Perhaps I can bite the bullet, sell the Taco, DD a Jeep, and track the Miata.

What would you guys do?

Tell me what you know about brands, bar type, carrier size, etc.

I'm looking to add a carrier to the wagon for road trips. The wagon has a good bit of space, and we could easily make due with two of us, but it gets more complicated when there's three... especially an infant. We have a few trips coming up this summer (e.g. renting house on Oregon coast) where we'll likely need a bit more space for things like a pack/play. The wife thinks we should just rent a minivan, but two rentals worth of $$$ and we have our very own rooftop carrier. I also wouldn't mind if we could use it later to carry bikes... although it'll be awhile before we pony up for that attachment. I'd rather buy once cry once and get something that will last as long as we have the car.

Something like this, but maybe smaller. Rear hatch clearance will be a thing, I'm sure.

Okie dokie, it's that time of year.

Ray and I have decided on April 2nd for the Verona Autocross putting the car show on April 1st.

Once the school year gets started, I'll look into getting C4 reserved. This is a good time to start thinking of any groups and businesses that any of you may want to shoot a message to.

Businesses I definitely plan to contact:
Steven Toyota - Food/Sponsor
Tarmac - Trophies
Advance Auto - Prizes
Cracker Barrel - Prizes
NASA - Equipment

Things to buy for the show:
EZ Up - Already bought
PA system - James has a guy he's going to ask for advice on this

Rough schedule 9 - 2 PM, cruise at 4, dinner at 6, party at my place at 8-9 until the wee hours of the night

Autocross in Verona the next day

Any help anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated

So I was at home, bored, nothing to do and of course decided to entertain myself with the daily game of "what's new on Craigslist". I head over to my room, grab my phone and plop right into the center of my bed. I get on CList, set my search refinements to max price of $1000 and begin scrolling. The third car down is a 1988 Volvo 240 posted for sale at $100 35 mins ago. That's right. One. Hundred. The ad describes it as running but with a shitty interior, I did a reread just to ensure it said "runs fine". I send the link to basically everyone I know that would tell me "no that's a bad idea", only to have them tell me "if you don't do it, I will".

On my way to go check it out I'm thinking "jeez, what am I doing with this?" "There's no space in the driveway" "my mother is going to flip" - as I'm filling in excuses (rallyx, autox, chump, völstang project) for all these valid reasons, I get a text from Scott stone saying he really needs a dirt cheap winter beater, like for real, and if I don't buy it he wants it. Perfect. I just couldn't allow this car to go unpurchased but I also had no need for it, so I shall be Scott's proxy.

It had 156k whenever the odometer stopped, the exhaust has a rattle, needs some air freshener since like last year, the trans is smooth, the driver seat is bad, I mean... the interior isn't perfect but it was $100 and it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be considering on how bad she made it sound, it's peppier than my 940 (lighter car, same motor) and the rear end actually kicked out unexpectedly on the entrance ramp hahaha it needs tires. The heat works, I didn't try the radio, temp gauge wants to work but isn't reading accurately, the body is straight, paint is meh, the brakes feel better than on my car nice and firm mine are soft and squishy, in the year 88 they used different metal to build the 240 so rust is typically less prevalent 88+, it literally doesn't get better for the price. The drive home was smooth and uneventful did 70 the whole way with occasional one wheel peels lol.

I joked with my dad on the way to get it about how I don't even think this is a price you can negotiate on, like what am I gonna do? Walk up to the damn woman and be like "so will you take 80?" LOL. Yeeeaaahh no. She's moving Friday and was gonna take it to a scrap yard for the $100.

So Scott didn't ask me to make this and idk if it will get updated but I wanted to share it, he says it's only gonna be around for spring semester and then he's dumping it after graduation, sooooooooo MM ChuMMp car 2018?!

Night time so this is all I could do for pics.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://harrisonburg.craigslist.org/pts/5940816437.html">http://harrisonburg.craigslist.org/pts/5940816437.html</a><!-- m -->

Anyone want it? Free to MM.

Ping me at peter at 85xr.com or reply here.