AudiOn19s

great job, looking good!

Yes accidents will cause more of an increase than minors. Each company will be a little different in how much more though. Age of a particular violation has an effect too. Insurance companies can merit rate for an accident And minors for 36 months but it's a decreasing surcharge as the accident or violation gets older. ...so don't be suprised if your rate with the fresh minor vs your 3 yr old accident is about the same

do them make them small enough to drill the pilot hole on a bolt that's probably 6mm in diameter? or am I better with the one stage dealy? Again it's not siezed in the hole, I broke the bolt off trying to over-tighten to stop a leak. I know I know...

Looking for suggestions of products that are worth a damn at extracting broken bolts. I have a set for rounded bolt heads but this particular bolt snapped the head off as I was tigntening it down. The good news is it's not siezed in there, just broken off to where I can't grab onto it with anything. Hoping to find out what works best for others here before going to purchase something to extract it with. Bolt is fairly small if it makes a difference. Andy

[rant] F' Mercedes. They probably put the same shitty airmatic shocks on that car that they put on the f'ing E55 that's sitting in my garage slammed on the ground because one of them decided to blow out last night. [/rant]

It is kinda cool. Kills it that you can't drive it on the street though. Stripper poles bring nothing but good...should be a standard feature in all new home builds

Welcome. Great car. To this day I wish we would have bought an M5 instead of our E55. Andy

Sorry to hear about this DJ. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

Size of the pad depends on the size of the baking plate....but you can change out the backing plate also. My pads of choice are Lake Country. I genearlly don't use anything bigger than 6" because it allows me to use them on both the rotary and the orbital. They make the foam for most of the big on-line retailers which is nice because color and cut association is pretty consistant. They have a few different designs but it basically boils down to user preference and which gimiky thing will sell the best. Genearlly you'll want some of their Orange cutting pads, White polishing pads and grey/black finishing pads. There are levels inbetween also but these 3 are the basic staples that you want at your disposal. GM paint is generally pretty hard so you might think about picking up some light cut wool while you're at it to make your life easier. Again Lake country has a great light cut wool pad (purple) that is fairly safe to use when compared to traditional twisted wool pads for heavy cutting. The purple wool pads actually run at a cooler temp than cutting foam will. Another light cut wool I like is Micro-Surface's Black lambs wool pads....but they're harder to source and genearlly means ordering from a second source so the purple Lake country jobbies should work for you. ...and while I'm at it if the Z-PC is the only abrasive polish you've got your also in for a long haul there. It's a great mid-cut and does OK on a rotary but tends to flash / dry out pretty quick with heat. Meguiars has a couple of new abrasives that cut really well and finish decent at the same time. M105 for heavy cut M205 for finishing work. Careful with the speed on the High speed buffer. Nothing more than about 1500rpm while you're learning. Better to error on the side of caution and do the work 2-3 times than burn through something and have to paint it. Working on hard-ass GM paint is also a nice cushion to have. Andy

Cheap aluminum jobbie from Harbor Freight. It's lasted 4 years with little or no drama. Probably needs replaced (leaking fluid) but used it last night and it still managed to do the job. Only jack I could find that would actually fit under my lowered cars. Won't lift the highest but that wasn't a requirement for me. They do have a couple of sizes though depending on your needs. I think the one I have was listed in their flyer last month for like $59.

I agree DEKA if you want to go dry cell. Big crank.com has a good selection at decent prices. They're not great in the cold if you're not driving the car every day though. My 18lb deka in the M3 makes it about 3 days in the cold before it won't start the car any longer. For a DD I'd just get the best mix of cheap and good warranty through the local parts stores. I think the battery in my Audi is from AutoZone and is 6 years old and still puts up with me leaving doors and trunk open for hours on end while I'm detailing cars with no issues. Think it cost me $60 back in the day. Benz needs one and I'm going to go the same route with that car.

Buy the Meguiars, clay magic, or mothers clay bar kit and it's got all the instructions you need. Follow them to the "T". Little or no pressure, keep the surface lubricated, let the bar glide across the paint. If it's still not completely smooth continue with more passes not more pressure. Polish and or Wax after.

I tried to register yesterday for 10-11th and couldn't. E-mail Dave Royce about possible slots still available?

hot

MAE Monoblocks are pimp when done correctly. I dig them. I haven't forgotten to call you about the bumper. Hopefully we can hook up next week and get that sorted. Andy

There's been a couple of threads on here in the past on this topic. You don't need anything special and can do it right in your driveway My method: Get engine warm but not hot soak with Simple green and let sit for 5 minutes. Take the end off of your hose and rinse with no pressure avoiding alternator and CAI if you have one. (best to wrap them in plastic first). If stubborn areas remain re-soak with cleaner and aggitate with brush or cloth of your choosing to get the dirt loose. Rinse again.

Price Drop Fronts $175 Rears $75

Slicks slicks...non-DOT tires. Had Pirelli's on it last time I saw the car. He gets take-offs from various ALMS teams.

...fixing pothole damage for the 2nd time this winter!!!!!!!!!! and I don't have heat in my garage either not the work I'd like to be doing on the cars.

It's almost sad, but still cool that the GT3 is a pretty common car for these competitions across the pond.

haha the good old days.

lower it first...

FWIW...as others have stated the job isn't THAT bad, it's just a little time consuming. Sounds like you've probably got the technical knowledge and tools for the job. I did mine the first time around. It's due again in <1000 miles and despite having the parts in the garage, I'm finding it hard to force myself to do it this time around without any heat in the garage. If it was nicer I'd do it in an instant...but it's not so I may have to farm out the work this time around. Dexcool vs. G12....I've had Dexcool in my car for the past 2-3 years with no issues...179K miles. Andy

Putty: Check with HR to make sure you're having the right amount of taxes taken from each pay. The first year my wife and I got married we both changed our tax witholding status with our HR departments. What they didn't tell us is that when you file as Married they automatically assume you're head of the household and you get more back in each pay check. However when that's assumed for both parties it makes for owing quite a bit of money at the end of the year. We had to pay a pretty large bill the first year despite us both filing with 0 withholdings. We went back to the HR departments and found out there's an option for marital status for married but being taxed at the single rate. This is actually that status that we needed to be at and have had decent returns every year since. Paychecks are smaller but it saves us the headache at tax time. That first year hurt though. Andy

Great pictures. No shots of the BMW 1000RR?