This marks the beginning of the build for my 2007 Mazdaspeed 3 GT. Bought it off a guy in Fredericksburg who needed the money to settle debts, needless to say got a good deal. It was obvious this car had issues from the get-go, but I found enough redeeming features to feel it was worth the purchase/ potential future issues. Bottom-line, $$$. Also 119K miles.

I purchased the car conditionally, under the guarantee that it be compression and leak-down tested beforehand at a dealership, so the motor wouldn't suddenly Zoom Zoom Boom on me. All tests came back within spec, no obvious signs of impending doom, and away I went.

Thread will be updated in a similar fashion to other projects with timely progress reports/pictures. Formatting to be cleaned up later.

The Good:
-Compression/Leak Tested within spec
-New Clutch and Flywheel
-New Front Axle
-No serious paint issues
-Very minor dings/scratches
-Pulls Hard
-Cold Starts VERY well
-VVTC is taught
-Turbo is somehow still alive
-Has a very amusing HKS SSQV
-Cold Air Intake, also fun.
-Purrs like a kitten at idle, no strange engine noises.


The Bad:
-Previous owner(s) neglected really basic level shit.
-Stupid LED strip lighting all over the interior, some working, some not.
-Wired for some sort of sound system that no longer exists. FML
-Car pulls to the left (Alignment issue) (FIXED)
-TERRIBLE plastidip job on the rims- Thin coating, over-spray onto calipers, etc.
-Headlights
-Right- condensation issues
-Left- Some sort of ticking noise from it, assuming it has to do with the auto-level motor or something like that.
-Awful squeaking and clunk noises from the front and possibly rear. (FIXED)
-Bose speakers sound like shit- possibly swapped and sold, need to check.
-Front right rim is dented, road vibrations at 65 and up. (FIXED-REPLACED)
-Interior, while surprisingly good, has some minor issues, small tear in driver side seat.

Impending Upgrades and Fixes, in order of importance:
-Alignment (FIXED)
-Noise investigation (FIXED)
-Unbend Rim (FIXED)
-Replace rotors and pads, clean calipers (DONE)
-Check out swaybars, endlinks, replace if necessary(DONE)
-Struts, Shocks, and Springs(DONE)
-Transmission fluid change to Ford XT-M5-QS Full Synthetic(DONE)
-Remove small dents from all over (WIP)(NAH)
-Cobb Accessport V3(DONE)
-High Pressure Fuel Pump(DONE)
-Catted/Catless Downpipe
-Exhaust(DONE)
-Front Mount Intercooler
-Budget for Motor/Turbo failure and subsequent build.(LOL)
Pictures of whip go here:

Alright, thought I'd make this a bit easier. Roll Call for the Autocross the next day after the car show!

I've decided to autocross even though I'm going to be in SMF cause brakes and hole saw'd strut towers(that I'm not even using now with the Ground contols lol...)

Who else is going or actually making runs?

This show is always a good time, and it's now back on the UMD campus instead of out in Bowie which is definitely for the better. I'm planning to go, anybody else?

Quote:2015 University of Maryland Spring Meet for Charity
hosted by College Park Tuning

• • Thousands of different cars
  • Dyno Pulls
  • Live DJ

We will be asking for 2 non-perishable food item per person or a $5.00 entry fee. If you forget to bring an item, we will collect a $5.00 entrance fee/donation on your way into the lot. Proceeds collected from admission are going to be donated to Martha’s Table (http://www.marthastable.org).

Location
University of Maryland College Park - Lots 1 and Z

Directions to UMD Lots 1 and Z Layout of the meet
*Expect heavy traffic, we will be trying to move people in/out of the meet as quickly as possible*

Date
Sunday, April 19th, 2015

Time
10:00AM - 4:00PM

Food
UMD food truck will be selling burgers, hot dogs, french fries, and bottled beverages.
Private tailgating is allowed, but public distribution is not. Be Respectful and pick up after yourselves.
No alcohol

Dyno
• $80 for 2 - 3 baseline pulls w/ A/F and printout. FWD or RWD only
• If you are interested in dynoing your car, please send an email to collegeparktuning@gmail.com or follow this Dyno Signup. We are trying to have people pre-register for the dyno.

Reserving Space
The people have spoken and if you want to reserve space for your club or group you need to contact us ASAP and give us an accurate head count by April 14th. We require the entrance fee of $5 per car paid in advance when reserving spaces, but we ensure that clubs get a set amount of spaces together and we will give those clubs priority admittance.
Clubs must arrive in a single group and by 10:30am or their spots will be forfeited

Basic Rules
1. Be respectful of other peoples cars. Please do not touch a persons car without their consent
2. No alcohol
3. No scandalous attire (this is a family event)
4. Chairs are permitted everywhere but no taking up parking spaces with them
5. No saving spaces (group or forum contacts us before hand at collegeparktuning@gmail.com if you would like to organize rolling in as a group and have a select number of spots reserved)
6. No burnouts or anything stupid. Police will be at the event and cameras are rolling 24/7 at UMD

Question thread
[url="http://www.collegeparktuning.com/showthread.php?t=3858"]Question Thread[/url]

If any shops want to sponsor this event and have space just email us @ Collegeparktuning@gmail.com

Sup guys! Getting this in before the OMGWATCHBROZ comments :lol: Picking up another titanium/atomic/ecodrive Citizen for my birthday so just making room in the watch box by selling this off since it won't get much wrist time. This is a great dress or everyday timepiece and I can't stress enough how comfortable it is to wear. Just copy and pasting this description from the WUS forums, here is the link so that you can see more high res pics and I don't have to go through the process of uploading them to photobucket: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://forums.watchuseek.com/f29/fs-citizen-titanium-world-perpetual-atomic-ecodrive-cb0030-56e-1761882.html#post14667490">http://forums.watchuseek.com/f29/fs-cit ... st14667490</a><!-- m -->

Quote:For sale is a beautiful radio-controlled Citizen World Perpetual titanium model (CB0030-56E). I bought this watch in St. Thomas several years ago and it has been worn sparingly in a rotation, usually when I travel. This was the first "nicer" watch I purchased when I first began my journey into watch collecting. Being the titanium version of the CB0030 it is extremely light and is probably the most comfortable to wear of all of the pieces I own. It really is a great travel companion; it syncs up well with the atomic clock and of course like all Ecodrives it does not need regular battery replacement. This particular model has a sapphire crystal. Reason for the sale is that I picked up a Citizen Blue Angels watch for my birthday as a replacement so this one will get even less wrist time going forward.

More watch details: Titanium case with a titanium bracelet. Fixed bezel. Black dial with luminous hands and index hour markers. Dial Type: Analog. Date display at the 3 o'clock position. Quartz movement. Scratch resistant sapphire crystal. Case diameter: 44 mm. Case thickness: 11 mm. Round case shape. Deployment clasp. Water resistant at 200 meters / 660 feet.

Condition: The watch is in excellent shape, I would give it a subjective 9 out of 10. It does have a few typical desk diving marks on the bracelet although you really have to look hard to find them. There is a small ding in the side of the bezel from when a friend's watch bumped into mine. It is barely noticeable unless you are looking for it but it is there and I attempted to capture it in the pictures below. There are no nicks or scratches in the face of the bezel nor are there any on the sapphire glass. I am pretty careful with my watches and this one has been well cared for.

Price: From what I can see the titanium version this watch is mostly unavailable now from most online sources. A few recent stainless steel examples have shown up on here for $200-$220 shipped. The original retail price was $650.00. My asking price is $350.00 shipped and Paypalled. $340.00 shipped for direct bank wire/transfer. Includes watch, extra links, original Citizen box, warranty book, and the paperback & digital manuals (CD-rom).

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.tracknightinamerica.com/">http://www.tracknightinamerica.com/</a><!-- m -->

Has anyone else heard about this? Sounds like SCCA is pushing hard with this program to get new people into the sport. $150 for an hour of track time doesn't sound particularly awesome but it would be kind of cool to be able to take off early one day to get some track time in during the week (assuming you lived within an hour or so of the track). The closest events for us are at PIR (aka Beaverun) and NJMP.

I'm moving to Alexandria with a friend of mine, in about a month. We're looking for some random furniture that neither of us have yet. Figured I'd post up and see if anyone has (or know friends who have) things of interest.

Looking for...

• Dining table
  
• Dining chairs
  
• Barstools (2)
  
• Coffee table
  
• Propane grill

I've been idly curating a playlist for the past few months of... well, i don't even know what genre, "Chill Deep House with Instrumental/Vocals" maybe? Whatever it is, it's great working / garage / driving music for this time of year. Since it's supposed to hit 70 in NOVA today I thought i'd share.

https://open.spotify.com/user/slimklim/p...SmXl1Uck0o

(If you don't already have at least have a free spotify account, sign up, you don't know what you've been missing.)



:thumbup:

What: Watch Furious 7 as a group/shenanigans

When: April 3rd - 5:30PM

Where: R1 parking lot. (Baseball lot)

Hey everyone. The plan is to meet in R1 and drive together to the theater near campus on University BLVD for the 7PM showing of Furious 7. Please buy your tickets in advance so when can all sit together. Meeting in R1 so freshies can catch rides. LEAVING R1 AT 5:45 to pimp through campus in our hip swag wagons. DON'T BE LATE. Line will be long so we want to be in the front.

Do you not really like me? Do you want to be able to laugh when I'm trying install parts on my car and fail? Do you just like being around cars and drinking beer? Do you have no plans over Easter Weekend?

Well you are in luck. This Saturday and.... possibly Sunday I will be finishing up the things I have left to do on my car at Kaan's place (brakes and possibly rear coilovers...) . While also probably finishing last minute things Kaan himself will need done.

I'll let Kaan comment more on times, drinks, etc... but he recommended I just throw this up here to see if anyone wants to join in and hangout.

I'm back!!!! and not in the tech shed. Someone save me some paddock space to newb it up! Pain train in HPDEuno!

who is driving and who is working?