There's a storm coming

We are finally approaching the last few days of winter, and as always, this means we are all psyched to take our cars out for road trips, attend race tracks, and car meets! I'm just going to take this time to update you guys on current events, and a small forecast of what storm we, at Machine Zealots here, are brewing up.

First off, if you guys have seen the most recent episode, Subaru Engine Oil Change, you may have noticed about two minutes into the episode there seems to be something blurring the lower left hand corner of the lens. Now granted, no one has commented on it yet, but I'm sure most of you have seen it, lol. This was due to myself being clumsy and dropping the camera on the pavement, lens first. You can hardly see it on the outside, it's such a small scratch, but of course, GoPro's fantastic wide angle lens just amplifies the scratch making it into a huge blur. This episode was aired a week later than planned due to this issue, but as they say, "The show must go on."

I finished the episode, hoping that my editing skills could divert the attention away from that awful blur. If you guys had no idea of the blur, then I suppose I did a good job, but then again, I ended up telling you guys I made a mistake anyway. Oops.

Well, I admit to my fault because this has something to do with the upcoming weeks. I got a new set of lenses from GoPro for this camera, but then I got hooked on the GoPro HD Hero 2, so I'm now trying to get my hands on one, lol.

Lens replacement kit. Comes with 2 lenses, waterproof seals, screws, and a screwdriver.

Anyway, I thought to myself, while I'm waiting for the new GoPro Camera, I may as well shoot the new episodes with it. So what to do in this waiting period? Well, I remastered two episodes from my old Project Spades V6 days. I plan on airing them starting Friday, March 2nd, back to back weeks. In the show business, they would just play re-runs while they were catching up to airing schedule dates. Sadly, I can not do that for Youtube, since viewing videos online is not totally linearly based. Therefore, I am hoping these videos will keep most of you guys entertained for the next couple of weeks as I get my affairs in order.

Airing March 2nd - Caliper Painting with the G2 Caliper Paint Kit.

Airing March 9th - Camaro Engine Oil Change with Castrol Edge.

For those who have watched these episodes in the past, keep in mind that these are remastered, not just re-rendered. New background music, removed a lot of unnecessary stuff, and applied new filtering effects. For those of you who are just looking for videos on the STI, I'm afraid you will have to wait.

I've also made a new tab on the blog called "MZ Projects". Although it is under some construction, I plan to have this page feature all the cars Machine Zealots gets their hands on. You can also refer to it for upcoming modifications planned for each Project Car. I'll be expanding the page as time goes on, but as you can see, there are several things on the plate for the STI already. A couple of other people I've talked to recently want to help with the videos with their cars, but I'll tell you guys more about that when we get there. Some car club meets, and car shows are just over the horizon as well. Needless to say, this is looking to be one of our busiest years!

Painting your Calipers

Interestingly, this mod is one of the cheapest, easiest, and best looking mods that I have done so far. For those of you who want professional looking paint jobs, powder coating is probably the best way to go. However, if you want a Do-It-Yourself paint job, something light on the wallet, and easy to do, then the G2 Caliper Paint kit is the best way to go. I bought this kit from R1 Concepts, it costed me around $40. They were having a sale on rotors and pads, so I just picked up a kit on the way to the check out.

You can buy these paint kits pretty much anywhere online. You can find them from $35-$40 on Ebay, or Amazon. You can check your local auto parts stores as well. I checked mine, and it costed $80, way too expensive. If you go straight to the G2 website, you can actually mix your own custom colors! Otherwise, it comes standard in Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, White, Black, Silver, and some other ones.

Now, I understand painting calipers isn't for everyone. There are different ideologies when it comes to caliper paints. Some people think it's stupid, while others think it adds more flare, and a sense of speed. Personally, I'm going all out. Colored brake calipers just look super sexy when you can see them through some custom wheels. (Which I'll be getting to soon... but another day, another story)

I would advise you guys to give yourself a full two days to do this project. It technically took me 3 days to get the car out of the garage. However, I admit I slacked on day one, lol. There really isn't much to this DIY, and it almost feels silly for me to make such a long video for it. However, I know when I was doing research, a video like this would have helped me. Hopefully my tips and advice will help you guys do even better!

First, you need to remove all four of your wheels, which means you need four axle stands. I'd say an average house hold owns at least two axle stands. If you don't have four, borrow one from your neighbour =D. (I actually only own two, I 'borrowed' the other two from my neighbour and close friend)

Something I came across when I was removing my wheels, my rear wheels were seized onto the wheel hub. Since most of my DIY's so far have only required me to remove the front wheels, they were loosey goosey. However, the rear wheels have been on since it left the dealership a year ago. They don't anti-seize your wheels from the factory apparently, so my rear wheels were stuck on super tight. I tried to kick it, hammer it, no movement, nothing.

Here is what I learned on how to solve this issue, and a USEFUL TIP for you guys incase you run into the same problem: This will work 100%. First off, with your wheel lifted on the floor jack, loosen all lug nuts to halfway. IT IS CRITICAL THAT IT IS HALFWAY! Next, lower the car slowly so that the weight of the car pops the wheel off. You will hear a distinct pop. As soon as you hear it, stop lowering! Lift the car back up, and proceed in removing your wheels =). Obviously, I don't have to say why you needed the lugs on half way. You guys are smart enough ;)

With that issue out of the way. It was pretty much smooth sailing. Make sure you do a good job masking off everything that shouldn't be painted. If you didn't remove the calipers for painting, then I would say painting the underside of the caliper and the back side might get tricky. Here's another tip: Grab a small mirror to assist your vision in painting weird angles and tight corners. It's also a good way to spot any unpainted areas. Took me around 30 minutes to paint one coat on each caliper. Wait one or two hours before you apply another coat. You'll take around 6 hours to paint them all, and you'll need another 24 hours for the paint to dry. Don't forget to heat up those brakes after they dry.

That's pretty much it guys. You guys have now graduated, and are ready to paint your own calipers! Last word of advice, the final result for painting anything, has to do with preparation. Make sure you clean those brake calipers very thoroughly. Take your time, and have fun with it!

Spades V6, modifying

I'm trying to enhance Spades V6 in multiple areas. When I have some time off from work, and when I'm not working on the Camaro, I like to edit videos, and think of expansion and areas of improvement. As the weeks/months go by, you may notice small changes.

I am trying to make this blog more "efficient" and "entertaining". This video is just the start. I am hoping everything falls into place in the next few months.

But like I have said, I am planning to FINALLY paint my calipers over the long weekend, and there is a Porsche club Autocross event being held on the 28th of May. I am going to attend it, whether or not I get to drive.

Teasers and Updates

Okay guys, things are beginning to pick up. It is mid February now, and the weather is getting a little better each day. I have some teasers for you guys today. Got many shipments delivered to my door the past week, and here are some of them:

Can you see the difference? If you can't don't worry, there will be a full post on this one =D

Yes... now you are getting the picture...

WHAT? Performance Brakes?! =O

Sneak peak...

Usually I don't review products until after they have been installed. That way I can make sure I don't miss any aspects. However, since I have so many mods coming in at the same time, please forgive me if I spit out a comment or two on the products. Don't take my accidental comments at face value, wait for the full review! Also, to keep you guys up to date, my tune has shipped, and is on its way here as we speak. Before I tune the car, I need to do another 0-60 run, for a good comparison of the car tuned and un-tuned.

Due to many people complaining on youtube that the Dashhawk wasn't accurate at reading 0-60 times. I will be doing another 0-60 with the Dashhawk running side by side with this iPhone App called "Dynolicious". It is an accelerometer based application. Before you all say, "That isn't accurate either!", I would like you to search up Dynolicious on youtube, and see for yourself how good it is. Eitherway, if the numbers on the two devices are similar, then the Dashhawk is accurate. However, if the Dashhawk is pulling a faster time than the iPhone App, I will withdraw my current 0-60 standing at 5.42 seconds and change it to whatever the iPhone reads. My 5.42 was with just the Injen CAI installed, no Corsa's Catback Exhaust yet. The stock car pulled 5.44 seconds, so I'm hoping the new run will be a bit quicker again.

I've gotten the fender Grand Sport stripes here as well, which I have not yet applied. Still have to wash my car before I apply it. Only two major mods left for this year you guys, tints and spoiler.