Musk ///M Pt. 8
I pulled the trans. My shifter had been flopping so badly I was breaking the trim and wore a hole in the shift boot.
The Rogue engineering selector rod had a bolt snapped off in one end and the linkage was rotating around it. Had the broken end fallen out I would have been stuck bad. This was 50% of the play so I kept going.
Detents replaced. I didn’t change the top ones because the fore and aft shifting felt fine. The side ones were so cooked the plastic had melted off the metal caps and it was seeping tranny fluid.
Knicks won. Some guy at auto zone convinced me to buy this James Dean model.
I noticed a lot of oil in the bellhousing so I pulled the clutch down. Oil was seeping past the flywheel bolts. So I ordered a rear main seal. I picked up the paint and clear as well.
Rear main replaced. Flywheel and clutch torqued. The disk could be replaced but I don’t have the time right now.
Shifter pulled down to replace shifter elements.
Trans up. Exhaust and ds as well. I need to add engine oil, change the filter, bolt up the under brace, and pull the panels for paint but it keeps raining randomly.
I did also fill some indents on the overs that I did not use for bolts.
Musk Pt. 7
I had to trim more off the rear quarters to give enough room for the tire.
I’m blown I went too high on the passenger side but it really doesn’t matter since it’s getting covered. A lot of the paint is peeling up with the tape. Time for final welding and seam sealer.
I added well nuts to the rear and widened the holes for bolts. Also test fitted the old lip. In going to have to trim the edges to get it to fit.
I’ll probably order paint this week.
Musk ///M Pt. 6
The new bumper guides and 3D printed spacers showed up so I could finally fit the bumper caps. The spacers help kill the bumper sag. I have an early model M3 that didn’t come with the Kevlar crash bar so fitting bumpers can be a pain.
Then I started finalizing the fender positioning. Widening the initial self tapping screw holes for the well nuts. I used a scrap peice of quarter panel to test to make sure the drill bit was exact.
Took a break to fit the wing to the trunk. Still needs some massaging.
Cutting the fiberglass for the fender markers and trim.
Musk ///M Pt. 5.5
I test fit the wheels. The rears need another 15mm spacer or so and a bit more clearance on the drivers side.
The fronts are still a bit aggressive. I wanted to run a 235/40/18 but it didn’t look like it will clear.
Musk ///M Pt. 5
Drivers quarter fitted. Final sealing coming up.
I paused to fill the AC , changed the rear wheels, and replace the sideskirt extentions on the G.
Musk ///M Pt. 4
Inspiration:
I finished up the front fenders and sideskirt caps. Then moved on to the rear. What made me feel better about chopping is that when I first got the car I rolled the fenders and didn’t realize there was glue behind the fender lip so it came out wavy. Twice I went to body shops to get it fixed and they just threw mud on it. This last time I spent a lot of money and time with a shop I knew had the capability but they had gotten some Youtubers car at the same time and I became a side project. I had tangent the car 2 states away specifically for the metal work but again I got mud and this was the most yet. You can see the cracks forming and they started less than a year on from the job. The Musk kit was about $6k delivered which was what I paid for paint and body so I was able to justify that I could install and paint the widebody myself and not have to depend on another shop that was just going to waste my time again.
After marking off the cut area I got stuck in. And I was shocked at how thick the body filter was.
I still can’t believe dude didn’t even sand down the paint. He just slung filler. Then called me to come get it.
I thought I took video of me welding but I can’t find it.
Drivers quarter left to do them the front bumper caps and I’ll start sealing up the quarters and installing the well nuts. Rivnuts rarely seat properly and tend to spin in body work.
Musk ///M Pt. 3
I’ve been beating around the bush with cutting into the car. I keep reminding myself it’s just a car and my mileage and mods exempted this one from being worth the crazy prices they are going for.
I Welded the tabs for the front fenders that broke and got them back into position. Test fitted the front overs for the 60th time then finally cut and drilled.
Once all the screws were in place I was surprised with how firm the centers were.
I also mocked up my old LTW wing from my E36. It will be going on my stock metal trunk and I’ll swap between it and the Vorsteiner.
Musk ///M Pt. 2
Got the car in the air. Found some broken tabs on the front fenders that will need Welded. Mapped out the cut lines and test fit the passenger side quarter around the gas cap.
Musk ///M Pt.1
After taking my car all the way to Baltimore twice for paint and body work and getting quarters full of bondo, I finally made the plunge and bought a Musk kit despite it being 2x the cost it was when I first inquired 10 years ago. I plan on installing and painting the aero myself so I don’t need to use a body shop again.
After a weeks vacation I found some motivation to get cracking. I’ve had the kit for about 6 months but too much has been going on and when it wasn’t I lacked motivation for the first time in my life.
The unused Meisters have been teasing me. Too big to fit even the pulled guards I have not been able to run my dream wheels on the car and I refuse to use them as drift spares.
But today I pulled the left side pieces out to formulate a plan.
Musk included a bunch of heat stickers. I’m not sure if I’m going to run them as this car I’ve kept pretty plain. But obviously it’s taking a very different turn so we will see. Might have to let my freak flag fly on this one.
I tried the rear quarter first. Its a bit difficult to locate it exactly but the quality on these parts is great. I will need to pull the trim off then re-install over the overs. The fuel door has to come off on the other side then be installed on top of the over as well. The bumper extention part is pretty simple.
The rear is crazy wide but I’m surprised the front isn’t much wider than stock. I may even have trouble fitting the wheels. The arch is much higher than stock so I’m going to have to be a lot lower. The flare is pretty much level with the hood.
I will need to pull the bumper so I can take the lip off to fit the front bumper extentions. The moldings will need to come off as well. The reflector deletes were glued in unfortunately so I expect paint to come off if I pull them, but I don’t really want to mold deletes, but I also don’t want to cut the bumper pieces to fit around them.
Next move is pulling the molding and locating exactly where the fenders will sit so I can mark the areas to cut.
Re-blackout…
The vinyl on the truck started lifting after I went through a car wash. So I bought an aluminum kit that I think they use for factory options.
I did this while visiting the homie Ryan for the weekend.
Taking a break…
I’m supposed to be taking a break but Darnell asked me to join him at a Piedmont event. So I did and it was fun.
I had to do brakes on the truck and fix a few broken front suspension parts on the G from the last event.
G Akshun…
Some photos from the last Yokai event.
The first set is by the homie Juan of Relax Amigo!
And this shot is my favorite drift related photo.
And some from the MB Drift event.
Bad Times…
Everything I did to the G made it worse. Lost all the oil 3x, the alignment shop did not great, and even the SC didn’t feel right. I also was not feeling right and was the biggest contributing factor to the bad weekend.
The test drive after the alignment did not go well.
Took the SC for day 1. I could not get a handle on it. Lots of spinning. Not sure what the issue is aside from bad head space.
I came home early and put a skid plate on the G. There were deep drop offs and the track was super narrow.
I lost engine oil from one of the fittings on the pull cooler. The car had no self steer and I had cheap tires on the front that started to understeer halfway through the day. More loops and general bad driving.
Gonna take a break for a bit.
G gets lowered…
I was sharing pictures of my bros Juan and Jay’s slammed S13’s and when I looked at my G35 I felt shame. So I ordered rear upper control arms and SPL spherical coil mounts and maxed the coils. I also added a smaller steering wheel, Z1 steering wheel control bracket, an oil cooler, and did pads. There is a 2 day Spring Matsuri I plan to go to on the 7th and 8th at Rockingham so even though I’m lowering the car I want no more than -1.5 camber rear.
New Truck /Blackout…
Thanksgiving day I flew to TX to pick up a new truck. BTW never fly Frontier. I ended up breaking up a fight in the back of the plane.
I had been looking for a few months and missed out on 7 trucks I was going to purchase. So I didn’t wait till after the holiday to try and jump on this one. While I was there I took the opportunity to take some photos in front of the Cowboys stadium, and on the drive home I stipped in to see a homie.
Chrome on darker vehicles seems cheesy to me so I bought some black out parts and installed them this weekend.
Before:
After:
Pride and Shame…
We stood in a loose circle in the parking lot of the Kill Boy lodge. The sun, long gone from the horizon gave way to cool mountain air. Jokes and short stories from the day of Dragon runs lobbed back and fourth across the circle interjected by legends of even better driving roads nearby, and the sound of ranom cars doing night runs. Inevitably the conversation turned to introductions and “what do you drive?”
C6 Z06…
NB Miata…
R32 GTR…
I began to slowly back away trying not to set off anyone’s motion detection.
But then… it was my turn. The name part was simple enough. My usual fake would do…”Hardy Nickerson”. But could I lie about my car? Was it dark enough that when we part, they perhaps wouldn’t recognize?
I drew a blank and accidentally I told the truth.
“G35…”
The group grew quiet.
“…coupe.”
Silence…aside from the nervous crunch of gravel under polotti driving shoes and the sniffel of mouth breathing HPDE enthusiasts. The circle melted closed slightly making my failed position of retreat even more obvious.
“Aight I’m gonna call it a night.” The Z06 owner said with a slight tone of disgust. The rest agreed and retreated to their various vehicles bidding each other goodnight. No one made eye contact with me as if they had just learned I was a carrier of a most highly communicable disease. I waited until they had all pulled out the lot before walking across the street to the remote parking space I had left my pride and shame.
Spec D…
The G35 has been going through passenger side balasts and ignitors since I bought the car. That headlight always collected moisture so my guess was water was getting in through the cracks and killing the ignitor. Then I got into a boof with the homie Kwame at Shennendoah and destroyed the mounts on that same headlight. The light out put was so bad I could barely see at night and recently both main beams went out while I was 40 min from home leaving me to drive home with just the fog lights. I had been looking for a deal on the Spec D lights but finally gave in and paid full price. After installing I see why they cost so much. The difference is drastic.
Back to Cali…
My homie put on an event to promote the next iteration of Gran Turismo. He invited me to see what I could see and possibly network.
Mike Borroughs 288.
#joyofpoo 
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