NorCal Community Chat Thread v. 5.0- 2011
#26
Part of it is the rise of gas prices and economy. People don't want to travel as far for anything anymore. We had some decent ones going when I just started posting monthly meet interest threads and people chimed in on what they wanted to do, and some people even ended up taking over the meets themselves. BBQ season is coming up one of you guys should throw up an interest thread! I'd do it if I was in =P
#27
that was also back when the norcal guys first started. after a while people sold their cars and left the club and it just wasn't the same with a bunch of new guys and only a few old familiar faces. of course better organization would help but i think the original meets had a more special feel because everything was new to everyone.
what i suggest is more barbecues, i get bored just looking at the same old cars time and time again. i don't mind BSing about the cars and everything but there should be more to meets than just driving or showing what you got. get a case of beers(just don't go overboard), bring the charcoal and dead animals out to the lake and sit back and enjoy a day off.
what i suggest is more barbecues, i get bored just looking at the same old cars time and time again. i don't mind BSing about the cars and everything but there should be more to meets than just driving or showing what you got. get a case of beers(just don't go overboard), bring the charcoal and dead animals out to the lake and sit back and enjoy a day off.
Last edited by RotaryEvolution; 04-07-11 at 01:27 PM.
#30
The thing the ruined it is, we cant use treasure island any more. The rotor fests were the best. Zach put on the first one and Jackie and I put on the second year then they made a new rule about gatherings on the island. I would love to keep having a big summer meet but I don't know of a good spot to do it. Nothing that can compare to treasure island at least. Anyone know of a good spot for a meet? We have some awesome spots up here in the hills but its to far for a lot of people.
#31
The thing the ruined it was we cant use treasure island any more. The rotor fests were the best. Zach put on the first one and Jackie and I put on the second year then they made a new rule about gatherings on the island. I would love to keep having a big summer meet but I don't know of a good spot to do it. Nothing that can compare to treasure island at least. Anyone know of a good spot for a meet? We have some awesome spots up here in the hills but its to far for a lot of people.
At one point I talked to the Santa Rosa PD about closing off a whole parking lot and street in Historic Railroad Square for a meet. They were totally cool with it as long as the local businesses were okay with it as well. I went as far as getting verbal permission from two of the four businesses surrounding the lot. Both of which said they'd be willing to help out if needed too.
There's enough room for 50-75 cars. There's bars/pubs/sushi/messican food within 15 seconds walking distance and it's right off the 101.
The other option is Coyote Point in San Mateo. BBQ action over there!
#32
Just got to get the interest in. It can't be just a one month notice kind of thing. There are still plenty of spots out there to hosts meets its just finding the right spot where not too many people have to take too long a trip.
Thats exactly it. My meet at Lake Chabot turned out pretty decent. I think a great recipe for meets is 2 BBQs and then a cruise. Keeps things fresh. Throw in a random unique event here and there. Hell going out to restaurants isn't too bad of an idea either.
Just throw out an interest thread and see where people want to meet. Heck make it open to all Mazda's or hell even other makes.
Hey Nader you should totally try to get that one going, That looks like a great spot.
that was also back when the norcal guys first started. after a while people sold their cars and left the club and it just wasn't the same with a bunch of new guys and only a few old familiar faces. of course better organization would help but i think the original meets had a more special feel because everything was new to everyone.
what i suggest is more barbecues, i get bored just looking at the same old cars time and time again. i don't mind BSing about the cars and everything but there should be more to meets than just driving or showing what you got. get a case of beers(just don't go overboard), bring the charcoal and dead animals out to the lake and sit back and enjoy a day off.
what i suggest is more barbecues, i get bored just looking at the same old cars time and time again. i don't mind BSing about the cars and everything but there should be more to meets than just driving or showing what you got. get a case of beers(just don't go overboard), bring the charcoal and dead animals out to the lake and sit back and enjoy a day off.
Just throw out an interest thread and see where people want to meet. Heck make it open to all Mazda's or hell even other makes.
Hey Nader you should totally try to get that one going, That looks like a great spot.
#36
The only thing that inspire me to keep modding my FD back then was because of the meets and the cruise. heh
#37
I don't mind long distant. A cruise/Caravan would be awesome. That's how we used to do it few years back...Cruises is part of what makes these meets so fun IMO. Bunch of nicely 7 on the freeway with neckbreakers from left & right.
The only thing that inspire me to keep modding my FD back then was because of the meets and the cruise. heh
The only thing that inspire me to keep modding my FD back then was because of the meets and the cruise. heh
#38
The last big meet I went to was the one Icemark and I had organized. BBQ and cruise to Highway 1. It was a good time. I've been to a few other ones here and there since then though...
#40
#41
#42
#43
Try to convine Paul at Rotorsport to let me do an LS swap once my engine blows (should be any day now.) He refuses to work on Piston FDs, but I love that shop and it's like fifteen minutes from my apartment.
He says he can easily get his hands on a three rotor, though...
He says he can easily get his hands on a three rotor, though...
#44
finally i found a real parts washer for a reasonable price to help automate the rebuild process without sitting for hours scrubbing all the parts by hand..
maybe i can get the rebuilds down to 4 days now.
maybe i can get the rebuilds down to 4 days now.
Last edited by RotaryEvolution; 04-09-11 at 08:32 PM.
#45
#46
Try to convine Paul at Rotorsport to let me do an LS swap once my engine blows (should be any day now.) He refuses to work on Piston FDs, but I love that shop and it's like fifteen minutes from my apartment.
He says he can easily get his hands on a three rotor, though...
He says he can easily get his hands on a three rotor, though...
#48
Lol Casey I was thinking the same thing.
If you can't fix a Chevy small block with all the resources on the internet, you probably shouldn't own a car. And you probably won't ever have to work on it anyways. haha
If you can't fix a Chevy small block with all the resources on the internet, you probably shouldn't own a car. And you probably won't ever have to work on it anyways. haha
#49
I already know my plans for a future FC is some sort of V-8 maybe even supercharged. Then, depending on what I find here, possibly a 3 rotor or just a ported REW in an FD. All this assuming that **** doesn't hit the fan. Otherwise I could settle for an FD as a project and a subie as a daily.
#50
so lets not kid ourselves and it irritates me that people make the rotary sound so much more horrible that V8's don't ever have issues when they do, quite often when modified to make anything over stock power levels..
they just have the advantage of displacement and not needing everything ideal due to the lack of necessity to be forced inducted. you can make an n/a rotary pull in 300whp but it obviously wont have the torque or fuel mileage of a V8, but they can compete when pushing air through them, because they're smaller weed wacker motors.
i've made over 300WHP for the better part of 5 years now, untouched tune even after swapping to the new turbo, makes about 23.5 mpg and is one of the most reliable cars i have owned to date in that period of time. closer to 350WHP now and pushing about 70k on the engine, the car itself now has 208k original miles on everything except the suspension, tires and brakes.
if you want to compare naturally aspirated i can build a semi pp n/a with ceramic seals that will go 200k flawless miles while pushing close to 300WHP with the lacking torque and fuel mileage, but again, because it's a smaller motor.
just wait though, i smell more machine shops putting out 3 and 4 rotor kits in the near future(not me, at least unless $30k fell into my lap magically to buy the necessary machinery). at that point then you will see a naturally aspirated rotary that will keep up with the V8s in some ways but still lose in others(fuel mileage being the main one).
rotaries are actually very simple engines and i still have no idea why so many people are reluctant to attempt to build them on their own. i never even hesitated to break mine open after only owning the car for 2 weeks and not having any rotary experience, it helped having mechanical knowledge but almost none of that helped me to learn these motors aside from watching the atkins video(they all give the same basic concept of engine rebuilding just different techniques). the issue is mainly getting over your reservations.
i have even had to rebuild one on a back patio with a portable air compressor and basic hand tools when one of my customers had a bolt get dropped into the motor while installing it and i was 5 hours from the shop(obviously not a warranty job). the whole process took about 6-7 hours, though i had the parts already pre-cleaned. that itself should tell you that most of the rebuild of these motors is spent in cleaning time, which is why i'm so relieved to have found this $5k 150 gallon stainless washer for $300, they don't fall out of trees as i have been looking for months for used washers for anything less than $1k.
having all of the parts cleaned, engine fully disassembled it takes me about 4 hours to fully reassemble an engine.
Last edited by RotaryEvolution; 04-10-11 at 01:30 PM.