Expect what you'd expect

After around two weeks of errands and ordering parts, we have finally gotten everything we need for the next step in our videos. No, sadly it's not stage 2 on the STI just yet, but hopefully I will get some updated news about that later... hint hint.

I have much to tell you, but since a picture is worth a thousand words, I will let most of the pictures we took reveal to you of what's in store for Machine Zealots:

Three episodes will take place on the STI as shown here: Clutch Fluid Change, Transmission Fluid Change, and Rear Differential Oil Change.

Expensive Subaru oils.

Puyang will be leading an episode on the Engine Oil Change for the 2012 VW Golf GTI.

Tools that will be helpful in some of these episodes.

More tools. Even tested some of you on what this is, and what it is for. ;)

Puyang will also be making his first modification episode on the Golf GTI. This shift knob is pretty great!

These are just some of the episodes you guys can expect. These will be our usual technical tutorial videos, that most of you guys watch us for. There are still two car show videos I have yet to edit and upload as well: Revscene Spring Meet 2013, and the 2013 Vancouver Auto Show. That's all for now!

Swift and Silent

YouTube sure works very fast, especially when it has something to do with copyright claims. In the previous post, I mentioned that someone took one of our videos without permission from us, and used it as his/her own. Here are some screenshots of what had unfolded:

Not much else needs to be said, it's pretty clear what had happened. All I had really wanted, was the video to be taken down, but apparently it was enough to shut down the entire channel. Puyang told me that I should have contacted the channel owner first, instead of YouTube.

I feel guilty. And I'm actually sorry. If you are reading this, the owner of flat4online, we didn't mean for YouTube to take down your entire channel and we are sorry to see this happen. Hopefully your future endeavors will prosper.

I hope that anyone who wants or has created a YouTube channel will be diligent, and hard working, and not to steal content from other hard working members online.

This case is closed.

Stolen Property

Yesterday afternoon, a concerned viewer sent Machine Zealots a private message on YouTube. They warned us that our video was being ripped off and used on another channel. With the link provided, I checked it out, and as it turned out, someone was indeed stealing our videos for their own channel.

Side by side channel comparison. Identical episodes, uploaded on different dates, and obviously the video is of our creation.

I was sort of shocked, nothing like this has happened to us before. I would say I'm somewhat flattered, because they might have seen some value for them to steal it. However, we aren't going to allow others to upload our videos without prior communication, and granted permission from us.

At this time, we have already filed a copyright claim with YouTube, and they will proceed with the investigation. In the meantime, we don't know if there are any other videos out there that were stolen from us.

If you ever find any of our videos, or even segments of our videos on other channels, please contact us. We would greatly appreciate your help and support.

Thank you!

2014 WRX Concept

The world debut of the 2014 Subaru WRX concept had started up quite a buzz. Initial reviews seem to be mostly positive, but it seems that most Subaru owners aren't really enjoying the new look.

I'm personally not feeling it either. I'm sure with some time, it may grow on me. However, there seems to be quite a large disconnect in essence from this WRX compared to some of the previous ones. Some of the most iconic Subarus still stem from the GC and GD WRXs in my opinion.

Only time will tell if this WRX will catch up with its predecessors.

What do you think? Do you like the concept? What do you like or not like about it?

Things coming along

Last Sunday, we attended the annual Rev Scene spring meet, and because my STI had not been washed in a very long time, I took some time to wash it before the meet. The weather is finally getting a lot warmer, and we are currently in the process of ordering all sorts of oils for our maintenance season. Washing this car was definitely something I had to do before we did anything else. Believe me.

The car is extremely dirty!

Washed the car at MZ Headquarters 2.

I don't even want to mention how long it's been since my last car wash, it's way too embarrassing. You can try guessing though, but I won't tell. I was shocked to find out, after washing the entire car, that two buckets full of black water was produced as a result of the wash. It was so black that I would lose sight of my hands one inch beneath the surface. I used my foam gun, and lots of soap to ensure I did not harm the surface of the paint.

Black water from washing just the TOP half of the car! The bottom half was worse.

The car is clean, but it could use a detail this summer.

It took a lot of work to get it clean. After drying the car, I had realized there were still some very dirty parts that seemed unwashed. However, getting rid of the gunk gathered from these past months, it will be much easier to clean from here on out.

As I mentioned above, we are gathering materials for a couple maintenance episodes, and some modding episodes. We did indeed attend the Rev Scene meet, so there will be a video on that in the future. We also went to our local Auto Show, sort of disappointing but we have a video planned for that as well. I will update you guys in more detail later.