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Author Topic: The Ramblings of an S12 Owner  (Read 18986 times)

Offline Baby

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The Ramblings of an S12 Owner
« on: 05:57:49 PM / 20-Jun-12 »


I believe it is time that I start my own build thread. I've been a member for a year, lurking, rarely posting, but consistently doing so. I've owned my S12 for two years. I was looking at a car that would be more reliable than my beautifully ragged 1990 Mercury Cougar LS. It was a decent car and for some twisted reason I trusted it less than the 1985 200sx I was looking at. I ended up paying a ridiculous $2500 USD for the S12, (two thousand five hundred dollars, NOT twenty five dollars. Which is probably closer to what it is worth.) Before I go on, I'd like to mention that I am a sarcastic ass before my ludicrous claims start a flame war so powerful it burns down the S12 community. I had never seen one before and even now I've only seen two in person: mine, and a random S12 owner in Vegas. I bought it from a man called "Bible Mike," he insisted that he, my parents and I clasp hands and bless the car, which was ironic because I am an Atheist. Either the blessing expired, or I neglected a ticking valve because the CA20e blew up a year later. Perfect, an opportunity to swap a KA in it!! :D So I bought another CA20e :( and had a mechanic named Mark swap it in for me. Just Mark, I couldn't find a Bible Mark anywhere in town. I was trying to save time by sending it to somebody who knew what he was doing because I needed a car; buuut it didn't really save any time and I still don't know the ins and outs of swapping an engine. Oh well. I suppose the reason I have not started a build thread is because I have not actually done anything to it that I want to do to it. So far just maintainance, and a near pointless engine swap; my car was almost as fast without an engine in it. I have a plan or two for the car, but I prefer to keep it a secret in case my lazy ass disappoints too many members and my thread is deleted for dishonesty. My preference as of now is a daily driver, but an impressive daily driver. One that will last and outrun a car. Any car at all....I'm not picky. It is really depressing when I'm flooring it on the freeway and passed by an angry Prius driver because I'm going too slow.



There are a lot of jackass drivers out there. About a month ago, I was on my way home, and a large white truck with a chrome grill designed to look like awesome flames comes and tails me way too close for comfort. I was close to my home and there was enough room for him to pass so I didn't pull over, I took a corner quickly and floored it to gain some distance (yes, Mom, I was speeding on a public road--also, I'm not one to speed everywhere, I was just in one of those "what the fuck?" moods, and admittedly, he frightened me. His awesome flame grill was pretty intimidating. He was getting close enough to burn my ass.) Well, he also comes FLYING around the corner and persists to tail me as we are both going 15 over. Eh I've had it, I pulled over ready to get ran over, or my ass beat to a bloody pulp by a truck drivin' gun totin,' dog ownin,' "The south will rise again!" mother fucker if he meant harm (I cannot wait to get my concealed carry). He didn't, he just passed me swerving all over the road. Just another unreasonably angry driver with "SIZE MATTERS" stamped on his oversized truck's tail gate. Oh, by the way, Southern Utah is pretty fucking weird...Don't let anybody tell you differently. Where was I going with this??? Oh right: The philosophy of use for my daily driver. My S12 needs to eventually be something that can outrun a turbo Ford F250 with flame-grills and insulting stickers or equivalent "run you over" trucks. Other possible threats would be bears with handguns, zombie semi-truck drivers lugging flammable fuel tanks, angry old ladies, corrupt law enforcement, etc. My S12 will eventually keep me safe. It must be predictable, get good gas mileage, comfortable, stench free (current problem with the burning oil), and be even more fun to drive. This is the first car that I've owned to myself, It's the first car that I've learned about and worked on. Honestly, I fell in love with these damn cars and sometimes I'm pissed that I did, it would be so much easier to put a 2012 Generic sports car of choice on my credit card. Club-S12 has helped me a lot with the S12 and I'd like to thank it. Hopefully starting this thread will give me the motivation I need to keep at it, I have been meaning to fix it up for around a year and haven't really gotten to it. I started redying my interior last summer and haven't finished. I shouldn't bore you guys any further so I'll leave it at that. Thanks for reading.


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Offline night_s12

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Re: The Ramblings of an S12 Owner
« Reply #1 on: 06:05:02 PM / 20-Jun-12 »
I love the plate!!! Cant believe they let you have it haha but good luck with the build thread
"speed limits are like herpes, you can never get rid of them"-Jeremy Clarkson
Going places knowing your driving something you won't see every five minutes is priceless
1988 200sx SE-ROXY
1987 200sx xe hatch back - Shelli(sold)
2002 mitsubishi lancer OZ rally- daily driver - Flow(traded for SE)

Offline Baby

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Re: The Ramblings of an S12 Owner
« Reply #2 on: 06:08:10 PM / 20-Jun-12 »
Oh yeah, sorry, that was my attempt to obscure my plate number. Sadly it is photoshopped! I guess I have no good reason to obscure it, so I probably won't be doing that anymore. Thank you!

Post Merge: [time]06:08:27 PM / 20-Jun-12 [/time]
Before I got around to posting my introduction I did a few things to the S12. Nothing spectacular, I'm just trying to straighten everything out and clean it up a little. My e-brake hasn't worked since last summer, my cables seized on me when I took my rear calipers off to clean them and replace the pads. I thought it was my incompetence restricting me from getting them back on so I drove to the American Car Care in town and paid them one hour of labor to put them back on. They said I was "all good to go" and sent me on my merry way. My e-brake seemed to work somewhat at first, but as the pads wore down, so did it. A few weeks ago my pads started squeeling already, I took a look at my calipers and only one of my e-brake cables was put on. Thank you American Car Care for fucking me over. I paid them $20 dollars for nothing. I took it back to them and told them to fix their mistake, or more negligence. They tried to put them back on but the cables are seized. Whatever. Amazingly, Amazon.com had the rear e-brake cables and they are even marked as prime. Free two day shipping for members. It took me like twenty goddamn minutes to figure out how to take off my first c-clip. I wouldn't mind if it weren't 110 degrees outside. The rest of the job was quick and painless until I got around to connecting them back up to my calipers. The actuators they connect to will not turn at all on both calipers. Am I doing something wrong here? Even if I take off the spring it does not turn.



As I wait for a response to something I haven't yet posted, I decided to replace a few cosmetic parts on the car. My car was in a minor collision from one of the previous owners. Rear drivers side quarter panel is crinkled, the tail light vent shattered and glued together in many little pieces, and my tail light is not very solid. When I push on the left tail, it pushes in, and springs out a quarter of an inch. I think I'll take it in to a bodyshop to fix the crinkle, I wasn't too stoked about doing it myself, and I'm pretty positive I'd fuck up somewhere in the process. I replaced the vent and found that the previous owner attemped to screw the tail light back together and did a poor job, because they missed the second later of plastic all together. Basically, he/she just pointlessly drove a screw into the back of the tail light. After disapproving the use of a screw on my tail light and trying to figure out a better way for several minutes, I drove a screw through my tail light. The hole was already there, and obscure. I couldn't figure out how to glue and clamp the tail without cracking it, even a rubber-band style clamp wasn't touching the right area. I screwed it in at the right angle at least so it improved the stability of it, no more squishiness!


1. taillight 2. old vent 3. new vent, repaired tail and quarter panel crinkle.

I only did two other things this week, lubed all the latches on the car (doors, hood, trunk), everything slides nicely shut and pops open smoothly. I also replaced my passanger mirror. Motor worked fine, glass was in good shape, but the damn cover was busted to shit and sagged. Keeping the extra glass and motor from the old one. New one looks pretty. One question: Does everybody's hatch have a seizure when they close it, or is that just a select few?


Molly's Nipple

This post is a good ol' "fuck you" to all the negligent previous owners of my car. Two sided tape covered in glue and dried to a crisp on my dashboard originally used to hold down the dash carpeting, a few screws driven into random parts of the otherwize nice interior, door panels are hot-glued together, what appears to be liquid nails holding carpet around the stereo, tail light bulb replaced and left to hang melting a golf ball sized hole into the bottom of the tail light. Ok honestly not too bad, but still: Fuck you.


« Last Edit: 06:11:02 PM / 20-Jun-12 by Baby »

Offline night_s12

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Re: The Ramblings of an S12 Owner
« Reply #3 on: 06:27:01 PM / 20-Jun-12 »
Wat u mean have a seizure wen u close the hatch?
"speed limits are like herpes, you can never get rid of them"-Jeremy Clarkson
Going places knowing your driving something you won't see every five minutes is priceless
1988 200sx SE-ROXY
1987 200sx xe hatch back - Shelli(sold)
2002 mitsubishi lancer OZ rally- daily driver - Flow(traded for SE)

Offline sideways_s12

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Re: The Ramblings of an S12 Owner
« Reply #4 on: 06:59:28 PM / 20-Jun-12 »
Lol hard to explain but I know exactly what hes talking about lol.... I have that problem on my red s12

Post Merge: 07:01:05 PM / 20-Jun-12
Oh and welcome also good luck on the build I like your thread its funny anx dont worry about being a sarcastic ass we have a a few of those here and a cew shit talkers like me....
« Last Edit: 07:01:05 PM / 20-Jun-12 by sideways_s12 »

Offline rednucleus

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Re: The Ramblings of an S12 Owner
« Reply #5 on: 08:18:34 PM / 20-Jun-12 »
http://club-s12.org/v3/index.php?topic=33847.msg352191#msg352191
Here's an excellent desription for your brake problem if you haven't handled it already. One of my favorite posts on here.

Offline Baby

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Re: The Ramblings of an S12 Owner
« Reply #6 on: 10:24:27 PM / 20-Jun-12 »
Thanks a lot guys haha. Red you've always got the answers! Thanks for the link, I'll have to try it. The seizure happens when I close the hatch door, sometimes the hydraulic arms want to bounce the hatch back and forth and the the hatch wiggles all the way down. It sounds terrible and it makes my car look like it is 27 years old. I went out to take a short video of it happening, but couldn't actually replicate what I'm talking about, so I'm not sure when this happens or why  :s
« Last Edit: 10:24:47 PM / 20-Jun-12 by Baby »

Offline rednucleus

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Re: The Ramblings of an S12 Owner
« Reply #7 on: 10:26:02 PM / 20-Jun-12 »
Try a little silicone spray or maybe a light wipe of wd40 or a dry lube on the arms
« Last Edit: 10:26:33 PM / 20-Jun-12 by rednucleus »

Offline StephenG

Re: The Ramblings of an S12 Owner
« Reply #8 on: 01:03:59 AM / 21-Jun-12 »
Yep, try some lube on the arms. wd40 might not last very long, maybe white lithium grease? Or, new arms :)

Mine have no pressure so the previous owner tweaked em(bent the arms slightly) so it would hold the hatch up. Does the exact same thing.

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Offline cutter67

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Re: The Ramblings of an S12 Owner
« Reply #9 on: 06:27:05 AM / 21-Jun-12 »
good build thread. your car looks nice and if i can help you with anything i will
« Last Edit: 03:12:30 PM / 21-Jun-12 by cutter67 »

Offline Baby

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Re: The Ramblings of an S12 Owner
« Reply #10 on: 02:31:10 PM / 21-Jun-12 »
All I have done is sorted them and wiped them down, they are under my bed. If either of us can find a reasonable solution I'm more than happy to comply. This is NOT what I expected.

Post Merge: 02:52:39 PM / 21-Jun-12
I don't like this thread anymore.
« Last Edit: 02:52:39 PM / 21-Jun-12 by Baby »

Offline cutter67

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Re: The Ramblings of an S12 Owner
« Reply #11 on: 03:14:18 PM / 21-Jun-12 »
good thread dont worry about anything. things have away of working themselves out. i lived in UT for three years i know what your up against  :grinwink:
« Last Edit: 03:29:46 PM / 21-Jun-12 by cutter67 »

Offline Baby

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Re: The Ramblings of an S12 Owner
« Reply #12 on: 07:09:40 PM / 21-Jun-12 »
Cutter, I'm sorry, I feel like a doh. And thanks for being so Cutter about it (this guy's got a good rep for a reason).

Post Merge: [time]07:13:39 PM / 21-Jun-12 [/time]
I didn't really feel like looking at the S12 all too much today. I bent down to put air in one of the back tires and saw a fat nail-head flush with the tread.  (previous owners must be haunting me, driving random nails and screws in places). Instead of fixing it, I'm grabbing my gun bag and headed to the range to blow off some steam.


Ugly side of the S12 in my opinion. The local sand dunes are in the background.
« Last Edit: 07:15:39 PM / 21-Jun-12 by Baby »

Offline cutter67

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Re: The Ramblings of an S12 Owner
« Reply #13 on: 07:40:13 PM / 21-Jun-12 »
looking at the landscape brings back a lot of memories  i spent a lot of time over on southeast corner ut. if you can believe it i had the best catfish sandwich  i ever had in Bluff ut at the cottonwood steak house. i lived in Park City when i was there but always was down in Moab and 4 corners area running the sandrails

Offline rednucleus

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Re: The Ramblings of an S12 Owner
« Reply #14 on: 07:57:58 PM / 21-Jun-12 »
ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, catfish sandwich

Offline Baby

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Re: The Ramblings of an S12 Owner
« Reply #15 on: 08:50:00 PM / 06-Jul-12 »
Haha if I ever find myself on that side of the state I'll have to try one!

Well it has been a couple of weeks and I haven't done much, just a bit of maintenance. I've been neglecting fixing my e-brake issue. I'm lazy and really want to just upgrade my calipers and rotors! I was driving down a smooth steady road two days ago when I heard a clank, shatter, and my girlfriend gasping. I looked over and my passenger mirror glass was gone. Wow, thanks S12, I'm trying NOT to look like a broke-ass in front of the girl-chick. Nothing says "classy" like shit falling off of your car. :s I'm sure this looks familiar to quite a few members:  :grumpy:



Luckily I still had my old saggy mirror with glass intact so I pressed it in today. Is there anyway to prevent that from happening? I also patched my tire.



I didn't take any pictures of the patches because that would be even more boring than these pictures of screw heads. Damn I really need new tires soon, look at the lack of tread!

Side note: Look who's truck I ran into at the local market  :glarestraight: Trust me, there is a reason you shouldn't drive like an asshole: Spyderco, meet side-wall!  :yay!: No I'm kidding, but to be honest, I was tempted.


Super awesome flame grill

------------------------
This point on turned into a journal entry :laugh: sorry, no more S12 talk.

Sorry for the weak write-up, I'm frustrated. I love the area I am in, but I'm sick of the people and it's crappy services. Utah highway patrol's Trooper McMahon pulled me over in the DMV parking lot because my registration was a few weeks late. He told me my registration was late and I told him I knew and that's what I'm trying to take care of. He made an interesting assumption and said, "You act like it's ok? You act like it's ok?" I didn't say anything. He then proceeded being very combative. He took my information and my girlfriend and I shared a very confused look and I quietly asked her "what the fuck?" He comes back and asks, "Have all cops treated you unfairly?" I said, "No." And then he says, "What's the problem then?" I was super confused at this point because all I've been doing was trying to deescalate him and agreeing with him. I stopped making eye contact with him because I was getting pretty fucking pissed off, he hands me my information and a warning. I folded the warning down the middle and tossed it at my girl-chick's feet. He sticks his head in the window and says, "Well that seems pretty disrespectful, how about I take that back and write you a ticket then??" I just called his bluff and said, "Okay." He then proceeded to tell me he wasn't trying to ruin anybody's day, and told us to have a good evening. I wish I could remember more, he was clearly throwing his authority around and being a douche bag. I'm willing to say harassment, too bad UHP's offices are so far away I'd go complain to his supervisor. What the fuck Trooper McMahon?

The hurricane vet, Dr. Bryce, almost killed my girl-chick's dog because he didn't know what the fuck he was doing. The vet told her her to wash out the dog's ear infection with a mixture of soap water and vinegar. It got much much worse, she called to make a follow-up appointment and the secretary was acting annoyed, "Really? With the ear again?" So my girl-chick took the dog to a recommended vet. He told her that soap-water is actually really bad for infections, use a neosporin and keep it as dry as possible. What the fuck Dr. Bryce?

Also, my girl-chick went to get her second tattoo, and the tattoo artist, Rick, is a douche bag, he is biased, unprofessional, and made several mistakes on the tattoo. He mis-spelled a spanish word and pretended not to notice. He also flipped the image horizontally when it was intended to face a certain direction. He charged her 250 for 2 hours. We went to a recommended tattoo artist to touch it up and fix it, his folder of before and afters just happened to have some tattoos that Rick did. How ironic. He said that there's no way he would have tried to do that size of a tattoo in 2 hours. He said the retouch will take at least 5. What the fuck Rick?

All I am wondering: how are these people still in business, or still have jobs? I've felt really picked on the last couple of months. Some people. Regarding the police officer, It probably doesn't help that I look 16, and my gf is hispanic, Southern Utah is the most racist and judgmental place I've ever been. The most "nigger" jokes I've ever heard were actually at a church event, my good friend's farewells and homecomings. From their parents of all people. I am surrounded by LDS, which shouldn't be a problem, but the views really irritate me and my community can't keep them to themselves. My good friend Austin came back from his mission telling my other buddy Heath that black people are cursed, and mexicans "aren't as bad." I'm glad he didn't say that to my face. Because seriously, what the fuck?
« Last Edit: 09:36:17 AM / 09-Jul-12 by Baby »

Offline sideways_s12

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Re: The Ramblings of an S12 Owner
« Reply #16 on: 09:23:51 PM / 06-Jul-12 »
Damn bro sounds like you had a rough couple of months there....keep your head up and keep pushing through the storm

Offline alhickabee

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Re: The Ramblings of an S12 Owner
« Reply #17 on: 09:43:34 PM / 06-Jul-12 »
Crazy stories... I wonder if the license plate has anything to do with people acting like dicks around you....   

Nice bit of suspension goodies! Clean S12!
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Offline silverton

Re: The Ramblings of an S12 Owner
« Reply #18 on: 02:42:52 AM / 07-Jul-12 »
I'm still waiting for the day one of my mirror's glass to fall out. :(
-Dennis

BoostedVG (in regards to people hating on the VG) - Me thinks they were not the mechanic they thought and blamed it all on the engine.

Colonol Gustard - youre one of the few people that represent the s12 chassis like a boss!

Offline Baby

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Re: The Ramblings of an S12 Owner
« Reply #19 on: 05:59:25 AM / 08-Jul-12 »
Haha thanks guys. Hey silverton don't feel left out hahaha. Oh yeah the license plate is photoshopped I wasn't sure anybody would notice that.


Picture of a sign somebody put up on my street, lol people are stupid. However, both signs DID disappear shortly after.