Maryland People!
04-25-2009, 06:00 PM
#3052
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Thanks Greg for the write up. Im not gona take the credit for all of what you said but I was deffinatly involved in alot. Ive had a nack for this stuff since I was a kid and I always get it rite the first time. I dont dick people around and I dont beat around the bush and cut corners either when it comes to a vehical that someone puts there trust into when even pushin the limit just a little or a traffic law abiding citizen. I got my start working on crotch rockets and jetskies and I have never had a comeback, period. Likeyou said Ive work at Pettits R&D department for the last 5 years. If I work on your baby I only offer the best or not at all. If you come to me, tell me what you want to do and give me a general direction you want to go and ill point you were your not gona have any problems with what you want. Have fun at the Lakefront, I miss those days.
04-28-2009, 08:43 AM
#3054
Thanks Greg for the write up. Im not gona take the credit for all of what you said but I was deffinatly involved in alot. Ive had a nack for this stuff since I was a kid and I always get it rite the first time. I dont dick people around and I dont beat around the bush and cut corners either when it comes to a vehical that someone puts there trust into when even pushin the limit just a little or a traffic law abiding citizen. I got my start working on crotch rockets and jetskies and I have never had a comeback, period. Likeyou said Ive work at Pettits R&D department for the last 5 years. If I work on your baby I only offer the best or not at all. If you come to me, tell me what you want to do and give me a general direction you want to go and ill point you were your not gona have any problems with what you want. Have fun at the Lakefront, I miss those days.
$650 later, I'm back home. Five hours labor @ $95 to replace three coils / 2 plugs, they had to send a runner to Hagerstown MD to get the parts, mechanic was only familiar with Mazda piston cars and looked lost under the Zonk. Hell, he only started making progress when I told him to use a timing light and see which coils were firing! The service manager said they'd just finished training a week ago.
Yes, I hate having to spend that much to get three $39 parts replaced (we will not speak of $50 spark plugs). At the same time, it would have been another three to five days before I could have rounded up the parts, procured a rental car, spent a lot of time on the road between Easton MD and somewhere near Summit Point WV to do the repairs myself. My -8 is safely home, I need to verify what actually was done to the ignition (the plug they gave me was not the part number I expected to see), and I'm at work where I belong.
Despite all the flaming drama, I think CRH is going to get a PM to reserve a coil kit. It is time to get proactive with the irritating **** that happens to this car.
04-29-2009, 11:22 AM
#3056
Speaking of tracks: last night, I finally got to sit down and watch the DVR'ed Grand-Am race at VIR. I haven't felt like a kid with a new toy at Christmas in a long time, and that's pretty much how I felt at seeing a race on a track I've driven on. The wife got fed up with me talking to the TV after awhile and shut the door.
It's one thing to hear the announcer talk about a "gutsy move in Hogpen" (Turn 17 on VIR Full Course) when you see a race on TV, and to have driven the track you know WHY it's a ballsy thing to do to take 'that line' through there. I caught myself leaning in the recliner several times, reacting to what I was seeing on the HD.
I gotta go through the 'Zonk' with a fine tooth comb and REALLY get prepped for track events. Are there ANY dealerships in this area that you can TRUST implicitly with the RX-8, when you can't afford whatever you're trying to do under the proverbial "shadetree"? That episode in Winchester left a really bad taste (and a gap in my wallet). It didn't help that coming back through DC on Monday afternoon, I happened to look right while approaching I-495 on US-7 and saw Rosenthal Mazda behind all that road construction.
04-29-2009, 01:38 PM
#3057
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Could have used your expertise Sunday - Monday in the Winchester VA area. Short story: three coils dead, apparently I was running 2 good coils out of four and didn't know it. Between possible food poisoning and definite heat exhaustion from a weekend at Summit Point Raceway, I was ill-equipped Sunday night to deal with a roadside failure when the third coil died. "Lizard King Insurance" roadside assistance covered only getting the vehicle to the nearest brand dealership, which turned out to be a 2-week old Mazda franchise in Winchester. The temporary canvas signs still looked fresh.
$650 later, I'm back home. Five hours labor @ $95 to replace three coils / 2 plugs, they had to send a runner to Hagerstown MD to get the parts, mechanic was only familiar with Mazda piston cars and looked lost under the Zonk. Hell, he only started making progress when I told him to use a timing light and see which coils were firing! The service manager said they'd just finished training a week ago.
Yes, I hate having to spend that much to get three $39 parts replaced (we will not speak of $50 spark plugs). At the same time, it would have been another three to five days before I could have rounded up the parts, procured a rental car, spent a lot of time on the road between Easton MD and somewhere near Summit Point WV to do the repairs myself. My -8 is safely home, I need to verify what actually was done to the ignition (the plug they gave me was not the part number I expected to see), and I'm at work where I belong.
Despite all the flaming drama, I think CRH is going to get a PM to reserve a coil kit. It is time to get proactive with the irritating **** that happens to this car.
$650 later, I'm back home. Five hours labor @ $95 to replace three coils / 2 plugs, they had to send a runner to Hagerstown MD to get the parts, mechanic was only familiar with Mazda piston cars and looked lost under the Zonk. Hell, he only started making progress when I told him to use a timing light and see which coils were firing! The service manager said they'd just finished training a week ago.
Yes, I hate having to spend that much to get three $39 parts replaced (we will not speak of $50 spark plugs). At the same time, it would have been another three to five days before I could have rounded up the parts, procured a rental car, spent a lot of time on the road between Easton MD and somewhere near Summit Point WV to do the repairs myself. My -8 is safely home, I need to verify what actually was done to the ignition (the plug they gave me was not the part number I expected to see), and I'm at work where I belong.
Despite all the flaming drama, I think CRH is going to get a PM to reserve a coil kit. It is time to get proactive with the irritating **** that happens to this car.
04-29-2009, 08:08 PM
#3060
Coils, plugs and a 1/4" drive socket extension w/ flexhead in the track pack. Check.
04-29-2009, 08:27 PM
#3061
Life begins @ 30 psi
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Columbia, MD
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04-29-2009, 08:46 PM
#3062
1% evil, 99% hot gas.
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Non-dealerships I would trust: PBC Automotive, PFS (now that PF has nothing to do with it), KD Rotary, Bret at RP Performance. I only have personal experience with Bret.
Mostly I do my own work. Have to swap out two transmissions this weekend in my Spec RX-7s. Air tools FTW.
No lift, though. 
04-30-2009, 12:50 AM
#3064
cone killer
Just wanted to say hi guys, I just bought a 04 VR Rx-8. I live in Ellicott City and work in Columbia so you'll probably see me around.
Last edited by kanundra; 07-31-2009 at 11:39 AM.
04-30-2009, 06:23 AM
#3065
04-30-2009, 07:38 AM
#3066
Life begins @ 30 psi
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Location: Columbia, MD
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Welcome to the club! There is a lot of great information here, and a lot of cool people especially in our little neck of the woods. Hope to see you at some of the meets.
04-30-2009, 07:57 AM
#3067
cone killer
Any plans on the next one yet?
Last edited by kanundra; 07-31-2009 at 11:40 AM.
04-30-2009, 08:16 AM
#3068
Life begins @ 30 psi
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The next meet is our monthly Sushi Night... there is a thread about it, this one is in DE though, so its about an hour away from our normal meeting spot at the White Marsh park 'n ride on 95.
04-30-2009, 10:00 AM
#3069
Rx ATE
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Baltimore, MD
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Tyler
04-30-2009, 06:40 PM
#3071
Life begins @ 30 psi
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I mentioned it in the Sushi thread, but I just bought a Velocity Red '05 RX-8 for my wife today. She won't actually have it until this Saturday, but I'll be sure to take some pics and have her post them. She is really excited to have the car, so she will probably bring it up to the Sushi night to show it off. As soon as she gets it I'm putting my old clear corners on.
04-30-2009, 07:26 PM
#3074
For large values of "area": Gaithersburg Mazda, and only because Phil Ruhl works there. He's won a national Mazda Master Technician competition. And he drives his GSL-SE on the track.
Non-dealerships I would trust: PBC Automotive, PFS (now that PF has nothing to do with it), KD Rotary, Bret at RP Performance. I only have personal experience with Bret.
Mostly I do my own work. Have to swap out two transmissions this weekend in my Spec RX-7s. Air tools FTW. No lift, though.
Non-dealerships I would trust: PBC Automotive, PFS (now that PF has nothing to do with it), KD Rotary, Bret at RP Performance. I only have personal experience with Bret.
Mostly I do my own work. Have to swap out two transmissions this weekend in my Spec RX-7s. Air tools FTW.
No lift, though. indeed!To be honest, I've never considered a non-dealer mechanic for rotaries. It's bad enough the dealers themselves are (for the most part) incapable of working on their own product, how deep could the knowledge base be on the outside?
Spec RX-7? I'm expanding my worldview, I met RX8Convert22 at Summit Point with his fairly sharp Spec-7, we ran in the same DE class and tried as much as possible not to die in the heat.
I find it an odd commentary on our sport that he owns two items valued more than gold to a first-gen -7 owner, and you'll have to ask him what they are.
Last edited by Striker-7; 04-30-2009 at 07:36 PM.
