Congrats!  Paid ours off early a few weeks back. 

Hey Tim, any chance you could consult your awesome shop manual for the proper torque specs for the drain, fill, and overflow bolt?

Took me a while to realize it really is a GIF.  Might want to take the time between pictures down a bit. 

Dropped the car off at the dealer to do the power steering hose recall and picked up a set of Mazdaspeed3 rims yesterday as my beater wheels.  Didn't want anyone at the dealership to accidentally fuck up my RPF1s. 

I'm 99% sure that I was rubbing on the rear bumper lip (not the actual metal frame, just the mid-to-near top of the interior wheel well lip) as it was a little scuffed up and lined up perfectly with the very light line on the tire. So I shaved it almost fully down and am going to purposely hit a few big bumps tomorrow to see if it fixed the issue.

Back when I had my sedan on the 19" RDX Accessory wheels with a 15mm spacer (19x8 +30 effective) and 225/40/19 Hankook V12s, I had major rubbing in that exact area.  I took off the bumper and took a dremel with a sanding wheels and sanded away a little at a time until it didn't rub anymore.  If you take off the bumper or after you shave some of it off, you will notice there are some gnarly metal welds that look like they will slice a tire nicely.  Pound or shave those away and hit it with some paint to prevent any rust. 

I would like to get rid of the gap in the back.  Ideally, I'd like to tuck the top 1/4 of the tire.  Currently I'm about even in the front and maybe 1/2 finger gap in the back. 

I don't have any rubbing at all in the back.  You're rubbing in the back with your tire.  Pulling the fender won't fix that, only shaving the part of the rear bumper where the tire rubs and trimming the bumper tab on the rear quarter.  You may have to go with a zip tie to allow you to shave more of the tab as the mounting screw is pretty wide. 

Can I share some of these pics? I can't express into words how awesome they are. Credit given of course...

I appreciate you asking again.  I gave you my permission before and you can use any of my pictures. 

Milan: You're not on coils??? I could've swore you were... get 'em bro. Or even better convince the wifey to allow you to invest in accuair That'll be my next BIG purchase I think (not anytime soon though haha)

I would only settle for a set of ARM coils.  Have to save up a lot of pretty pennies for 'em.  I'm on Neuspeed race springs and Koni SP3s on the lowest perch.  It's about as low as you can go on springs.  (If another spring drops lower, I'd love to know) 

Love the new stance Ben.  I really want coil overs now.   

Added Rays blue lug nuts yesterday and washed the car today. 

You tryin to compete with Milan for wheel whore status?  Haha. Gen wheels look awesome, can't wait to see em mounted.

I'm hurt!  To have you think that Ben has a shot at approaching my status lol...

I picked up a set of RDX accessory wheels last Tuesday that I'm having powder coated. 

Go on...say it...

What's up with the tape on the lip? 

Outer or Inner? Outer is super easy, inners you need a special tool to remove.

I was able to do the inner tie rod without any special tools.  Removing the tie rod was easier than putting the new on on.  There is a washer that has the be bent in order to keep it from moving and changing the alignment.  It was a bitch and a half to bend with the limited amount of space without fucking any other parts in the process. 

I reuploaded the images from my computer.  I don't know what happened to them on my flickr account.  I may have accidentally deleted them.  


(Pic has been moved to OP)

On Saturday I went to Genevieve's aunt and uncle's house for St. Patrick's party...they live on a dirt road and it snowed the day before.  Needless to say, my car looks like it just finished a stage of the World Rally Championship.  I want to wash it but it'll be snowing today and tomorrow.  First nice day (sunny and a few degrees above freezing) I have to work. 

Oh, Happy Birthday BTW!!!