Aoi-chan's Quickie - 27/8/2009

A few rain after the fiasco of Aoi-chan's paintwork, Aoi-chan looked sparkling if not truly clean and clear.
Regarding the fiasco, here's what happened;
1. Got on the Federal Highway sometime ago with my fiancee heading to my parent's house
2. Aoi-chan got splattered by some stuff near one of the construction sites lining the road
3. Upon arrival, dismissed stuff on as dust
4. Left it there until the weekend to wash off (the thing happened on a weekday)
5. It rained a few days later. Realized that the stuff is actually cement once it started to harden after the rain dried up
6. Panic! Sent Aoi-chan for a quick wash. Told the guys to scrub off whatever is possible
7. Aoi-chan's paintwork was in a partial mess afterwards (told them to stop scrubbing halfway, ONLY after realizing i made a terrible mistake of telling them to do so)
8. Made things worse when i tried to do the remaining job myself
9. Gave an emergency call to a fellow friend and sent Aoi-chan on a full-body polish (planned to have a respray if it didn't work)
10. Aoi-chan looks better with the light scratches gone and the deeper ones less apparent

There were some weeping scenes in between the numbers but were edited out by the censory board... me (huhuhu...)
Well at least all's right with the world now... or maybe not. Noticed this morning that Aoi-chan is making a new noise. It seems that the engine will sometimes whistle around 3000-4000rpm. And the funny thing is that it can be heard over the already rough sound of the engine and with the windows all up. I sincerely hope it's just the effect of the rain last night plus the few puddles i went through on the way to work. Will have to monitor this... Eeeeep!

Aoi-chan's Quickie - 14/8/2009

I've finally been able to open up Aoi-chan's rear tail lamp cluster... and it isn't as hard nor does it hurt Aoi-chan that much. The trick lies in putting one of your hand below the tail lamp whilst the othe hand hold the top as an assistance. Then you pull it outwards a bit, twist anti-clockwise (for the LH side, Rh twist clockwise) and hey presto! You're done. Celebrating the fact and knowing that i didn't buy a spare bulb, i swith the partially burn one on the RH side to the still working one on the LH side. Perfect! But then again, whenever i buy the bulb i'll need to do this all over again... Huhuhu... Still a tedious thing to do this DIY fixing thing.

p/s: Don't, whatever you do, accidentally put you hand close to your lips/mouth after or whilst doing any DIY jobs on your car. You'll then accidentally lick you lips and then... "Gross! What the heck just went in my mouth?!!!" --> I hope you get it

Aoi-chan's Quickie - 6/8/2009

A light bulb, a seat structure, the suspension and the latest is the engine.
These are the items on Aoi-chan that's giving me problems. The worse being the seat structure. As you all know, i've fitted a SSCUS full bucket seat on the driver's side. The entire original seat was taken out and a new structure was put in to enable the bucket seat to be anchored to Aoi-chan. Now, as i found out yesterday, this particular structure has weakened a bit on one side due to the unnatural loading caused by my effort in going in and out of Aoi-chan. The result is that everytime i turn left (even at slow and not-so-sharp left turns), the whole seat would flex, causing me to misjudge the entry speed and line. And that my friends... is a bummer on a car that likes to go around corners.
Regarding the bulb, it's the main one at the right tailamp cluster. Funnily enough, as with the front ones, it's not easily accessible. I tried opeing as per the service booklet; failed. Tried accessing it from the boot (inside); failed. The thing is that, i could've just went to the shops to get it done, by seeing how hard i struggled and scratched Aoi-chan... forget it.
The suspension? Well... i dunno whether it's true or not; could've been misjudged by the seat. i'll conclude that one later.
The engine? The peculiar sudden rev of the engine that was due to faulty connection between the engine speed sensor happened suddenly this morning. i'm hoping that the sensor still works and the wires need some maintenance. If it's the sensor... then my pocket is doomed.

Aoi-chan... don't do this to me.... Huhuhuhu