Minor Win thread - Life is good!

Duke said:

NickD said:

The Miata now has so much power and grip built into it, that it will hike the inner front tire an inch or more off the ground in hard cornering when under throttle. It is awesome.

I so much want to be able to do this.  I actually need to take some rear bar out of the car to make is a little less tailhappy under braking.  I'm hoping that will help it squat the outside rear enough.

Me and my codriver were giggling like children as we would go Wide berkeleying Open on the siped concrete taxiway, which has monster grip, slalom the car and yank the front tire off the ground, and then just full-on drift the car off of the taxiway back onto the main runway. We drove like absolute animals. Tons of off-courses and cones everywhere, but still fun.

NickD said:

The Miata now has so much power and grip built into it, that it will hike the inner front tire an inch or more off the ground in hard cornering when under throttle. It is awesome.

Fred Puhn would say the front end is too stiff or the rear end is too soft.

Fred Puhn is wrong this time

RustOleum "WipeNew" headlight restoration kit came highly recommended by our resident headlight guru Dusterbd13, so for $9 I gave it a try. Very happy with results, would buy again.

before:

after:

The wipe part of the kit starts to cure upon exposure to air, so have all lenses ready for the wipe before opening that pouch. This is clearly stated in the instructions.

After Ody headlights were wiped, the wipe was still wet, so I put it in a ziploc bag and started wet-sanding the Sonoma taillights. Figured WTF, they already suck, can't make 'em worse. About 2 hours passed, and when I pulled the wipe from the ziploc, it was noticeably tacky. I wiped the taillights anyway, and the result looked a little like it had been brushed on. Still better than before, but sub-optimal and definitely outside the intended application.

before:

after:

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

NickD said:

The Miata now has so much power and grip built into it, that it will hike the inner front tire an inch or more off the ground in hard cornering when under throttle. It is awesome.

Fred Puhn would say the front end is too stiff or the rear end is too soft.

 

Fred Puhn is wrong this time

As I was doing it, I was thinking "This is clearly a symptom of some suspension tuning deficit, but, damn if I care." I think my rear shocks were set almost all the way soft. I never even touched them. I kind of raced lazy this weekend. I didn't even take the exhaust baffle out the second day. But I was having fun and the car felt great.

In reply to NickD :

It's a question of dynamics.  If you stiffened the rear or softened the front so all four tires stay in contact, then it might be super squirrely under braking.

It's one of the things from his book that annoyed me. There was a photo of a 911 (maybe a 930) tricycling out of a corner, and the caption read something to the effect of "Handling would be improved if the rear roll stiffness was increased so both front tires were contacting the ground."   

Tuning for an arbitrary goal above all else can leave you chasing your tail, and what the front tires are doing under acceleration on a powerful, short wheelbase rear driver shouldn't matter as long as the steering mostly still works.

(also, carrying a tire looks cool)

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

In reply to NickD :

(also, carrying a tire looks cool)

I hope the photographers caught it. My other mental thought was "I'm like Vaughn Gittin Jr. now!" who is one of my favorite Formula Drift driver's and was known for yanking a front tire on his drift S550. Little did I know that at the same time, Vaughn Gitting Jr. was three-wheeling his way to back-to-back victories at Round 3 and Round 4 of Formula Drift all the way across the country in the PNW.

That spray paint artist I posted about a page or so back, well I did get some custom work done.

I told her " the band is called Interstellar Sledgehammer and I plan on putting this on the wall in the band room" and she came up with these.

I freaking love how it reminds me of an older prog bands artwork somehow.

I am finally at peace.

New shed is nearing completion. 

Appleseed said:

 

I am finally at peace.

While I wholeheartedly hope this is a positive statement and things are going well....... experience worries me a bit. 

Mndsm said:

Appleseed said:

I am finally at peace.

While I wholeheartedly hope this is a positive statement and things are going well....... experience worries me a bit. 

Yeah, me too.

Appleseed, is this a "things are finally good" peace or a "I finally berking give up" kind of peace?

Let us know, man - we genuinely care about you.

NickD said:

The Miata now has so much power and grip built into it, that it will hike the inner front tire an inch or more off the ground in hard cornering when under throttle. It is awesome.

That's not normal?

Duke said:

Mndsm said:

Appleseed said:

I am finally at peace.

While I wholeheartedly hope this is a positive statement and things are going well....... experience worries me a bit. 

Yeah, me too.

Appleseed, is this a "things are finally good" peace or a "I finally berking give up" kind of peace?

Let us know, man - we genuinely care about you.

 

 

Quoted for truth. Let us know, amigo. I may have never met you in person, but I certainly care about you regardless.

Got a chance to rummage around the Habitat for Humanity ReStore and found some office chairs that I think I need to go back for.  Finally picked up a bottle of Skrewball to try.  While in the liquor store, ran into a friend I haven't seen in almost a year which was awesome.  Got a chance to go to a physical bank branch to deposit this stupid counter check that this guy gave me.  And then had some Saag Chole from my favorite Indian joint for lunch.  This day is turning out pretty damed good!

No. It's real. I have nothing pressing on my chest or kicking me in the nuts. The demons aren't dead, they're asleep. And that's enough.

Appleseed said:

No. It's real. I have nothing pressing on my chest or kicking me in the nuts. The demons aren't dead, they're asleep. And that's enough.

I feel bad, because of all the crap that's happened in the past few years, that you guys were worried.  Looking back on it, yeah, I can see that that could be viewed like a jump off a building/dance with a train post. I was like no, no, no, this is good. Like really good.

In reply to daeman :

If that is a shed, I don't think the world has room for a mansion, or even a barn

In reply to TurnerX19 :

I mean, it's a shed in as much as it's a metal building in which junk, treasure and projects will end up. Shed is a pretty generic term here, same way us Aussies seem to call a bunch of different things chips. (I'd find the meme for it, but kind of lazy)

In reply to Appleseed :

Don't feel bad, you're a friend we're going to want to make sure you're ok. The internet can be difficult to pick up meaning through so it's better to ask than worry. Glad things a going well. 

In reply to Appleseed :

Eh. Sorry, Appleseed. I've had way too many military friends/acquaintances make posts like that before they killed themselves. I therefore tend to assume the worst. 
 

Did I mention I'm really glad you're doing well???

I appreciate it guys.

Bro-in-law surprised us with "Curry in a Hurry" delivered for dinner as a thank-you. I did not know I wanted curry for dinner until I opened the container and the smell hit me. Oh man, I demolished some curry for dinner.

This would be more of a win if I could weld and I didn't have to pay what a farmer in northwest Iowa (appropriately) charges for these things, but a Deck Dolly is the shiznit for moving and storing mower decks.  

With a 54" deck at home and a 62" deck at the clinic (which is best removed when using the loader) these things sure make my life easier.

Appleseed said:

I feel bad, because of all the crap that's happened in the past few years, that you guys were worried.  Looking back on it, yeah, I can see that that could be viewed like a jump off a building/dance with a train post. I was like no, no, no, this is good. Like really good.

In for a penny, in for a pound. I'm glad it's positive.