Learned'd VIII: Less Bewbs, Same Nonsense

[sx moneypit]

Mornin' folks!
Man, i am glad this week is about over.

[Hijacker]

Morning!

[frapjap]

Evening everyone!

And I need to mow my lawn...

I just mowed ours last night.

Speaking of that... My wife opened the front door today to find a warning from the local police about our yard and some limbs in the yard. Come to find out, the police officer told us that one of our neighbors had reported us. There were two limbs sitting in our back yard from a bad storm, that weren't even from our own property and our grass had gotten a little tall. I had put it off for many good reasons and it definitely wasn't bad enough to report me over. We don't have a homeowners association, so it's not like i'm violating anything related to by-laws in the neighborhood.

I suspect that it's the old couple that lives next door... the wife complains about EVERYTHING with all the neighbors. I'm gonna call in the old truck that they keep sitting in their driveway, which hasn't ran in over 6 months. Friggin' grumpy old people need to mind their own damn business. If you have a problem with me, let me know about it, don't call the damn police because I don't cut my grass as often as you would like.

Thats some s***. I'd take the time to go over and kill small patches of their yards with antifreeze for that one.

Morning fellas. Texas sucks.

[Hijacker]

I didn't like Texas when I was there. I kept getting the "Texas is the best state in the nation" spiel from EVERYONE. Really turned me off to the state.

I ordered my first upgrade part for my car in YEARS yesterday. Energy Suspension rear control arm bushings so I can get my Z32 uprights installed. Just need to get the coilovers next. I'll probably hold off and wait till I can pull the full rear end out and rebuild it with brand new everything. Gonna go SPL for the multi-link.

[snwbrdr435]

Morning!

[frapjap]

Enjoy the bushings. They groan and creek on cold mornings, its a fun sound.

'sup Marco. Did you get your 4-20's pass for Sugarbush this year?
No bites on your riding suit down here. The only guy interested is a 2xl.

[snwbrdr435]

Not a big deal I sold one of them. Since I am starting to spend more time at the track I'll just keep the other one as a backup.

[Hijacker]

Cold mornings? When I do the rebuild, the 240 will be relegated to weekend fun warrior/weekday fun drive. I'm going to be shuttling 3 obnoxious miniature humans around. I can't do that in the 240, so my daily will have to be something...bigger.

But I can't wait to get the rebuild under way. As soon as I have a new daily, the 240 goes into the shop and I start tearing it down. I'm shucking the power top and making it a manual. So goodbye hydraulics and associated wiring. I've been going back and forth on the color I want to make it. Do I want to keep it factory Super White or swap to a sapphire blue? I'm having the car media blasted to find all the rust, so I'm going to have the opportunity to spray the car like it came from the factory in whatever color I choose.

I really like blues that pop, like this one from HoK

[AppleBonker]

Morning fellers.

I've always liked metallic blues myself. Also, I don't care what anyone says, Chevy's newer Synergy Green is amazing (pictures don't do it justice).

[Hijacker]

I'm not a huge green fan, but I'll take a look at it. I"m probably gonna stick with either a Nissan factory color or get something from HoK. HoK paints have the richness I like to see in a paint.

[AppleBonker]

Green has to go on the right car. I feel the same about yellow. Either of those colors are completely hit or miss.

Synergy Green is the new camaro green, fwiw. Also, the synergy green comment was not a recommendation for your car. I don't think it would work on an s13...

[Hijacker]

It could work on a hard top. But the black soft top would offset it too much. I like blue because if you get a deep blue, it flows into the black cloth well. Especially when it gets darker outside. The white works well with the black too, but I'm kind of tired of the panda look I have going. Plus the gunmetal on the lower part of my car is so dark, people think I two toned it with black.

[AppleBonker]

Agreed on most points. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of whites (though that stems from categorically terrible OEM jobs with them). An aftermarket job in white could be quite awesome, though a bit less awesome on a vert (IMO).

Where are you going to have the car sprayed? Having worked in the auto paint industry, I'd strongly recommend finding a reputable shop. Painting a car is a lot more challenging than most body shops would be willing to admit...

[Hijacker]

I have a body guy in the area that does a great job. He cut out and replaced some rust on my rear quarter. It's impossible to tell where he did the cutting, welding, and repainting.

[93coupe]

I usually hate blues but my current car is a blue with a good amount of flake in it. It's growing on me.

Morning.

Adam, if you get a chance in the near future, I'd like to molest your brain for some knowledge. Text me.

[AppleBonker]

I have no knowledge. But I'm up for being molested. I'll try to hit you up sometime tonight/this weekend.

[frapjap]

Cold mornings? When I do the rebuild, the 240 will be relegated to weekend fun warrior/weekday fun drive. I'm going to be shuttling 3 obnoxious miniature humans around. I can't do that in the 240, so my daily will have to be something...bigger.

But I can't wait to get the rebuild under way. As soon as I have a new daily, the 240 goes into the shop and I start tearing it down. I'm shucking the power top and making it a manual. So goodbye hydraulics and associated wiring. I've been going back and forth on the color I want to make it. Do I want to keep it factory Super White or swap to a sapphire blue? I'm having the car media blasted to find all the rust, so I'm going to have the opportunity to spray the car like it came from the factory in whatever color I choose.

I really like blues that pop, like this one from HoK

That blue is super hot. I'm a fan of Electron Blue from chevy. Its a color C5's got.


As for white, metallic whites are teh sex. Cadillac has a fantastic white diamond pearl that photos do not do justice. Just enough metallic to not look gawdy. Heres the best pic I could find. You've really got to see it in person.


Good call on going manual top. That'll save you a ton of weight/useless crap that'll break anyway.

[AppleBonker]

FYI, pearl whites don't use any metal. It's actually a ceramic crystal. The more you know...

[93coupe]

Well, I tried to take a picture of my bucket to jump in this blue discussion but it's just too damn dirty to do it any justice.

[sx moneypit]

I have no knowledge. But I'm up for being molested. I'll try to hit you up sometime tonight/this weekend.

[sx moneypit]

Mornin' gents!

[dasoupdude]

soooo...anyone else notice anything strange about the new "pathfinder?"

[snwbrdr435]

Its got gay f*** curves

[ADDirishboy]

It looks like a Subaru?

[Hijacker]

Is that a FWD motor?

[sx moneypit]

Front wheel drive.

[ADDirishboy]

I didn't even look at the engine pic. WTF? Why does Nissan insist on doing stupid s***?

[frapjap]

Goddammit. Who's really running the show over there? That pig better get 30+ mpg if someone is going to make the switch from awd to fwd.

[snwbrdr435]

FAILZIAN

[MinisterofDOOM]

soooo...anyone else notice anything strange about the new "pathfinder?"

You mean the unibody? Or the CVT? Or the aging sideways VQ35? Or the watered-down styling?

Yeah, I noticed all that about 6 months ago and lost my s***.

But I can also understand why. Nissan has been hurting for lack of a 7-seat crossover. It's the a HUGE segment...Pilot, Highlander, Acadia, etc. They need one. But I don't see why they didn't just do a Murano XL or something like that. Why call it a Pathfinder?

At the same time, Nissan has two distinctly-focused midsize truck-based SUVs. The 7 seat, independent suspension Pathfinder, and the 5-seat, solid-rear-axle Xterra. Most people wanting an offroader will buy the Xterra. Most people wanting a grocery hauler will buy the Pathfinder. So there's very little harm to the hardcore offroader from this decision.

Another part of the problem (from Nissan's standpoint) was that Nissan had made the Pathfinder so capable it was stepping on the Armada's toes. The Pathy could be had with the same V8, similar towing capacity, and one fewer seats. So with the Xterra doing offroader duties and the Armada doing truck duties, there was little NEED to keep the Pathfinder in the lineup as it was.

Nissan had an SUV they didn't need, and a crossover hole to fill. Viola.

Really, to keep me satisifed, all Nissan needs to do at this point is put the VK56VD in the Xterra. Or even just the VK56DE. But if you're going to do something...get it right.

I'm sure this will be financially HUGE for Nissan. All those Pilot buyers who passed on the Murano because they have too effing many kids will now be able to consider it a valid option.

The CVT is irredeemable, and I still think it would do better with the Murano nameplate on the back (It even LOOKS like a next-gen Murano if you ignore the grille!). But the rest I can understand. We get to keep the Xterra, so I can't be too unhappy. GM and Ford didn't give their offroad-loving buyers any such consolation when the Trailblazer and Explorer turned into giant sedans.

ALSO
Note to crossover owners: SCULPTED LIFTGATE GLASS SUCKS BECAUSE IT CAN'T OPEN SEPARATELY. It's stupid. I don't want to have to open the whole damn gate just to toss a bag of groceries in the back. Let me pop open the glass and lift it, or do like Toyota does with their SUVs and let me remotely roll the gate glass down with my keyfob (a SUPER convenient feature).