Smokey

I'm so nerd-happy....this crap totally made my day!

Damn Matt....late notice is right. I doubt I'm making any days in the FD this year, but it'd be nice to take the M3 out later in the season.

Thank you. I aim to please.

...so.....public school?

HEAVY ass bikes, especially by today's standards. They also don't carry their weight very well and feel bulky when you're riding it. When they came out, they were the business for a year or two. That was also when everybody was coming out with big twin sport bikes, so it was the new-hotness. They're fun to ride, and twins sound great and have good useable power. Unfortunately, if you're going to be consistently comparing them to GSXR1000s and R1s....you're going to be disappointed. A newer liter bike will destroy a TL.

I'm with Tim in the use of the term "rat rod" getting completely overused, stretched, and now is somewhat useless. ONE of the generally accepted origins of it comes from the car club the Shifters out of CA. They were pretty much the first to use the term in publication at least. They said that they refered to their rides as rat rods in comparing them to the Rat Bike phase of the 70s and 80s where people would put together bikes with whatever parts they could find laying around or get easy access to. It never meant rusted out hunks of crap or fiberglass cars with rust colored primer on them. It merely meant the car was built to the best of their ability with the pieces they could most easily afford and find. I think people have taken that far away from the original meaning lately. as for the project, I totally dig it. I hope to some day long down the road have a late 20s-early 30s roadster in steel. In the pictures, he casually blocks the entire rear view of the drivetrain with the angle he took it at, using the truck bed to block everything....so what's there exactly? As Tim mentioned the body and frame in good shape would net pretty much as much as your bike, but it also looks like the front corners on the body need some love. If the drivetrain is in place and not f-d, I'd say take the deal.

Unfortunately I have already taken out the radio in the 6 before, not too bad, just a pain. I also forgot to ask, does your cable come with both the iPod connector and a headphone jack for a generic MP3 player? I've seen some that do and some don't.

do you know if the Audio Link will work with a Mazda 6 radio? What sort of information does it display on the little radio screen when it's playing? Does it charge the ipod while it's being used?

cool to see AJ. I got a GoPro for christmas, but unfortunately haven't been able to spend much time playing around with it. The suction cup mount is cool though and really sticks to about anything. Hopefully I can string together enough crap for a video of one of my cars this year. The biggest gripe I can see to the camera is the lack of support for an external mic, but you can't beat its durability.

are we allowed to suggest the Quattroporte? I think it's one of the best looking cars on the road these days.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/Bikes002.jpg had a KLX, nothing too crazy on it. Big bars, tall seat foam, BBR springs front and rear, big pegs, manual clutch conversion. As you can see I mostly rode it in the big parking lot at work with some other guys, so I put the Pilot Sport scooter tires on it. Eric, let me know if you get a track going in your back yard....but then again, don't cause I'll want another KLX.

I think i might have one out in the garage, I can check tomorrow. What does a good condition one go for these days?

HA...funny cause it's true! If I go, I'll be sure to take the prize for the most smoke and oil blown everywhere...who's got my trophy for that? Honest question, are you guys meeting in the actual Sonic lot somewhere or in the lot behind the sonic?

hahah....Sol is killing me in this one. Nice 3 it presents itself very well, and +1 for auto-x-ing it. Like the Evo too, what company gave him that as a company car?

PLEASE put a cage in this one. Jason is going in the right direction. you've done a FC, what about a FA/FB? They're noticably lighter. I wouldn't see any trouble getting one to the 2K mark.

definitely sorry to hear. Hopefully their testicles will fall off soon.

M50 as stated previously...good motors....except for that plastic water pump housing at the front. Rob posted a picture of it, you're going to want to replace the housing while you're in there. There are aftermarket ones available in metal that won't crack like stock. You will also want to take a good look at the radiator while you're at it, because the stock ones like to break the stock plastic necks where the hoses connect....usually about the same time this leak happens from the water pump housing (that's where you're going for the thermostat)....which also leads me to that point....replace the water pump while you're in there.

honestly tough call. If your goal is to go outright fast, then keep the vette. The vette will always out perform the camaro for anywhere near the same amount of money put into them from this point. BUT...while I really admire your C5, it's nowhere as cool of a car as the camaro was/is. I obviously never drove the camaro, but if it's as much fun as it looked in your old videos, I'd say bag it...it won't be as fast, but you probably won't care either if you're having that much fun with it. so...if you want to chase down and post FTOD (not counting open wheelers) at most auto-x events you go to then keep the vette. If not, go camaro.

dunno if my Mazda will see the track this year, but if you know that I own one can I bring my M3 out?

I'm going to try to not go toooooo sideways with you on this one, but hear me out. In the talks we've had I can tell that you care about that car quite a bit. To the financial advisor it's just a number. To you it's memories filled with that great sound and the feel of finding a great open road. There are many different justifications you can make for either decision. If you want to sell, you'll say "there are plenty more cars out there, and I can always buy/build another one like it later." Or you can remember a past car you sold that you still wish you had again, and don't want this one to be the same way. I honestly believe that the car means more to you mentally/emotionally than it's worth on the open market.

I try to do as much work on my cars as possible. Mostly to save money so that I can fix/mod other things and stretch my dollar as far as possible...but I also get some enjoyment of learning new things and not always feeling like I need to rely on others (except the fact that I can't do anything in my own garage and have to steal others ) On my FD, I'd rather F it up myself than pay someone to do the same which seems like my only 2 options lately. I replaced the transmission last year with the help of Erik letting me use his lift and trans jack, and I intend on changing the turbos this year as well as putting in my water injection system. The other cars it depends on what needs done. I'll do brakes, suspension, and basic motor work, but anything more complex than the valve adjustment we did on Andy's e46 and I'd likely be paying someone to do it. I also usually will pay someone to diagnose my car if there's a noise or leak that I don't have the time or equipment to track down.

HOT.

you definitely shouldn't feel any shame for posting this. I kept the flier from the gearhead gathering for this and would love to go, but unfortunately I'll be in Lexington for my niece's birthday.

nobody's done this for years. I can't honestly believe why people still talk about it. ^^ Correct. Carl Zipf on 5th. Get a blank from a dealer, Take the ignition out (you'll have to remove the top of the triple tree) and they'll cut it to match.

BOGEY. I was hoping for his sake that it was just quick and done. Definitely sorry to hear that wasn't the case.