TEXT FPO - Driving Sports TV

more details to sort.
First, we had a whole set of gauges from autoM-
eter. They had sent us their nexus gauges, which are
fully electronic, color shifting and really cool. We had
made some gauge pods for it, but had not wired or
installed them. The reason for this was that we were
planning on also installing an aeM standalone system.
however, with little time remaining, we decided
to leave this and install it later. We did not want to install
the gauges twice since wiring in the aeM would
mean rewiring the gauges, so the gauges sat in their
pods dormant. In the meantime, a Perfect Power 6
would have to do for engine management.
at this time we also installed seats from a 2005
2.5Rs. We also installed a leather shift boot and new
shift knob. What we were lacking was a paint job, and
with only a week to go, I decided I would spray the
car in my garage.
The less that is said about this paint job, the better.
but to illustrate just how wrong things had gone,
it was now 40 degrees Fahrenheit in my garage, I had
never painted a car before, and I had never mixed
paint. It did not go well. between all the runs, orange
peel and other flaws, the car looked bad to say the
least. but it had to get to seMa. so with the paint this
side of dry, I hopped in and drove to Fleet signs and
Graphics, so that they could install 48 hours worth of
stickers in just under 12. We added a few touches to
the stickers along the way to try to hide the hideous
paint job. This did not work out so well.
In the end, the truck driver loading the car onto
his truck would prevent the car going to seMa 2006
when he rammed the front lip into a winch on his
truck. This was a blessing in disguise, as the car clearly
was not ready for the show.
however, the story does not end here. Just after
38 July 2008
The knocking that we heard turned
out to be a broken cam-cap bolt.
seMa 2006 was the first running of subiefest, where
the car sat on display in all its home-painted and
broken nose glory. While the plan was to run the car
around the track, there were a few problems with this.
First was the fact that the monster 18-inch Konigs
wrapped in 235-wide nitto race rubber was in no
way going to fit under the slab-sided fenders. two, a
freak crash closed the track before the car could turn
a wheel. This was also a blessing in disguise, at least
for the ill-fated Legacy, as on the way home from the
track the car started making an ominous knocking
sound. normally when something like this happens,
you pull over, shut down and call aaa. however, I was
at least 100 miles from home, and it was night with no
aaa, so I had to press on. early the following Monday
I drove the car back to Rallitek for a diagnosis. sure
enough, the car was knocking; no, they could not pinpoint
it; yes, the motor would have to come out.
With a heavy heart I drove the car, gingerly,
up to the barn/shop of Mazdasport editor Jeff
Zurschmeide, where I would pull the motor to send it
back to Crawford for analysis. This I did with a severe
sinus infection, not fun when trying to work on a car.
still, I made it through with a mix of advil and cold
beer at the end of the day. a cold beer makes a great
ice pack when you are trying to relieve the pressure
on your head; plus, it has the added effect of getting
you good and drunk so that you can pass out. O.K.,
it isn’t the healthiest way of beating the flu, but it
worked.
With the motor out and the engine back at Crawford,
there wasn’t much I could do, and the car sat
while other projects got priority and the engine was
torn down, inspected and rebuilt.
The knocking that we heard turned out to be a
broken cam-cap bolt. apparently these can break
from time to time, and we just happened to have one
of those engines. Further digging found that a tuning
issue we had been having had washed the cylinders
with fuel and the rings had scuffed the bores; not
good. Further more, the oil pickup tube had a hole
in it and was not getting sufficient oil to the bearings