Carmen

[Carmen]

I set my advance to about 8-10 degrees and to be honest, I don't notice any difference in power or fuel economy. I assume the effect is so minor, I just can't notice it. Retarding the timing less than the factory 5 degrees is definitely noticeable with the loss of power.

Right on. I figure I'll run some more tanks, both premo and regular... And after getting some data I'll try an advance and take note of the differences if any. It'll be awhile tho, fuel economy too good already!

[snephi11]

Carmen, you one sexy B!

[Carmen]

Thx phi-guy. Just wait til I get my coat all trimmed. Thinking of putting the BBS's from the VW on for a few days, if they fit. The offset might be a bit much/not even sure the bolt pattern is correct.

Undecided on whether to get the stockies painted white or snag something else.

Hoping to find an MR2 strut bar to hack apart and make mein own...just been too busy to check pick-n-pull's website. Soon.

The paint is done, trim this weekend or next week or who knows. Buddy went out of town, but it'll happen soon enough.

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Cheers everybody!

[irowiki]

I'd stay with white, I think it really stands out on these cars. Another good option is silver, as that was another factory color.

[ARCHINSTL]

Looks great!
Paint the window surrounds and drip/windshield trim of your car and that color will really pop.
Tom M.

[dlb]

looks great. i agree with paul, i actually like the look of the white steel wheels. if nothing else, keep them for winter tires and find some 14" wheels for the rest of the year.

[Carmen]

That's the plan Tom. Just waiting on the paint meister to get back into town.

Irowiki - yeah, I really like the look of them too. Path of least resistance so that's probably what will happen.

Dlb - exactly, if they do get swapped the whites get blizzacks for winter. Either way a second set of wheels w/ winters mounted is in the future. Which sort of makes it easier to be like "oh hey might as well get nice wheels as long as I'm acquiring them". We'll see.

[larry mcgrath]

Man this looks Great!!!!! nice job. the drip rails on the Rocket ,instead of painting them I used some 3M black electrical tape on them,holds up real well and looks like the original black (rubber-plastic )that was stock. Nice work ,good to see one more of these wonderful cars brought back to life. Larry

[Carmen]

Thanks for the kind words and excellent advice Larry!

There was this sort of square tire feeling, thump thump and the whole car would shake up and down slowly as you approach a stop. I figured the reman cv was bunk, until one day my friend pointed out that a tire was low. Woke up the next morning and the tire was flat. The ply separated in like 8 places, guess it had enough of life. (had plenty of tread.. Just old and checked). Anyways, glad it didn't blow while I was in the highway as the off-balance tire feeling was surely because the tires were bulging on the tread.

Anyways, the point of the story being I stole the vials off my vw caddy and slapped em on. Looks great, will post some pics soon! And most of all she rides 11teen times smoother now.

Really nice, with each upgrade and fix the car just gets better and better. Can really feel it behind the wheel, which is awesome. Night and day difference and we're just getting started.

So she's riding on French wheels now, sweet sweet Carmen!

Figure I'll get some blizzacks mounted on the original wheels for winter, at way I can just swap em out when tis the season.

Hope everyone's running well!

[dlb]

do you have any pics of the new wheels? i'm curious as to what they look like on the car. what size of tires are you running now?

[Carmen]

Sure do, sorry I've been out of town (still am). The intention is to go drive around the coast and redwoods to get some nice pictures, but it'll be a bit.

Can't recall the tire size off the top of my head.

Will report back when I get into home territory and grab some photos

[Carmen]

Haven't had time to get proper pics, or scrub the car down for that matter (trees shed alot in my yard). Anywho here's one that shows the wheels.

Getting new rubber in the next few days.

Also is there a trick to getting the waterpump and thermostat gaskets to not leak? I've tried like 5x w/ the thermostat now, everytime it leaks. Tried 2 gaskets and gasket+RTV. Next time is no gasket and RTV methinks.

Cheers!
Sry for the lack of updates, just haven't been many as of late. Was out and about for a month or so

[irowiki]

Your thermostat housing might be warped slightly.

[Carmen]

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Is there much a person can do about that irowiki? Aside from just using a fair amount of RTV in lieu of a gasket?

[irowiki]

Rockauto has new ones! Like $8 before shipping, if that is indeed the problem.

Unless somehow one side got tightened more than the other... did you clean both surfaces down to the bare metal? I find the old gaskets toyota used harden like metal themselves and are a bear to get off!