Hi All.
My name is Matt and I am 26 years old from Tampa, FL.
Where to start... I guess I have been a "car guy" since high school. My first car was a 1991 Galant VR4 and man do I miss her, number 1667/2000 made in 1991. Taught me how to wrench on cars and there is nothing like AWD and a big turbo on the street. Fast forward many years and many cars later (boy time flies!) and I found myself in a ZHP. I can't say that I was really looking for one, but I purchased her last December.
2004 – 128,XXX at purchase, currently at 132,XXX
Black Sapphire
6 Speed
Alcantara and Black Cube
HK System
Cold Weather Package and no Sunroof (From what I have read, may be kind of rare?)
Auto wipers, lights, and climate
Bluetooth
Also has an ipod hook up in the glove box, but I don’t own an ipod (gasp!) so it hasn’t been used
I knew purchasing a higher mileage car I would be in for some fun, but I am planning on doing most maintenance myself. So far though I have had an indy shop work on her and I have been less than pleased, so it’s time to suck it up and do things myself like I had intended.
I had the drive belts replaced within the first few weeks of owning by the shop and then changed the oil and filter myself to OEM 5w30. I have also had a couple blown window fuses, but threw in a 20A (stock I think was 15A) and it seems to have fixed that issue for now.
A few weeks later, I was pulling up to a friend’s house and managed to tear out the inner fender liner and ambient air temp sensor. I drove around for less than a week with those missing and somehow my gauge cluster ended up frozen.
After spending over a month at the shop, I get my car back with a used cluster (No more red needles and lower redline = sad face) and I get a car back with noticeable vibrations. I was thinking the worst since the car was towed to the shop, not on a flatbed. But, what do I find? The lug nuts on the front driver side wheel were not tight, one had backed out and the other four completely loose. Their excuse was that they never even had the wheel off… so I guess I won’t be going back there anymore.
My only real plans as of now are to flush the cooling system before summer here in FL and to flush the transmission fluid. Also, I plan to do new pads and rotors all around, once the rears are worn. (Getting close, but no light yet)
I also need to find a bike rack, I have been thinking OEM rails and Thule or Yakima bars. But the Sea suckers have caught my eye and the company is local to me…
A couple pics:
The day I brought her home:
Parked:
Thanks for letting me join the site! I have lurked, obviously, for a while and really like what you Gents *edit* (and ladies too!) have going on here. If you have any questions, feel free to ask, I am sure I will be posting plenty of my own.
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