Should you ever decide to swap the KLDE into something like a Escort GT, Protege or 323.......I have the MX3 GS V6 lower cross brace and MX3 GS engine mount bracket.....................
Such as
Should you ever decide to swap the KLDE into something like a Escort GT, Protege or 323.......I have the MX3 GS V6 lower cross brace and MX3 GS engine mount bracket.....................
Such as
bonylad said:Should you ever decide to swap the KLDE into something like a Escort GT, Protege or 323.......I have the MX3 GS V6 lower cross brace and MX3 GS engine mount bracket.....................
Such as
Ooh. I'm having visions...of a V6 Escort wagon...someday 
Removed the later-style taillights that I paid money for and put on the earlier-style taillights that I got for free. Because challenge budget. (I don't actually need more room in the budget, but...why not.)
Later-style look like this:
Early style look like this (neglected to take a picture of them installed):
Apparently the later type has an extra bulb in there, but I wasn't paying attention. I just unplugged the conveniently removable wiring pigtail and removed the whole assembly. Then, because my free ones didn't come with the (presumably differently-bulbed) wiring pigtails, I grabbed those off the early-style and partially busted lights that came with the car. Weirdly, it was only now that I noticed those were not a full set...rather, they were both right sides. One (the busted one) also had black edges around it, as if they were trying to customize it to look more like the later style. However, it doesn't matter as the pigtail was easy to flip around to work on the left side housing.
Weird pair of two right-side lights:
What the wiring looks like (4 bulbs here, I think the later style has 5):
Because the housing is held in by a bunch of plastic post-type things and one screw, I had to grab a couple of the posts off the other ones and put them on the new ones, to give them each 3 points of attachment so they don't wiggle around.
Next step: check to see if any of these bulbs are burned out, and replace if needed.
It's getting down to the wire and the car still sucks, so...I'm gonna put stickers on it. That should add like a bazillion horsepower, right?
I bought some cheap vinyl but I don't have the fancy machine to cut designs into it, so I'll have to do it by hand.
Even though I'm tracing over a logo, this is hard.
Also, here's a design that I came up with that I plan to do next.
And of course, working on the build book.
I was going to change the steering wheel, but it needs some absurdly large socket that I don't have to get the main bolt off. So, I gave up and applied stickers to the car.
Not ones I cut myself, but they do still have a certain "homemade" look to them. I put them on the quarter windows where earlier-year Probes would have had a "PROBE" logo that was removed for cost-cutting or some junk. Oh and I got some hub-centric rings that I will use when I put Mustang wheels on it, whether that be at the challenge or afterwards I don't know yet.
Still working up the guts to take the throttle body off and clean it.
Didn't do anything with the car this week. I think my build book is done though. And I'm going to be saving a few items until I get down there. Mostly because I'm afraid they'll fall off if I install them before the trip.
Current plan is to pack up everything I need tonight, go to work tomorrow but leave early, cannonball to a secret location that may or may not have a carbon fiber hood for me, continue cannonballing until I need a nap, pull over at the side of the road and curl up in the back with a pillow, resume cannonballing towards another secret location that will have a set of wheels with tires of questionable provenance, and then cannonball from there to my hotel, unload the suitcase, and then cannonball 10 minutes over to the host hotel and see what's going on there. Oh, and create the world's longest run-on sentence in the process.
Post pics, im pretty sure I know which CF hood you're looking for. Virginia? He's a legit seller
In reply to jdogg :
He had a listing for the hood but then it was deleted, he has this other post that lists the hood among the parts for sale, but no pictures of it. Already expressed interest in it, I'll ask him tomorrow if it's sold yet or if I can get it tomorrow night.
https://norfolk.craigslist.org/pts/d/virginia-beach-ford-probe-parts/7003373733.html
The deleted listing showed the hood, and a white Probe that was for sale as well.
Yup that's him, he's legit. Been in the Probe game for a while, he's old school Probetalk been on the boards for a while
Hood's already sold, which is unfortunate, but it does simplify my travel plans and budget, so not a total bummer. Got the car all packed this morning, came to work, and will be leaving around 3:15 to head down to the challenge.
Challenge...complete!
Figured I should recap the weekend from my perspective. I made a quick stop at home after work on Wednesday, and then hit the road. The car is kind of made for the highway, even though 80 mph is a rather high 4000 RPM. The rearward visibility is great which makes it easy to change lanes in traffic. Somewhere in West Virginia, when I got off the interstate to avoid toll sections, I stumbled upon this section of road that would be right at home in a tarmac rally. It was fun, but maybe would have been more fun and less scary in daylight.
Eventually I got back on the highway, stopping at a rest stop at one point where I accidentally watched half an episode of some Netflix show on the TV there. That woke me up enough to get going again, and I trucked on through a few more states until morning, when I stopped at a McDonald's for breakfast and promptly took a 3 hour nap in the parking lot with the seat leaned back.
Later, somewhere in South Carolina I made a wrong turn and to get back on track, I went "around the block" except the block was huge and the roads were all unpaved nightmares.
After that, there was a whole bunch of loose dirt kicked up into the fenderwells.
Eventually I made it to Florida, where I bought a set of Mustang wheels from GRM forum member 06HHR, put them in the back, and trucked on over to Gainesville to get myself registered. I then made a mockery of the process of sticker application, with lots of big bubbles and wrinkles.
I woke up late the next morning, missed the driver's meeting, and also didn't get to walk the track. No matter, I found my way to the grid and did my first run, somewhere in the 53 second range. I didn't want to rush through all my runs, so I went and spectated for a while and also got some cheese fries. I also wandered the paddock just looking at all the cool cars.
After a while, I went to do some more runs. I had trouble shifting into 2nd on one run, and almost missed a gate on another, so I turned it over to a pro. He got down to a 50 flat and probably could have done even better but he said it seemed like the clutch was slipping on the final run, so he backed off a bit. Still better than expected considering my 740 treadwear tires. I watched the fun runs and then it was time for BBQ. David S. Wallens came over and talked to me while we ate, he's a really nice guy and I'm glad he's a part of the GRM team. Really everyone from GRM is awesome.
Drag racing time rolled around and I went up into the grandstands for a bit. I got to see Don Garlits' first run, and the 9.84 immediately after that from the Sunbird. What a wicked awesome car. Then I got into the staging lanes and did my first ever drag race, a 17.3 at around 80 mph. That was fun! I did several more runs but never went any faster, partly due to mistakes when shifting or launching and partly due to my car just not being very fast. After back to back 17.4's I called it a day and went back to the grandstands to watch the last runs of the night.
Saturday morning, I woke up late again and was one of the last to the pavilion. I put a don't judge me sign on the car just because I didn't feel like I did that much to it and wasn't very innovative. Looked at the cars in closer detail and ate some tacos, it was a good time. The awards banquet was really fun too, talking to people and eating good food. The award winners were all highly deserving and I laughed pretty hard at some of the jokes.
Afterwards, I slipped off into the night to make some miles. We made it as far as Jacksonville and stopped to rest because my passengers were tired. Get it? Tired! It's a pun.
So yes, a Ford Probe can haul at least 6 tires if you really want it to. I did have to bungee cord the ones in the front seat to each other so that they were slightly less prone to ending up in my lap on right turns.
After lots of sleep, I woke up and started driving north, upon which I discovered that I was still sleepy. I ended up stopping several times at rest areas just to put my head down on a picnic table or sit on a park bench and rest my eyes. I also drank a fair bit of caffeine which rarely helps but at least it tastes good. After one last nap I put the hammer down and blasted up through southwestern PA and made it home.
Post-challenge plans! I have them. I can't decide for sure yet, but I think I want to make this a proper race car. I can see the headline now: "GRM Gastropod Graduates Gradually" ok so it needs some workshopping. But yeah, fix the minor issues with it, and reduce weight, maybe increase power somehow, and big friggin slicks for Challenge 2020.
And maybe I'll bring a second car as a Radwood Gastropod.
It was nice meeting you, and i wish you the best with your car and in your personal journey. I'm glad my helmet went to you.
In reply to Patrick :
Thanks! I really appreciate it. 
I shall wear said helmet with pride. Thanks for welcoming me into the wild and wooly world of the GRM challenge.
Welp...something punctured the left rear tire yesterday. There's nothing sadder than a race car on a donut spare. So, I tried to put one of my Mustang wheels on instead, even though those tires are crappy and dry-rotted and probably unsafe. Fortunately/unfortunately, it won't fit because the tire hits the suspension.
I've done some calculating and I hope it's just because the Mustang tires are too tall. I can put shorter tires of the same width on there and maybe it will fit. I hope.
Boring updates!
I fixed the puncture with a plug kit from Walmart, it's held up for 3 weeks so far, guess I didn't mangle it too badly.
Today I used the Probe like a truck, filled the back up with stuff and tied a red rag on the bit that stuck out the end.
The power steering was making some noise in the mornings on cold starts, I checked the fluid and it wasn't super low but maybe a bit low so I topped it up. We'll see if it continues to be a problem.
Also those purple wheels in the picture might be good for drag tires, if I want to go that route next challenge.
Future plans: I think the clutch is ok for normal driving but not up to snuff for drag racing, so that will need to get replaced eventually. Gonna have to buy jack stands before then.
Are those Mustang wheels you got?
In reply to Stampie :
I believe so. They weren't on a car and I didn't check the bolt pattern or part number or anything, I just saw them and recognized them as being 17" Mustang GT wheels from 1996-98 so I grabbed them. I'll verify later.
I believe Mustangs make up for all their Cars and Coffee carnage by being universal wheel donors to project cars everywhere.
In reply to Stampie :
Right, probably 3 out of every 4 Mustang wheels ends up being repurposed that way (because the 4th was mangled horribly when they hit the curb before launching into the crowd)
In reply to slowbird :
TOP KEK
slowbird said:2005 Focus ST: sitting, needs an alternator. I tried to see if I could do it myself, but I don't have jack stands to get underneath the car. Stupid "alternator crammed in the back of the engine bay" cars. Grrr.
I use steel wheels under the tires to keep a car up. I work on gravel much of the time so a typical jack stand isn't safe enough for my taste. I would also stack aluminum wheels / tires 2 high under a large flat area away from where I was working. Don't set it down on the aluminum rims, but they will catch the car if it falls and it wont fall on me.
Nice buy on the Probe!
Well, berkeley.
She dun broke, as they say.
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