My clutch kit just arrived from Rosenthal. All OEM Mazda parts. How about that! Wonder what Paretti will have to say when I prove to them it cost me $420 and they were trying to sell the parts to me for $607. :iceburn:

Edit: OK. I just looked at the invoice. The kit is $420 and they list what the parts would cost individually. I assume the put the prices on there at list and not retail. The sum of the price of the parts comes to right under $550, which is the price Keith at Ducote said he could do for me. Paretti refused to budge and said it was $607 for parts and refused to go any cheaper because that was their rock bottom price and "all Mazda dealerships get the parts at the same price and no other dealership can get the parts cheaper than Paretti can, blah blah blah."

And that is why Paretti has lost all credibility with me.

 

skwidd-
I'm glad your parts came in today. Did you get them to Paretti on time? Are you still scheduled to roll tomorrow? I sure hope so.

I'm thinking of sending my calipers off to be powder coated. I like the way that looks alot better than the look of those painted at home, even with the high temp paint used for calipers. I'll email the info to you. The only thing is that since they have to be sent off, we'll obviously be w/o our 8's for at least a cpl days. Sigh... I've yet to call the place to see if they could do what RB did for me; same day turn around. I'll get right on that tomorrow.

Update: Racing Beat called me today, all went well and Ducote will have my pcm in the morning. I'll be testing it out manana! I emailed Keith today, confirming that RB shipped it along with the tracking info. I also said "NO TEST DRIVES W/O ME!". lol.

BTW: This mustang does have power, but it feels like a boat and the interior is poorly designed (my opinion of course). I miss my car!

I saw a base white with chrome wheels and dark tint at Piggly Wiggly yesterday AND today. Anyone here? Keith's gonna help us spread the word to other 8's in NOLA about the forum and our bbq. Also, Mazda's sending some goodies to us for our get together!

 

Transmission will not be in until monday, so I'm in a Hundai for the weekend.

If I do paint the inner rotors and calipers, it'll be a project. I might practice and see how well it comes out. Perhaps get hold of a caliper from a junkyard and play with it, maybe stop at my friend's body shop, whatever. I have to get more info on the paint to see what drying time is and see what prep is like, how much time, materials, etc.

I thought there was a link somewhere that set forth the procedure. I'll have to run through bookmarks and do some searches and see if I can find it. Heck, for all I know, my body shop friend knows.

 

On another note, since I actually just finished doing work and have to be up in 5 hours, who's game for a detail party? There are ways of doing this and we have to organize.

Monique is all happy schmappy about zaino. I love mernzerna. (spelling). I have a Porter Cable with pads from fluffy to aggressive. I'm still working on the swirls in my car from previous owner and don't want to utilize hi-speed.

I think reds and blakcs are out, but any other colors and we might have some good looking 8s running around town until the next fog, rain, drive around town. hehe.

If you guys are up for a good wash day and polish day, I think arranging a brake inner rotor and caliper painting day might be fun. If we get a few people out there, someone is bound to have enough knowledge to get this right. I'm retty good on the buffer, but have only worked on BB, so another color might make me happy. Only thing with buffing, we'll have to settle on consumables (menzera, mother's, zaino) because I'm not setting up a detailing business, so bring your own stuff.

Anyone interested?

We're kind of close to the time when we could get out paint in order and I am very stoked about the inner disc/caliper painting. That will be fun.

OK...I need sleep

Nites y'all

 

Hey everyone, the BBQ info has been posted. See here.

skwidd-
We'll talk about the detailing & painting at the bbq. It all sounds good.

Can't wait to get my car back today! =)
Sorry yours won't be ready today John! =(

 

Dropped the clutch kit off at Paretti this morning and verified the transmission will be in monday. I was kind of hoping it would get here earlier, like this morning, so they could fix everything.

Kenny is such a heel. I brought the parts, he looked at them, and said he hopes they are the right parts because there is no way any dealership can sell the parts for less than what Paretti can sell parts for.

Damn I hate the service Department at Paretti.

edit: Oh, and they aren't guaranteeing they can put the transmission in when it comes in because they may have another big job ahead of me by then. And just 2 days ago they were telling me to get the parts in ASAP because as soon as the transmission comes in, they are putting it in because my car is taking up space in their shop and they need to get it out ASAP.

God-Damnit I hate everyone who works in the service depeartmetn at Paretti.

 

Wow that blows! They better not try any funny stuff!

 

Thank you for completely calling into question that last microscopic sliver of confidence that I may or may not have had with Paretti.



edit for icons

 

Look on the brighter side..................

....................................Oh, who the hell am I kidding. That sucks bigtime.

 

Woops!

Ok so the Racing Beat Street Flash PCM Mod was a complete success people! I feel a big improvement. Esp at and above 5-6k rpm! I can take it past 9k too! The car accelerates alot quicker than before. It reacts so well, esp in 3rd gear at 5k. I always loved to "get on it" right there before but now it feels even better. I also see a difference in how quickly my tach needle raises, lol. Seriously, this was definately a great investment. I'd recommend it to anyone. RB did follow through with the same day turnaround, too so that I was w/o my ride for minimal time! Just call ahead guys, speak to Jim Tanner, Shawn, Ryan or Mike. They're all cool!

 

Quick question, without doing any research. Does the flash lean out the fuel mix at all? When I first started reading the forums, there was a discussion that the 8's fuel map was too rich because EPA or whoever, said the leaner mixture was causing the cat to get too hot, which shortened the cat life. I remember reading that's where we lost a bunch of power, in the rich mixture.

So if this is getting us closer to the original fuel mixture, I'm so gonna get this done.

Thanks.

 

Yes it absolutely does!

 

AWESOME! Lol, my uncle said he saw you speeding your *** off in the streets. Must have been testing the flash? He was with his friend in a Black Benz SL 600 sitting on 20's. But good to see that you love your 8 even more. RB is and has been doing a great job! I think I'm gonna have to look into this more than I thought, but this is my everyday driver. I don't have a mustang to drive =P

 

So since Ducote sent your pcm it doesn't void your warranty? Even though you don't have it anymore, I just wanted to know if it would or would not.

I saw that same white 8 around the ames area. But no clue who it is.

I always have bad experiences with mustang drivers. They really don't like me or something. You know why...

Also, IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD, there is a white 8 with the VEILSIDE kit. I stopped by the house to say wassup but nobody answered the door. Anyone in here?

 

Damn, sucks to hear that. But hey, they are progressing slowly but surely?

Score board

Ducote - 1
Paretti - 0

 

Like you said, I'm not under the full factory warranty anymore so it doesn't really apply to me. I have like 2k or so miles left on that extension to 60k they gave us all but that's a wrap. I'm not sure what it would do to your warranty. That's a Keith question. I know that either way you need to let your local service dept know if you do it. Otherwise, when you bring it in for regular maintenance, they could wipe out your RB flash when they do those mazda pcm flash updates. I don't think it would be a matter of who pulls the pcm. I think if anything the actual changes to the fuel maps, rev limiter etc. would be the culprit! I just had Mazda do it bc Alex was busy that day. Rem... Alex was gonna do it this coming Monday. But I got anxious and sent it last Weds. lol. It looks real easy to do btw and only took a few seconds. It cost me $20-ish bucks to next day am ship it and $47 to have RB flash it & ship it back the same day via next day am delv. I was only w/o my 8 from Weds afternoon til Fri around lunch. I don't have a Mustang btw, I rented one from Hertz via Ducote.

EDIT: The flash itself was $295. And if you ever need them to re-flash it, they'll only charge you half that. See here for the RB Street Flash technical info. Also, Racing Beat states this "If a Mazda dealer flashes the PCM the Racing Beat flash will NOT be retained. When leaving your car with a Mazda dealer, if there is any possibility that the dealer might have reason to flash the PCM, inform the dealer that you are satisfied with the current flash. If the dealer were to flash your PCM (thereby replacing the Racing Beat programming on it), we would flash your PCM for 50% of the current flash price. (Depending on availability of service and programming.) Your dealer will not be aware of the Racing Beat flash - except indirectly through the fan “on” temps, higher red line, or the extra power. There are no visible external signs on the PCM unit that it has been flashed ."

 

Me... speeding? Naah wasn't me! lol. Ok maybe it was me just maybe testing my new power. I didn't notice him in the Benz. I did pass in front of his shop though. I met a friend at the Harvey Locks for a few to take some pics of my car w/the NOLA skyline behind. I ditched work early Fri to pick up my car from Ducote- I couldn't wait til after work! Heehe.

Ya know what's hot? Taking pics of cars at the Gretna Ferry at night with the city in the background! We did it one night (I didn't have my camera since my friends called at the last minute to do it). But the meanie Gretna cops ran us off. Some pics were taken before that, I need to get those emailed to me! We should get together & try it again w/our 8's. Who's in? Maybe we won't get ran off, I was with lots of rice that night. lol. We ended up all driving to Oakridge Plaza afterwards where a JP let us stay, he was cool. There was a new Shinka with us that night. This girl Farris I know. She's still in High School. I know her through some other car friends.

 

Yeah, sounds fun. I know how you girls are with pictures and all..

My bad Monique about the whole traffic thing. I was rushing to get home to go to work and my mind wasn't even thinking... I'm a total ***.

Is that the "daiquiri and cream" you were talking about? If so, thats like right by my house b/c I live right behind Breax Mart.

 

It was boys that wanted to take pics at the ferry btw. We did take some today though. Man the Lakefront is still in bad shape. Absolutely NO scenery. Sucks! And check out the signs that are still up!

No prob on the traffic thing. Since ya called to apologize and felt like an *** imma letcha slide this once. lol. Hey I left a note on that VR at Piccadilly today with my email addy and an invite to the que. I can't belive there were four of us VR's on the **** today! That's enough! Also, I saw that base white with rims and tint today on Barataria heading towards Ames.

Naah the Daiquiris & Creams is on your side of Lapalco, it's that building with the Papa John's Pizza and Angel Dry Cleaners (I think). Almost across from Helen ***.

 

That sucks

 

i finally got to wash my car on friday so i took some pics so here they are...let me know whatcha think

 

Hey, Casanova, looks like your not the only one that can't sleep.

I am new to this thread. I live in DeRidder, La, bout an hour north of Lake Charles, 3 hrs from Baton Rouge.

I saw someone mention the cenla autocross. I may just go, and watch the AX on Sunday to see what it's all about. I have never been to one. Anyone here competing, or is there a thread for this? I did a search, and did not see one.

 

surfrgurl-
Your car looks great. I love the smoked tail lamps. I ordered my film last week.

ryan-
I may be at the CenLa autox on March 25. Go to http://www.autoxforum.com/ for more autocrossing info. You are actually alot closer to SoWeLa though. Check out their website for their autox schedule http://www.sowela-scca.org/. And if your in the area, see this thread for our BBQ on April 1st.

 

thanks monique! but its actually not film, i had a friend of mine paint them the same color as my car with about 3 coats and had them cleared

 

wow- yeah they look like the same color. great job!

EDIT: Ok, now it's obvious. I only opened one of your pics earlier.

See ya April 1st!