Automotive Technician Classes Finale

After my last class I stopped to say hi to two of the instructors, Mike and Bobby. 

With the end of Electronic Fuel Systems Class, I've completed all of the Automotive Technician car related classes at York Technical College. Over the past two years I had a lot of fun going to school and learning a LOT. I've certainly done a lot of automotive repairs that were new to me, and realized that there is still a LOT MORE that I don't know about working on cars!

Fuel injectors at the bottom of the picture.

It would take a very long list to mention all the things I learned, or work that I did on a car for the first time, so here's a few highlights. We learned how to use the tire mounting machine, how to balance tires, how to use the AC equipment. Heck, I'm a certified AC guy now! Electric classes covered the basics of electricity, so that was fun! In automatic transmission class we did group projects to rebuild transmissions, and in manual transmission class, well, we learned about those too!

Turbo install by one of the other students. 

Along the way we got to set off some air bags outside of a vehicle, so that was impressive how quickly they can ignite! One very rewarding part of the classes was being able to use these skills at home on my own car, like the epic power steering lines replacement on the Porsche. There is no way in the world I could have done that job without some training and gaining the confidence that "Hey, I can do that!" OK, the real reason I want to be able to work on my car is to save money! Speaking of which, I'd like to thank the Post 9-11 GI Bill for covering some of my education, and the South Carolina Education Lottery for various scholarships that paid for most of my classes. 

Student Miata in the shop. 

Another memorable repair job in class was to replace the head gasket on a Chrysler mini-van. This was a pretty big job that my friend Mac and I took on, and in case you've never done this, it's a little more challenging because the V6 engine sits sideways in the engine bay. That means that the back bank of cylinders and the exhaust manifold is up against the firewall. It's not impossible to do, but it's not the easiest either. Along the way on this job we also got to use some machines to grind and adjust the angle of the valves to make sure they would seat properly. Getting this work complete and having the engine fire up first time was pretty dang cool! 

Here is a VW GTI that belongs to a classmate getting ready to walnut blast the direct injection "gunk" that builds up. 

All the instructors I had were experienced teachers and technicians, with years and decades of experience. Many times they would give us the "book answer" on how to do something, but then also give us the valuable "real world answer" too! I know in a lot of careers you're probably looking for a mentor to help you out, and I'd say these instructors were great mentors. Even for those of us not planning to work in a shop for a living, they shared their knowledge and lessons learned. 

If you're trying to find an exhaust leak, grab a piece of hose, run the car, and use it to listen to the exhaust system. You'll be able to hear where the leak is!

Project INFINITI Update!

Luis from Safelite with the windshield install at home. 

PROJECT INFINITI (to fix up a car for a young relative) keeps moving forward, which for a car is a really good thing! Hey, it even moves backwards in reverse too! I mean, the CAR goes in forward and reverse, while the project keeps moving FORWARD! Two big steps in today's blog include the new windshield, and doing an alignment. Let's go!

23 years worth of leaves and debris around the windshield wiper motor. 

I really learned a lot watching the windshield job. These two suction cup gizmos go inside the old windshield, and then you wrap a wire around the entire windshield, and one of the suction cup gizmos winds up to tighten the wire and break the seal on the old windshield. GENIUS!

No more broken and chipped windshield!

Hey, that looks like a brand new FUYAO brand windshield!

Installing the new windshield over the new adhesive. Very convenient at-home installation at NMS-North. 

NEW WINDSHIELD!

The background story on this car is that it had what mechanics call "PROBLEMS" and NMS is working to FIX those "problems." With the first object to make the car drive, then drive safely, and finally to drive safely and reliably, we're nearing the end of those steps and getting into the "nice to have" cosmetic appearance phase a bit. As you can imagine, if we'd started polishing the car before the engine was reliable, well, we'd have a nice shiny 23 year old piece of metal that would have been very good at wasting our time!

PROJECT INFINITI on the alignment lift. 
Thanks to York Technical College for the classes, and use of the equipment. 

We're down to a small bit of oil seepage somewhere, so it was time to narrow that down and add some UV detectable dye in the engine, run it to get the dye all through the engine system, and then see if we could spot where the oil might be coming out. No conclusion on this one yet, still testing. I said TESTING, not TASTING the oil. 

After replacing some suspension parts and mounting new tires, it was time for an alignment. Thanks to my instructors at York Technical College, I was able to use their facilities and alignment rack to get the INFINITI within specifications. Oh, an alignment is important when you change the suspension and tires, and it's really nice when you can do it for free! One side note here, just for fun following the new tire install by a shop, I decided to geek out and check their lug nut torque and air pressures. The lug nuts were fine, but let's just say that the tire pressures ranged from 4psi too low to 16psi too high. Seriously. 

A little negative rear camber is OK. 
Thrust Angle close to zero tells you the car's rear wheels are aiming straight down the road. 
Rear Toe is a bit out of spec, but, it's not adjustable. 

With the car running fine for now, and feeling like we're going to really end up with a driver, it was time to replace the windshield. That would be the windshield that came with a long crack and three chips in it. I gathered cost estimates from multiple shops around town, and went with the cheapest one, which turned out to be a national brand, so that surprised me. Lucky for us this car does NOT have any fancy sensors or electronics embedded in the glass, so it was a straightforward piece of glass, which made it more affordable too.  I've read that a windshield with all the ADAS and other technology in it is way more expensive, so we're happy with some plain old vanilla solid glass that you can see through! No, I did NOT lick the glass to confirm it was plain vanilla,  it's just a hunch. BONUS: I noticed the glass came from a company named FUYAO. There is an interesting NETFLIX documentary about this Chinese company that came to the US, and opened a glass factory in a former AC Delco or GM plant, and has now expanded to several plants in the US, including here in SC up near the BMW factory.  NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY

Individual rear Toe is red, out of spec, but, the Total Toe is OK! Go figure!

The car has over 160,000 miles, so we'd say "used" describes things nicely. Oh, and it was used by a smoker, so we've carried out some smell abatement and gave the interior a cleaning of the fabric, plastic,  and leather seats to help clear out the stale odor. Brian had already set off an odor eating bomb inside it, and I think that has neutralized a lot of the left over smell. 

At the top of the screen you can see the front wheels Camber and Caster are in spec, and the Toe is pretty good too. 

We prioritized the engine and suspension, then tires, as well as the interior, so with everything there now improved, we've started to clean up the outside a bit and make it look nice. 

NMS Top Ten Highlights for 2025

Probably the Cool Car of the Year we spotted, a Czinger! This was at the annual AmeriCARna show in November.

The year isn't over yet, so there is a very small chance that something spectacular could happen before we ring in 2026, but the odds of winning the lottery, driving in NASCAR, or buying an IndyCar team are very small! So, just before we head into 2026, the NMS teams figures that just maybe we had ten noteworthy events in 2025, let's count down the hits!

10.  Car Spotting

Every day of the year can be car spotting day, because you never know when you might see something unusual. I was about to say "RUN INTO something unusual" but that didn't sound right. Sure, you're going to see interesting vehicles at a car show, in a museum, and on a race track, but sometimes it's the every day "WHOA THERES A CAR I'VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE" moment that make things interesting. The other day I saw a Buick with a badge that said "Avenir." I'd never heard of this, so I had to look it up, and I learned that Avenir is a trim level on a few Buicks. Hey, we're learning new stuff every day over here. 

Lamborghini racecar at the Lamborghini Charlotte "Exotics and Espresso."

9.   Car Shows/Cars and Coffee Events

These are the easiest type of car activity for anyone to do, because they are free, and typically involve drinking coffee and just looking at cars. Unlike social media, you can even TALK to REAL PEOPLE! Or you don't HAVE to drink coffee, so how easy is that? Go ahead, drink some water or tea, it's fine! My theory is that these events really caught on because the CARS AND SCRAMBLED EGGS, or CARS AND TOAST events weren't so popular. Hey, if there's two things I've learned how to do, it's to look at cars and drink coffee! Heck, at my advanced age I can transfer those skills and look at just about anything and drink about anything too. Anyway, at events in Rock Hill, Concord, a Porsche dealer, a Lamborghini dealer, York Technical College, Gaston County NC, Lake Wylie, and the big Luftgekuhlt 11 in Durham, we looked at, photographed, and talked about cars all year long. 

NASCAR visit at team 23XI, mechanics prepping for the next race!

8.   Visiting NASCAR Teams 

This is another oddball category, and I'll say it's one step better than your local cars and coffee. A NASCAR shop is part museum, part cars and coffee, part race weekend, but not the same. Living near Charlotte it's easy to visit NASCAR teams, so we've done that a few times, this year included the Joe Gibbs Racing and 23XI. Again, it may not be your thing, but if you're interested in racing and cars, it's worth visiting a real race team. If you live in Europe you can probably visit some F1 teams. Live in Indiana? Maybe the IndyCar folks have tours. 

LATE BREAKING NEWS: The 23XI team (and others) just won a big lawsuit against NASCAR, so was this due to NMS visiting earlier in the year? NMS can neither confirm nor deny that we "made them an offer they couldn't refuse" for the good of the sport. 

Automatic Transmission class at York Technical College

7.  Automotive Technology School

NMS-North finished a second year of Auto Tech courses at York Technical College, and spent a good time of the year at school in the auto shop. All the classes in the spring and fall were five days a week for three hours every day, so that's a bit of time spent trying to learn more about working on automobiles. While taking a couple of electives like Math and Economics might have resulted in earning an Associates Degree, NMS has called time out and is more than happy to have just stuck with the car stuff! That's all the school I'm planning to do for now, although they are starting up an Electric Vehicle Certification program next year too, so you never know.

NMS ready to autocross at Michelin Laurens Proving Grounds in SC. Seven autocross events this year, and the NMS Cayman racked up seven class wins!

6. NMS-North Autocross

For the second full season in South Carolina, the NMS Cayman won their class over all six events with the Porsche Club of America Carolinas Region. NMS also managed a top ten placing of all Porsches at all events, with a best event of 2nd fastest Porsche at the finale at Hickory Motor Speedway. For good measure we threw in one event with the Triad Sports Car Club and took first in SCCA B Street class there too, but, yeah, there wasn't anyone else in that class! That's beyond my control, so let's say 7 wins in 7 events this year! 

One of the biggest Porsche events of the year is Luftgekuhlt, and this year it was in North Carolina.

5.  Luftgekuhlt 11

OK, this could fit under #9 with the other car shows, but a Luftgekuhlt is a few tiers above your average local car show. Since it's only held once a year, it's kind of the Superbowl of Porsche Car Shows in the USA, and luckily this year it was held nearby in Durham NC. The previous 10 events were all on the West Coast, so this was cool to have #11 just a few hours up the road from NMS. 

We recommend you visit the Savoy Automobile Museum in Cartersville GA, north of Atlanta.

4.   Museums: 

Visiting an automotive or transportation museum may not be your thing, and it might be just about as easy as visiting a cars and coffee event, but usually you see some even more interesting stuff with the additional fun of learning something in a museum. This year included visits to four museums in three states, and they all were worth the time to visit. North Carolina included the Estes-Winn Antique Car Museum in Asheville and the NC Transportation Museum in Spencer. In Georgia we toured the Savoy Automobile Museum in Cartersville, and while driving a track weekend near Birmingham Alabama saw the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum. While it's not a contest, I'd say that the Savoy and Barber museums are definite "must-see" level museums for any car and motorcycle fan. For a great list of top museums across the USA, check out this list from Car and Driver: 

 Car and Driver Must See Museums

Brian takes the NMS #86 on track at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama.

3.  NMS on Track 

Now we're getting into serious driving, which means taking your car on track and really working on those driving skills over a part of a day or a 1-3 day weekend event. You should be looking at other cars on track, but NOT DRINKING COFFEE! What's more fun than driving on track? Driving on track with your friends or even family members at the same time! NMS teamed up at Carolina Motorsports Park and Barber Motorsports Park this year, and that turned these weekends into memorable events all around. Maybe it was more memorable for Brian, because he was faster than me and now holds NMS best lap times at both of those tracks. 

Work continues on this 2002 INFINITI I35, AKA "PROJECT INFINITI."

2. Project Infiniti

This is our project to get a working car (2002 Infiniti I35) to a young relative that is soon to get their drivers license. With big help from our SC car community friends Shellie and Justin, Adam, and Phillip, we're just trying to do what we can to make the world a better place. Maybe it's not world wide peace and a cure for cancer, but you do what you can. 

Brian with the NMS #86 Nissan 350Z, our CAR AND DRIVER OF THE YEAR!

1. Nissan 350Z Racecar

NMS-South has been working on this car over a few years, and 2025 was when it hit the track a few times, and most recently it's had two great outings and has become way more track ready and reliable than when it started as a humble street car. Some highlights this year included suspension work, brake caliper rebuilds, and a Cool Shirt system installation. After a not so successful weekend at Virginia International Raceway, the #86 came back strong and ran great at Barber for two very hot and humid days with both NMS drivers taking it on track. The #86 continued to run well closer to home at CMP for three days at the start of November, setting a new NMS best time for this track too! We're looking forward to see how the #86 does in future time trials and track days. 

Can You Guess: Top 10 Selling Cars of 2025?

Is the Honda Civic in the TOP TEN?

Sure, the year isn't over yet, but we got a jump start on the top 10 sellers of  2025 thanks to Car and Driver magazine. These statistics are through the first three quarters, so January to the end of September. What do you guess are the top 10 selling cars this year? You can read the article at this link, and then we'll count them down. 

CAR AND DRIVER ARTICLE

We want to give you more than your money's worth here at NMS, so we'll start with a bonus, the #11 top seller, which is the Honda Civic! We'll also point out that NMS-South bought a Civic this year, so, Dear Honda, You're Welcome!

NUMBER TEN: Chevy Equinox 203,583 sold so far.

A top 10 showing from a US brand SUV? Hint: This is the only one!

NUMBER NINE: Toyota Tacoma 204,464

The classic "Taco Truck" from Toyota is not their first model on this list, and you should not be surprised to learn that it will NOT be the last truck!

NUMBER EIGHT: Tesla Model Y 232,000 estimated

The only strictly electric car on the list. 

NUMBER SEVEN: Toyota Camry 234,426
The Camry takes the top car spot so far this year, can the Honda Accord come back in the last three months?

NUMBER SIX: GMC Sierra 251,845

A full size truck? In the USA? DUH... and there's more to come!

NUMBER FIVE: RAM Pickups 262,386

Surprise, another truck! Guess what? There are STILL more to come!

NUMBER FOUR: Honda CR-V 307,501
The CR-V continues to be a big seller, but hold on just a bit, there's one more SUV ahead of it!

NUMBER THREE: Toyota RAV4 358,134
Toyota takes the top selling SUV spot, can they hold it to the end of the year? At this point I'll point out that the RAV4 sold about 50,000 more than the CR-V. My math says that divided by the 50 states, well, that's right about 1,000 more Toyotas than Hondas per state! To be honest I didn't count DC and Puerto Rico, Guam, etc, because that would make the math harder!

NUMBER TWO: Chevy Silverado 422,685
This sales total equals 1,548 trucks a DAY for the first nine months of the year, and that's a LOT of trucks! What in the world could possibly sell even more? Another truck?

NUMBER ONE: Ford F-Series 597,546

OK, 2,188 Ford F-Series trucks sold per DAY is more than the Chevy total, so the Ford F-Series takes it by a good margin. 

My only problem with this is that adding all the "F-Series" together includes a LOT of different models. If I was a car selling brand like Toyota, I'd think about just re-naming the Corolla to the "Little Camry" or re-badge the Camry as a "Corolla-Max!" because something creative and simple like that would let Toyota combine their sales numbers, and BAM!!! Toyota could give the Silverado and F-Series a run for their money at the top of the pile!

Race Track Equipment Auction

Unfortunately, the Pitt Race track complex up near Pittsburgh PA has gone out of business, and they are auctioning off just about everything at the track from cars, karts, tools, miles of track fencing, shop equipment, and furniture and bathroom fixtures. This is an online auction that started  December 2nd and ends TODAY, on December 9th. You can go to the web and check out all the items now. 

Here's the link to the auction.  PITT RACE AUCTION

Tire Buying Made Simple

Firestone tire on Project INFINITI

Yes, we can reveal how to make tire buying "simple," but we don't recommend it, and your mileage may vary! Let's look at what we'll call the Tire Purchase Method (TPM) #1: 

The simple way to buy tires is to just drive into your nearest Whatever Is Close To Your House Tire Store (there's one near you!) and ask them to put new tires on your car, ideally one on each corner. Pay them whatever they ask, and hey, it's just that simple! You drive away with new tires, and YOU ARE DONE!

If you follow TPM #1, the odds are that you'll get one of two kinds of tires:  

    1) You might get a good tire at a good price!

    2)  Or you might not! 

This startling conclusion at the NMS Skunk Works of Big Brains in South Carolina (NMSSKWBBSC.) You can buy a t-shirt with that name on it, but they only come in extra large to fit all the letters on the back. That leads to a lot of opinions on what makes a good tire, and what makes a good price. 

A red car. With at least 1 black tire. On a blue lift. 

My gut feeling is that the average person pretty much goes with this simple method, with the added gut feeling that they also buy the cheapest tire available. Hey, no problem, I can't tell you how to budget your money, because if I did I'd include a little item called "give money to people with race cars" part of your budget that you may not like! Oh make no mistake, the "People With Race Cars" (People With Race Cars is Trademarked 2025 by NMS-Racing.Net) would LOVE it, but there's always two kinds of people in the world. 

So, we have a lot of people driving around on the cheapest tire, and that works, and that makes for a very simple blog post. But wait, there's more!

Michelin tire on a Czinger. Michelins are considered good tires, and you'd expect good tires on a car worth over a million bucks. 

Another very simple way to buy tires leaps out at you if you move on to Tire Purchase Method #2. 

With this method, you decide that you want to do a little more research and learn more about tires and prices before you buy. To do this, scientists suggest using what they call "the Internet" to find a local or a mail order tire shop. Once you do that, you might want to look at different brands, different prices, and make sure you're looking at the right size tires that fit your vehicle...BUT... one thing to look out for, is that a lot of tire shops have a little button or feature on their website that says something like "SCHEDULE NEW TIRES HERE." They're probably getting a lot of customers this way, because if you're shopping for tires it might be because you need them NOW, as in "I just had a flat tire and have to get to work/school NOW!" 

Actually this is a very creative and great method for a shop to start to close the deal, kind of like a salesman. They don't settle for you saying "yeah I'm thinking about tires" and try to nail it down and lead you down the purchase path of "How much do you want to pay? When do you need them? I have an opening for service this afternoon how about Two O'clock?" and BAM you've got an appointment and are spending money. I love spending money and buying car parts too, but I also love SAVING money while buying car parts. So...

The NMS recommendation is to go with the research the Internet part of TPM #2, and find a good price. I was working my way through method #2 in November and found some Black Friday sales at a national chain that was BUY 2, GET 2 FREE. My math may not be exact, but that comes out to about half off! Oh but wait, there was a catch in the small print. You also had to pay $30 per tire for installation, and tax, and tire disposal fee, and who knows how many other fees. Bottom line, once I looked into this one, it wasn't the bargain that it first seemed to be. 

Red Car. Black Tire. Orange jack stand. 

A similar deal I found on line was at a large store that rhymes with Mal-Wart that has a name brand tire made just for them, at pretty much the same price as the BUY 2 GET 2 FREE deal! Those were the two lowest priced sets of tires I could find that were also brands I have heard of before. Yes, there are cheaper tires out there, and they'll fit the car and roll around and probably work fine, but with tires and safety the NMSSKWBBSC suggests you stick with brand name tires if you can afford it. Another thing I learned here is that a famous US tire company that rhymes with Food Gear makes a specific tire for the store that rhymes with Mal-Wart, so that's what I bought. 

The third lowest price I found was from an online tire seller that I've used a lot, but these tires were a brand I've never heard of, and even being a cheap import still didn't beat the price on the first two deals that I found. Oh well, it was free to do the research and look around. 

The bottom line is that there are plenty of ways to buy tires, like buying cereal, or lunch, but with tires you're buying the only part of your car that touches the road as you move along, so your safety is counting on them a little more than what kind of Super Crunchy Yummy Flakes cereal you eat for breakfast.

2025 Autocross Statistics

During 2025 the NMS-North Cayman participated in a second straight year of competing in all six of  the Porsche Club of America events in the local region, and in seven total autocross events that stretched from April to November. Locations included the Michelin Proving Grounds twice, the Greensboro Coliseum twice, the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds two times, and one final event at Hickory Motor Speedway. Since the team (in this case "team" means "me") is based in Rock Hill SC, just a few miles from the NC border, it's no surprise that these events included five in North Carolina and two in South Carolina. Shoot, if there were autocross events in West Carolina and East Carolina we'd sign up for those too!

All but one competition was with the Carolinas Region of the Porsche Club of America, with the other sponsored by the Triad Sports Car Club. Over the past 10+ years of auto-crossing, we've driven with six other clubs in a total of five states, so it's always fun to see how different clubs run their events. These seven autocross events attracted 362 drivers (some multiple times) so that's an average of 51 per event. The six Porsche events totaled 249 drivers with an average of 41 per event. Really it's 41.5 drivers per event, but I had a hard time finding half of a driver. On the other hand, I didn't WANT to find a half a driver either, so I didn't look!

Statistics wise, NMS is happy to report seven class wins out of those seven events, although the number of cars in the same class ranged from no one else up to four other cars in one event. Against all the cars at any one event, the best place was 7th out of 34 drivers at Greensboro in September, but probably even better than that was taking 8th overall from 70 drivers at Hickory in November. While there might have been a lot of novices at that event that were trying autocross for the first time, placing in the top 10 of any event is always our goal. Maybe I can write a book about "How To Win at Autocross Against No Competition!" Like a lot of things in life, the answer is to "show up!"

Always hang out with drivers that are faster than you. Say hello to my little friend. 

For the Porsche only competitions, the best NMS event of the year was at Hickory, taking 2nd fastest Porsche of the day out of 25 drivers. In the other events NMS took a 3rd, 4th, 6th twice, and an 8th fastest Porsche on the day. That puts my average overall Porsche placing at 4.8th, so let's just call it 5th. While this year didn't include a fastest P-car of the day, this still marks the NMS 2nd best event placing ever, only behind a fastest RAW time Porsche at Michelin two years ago, and a fastest PAX time Porsche at a New York Metro Region event in 2023. 

Waiting to go at a Greensboro Coliseum parking lot. 

During the course of this season, sometimes other drivers signed up to be car #77 before NMS did, so the car also appeared as #4, #7, #411, #77, and #777. As long as you have some extra number magnets or good old blue painters tape, you can run any number you want! I bet the fancy NASCAR and IndyCar drivers don't have to worry about changing their numbers like us normal people do!

The funniest thing of the year, all these made up company stickers. 

The first half of the season was run on Michelin tires, but when the front tires started wearing through, the pit crew switched to Continentals for the last three events. Other than that, the only other set-up change in mid season was an alignment that fixed some bad front toe settings, and maximized the negative camber all around. Future plans for the car may include even more suspension work, and ideally a lot more negative camber for competitive driving. As is, the car meets the Stock category, and changing the suspension would move the car into a Modified or Improved category according to the Porsche rules. For events run under the SCCA Autocross rules (which is just about every other club on the planet) the car runs in the B Street category. 

Added up, this year totaled 56 runs, 6 cones knocked over, and 1 run where a driver mistake meant a Did Not Finish on a run. Each cone knocked over adds two seconds to your time, so that is BAD. It's not so bad for your day or your car, just bad for that one run. If, on the other hand, you never knock over any cones, you're likely not driving fast enough. 

Within my class for the five events that I have data, I averaged winning by 4.301 seconds per event, with victories ranging from 0.956 to 8.225 seconds. The location with the longest course run time for me was at Michelin, my time was 60.098, and the shortest course was on the Hickory Speedway at 44.904. Even with up to 10 runs at an event, that gives you only a few minutes of actual driving per event, but I'll guarantee you that it feels like more, and it's a lot of fun!

Project INFINITI Update

Project INFINITI

The NMS Project INFINITI keeps moving along! Down at NMS-South, the 2002 INFINITI I35 recently received some work on the oil pan, as in taking it off, and installing a new gasket. Along with this procedure came an oil change, so we'll be driving it a bit and seeing if we still have an oil leak anywhere. Fixing the leaking oil pan, along with the previous work on the leaking valve covers, and the leaking hoses should have us well on our way to eliminating the leaks at least! I was able to research common leak problems on this particular car on the ProDemand software system, and those three types of leaks were the 3rd, 4th, and 5th most common, so that is good to know. The top two most common leaks on an Infiniti I35 were radiator and coolant related, and we weren't really seeing coolant leaking, so it was good to address the oil leaks. 

The oil pan was leaking, so Brian took it off! 

No oil pan leak with a new gasket!

Over the Thanksgiving NMS Team Dinner, we also installed some new low beam headlights since one of them was no longer working. Guess what? It's a LOT SAFER driving at night in a car with working headlights! This fact came in handy when I drove the car back to NMS-North, about an hour and a half on the Interstate, at night. In the dark. With the lights on! The car ran fine, so we're moving on to some more work not involving the engine. 

Project INFINITI at NMS-North, now under the careful watch of Kimi Raikkonen!

The next day saw the car get four brand new tires at a local shop, and just for good measure I spent a few minutes in the NMS garage and reduced some of the haze on the 23 year old plastic headlights. Shoot, that might make those new headlight bulbs even brighter! We discovered that Goodyear makes a tire specifically for Wal-Mart, so went with the Goodyear Reliant. 

New tire installation at Wal-Mart. 

Coming up next will be an alignment on all four wheels, so that should also fix the not-straight steering wheel. I probably caused part of that problem, because when the car was up on the lift at Adams house, and I was in the driver seat pumping the brake pedal to bleed the brakes (following new shocks and other suspension work) I did NOT have the steering wheel straight. Oh well, it's important to learn by doing, and learn from your mistakes. 

Not sure if your battery is up to speed? Throw it on a charger and test with your digital multimeter. 

The front seats were very worn, as in 163,000 miles worn, so we just covered them up with some new, uh, seat covers!

Worn out seats, before...

and after!

We also replaced the worn out windshield wiper blades, and as you can see above, we covered up a really worn and broken steering wheel with a black cover. Hey, it's not a perfect color match, but we're not entering any fancy car shows here either!

Another thing you see on older cars is plastic headlights that get hazy, and Project INFINITI had that problem too. We pulled out our handy-dandy Mothers Polish headlight kit, a handy drill with a buffing pad, and went to work. Here's the before and after versions after just one short polishing treatment. 

Passenger side before...

Passenger side after!

Driver side before...

Driver side after! Hey, we've got to be able to see those new light bulbs in there!

With lots of good progress on the car so far, we might even try to wash it and get around to taking care of the cracked windshield too!