Going Out with a Bang!

I have mixed emotions writing this post. Thrilled, because I’m going to share a “Once in a Lifetime” event, & a little sad, because this will be my last blog post. But 1^st, we’ll talk about the fun stuff.

Over a year & a half ago, I was talking to my buddy Tyson. We were talking cars, like we always do, & something popped into my head, like it always does, & I said, “What if we coordinated rolling 555,555.5 miles on our cars at the same place & time?” And then there was silence. Had anybody ever done something like that before? Quite a feat, for sure, but could it even be done? We live almost 1,000 miles apart. Where would we do it? When would we do it? The questions starting coming fast as we both started to really think about it.

That’s how it all started & from then, to Oct of 2017, we planned it out. “Insane” you say? You Betcha! But what else are we gonna do with life? Just work? HA! NOPE! There’s nothing wrong with a little insanity once in a while. It’s what keeps us feeling young & shakes things up.

We decided on St. George, Utah for the big event. Tyson got to his stopping point well before I did. He was most of the way already, but it was fine as he was able to park his Legend Coupe & drive his multitude of other transports. Me? Well, I was the little engine that could. I just kept plowing along, until one day, my odometer arrived at such a number that I had to stop. Neither of us could risk going over. We had to calculate our routes (mine from Boise & Tyson from Phoenix) & give ourselves a little cushion. We didn’t want to have to flatbed our cars half way to St. George because we weren’t paying attention!

Neither of us had a lot of time off for this, so we had to do it over a weekend, & it worked out beautifully! Well, for me at least, because the weekend we had scheduled was right when I was hitting my mileage limit. Major score! I broke it up into a 2 day drive down. It was probably the most stressful drive of my life! Thankfully, I made it down safely & without incident. But the stress was not over, not by a long shot! We had just one day to do the shoot & we had only one shot to get it right.

I had purchased a couple extra cameras & other gear for the event, then failed miserably in getting them set up correctly, which resulted in most of the footage looking like garbage. Luckily, Tyson & myself are not the only crazy people out there. We had a friend drive over from New Mexico to be part of the event! Another from somewhere in Utah. We also had a couple friends from Arizona drive up & even an extremely dedicated friend fly in from New York! Plus, some of Tysons family were there to contribute as well. So, we had plenty of hands to make the load lite, & for that I’m extremely grateful!

The following video is the fruit of our labor & the extend of our maniacal mileage sickness. Enjoy!

 

The 2^nd half of this post is basically a sign off of sorts. It’s hard to believe my first post was almost 4 & a half years ago! I’ve enjoyed keeping this blog over the years, but if I’m being honest, I’m not much of a writer. At least I don’t feel like I am. Maintaining this blog has been a lot of work for me, on top of being a husband, father, business owner, etc… & I just haven’t had the time for it as anybody who has stopped by lately has noticed. Updates in 2017 have been far & few between. So sadly, I’ve decided to hang it up. This will most likely be my last post. It costs me $100 a year to keep this site open & I think it runs it’s course in Aug. If I can remember, I’ll be canceling the autopay for this site. I’m not sure what will happen to it when the money stops coming in, it may disappear into cyber space, or it may stay up for a while. I have no idea. But I’m not leaving completely. In the time it takes to update this blog, I can edit a video, which I enjoy immensely more. The videos also get 10 times the traffic as this blog does. So I’ve decided to focus more time on my Youtube channels – TSX Travels & NSX Experiment . Did I mention I bought a 2000 NSX?

The TSX channel will be updated once a month or two. I’m going to try to post a video every time I get an oil change after every 5,000 miles for a quick update on what going on with the car, maintenance needed & anything of interest. I also still have half a dozen other videos that need to get wrapped up as well. So at least my dedicated readers can up to date on how the car is doing.

The NSX channel is a little different. I’m updating that every Sunday & documenting the process of owning the car & trying to build a following on YouTube, hence the name NSX Experiment.

If you prefer the written word, please forgive me. I appreciate everyone who has stopped by over the years, the comments, the contributions & the mutual love of cars.

I wish everyone the best & also invite you to keep tabs on me thru my YouTube channels.

Keep safe, stay well, & go put some miles on that thing!

Lots Been Going on & a New Windshield for the TSX

Has it really been almost 4 whole months since updating my blog!? Shame on me!

Before we begin, I want to give a long overdue shout out to Jahan for sending me an AM Wood Grain Shift knob that goes very well with my interior! I like it much better in than the OEM knob in way of both looks & feel.

BEFORE – Original OEM Knob

AFTER – New AM Wood Grain Shift Knob!

You can tell it was AM by the way the Acura “A” was tilted slightly & then picked off leaving an indentation. Now that it’s all been picked off, you can barely seen that it was ever there. I may one day do some light sanding & polish it up to make it even harder to see.

“A” Chipped Off but I think I can sand & polish it out.

All in all, I like it very much & am extremely appreciative for the thought & expense that went into this knob! Thanks Jahan!

Next up is the 540k Oil Change Invoice…

540k oil change

I’ve also Had some scenic drives lately & scored some great pics of the Old Girl!

A lot of these made it to my Instagram page. Coming up on 13 years old & she still photos well!

Water, Water, Everywhere!

With the insane winter we had, there’s been a ton of snow melt off from the mountains. Like the Glory Hole from the last post, ALL of the following were in full swing & going strong!

Shoshone Fall in Twin Falls…

The Devils’ Washbowl in Malad…

Lake Cascade Dam Spillway…

Lucky Peak Rooster Tail in Boise…

My First TSX Meet!

I also made my first TSX meet up with the guys in the NW TSX Club on July 1st! A great bunch of guys & cars. I wish I had more pics! But I was so excited to meet everyone & see their cars, I totally blew it on the picture side of it (weak…I know). But I did manage to get a few before everyone left. I wish I would have got some of Ben Kiblers sweet wagon!

Even Mr. HeelToe himself made an appearance!

I was a big fan of this 2nd Gen owned by Kevin Harris! Lots of details on this one!

I’ve been super busy with work, home projects, swim classes for Luke & all kinds of stuff. I recently had a new windshield put in & Brent from Integrity Auto Glass agreed to let me video the process for those that have never actually seen a windshield go in before. You can see it here…

 

There’s still lots of projects coming up & some of them are HUGE!!!!!!

*Believe it or not… I am STILL trying to get my 500k roll over video completed, Haha. A wee bit late, but I still have A LOT of work to do on it actually. Hopefully by years end. Cross your fingers.

*I have also recently replaced my catalytic converter with a direct fit Mangna Flow CAT from Heeltoeauto.com, as well as replaced the rear sway bar with a TL Type S sway bar. I have video, Just need the time to edit.

*Chris Downs from Acura has agreed to help out with a video answering a question I get ALL the time… “What to look for when buying a used car. Tips from a Master Mechanic & a Collision Specialist.” The title may need some shortening, but you get the idea…

*Another request I’ve had often, is a follow up walk around video focusing on the maintenance. I just hit 550k today, so I’ll be doing a “550,000 Miles, How did I get here? A Maintenance Review” This is basically just in my head, but I have gone thru about 70% of my old maintenance invoices and have a breakdown from 2005-2015 so far. I still need to go thru the last couple years, shoot & edit.

But the big one is this… Here’s a teaser…

Project: “Dueling Acuras Pt. 2 – Fantastic Fives”

I think you may get the idea. It’s been in the works for over a year! “Automotive History” Some would say… More details on that in the very near future!

The last one is SO BIG, that it won’t fit in this post! You’ll have to check me out on Instagram on 8/25/17 for an idea of what’s to come! IT’S HUGE!!!!!!

I hope that all of this finds you all happy & healthy. There’s actually a lot more than what’s listed above, but that is for another post. Tomorrow is the North West Accord Meet in Tacoma, WA. I’m currently sitting in my hotel room waiting for the morning so I can get my car over to Groit’s Garage, who’s hosting the event & presented by The Accord Collective. I have am supremely confident, that I will have the most beat down car there! I wonder if there will be a trophy for that? Haha.

 

 

Oh, & one last thing…..

Same guy with two bikes? or two creative types that happen to live in the same town? Maybe a Pokemon bike gang? Thought?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pulling The Transmission For Some Maintenance & A Very Large Drain

I Hope everyone is doing well & getting ready for summer. April was a busy month for me, like most, but this month I had some pretty major maintenance done on the TSX. But first, I’ll start with something I’ve never seen before. Something that I didn’t even know existed before a few weeks ago.

I found out about the Morning Glory Spillway, Owyhee Dam Historic District (Adrian, Oregon). Now, I’ve seen pictures of these things before, but I didn’t know that one was about an hour & a half away from my front door! Naturally I had to go check it out!

Driving out there was lots of beautiful scenery including the tunnel carved out of solid rock in the first picture, above.

I’m told the Spillway has been dry since 1973 & typically looks like this…

However, thanks to a record winter, the locals are getting to see spectacles such as this…

If you can imagine it, this Spillway is about 60ft-80ft wide, goes straight down for about 300ft & then down river 2,000ft.

I bought a drone last year & used it all of NEVER. I have a friend that has always wanted to learn how to fly one, so I let him borrow it so he could try it out. I told him about the Spillway & he was out there the next day & snapped this picture from above…

I made sure to inform him of the local news crew that was out a week before with their drone & they got too close & the Spillway literally sucked their drone into it’s watery depths. There is a vortex above the Spillway, so I told him to stay at least 60ft above it.

Here’s some info about the Spillway itself:

“Designed and constructed by the Bureau of Reclamation beginning in 1927, the Owyhee Dam Historic District consists of the Owyhee Dam and several dozen buildings and structures associated with the dam. These resources include a residential camp, industrial buildings, and other features that date from between the period 1927 and 1939. The district was listed in the National Register for its important and historic association with irrigated agriculture in eastern Oregon and western Idaho as part of the larger Owyhee Project. The district was also listed for its national significance for the design and construction of the Owyhee Dam, which served as a testing grounds for new dam technology and engineering. New technology first used in the Owyhee Dam later served in other Bureau of Reclamation projects, including Hoover Dam.“

It was pretty cool to see & I’m glad I found out about it. Who knows when it would be running again after this year!

THE MAINTENANCE

The transmission has had a slow leak for quite sometime now, & I’ve been putting it off due to the amount of labor involved. But, it was finally time to get it taken care of. I’m not going to reach my new goal of 625,000 miles (1,000,000 Km) by perpetually putting off needed maintenance. So I called Lyle Pearson Acura & set a date to have the torque converter seal replaced.

To replace this seal, you need to drop the engine cradle & remove the transmission. Since this job was so labor intensive, I tried making the most of it By replacing everything we could, even if it was still looking OK.

We also replaced the rear main seal on the motor…

This seal is located behind the driveplate between the motor & transmission. We also replaced the shift shaft seal, axle seals, torque converter O-ring, a motor mount & finished it off with a new splash shield as the current one was pretty ragged. You can see how important these seals are by looking at the dirt build up on the back of the torque converter. The seals keep the necessary fluids in, & this crap out.

You can see how bad the splash shield was…

While Master Tech Chris Downs was working away at it, I took a 2017 TLX & went up to Cascade,ID to see if the Cascade Lake’s Spillway was open, I wasn’t disappointed…

The camera on my phone had sort of mid-life crisis & the results were worth posting.

I made a video documenting what Chris did to the TSX & you can check it out here:

And here is the invoice documenting what all was done:

transmission pull

After being back on the road for a couple hundred miles, I found this quiet scenic spot to wrap up the video…

Heading home I came across this sign:I was pretty disappointed actually. I wanted to go check it out, but I left my spear & ripped abs at home for this trip. Just my luck!

That pretty much wraps up this update. I’ve got some other interesting projects coming up in the near future, so check back in from time to time to see what’s happening.

Thanks for stopping by & stay safe out there!

Acura’s 31st Anniversary Video & More

Can you believe we’re halfway thru March already! With time flying by so fast, we’ll jump right in!

As most Acura enthusiasts know, March is Acura’s anniversary month. Last year  I produced a short video with friend & fellow Acura enthusiast Tyson Hugie of drivetofive fame, called Dueling Acuras featuring my TSX & Tyson’s 94 Legend coupe (which is now over 550,000 miles! I enjoyed making that video very much & wanted to do another one. This time I wanted to work with more Acura fans & from all over the country.

The following video is the result of several Acura owners contributing photos & video to make this happen. The end result is a fun 4 minute celebration of our cars & love of the Acura brand.

There was some confusion by some that all the Acura’s in the video were all members of the 500k mile club. There are actually only two, mine & Tyson’s 94 Legend Coupe. With luck, all the others will also join the 500k club one day.

Maintenance Update

I recently had the 530k oil change preformed & also replaced the last coil pack.

 

Coming up really soon is the Torque Converter Seal replacement. It’s a biggie! Parts aren’t bad at all, but it’s the labor that will kill me! But as you can see, it’s not real pretty & needs attention…

I could also go for a new splash shield. You can’t see it in this picture, but the opposite corner is barely hanging on. Chris had to put an extra washer on just to keep it in place. What you can tell by the looks of the splash shield, is that the 530,000 miles on my car are not always easy miles. True, I drive a lot of freeway, but I also drive lots of dirt roads, mountain roads, snow, ice, mud… just about any condition you can think of, Idaho has it to offer & this old TSX has been thru it!

New Focus

Believe it or not, I have been running this blog for about 3&1/2 years now! I’ve met some wonderful people during this time & will continue to keep it going, so don’t worry. But I’ve found that I really enjoy doing the videos a lot more. The videos are a lot more work for sure, so maybe that is why they are so much more satisfying when they are done. I’ve been thinking about turning the blog into more of a maintenance and mileage journal & focusing more of the “Meat & Potatoes”on my YouTube channel. Most people seem to enjoy the visual side a lot more than having to sit and read thru everything. The YouTube channel is easily getting 10 x the traffic as my blog site & it’s a lot faster & easier for my followers as well, especially once they subscribe.

What are your thoughts? Remember, I’m keeping the blog going, just simplifying it, but would you like to see more videos? Sound off in the comments.

That’s all for now. Short & sweet. I have to finish my taxes to give “The Man” his cut.

Hope everyone is doing well! As always, I appreciate you taking the time to stop by my little sliver of the internet.

Drive safe.

 

 

 

 

 

A New Year, A New Goal.

This year is off to an extremely busy start with the most snow that the Boise area has seen in over 30 years. Rough calculations state that I have shoveled over 15,000lbs of snow from the driveway so far this winter. My back is killing me, people are crashing into each other like it’s going out of style, it’s been in the low 20’s to -10 degrees for about a month & I’m pretty much over it. There should be about 4 more weeks (I’m hoping) of real winter weather before things start to warm up enough to blessedly end the snow. It’s been so bad that I actually had to use the RDX for about a week (gasp)! I am ready to complain about the heat!

So, have you heard about this guy?

Bruce Audley & his 1999 Acura TL in Canada reached 1,000,000 Kilometers as the original owner! Congrats to Bruce! Click the link to read up & see the video. The article at Acura Connected states “To our knowledge, this is the most miles or kilometers an Acura has ever reached.” An awesome achievement to be sure, but I’ll admit that I was disappointed at his statement of the car only being a tool. Technically he’s right, but how can you spend that much time behind the wheel of a car & not have any connection at all?

Obviously I can’t take this laying down. 1,000,000 km = 621,371.192 miles. I’m currently just over 526,000 miles. A difference of about 95,000 miles (about 2 years of driving for me). The gauntlet has been thrown & my TSX is up to the challenge! My new goal is 625,000 miles! The TSX will be king & reign supreme.

Since there is new horizons ahead, I guess I should catch up on the maintenance.

515k-oil-change-2-coil-pack

520k-oil-change-1-coil-pack

525k-oil-change-3-coil-pack

A few months ago I took the TSX in for the 515k oil change & as Chris was pulling it out of his stall, it started to misfire. He found the #2 Coil Pack had failed, which caused the misfire. I had them replace it on the spot & decided to order 3 additional coil packs & replace them 1 at a time to spread out the cost. I figured, if one went out, it’s just a matter of time before the rest go as well. I have one more to go before they are all replaced and there’s one less thing to worry about. Now that I have 625k in my sites, I gotta make sure She’s in tip top shape.

That wraps up this quick update. It’s back to the snow. But at least it provides a fantastic backdrop for photos. So I’ll leave you with some pics from the last month or so.

She’ll be getting a bath soon! Promise!

Stay safe out there!

 

To Texas & Back

So here it is. My last post of 2016. I’ve been meaning to give you guys an update for a few weeks now, but we’re actually having a winter. I mean, we’ve had more snow this last week, then we’ve had all winter last year. I’m dutifully shoveling the driveway every time it snows, & I haven’t had to do that in quite a number of winters now.

But first, I promised a recap of my trip to Texas for RV training. To be honest, I wasn’t really looking forward to it. I’m not a huge fan of Texas (It takes forever to drive across & the city freeway systems are insane!) but I was looking forward to the drive. My route included some places I’ve never been before, & some places I haven’t been for a long time.

Here is the route I took…

It was a long few days on the road, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. There’s always new things to see & new places to explore. Unfortunately, when you crunched for time, you have to hope for something worth seeing along the way. The landscape rarely ceases to disappoint!

I’ve read online that some people believe that these giant rock towers are really ancient giant tree stumps that have petrified. Interesting…

(Hand of God)

On my way thru Albuquerque, New Mexico I met up with Jason of DrivenforDrives fame. Jason is a great guy, & I’m not just saying that because he treated me to some terrific BBQ while I was in town! His blog DrivenforDrives is one of the few blogs I tend to check in on.

The training itself went fine. During the training, we stopped by a local RV dealer to check out some of the New units & see the latest & greatest. But it was this old restored Spartan travel trailer that impressed me!

Before I knew it, I was back on the road again. On the way home thru Amarillo, TX I passed by the Camelot Inn. It’s where my cousin & I stayed during our first road trip across the country when we were mere teenagers. Awe, the memories. Of course, it was pink back then, but I guess it still has a certain charm to it.  On the outskirts of Amarillo, there were tons of huge cotton fields. Most of it had been harvested already by this time. It would have been cool to get to witness the harvesting, but further down the road I saw these ginormous bus size bails of cotton! I’ve never seen so much cotton in my life!

I was looking forward to seeing the Princess & Little Man again, but first, I wanted to stop & check out the Arches National Park located outside of Moab, UT. I put together a video of the short time I was able to spend driving thru. This is the first time I’ve done this kind of editing on my own before, so there’s a couple screw ups, but you can check it out here…

I enjoyed the 3-4 hours I spent driving around the park. If you’re ever in this area & have some time & $25 for the entry fee, I highly recommend checking it out. It was surreal & unworldly, which is what led me to the music choice for the video. I very much would like to bring the wife & kid down here for a whole day to explore. #bucketlist.

Here’s a few more pics from the trip spanning NM & UT…

The dash cam is already paying off as you could see from the Arches video, but here’s a little bonus for you…

Be safe out there! See you next year!

 

 

LED Interior Light Upgrade & More

I’m currently sitting in a hotel room in Ft Worth, TX after finishing my RV training for my franchise. I’m happy to report that I passed with a 97% only missing 1 question about bonded RV walls. I was technically right, but it was worded goofy & I got it wrong. I’ll live, I guess.

It occurred to me that I had the afternoon to kill as I’m paid up through tonight (Friday) & I can’t get a refund for tonight (since I booked it through a 3rd party online), so I have the afternoon to kill. So I’m going to work on getting you guys up to speed for a little bit, & then go catch a matinee. The last time I was in a theater was in February.

We’ll start with the headline. I Upgraded the interior lights to LED, & boy howdy do I like them. I can actually see stuff in the car at night now. This comes in handy for people living in the North as the sun sets at about 5pm in the Boise winters. I updated the TSX & some of The Princesses RDX Bulbs as well.

I bought my lights through a company called “Precision LED“. After doing some research, I found these guys had some good reviews, a warranty & installation tools. But more importantly, an instructional How To video.

The How-To video is what sealed the deal for me. These guys took the time to make a pretty professional instructional video, that ensured that: I wouldn’t be breaking crap trying to install the lights, & more importantly to me, saved me the time it would have taken to figure out how to get the lenses out of the way so I wouldn’t break anything.  Especially the courtesy door lights! Great tip!

Not only do they have a good product, they also have excellent customer service. In my TSX kit, the wrong vanity lights were in the kit. I contacted them, explained the situation, sent them a pic of what I needed next to what they sent me. A few days later I got the correct bulbs (at no additional charge or shipping) popped them in & love them. After a very small delay in the overall experience (nobodies perfect & slip ups happen time to time. But it’s how a company handles their slip ups is how I rate a company) I love my new lights & give the company an overall 5-Star rating. They have light kits for all kinds of vehicles, so if you’re in the market for LED’s, check them out.

Tires

Before I hit the road for Texas, I decided to get some new tire a little early, just in case. My current set at the time was down to about 2-3/32nds tread. Basically it’s last legs. Since I get asked so often about tires, I decided to let you guys know what I’m running this year…

So far I’m liking them, but the real test will be in the next few months in the rain & snow. These tires had some pretty good ratings on tirerack.com, So we shall see. I’ll try to remember to update on how they did in the spring.

Wipers

Shout out to “Mo” from Ohio for suggesting the wiper upgrade. I swapped out the regular wiper blades with some off of a 2nd Gen (2014) TSX. They are quieter & I like the way they look much better.  Thanks Mo!

Rainy Day Pics

I had to run out to Bellevue to see a vehicle that hit a deer & I stopped to take a few pics that I thought came out pretty good. Some of these are in my Wallpaper folder now…enjoy.

2017 NSX

As most of you know, I’ve been going to Lyle Pearson Acura in Boise for 99% of my needed maintenance. During this time, & I’m not sure when it happened, but at some point it stopped being “Gotta take the car in for service again”, but instead it became going to visit friends. When you have friends at the dealer, when the stars align & something BIG happens, you get a text with no message. Just a single picture that needs no message.

On Nov 1st, 12:25pm, I was texted this one picture from my service manager:

Needless to say, I dropped my phone trying to hit the call button too fast. After it had gone thru the PDI (Pre-Delivery Inspection) process, I was taken for a ride along in this incredible car. It was a lot of Firsts for me. It was the first time I’ve seen one in person, the first time I’ve ridden in a supercar that had a similar value to a house (I’ve been in a Countach & a Ferrari, but never driven or ridden in them). I’ve driven the original NSX & a early model Viper, but this car was almost as enjoyable from even the passenger seat. I can only imagine what it would be like to actually drive it. It would probably scare the hell out of me.

Just in case you didn’t know, Acura actually designed the look of the NSX motor with inspiration from the Flux Capacitor from Back to the Future.

I did a quick video of the inside. You’ve likely seen pictures & other videos on the interior. But I just couldn’t help myself. I just wanted to document me being in this car!

I hope everyone is well & appreciate you stopping by. Next post will be the 3,000 miles round trip to Ft, Worth TX for the above mentioned RV Training. Soon you again soon!

 

 

New HD Dash Cam & An Upgrade Under The Hood

AAAAHH! The great outdoors. I absolutely LOVE this time of year! The weather starts to turn cool & crisp. The leaves start to change color. We start to get a little more rain. I just love it!

It’s so nice out, it’s almost worth recording video where ever I go. That’s what got me thinking about dash cams. You know what I’m talking about. We’ve all seen the video footage coming out of Russia with all the Road Rage fights & car crash compilations. If I’m not mistaken, I think that just about every car in Russia has a dash cam. Not because they are mandatory, unless of coarse you want to protect yourself from the crooked police. People think the police out here are bad? If you don’t have video proof of what happened, who knows what could happen over there. That’s what I’m told anyway…

So I thought it might be cool to get one. I think it’s a great idea to have one for multiple reasons. But I had almost no knowledge about them. So off to google & Amazon for some research. It became quickly apparent that I would be getting one as they were well within my financial limitations. I did a little research and decided on the Rexing V1 with a 2.4″ screen. It had all the features that appealed to me & when Mounted up behind the rear view mirror, you don’t even remember it’s there. I made a quick review style video show actual footage & audio from the Rexing V1 itself. You can check it out here…

Sorry if it seems like I’m repeating myself a lot in the video. I shot the footage at different times & I’ve never edited video before. I’m hoping to share more of the interesting things I see while on the road with this new addition. Hopefully nothing too exciting…

I finally got around to doing a little updating under the hood. No, it’s the Stock Life for me. So I didn’t drop a turbo or supercharger in it, or anything of the sort. While I was filming the undercarriage video I noticed how bad the hood insulator looked. While Chris wrapped up my service, I went over to the parts department & ordered a new one with all new clips. Not pretty at all. Once it was off, it looked better. But not good enough to douse my OCD. So a spray bottle of Simple Green & my scrub brush & a hose down, I went from this…To this…Of course all that cleaning the underside of the hood just transferred the mess to the motor, so I did a quick clean off of the engine bay as well…And the finished product….A little over exposed, but you get the idea. I read that some people put sound deadening pad on the underside of their hoods to keep engine noise down. I admit, I thought about it  for about 10 seconds. But my TSX is already pretty quiet inside, & besides, who doesn’t want to hear when the Vtec kicks in?

Short & sweet guys. The Eagle Eye viewers may have an idea of the next upgrade for the TSX, as it’s in plain sight in the video at the 11:35 mark. It’s visible all around this time.

So I hope everyone has a wonderful & safe weekend & we’ll see you again real soon!

510,000 Mile Undercarriage Walk Around & More

It’s been over a month since my last update, so it’s over due to let you guys know what’s been going on. Basically just more work. But I did have another oil change done. I was thinking it was also time to replace the spark plugs, since they’re 100k platinum plugs, but after looking into it, they didn’t need replacing last time until 460k & when Acura Tech Chris Downs pulled them for the compression test, they still looked pretty good. So no plugs needed for now. I’ve been slacking off on getting the most recent service invoices up on here. So lets catch up on that first.

First up is the last of the 400k era…

495k-oil-change

I was extremely busy around this time, so I went as long as 7,500 miles before the next oil change. It was also time for rear brakes again. We turned the rotors, but they ended up being too thin, So I had to replace them for the first time. So this time in was a little bit spendy. But a dude needs to stop, right?

tsx-rear-brake-rotors

After another 7,500 miles, it was time for the most recent oil change…

While it was up in the air, I thought it might be a good idea to check out the undercarriage & see what we could find after half a million miles. Chris Downs was once again performing the maintenance on my car, so I took advantage to get some questions from readers answered from Chris Downs, Acura Master Tech (A.K.A. Beard Sexy). Here’s the video…

Please forgive the quick movements & jerky camera work. This was also done in one take. I didn’t want to keep Chris’s rack occupied any longer longer than I had too. He had 4 or 5 vehicle to work on after mine. So I’m afraid the video (after review) is less than awesome. But I do want to clarify one thing in the video. When I’m talking about not having a rust issue like those back East, I’m referring to body rust. Obviously not the exhaust. I’m sure I’ll get tons of comments on that from people that just found the video online & don’t read my blog.

On a sad note, Part of my favorite stretch of road had recently succumb to fire. The one hour stretch from Idaho City to Lowman on State Hwy 21 has been crawling with Firefighters doing their best to contain the fires. Here are some pics from the area.It was a bunch of small fires spread out all over the place. Which I found quite bizarre. But I’m no fire expert for sure. But the aftermath sure is sad…There were also sections of road stained red from the fire retardant being dropped by the fire planes & helicopters… Luckily, the fires were just along this one stretch of road. About 15 minutes north of Lowman, things went back to the usual beautiful scenic awesomeness!

I’ve been getting antsy lately & been thinking of all kinds of things. From getting another car, to a new pet, to even buying a new house. I think I just need a change of pace, or a hobby or something. So I decided to start doing some upgrades & additions to the TSX on the weekends now that I have time for such projects. These will follow in future blogs & videos. I personally am not a fan of people posting cool things that they’ve done to their cars, but not sharing what they got & how. So I’ll be teaching myself some basic video editing so that I’ll be able to share the projects I undertake & how I did them. Unless they’re extremely simple and a brief explanation will do. So look for those in the future.

To end this update, I just wanted to let you know that the TSX is keeping some famous company…Anybody recognize this Hummer? This particular Hummer’s owner, is the one responsible for giving civilians the opportunity to own these awesome vehicles. It belongs to Arnold Schwarzenegger. I was up in the Ketchum, ID area looking at a vehicle at a tow yard in this small & beautiful town. There are actually quite a few celebrities that have homes in this small ski town. Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, Tom Hanks, Arnie & more.

I’ve seen this Hummer H1 in pictures before in articles about the Governator. I also know that the owner of this particular tow yard/ mechanic shop & Arnie have been friends for a long time. I was at this same place years ago in the winter & saw a x-mas card with a picture of Arnies entire family on the shelf (you don’t see that every day). So when I pulled into the lot I was almost certain it was his. I knew for sure when I was inside. The keys were sitting on the counter & I turned the tag over, snuck a peek & sure enough, there was the mans name. Pretty cool. It will likely be the closest I ever come to meeting some one that famous. It sure was a clean ride. I wish I could afford one. But I’d still rather have my ’97 Spa Yellow on Black NSX. I guess I should start polishing my Pennies either way.

Oh, one last thing. The Princesses RDX had another service a little while ago.

rdx-35k-oil-change

She’s since surpassed the 40,000 mark.

I’m also happy to report that the RDX has been trouble free so far. She still loves it!

That wraps it up for this update. I hope everyone is doing well out there & Thanks for stopping by!

The Heeltoe Difference

Some of my long time readers know that I struggle with work load. It can be overwhelming sometimes. People need their cars or property inspected and reports have to be completed so these people can get back to their lives. So I end up working evenings and weekends… a lot! In this line of work, it can be hard to find balance in life. But recently I’ve decided that I’m tired of living to work. So I will only work up to 1 hour extra per weekday above the regular 8-5, & no more working weekends!

The reason I bring this up, is so that my readers know why it sometimes takes weeks to update this blog. Life is hectic & sometimes more than others. But now that I’m taking weekends off, I finally had time to clean the interior of the TSX & Good Gravy, did it need it!I’ve been living in the car again & it showed. The last time I clean the inside was months ago, & I only cleaned the front (Oh the Humanity!) So the back was horrible. Especially considering that no one ever sits back there. To illustrate how rarely anyone is ever in the back seats, I just recently ( a few months ago at Lowe’s) discovered that the rear seats fold down with the turn of the key in the package tray. How sad is that? But on the flip side, even after 11 years, my car still has some surprises for me!

However, when I let the seats down in the Lowe’s parking lot, this is what I found… I never thought of myself as OCD, but I’ll admit, I had an impulse to march right back into Lowe’s & buy some rags & cleaning supplies right then & there. But it quickly passed and a couple months later, here we are. A bucket of clean warm water, a plastic brush, a bottle of Simple Green, & 3 hours later, the interior was again squeaky clean. I think next time I’ll take the front seats out & have my brother shampoo the carpet complete. Maybe even take the package tray out and give that a good blast as well. but that’s for another day.

It is now finally time to show you what I got from Heeltoeauto.

After the interior was cleaned up, I was finally able to install it. What is “it”? I bought the Basic OEM Wood Grain Dash Kit. I always liked the way they looked. The “Full” kit seems way too busy for me, as likely most will agree…I appreciate the contrast in the TSX interior. Dark on top & Lite on the bottom, & I wanted to stick with that.

I was a little worried if I would be able to get my hands on one of these kits. They are after all, an 11 year old OEM accessory kit. I looked around online & they are out of stock on just about every site I found. Even on the sites that said they had them, after calling or emailing produced the same results…don’t have them/can’t get them. I even called my local Acura Dealer (which I have a wholesale account with in the parts department) & they said they would be hard pressed to find one for me. But Marcus at Heeltoeauto said he could get one, & he delivered. I even got the kit for less than I would have thru my wholesale account at Acura. I only waited about a week or so before it showed up on my doorstep. I want you to consider that for a second… everywhere else was out of stock, or would need several weeks just to “try” to locate this out of production OEM kit. Heeltoeauto found one, had it shipped to their location, repackaged it, & shipped it to me all within about a week and a half! Needless to say I was impressed. It’s no wonder there’s so much good word on the internet about Marcus & his people at Heeltoeauto from all the Acura/Honda fans.  BOOM! Just like that, They Nailed It!

Since the kit did not come with any instructions, I watched a couple YouTube videos for some tips, & went to work. First it was suggested that I clean the soon to be, covered surface with some rubbing alcohol. Even tho I just cleaned the inside, I did anyways, & I’m glad I did…I went over the area 3 times to be sure everything was up so I would get a nice strong adhesion.  I took my time & did it right the first time. I started with the back doors as no one would ever be back there to criticize any screw ups. I’m pleased as to how it came out. I like the new look. Here are some before & after pics.

Rear Doors…

 

Front Doors…

Center Console…

I love the way the kit looks installed. But I’ll admit, the basic kit appears to be unfinished missing this one piece above the shift knob…You’ll notice that the lower cubby door cover has been installed crooked. That’s because The Princess & Little Man came home from errands as I was installing the last few pieces. Luke wanted to sit in the car & watch as I finished up, Which I was fine with. As I was installing the lower cubby door, my right arm was blocking his view & he apparently couldn’t see all the action, so right as I was laying it in place, instead of just leaning forward for a better view, he grabbed my arm to move it out of his way. I tried re-positioning it, but the 2 sided tape had already taken hold enough to where I didn’t want to chance it. I was extremely irritated at the time, but now looking at this picture I can’t help but smile. Luke has once again made his mark on one of my projects. I’m willing to bet that this wont be the last time either. My eye tends to gravitate to this misalignment, but now when ever it does, I’ll think of my son & I can’t help but love that little man.

Many thanks to Heeltoeauto.com for getting this rare kit for me to celebrate the rolling of 500,000 miles. I’ve since decided that for every major milestone henceforth, I’ll be ordering something from Heeltoeauto to celebrate the occasion! The next milestone will be the surpassing of Tyson Hugies Legend Coupe which is currently at 544,457. I may have to get something for Tyson that day as well, for it will be a sad day in Hugieville for sure! But at least he’ll have his new 5 car garage to cry the blues in. Haha…

Next week I’ll be updating maintenance & sharing what happened to my favorite stretch of road recently.

Shout out to Instagram follower xprehnz from British Columbia. Rolling hard in a ’08 TSX & a ’05 RSX. The Silver Bullets!

Thanks for stopping by!