TomoHawk

When I bought my stainless brake lines, I was told that they weren't approved, but they were in the process. That was maybe ten years ago too.

oops- double post

That's confusing. Can you explain? I didn't see anything on those hoses to tell you which ones they were. Could be either type. Also, I was told that the ones I had were in the process of getting approved, so they are probably OK to use by now.thxZ

I was told that the braided stainless brake hoses were not approved for the street because they had not passed the "whip test."

Before I took the new brake hoses to the brake shop. I examined them carefully. Each one had on it a short black plastic sleeve with "EARLS" printed on it in white ink. I think that most of these braided hoses were from Earl's, but were they ever approved for use in cars? I think that when I bough my hoses they weren't yet "approved" but people were using them anyway. thxZ

My oem mirror isn't a red dot.

My original inside mirror had the same problem. The sideview mirrors have a thing inside that you can screw down to tighten it up a little, but the inside mirror doesn't, AFAICT. thx

My brakes were a little spongy because one of the rear hoses was leaking just a little. I put on new hoses ( stainless braided ones) and now it's totally different. thxZ

Sorry, I don't take pictures of my car. You couldn't see the new hoses anyway. Besides the new brake hoses, everything is stock. I just haven't had an opportunity to check the rear brakes. How ould you do that when it's not snowing or raining? thxZ

I finally got the chance to install the stainless braided brake hoses on all four wheels of my car, and now I have brakes! The old rubber hoses were weak, so they were bulging a little, and there was just a bit of leaking. Braking was slow, and probably took double the distance at highway speeds. After the install, I tried the brakes in an open place, and I'm glad I had on my shoulder belt, because I almost hit my head on the steering wheel!. Hopefully, I'll never have to use the improved brakes on the road, but at least I know I can stop MUCH more quickly if I need to. I put on a new PCV valve too, and the engine & transmission ar much happier now too.

Are you refering to the ping that's associated with the engine?

That's why we usually say to use the search function. A similar question has probably been discussed before somewhere. A copy of the Factory Service Manual (FSM) is great too.

Use PB Blaster to infuse the threads on the 3 screws holding the back plate on, and an impact driver ( the kind you hammer) would probably help a lot too; tapping the screws with a screwdriver helps loosen the rust a bit. Don't forget antisieze when you reassemble. thxZ

That's why my playlists are at least an hour long, and it repeats when it's done. As for phonecalls, if it really can't wait until I get where I'm going, I'll pull off the road somewhere to make a callback. thxZ

Inf- Your car was obviously in the way when that girl was in such a hurry to get her car parked in or out! OTOH, it would be nice to have a dart gun with suction-cup darts to tag idiots, and after they get a bunch of darts, they get a big ticket. But then everybody would be shooting everybody else, with these idiot's st00pid idea of "good driving." Remember that the Allstate nsurance guy on TV says that there's a 1-in-8 ( 13%) chance that you'll have a collision at any given time? SCARY! :eek: thxZ

Maybe Mike's driving a bulldozer or the lawn tractor?

Well, there's a proper place for everything. Go to VIR or drive I-95 if you feel the need for speed. Go to the mall if you wanna talk on the cell phone. Just don't forget to go to Church on Sundays to tell the man upstairs you're glad he invented Mr. K. (among other things)

Ever see the State Auto TV commercial? One guy is checking stocks, one girl is doing makeup and another guy is putting on his pants!? :eek: We used to make fun of guys shaving or reading the newspaper, drinking coffee, and other stuff, but that was before cell phones. So what would you suggest that people do about it, besides stay home until all the texters kill thelves off? I have even heard of some penalties for fooling with your navigation computer while you drive. Once I program my nav, I leave it. Some people may say that texting is a "freedom." Real freedom is the ability to do the right thing, not to just do anything. Walter- I can appreciate what people like Dr. Phil or even Judge Judy do. It's the people (guests or litigants) on the show that have the real problems. Otherwise, they could sit down & solve things without having to do it on TV (?) thxZ

Dr. Phil is a psychologist with the highest-rated daytime TV talkshow where he gets people to confront their problems like obesity, drugs, violence. ad whatever. Sometime's he'll sponsor extra stuff like the driving simulator test. Once he tracked down a lady who claimed to be "Mrs. Dr. Phil" and rip people off for money. Sometime's he'll connect people with doctors, weight-loss clinics, or whatever, and he's sponsored several weight-loss challenges. www.drphil.com

On Dr. Phil today, tere were two kids that had experienced problems because they were "texting" (reading & typing text messages) while driving. The first highschool student was a girl who absolutely assured the audience that she could drive safely while texting, and that was after getting cited for speeding, hitting a guardrail, weaving in traffic, etc. all while texting. Dr. Phil setup a simulator test to see how this girl could rate, and out of 100 points, she got 10! During the test, she went off the road several times, rossed a double-yellow centre-line several times, and hit a firetruck head-on! :eek: The other student only ran over a cyclist ( he died later.) :mad: Do you do this stuff while you drive? It's scary enough that people talk while driving. At least they are looking at the road. But these people were basically driving their car by looking down at the phone. With all the close-calls I've experienced by getting cutoff on the street & freeway, people speeding & weaving on the highway ( to get to work?) and other dumb stuff, it almost makes you want to stay home. Do kids really need to be texting while driving, or do they really need a cell phone at all??? They should install a radio chip in the cars that will deactivate your phone while it's in any gear.

I bought a large (industrial) floor mat ( 4x6, IIRC) from the DIY place. It is rubber with carpet on top. I cut it up to put under the seats, in the back, and for floor mats. I used carboard/posterboard to make a pattern, and I made metal tabs of aluminum that were rivetted to the forward edge, and the kickpanel screws go through a hole to keep the floor mats in place. thxZ

For which year & model?

Justin, For plastic, it might be possible to use it in small areas, and cure it ith a heat gun. Heat in a small area might not hurt a plastic part. I don't know what kind of heat is needed until I get my can of product. I'd like to chrome the plastic covers on the front of the armest.

I would like to know why some people have typed in the firing order starting with 5 instead of 1? Are there any pictures or diagrams of how the wires go through the plastic holders? thxZ

According to the auction, you can't really apply the stuff over chrome- you will have to either sandblast the area rough, or sandbast the old chrome off completely. Bare metal is needed. Some experimentation is in order, maybe on an old emblem or something like that. I think a heatgun might work if it doesn't blow a lot of air. Maybe make a small metal box for the heatgun/oven. thxZ