To catch up, my exhaust leak was due to a blown up flex pipe. $140 bucks later (meineke wanted $225 WTF?) she's purring nicely .
Weird thing now is, after fixing the throttle body leak and the exhaust, my intake doesn't seem to 'hiss' while stepping on the gas like it used to. All I can hear is the motor now and there doesn't seem to be any less air being pulled in so I pretty much will never figure this car out.
This weekend I installed my freshly powder coated Valve Cover and Strut tower bar. I also cleaned up and painted my engine hoist hooks and exhaust heat shield with some high-heat grill paint. I got my MS oil cap in the mail today from bamflee and threw it on. Looking pretty sweet in the engine bay now, just waiting on my washer dress up kit from CR3...
Threw in some pics of the powder coated parts, pretty awesome color match to my CAI. They look textured in the pics but they are smooth as glass and have a sweet deep metallic silver.
Since we're re-creating this thread all over, (last week) Got my baby from the body shop. Got rusty spot (next to pass. side motor mount) cut out and replaced with brand new piece of sheet metal (some of you know what I'm talking about). Got my rust under spoiled fixed on the trunk lid, also had the trunk lid top repainted. Front lip is repainted and the key mark (somebody keyed my car 2 halloweens ago from front quarter panel all the way to the rear one on pass. side)... People suck...
EDIT: Just ordered silicone radiator hoses. $45 on ebababababababaaaaaaay! Let's hope the proposed delivery dates are semi-accurate, since I need this sh*t installed before driving to OCC mazda show/meet lol
Replaced my front strut hats along with strut hat bearings today. Old ones were ripped to pieces. Installed adjustable endlinks while at it. Tomorrow: to replace radiator hoses with silicone ones and heat-wrap the downpipe..
Hopes and dreams of me replacing my front pass. side wheel bearing went outta window yesterday... Friday is another day! I did on the other hand replace my stock radiator hoses with OBX silicone hoses and also finally did wrap the downpipe with the heat wrap. Oh and yeah, painted the piping with flat-black high temp paint.
Went for a nice afternoon drive today...and by the time I got to the end my brakes smelled of death and even decided to start smoking. Now, I thought I had bedded them properly when I changed them but I guess today was the first time I've actually driven them hard. Still seems strange for them to smell so bad and smoke since it's been a while since I put them on. Changed the rotors and pads (Hawk's, can't remember which ones they are) just over 500 miles ago. Is that normal since I really haven't been on them hard before now?
Cleaned........ Repainted my Diamond plate floormats for shows and took some interior pics......... Gonna enter ROTM again so I figured I would try some pics.......