First actual work was rear pads and rotors on my wifes VW. Did the fronts in December. Its very true that a lift certainly makes these type of jobs a whole lot easier.
Since the water pump decided to turn a from a slow seep into an actual leak we are moving forward with the IS38, downpipe, clutch and intercooler along with intake walnut blast. Supposed to take it to about 350+/- hp and tq which will be a major upgrade from about from the 170hp its at.
Car is at 96k right now. Hoping to get another 100k and 5 years out of it as her daily.
Did the intercooler tonight to prep for the turbo upgrade. Pain in the butt getting to it since its sandwhiched between the AC compressor and radiator. The whole front end has to come off. I give credit to Unitronic. The new intercooler fits like a glove and utilized all the factory mounting points. Shame it will never get seen.
Had the IS38 turbo (Golf R), downpipe etc upgrade done in the VW, aside from an initially faulty flywheel and a throw out bearing that's noisier than I'd like I am pretty happy with it. Went with a Cobb AccessPort with Equilibrium Tuning to handle the tuning. It's quite quick now.
Did the Gambler 500 with a good group in the Grand Cherokee (and my buddies Miata we built). Aside from some new noises and a healthy trans leak it's no worse for the wear.
Started trying to clean up the yard as well. A friend's car got totalled so he's driving the rusty Impreza and the old Gambler Lincoln is heading to the junkyard. The lift came in super handy in this case since we wanted to keep the 5.13 8.8 LSD rear and tires off it. Little sketchy lowering it onto the trailer since it had to be blocked up pretty high to clear the fenders it went off without a hitch.
Celebrated my Dad's 80th and he drove my 79 RX7 around despite my Mom not thinking it was the best idea. He did perfect especially not having driven a stick in about ten years. He had an RX4 (as well as a Cortina and a Manx) before falling into boring Buicks by the time I came around. He has always been supportive of my love of cars and racing so it was a nice day. Also had a little back yard kart fun with my little brother who had come down.
After not touching the Rx-8 LS swapped shell in my driveway for about 5 years I decided to pick up a running one.
Did a fly and drive Daytona to Ohio for a 5.3 swapped one. Only real downside is it's an automatic. It's pretty well sorted overall and I've got a T-56 if the auto dies or becomes unbearable.
Trip went well short of a sticking caliper pin we sorted out at my Brother in Laws place in West Virginia. Absolutely beautiful drive.
Temp creeps up to 225 or so when sitting and with the AC on. Apparently you don't have to worry until the 240ish but I didn't want to test the theory away from home so windows down it was.
Forgot to post a picture of the engine bay. Fits pretty well all things considered. The "cold air" dryer tubing is temporary while he was monitoring intake temps. Draws from the lower front grill and apparently made a noticeable difference. I'll likely try to remake it a little more permanent. I don't want to throw the actual intake down there. Space is tight and hydro locking is a real thing with Florida puddles. 
Ran into my first actual issue. Did a little burnout U turn, stomped on the gas down a straight then off abruptly. When I hit the pedal again the throttle cable popped off. Couldn't get the throttle to rev by hand and everything was obviously hot under the hood so I idled it home through the neighborhood.
It's an aftermarket throttle body. A bunch of trouble shooting and fiddling found that the idle adjustment screw likely backed off enough and the blade will bind on the inner part body. Adjusted that and it works fine. Since I wasn't happy with the gas pedal height I'm going to take this opportunity to install a Subaru gas pedal someone makes a nice little mounting bracket for. 
