Here’s the quick and dirty (thats what she said).

• I had a son back in November. His name is Jacob John and his pictures can be found here.
• He got sick a couple days before before Christmas and spent the holiday in the hospital.
• I built Luci a toy box that also functions as a window seat.  Pictures are here.
• I replaced the vacuum lines in the Z and removed a leaky EGR valve.  A new valve was around $90, so I just sealed up the holes in the exhaust and intake manifold.  Car is almost ready for summer, just need some new rubber for the rear tires.
• Luci turned two!

This page details the demolition and removal of a vinyl in-ground pool.

Cost of materials: $63

Store bought bookshelf: $84.99

This is the 4th shelving unit I have built, and each time I learn something new.  Each one has evolved slightly from the previous.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but the self-checkout is meant for people that just want to stop in, pick up a few things, and get out quickly.

There is a Kroger behind my work that I visit frequently to pick up random miscellaneous items.  Here is what I see at the self-checkout yesterday.

Station 1: A white trash looking woman with a two carts full of Swanson dinners, taking her time to scan each one while screaming at her kids.

Station 2: A 95 year old woman who has no idea what shes doing.  She only has a few items, but it could be hours before she figures out that touch screen.

Station 3:  A Mexican family that is totally lost.  I don’t even know where to begin describing some of the things they were trying to do.

Station 4: A middle aged man who can’t seem to figure out that the bagging area is weighted and keeps removing items from the bags.  He then waits for assistance from an employee each time. Note: The employee is tied up helping the 95 year old woman and trying to understand the mexican people.

I waited in line for 10 minutes to check out with 1 pack of light bulbs and an energy drink.

I finally got the exhaust for my car.  There is only one company (CM Performance Exhaust) that makes a cat back bolt-on exhaust for this model of car, so I had to wait in line to get mine made.  The install was fairly simple, and it used all the factory hangers.  I had been driving around with no muffler for so long that I’d forgotten what a quiet car sounds like.  There are a few pics at the bottom of this post showing the exhaust.

I also replaced the radiator.  I didn’t get any pictures, but it was a straightforward OEM replacement.  I purchased it from www.radiatorswarehouse.com.  I began to notice the car gradually overheating on the highway.  It only seemed to happen when the temperature outside was above 70 degrees.  This is probably why I never caught it in the winter.  I tried just flushing the radiator once, but the car continued to run hot.  Through some deductive reasoning, I determined the radiator was probably bad and hunted for a cheap replacement.  The hardest part of the install was removing the bumper.  I broke a bunch of plastic clips and broke a few bolt heads off.  Car is running great now.  Next on the list is to get the A/C checked out.

The differential mount came out easily, so I assumed everything else would be the same.  I planned to do the bushings one at time while the suspension remained in the car.  I finally came to a couple of bolts that were rusted/seized so tight that I had no choice but to drop the whole suspension and work on the bolts out from underneath the vehicle.  Ironically, the two bolts that would not budge were the bolts used to adjust the toe during an alignment.

I had to cut the exhaust in a few pieces because it wound through the rear control arms on its way to the back of the car.  With easier access to those bolts, I was able to beat the **** out of them with a hammer and punch.  They eventually broke free after about 30 minutes of pounding (not to mention a few whacks at my hand and thumb).  I tore a rubber CV joint boot on the axle while removing the suspension from under the car, so I had to replace that also.

I cleaned up the rust off of most parts and sprayed everything with a rust converter paint. Any remaining rubber from the old bushings was removed with mapp gas and a wire wheel. I installed all the new bushings and also some new spring seats.

My brother and a friend from work helped me raise the entire thing back up into the car and bolt it into place.  The car sits slightly higher now due to the new spring seats.  The negative camber has improved a couple of degrees also.

I took it for a short test drive and all the noises seem to have disappeared.  Its hard to tell for sure right now because the exhaust is still not repaired.

I picked up some 17″ wheels off craigslist.  They’re from a Nissan 350z.  I’ll be installing them in the next week or so along with some shiny new rotors.

I’ve recruited some friends to help me with the swap, and I will detail the progress on this blog throughout the spring.

These cars were available from the factory with a turbo installed, so it should be fairly simple to locate parts and swap them over to my engine.  The fun part will be removing 20 year old components without breaking bolts and studs.  I plan to upgrade some other items while I have the car torn down as well as cleaning up the engine bay.

I looked into getting either an 8″ sub or a 6.5″ sub that would draw much less power, but still provide the bass I wanted.  That’s when I remembered I still had my old Altec Lansing computer speakers.  They had a 6.5″ sub that sat on the ground and two satellite speakers that were placed on the desk.  These were the original speakers I bought for my first computer back in ‘98.  The satellites had stopped working, but I kept them around for spare parts.

I gutted the electronics and amp out of the sub box and sealed everything back up.  I hooked it up to my existing amp in 3-way mode, and fired it up.

It sounded great, required very little tuning, and it draws much less power than the 12″.  Best of all, it cost me no money.  Now I just need to paint it or carpet it, so it doesn’t look so ugly in the trunk.

…

Mike came over and helped me build some new basement stairs.  The old stairs were crooked and wobbly causing them to shake when you descended into the basement.  The treads were also rather short causing half my foot to hang off the step when going downstairs.

The ultimate goal for the basement is to make it comfortable enough that I can relocate my computer stuff down there when our office becomes another bedroom.

Here are some pics of the before, during, and after.