^^^ Perhaps doubtful the RIR memorabilia below is commonly seen...

 

Wild stuff!

 

MCS4FUN - Have you thought of contacting the International Motor Racing Research Center in Watkins Glen to see if they would be interested in having any of the stuff you have? I know they are always looking for stuff. At one time I heard they were looking old race schedules with driver line ups. With RS gone, they might be interested in some of what you have... Just a thought as a way to preserve what you saved...

 

^^^ Most of my original race programs from that era have already been sold and are now as far away as New Zealand. A quick check of IMRRC's program library indicates copies of some of those already on hand but other items still listed on eBay are not, so perhaps they'd be interested in a donation.

Back to dmath's topic, I spent time on the cocomat.com website last night including watching their videos. The PCA video showing the manufacturing process steps and materials was impressive and the much older video with Jay Leno (who mentioned the same 70's era coco mats heel rest "hole") convinced me to order a set, which I did from WMW.

 

I've been kicking around on there for some time too, but I am not sure. The video showing the cutting and the selvaging steps in particular are giving me pause. For that money, these should be a lifetime product. There is a set on Redline out of an R52, and although I do not know their age, there is significant wear of the vinyl-looking selvage material. I suppose that when things like that happen, sending them back for repair is probably an option?

 

In my case, I'm pretty sure that they will be lifetime mats. I'll only drive the car about half of the year. Probably more when we leave the snow belt but likely only 4K - 5K miles per year. I'm not too concerned about the wear on the selvage material (selvage is a new word for me) -- some people are just hard on their cars. I'm related to more than a few of them. Planning to place an order once the suspension is complete.

 

^^^ Agreed, since mine isn't a daily and with just 2-3k miles/year driven, "lifetime" will be mine rather than those mats. My MINI rubber mats look nearly new, so USA-made coco mats will be a nice but unnecessary upgrade. WMW's price of $180 is discounted from retail but with $26 shipped to my zip, $206 total with actual ship date TBD being made to order.

 

I'm starting to really like the black and blue checkered mats: https://www.cocomats.com/checker-mats/

 

I'm actually digging the sisal ones in slate.

 

Congrats on the retirement!
I hope to retire next year myself. The weekends are so short to get everything done that I want to do.

 

@jcolletteiii I like the slate sisal too. They will look great in your car (I checked the carpet color in your thread) but my carpet is blue so I don't think they will work. I didn't realize at first that the checked mats are also sisal. The sisal and coco both look good. Still on the fence; taking my time with the decision.

@ChiefM The decision to retire was difficult. On balance, I really liked my job but was burned out from working just about every evening and weekend. I was concerned that I might regret stepping away. I'm happy to say that once I made the decision, I was very much at peace with it. And on this, my second day of retirement, I still feel that way.

 

^^^ Agreed on both checkered pattern and solid slate sisal. I need some grey to complement my anthracite with 2-tone grey cloth seats interior, however cocomats is backordered on black/grey checkered (although slate material shows available for custom mats ordering. In any case, I got email today from Way Cooper while my buddy and I were out in the forest on a 95 mile roundtrip loop (all off-pavement) in our side-by-sides. Way stated "unfortunately we are no longer going to carry these Cocomats as we don't have a good connection with the manufacturer to be able to sell them any longer". So, my order is now cancelled but my credit card wasn't charged. Total cost buying direct is only slightly higher, so I'll wait and watch while reconsidering options (including simply continuing to use the MINI rubber mats).

Please also add my congrats on your retirement. I've been so 13 yrs after I was tapped on the shoulder a 2nd time in 20 yrs total tenure with the leading tech sector semi-test equipment manufacturer with my job outsourced to China. If at all like me, it'll take time to adjust but retirement is definitely not overrated!

 

Yesterday afternoon I installed the right front strut. Put the left in this morning. They went in without too much trouble. They look great, too bad they're all but invisible with the wheels on.




I then installed the CravenSpeed strut tower defenders. I considered several brands (WMW, ECS, M7) and went back and forth for a while. In the end, I like the CS version though I'm not entirely sure why. I'm sure any of them would have worked well.




After everything was buttoned up, I started the car and headed out for a very short shakedown run on our street. Immediate disappointment. Not with the suspension -- it felt very good -- but with the way the car ran. The idle was surging, there were several stumbles, and the DSC and TPMS lights were on. I started thinking about how heavy drinking could improve my life. Resisting the urge to drink before noon, I returned home and hooked up the code scanner: 5e19, 531a, and 5e43. I've had the first before but the other two were new. I cleared the codes, and started the car. Hmm, no lights, no rough idle. Went for a drive, with some trepidation. All was good on our street so I headed down the hill. At the bottom of the hill is a road with a 45 mph limit and very little traffic. Gave it the beans a bit. All still good. Headed out to the main road and really put my foot in it a bit. Still not bad -- one brief stumble similar to what I've had before. I'm sure there's a 5e19 waiting for me. A little later, my son and I went on a longer drive. Had a couple of brief stumbles but overall it ran well. I need to start trying to determine if there is a pattern to when they occur. My preliminary hypothesis is that they happen in second gear under heavy acceleration. Will try to confirm or refute that in the coming days.

As for the suspension, my initial impressions are quite favorable. On smooth roads, I notice little or no differences from stock. Bumps are a different story. It's much smoother and more composed. Definitely a worthwhile upgrade. In all, I put about 45 miles on it today -- a good test but not enough to have an opinion about the new rear sway bar (HSport 19mm). The car corners well but it cornered well before the upgrade too. It could be that I'll never really know how much difference it makes since I had so little driving time with the stock bar.

I have two items on the short term agenda: try to figure out the 5e19/stumble and get serious about detailing. Oh, and take it for an alignment next Wednesday morning.

 

I'll stay tuned for updates. Home now for a few weeks, so R&R of injectors with associated removal of the W-2-A intercooler with related plumbing being part of that soon. I subscribe to the "if it ain't broke..." mindset with no codes thrown now, however pursuit of knowledge plus tuning for max efficiency compels me to continue. Hoping yours is resolved soon...

 

Thanks, I hope it's resolved soon too but the smile factor is so high with that car that the stumbles hardly decrease my enjoyment.

Are you replacing W2A with stock?

 

^^^ Briefly considered returning to stock IC but *** costs of that plus loss of 1-off uniqueness dissuaded. No, this will be installation of OEM JCW-spec 380cc injectors with subsequent remote ECM/ECU tune by Adrian.

 

Forgot to mention... As part of replacing the left steering knuckle, I had to remove the wheel speed sensor. It was very gunky. Of course, I cleaned it up. That got me thinking about speed sensors being a possible cause of the 5e19 error and that it could be a dirty sensor rather than one going bad. So I pulled the others and cleaned them as well. While it helps me sleep at night knowing that all of the speed sensors are sparkly clean, it appears that gunk was not the problem.

 

Despite all the aggravation - Your refreshed suspension looks awesome!

As we discussed in another post regarding the SE19 - I'll be replacing my brakes: new rotors, pads, wear and *speed sensors (*3ird time)...(can't imagine all speed sensors were bad)....
I'll let you know if that eliminates any of my codes....including that dreaded SE19.

 

Thanks! I wish the suspension was more visible with the wheels on.

Fingers crossed that the speed sensors take care of the code. If so, I'll be right behind you on replacing them.

 

Have you reset your tire pressure recently via the button by the front of the ebrake handle?

Can't recall where, but I read once somewhere that a slight mis-mach in tire revolutions can cause all sort of errors to be written and because these are considered minor, no OBD codes show up. Worth a try maybe next time you're out for a cruise!

 

Not to divert from dmath's thread - though we both have had this perplexing SE19 fault issue for some time now.
I appreciate your insight!
In my case I have no warning lights lit on the clock/dash. All the lights light up pre start up, except for the brake wear warning light.
I do have a very minor leak in the front (R) passenger tire. I only have to inflate it, 5-8psi, every 6 weeks....before the warning light even has a chance to trigger. I have reset it a few times if it triggers = if I forget to check the pressure.
It has been so long; I can't even remember when and why the SE19 fault showed up via random OBDII scan.

Thanks jcoletteii

 

I haven't recently reset TPMS but I did check and set the tire pressures a few days ago. They are all the same within about 0.1 psi. I'll reset the system tomorrow.

Since 5e19 is a bus error, I suspect that the culprit is a sensor or module that intermittently generates noise. I have no experience with CAN-bus problems so I could be way off.

 

Had the post suspension-work alignment done today. This place does great work -- I'll miss them when we relocate in a couple of years. Old-school place with a waiting room that is an almost religious shrine to the Green Bay Packers (in Western Wisconsin we are a lot closer to Minneapolis but there's no way I'm pointing that out to them).

On the way home, I stopped at an auto upholstery shop to get a price for replacing the headliner. I had planned to do it myself but know that if I have a wrinkle it will drive me crazy. Anyway, this shop appears to be the best in our area. I hope they are -- they quoted me $750! That's more than twice what I was expecting, even with the current market conditions. I'd like to have them do the work but I don't think I can bring myself to spend that much for a headliner. Doing it myself is looking better but I might do a search for shops that are outside the area before deciding.

 

YIKES!!! That is a LOT! Does that include them removing and reinstalling it?

It's not a difficult job, but it is definitely fidgety. I bought my headliner material from Joannes, but it is not the exact color as the original - it is a bit darker. Can probably find a better color match somewhere online. Lots of good videos, and some really great how to threads on this site with pretty good pictures. I was super nervous about wrinkles as well, but I though about the material price doing it myself - and as much as it would suck if I got a wrinkle, I could just pull the material off, clean it again, and then redo it one more time. Redoing it a second time would only increase the price of the material (I think I paid less than $40 from Joannes and had a coupon as well).

How was your alignment before you had it done? Mine is dead solid straight even considering all of the work I did. I am waffling about getting an alignment because of that...

 

WTH ?- $750??
I received a quote from a good auto upholstery shop when I lived in SNORlando (FL), 5yearst ago, to redo my headliner for $200. I decided not to. I personally, just did not like the staff/people that worked there.
As jcollettiii; Last year, I redid mine myself w/fabric purchased from Joanne Fabrics: 2yds fabric = $21, Advanced Auto: 2cans Permatex Auto headliner adhesive = $25... and a whole lot of patience & TLC. Turned out nice (If I don't mind saying so myself).
The original factory foam adhesive makes it a messy job to remove and prep the headliner substrate/board. Despite all the DIY videos and instructionals; I did not have to remove or loosen a single pillar....and without cracking/damaging the headliner board!
Just gently pull and flex away from each pillar one side at a time.
I think you should be able to DIY @dmath . You seem to care about doing nice work - and you've proven to do so.

BTW: Be sure to not skimp on the adhesive coverage. Wrinkles are one thing....having an area sag is another.
Also; an old credit card works well for smoothing.