ordered up a few oem hose clamps for the 09. i need to replace the large clamp just forward of the engine at the top due to severe corrosion.


will be doing a coolant drain/flush this summer so just getting ready for it.


as a lessons learned, ive been putting a very light coat of oil on the metal bits including exposed screw heads and brackets on my '12. i have very minimal corrosion on my '12 (through two salty winters) and would like to keep it that way for years to come. im going to be washing the engine bay once more later this month to rid salt completely from the engine bay. also will raise the car to inspect under carriage for any rust, and will spot spray some matte black rustolium.

 

swapped the wiper refills over the weekend on my 09 and 12. will be working on my '12 this coming weekend to swap out the floormats, swap wheels too to summers. last weekend did oil changes on my hobby cars. will be doing a steering fluid and aftermarket steering wheel install on one of them this week.

after the work, took my family out for lunch in my '12. wow, so much easier to drive the Fit sport vs my other cars. clutch is so light, excellent visibility too... beside the a-pillar blockage. nice little car. so much for such a bargain price.

 

cool, factory coolant came in for my 09. will do the drain/fill and radiator clamp swap in a couple of weeks.

 

crap, looks like another cold week coming up. was hoping to swap my winters to summers this weekend on my '12. hummm...
should probably wait one more week.

i got a lot done on my other cars though this week after work. also to new tools and accessories. mostly impact stuff. with getting older, i hate using breaker bars. lol

 

was nice out this morning so cleaned my 12's interior. it's going to rain tomorrow so didn't wash the car.

i just use a MF towel slightly damped with griot's speedshine. been using this combo for the last few years with much success. cleans up plastics real nice with no whitening or residue. no issue on cluster lenses too. and leaves behind no dust, obviously.

 

yep, f-king snow/rain mix right now. i knew it was going to snow one more time before all was done. lol good thing i didnt swap to my summer tires on my '12.

will be doing the swap probably this weekend.

 

wheew, snowed but didn't really accumulate. and i didnt notice any major usage of salt. we mightve been saved.

 

thinking about swapping my '12 wheels to summers this weekend... maybe.
car needs a good wash anyway. might as well freshen up the look.

 

had to work pretty much all day today even though our office was closed...

anyway, still found the time to swap out my '12 GE's wheels to summers.
washed the car and took it out for a quick spin with my younger kid who helped.

have to say, the RE760's feel 1000x better than the DWS.
the steering response, how the tires handle the turns. night/day improvement.
DWS makes my steering feel like some kid's plastic toy car they ride around on
the sidewalk.

 

will dust up the interior over the weekend and maybe swap the floor mats back to the
carpet next weekend. the aries floor mat did well, other than their emblem bending and
falling off partially. lol i just took off the rivet and removed the entire emblem. looks
fine...can't even tell where the holes are once i put it back in the car.

im so happy how clean my carpeting is. the aries mat did extremely well as far as
coverage. no salt stains! the only stain i have is on the black felt cover i made next to the hump
adjacent to the gas pedal. will toss out that felt and it's good to go.

 

i come home from motoring my hobby car and see my '12 with the summer wheel set parked on my driveway. very cool.

going to take it out for some errands this pm. im actually excited to drive my '12.

 

did 5 days of bumper to bumper congested 2hr-2.5hr one way commute to my client's place this week in my '12. car handled it beautifully, reconfirming again that the GE's effortless MT is 100x better to drive in bumper to bumper vs AT, and came out with no back or butt pain. plus, it was fun to drive.

MT GE rocks!

 

temps are still too cold to do any painting... im thinking about painting the center of the front bumper and bottom valance area of the rear bumper dark graphite color for some contrast.

 

did lots of driving on my '12 the last 3wks.

will be cleaning the interior a bit later. not sure if im going to have time to wash the car though...

 

been doing A LOT of driving the last month in my '12. the more congested driving i do, the more i like my MT. normal folks would be like 'huh? bumper to bumper in a manual transmission car? lol yep, the MT on this car is very easy on the foot.

 

nothing like driving a long distance in 1st gear in congestion while not touching the brakes once. i feel sorry for the AT folks that needs to constantly brake brake brake brake....

 

I don't know how you deal with bumper-to-bumper congestion on a daily basis. I hate driving through traffic jams like that.

Agreed on the automatic though, I hate needing to use the brakes for everything whenever I drive an auto.

 

yah, wasnt really my choice, but i have to do it now since my client's office moved.


today i took my buddy's AT car and wow that was a royal pita. constant braking. as you said mike, for every little slow down i need to do, i had to rely on the brakes.

 

85F and high humidity and my '12 feels like a dog... lol... ecu was having a hard time getting use to my driving in this temp the first 5min after warm up. hahaha.

guess i will need to open it up more.

 

looks like the car learned the new environment. pretty smooth today.