I still watch Powerblock because they do some cool projects and it's a good way to see new products. But for a long time now I have had at least three facepalm moments in every episode of all of their shows. Mainly stuff that the hosts say which they should not be saying. A prime example would be the guys on Muscle Car (great show for fabrication and body work!) describing any muscle car as "good handling".

One thing I noticed when the economy went into the pooper, is that everything they did became a "budget build". I think that speaks a lot to the calibre of their audience.

Stacey David has a new show called "Gearz" which is great. http://staceydavid.com/ . Obviously it is still sponsor driven but he does a wide variety of projects and seems to be genuinely enjoying himself.

 

I saw a couple episodes of that Gears show and the only complaint I have is the logo itself. Looks like something I would have drawn on my binder back in gradeschool. great show though.

 

when is Gearz on i've watched it a few times i dont watch tv too often, that guys pretty good.
Anyone remember tuner transformation? i loved that show

 

True enough, the logo does indeed suck.

Oh trust me, I remember Tuner Transformation. I think I still have my TT jersey in the closet. I should rock it at a meet!

 

Was that a Canadian show? The only thing that made me think it wasn't was the fact that they once got their hands on an Evo, which we only just got in Canada with the Evo X.

 

Was it the show with the two guys with shaved heads and it looked like it was shot on a handheld camcorder from the 70s?

 

No it had three guys. One was relatively likeable, did all the performance mods and parking lot testing and actually spoke like he knew a thing or two. The other I don't remember what he did and the third guy was a total douche and handled the body/styling stuff. One guy said he wanted a sleeper and was adamant about not having anything done to the body, so douche goes all nuts with the body kit and graphics. He also put on an overly enthusiastic persona that just got under my skin.

 

It was filmed in Toronto. I'm not really sure how much I want to discuss it since it will bring ugliness into my thread. The douche you are referring to is "George".

 

Yea I just want too see more build videos, we got off topic.

 

lmfao... on another note, loving the build and your video log Aaron, very informative as well as entertaining! thanks!

 

I'm not too worried about the off topic, it's just that discussing TT will inevitably lead to discussion of a former shop that rubbed many people the wrong way and it would likely derail the thread.

Part 14 is ready to go. I'll probably post it tomorrow.

 

Part 14 of my '76 RX-5 Cosmo restoration is a collection of three random tasks. First, I add a -10 AN fitting to the oil pan to serve as a turbo oil drain. Next, I continue stripping down the engine bay by scraping off the undercoating and then cleaning off the residue with kerosene. Finally, I begin some of the work on the floor by patching a small area on the drivers side of the transmission tunnel. Included in this episode: drilling a turbo oil drain hole in the oil pan, TIG welding a -10 AN flare to the pan, scraping engine bay undercoating, trying to clean it with Castrol Super Clean, cleaning the residue with kerosene, finding a few rust holes, cutting out a rusted area of the transmission tunnel, fabricating a patch panel, welding it in place, grinding the welds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZO5EK9IKfY

 

you know something you really need to try for smoothing the weld down when you are doing patchs, is a angle grinder with a flap sanding disk on it.
this will speed up the clean up after welding 1000% and it looks seamless when done.

matt

 

looking good...whens the next one comming hahahaha
you should have weighed that pile of crud see how much weight reduction you did lol :P
Dawn dish soap is tough on baked on grease lol, but it actually works pretty good cleaning the engine bay

 

Actually I keep on wanting to ask you; I always hear other people working in the background, you got friends helping you with your project?

 

thats just the film crew,director,producer ect. ect. moving around
He has friends working on their cars in there too

 

OHHHHHHHHHHHH you mean CP Racing, yeah, they were the real douches...

They didn't rub people the wrong way... They stole from customers, and Chris should be shot.

 

Sometimes I use flap wheels. This time I didn't because there wasn't a lot of room and I needed to use a a wheel that would grind on its edge. I do find that it is very easy to thin the surrounding metal with a flap disk while a good old grinding disk is easy to run along just the weld.

Judging by the dust pan I'd say I pulled out 6 LBs of junk. But I'll probably put that much weight back in on paint anyway.

Two friends lease the shop along with me so at time they are there working on their own cars. Generally I don't have help with my projects except the occasional help lifting something heavy.

And that's exactly what I would like to keep out of this thread. There are many past threads on CP Racing's past transgressions that it doesn't need to be hashed out here. I'd appreciate it stay out of this thread.

 

You must be getting ready to paint soon. You are going blue, right.
Chevy Cobalt Blue?
Mit Lancer Blue?
Subaru WRX Blue?

Or maybe two tone...oooo

 

I'm looking at dark metallic blues like the Chevy Cobalt Imperial Blue Metallic. Toyota also has a nice dark metallic blue this year as well. Mazda has a good one that you occasionally see on the Mazda 6 which I think is new this year. Another choice is Chrysler's "Blackberry Pearl" which is like a deep blue-black with a good pearl in it. However since these are all waterborne paints I will just be going to the aftermarket solvent base equivalent so it will be easier for me to prep for. I need to make a decision soon because that will determine what I use for the engine bay.

 

Your camera work is really getting interesting, too. The split screen, the picture in picture and my favorite is when you and your ghost twin both work on the car at the same time. Fast forward and slow motion is always fun too.

 

Thats Aaron's twin brother Adam Cake helping him

(The parts manager at the mazda dealership had asked me if I knew "Adam Cake" before) lol

 

Actually I cloned myself so I could get more done. When he's not needed I just keep him in a cage in the basement and then toss in a bucket of fish heads every few days. It's pretty handy having a 2nd me around. Plus, the girlfriend has uses for both of us at the same time as well.

 

Happy Friday everyone! It's been a little while since my last video as I've been busy with beginning-of-season related activities: built a new air compressor for the shop, put a new diff in my RX-7 and helped someone else with an engine installation. It's taken a while to edit episode 15 (the actual work was completed in March) but it's finally here! In part 15, I repair the rust damaged areas of the transmission tunnel discovered during blasting. The sheet metal surrounding the shifter hole and parking brake handle area is cut out, patch panels are made and then welded into place. Also a cracked driver side seat mount is repaired. Sheet metal work is time consuming though not necessarily difficult and this is only a little work of much to come. Included in this episode: cutting out rusted metal, making templates, cutting patch panels, forming patch panels, welding in patch panels, blasting rusty parts, repairing damaged brackets, removing spot welds and replacing, lots of grinding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3EKDdekSMw

 

I finally present part 16 of my Cosmo restoration! Has it really been over a month since the last update? I guess I've been busier than I thought and haven't had as much time to work on the car as I would have liked. Regardless, work has been slow and steady when I could find a few minutes here and there to spend in the shop. The work that has been accomplished lately has mainly been grunt work, as shown. In this episode I disassemble the front end, revealing the need for more rust repairs. The front subframe is removed before the wheel wells are cleaned up in preparation for media blasting. Then since I've been putting it off for months, the dashboard is removed as well as under dash components. Included in this episode: front fender removal, nose cone removal, front subframe removal, stabilizer bar removal, scraping wheel well undercoating, undercoating removal with kerosene, rust, dash board removal, heater core removal, heater components disassembly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAuxzd5TSqM