You're welcome. Now, it's time to do my headlights

 

2100 mile road trip to Cincinnati and back to the Dallas area. Zero issues, original clutch still working great despite 182k miles on my car now. Even a two hour to go 7 miles accident delay didn't have any issues.

 

Looks great, now make sure to clear coat it with something like 2k clear!

 

I had them wet sanded and clear coated about a year and a half ago and they turned faded and yellow. It's not worth the work imo.

 

Was it a UV stable clear?

That's what the headlight guys say is needed. For UV protection.

 

Not sure but I'm assuming so. The guy who did it is a local auto painter and headlight restorer in the community and has a lot of experience.

 

A good PPF installer will have UV film they can apply to them. Shouldn't be too expensive.

 

Amazing that the clutch has lasted this long. You're in rare air there.

 

I was amazed when I got my 165,000 mile used 2003 and the clutch is in good shape! I even had my local shop inspect it and took a drifting class and the instructor also remarked how the clutch felt good for it's age. Just lucky I guess.

 

My car had one adult owner, based on where he lived I think most of his driving was on the highway. And typically adults who buy sedans with a manual do so because that's all they've driven. I've put 50k miles on mine in 39 months, about 35-38k of that has been road trips. I don't keep the clutch pushed in at lights, I may chirp the tires on the 1-2 shift a couple times a month, I can count on one hand the times I've left a stop with a 2000 rpm dump (spins so much then no reason to rev it higher) so its probably lead a relatively easy life.

I do believe there is someone here over 200k on the original clutch. My brother had a Mazda 626 GT (basically a Ford Probe turbo still in the box) that had the original engine, turbo and clutch at 215k miles. Only reason I had to put a clutch in my '85 Celica was because they had issues with the shift levers binding and basically locking up the transmission. Cheaper to put in another used one than fixing it so the clutch was replaced at the same time. Had about 200k miles on it. Only clutch I had to replace due to wear was my '79 Celica and it was around the 200k mark. But I don't know if it was the original clutch or not.

When I do need a clutch, definitely replacing the clutch slave and master too.

 

Much needed bath after getting it back up and running

Oh and silver metallic is the only color these wheels should ever be 😍

 

More like what i did this week. Car had been neglected for over a year but finally got a bumper, clean headlights, and a ton of work. Need upper control arms before i can drop the front again but she’s almost back to her former glory.

 

I installed DRL's this weekend. I would have positioned them differently but the strips were too thick to fit between the spaces since I installed them on the outside of the headlights.

 

Ordered the Z1 intake couplings on Thursday, they showed up today. I'd previously replaced the OEM accordion coupling a couple years ago when it tore, had to buy the entire intake tube assemble to get it. Saw a post in the for sale forums about someone wanting to replace their coupling and someone else posted the link for the Z1 Motorsport versions. Only $40 and the shipping was quick. They also have blue and black.

Also picked up a bit more clearance (due to more adjustability) for the R2C intake. I'll eventually replace the OEM clamps on the hose by the intake with worm style to give a cleaner look.

 

Those do look nice. IMO, Stainless T/band clamps give the best look and are most effective at holding water and air tight connections