Storypost | 2015.08.25

Planetside 2 biolab Scythe assault Vannu Galaxy

August is always the craziest month. So megapost.
Patio

Patio floor resurfacing Patio floor resurfacing Patio floor resurfacing Patio floor resurfacing

Since it's been warm I decided that it'd be nice to do a little wfp (work from patio). I bought another set of string lights to light it in the evening, but also wanted to reseal the floor - it had a leak that didn't really matter since the patio is well-covered. I went with the same floor stuff that I used on the garage annex.
Pegboard

Pegboard painted tool tool storage hedge trimmer light weed whacker

Part of the garage annex renovation has included the installation four pegboard 4x8s. Now I have proper tool storage.

Nerf pegboard guns toy hitman

There's some in the study for proper tooly storage.
Taco Party

Taco party pinata dinosaur bat night long exposure

The Tonks hosted the annual taco party. Tacos, cervezas, pinata - the works.

Taco party cactus cooler Taco party pinata sriracha beer
Paso

Vineyard winery wedding tables officiant Paso Robles

Dave got married. It was very lovely but I shan't digress.

Wedding winery dance floor Paso Robles

Los Angeles traffic gridlock

Except to say wtf Los Angeles. Eight non-commute hours to get to the Central Coast? Not cool, bro.
Fantasy d'ogs of war

Fantasy football avatar Weimaraner dog of war paintball Walther RPG warpaint

I drafted 14/14 in Medieval Gridiron, which put me past the tier-1 RBs when keepers were said and done. I pretty much had to go for Megatron and OBJ.

Fantasy football value above replacement WAR per position
Point deltas per position for players ranked 1-14 and 1-28 in ESPN projections for Medieval Gridiron.

My next pick was Brees who, by the tenets of Greedydraft, is far more valuable than a lower-tier RB. This, of course, trusts ESPN's predictions and ignores the possibility that the New Orleans offense will be in shambles this year.

This left the undrafted running back bucket pretty empty, particularly when I neglected to quickly navigate the player search and ended up autodrafting Maclin. But with no-brainer starters at QB, WR, and D, I was able to fill the bench with RB prospects that might come good in the tumultuous early season.

By the numbers I should have grabbed Seattle's defense soon after, since they are projected to net 44 more points than a 14th rank offense (the Jets), but knew I could get them as late as the sixth.

PositionPlayer
QBDrew Brees
RBTodd Gurley
RBCharles Sims
WROdell Beckham, Jr.
WRCalvin Johnson
TEJulius Thomas
FLEXJeremy Maclin
D/STSeattle
KCody Parkey
B/RBTerrance West
B/RBFred Jackson
B/RBDavid Johnson
B/TEJosh Hill

My starting IX in Password is Taco looks far more conventional, drafted fifth of twelve:

PositionPlayer
QBCam Newton
RBEddie Lacy
RBLamar Miller
WRRandall Cobb
WRKeenan Allen
TEJordan Cameron
FLEXAndre Ellington
D/STSt. Louis
KJustin Tucker
B/QBAndy Dalton
B/RBAlfred Blue
B/WRJohn Brown
B/WRKendall Wright
B/TEAustin Seferian-Jenkins
B/DPhiladelphia

Fantasy football WAR value above replacement points
Point deltas per position for players ranked 1-11 and 1-22 in Yahoo projections for Password is Taco. The 11/22 thing was a spreadsheet error on my part, but the next ranked player was invariably extremely close on points so the offset is basically linear.
Some more Planetside 2 action

thumbnail Planetside 2 sneaking Nasons Defiance thumbnail Planetside 2 infrared vision scope thumbnail Planetside 2 Vanu scythe Zurvan Amp Station thumbnail Planetside 2 Vanu night vision sunderer
thumbnail Planetside 2 Vanu Zurvan Amp Station
thumbnail Planetside 2 Vanu Split Peak Pass thumbnail Planetside 2 Vanu Broken Vale Garrison thumbnail Planetside 2 Vanu repairing Galaxy
thumbnail Planetside 2 Vanu Rashnu Biolab from above
thumbnail Planetside 2 Vanu max repair Broken Vale Garrison thumbnail Planetside 2 Vanu canyon Tawrich Recycling thumbnail Planetside 2 Vanu sunderer dust plume Kessels Crossing
thumbnail Planetside 2 Vanu rocket pod Indar Eastern Warpgate thumbnail Planetside 2 Vanu air support Abandoned NS Offices turret M20 Drake thumbnail Planetside 2 Vanu The Crown teleporter
thumbnail Planetside 2 Vanu valkyrie landing pad Aurora Materials Lab thumbnail Planetside 2 Vanu overload shield generator Peris Amp Station thumbnail Planetside 2 Vanu liberator Mathersons Triumph night view
thumbnail Planetside 2 Vanu sunderer grenade launcher antiaircraft Deserted Mineshaft
thumbnail Planetside 2 Vanu galaxy landing Split Peak Pass thumbnail Planetside 2 Vanu galaxy repair pirate cupcake Lithcorp Secure Mine
thumbnail Planetside 2 Vanu valkyrie Crossroads Watchtower



Sneaky c4ing a tank and Sunderer.



Traffic can be the worst.



Setting up outside a spawn, killing time while you're waiting to complete the capture.



Just a bunch of stuff flying around.



Stealthed.



Nighttime c4ing and, um, a little friendly fire.

The Gates Memorial Footgolf Classic

Footgolf golf ball soccer ball semiirony hole pin flag

Last year the League of Sport did footgolf at the Welk course way up past Escondido. It was fun, but somewhat unimpressive, so this year we tried out Tecolote Canyon.

Footgolf hole flag grass bunker soccer putt

The first thing we noticed is that the cups are installed properly. Unlike Welk, there isn't a huge lip that sends your ball skipping away if it decides it doesn't like you.

Footgolf lost ball creek flag

This canyon, like many, has a creek running through it. It his hazardous to left-footed slices and right-footed hooks. Another advantage to this course, over Welk, is that it's not a par 3 course.

thumbnail Footgolf fairway kick golf cart thumbnail Footgolf drive elevation change thumbnail Footgolf kick fairway
thumbnail Footgolf kick
thumbnail Footgolf low angle big kick drive thumbnail Footgolf drive fairway
thumbnail Footgolf drive

Since it's League of Sport, we needed a twist. This took the form of a rule whereby you could wall one opponent shot per hole (tee/fairway) if you were up on strokes (this was a 2v2 scramble).

Footgolf kick wall Footgolf kick wall Footgolf kick wall Adidas Sambas Footgolf kick wall drive

Golf cart reverse

And any golf event is incomplete without some cart shenanigans, up to and including high centering on the lip of the bunker.

Weimaraner dog gray depth of field



Infopost | 2015.08.24

Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 turbo engine bay strut brace suspension
O2 sensor

The VR4 was throwing a check engine light. After paying $95 for a "diagnostic code check" on the Tacoma in conjunction with a smog check, I decided it was time to get an OBD reader. $23.49 + $6.99 cord and the free version of the Torque app later, I get:

Torque app OBD reader fault code screenshot

Cool, a malfunctioning O2 sensor heater is a pretty sure bet that replacing the sensor will fix the problem. Bank 2 sensor 1 though? The 3si forums pointed me to the upstream (of the cat) sensor on the left (rear) side of the block.

Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 turbo oxygen sensor 14925 replacement

And there it was, but could I reach it? Stealth316 seemed to believe I could. Great. $30.29 for a sensor, #13801, that Amazon and Bosch assured me would fit "upstream left".

Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 turbo oxygen sensor strut brace

The space around the sensor is pretty tight, but it's reachable by removing a few pipes/hoses/cables. Getting the sensor out, however, was not easy. The first socket I bought only contacted the sensor on five sides, since it needs to get around the wire. This one actually bit into and partially rounded off the sensor. I bought a different socket that offsets the wrench attachment, this one eventually broke the sensor free.

Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 turbo faulty oxygen sensor part

Installation was almost seemless. As it turns out, the wires were not long enough to reach the harness, so I had to splice. Bleh. Thanks Bosch.

Tacoma (shop): $95 odb scan (and hopefully some labor) + $85 sensor + $125 = $315.
VR4 (me): $30 scanner + $30 sensor + $15 sockets = $75.

The other upstream sensor looks like a total pain to access, but the downstream ones seem accessible from under the car.
Suspension research

Since the VR4's springs and struts were going on twenty years without replacement, I decided to replace them.

Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 HR springs Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 HR springs

There isn't much out there, Tire Rack and Amazon both indicated the only way to go was KYB GR-2s and H&R springs. Cool, GR-2s and Eibachs worked very well on the Celica. I did find a few coilover kits ranging from $900-$2000, but was worried about fitment, ride quality, and longevity.

Again, Stealth 316 was a great resource.
Rears

Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 turbo KYB strut boot shock

I started with the rears, since they attach to the suspension with a single bolt. Unfortunately, that bolt was robustly seized. S316 suggested using a gear puller, which I did not have. Since it was too late in the evening to buy one, I moved to the fronts.
Front removal

Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 front suspension disassembly brake line strut brace Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 front suspension brake caliper rotor

These had a few more bolts and two lines (brake and abs?) that attach to the strut. It was a bit tricky to keep the assembly from dropping onto the cv boot, but not too much of a problem.
Front disassembly

Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 front suspension strut spring disassembly Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 front suspension strut spring disassembly Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 front suspension strut spring disassembly

Getting the top nut off can be a pain, but I managed using a pipe wrench to brace the lower section.
Front assembly

Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 turbo strut spring HR KYB replacement

The strut/spring combination went together as usual: strut, bumpstop/boot, spring, upper spring seat (reused), mount plate, top nut. I used an impact wrench, gingerly, on the top nut.

Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 front suspension strut spring reassembly Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 front suspension strut spring reassembly Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 front suspension strut spring reassembly Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 front suspension strut spring reassembly
Front install

Snaking the strut tower back into position required just the right movement, but it worked out. Then it was just a matter of threadlocking and tightening everything.

Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 front suspension strut spring install Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 front suspension strut spring install Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 front suspension strut spring install
Rears again, removal and disassembly

Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 turbo jack strut spring rear brake

I went to the auto parts store and bought an $8, two-pronged gear puller. The arms promptly bent. I went back to the auto parts store and bought a $17 gear puller with three beefier arms (seen above). It was challenging to simultaneously tighten it and hold the arms in place, but eventually it did the job.
Rear disassembly

Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 turbo rear strut spring replacement KYB

The thing came apart without challenge, but here I noticed the strut rod on the KYB was larger diameter than stock. This is good, right? More strength.
Rear assembly

Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 turbo suspension KYB mount plate strut mismatch

The wider strut rod seemed to be okay since the rubber bushings fit it perfectly, whereas they used a metal collar to adapt to the OEM struts. But I wanted to make sure I assembled the thing correctly, so I emailed KYB:

Hi, I'm installing struts and springs (H&R 52981) on a:
1997 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4/AWD/Non-ECS

Using the following parts:
- Front strut 335013
- Front strut mount SM5096
- Front strut boot SB101
- Rear strut 341185
- Rear strut mount SM5091
- Rear strut boot SB108

Your application guide, Tirerack's, and Amazon's all seemed to agree that these are the correct parts. The fronts went on perfectly, but I am not sure how to proceed with the rears.

The mount and boot kits do not appear to match up with the strut.

- The inner diameter of the washer supplied with the bump stop is smaller than the outer diameter of the strut rod.
- The same diameter issue exists with the collar.
- All of the rubber pieces fit, the strut rod fits through the mount plate with enough space (axially) for the rubber bushing.

The apparatus actually can be assembled to fit in the car, however without the correct-size washer or collar, the mount plate is just sandwiched between bushings, which is disconcerting.

So, if there is another mount kit that better matches the strut, I guess I need to get that. Alternatively, if you can advise me on specifically how I should assemble it, I can get whatever washers/collars I am missing from McMaster-Carr.

Thank you for your help.

Their response was as lengthy as it was helpful.

Chris,

Sorry, that strut will not fit the rear of your 300GT. The 341185 is for converting from electronic. We don?t carry a strut to fit the non-ECS VR4.

Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 turbo KYB suspension catalog

Gee, their only parts are unmatched struts and mounts. And you'd think adapting an ECS assembly to non-ECS would have some overlap with non-ECS originals. Between the fitment issue (remember Tire Rack and Amazon were under the same impression) and the terse, unhelpful response, no more KYB products for me.

Well, the only difference between the old and new struts was a metal collar that lets the rubber bushing fit the thinner strut rod. So I picked up some washers and put it together: strut, bumpstop/boot, washer, wider washer, bushing, mount plate, bushing, washer, lock washer, top nut.

Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 turbo rear strut spring replacement KYB HR
Rear install

Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 rear suspension strut spring installation brake Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 rear suspension strut spring installation strut bar cusco

As KYB stresses everywhere except their installation manual, don't tighten the top nut until the vehicle is on the ground.
Assessment

Jackie Chan Thunderbolt Mitsubishi 3000GT jump
Source. All ready.

The fronts are great and I am keeping an eye on the rears. There is some light metal-on-metal contact, either: