Audio Upgrade I

Today i decided to flick some new speakers into the Roadster that have ben lying around for about a year...

The car still had the original OEM speakers fitted - they are sort of ok at low levels but that's about it. I decided to swap them for a set of Hertz Coax speakers since i want to keep the interiour looking "unmodified" for the moment - and the Hertz are supposed to have a good efficiency.

 

OEM speakers still looking good / undamaged - not bad considering 15 years of age!

In with the new - straight swap only hat to drill an additional hole into the speaker frame. I added a foam gasket beneath to seal the speaker to the door. Other than that, the doors will stay untouched from sound deadening - don't really see the point of this in a light weight softtop Roadster and i've got other cars to play with I.C.E ;-)

However, while i was at it, i took the opportunity to spray the window rails with grease and the doors with corrosion proofing.

Finally i got out the Meguiar's PlastX and attacked the rear window - got out a fair bit of the scratches and the plastic is more clear now. There still are a lot of deeper scratches left, so I'll have to repeat the treatment a few times. No pictures though, but that's the stuff - overall i can recommend it!

Oh,before i forget, the sound quality has of course improved dramatically, now one can at least enjoy music at reasonable levels - there even is some low frequency dynamic now :D

Still sad...

My old Recaros finally went into their new home:
Project B6 Blog
Although I'm happy for Richard, looking at the pictures makes me feel a little sad...

Fast Five Trailer

Just came across the new Fast Five Trailer and thought i might share :)



This should be fun to watch...

Caterham Super 7 Supersport @ TopGear

It doesn't get much more basic than this - brilliant!
Caterham Super 7 Supersport full road test car review - BBC Top Gear

Dual photo shoot

Today i visited Richard to bring him the RS Recaro seats and we took the opportunity to take some pictures in the woods - unfortunatly the weather wasn't on our side and i don't seem to be able to cope with bad light conditions so the outcome is not great. Still, was fun and i think the seats will suit his car (and him ^^) very well...

 

As for the RS seats - as expected, someone's happy now ^^

AE86 at it's very best

This is one of the best AE86 i've ever seen - enjoy!

http://speedhunters.com/archive/2009/08/06/guest-blog-terry-chui-gt-gt.aspx

Handling upgrades for the Roadster

Today i found some time to make some changes that were due for a while now. New adjustable rear sway bar drop links, U-bar and Beatrush front strut brace.
First, the drop links, comparing old and worn with new and shiny :)

Fitting them is a bit of pita since the car has to stand on the ground to adjust them properly - anyways, still an easy task...

Next, the U-bar:

And finally the strut brace - really a beautiful and well made piece!

Also swapped the injectors again: now running the violet NB-FL injectors from the 146BHP Sportive model :)
Then went for a test drive in brilliant weather (with a dirty car though) and all is well! Few little changes really  can add up to make a real difference in feel and feedback and contribute to an overall enhanced driving experience...
Few more shots from the drive:

One for the bike lovers :)

Maintenance never is a waste of time

When i bought it in late summer 2010, the Roadster had been neglected for quite some time - only the basics had been done. I had already bought a set of shifter boots in 2010 and finally got round to fit them.

First, off with the center console and discover juckness and dog hairs underneath - rest assured, it's clean now!

As expected, both boots were ripped.

So, all off, refill the oil, fit a new shifter collar and reassemble the lot.

After a test drive it became obvious that good maintenance really is what keeps a car crisp and fun to drive. The shifter feel and precision were good before, now they're just spot on! No play in the shifter, less force needed to engage gear and yet improved shifter feel and precision. About 50€ worth of spare parts and not even an hour of work can make all the difference here - one should keep that in mind when thinking about "upgrading" a car.

Sad day...

On sunday i wanted to install the limited Edition RS Recaro seats in the Roadster, something i've been looking forward to for 5 months now. They're beautyful items, made from carbon/kevlar and were only sold in 500 cars; i was lucky enough to source a set in good condition, had to wait the whole winter to fit them, finally got the car back, installed one and guess what? Disaster! With the Recaros in place I really dont have enough room to put my legs anywhere, due to the changed driving position. Tried it several times, however, there are a few centimetres missing :(
So these two crappy mobile pictures are the only evidence that i ever owned and installed one of the best OEM seats ever made...

I guess they are just too JDM for me :(

Project.L goes blog

Out of a sudden impulse i decided to create this blog to log and review some car related moments of my life - might be short lived, really dont know yet, maybe it catches on.

So here we are with an empty blog and a picture: beginning of spring 2011 in germany's heart, getting the Roadster back on to the B-roads where it belongs. This summer should be interesting...