Project OldTree: The 12 Days of Rotormas
11-11-13, 11:07 AM
#401
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at the dealership we used to have a saying "it can't fall off the floor"
12-28-13, 04:00 PM
#402
Sorry to keep everyone in suspense over the past 45ish days, but here's a quick update.
As soon as I got the car home after the engine reinstall, I found my water pump weeping. Was quite a scary drive home because of a coolant leak (bottom radiator hose), but the engine seemingly never faltered.
So a call to Ray Crowe at Malloy Mazda and $70 later got me a new water pump a couple days later. Had to dremel out one hole to accommodate a repair to my housing that I forgot about. With that on, and a full load of coolant again, she's slowly bleeding all the air out one day at a time.
Then my oil pressure sender conked out.
But I found one on Ohio Rotaries for $10 shipped, so that made happy.
That is, untill my temporary S5 alternator started getting WAY overworked with the Taurus fan on low. Clearly this was not acceptable. Thankfully, ObliqueFD in his usual brilliance, spotted a thread that mentioned an aftermarket pulley other than the Mazdatrix/Atkins ones that fit with no fuss. That got me thinking (in my usual multidimensional chain reasoning manner) and by the end of the day yesterday, I had a suitable aftermarket pulley sourced locally on the cheap that fit just like the one from Mazdatrix (except for the second belt track being spaced too far forward). Slapped it on the Taurus alt that had the nut previously let go, tossed it in the car and fired it up. Instant 14.2v at idle and 14.0v with heat, lights & defroster on and the driver's window being rolled up.
On a side note, The old dual sheave pulley wouldn't fit on the Taurus Alt anymore. Apparently when the nut let loose, the pulley was wobbling so much that it warped from the heat. On a post-mortem test spin using a borrowed RX-8 alternator (Thanks Marcus!), I could see the belt grooves moving by at least 3mm each and the shaft hole was about 0.2mm out of round as well! Clearly, Steel > Aluminum when **** goes wrong, and is why my current pulley is simple chrome plated steel.
Big thanks to Jeff & Bridgette for spotting me their garage and help for the engine pull/reinstall, Ray Crowe for the water pump and Marcus at ZN Performance for spotting me the S5 & RX-8 alternators.
As soon as I got the car home after the engine reinstall, I found my water pump weeping. Was quite a scary drive home because of a coolant leak (bottom radiator hose), but the engine seemingly never faltered.
So a call to Ray Crowe at Malloy Mazda and $70 later got me a new water pump a couple days later. Had to dremel out one hole to accommodate a repair to my housing that I forgot about. With that on, and a full load of coolant again, she's slowly bleeding all the air out one day at a time.
Then my oil pressure sender conked out.
But I found one on Ohio Rotaries for $10 shipped, so that made happy.That is, untill my temporary S5 alternator started getting WAY overworked with the Taurus fan on low. Clearly this was not acceptable. Thankfully, ObliqueFD in his usual brilliance, spotted a thread that mentioned an aftermarket pulley other than the Mazdatrix/Atkins ones that fit with no fuss. That got me thinking (in my usual multidimensional chain reasoning manner) and by the end of the day yesterday, I had a suitable aftermarket pulley sourced locally on the cheap that fit just like the one from Mazdatrix (except for the second belt track being spaced too far forward). Slapped it on the Taurus alt that had the nut previously let go, tossed it in the car and fired it up. Instant 14.2v at idle and 14.0v with heat, lights & defroster on and the driver's window being rolled up.
On a side note, The old dual sheave pulley wouldn't fit on the Taurus Alt anymore. Apparently when the nut let loose, the pulley was wobbling so much that it warped from the heat. On a post-mortem test spin using a borrowed RX-8 alternator (Thanks Marcus!), I could see the belt grooves moving by at least 3mm each and the shaft hole was about 0.2mm out of round as well! Clearly, Steel > Aluminum when **** goes wrong, and is why my current pulley is simple chrome plated steel.
Big thanks to Jeff & Bridgette for spotting me their garage and help for the engine pull/reinstall, Ray Crowe for the water pump and Marcus at ZN Performance for spotting me the S5 & RX-8 alternators.
01-05-14, 07:53 PM
#403
Hit & Run...AGAIN!
My car was involved in a hit & run when parked in front of my house at 7:30PM this evening. Police caught the *******, thanks to my neighbor witnessing the accident as his vehicle was hit as well. Bastard was in a stolen white Tahoe-like SUV and is facing two hit & runs, GTA, reckless driving, and a lot more too.
All damage is on the driver's side, on the door & quarterpanel. Door is scratched, everything from halfway back and below the handle is bashed in. B-pillar is crumpled so the door is jammed shut thanks to the latch bar being skewed. I couldn't even unlock the door (including from inside!) because the lock is frozen now
I had parked the car b/c my insurance lapsed, so now I'm entirely up the river. Colten will be coming by later this week to help me assess the damage to a greater degree.
So with that said, I need a new door and quarterpanel, plus labor to do the work, paint, a new handle and the time to get it all done while going to work fulltime
Pictures:
Overview
Front angle
Rear angle, B-pillar is mangled under the door.
All damage is on the driver's side, on the door & quarterpanel. Door is scratched, everything from halfway back and below the handle is bashed in. B-pillar is crumpled so the door is jammed shut thanks to the latch bar being skewed. I couldn't even unlock the door (including from inside!) because the lock is frozen now
I had parked the car b/c my insurance lapsed, so now I'm entirely up the river. Colten will be coming by later this week to help me assess the damage to a greater degree.
So with that said, I need a new door and quarterpanel, plus labor to do the work, paint, a new handle and the time to get it all done while going to work fulltime
Pictures:
Overview
Front angle
Rear angle, B-pillar is mangled under the door.
Last edited by Akagis_white_comet; 01-06-14 at 07:47 PM. Reason: Added pictures
01-11-14, 02:37 AM
#404
Prognosis: Grim
Colten came over today and we tried our best to get the door open and ultimately got nowhere. It's fucked, completely jammed shut and locked as well. Window won't go down more than 2", so everything inside the door is a loss as well.
As for the rear suspension, there is 10-15 degrees of Toe-in on the driver's side rear tire. My gut feeling says the crossmember, lateral link and trailing arm are all trashed as well.
Police Report is #140013812, filed by the Columbus Police Department
As for the rear suspension, there is 10-15 degrees of Toe-in on the driver's side rear tire. My gut feeling says the crossmember, lateral link and trailing arm are all trashed as well.
Police Report is #140013812, filed by the Columbus Police Department
02-08-14, 12:45 AM
#406
I think the fat lady has sung...
Vershawn Shang Davis Jr. of Columbus, Ohio, the ******* who bashed my car on 1/5/2014, has got off scot-free thanks to Michael Allbritain, the Columbus City Prosecutor whom REFUSED to get a continuance so I could request restitution from the judge as he subpoenaed me to do so, along with the other three victims.
This ******* got away scot-free with stealing a 1997 Chevrolet Suburban, wrecking into my car and two others, fleeing the scene (FELONY!) with a suspended license, eluding law enforcement (FELONY #2!) and all the prosecutor did was slap him on the wrist and miss entirely with only Failure to Control, ROMV (Reckless Operation) and Driving Under Suspension. And Judge David Young went along with it the whole way by suspending ALL court costs and fines...
FCMC Public Records Portal
Case# 2014 TR D 100866
https://ext.dps.state.oh.us/CrashReportLinks/
Report# 140013812 isn't online yet, but I will be scanning and PDFing it myself for all to see.
Put his name in and you'll see he's a goddamn REPEAT OFFENDER! Cases #2014 CR B 000192 and 2013 CR A 012743 respectively.
Now my clutch is not fully disengaging, but the pedal feels fine, indicating the Clutch Master Cylinder has failed. Normally, this is a cake job to do and I could have it done in 45 minutes. But since the door is COMPLETELY wedged shut AND locked, it is completely inaccessible no matter how you approach it. There is simply not enough room to contort into position to access the two M6x1.0 nuts under the dashboard because of the steering column and wheel without opening the door, period. And one cannot remove the fender without opening the door either. There is one bolt on the rear edge that is only accessible with the door open.
In simple terms: No way to fix it no matter what.
So I don't get a dime, the ******* gets a free escape parachute without even paying a dime in fines AND DAMAGES, my ONLY car is dead in the water entirely now and the system has REFUSED to do a damn thing about it. And to add insult to injury, I'm forced to fork out $400/month to rent a car to keep my job so I can't get any money together to get another car and no one will help me.
Translation: I'm ******* TREADMILLED!
Guys, I need help, more than ever now. My only means of transportation is completely dead because of someone else, it requires a bodyshop with a laser frame rack, hydraulic puller and a mig welder to fix, and the system has completely and ADAMANTLY REFUSED to do anything to seek justice for myself, Anthony Thompson and Catie Radel.
This ******* got away scot-free with stealing a 1997 Chevrolet Suburban, wrecking into my car and two others, fleeing the scene (FELONY!) with a suspended license, eluding law enforcement (FELONY #2!) and all the prosecutor did was slap him on the wrist and miss entirely with only Failure to Control, ROMV (Reckless Operation) and Driving Under Suspension. And Judge David Young went along with it the whole way by suspending ALL court costs and fines...
FCMC Public Records Portal
Case# 2014 TR D 100866
https://ext.dps.state.oh.us/CrashReportLinks/
Report# 140013812 isn't online yet, but I will be scanning and PDFing it myself for all to see.
Put his name in and you'll see he's a goddamn REPEAT OFFENDER! Cases #2014 CR B 000192 and 2013 CR A 012743 respectively.
Now my clutch is not fully disengaging, but the pedal feels fine, indicating the Clutch Master Cylinder has failed. Normally, this is a cake job to do and I could have it done in 45 minutes. But since the door is COMPLETELY wedged shut AND locked, it is completely inaccessible no matter how you approach it. There is simply not enough room to contort into position to access the two M6x1.0 nuts under the dashboard because of the steering column and wheel without opening the door, period. And one cannot remove the fender without opening the door either. There is one bolt on the rear edge that is only accessible with the door open.
In simple terms: No way to fix it no matter what.
So I don't get a dime, the ******* gets a free escape parachute without even paying a dime in fines AND DAMAGES, my ONLY car is dead in the water entirely now and the system has REFUSED to do a damn thing about it. And to add insult to injury, I'm forced to fork out $400/month to rent a car to keep my job so I can't get any money together to get another car and no one will help me.
Translation: I'm ******* TREADMILLED!
Guys, I need help, more than ever now. My only means of transportation is completely dead because of someone else, it requires a bodyshop with a laser frame rack, hydraulic puller and a mig welder to fix, and the system has completely and ADAMANTLY REFUSED to do anything to seek justice for myself, Anthony Thompson and Catie Radel.
02-09-14, 06:03 AM
#409
Ban Peak
iTrader: (49)
That is absolutely terrible man, that guy is a menace to society.
This is my honest advice for you: You're going to have to get over trying to get money from this guy. He probably doesn't have any, and even if you get awarded restitution, the dude won't pay and will never pay. It will just be you paying out of your own pocket to try to get money you won't ever see. The only thing that is going to stop that guy is one to the chest, you don't want to be the one who gives him that.
You should buy a cheap DD and find another rust free shell to swap the 7 into. That amount of damage will probably cost 3-4k to fix and is simply not worth it at this point in the cars lifetime.
Start a fundraiser for yourself if you need to but don't be greedy, ask your friends and this club for enough cash to get you a cheap DD so you can get back to work on the 7. People here can see how dedicated you are to this car.
This really is a terrible thing, if you rough it through the process I think it will pay off.
This is my honest advice for you: You're going to have to get over trying to get money from this guy. He probably doesn't have any, and even if you get awarded restitution, the dude won't pay and will never pay. It will just be you paying out of your own pocket to try to get money you won't ever see. The only thing that is going to stop that guy is one to the chest, you don't want to be the one who gives him that.
You should buy a cheap DD and find another rust free shell to swap the 7 into. That amount of damage will probably cost 3-4k to fix and is simply not worth it at this point in the cars lifetime.
Start a fundraiser for yourself if you need to but don't be greedy, ask your friends and this club for enough cash to get you a cheap DD so you can get back to work on the 7. People here can see how dedicated you are to this car.
This really is a terrible thing, if you rough it through the process I think it will pay off.
02-09-14, 08:09 AM
#411
Also, criminal is meant to punish with time whereas civil is meant to punish with money.
clokker: you can sue in civil court. Problem with doing that is even if jury/judge rules in favor for the plaintiff to collect damages, trying collect damages would be an entire new journey. Make sure you keep your bills/receipts on the rent-a-car.
What I'm confused about is where was insurance on the truck?
02-09-14, 03:57 PM
#415
Thank you to everyone whom has contributed their wisdom. I just took a few pictures of the damage from underneath and it is as I suspected. Also, I have my doubts about the vehicle being stolen as I have witnessed it driving past twice in the last two days, heading away from Davis's house and going right past mine, which is very strange considering the owner lives just north of Cincinnati...
Overview of Suspension Damage
Detail of Arm Outer Mount
Detail of Arm Inner Mount. Broken in half
Detail of Lateral Link (Bent) & Arm Inner Mount (Broken)
Suspension Arm Overview
Outer Arm Mount underside
Toe In/Toe Out Adjustment point and Arm Outer Mount (underside)
Arm Inner Mount
Surface rust flaking off from Arm being bent
Overview of Suspension Damage
Detail of Arm Outer Mount
Detail of Arm Inner Mount. Broken in half
Detail of Lateral Link (Bent) & Arm Inner Mount (Broken)
Suspension Arm Overview
Outer Arm Mount underside
Toe In/Toe Out Adjustment point and Arm Outer Mount (underside)
Arm Inner Mount
Surface rust flaking off from Arm being bent
Last edited by Akagis_white_comet; 02-12-14 at 11:20 AM. Reason: corrected location of Suburban's owner
02-09-14, 06:30 PM
#416
troubleshooting sucks
my heart goes out to you this is such an effed up unlucky thing to happen. just dont give up dude. you live in the us. there are spare parts to be had on your particular land-mass and with some patience, resilience and stubborness youll get there. looking forward to reading the success story 
02-19-14, 12:53 AM
#419
Hit & run a third ******* time!!!!
Your eyes do not deceive you...Project OldTree was hit & run AGAIN tonight!
How I found her when I got home from work at 11PM:
When I pointed out the obvious facts, the officer wanted to argue with me. So after he left, I called the police again and two more cops showed up and agreed that very few vehicles could have done this. 12" wide tire tracks on the front of the culprit vehicle, same ride height and orientation as the first hit & run and enough force to knock it up over the curb and around 90 degrees? It's a goddamn Suburban, there is no argument!
Now there is Negative Camber AND Toe-In on the driver's side rear tire, taillight area is a total loss, and I'd suspect my left muffler (Racing Beat Power Pulse TII) and both rear wheels are fucked as well.
How I found her when I got home from work at 11PM:
When I pointed out the obvious facts, the officer wanted to argue with me. So after he left, I called the police again and two more cops showed up and agreed that very few vehicles could have done this. 12" wide tire tracks on the front of the culprit vehicle, same ride height and orientation as the first hit & run and enough force to knock it up over the curb and around 90 degrees? It's a goddamn Suburban, there is no argument!
Now there is Negative Camber AND Toe-In on the driver's side rear tire, taillight area is a total loss, and I'd suspect my left muffler (Racing Beat Power Pulse TII) and both rear wheels are fucked as well.
02-19-14, 06:22 AM
#420
Wow. You and your car are having a terrible time right now. I feel for you. I know what it's like to be the victim of a crime involving your car and come out on the losing end every which way. Keep your head up and do the best you can to move forward.
02-19-14, 08:19 AM
#421
Time to pick up a shell and transfer the heart over to a new beast. Unreal. I wonder if the snow had anything to do with it? Being white on white. Does anyone have a grudge against you? If it makes you feel any better 3/4 cars in my driveway got egged a few nights ago... Time to invest in a surveillance system.
02-19-14, 08:27 AM
#422
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perhaps my eyes are deceiving me in the early hours of the morning before caffination, but the street the car is parked on .... It looks like you would HAVE TO TRY to hit that rear end, especially enough to knock it around and up onto what appears to be a curb.
looks like a 45* turn in from what otherwise appears to be a straight street. What an *******.
I am sorry to hear you are having soo much trouble. I hope this guy gets brought to justice.
looks like a 45* turn in from what otherwise appears to be a straight street. What an *******.
I am sorry to hear you are having soo much trouble. I hope this guy gets brought to justice.
02-19-14, 10:48 AM
#423
12" wide tracks, 10" deep...
Second Hit & Run on Project OldTree - YouTube
Confirmation# 1402193488 with the City of Columbus 311 Claims Center
Second Hit & Run on Project OldTree - YouTube
Confirmation# 1402193488 with the City of Columbus 311 Claims Center
02-19-14, 09:10 PM
#425
Good lord, I live in an asian neighborhood and have seen the most awful driving on earth, but this is something else.
No, i'm not "racist" or making jokes. I've seen left on red lights, u-turns on service (one way) roads, cars half on the sidewalk, backwards into trees... I saw a guy drive down the street with a garbage can under his front bumper. I have been hit while walking (there was a fatal hit and run at the end of my block once), all 4 cars at a 4 way stop blow the sign and crash...
But damn, did a train hit your car?!
No, i'm not "racist" or making jokes. I've seen left on red lights, u-turns on service (one way) roads, cars half on the sidewalk, backwards into trees... I saw a guy drive down the street with a garbage can under his front bumper. I have been hit while walking (there was a fatal hit and run at the end of my block once), all 4 cars at a 4 way stop blow the sign and crash...
But damn, did a train hit your car?!