Did the rear wiper mod tonight.

 

started the install of the progress springs yesterday on my 2011.

drivers side shock had water on top of it, corroding the nut to the threads. wouldn't budge, broke an allen key trying to get it off. my friend made the mistake of putting vice grips on the threads in desperation. that failed too. ended up taking it off with an impact gun, sending the shock down to my friend's shop today to have a die run down to repair the threads. got it back and realized that the passenger side also looked a bit corroded so we abandoned the plan and put the stock spring back on the driver's side, buttoned the whole thing back up and left it stock.

this weekend I'll have the impact gun brought over to my friend's house so we can try the install again.

i've done several suspension installations in my life, from just springs to coil-over sleeves to full on pre-assembled coil overs and sway bars. never had this problem.

fuck me, nothing on this car is easy.

 

Tomorrow morning is my 30k inspection. Not looking forward to the bill on that.

 

Plasti dipped my grill, front lip, emblems and finally cleaned my engine bay after 3 years. Looks good

 

Just snagged a Mugen Quick Shifter on sale from Bernardi Parts. It looks like retailers are clearing the shifter from the inventory.

 

Then don't do it! I turned over 100k very recently and never had a stinkin' dealer inspection. Everything's fine.

Maybe they don't fit the 2014s so they're blowing them out.

 

What wax would you recommend for a quarterly waxing? Right now i'm just using cheapo Turtle Wax that I had in the garage. I'll probably just keep an eye on the beading when I wash as an indicator to when to wax again.

Waizzz I just hand polished it, not much experience with electric buffers and I figured the Fit's paint was probably not a good place to experiment. No way I could have done it in one day, I don't have that much free time so I spread it out one panel at a time over about two weeks but i'm guessing about 12 hours total. Results would have been cleaner and faster with a buffer i'm sure, maybe i'll pick one up and hit a junkyard and pick up an oxidized fender or hood to practice on

I used an impact on the top nut too, I didn't even try the allen wrench, I just went straight to air tools

Oh well, now you know for next time, live and learn and all that.

There shouldn't be much of a bill. I don't even think there's any scheduled maintenance at that mileage except maybe air filter/cabin filter, which you can do yourself in about 5 minutes for $30 in parts. You can inspect the car yourself or have another shop do it as well if you're so inclined, you don't NEED to take it to the dealership.

 

It may vary by dealership, but my 30K service was around $280. Other than the inspections the only thing they really did was the oil change. I felt a little ripped off honestly. I griped to them about it and they gave me a coupon for a free oil change, so I took it back to them for the last oil change. The dealership gave me a 250,000mi powertrain warranty as long as I get all the servicing done at the dealership, but I'm not sure that it's worth it. I'm planning to call ahead to get a quote before the next service and then decide if I want to keep taking it to them. I feel like the dealership probably does a better job than the quicky oil change places, but $200 more for an oil change versus what I can get it done for somewhere else is too much even if they are giving me the extra warranty. Over the life of the car I could afford to replace the tranny completely for all the extra charges if it ever goes out.

-Dustin

 

It's ridiculously easy to change the Fit's oil, just did it yesterday in about 30 min. Just find a good shop that's reasonably priced and pay them to do it. Any mechanic should be able to change the oil no prob. Just tell them to make sure to use a new crush washer on the filter and don't torque down the drain bolt or filler cap.

 

I totally agree. If I'd known beforehand that it was going to be so expensive I would have either changed it myself or taken it to somewhere like Express Oil Change, which I've always had good luck with. I wouldn't have taken it back to them last time if I hadn't gotten the coupon for a free oil change.

-Dustin

 

I use Zymol wax myself, does a pretty good job.

You would be surprised how easy and noob proof the new Orbital polishers are. I am by no means a professional detailer but I bought this kit from Autogeek and I was really able to make a difference on both my cars:


Honestly it is impossible to mess up your paint with this kit, since it's dual action it doesn't allow you to put too much pressure on one spot so you can't burn your paint like you can in the past.

Let me know if you want any other tips and I can PM you what I use

+1 to both of these points

The dealer makes their money on selling you pointless maintenance packages that have nothing to do with your car. That's why I stopped going to them for anything other than warranty work.

I now just keep track of my mileage for both of my cars and have my private mechanic do things as they come up rather than some stupid $300 package from the dealer that ends up being an oil change and an inspection that they don't even end up doing

 

Thanks for the help, I will send either that kit or just the Porter Cable to my wife for Christmas gift list. She will benefit from it too since her car could use a good go over. I'll try the Zymol wax next go around.

 

For waxing and light polish a orbital is fine.

I use Smart Wax for waxing and a host of other detailing polishes and compounds I get from my detail supplier at work.

I clay then polish and wax my cars twice a year. If i feel the need when washing one of my cars i will spot hit it with a light compound by hand and rewax the area.

 

Finally got my v3 tritons installed today in the front. Here's a couple videos of them vs the stock filament signal.




You can tell especially in the second video that they're even brighter than filament bulbs! No more cheap ebay junk.

Gunna make day time videos tomorrow when I get the chance. I'm also going to be adding a pair of switchbacks to my rear axis tails to boost the brightness of the turn signal and double as a reverse light.

 

Baller ass retrofits

 

Installed my S Tech springs tonight

 

Looking good, Tein S-Techs?

 

Yes sir

 

I'm working from home today in order to have my windshield repaired

I was with him the whole time and he did an excellent job

Ended up being $275

Here she is as he had just taken the windshield out, man we have gigantic windshields!

 

What center caps do you have on your steelies?