miyagi

i was at this huge abandoned lot last night practicing downshifting w/ the "heel-toe" technique [i was driving straight lines...not doing anything reckless or stupid] and there's a realllly long curb that's about 10 inches high on the side seperating another lane...long story short, i went to pull into the lane and didnt go far enough past the curb and BAM curbed the **** outta my poor fc @ about 15mph. damage looks to be mostly cosmetic, but I have an exhaust leak and neither of my headlights will work [1 up 1 down]...i did a search and found out I need to pull the fuse or the motor will keep trying to fix the headlight and kill the batt...i pulled the fuse, but it was too late...

anyways, what should be the first thing I look for with the headlights?

rx7 FC TII

iTrader: (3)

check to see if the motor on the headlight has come undone.... that sucks i did the same thing except that it was a divider in the middle of a turn into olive garden...wasnt but maybe 3-4 inches high but still screwed my underpan and scraped the **** out of my exhaust

spot_skater

Ouch! That sucks man. Heel-toe is really fun, though. Feels kinda of neat wondering what the people behind you might be thinking when they hear your engine revving while they see your brake lights.

mikaz

you know, I have never thought of this before, but i always heel-toe downshift all the time without even thinking about it! I have naturally done it ever since I started driving lol. Its easier on the clutch and its just smoother.
so anyway, you say you didnt have an exhaust leak and the headlights did work before this happened? ouch. Check if you might have tore the bottom of the headlight motor assembly off or something...

jonesfromindia

does anyone have a site where they explain how to do it, cus ive seen a video that shows you how to do it, but i dont get it.

MaczPayne

iTrader: (5)

The only real problems you will have while learning it is how to maintain and control the pressure your foot has on the brakes while blipping the throttle, how much throttle you can give and when to release the clutch. Other than that it's pretty straight-forward.

With the clutch in use ball of your right foot to apply the brakes, shift your heel(or edge of foot) to the side and briefly press the accelerator pedal. Shift into the previous gear as you blip the throttle, with the clutch pressed in. Release the clutch after blipping/shifting.

http://www.waycoolinc.com/z3/essenti...e/shifting.htm

Chuck

iTrader: (2)

If you bounced up on the curb with a tire, you might have bent the rim. Check it out

Sideways7

iTrader: (7)

I heel-toe using one side of my foor for the brake, the other for the gas. Its the only way I can manage it. It takes some getting used to, but I have it down great. Its a good thing, too, cause I used to have a vac leak that caused it to die at stoplights so I had to keep on the gas a bit when stopped.

Twofer

http://www.turnfast.com/tech_driving..._heeltoe.shtml



I could watch that all day. I believe this is from the Best Motoring - RX7 Battle History, when they battle the FC and the R32.

Nothing satisfies like a good heel-toe downshift. Cruising in 4th, green light, drop two gears, cruise through the corner, accel out.

Usually not a good idea if you just woke up though.

Sideways7

iTrader: (7)

Yeah, that looks like its from a best motoring video. My problem is that my legs are too long to get my feet in the position to do it like he does. My legs have to angle to the ouside to get around the steering wheel, which means my feet are pointing the wrong way for that. My way works just fine for me, though.

Rotary Noob

On my vette i really need to adjust the pedals to do that... my brake is WAAAAAAAY up high, and my gas is like almost on the floor as it is. About 2-3 inch difference. Hard, nay, impossible to do with shoes on. Havent been able to run my FC enough to really find out if I can do it there. Ill make sure i have the pedals all even though...I could watch that for days.

miyagi

well I found the **** to adj. the headlights, but both motors are still shot...not really sure how i'm gonna fix em...has anyone else had their's go out?

other then that, i've got some major paint chips on the lip of the bumper and two blown outer tie-rod end seals, which look like they were already blown. Wheels are fine, tire pressure stayed the same and it looks like i cracked one of the welds near the cat...all in all not too bad considering the size of the curb I annihilated

My5ABaby

iTrader: (7)

I guess I toe-heel then.

miyagi

not that heel-toe technique isn't great...but if anyone has any suggestions or info on the headlight retracting motors, it'd be greatly apreciated [main point of the thread]

Sideways7

iTrader: (7)

Are they getting the signal to operate? If so, are they trying to operate but something is stuck? If something is bent, replace it. If the motors are getting the signal and not doing anything, replace them.
You should be able to find info on how to test them in the FSM.