(12) Great Garage Weather

First off, I'd like to take a moment to celebrate the passing of a very cold February. I'm already beginning to like March with more moderate temperatures, and especially, for this weekend of temps in the mid 60's!

Friday after work, I drove home in the Subaru with the sunroof open! It was refreshing. I pulled into the driveway and opened the garage door. As the door raises, my eyes are drawn straight to the bright yellow Buell Firebolt motorcycle, almost as if it were purposely seducing me. I ask Amber if she'd like to go for a little ride, and she was up for it. We suited up in our safety gear and let the Harley V-Twin engine sing. We rode around Franklin a little bit, and then I decided I'd take one of my favorite routes, state road 44 to Martinsville. We rode about 15 miles towards Martinsville on SR44, enjoying the view and curvy road until we noticed some daunting clouds rolling in. We decided to turn around and head back for home. We still got a good hour of riding in, and it makes me very anxious for more good weather, and some leaves on the trees!

Saturday was such a beautiful day. I got up around 8am and went straight to the garage and opened the garage door. It was a perfect balance of temperature and humidity. I had nothing planned for the day, and decided I'd spend the day cleaning up the garage and tending to some automotive chores. I started by pulling all the vehicles out into the driveway. Then with the push-broom I swept up all the loose dirt and leaves. Some cat litter to soak up oil the famous Chrysler oil spots under the Neon, and the floor is now ready for a scrubbin'. With the hose hooked up to my utility sink, I presoaked the floors, and then added the orange degreasing soap. Every inch of the floor got scrubbed down, and then rinsed out the doors. Finally a squeegee finishes off the floor, pushing the excess water outside. About 30 minutes later, the floor is dry and the vehicles come back inside.

I decided I'd break this clean floor in by replacing the suspension on the race car. It still has the factory struts with about 80,000 miles on them, and a set of Mopar High Rate performance coilsprings that have been in use for about 20,000 miles. The suspension is still holding up pretty well, but being that the Neon was still a daily driver I had went with a balance between performance and comfort. Now that the Neon is primarily just a weekend racer, it's time to get a little more serious towards the performance end. I got in on a group buy back in 2005 on a set of KSport fully adjustable coilovers. This suspension is much more tailored for the track, as the spring rates are almost 3 times as stiff as the Mopar springs, and the shocks are 36-way rebound and dampening adjustable, as well as the ride height being fully adjustable by about 4 inches. Not to mention the weight savings of about 12 pounds per unit. This allows for much finer tuning of the suspension on the racetrack, and to adjust for different conditions.

Also being upgraded is the rear sway bar, from the stock 15mm bar to a 19mm bar from Eibach. I also have a 24mm bar for when I need even more control in the back end, but for now I'm going to start with the Eibach. I am also installing front and rear strut tower braces from Megan Racing to prevent chassis flexing under hard corning conditions.

I started by putting the entire car on jackstands to get the suspension up to a comfortable working level. The air impact gun made quick work of removing the lugnuts, and the wheels were off in no time. I started with the front suspension, removing the old strut/springs and bolting in the coilovers. I also fitted and installed the strut tower brace. Then on to the rears for the same process, and then replacing the rear sway bar and end link hardware with sturdier aluminum pieces. Finally, I reattached the brake line brackets and tested the steering travel to make sure there were no interference issues. Overall it was a fairly simple procedure, with only a few snags with some rusted and broken bolts. I took my sweet time and finished just in time to come in and get cleaned up for dinner.

We had dinner with another couple that we went to school with at the Hooters restaraunt in Greenwood. The gal's name is Jeana, and has been Amber's best friend for years. Her husband, Andrew, went to school with me, in the same class. I haven't seen him since high school. It was nice to see them again and enjoy some friendly conversation over Hooters chicken wings. Afterwards, Amber and I walked to the PetCo just across the parking lot to look at fishies and aquarium supplies. We got some ideas on a few things, but noticed that its much cheaper to order online, so the only thing I purchased was an 'Animal Planet' book on freshwater aquariums.

Sunday was just a relaxing day of sleeping in, grocery shopping, getting a haircut, and running some errands. We had a bargain lunch at Steak & Shake courtesy of some coupons I got in the mail. I picked up a small 1.5 gallon fish tank at Walmart for $20 that came with a filter, heater, air pump, light, food, and water treatment. After reading the book I got last night, I learned that it is essential to have a small tank for quarantining new fish and sick fish. This allows you to keep new fish separate for a couple weeks as they grow strong, and to identify any sickly or diseased fish before you add them to your community tank and infect your whole collection. It is also used for treating a sick fish from your community tank. I also picked up 10 Tetra fish to get started in the new tank, but all but one died. I should have known better than to get fish from Walmart. Maybe they were in shock from the change in atmosphere, or perhaps the city water in Franklin isn't fish friendly (although I treated it). Oh well, I bet the one that lasted is enjoying the pool all to himself!

Update on the big 75 gallon tank: I got most of my supplies in from PetCo, and got the gravel in, along with several fake plants and a phony coral rock. I lined the front of the tank with 3" foreground vegetation, and put the 18" plants on one side of the tank. The book says some fish like plantlife, while others like caves and toys, so I figured I'd go half and half. Plants on one side, and a jungle gym on the other. I found a really cool castle at PetCo, but ordered it online to save $10. Hopefully by next weekend I'll be ready to add some fish! Stay tuned!

Hope you enjoy the pictures that go along with the story, and remember to click on the slideshow to view the pictures much larger!

Until next time...