The Long Awaited: The Myth, The Legend, The Douchebaggery

[SlimKlim]

So last weekend I my headers started trying to play whack-a-mole with the O2 sensor plugs. Since my car doesn't have the pre-cat sensors, they used an M18x1.5 bolt to plug it. The pressure and heat made them want to stay in about as much as a cat wants to stay in a bath. I went through a saga of trying to seal them up with loctite, but long story short, here's what I ended up doing.

Sunday morning I put the front of the car back on jacks and teased the plugs out of the headers. The red loctite was still holding on pretty good but did eventually come loose after driving the car twice, which confirmed that that solution never would have lasted. Then Kaan helped me safety wire the little bastards on. Overkill? Probably, but I can be reasonably certain they aren't going anywhere.



Going back to Saturday morning, I threw in a new pair of end links. The right one was in decent condition but the left one (pictured below) was shot.



Now the tie-rods are the only thing on the front end that need immediate replacement. I'm thinking about ordering the RTAB reinforcement kit and doing both of those next weekend so I can get an alignment on Monday morning and put my suspension stuff to bed for a while.

I only think its fair to air my dirty laundry as well as the clean. Here's my super, super, super ghetto attempt to make my clamps stop rattling.



It held up for about a day but it's already starting to rattle again. I've got those NAPA clamps on the way though (allegedly) and should be able to fix it soon.

Also, this little guy showed up at my doorstep lost and cold last night, so I put him in the car to stay warm. 8)











I have to order the correct switch bracket for it, but its a $10 part. In the meantime I just broke the crap out of the old one to make the wheel turn. You can get the little airbag thing in silver as well as black, and its $10, so I think I'll get it to match the pedals and the trim ring on the knob.