The Ohio Random Thread... aka We Should Probably Be Working

[tweiss3]

I did finally get the driveshaft swapped in the FC last night. Much better now. The front ujoint was toast:

Bad U-Joint by tweiss3, on Flickr

Bad U-Joint by tweiss3, on Flickr

Bad U-Joint by tweiss3, on Flickr

 

[o0n8]

What a good dad. (lol2)

No rewards for not going to college.


Also, was bored last night and found out how much of a Franken-car the 6 really is.

 

[Lewis7789]

What do you mean about the 6, Nate?

 

[magnumP5]

No rewards for not going to college.

We decided to open a general savings/investment account under our names for Ian. We believe not everyone needs to go to a traditional college. Spending $100K on a BS - that's "bulls***" - degree is a waste of money. If he decides a trade school or, heaven forbid, a sport is the direction he wants to go he'll still get something. If he's a delinquent and ends up in jail or something then it's ours.

Gotta love McMaster. I order parts Tuesday afternoon and they're delivered on Wednesday. I order so much random crap from them...

 

[o0n8]

What do you mean about the 6, Nate?

Like all Mazdas pre-2012ish? it has a lot of Ford parts. Joint chassis with the Fusion, built in Michigan, Ford Motor that was originally designed by Porsche (according to wiki) and the heads designed Cosworth and VVT by Mazda. Of course lots of Mitsu electronics but the MSP had that too. Just me being nerdy about my car.

Also twin turbo version are used in Nobles. Makes it a little surprising there's no kit available http://www.turbohoses.com/nobleengine.htm

 

[tweiss3]

Like all Mazdas pre-2012ish? it has a lot of Ford parts. Joint chassis with the Fusion, built in Michigan, Ford Motor that was originally designed by Porsche (according to wiki) and the heads designed Cosworth and VVT by Mazda. Of course lots of Mitsu electronics but the MSP had that too. Just me being nerdy about my car.

Also twin turbo version are used in Nobles. Makes it a little surprising there's no kit available http://www.turbohoses.com/nobleengine.htm

No kits are available because the demand is near 0, and the clearances for all pipe routing, plus oil and coolant taps, etc.....

Justin (the only twin turbo 6) swapped in a Noble M400 shortblock a while back.

Also, the Duratec 25 heads were designed by cosworth, the Duratec 30 heads were not

 

[o0n8]

We decided to open a general savings/investment account under our names for Ian. We believe not everyone needs to go to a traditional college. Spending $100K on a BS - that's "bulls***" - degree is a waste of money. If he decides a trade school or, heaven forbid, a sport is the direction he wants to go he'll still get something. If he's a delinquent and ends up in jail or something then it's ours.

A 529 is the same principle, It's in my name with the child named as beneficiary and I can disperse as I please. The benefit is it's a tax deduction when I make deposits and earnings are tax free if it's used on higher education for the beneficiary. Not just a 4 year college. It's similar to series EE bonds but more growth (more risk) potential.

No kits are available because the demand is near 0, and the clearances for all pipe routing, plus oil and coolant taps, etc.....

Justin (the only twin turbo 6) swapped in a Noble M400 shortblock a while back.

Also, the Duratec 25 heads were designed by cosworth, the Duratec 30 heads were not

I knew Justin did it but haven't read thru his thread much. The piping making sense, everything looks pretty snug in the bay. I guess by kit I really meant pre-fabbed headers and downpipes.

Well that kills the fun fact about the heads and saying my car has something Cosworth on it.

 

[Lewis7789]

Just put a bunch of Cosworth stickers all over your motor. Boom. Cosworth motor.

 

[o0n8]

Just put a bunch of Cosworth stickers all over your motor. Boom. Cosworth motor.

I can be really ricey and switch the mazdaspeed6 badge with a Cosworth6 badge. That would really throw some people off

 

[tweiss3]

Well, you should be impressed that the plastic IM on the 6 flows better than the cosworth intake manifolds.

 

[magnumP5]

I did finally get the driveshaft swapped in the FC last night. Much better now. The front ujoint was toast:

Glad everything worked out! Good to see an old part go to good use and not end up scrap.

 

[o0n8]

Well, you should be impressed that the plastic IM on the 6 flows better than the cosworth intake manifolds.

That is impressive.

 

[tweiss3]

Glad everything worked out! Good to see an old part go to good use and not end up scrap.

Yea, got rid of the nasty vibration. I may still "try" to rebuild the one I just pulled as a backup. Not sure why the thing eats drive-shafts though.

That is impressive.

There was some indepth testing a while back. Justin even looked into building a sheet metal manifold for boost. Considering he is in the 30's PSI of boost on the plastic one, he's since put that way on the backburner.

 

[CTt3P5]

Just put a bunch of Cosworth stickers all over your motor. Boom. Cosworth motor.

And just how many youngins are going to see this and stickabomb their motor now? le sigh. hahaha Good one Evan!

You guys are smart for starting to save now for the little ones. We were never in a position to do so when they were younger so we'll be looking at loans early next year. Going to be applying for every scholarship we can though, they have some crazy ones out there.

On a side note, what are your thoughts on the SAT/ACT scores and the weight they carry for admission? At this moment my wife and I are pulling our hair out over this very thing. She has taken them twice and her highest on reading and math is 870. One school sent a form letter stating that to get into the program for her major they require a 1050, period. We called to inquire more and they were very rude and said take it again or take the ACT and then submit the scores. Also said they saw her transcripts but didn't matter, needs the 1050 or no dice. What kills us is the kid was high honors her entire junior year taking CP and Honors classes. She could have skated through her senior year taking a bunch of BS electives but instead chose - Trig/Alg3; CP History; CP Contemporary History; AP Eng Lit; Child Dev and Anatomy. These last two are to get a head start on her choice of major, speech path. She is smart and works hard but has never been a good test taker going back to elementary school. I'm just dumbfounded that some of these colleges are more worried about a one day test score than what the child has done through the course of their hs career. Thankfully her top choice sent a letter that was better worded by far. She has since emailed them and will be taking the SATs a third time early next month. Sadly, she may have to choose 'undeclared' her freshman year and then prove herself and hope that a spot opens up in the program.

My apologies for the rant.

 

[o0n8]

Definitely try the ACT or try the SAT again. Maybe if she does it a couple times it won't seem like a big deal and she'll do better? I thought the SAT was weird and didn't really go over anything I learned in school so I'm not sure how I ended up with the score I did.

 

[pmartz16]

I only took the ACT but I have heard it is much easier than the SAT. Try to take the ACT and see what happens. What score is needed when taking the ACT?

 

[princess peach]

I think some institutions take it too far, I also think the test itself is somewhat pointless. My sister had to deal with this recently, she also gets nervous when taking tests and ended up taking the MCAT 5 times because she didn't get the right score (over 30)... that was over $200 a pop!

While she was working as a scribe (and studying for yet another MCAT), she found out there were other options available to her that don't require such a high score and are just as good, or better. She is now in her first year, really enjoying the fruits of her labor.

I also had that issue in Colombia, everyone made a big deal about studying for the test. Out of a 405 max score, the nerds who spent most of their time studying were in the low 300s while some people who didn't do s*** (like me) were over 350. It got me into the program that I wanted, but it was in no way a reflection of me. I never earned any awards or strived to stand out, just coasted my way as I was bored as hell most of the time. Still know very little about history, geography, social studies, etc.

 

[CTt3P5]

We were looking into the ACT but she didn't hear back from her first choice until Monday. The last day of late registration for the ACT was last Friday and another one won't be given in time for her deadline to apply for her major which is 12/15. They didn't give a score for the ACT, just mentioned it as an alternative. We too heard it was easier and should have pushed her to take it earlier this Fall. This will be her third try at the SAT and her second only produced an increase of 30 points. From what we've heard/read the typical increase in score is minimal.

 

[CTt3P5]

Have to agree Pablo after dealing with it first hand ourselves. So your sister spends all this money, gets nervous each time and I'm sure each time she didn't score high enough it killed her emotionally but yet she finds a way in and is excelling?! Good for her! This is my argument, I can see the scores having some bearing but they are in no way a reflection of any individual and IMO much more weight should be placed on the hs transcripts and courses taken. Guy at work told me a fellow classmate in hs coasted through getting C's and such and never applied himself but yet scored so high on the SAT that Brown and Rice were after him. And ouch $200 a pop...

 

[o0n8]

We were looking into the ACT but she didn't hear back from her first choice until Monday. The last day of late registration for the ACT was last Friday and another one won't be given in time for her deadline to apply for her major which is 12/15. They didn't give a score for the ACT, just mentioned it as an alternative. We too heard it was easier and should have pushed her to take it earlier this Fall. This will be her third try at the SAT and her second only produced an increase of 30 points. From what we've heard/read the typical increase in score is minimal.

Can she still go to the school as a undeclared major or wait-list for the first semester? There's always drop outs and kids changing their majors once they get into it.