MATG XX - July 28-31 2016

Day 3:

Two years ago I was neglectful of when the dam photo happened. This time I thought I'd check it out. I wanted to wash Betty before I got there, but just didn't have time since I slept in. So, I got there 20 minutes before 11 and there was a long line to park for the photo.

http://i.imgur.com/dh8EKlf.jpg

Once parked, I took a few pics of some Lagunas. First, a fantastic NC license plate

http://i.imgur.com/r7Alf3p.jpg

And next, that same Laguna from the first day.

http://i.imgur.com/sko5GdZ.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/3dBeu7K.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/HoD8hK7.jpg

I also grabbed a couple pics of all the cars lined up.

http://i.imgur.com/I41W5rS.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Y1UeiQa.jpg

Afterwards, I went to Fontana for the free lunch and to check out what was there.

To start. there was this mint '95 Laguna being sold with a matching HT for $7,200 (or $6,600 w/o).

http://i.imgur.com/tZ113Yv.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/0xQeOSS.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Mkp96Md.jpg

Parked next to it was a 5.0 swapped NA.

http://i.imgur.com/QkgkPnG.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/04q5wjt.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/XisRAA5.jpg

There was a lot more cool cars that I should have gotten pics of, but I was ready to head out. And on my way out, I spotted this.

http://i.imgur.com/pQaXtr9.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/XLmUQDb.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/GT7EKnX.jpg

R32 4 door GT. I'd already seen it elsewhere but it was on the move.

Once I left Fontana I went to killboy's shop, Tail of the Dragon for a few minutes to just chill. While there, I heard a horn and then a loud crunch.

http://i.imgur.com/T3e7sT3.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/TFNHFwS.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/lXuZ4VT.jpg

To say the owner of the ND was upset is an understatement. So, what happened? He was backed into by a truck right there in killboy's lot.

Well, once the ND was moved and things calmed down a bit, I left and made a run on the Dragon. Ended up seeing my friend parked with some of the people from the Boone area he knew sitting and watching cars. So, I hung out with them for a bit. Afterwards we went back to killboys to sit and get some water. Then a very nice and very well modded GTR pulled up right next to where we were sitting.

http://i.imgur.com/jBoVAkr.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Rfkvpm3.jpg

From what I was told, it was owned and driven by the owner of Forged Performance.

I saw something that caught my attention parked over at the Motorcycle Lodge.

http://i.imgur.com/hBTHejG.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/GqfKDpL.jpg

A Laguna on blue RS-8 Wats.

I walked by over to killboy's and after a few minutes, a very clean red S14 pulled in.

http://i.imgur.com/HuZudOg.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/JTD3v2M.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/ZzJxdLo.jpg

And it was a wee bit not stock.

http://i.imgur.com/BDrKsB6.jpg

We then decided to head up to the overlook where we ended up watching the sun set.

http://i.imgur.com/7yfvt24.jpg

We ended up hanging out at killboy's place afterwards for a good bit. We mostly ended up helping a WRX owner we drove with on the way back from the overlook. We had to make a bodge repair to get his car driveable so he didn't have to leave it at killboy's and not need a ride back to the place he was staying. The coolant hose coming from the turbo suddenly exploded while the car sat shut off. The best guess was he didn't let it idle long enough to cool things down after driving back down. Anyways, we managed to scavenge a section of hose from an oil breather hose, and with the help of some zipties, and topping the coolant system up with some water, it held well enough to get him "home."

And that was my Saturday.

Day 4:

Woke up and 1st washed the wheels on Betty. So far the GS-1 pads dust more than stock Akebono's (which is fine since they works so much better). With the wheels clean, I drove down to the self wash across the street from The Hub. Rough looking place, but it got the job of knocking the dirt mostly off done. I then quickly took her up 143 to blow dry her off. Once back at the Two Wheel Inn, I used some quick detailer to rub out any water spots left, pull up any more dirt, and wipe off whatever bug guts I could.

We then went to The Hub for lunch. Which was OK, but the cool thing was that the guys from Fab9 were there too and ended up giving us a couple of T-shirts. That was totally cool of them.

After lunch we headed over to killboy's. Got to see a BMW i8 in person.

http://i.imgur.com/0lMfy0f.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/rUYMbjT.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/sC4UxQd.jpg

Also, a red turbo FRS.

http://i.imgur.com/Grisoki.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/WyjtrXw.jpg

We then rode up to the overlook again.

http://i.imgur.com/oYetgea.jpg

For the most part Sunday was a pretty chill day. Most of the folks that were there for MATG had left or were leaving. Which means we got in some pretty good runs. We learned something very interesting and super hot about Betty. Something I hope to share once my friend gets the video edited and uploaded to youtube.

Day 5:

Check out was at 10am. We soon had everything packed and ready to head home. Before doing so we went to Tapoco for lunch. Which didn't start til 11 and we were about 7 minutes early. No big deal, pretty nice to just spend time looking at the scenery.

http://i.imgur.com/5iShJ1D.jpg

So, we ended up splitting a medium pizza, it was very delicious and filling (I had bacon and pepperoni). All I can say is don't pass up eating at Tapoco. After eating we grabbed a few pics.

http://i.imgur.com/DAE7Vrg.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/CSb8aPs.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/W9gQIVJ.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/5ewQ2g7.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/uNXuCpf.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/t8x2obg.jpg

We then headed back up to killboy's shop. While there this time we grabbed a couple trinkets. The we ran up to the overlook one more time.

http://i.imgur.com/C6Zw5xk.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/crt1X7I.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/h7R80bU.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/pFolF4A.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/xQ7WXWU.jpg

And that was my MATG weekend for 2016. Some good food, lots of great driving, lots of good fun, lots of good people and cars. Hope to do it all again next year!

The Laguna you were looking at was owned by Jason Bell. He's from up near Milwaukee.

That R32 is owned by CJ. He used to have a slammed 93LE:

https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7405/9...4514806c_b.jpgDSC_0139 by Bryan Wyatt, on Flickr

Also, I'm the guy in the pink shirt with the umbrella :oops:

Shop called said they thought it was an ECU overheating, pulled the stock ECU and plugged in the Megasquirt-ECU and it starts up and running for over an hour with no issues. I never tracked the car and left the stock ECU in it and don't really know much about ECUs, but if I understand it correctly, the after market computer/ ECU is for tracking and doesn't read all the emissions sensors, so there could still be a sensor problem. Anyone run into these stock ECUs overheating?

Yeah, I don't like that diagnosis. If they opened the stock ECU, they could see heat damage or corrosion. If it's over-heating, it's likely from corrosion, water damage. I would probably be looking for a spare 96 ECU. I know that is a funky year for the ECU, so match the part number.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kung fu jesus

Yeah, I don't like that diagnosis. If they opened the stock ECU, they could see heat damage or corrosion. If it's over-heating, it's likely from corrosion, water damage. I would probably be looking for a spare 96 ECU. I know that is a funky year for the ECU, so match the part number.

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Just drove it back from the shop, they want me to drive it around for a few days and see what it does. Even with the Megasquirt ECU part of the time it idles normal and then the Idle is going up and down part of the time so there is something else the matter. They checked the Mass Air and the Cam sensor while they had it and they check out, they are stumped if it's not the ECU. They are really good guys, been using them for a while now, couple of them are friends of a friend, but Miatas they do not get many of. They said they didn't really fix anything and only charged me the towing bill of $40. Why is '96 a "Funky" year for the ECU?

Idle air control valve. The '96 was year one for OBD2, the Mazda ECUs between 96 and 97 are a little glitchy/inconsistent. I might suggest borrowing another ECU. I'm surprised there are no codes.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kung fu jesus

Idle air control valve. The '96 was year one for OBD2, the Mazda ECUs between 96 and 97 are a little glitchy/inconsistent. I might suggest borrowing another ECU. I'm surprised there are no codes.

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I pulled the stock ECU and opened it up, looks almost new inside, so that's not the problem. Idle air control valve? Any way to test it to see if it is going bad, is it something that can be cleaned? There was no check engine light during any of this, and no codes, but we did pull and replace a battery at the start of the trouble.

Do I need to move this discussion from the MATG XX thread and take it over to my build thread?

Not a horrible idea, but it's not bugging me.

Great pics Jamie, thanks for the documentation of MATG! :drinkto: Wish i could have gone.

I had no idea they made four door skyline's, that would make a AWESOME daily. :)