We ended up with an even dozen tonight.

I felt like the guys at the other end of the table were in another zip code.

Well, I'm here. Waiting on a really big table outside.

Philip's car is here. Ken is supposed to be here. But, I don't see either of them!

I did think about buying a whole car for about 3 minutes. Then I remembered doing that with the Festiva, and how much it sucked having a parts car sitting around for 2 months. Right now, I've got a line on a 20k mile 2017 engine in Riverview. It's listed for $645, and I asked if they could discount ...

Great info, Ken, I'll keep that in mind! :lust: Today was spent more dealing with the truck. (okay, and being lazy, and dealing with some FAST registration stuff, and working on a course for 11/17 late last night...) Decided that since it was a little slow cranking a couple times recently, including...

We have the original British Dan, Dan the Impostor, and Mustard Dan. No confusion at all!

BTW, I'm off Wednesday and Friday. I'll be pulling engine accessories, maybe the front bumper and hood, etc. If anyone is bored one of those days, let me know. I always find it easier to get my butt off the couch when I have company!

Rawkkrawler wrote:I'm seriously considering a 2 week in a row appearance.

We've domesticated Dassatti!

Yeah, I would expect so.

Thanks, Mike!

We'll be pulling the busted engine out of the Mirage this Saturday! Starting at 8:30am, probably working until no later than 4pm. Hopefully, it won't take that long. And we'll be having lunch somewhere in there. This will be at my place in Safety Harbor. PM me if you need the address. Reply if you'r...

9am? Earlier? Later?

Playing games with dealer service departments and car manufacturers is not my idea of a good time. I'm not that guy. I'd rather do the work myself, know it's done right, and be done with it... with no delays and no fuss. I still like the Mirage. And this experience will get me more familiar with the...

A dual-mass flywheel is also a lot more expensive, and this is one of the cheapest cars you can buy. Flywheel should be just basic flywheel like this one . All of the electronics are the same for 2017. They just changed the cams and a few other parts to reduce friction. They did change the exhaust m...

My weekend is open. Any preference for Saturday or Sunday?

If it's a factor... Cathy's going to be baking stuff on Sunday for a bake sale. Nudge, nudge. Wink, wink.

Well, we found one thing you can't do in the Mirage. (I mean, besides accelerate, or pick up chicks) Shifting from 2nd to 1st at 54 mph doesn't seem to be something the valvetrain approved of. The solution to that problem warrants it's own thread . Hopefully, we'll get a newer 2017+ engine with that...

Oh, btw, I did look at my warranty. The 10yr/100k powertrain warranty is non-transferrable. So, I don't have that. But, the car actually IS still under the 5yr/60k factory warranty at only 40k miles. But, it clearly states that things like "racing" and "abuse" are not covered. I could take it to a M...

I guess it's time to start a thread for this. A missed shift put the Mirage into first gear at 54 mph. I estimate that could have spun the engine as far as 10,800 rpm. After that, the engine stalled, and will not restart. The engine spins freely, as if there is zero compression. No unusual noises th...

Yeah, I mentioned the State Champs to Steve. But, realistically... probably not more than 5-10 FAST folks are going to go up to the Firm for that. That should leave enough people in town to help. Its not like we need 50 people, or anything.

Incentive for Loren to design slower courses!

I think we've all flubbed a shift on more than one occasion. It's really easy to do in a Miata because the transmission and the whole drivetrain are tied together, and if you have weak engine mounts, the SHIFTER moves with the engine. So, 3rd gear (and every other gear) is in a slightly different pl...