superhawk996

Was he pissed about it, or just sharing what he'd found? You lucked out, just one more month and that could have been your problem. I'd say that I'm shocked he didn't inspect it before buying, but I've sold several cars to people that didn't inspect or take a drive before handing over the $. I had one that didn't even open the car door. He and his buddy walked around the car a few times and looked through the windows, then handed me the asking price. He had about an hour drive home and as he was about to start it he asked "is it ok on the freeway, it doesn't overheat or anything?" "It drives fine at any speed, no issues, and you can enjoy the A/C." "Oh wow, it actually works?"

It's now closer to Ebay prices. Figure out what you'll net from them, set the price there, and the odds of a sale will likely increase.

Imagine the WTF and smile with a 30-40% boost in power. It's been a few days, probably due for another battery charging and blow-off valve cleaning.

If you compress the spring while it's in the truck it'll probably allow removal without removing the upper arm. Installing the compressor while the suspension is loaded eliminates all or most of the work of cranking the compressors. Another option may be to hammer out the lower mounting studs allowing the bottom of the shock to slide out instead of having to be lifted out, that could eliminate the need to compress the spring. If you don't want to transfer the springs and ends, you can buy shocks that come fully assembled with the springs ready to install. The lower bolts on most, maybe all, aftermarket shocks aren't pressed in like the OE ones so if the old one slips out with the studs removed, the new one will slip in.

She might have been and just not letting them run long enough, I've known a few people that killed batteries that way. They take out more than they put back by not letting it run.

A leaking shock is no biggie, especially if it's the kind of leak I usually see after a shop inspection where it's just damp. If it's dripping down the side, then you should start planning for a replacement. No need to do all 4, but doing the pair is highly recommended.

Just checked, you're right. I drove it today, just to make sure the battery stays topped off of course. Actually, I have a green light to rape use it as much as I want to, but rarely take the opportunity. My other cars were blocked in, and it had been parked for about a week so it needed a drive. It's fucking retarded. If I had any use for a nice sedan it would be tempting. There's a decent chance that they'll hold value better than the average modern car. This is the last year of production, and from my understanding, America is only getting 440 Stingers in the various configuratons. I think this is second from the top tier, the AWD version being above it, but I don't know if enthusiasts rank AWD as better or not. I know that with my Porsche the AWD version has a lower market value even tho it was more expensive. Driving on cold tires and roadway today I thought, this would be great with more traction. But stabbing it in 2nd gear and having it step out before hooking up is fun too. I think I'd find the bottom of my citation budget if I owned it.

It belongs to my friend/roomate. He was longing to be back in an S class Mercedes and bought an S560. He'd keep the Stinger if his bitchy Cuban landlord would allow it, too many vehicles to house other people's addictions. Pretty sure it's a 2022 and has about 50k miles, it's been half across the country a few times. It's dark grey metallic, I can shoot photos if anyone's interested, burn outs by request also. It supposedly does around 500hp on the hottest tune using E-30 gas, blending normal E-10 with E-85. On normal E-10 it's mid-high 400s. Stock is round 360HP I think. The mods are all external; intercooler, air intakes, blow-off valves, cat-back exhaust, race plugs, probably some other stuff. He chose the quiet exhaust, it's audible, but mellow. All the stock parts are included. The front brakes were also upgraded when they started acting funny, a common problem with the American version these. All it probably needed was different brake pads, but he went with racy rotors, maybe calipers also. The stock brake parts are probably gone. The shop that did the mods specializes in these cars, there's always a bunch of Stingers there. They also did some minor visual mods. Part of the taillights/reflectors are ugly, they were painted to match the body, it's a small thing, but makes a huge difference. Maybe some other little stuff like that. Ahh, it was partially de-badged, the remaining ones were replaced with the Korean badging, looks like a funky E, only Stingerfiles recognize what it is. And sticky rear tires to make use of the power. Shit, the list is longer than I initially thought.

I had intended to check the ashtray and lighter for signs of use, but forgot. Next time. The owner won't care because he smokes (Randy), but he's chosen not to smoke it in....yet. On it's first day here he gave it to Ashley to go to work in and he drove the Stinger. She didn't know he wasn't smoking in it so I cleaned the evidence.

My buddy just bought a '21 Mercedes S560, I was shocked to find an ashtray and lighter in the dash, and it's surprisingly large. Shit, maybe it was Snoop Dogg's car and he special ordered the super smoker package.

A bright shiny red oil drain bolt....Fuckin Puerto Ricans.

Carb to cylinder boots, or carb to airbox?

Just to be clear; the gasket didn't start out brittle, it became brittle in use. When new it acts like a common O-ring. I think it got a little less brittle from the soak, but hard to say since it became much more flexible. Maybe it technically became less brittle because it can bend much farther before breaking, but it doesn't seem to take much more effort to break it. The material type and its environment in service are both likely to make a difference in how well they 'rejuvenate'. The carb boots get mild heat, gas vapor when parked, gas spray/mist while running, and no oil unless there's a spill or an oiled air filter. The grommet and gasket I did get lots more heat and constant oil exposure in use. I assume the gasket is nitrile like most O-rings, maybe the grommet also. No clue what the boots are made of. There's also a difference in manufacturing processes and chemistry between the 52 year old boots and the much newer car parts I did. Plus there are lots of different plasticizers so even if you know the part is nitrile rubber, it could be different from another nitrile part. I'm slightly tempted to build something to soak the tires, decent chance they're original. Unfortunately, it would be a big waste of money and time since they couldn't be trusted no matter what they did. Every time I'm tempted to crank up the speed all I can think about is what'll happen if a tire shreds. But I do know that the back tire is good enough to get the front one off the ground.

I've run cheepos and high end, and sadly, the high end were the only ones I found useful at all for my eyes, especially in dust where all they seemed to do was light it up and create a glare. I also seem to be more finicky than others with LED lights, or maybe other people just refuse to admit/acknowledge how much most of them suck. I've driven a bunch of vehicles with cheap/midgrade and thought they sucked. The Baja Designs I had on my Jeep were great, but stupid $$$$$. The VisionX were also very good and I think less $$$. Rigid is good and $$-$-ish. My friend put a $1500 Baja Designs bar on his RZR and it survived an estimated 100 miles, 1/3 of it is flickering, but I think that's not representative of their usual quality and they have a lifetime warrantee so it shouldn't be an issue.

Another rubber test, and it was a fail. It's a VTEC solenoid gasket off a 2009 Honda with almost 300k, I assume it's original. It was hard and brittle, now it's soft and brittle, and enlarged. I had no use for it, already replaced it, just testing. Both of those pieces were the same size, the shorter fatter piece was soaked. I don't know if the different reactions between this and the R5's carb boots are because of the material or because of the environment each lived in.

Yes. The smoker is probably a crackhead bike.

I wondered when I saw the tool set, but it doesn't state that he replaced them. The dude's got a CNC mill in his garage so there's no telling how nutty he is. The bike is probably more perfect than he describes.

Probably not, unless you could buy perfectly balanced tires.

The plume of smoke from the exhaust. It could be steam, but it looks too dark to be.

Two stroke Bird?

IT'S AN XR650R BITCH!!! Way faster than those stupid motoGP junkers.

The couple I've seen using a smaller diameter tube had it supported on small bearings, they barely moved, most of the rotation was happening at the wheel bearings. BUT they were using galvanized pipe which is rough so it might have been 'binding' the bearings it was supported on. Watching it left me wondering how well it worked, unfortunately they didn't actually show the balancing being done, they were describing how to do it. You went to the extreme, probably not necessary, but it can help. I kinda did. Keep in mind that there are things the racers do that aren't good for the street, and it's possible that their wheels and tires are more perfect than what we buy. But I have a hard time imagining how their balancing technique wouldn't translate well to street riding. Next time I'm at a dealership I'll try to remember to see if new bikes are single or dual plane balanced.

I've seen photos of MotoGP guys static balancing in the pits which implies that it's good enough. With such a skinny wheel, it would be interesting to know if it'll get offset weights. I've read that shops use machines just because it's faster and easier. If you get a chance, talk with the shop about it and see if they'll give you any useful info about static vs. dynamic. With a machine, I believe the proper terms will be single plane and dual plane balancing.

I've seen it done with a smaller diameter tube, but I've never done it so I don't know how precise it is.

Or put it on the bike's axle. If the seals ride on spacers, leave those out to minimize friction.