My finals story... LONG (sorry Yuli :P)
11-17-2004, 08:18 AM
#1
Well a few people wanted to know how my finals went and I said I would post a message about the whole experience. So here it is. Sorry it’s long but a lot of crap happened in the span of 3-4 days. I’ll break the days up in to different posts just to make it easier to read.
If some of the times and stuff don’t seem to make sense I apologise, I was really tired all weekend so the details are a bit fuzzy in some area’s.
So the whole piece of crap started back on Thursday…….
Go over to my parents place in the afternoon to finish up the box and a bit of wiring. Also had to install a 2nd battery and get that wired up.
First thing I had to do was cut out the hole for the port. Broke *4* bits just trying to cut the 1 damn circle. Finally get it cut and my dad starts to sand down the inside edges and get the flare installed. While he does that I go under the hood to remove the 2150 and put in my generic 1100cca battery. We get it in only to find out that one of the wires is just a BIT too short (it fits, but is very stretched out). No big deal, we’ll just use the 2150 to drive down with and swap the positions for the show once we get down there. I put the 2150 back in and start to get a few sparks near the chassis ground. I also noticed some sparks coming from “somewhere” on the left side of the car, but didn’t really notice where. I was too busy looking at the ground going crazy. I had never had this problem before so I couldn’t understand what was up.
The sparking finally stopped and I get all the battery connections tightened up. Get in the car to make sure everything is working. Try to start the car and it doesn’t want to fire up. It turns over, but it’s like there is no spark. $hit! I also noticed that the wipers were all going even though none of them were in the “on” position. WTF.. that’s odd. So I shut it off and pull the battery out. Call my bro-in-law (Jason) and ask him if he has any ideas. He tells me to just give it a minute or two and put the battery back in. Just in case a relay was stuck open.
I did that and the car then starts up with no problems. Wipers have also stopped going. Yay! .. but wait, why is the HU not turning on? FACK! I check the wiring harness and notice that the +12v constant is getting NO power. The ACC +12v is getting power, but obviously only when the car is on. I do some wire tracing back to the fuse and find that even the fuse box isn’t getting power. Not good. I didn’t really have time to mess around with it too much so I just get the idea to get a temporary fix working by jumpering the ACC to the constant. It now works, but all settings are reset every time I turn the car off. I’m also not too sure how that small wire will handle the current load of both inputs now.
Well it’s getting late and I’m getting tired so I just throw the box in and give it a rip. 146.7 (I think) on the termlab. Only 1 battery and 1 amp. Not too bad for now considering I didn’t adjust the gains or anything. I leave the car at my parents place. Dad says he’ll finish up a bit of wiring and we’ll head out early the next morning.
If some of the times and stuff don’t seem to make sense I apologise, I was really tired all weekend so the details are a bit fuzzy in some area’s.
So the whole piece of crap started back on Thursday…….
Go over to my parents place in the afternoon to finish up the box and a bit of wiring. Also had to install a 2nd battery and get that wired up.
First thing I had to do was cut out the hole for the port. Broke *4* bits just trying to cut the 1 damn circle. Finally get it cut and my dad starts to sand down the inside edges and get the flare installed. While he does that I go under the hood to remove the 2150 and put in my generic 1100cca battery. We get it in only to find out that one of the wires is just a BIT too short (it fits, but is very stretched out). No big deal, we’ll just use the 2150 to drive down with and swap the positions for the show once we get down there. I put the 2150 back in and start to get a few sparks near the chassis ground. I also noticed some sparks coming from “somewhere” on the left side of the car, but didn’t really notice where. I was too busy looking at the ground going crazy. I had never had this problem before so I couldn’t understand what was up.
The sparking finally stopped and I get all the battery connections tightened up. Get in the car to make sure everything is working. Try to start the car and it doesn’t want to fire up. It turns over, but it’s like there is no spark. $hit! I also noticed that the wipers were all going even though none of them were in the “on” position. WTF.. that’s odd. So I shut it off and pull the battery out. Call my bro-in-law (Jason) and ask him if he has any ideas. He tells me to just give it a minute or two and put the battery back in. Just in case a relay was stuck open.
I did that and the car then starts up with no problems. Wipers have also stopped going. Yay! .. but wait, why is the HU not turning on? FACK! I check the wiring harness and notice that the +12v constant is getting NO power. The ACC +12v is getting power, but obviously only when the car is on. I do some wire tracing back to the fuse and find that even the fuse box isn’t getting power. Not good. I didn’t really have time to mess around with it too much so I just get the idea to get a temporary fix working by jumpering the ACC to the constant. It now works, but all settings are reset every time I turn the car off. I’m also not too sure how that small wire will handle the current load of both inputs now.
Well it’s getting late and I’m getting tired so I just throw the box in and give it a rip. 146.7 (I think) on the termlab. Only 1 battery and 1 amp. Not too bad for now considering I didn’t adjust the gains or anything. I leave the car at my parents place. Dad says he’ll finish up a bit of wiring and we’ll head out early the next morning.
11-17-2004, 08:19 AM
#2
Friday.
Get up early and head over to my parents place. Notice that my dad got more work done than I expected. Load up the whole car and we’re off on our way.
About 6hrs in to the trip (between Toronto and London) the car starts acting really weird. Losing power and everything. So my dad pulls it over and I get out the DMM. The battery is just over 9v. Not good. I get him to turn the car on and let it run to see if we’re getting anything from the alternator. NOTHING. Damnit! So THAT’S what the spark from the left was the night before. Damn me for not checking it. I’m pretty impressed that the 2150 managed to get us 6hrs in to our trip even though it had been burped once or twice the night before. The killer for it was when I plugged the laptop in to use the GPS though.
Thank god we had the 2nd battery though. We throw it in and just hope it gets us to an off-ramp and, with a little luck, maybe to a Canadian Tire. We get off, ask some locals for the nearest CT and we’re on our way. We make it there and I breathe a sigh of relief. I go looking through the car for the stock alternator. I had left it in the car all week just in case the new one died. I ask my dad if he had seen it and he says “yeah, I took it out of the car this morning because I didn’t think we’d need it” WTF?! I hate my life (yes, again) So I head in to CT to see if they have one. The lady says they don’t, but she was nice enough to call a few other parts places to see if anyone else had one. She finds one and says it will be about 10-15 minutes to get there. No problem, I head out to the car to take out the damaged one. I pull it all out in about 20 minutes and then head back in to the store. Still not there. So I wait for a few more minutes and do a few other things I wanted to take care of on the car before we got there. 45 Minutes later the alternator finally arrives. I get it all in but the bolts for the top mount don’t fit perfectly. I guess the bolt on the upgraded alt was a bit different. I had to send my dad back in to CT 3-4 times to find one’s that would fit. Finally we do and we get the car up and running. We put the 2150 back under the hood because we didn’t want to do the whole trip on the new battery (remember, it doesn’t fit so good) and the 2150 is almost dead. It does start the car though! It’s getting dark and the lights are very dim, but at least it works and we know the alternator will charge it. Unfortunately the belt for the upgraded alt is a bit longer than the stock one, so the car squeaks like a bitch every once in a while. No big deal, before we left CT I picked up a stock one that we would replace later.
We get back on the road and head down to Louisville. Pull in to the parking lot of the hotel and it’s now 3am. By the time we get checked in and in to bed it’s 3:30am. Great, we’re going to get 4 hrs of sleep!
Get up early and head over to my parents place. Notice that my dad got more work done than I expected. Load up the whole car and we’re off on our way.
About 6hrs in to the trip (between Toronto and London) the car starts acting really weird. Losing power and everything. So my dad pulls it over and I get out the DMM. The battery is just over 9v. Not good. I get him to turn the car on and let it run to see if we’re getting anything from the alternator. NOTHING. Damnit! So THAT’S what the spark from the left was the night before. Damn me for not checking it. I’m pretty impressed that the 2150 managed to get us 6hrs in to our trip even though it had been burped once or twice the night before. The killer for it was when I plugged the laptop in to use the GPS though.
Thank god we had the 2nd battery though. We throw it in and just hope it gets us to an off-ramp and, with a little luck, maybe to a Canadian Tire. We get off, ask some locals for the nearest CT and we’re on our way. We make it there and I breathe a sigh of relief. I go looking through the car for the stock alternator. I had left it in the car all week just in case the new one died. I ask my dad if he had seen it and he says “yeah, I took it out of the car this morning because I didn’t think we’d need it” WTF?! I hate my life (yes, again) So I head in to CT to see if they have one. The lady says they don’t, but she was nice enough to call a few other parts places to see if anyone else had one. She finds one and says it will be about 10-15 minutes to get there. No problem, I head out to the car to take out the damaged one. I pull it all out in about 20 minutes and then head back in to the store. Still not there. So I wait for a few more minutes and do a few other things I wanted to take care of on the car before we got there. 45 Minutes later the alternator finally arrives. I get it all in but the bolts for the top mount don’t fit perfectly. I guess the bolt on the upgraded alt was a bit different. I had to send my dad back in to CT 3-4 times to find one’s that would fit. Finally we do and we get the car up and running. We put the 2150 back under the hood because we didn’t want to do the whole trip on the new battery (remember, it doesn’t fit so good) and the 2150 is almost dead. It does start the car though! It’s getting dark and the lights are very dim, but at least it works and we know the alternator will charge it. Unfortunately the belt for the upgraded alt is a bit longer than the stock one, so the car squeaks like a bitch every once in a while. No big deal, before we left CT I picked up a stock one that we would replace later.
We get back on the road and head down to Louisville. Pull in to the parking lot of the hotel and it’s now 3am. By the time we get checked in and in to bed it’s 3:30am. Great, we’re going to get 4 hrs of sleep!
11-17-2004, 08:19 AM
#3
Saturday
Get up at 7:30 and head over to the show. Get everything wired up and ready to go. Get the gains all set up with some help from the guys from Team XSS in upstate NY (great guys btw!) and get called for my turn in the lane. Pull a 147.3 with the HU skipping like CRAZY. Not bad, I still have another shot or two. After everything that had happened I was pretty happy.
So we pack a bunch of stuff in the car to make sure it doesn’t get stolen and head out for lunch then go back to the hotel for a bit of a nap. 2-3hrs later we get up and go back to the convention center. I figured we were losing power because of the slipping alternator belt and I wanted to change it ASAP. To change the alt. belt on the Mazda we have to remove the power steering belt, which I couldn’t figure out how to do. I made another quick call to Jason back up in Ottawa and he walks me through it. I get back up to the car and start to hammer away at it. We run in to a few issues so I go back to make another call and get more instructions from him. By the time I get back my dad has the belt off and we’re ready to put the stock one back on. I get it back on and notice that it’s not really sitting properly. No big deal, I figure it would work itself in to the proper groove after we use it for a minute or two.
I go talk to Yuli and he’s nice enough to lend me his meter. I get back to the car and start doing some testing. After about 2-3 burps there is smoke coming from the alternator. $HIT. I pop it open and we start taking a look at it. Just then Dave Da Silva (MTA Neon) walks by and takes a look. He confirmed something I was suspecting. We got the wrong belt. I needed a V-belt and they gave me a flat/knotched belt. (we assume it’s the one for the power steering) So it’s now about 7pm and we’re in a strange city and need car parts. I head back to the hotel and talk to the receptionist. They find a place that was open 24Hrs and I get directions. I get back to the convention center and the guy in the lane beside me (Don Chesebro) offers to give me a ride to the parts place. I get in his truck with him and his dad and we head to the store. My dad stays back to remove the belts and get things ready for us. We get the part, head back, and get it installed. By this time it’s late and I’m still tired as hell from the night before. We decide to call it a day and get back to the hotel for some sleep. We decide to get up early the next day and get working on the car.
Get up at 7:30 and head over to the show. Get everything wired up and ready to go. Get the gains all set up with some help from the guys from Team XSS in upstate NY (great guys btw!) and get called for my turn in the lane. Pull a 147.3 with the HU skipping like CRAZY. Not bad, I still have another shot or two. After everything that had happened I was pretty happy.
So we pack a bunch of stuff in the car to make sure it doesn’t get stolen and head out for lunch then go back to the hotel for a bit of a nap. 2-3hrs later we get up and go back to the convention center. I figured we were losing power because of the slipping alternator belt and I wanted to change it ASAP. To change the alt. belt on the Mazda we have to remove the power steering belt, which I couldn’t figure out how to do. I made another quick call to Jason back up in Ottawa and he walks me through it. I get back up to the car and start to hammer away at it. We run in to a few issues so I go back to make another call and get more instructions from him. By the time I get back my dad has the belt off and we’re ready to put the stock one back on. I get it back on and notice that it’s not really sitting properly. No big deal, I figure it would work itself in to the proper groove after we use it for a minute or two.
I go talk to Yuli and he’s nice enough to lend me his meter. I get back to the car and start doing some testing. After about 2-3 burps there is smoke coming from the alternator. $HIT. I pop it open and we start taking a look at it. Just then Dave Da Silva (MTA Neon) walks by and takes a look. He confirmed something I was suspecting. We got the wrong belt. I needed a V-belt and they gave me a flat/knotched belt. (we assume it’s the one for the power steering) So it’s now about 7pm and we’re in a strange city and need car parts. I head back to the hotel and talk to the receptionist. They find a place that was open 24Hrs and I get directions. I get back to the convention center and the guy in the lane beside me (Don Chesebro) offers to give me a ride to the parts place. I get in his truck with him and his dad and we head to the store. My dad stays back to remove the belts and get things ready for us. We get the part, head back, and get it installed. By this time it’s late and I’m still tired as hell from the night before. We decide to call it a day and get back to the hotel for some sleep. We decide to get up early the next day and get working on the car.
11-17-2004, 08:19 AM
#4
Sunday
Get to the convention center early and get to work on the car. I figured I had a bit too much port and wanted to shorten it. I did that and walked through it all to make sure everything was working. Get called up for my run and pull a very nice 140. I just couldn’t understand. I did notice that one of my subs was acting weird though. I get back to my stall and we start going over everything we can think of. We pull the subs out to make sure they weren’t blown and make sure our batteries were charged and everything. We get things laid out and decide to break for lunch. While eating Jon from GCA comes by. I tell him a bit about what happens and he suggests I try running a separate and upgraded power/ground from the HU. He figures it would help with my skipping and also get more power out. I hadn’t even thought of that, but it made sense. Only problem is that I didn’t have any wire! I start thinking about who I could ask. I go to see Yuli because I knew he had 10g speaker wire and I figured I would just use that for now. He was on his cell phone so I’m hanging out waiting to talk to him. While I’m doing that I noticed my dad was over talking to Tim Shelnut (1st in stock 1). Tim was really cool and hooked us up with some 8g power and ground wire. Great, we head back to the car and pull out the battery. Then I think, oh crap. Wire is nice but we have no terminals to connect it to the battery!! I go around to the display boots to see if anyone has any terminals and they don’t. GRR! I decide to make another trip by in case I missed someone and by the time I get back to my car my dad has found some for me. The guys from team XSS came through again. Which is awesome of them because they had a team member competing in my class. What a bunch of wicked guys! Well my dad and I go crazy and get the wires through the firewall, soldered, and attached to the HU. Should be no more skipping. I also borrowed a Fluke from Yuli and turned the gains up a bit more. I figure if I’m going to go down I want to go down blowing stuff up!
I get in to the lanes for my 3rd and final run. I pull off a very sweet 142. I GIVE UP. I pull the car back to my stall completely frustrated. I figure instead of trying to take another look at it I would just pack up and call it a weekend. After packing up the whole car I get a chance to talk to Nick Stives. (2nd place in stock 1, dbdaddy on here) and he tells me he thinks my subs were out of phase. So THAT’S why they were acting weird. I didn’t even think of checking the phase! I must have screwed something up when I shortened the port.
Well I didn’t really care by this point. I just figured it wasn’t my weekend. My dad and I watch the rest of the show and then went to the competitors banquet. After eating a bit and sticking around for a few words we decide to hit the road instead of staying another night. We drive straight through the night living off of only energy drinks and Krispy Kreme. I drop my dad off at his place and unload his stuff then head to my place. Have a quick shower because I stank, and then got in to bed for a nap.
Anways.. it was a very frustrating evening but I’m still happy I went. It was great seeing all the Canadian guys down there. Yuli, Jon, Keyur, Jeff, Dave, Pat and Robert from Team Shadow, and of course Moe.
I also got to meet a bunch of cool Americans that were a huge help to me all weekend even though they didn’t have to be. Don Chesebro Jr. and Sr. Team XSS. (Smitty, Smutzy, and Shawn), Tim Shelnut, and Nick.
I’ll be back next year! Probably won’t spend as much on gear though. I think I’ve managed to learn that getting stuff to work well is more important than having the best
Get to the convention center early and get to work on the car. I figured I had a bit too much port and wanted to shorten it. I did that and walked through it all to make sure everything was working. Get called up for my run and pull a very nice 140. I just couldn’t understand. I did notice that one of my subs was acting weird though. I get back to my stall and we start going over everything we can think of. We pull the subs out to make sure they weren’t blown and make sure our batteries were charged and everything. We get things laid out and decide to break for lunch. While eating Jon from GCA comes by. I tell him a bit about what happens and he suggests I try running a separate and upgraded power/ground from the HU. He figures it would help with my skipping and also get more power out. I hadn’t even thought of that, but it made sense. Only problem is that I didn’t have any wire! I start thinking about who I could ask. I go to see Yuli because I knew he had 10g speaker wire and I figured I would just use that for now. He was on his cell phone so I’m hanging out waiting to talk to him. While I’m doing that I noticed my dad was over talking to Tim Shelnut (1st in stock 1). Tim was really cool and hooked us up with some 8g power and ground wire. Great, we head back to the car and pull out the battery. Then I think, oh crap. Wire is nice but we have no terminals to connect it to the battery!! I go around to the display boots to see if anyone has any terminals and they don’t. GRR! I decide to make another trip by in case I missed someone and by the time I get back to my car my dad has found some for me. The guys from team XSS came through again. Which is awesome of them because they had a team member competing in my class. What a bunch of wicked guys! Well my dad and I go crazy and get the wires through the firewall, soldered, and attached to the HU. Should be no more skipping. I also borrowed a Fluke from Yuli and turned the gains up a bit more. I figure if I’m going to go down I want to go down blowing stuff up!
I get in to the lanes for my 3rd and final run. I pull off a very sweet 142. I GIVE UP. I pull the car back to my stall completely frustrated. I figure instead of trying to take another look at it I would just pack up and call it a weekend. After packing up the whole car I get a chance to talk to Nick Stives. (2nd place in stock 1, dbdaddy on here) and he tells me he thinks my subs were out of phase. So THAT’S why they were acting weird. I didn’t even think of checking the phase! I must have screwed something up when I shortened the port.
Well I didn’t really care by this point. I just figured it wasn’t my weekend. My dad and I watch the rest of the show and then went to the competitors banquet. After eating a bit and sticking around for a few words we decide to hit the road instead of staying another night. We drive straight through the night living off of only energy drinks and Krispy Kreme. I drop my dad off at his place and unload his stuff then head to my place. Have a quick shower because I stank, and then got in to bed for a nap.
Anways.. it was a very frustrating evening but I’m still happy I went. It was great seeing all the Canadian guys down there. Yuli, Jon, Keyur, Jeff, Dave, Pat and Robert from Team Shadow, and of course Moe.
I also got to meet a bunch of cool Americans that were a huge help to me all weekend even though they didn’t have to be. Don Chesebro Jr. and Sr. Team XSS. (Smitty, Smutzy, and Shawn), Tim Shelnut, and Nick.
I’ll be back next year! Probably won’t spend as much on gear though. I think I’ve managed to learn that getting stuff to work well is more important than having the best
11-17-2004, 12:57 PM
#6
1000 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,093
whoa.. that was along story... musta taken a while to type.
Livin Loud
Livin Loud
11-17-2004, 01:18 PM
#7
Originally posted by Livin - Loud:
whoa.. that was along story... musta taken a while to type.
Livin Loud
whoa.. that was along story... musta taken a while to type.
Livin Loud
Oh... and the kicker to my story was that the day I got back I heard from a friend of a friend who wanted to come to finals to check things out with me. He had access to a flat-bed truck and was willing to tow the car down just so he could come.
11-17-2004, 02:43 PM
#8
500 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 610
It was great seeing you down there too Jordy! Man, I had no idea about the "fun" you had... sorry to hear. That's the frustrating part about being a judge, you see or hear about your friends having issues and you want to get over there, roll up your sleeves and dig in to get things done, but you can't. You have to remain neutral because someone will feel that you're being biased...
Anyway, thanks again for the Canadian flag, when Paul got it he redeemed himself by placing it front and center on the black backdrop of the stage and then signing Oh Canada to the crowd... I thought that was pretty cool...
I'm leaving in about two hours to catch my flight to Bogota for the IASCA Colombia Finals, but when I get back I plan to put a post up with my thanks to everyone who attended, competed and helped out at the Finals; in the meantime, you all know who you are, and I can't thank you enough for being who you are, you guys and gals are the BEST!!!!
I'll chat with you all in about a week!
Anyway, thanks again for the Canadian flag, when Paul got it he redeemed himself by placing it front and center on the black backdrop of the stage and then signing Oh Canada to the crowd... I thought that was pretty cool...
I'm leaving in about two hours to catch my flight to Bogota for the IASCA Colombia Finals, but when I get back I plan to put a post up with my thanks to everyone who attended, competed and helped out at the Finals; in the meantime, you all know who you are, and I can't thank you enough for being who you are, you guys and gals are the BEST!!!!
I'll chat with you all in about a week!
