Mod Day 5 - August 11, 2001
Well, after a LONG stretch in between mod days, we decided to have ourselves another! This mod day was held at Member Gil Starr's home (well his mom's anyway) in Whittier. The only member to show up on time was Jin. Everyone else was there near the start time of 10am, except for Stacey and I, and Mike Pizzi (who was on his way there from Las Vegas, THAT is dedication).
Attendees (mods next to name):
Things got off to a nice start. By the time Stacey and I showed up, there was no one there except Gil's wife! Turns out the guys went off to the local bone yard to see about any Probe parts. So, we unloaded Stacey's car (mine is in the shop), had something to drink, then went off to the store to pick up some goodies for later!
When we got back, the guys returned and got started with the mods. Jin already had his car up on the jackstands and was removing his stock exhaust. Gil parked his car up in front of Jin and was letting the brakes cool before he and I started the brake job, while Chris got started swapping bulbs from his clear corners. During this, we also hooked up 2 of the 3 PS2's that made it to the mod day! After they were hooked up, Mike and JD were having fun with Stacey playing GT3. It was pretty cool, we used an iLink cable to hook the two machines together, but you needed two TV's to be able to play like that. Bummer!
Alla (sp?) got started cooking the hotdogs while I prepared the infamous dip! We had some drinks and I was alternating between the food and the mods. Chris was finishing up the install on his clear corners and new bulbs. Removing the bumper wasn't too difficult and he had it finished rather quickly. JD pulled his car up then he and Mike got started on installing his new power door locks. Jin was having a really hard time with his header install. First, he couldn't get the car raised high enough, then he had problems removing the stock EGR tube. Heck, the easiest part of the install was removing the manifolds. He wound up cutting the pipe from the tube then using a socket to remove the connector. Jin then got started installing the hotshots.
Now for those of you who have Hotshot headers, especially the slip-fit model, Hotshot included a new EGR tube. With the slip-fits, the tube also caused problems with the power steering return hose, which caused the subsequent inclusion of a relocation bracket for the hose. The redesigned headers had a relocated EGR fitting, which is supposed to eliminate the need for a hose relocation bracket. They also feature flanged fittings, rather than the cumbersome slip-fittings, which were prone to leaks.
The problem Jin was having was with this newly designed EGR tube: IT WAS NOT LONG ENOUGH! So Jin, in his intrepidity, came up with a solution: He fabricated an EGR tube using parts from the Hotshot unit and a custom part he had on his car before! The bad part was that after 12 hours of intense labor, he could not finish on Saturday, he had to come back the next day and finish up! As Jin was working on his car and the food was being cooked up, Lino arrived and everyone was amazed at his picture-perfect Rio Red paint!
After a little while, the burgers and dogs were ready, so we all went back and had something to eat and chatted about lots of things. Some of the guys played some GT3 inside the house. Michael showed up, had something to eat, and was telling us about his trip from Las Vegas. He drove non-stop from his grandparents to the mod day! After lounging around a little bit more, it was time for Gil and I to get started on his brakes. Jorge and Nelly had to leave for a prior engagement, so we said our goodbyes and thanked them for coming! It was good to see the WRX with it's mirror back in place!
Gil raised all four corners and supported them properly, then removed the tires. We drained the fluid from the master cylinder, then got started on the corners. This was pretty easy, since I had done this swap a few times before, but we had a small problem when we got to the left rear. The stupid hard line was rock solid! I had to use freaking Vise-Grips to break the thing loose! After we did that, the rest was pretty quick. He wanted to Install rotors, pads, and new stainless-steel brake lines. While I was doing this, he tried installing a front strut bar he bought online. After a lot of work, it turned out this bar didn't work on his car, so he installed it on JD's car and it fit perfectly. Heh, turns out the bar was not for a GT, but for a base/SE.
Here's a note for you guys installing the lines on stock struts: the retaining fittings will not fit into the the brackets on the struts; they're too small! They will fit fine on aftermarket struts, like the Tokico Illumina and KYB struts. An easy solution to this would be to spread them a bit, or use some zip ties to tie it down (just remember not to lose the clips, you'll need them if you decide to get performance struts). Chris and his friend called it a day and left. Before the tires were put back on though, we had dinner, chatted some more and just relaxed. It was pretty tiring work! JD left not too much after that.
Once everything was installed, Gil and I bled the brakes, replaced the tires, lowered the car, then took it out for a ride. He was a little concerned that the pedal felt 'softer' than it did before, but I think this was his not being used to the metallic pads. It was evening when the brakes were bled and it had to be done by flashlight, so it's possible that there is a little bit of air remaining, but not enough to hamper performance much. That will be taken care of shortly. I drove Gil's car around and helped him seat the pads and rotors a bit. Once the pads heated up, the car stopped great!
When we got back, it was pretty late, so everyone had packed up their stuff and said their goodbyes. Lino wound up giving Jin a ride home since his car wasn't finished. I never did get to Stephen's brakes, but gave him my number so we could set up a time during the week to get them done.
All in all, it was really great! We all had fun (except Jin) tearing the cars down and fixing them! Let's not go so long between mod days this time!
write up by D. Tolentino, pics by G. Starr and D. Tolentino