Leinninger.com

Do you spend so much time working on your street machine or race car that you’re loosing track of your progress? Have a ton of parts to buy, but you’re budgeting yourself: spreading the cost over a few months? Have a deadline (new race season or car show) to meet? Get organized! Check out MyGasPedal.com. It’s a site that lets you store a to-do list, keep track of parts you need or recently bought, keep notes, store car-related bookmarks and eventually share your project with others.

Right now, it’s limited to 1 car per account… so those with more cars than common sense will have to create an account per car. The site is easy to use and very responsive. Via AutoBlog

- Duane

Since the “real” racing season is done for the year… at least in Michigan… I’ve been playing a fair amount of racing video games. Gran Turismo 4, Need For Speed Underground 2, Burnout: Take Down, and so on… During those games, installing a part is a simple button click and viola: 3 seconds later and your suspension is upgraded. Today I got a good dose of reality. I replaced the springs in all 4 corners of my WRX with STi parts as well as switched to my winter tires and installed less aggressive brake pads. I’m sure that plenty of folks could have done it in less than the 6 hours it took me. However, working in my 12 foot long driveway in 40 degree weather was a factor.

One thing I discovered about my suspension is that the upper bolt that secures the front strut to the hub is what’s known as a “crash bolt.” I’ve not aware of many factory suspension configurations that make use of crash bolts, as they are likely to be misused by the local mechanic or alignment shop. I must have loosened the left side crash bolt at some point, changing the camber. After discovering these bolts, I made some adjustments and it shows.

Above and beyond the improved stiffness and suspension response, fixing the camber issue has made a huge difference in the stability and drivability of the car. The ride is neither too stiff nor too low. First impressions seem positive, but the approaching winter will be the real test.

- Duane

Last week, Gina and I took a vacation in the Dominican Republic. We stayed at the Iberostar Punta Cana resort. The accommodations were very nice, but the availability of the all-inclusive booze was pretty sparse. (It was a family-oriented resort, so I’m sure they made it more of a challenge to get blind drunk.) All in all, the trip was relaxing (though we barely missed tropical storm alpha). I even got a bit of a tan!

I broke a bolt. Damnit. A few weeks ago, I was replacing the rear sway bar with the larger ACR version when one of the bolts for the sway bar mounts broke off in the subframe. I’ve tried easy-outs and a torch, with no luck. I guess the next step is to either weld a nut onto the bolt and try to work it out with heat, or drill it out and re-tap the hole. Dang.

On the bright side, I finally have my factory service manual (with all of the proper bolt torques). I also ordered the front struts, which will allow me to complete the front suspension part of my setup.

- Duane

The server was down for 2 days due to a loose cable connection in my neighborhood. The initial service call discovered that my local cable line was disconnected at the pole. A day later another tech came out and found that I had 3 times the maximum signal loss at my house. All appears to be well now.

- Duane

Gina and I attended a Nine Inch Nails concert last weekend. Autolux opened. Their drummer, a girl, had a very Bonham-like technique. Refreshing. Queens of the Stone Age rocked out next. Nice and clean, no frills rock. NIN was very impressive. As always, the theatrical approach to the performance was engaging. Photos are available, but the quality is very cameraphone. I swear the blur in the middle is Trent.

- Duane