dimlight65 Posted January 10 Author Report Share Posted January 10 Snow, sleet, and freezing rain... The cats' reaction... Purrcival, "Bellatrix, are you seeing this?" "Dad, you are NOT going out in this!" Well... I mean... what can I do? The cat has spoken. I guess I'm not going to work today. 1 Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted January 10 Report Share Posted January 10 I tell Yin and Yang (not their real names) 'How would you like to be pulling a sled in Alaska? 1 1 Quote Link to comment
EDM620 Posted January 14 Report Share Posted January 14 The response is overwhelming 1 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted February 1 Author Report Share Posted February 1 (edited) I finally got tired of the bubbling window tint today... So I had them scraped and redone... and had them add a strip to the top of the windshield... I'm super chuffed with how it turned out... Now I just have to get the oil leak fixed. Edited February 1 by dimlight65 1 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted February 8 Author Report Share Posted February 8 Gratuitous "walk around" photo dump... Wait! Is... is that a Dajiban? (Just in case there was anyone who didn't know I also have a Dajiban.) 1 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted February 23 Author Report Share Posted February 23 A few pages ago, I threatened to buy some Ronal Teddy Bear wheels. Of course, that was a ruse because the wheels I intended to buy then were Ronal Turbos. Unfortunately, the website claiming to have them, didn't. We therefore put new wheels on hold for a while. Well, the "Merging Incident" on January 2th has "forced" me to replace them. Today I ordered... and a set of 205/50-15 tires. They should be here around the 12nd. Yes, I know the lip on a +40 will not be as awesome as the picture. Yes, I know the fender gap will increase slightly going from 205/55 to 205/50. Yes, I know squaring up the front and rear sizes will... um, OK, so I don't exactly know what the electronic nannies will think about that. But I am willing to accept all of these "facts," because... Rewinds baby! 2 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted February 24 Report Share Posted February 24 (edited) On 2/23/2025 at 8:10 AM, dimlight65 said: Yes, I know squaring up the front and rear sizes will... um, OK, so I don't exactly know what the electronic nannies will think about that. Since the stock tires have a difference of 7.5mm front to rear, and your current tires have a difference of 11mm front to rear, I think it should be fine? Same amount of difference, just in the opposite direction. 👍 And for once, you'll be able to rotate the tires on occasion... 😄 Edited February 24 by datsunfreak Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted February 24 Author Report Share Posted February 24 3 hours ago, datsunfreak said: And for once, you'll be able to rotate the tires on occasion. Uh... they're going to be rotating all the time. Duh. 1 Quote Link to comment
ggzilla Posted February 25 Report Share Posted February 25 Tim, that is the coolest Daj van ever 1 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted February 25 Report Share Posted February 25 23 minutes ago, ggzilla said: Tim, that is the coolest Daj van ever David back from the dead!! 😄 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted February 25 Author Report Share Posted February 25 (edited) 4 hours ago, ggzilla said: Tim, that is the coolest Daj van ever Thank you. Have you seen the build thread for it? Edited February 25 by dimlight65 Forgot to say, "Thank you." Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted March 2 Author Report Share Posted March 2 I just realized I need to order some more Smart "Chicken Head" center caps... Amazon, here I come! Yeah, I know. I'm part of the problem. 2 Quote Link to comment
ggzilla Posted March 2 Report Share Posted March 2 In a lot of ways, the Smart cars seem most foreign to me. This chicken-head logo is just one example My most vivid memory of Smart was in 2006 when I was in Japan. I saw one what looked like a lady standing in a glass phonebooth driving down the street. It was the ultra-short wheelbase Smart car. It's like more art than car 1 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted March 2 Author Report Share Posted March 2 17 hours ago, ggzilla said: It's like more art than car Well, the name was derived from "Swatch/Mercedes ART" car. Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted March 2 Author Report Share Posted March 2 I hate lug bolts! So I ordered studs and nuts for the new wheels... I may have gone a little overboard on the stud length. 😋 But hey... Because racecar! I threaded nuts onto studs to make sure everything was ok. These are the 16 "Graunch Free" to "Acceptable Graunch" sets... and these are the "Way Too Graunchy" sets... Basically, if I had to struggle at all to thread it on, it's in this pile. Then, when I got home... I saw on the front porch... a stack of "steamrollers"... Of course, the term "steamrollers" is relative, and they got a bit less ludicrous when I unpacked one... So, now I just have to get the car back from the Mercedes service department and they'll go on. I can't wait! 1 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted March 6 Author Report Share Posted March 6 Well, John beat me to the punch. But I'm going to post my crap pictures as well. First off, we say goodbye to the fake BBS wheels... then I have to admit that, yes, I did go WAY overboard on the wheel studs... Fortunately, the stock bolts worked just fine... Chuck the rears on as well... Check the tuck on the front... and the rear... pop in the center caps and we get... I'm quite chuffed with them. I will probably cut the studs down to a reasonable length this weekend... because racecar. 1 Quote Link to comment
ggzilla Posted March 6 Report Share Posted March 6 That car now looks great. Of course, minilite-style wheels make everything look good, but the color is superb 2 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted March 7 Author Report Share Posted March 7 15 hours ago, ggzilla said: That car now looks great. Of course, minilite-style wheels make everything look good, but the color is superb Well, it looked pretty good on the Faux BBS as well. Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted March 9 Author Report Share Posted March 9 (edited) We had a look at the 6mm spacers I bought... Yank a wheel and bung a spacer on with a couple alignment studs... then pop the wheel back on and remove the studs... to get this, a much better fender gap... and better fill... Yeah, now this is the thing about which I am talking! Edited March 9 by dimlight65 2 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted March 11 Author Report Share Posted March 11 The new "Chicken Head" center caps arrived today... I'm not sure if they are going to fit the wheels, but if they don't... the "Chicken Heads" are decals! And they are a pretty good fit... on the Konig Rewind caps. Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted March 11 Author Report Share Posted March 11 So, I recently had the car in to the Mercedes dealer to fix an oil leak. Apparently, the rubber seal on the valve cover gets hard and brittle after nine Texas summers in close proximity to a glowing hot turbo. They replaced that seal and it appears to have fixed the leak. Yay! However, when I got the car back, it was way down on power. It revved almost as lazily as the Dajiban did before we binned the fuel injection for a carb and HEI distributor. It would not accelerate on the freeway. The "Turbo Enloudener" (AKA blowoff valve) did not "Psssssshhhhhh" anymore. And whereas it used to pull strong up to the 100 mph speed governor, it would barely hit 90. I was convinced they had removed my piggyback ECU and blowoff valve. Needles to say, I was pissed! (John and I had a look on Saturday and those parts were still on the car, so I didn't have to go shoot up a dealership.) I did, however, go back and spoke to them. I left it with them, again, and drove the Dajiban to work today. (Fun times!) Well, I got a call saying that they found the problem and the car is ready to be picked up. So, remember what happened to the valve cover gasket up above? Yeah, apparently the waste gate control harness can suffer a similar fate. However, instead of leaking oil, it leaks boost... sort of. Anyhoo, the thing runs like a scalded cat again! I am quite pleased. 2 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted March 13 Author Report Share Posted March 13 The Chinesium center caps that came with the "Chicken Head" decals did not fit the wheels so we stuck them on the Konig caps... like this... I'm not 100% in love with them, but they're nice enough ten-footers... And yes, I do know what "Chicken Head" means in certain circles, thankyouverymuch. 1 Quote Link to comment
UnderControl Posted March 13 Report Share Posted March 13 I'm really trying to not like these cars, and this one isn't helping that cause. 1 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted March 13 Report Share Posted March 13 8 hours ago, UnderControl said: I'm really trying to not like these cars, and this one isn't helping that cause. Well, the good news is, this is probably the only one you will ever see with a manual transmission. 😄 1 Quote Link to comment
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