The Adventures of SHELLY, TURTLE and LOLA the CoLola

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Turtle
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The Adventures of SHELLY, TURTLE and LOLA the CoLola

Postby Turtle » Thu Jan 17, 2013 9:58 am

PROLOGUE:

Once upon a time in a magical land called The Bay Area, Turtle began to reminisce about the days of old.

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Back in the day when he was young he's not a kid anymore but sometimes he sits and wishes he was a kid again, Turtle was enjoying the end of another great day with his first love, Lana the 4Lana.

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With Lana, Turtle felt like he could take on the world, and together they were virtually unstoppable. With Lana, Turtle took on the Zombie Apocalypse.

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A thrilling time indeed. The Zombie Apocalypse wasn't an easy crisis to deal with. It erased nearly 60% of the earth's population. If it weren't for the island faring people of the Pacific Rim, including Australia and New Zealand, there wouldn't have been enough quarantine zones for humanity to flee to and survive.

As the sun continues to set, Turtle can't help but feel a sense of satisfaction about Lana, his trusty little truck (or SUV in some circles, but 'truck' is easier to say. And cooler).

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Together they helped John Connor fight in the war with Skynet. Another event which succeeded in thinning out the herd.

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Lana's top is detachable, so the resistance fitted a freaking gatling gun on her! Look as they take on an effing Hunter-Killer!

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Ahh, yes. John Connor of course led us to victory, but now that the war with skynet was over, it was time for some much needed R&R. As dusk settles over the mighty Pacific,

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Turtle decided it's time to go back home, when suddenly... BOOM!

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Turtle couldn't believe his eyes. Lana was being lifted off the ground by something massive!

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As he looked up in shock he realized that the all three Houses of Arrakis, The Houses of Atredies, Ordos AND Harkonnen have conspired together and managed to take control of an effing SANDWORM to take down LANA!

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(The 3 houses must not have sold a whole lot of spice lately because it looked like they could only afford a mini-sandworm, but one might suppose that seeing Lana get mauled is actually more terrifying than "one second there, next second gone" in one giant sandworm gulp. Anyways...)

Turtle looked in horror as the sandworm threw Lana like a ragdoll onto the ground.

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The sandworm didn't tear Lana in half, but it ate the most important parts to any car or truck: the engine and drivetrain. From that point, Lana fell into a car coma.

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Unable to snap Lana out of her car coma, Turtle towed Lana back home and pushed her into a spot in the driveway where she could rest.

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Since the Zombie Apocalypse and the War with Skynet were more about survival and not about money, Turtle didn't have the means to revive Lana, so he made the tough decision to leave her there in cryogenic stasis.

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He vowed that one day he would be able to revive her.

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One day... But for then, Turtle needed to move on.

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To be continued...

R
Last edited by Turtle on Thu Oct 12, 2017 10:18 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: The Adventures of TURTLE and LOLA the CoLola

Postby Turtle » Thu Jan 17, 2013 10:24 am

Chapter 1: Good-bye Big Truck, Hello Little Car

With Lana on indefinite leave, Turtle was offered to drive his dad's MK1 NA MR2 for a little while.

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Going from a truck on 33 inch tires with a 3 inch lift to a car that was probably 3 inches from the ground was going to be a strange transition.

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Or was it???

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With this car, Turtle was able to bob and weave through traffic with the greatest of ease.

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Going up hills was a cinch. Even though the engine was normally aspirated, the engine still pulled up them in 5th gear! And going downhill? Forget about it!

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Turtle was having so much fun with this car, but truth be told it wasn't his, and his dad needed it for work. One day when he and his co-worker were heading out to lunch, his co-worker mentioned that the engine in the MR2 is the exact same engine as in the 85-87 Corolla GT-S.

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Having little knowledge about compact cars in general, Turtle didn't know what a "Corolla GT-S" was. After a brief explanation from his friend, Turtle started to take notice of a car that was always "hidden in plain sight." A car that was often overlooked by enthusiasts amidst the more popular Civics and Integras. He was told about a website called "Club4ag" and from there he started to research what made this Corolla so special.

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Real-Wheel Drive. Sold.

Soon after he registered and browsed for a bit, Turtle noticed on the main Club4ag page that there was a link to watch a video of the opening sequence to a relatively unknown (at that time) anime called "Initial D". Coming off of an anime addiction of several years, Turtle foresaw the impending demand for this car from rabid anime fans. From then the race was on to pick up a GT-S before something that would eventually be called "Initial D tax" was imposed on all Corollas, GT-S and SR-5 alike. Turtle searched Club4ag's classifieds (back in that day the cars for sale were mixed in with all of the other parts for sale) as well as searching through the free local classifieds (craigslist had not yet gained traction).

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It would appear that Turtle was already too late, as the first car he went to see was a "Panda", or the two-tone white and black paint scheme. This one was found around Clement St. in The City. According to his friend, the prices were already on the rise. Before then, a $1200 GT-S was common. By this time, they were going for for $2500 and up.

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And actually it was 3-tone, as the door jambs and the engine bay were red. Kind of a turn-off. Turtle did make an offer on that panda, but in retrospect he was lucky that the young asian boy said that his momma didn't accept the offer. This is not a fabrication of the truth. He literally said "I need to ask my mom about it" and then later he said "no" with no counter offer.

After the loss of that offer, Turtle continued to look and found a silver hatchback being sold by another young asian guy, but this time in San Jose.

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Though this one was silver, it had a black hood. Turtle kinda liked that. Even though it wasn't perfect, Turtle began to see its potential.

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Turtle found it unusual that two sellers in a row would say Corolla in the way they did, but from that day on, something about it stuck.

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Turtle may just have found the car he was looking for.

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R

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EJ86
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Re: The Adventures of TURTLE and LOLA the CoLola

Postby EJ86 » Thu Jan 17, 2013 11:23 am

I miss this build-up thread, the animations make it unique... :idea:
-1985 Toyota Corolla GTS (2door)
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/561054
-2004 Nissan Frontier (King Cab):
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3072528

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YoShImUrA
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Re: The Adventures of TURTLE and LOLA the CoLola

Postby YoShImUrA » Fri Jan 18, 2013 12:42 am

Awesome! subscribed!

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Re: The Adventures of TURTLE and LOLA the CoLola

Postby gaijin_rokurunner » Fri Jan 18, 2013 5:31 am

thats pretty good....initial D gangdam style
20v power.....powered by Orion's Demise!
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Re: The Adventures of TURTLE and LOLA the CoLola

Postby Turtle » Wed Jan 23, 2013 1:46 pm

CHAPTER 3: The Torque of a Wind-up Toy.

During the daily grind, Turtle was a little unhappy with the fact that, whilst going up hills, he had to shift Lola down to 4th and sometimes 3rd in order to get any kind of response. This car was so weak compared to the MR2 he'd grown accustomed to. He also hated the way the exhaust sounded, so restricted, so worn-out, like it hadn't been changed in over 50 years.

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Also, at stop lights, there really was no power to get a good launch. Turtle was often left behind when the lights turned green.

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The only explanation for this lack of power must be that the engine is on its last legs and the exhaust system needs an overhaul.

However, this posed a problem. Turtle had very little knowledge about fixing cars and owned almost no tools. Even though he had access to an array of automotive tools, he wouldn't know the first thing about changing or rebuilding an engine. The biggest job Turtle had done to date by himself was an oil change! The only solution then? Throw money at it!

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So, by doing some research, saving some money and collecting some needed parts (such as a TRD 4-2-1 header he bought from a guy in Daly City on the night of the worst storm in years),

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Turtle chose to rebuild his existing engine instead of replacing it. Having a 4agze, the supercharged motor was an option, but it was too expensive and rare an option at that time. So after dropping $1200 for the rebuild (and a new exhaust and drilled and slotted rotors),

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the mechanic he went to promptly made it rain.

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Just a little bit more power was all he needed, and Turtle was convinced that this rebuild would do just the trick. Now all Turtle needed to do was wait...

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... and wait...

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... and wait...

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... until finally he was able to drive Lola again.

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In retrospect, there was a reason why the MR2, with virtually the same engine, was so much faster than than Lola. There was a reason why the MR2 was able to pull and gain speed whilst climbing up a hill in 5th gear. It is an unbeknownst (to Turtle) fact called:

POWER TO WEIGHT RATIO: The idea that the same horsepower with less weight will yield bigger gains than with more weight. A simple idea, really. The MR2 was few hundred pounds lighter than Lola, therefore, the same horsepower yielded a better response.

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So although the put-put sounding exhaust was gone, and the rebuilt engine felt fresh and slightly more responsive, it still didn't compare to the way the MR2 pulled.

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Worse still is the fact that Lola was entered to run in the pod races on Tatooine the day after Turtle got her back.

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And sadly, Lola finished in last place. Lola was so far behind in fact that the stadium was completely empty when she finished!

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Not even a Jawa stayed to try and haggle engine parts...

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Oh well. At least Turtle was able to check "rebuild the engine" off the list and move onto the next project.

R

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Re: The Adventures of TURTLE and LOLA the CoLola

Postby Turtle » Wed Jan 23, 2013 1:55 pm

CHAPTER 4: Lola The Fart Monster

After paying all that money, Turtle asked his mechanic to give Lola just a simple exhaust. In addition to the TRD 4-2-1 header, he wanted a high-flow catalytic converter and just a normal muffler. Something not too loud. Something that wouldn't attract attention. Shiny mufflers weren't of Turtle's preference. Pulling off a can from a Camry and spraying it black was perfectly fine as far as he was concerned.

When Turtle got Lola back from her engine rebuild, he tried to do one High RPM run. When the RPMs hit over 3500, an ubsurdly loud, disgusting fart bellowed from deep within Lola's bowels!

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Effing gross! Effing embarrassing! Every single time Lola would be in the higher RPMs, she would make this noise.

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Upon further inspection, Turtle found that in addition to the header and the cat, there was a magnaflow muffler.

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Turtle didn't understand why it sounded so bad. Was it because of the 2.25 inch piping he had requested? Was it because of the header? It turns out that it was neither. It was because the magnaflow, a straight-through design, just wasn't enough to muffle the exhaust noise. Turtle found on the interweb that lots of exhaust systems require a resonator to help absorb some of the sound before it hits the muffler itself.

So turtle set out to find a resonator. Turtle looked into glass packs, which he heard made the sound louder in some cases. He then found two suitable candidates. A magnaflow thin muffler and a dynomax bullet-style muffler. Turtle went with the dynomax and had it welded at a place called Golden Muffler in Daly City.

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At this point the exhaust note was great. Lola was still a little loud, but sounded aggressive and most importantly, no longer farted at high RPMs.

However, another thing that Turtle also couldn't live with was the fact that whoever did the exhaust work decided to add a long ugly tip that looked like a dong.

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This gave Turtle a reason to go with a different muffler. Turtle used a brand called BORLA on Lana back in the day and he loved the way it sounded. So back on the interweb he went and he bought a new BORLA for less than $100. After sanding it and painting it black, Turtle went back to Golden Muffler, where their method of quoting is very simple and their service is quick, well, depending on what time of day one goes.

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So now, we have the TRD 4-2-1, the high-flow cat, the dynomax bullet and the BORLA.

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Turtle was extremely happy with this setup, but as time went by, his tastes changed. Turtle became more interested in keeping the exhaust legal, so he pulled out his old exhaust manifold, smartly kept from the rebuild, and sought a downpipe. Once obtained, he pulled a catalytic from an old friend called the Turbo Truck and he cut off the TRD header by the high-flow cat. Back again to Golden Muffler to have a flange welded and now we have the current setup.
Stock manifold, downpipe, large stock cat, dynomax bullet, BORLA muffler, and no tip. Another thing to note is that all the way up to this point, the entire exhaust system was one welded-together piece from header to muffler. Not a single flange. With the re-introduction of the exhaust manifold, the system is finally in manageable flanged pieces.

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As much as Turtle would like to run headers, He's perfectly content with the manifold. Based on what he could hear, the manifold sounds less efficient. There's a seemingly cheap or hollow sound coming from the exhaust with the manifold, but other than that, if there is a drop in horsepower, the difference is minute.
Sometime down the line, Turtle would like to try his dream setup by running two borla oval mufflers, instead of the dynomax / borla combination, just to see if he could muffle the sound just a little more. but we'll see if this back-burner project will ever happen.

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In its current state, Turtle is quite happy with his pieced-together-over-like-six-years setup. Now he can hear himself think. and sing.

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R

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Re: The Adventures of TURTLE and LOLA the CoLola

Postby Turtle » Wed Jan 23, 2013 2:06 pm

CHAPTER 5: Yeah, and if a frog had wings it wouldn't bump its a** when it hopped.

One day when he was at the end of a freeway junction, the exit between 92 Eastbound heading to 101 South to be exact,

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Turtle heard something that he could only explain as an airplane touching down.

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Surprised, he began to notice that his suspension was causing his wheels to hit the underside of the fender whenever he hit the right kind of bump above a certain speed. Sometimes it would screech, sometimes it would sound like a very large bird with a cold.

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When Turtle bought the car, the seller was advertising INTRAX springs with Tokico Blue shocks. At that time this was a common "upgrade", so Turtle took this as something he wouldn't have to worry about down the line.

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It turns out that the INTRAX springs are not adjustable, so Turtle was stuck with what he had. When the springs and the shocks compressed, the wheels would just always rub into the wheel well.

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After driving around this car for a few more weeks with that annoying chirp, he began to re-think what he should do about his setup. If excessive, Turtle feared that he might tread a tire and lose control. An extreme, yes, but a danger nonetheless. The rears were not making this sound, so Turtle decided to keep them they way they were, also an INTRAX / Tokico setup. His focus would be to tune in the fronts to acceptable, firmer or taller levels.

During his search, a C4ag friend turned him to a friend of his named Miracle Max, who performs automotive miracles.

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This friend also recommended Battle Version coilover sleeves, which were adjustable, and something called Battle Version camber plates, something Turtle only heard of on Gran Turismo. Since Miracle Max was local, he met up with him during an "M.T." corolla meet and Miracle Max showed Turtle his wares.

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Miracle Max had Turtle at the magic he was demonstrating, so he bought the BV coilovers and camber plates on the spot. The aforementioned friend installed them in less than an hour after that.

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So from then on the setup was different. Instead of a one-height spring, Turtle was now able to adjust the level of the coilover and the angle of the tire.

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The chirp was completely gone and the front of the car felt a lot more firm over bumps. A win, for sure. Turtle was told that the springs would settle at some point which would make the front of the car lower, but such was not the case. Now Turtle was faced with a different challenge. The front of the car was now too tall.

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Turtle did not want to adjust the coilovers so low that it would blow out the long stroke shocks,
-----

read about short stroke shock conversions here:
http://club4ag.com/?page_id=189

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so he sought an alternative. He didn't have the money to have his struts shortened, so he found that T3 has an item that will allow the use of short stroke shocks which will shim the top of the shock itself inside of the stock strut casing. After buying stock short stroke shocks (say that 5 times fast) that were made for an SW20 MR2, he contacted Miracle Max again and not only did Miracle Max conjure up the T3 Advance Strut Tube Spacers, he also summoned forth a pair of T3 Roll Center Adjusters, or RCAs, which would correct the overall loss of length of the strut by using shorter shocks (others would say it corrects the geometry of the lower control arms, bump steer yadda yadda).

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And now the setup would appear to be a little more complicated than the original spring-and-shock combination. Battle Version coilovers and camber plates operated the ride height and angle of the tires, short stroke shocks are a welcomed addition to any lowered car, and T3 advanced strut tube spacers and RCAs keep the original geometry of the suspension correct, allowing Lola to now be lowered in the front again. Take THAT, annoying wheel chirp!

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R

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Re: The Adventures of TURTLE and LOLA the CoLola

Postby Turtle » Thu Jan 24, 2013 4:57 pm

CHAPTER 6: Lipstick on a Pig.

Part 1: The Spice Must Flow.

One day when he was minding his own business, Turtle noticed that something was following him.

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Looking closer, he couldn't believe his eyes. Turns out that he must've pissed off the three houses of Arrakis again because it was that same sand worm out to get him, this time in Lola! Or maybe it was just out for some more tasty Toyota nom noms. Either way it was coming in quick.

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He hit the throttle, but even the re-built 16v was no match for a sand worm with an empty stomach.

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It closed in and made a lunge for Lola.

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Turtle thought it was all over. He left his fate in the hands of the Shai-Hulud. With a loud crash, the sand worm struck.

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An indirect hit. The ground stopped shaking and all that could be heard was the thumping of Turtle's heart beating out of his chest. The sand worm was gone.

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He got out of the car and looked around. All that remained was a mound of dirt the size of a Spice Harvester. Then he got a glimpse of his driver's side quarter panel.

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Not cool, man. Not cool.

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Enraged. All Turtle could do was shake his fist in the air and yell into the sky at the sand worm that was already long gone.

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to be continued...
R

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Re: The Adventures of TURTLE and LOLA the CoLola

Postby Turtle » Thu Jan 24, 2013 5:03 pm

CHAPTER 6: Lipstick on a Pig.

Part 2: The Reality of Bodies in Motion.

What actually happened was that one day while Turtle was driving to work,

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some homie wasn't paying attention and hit Lola right in the behind.

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Though homie was reluctant to give up insurance information because he was driving his boss' car, Turtle was able to get it anyways. The insurance fellow came over and an undisclosed amount was settled.

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From now, Turtle had to make some decisions on how to repair the damage.

To Be Continued.

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Re: The Adventures of TURTLE and LOLA the CoLola

Postby Turtle » Thu Jan 24, 2013 5:04 pm

CHAPTER 6: Lipstick on a Pig.

Part 3: Paco De Los Muertos.

Enter Miracle Max.

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During this point, Miracle Max was the go-to guy for entire sets of Japanese Domestic Market front and rear bumpers. Compared to 2011 prices, Miracle Max's bumpers were hella freakin' cheap.
Turtle was baffled as to how Miracle Max was able to use his Magneto powers to move plastic, but whatevas.

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Now that Turtle had his replacement bumper(s), and also a set of sweet redline tail lights courtesy of Miracle Max, he needed to find a painter. He saw a posting from another member, G.T., who got his car painted by a fellow named J.A. Turtle was impressed with J.A.'s work and so he contacted G.T. for J.A.'s number.
Enter J.A. Played by and from here referred to as the number one imaginary champion luchador, Paco De Los Muertos:

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Turtle really liked Paco DLM's attention to detail, because he painstakingly inspected Lola from front to back, not just the area that was hit.

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Turtle left with a good feeling that Lola would be in the right hands, so he drove back to choose Lola's new color.
After one week's time, he returned to Paco DLM and dropped off the keys.

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Turtle took one more look at Lola and then drove away.

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Paco De Los Muertos was then left with a big job to do, as he'd never done a paint scheme like Turtle was asking.

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To Be Continued.

R

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Re: The Adventures of TURTLE and LOLA the CoLola

Postby Turtle » Thu Jan 24, 2013 5:06 pm

CHAPTER 6: Lipstick on a Pig.

Part 4: Wheel In the Sky.

After Turtle dropped off the keys, he waited...

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And waited...

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And waited...

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Until finally, Paco De Los Muertos called and said that Lola was ready.
Turtle then embarked on his long journey back to Paco DLM and Lola.
He passed the Point of Irony.

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Found the Coupe of Reckoning.

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Saw the SR-5 of Some Teenager's Future Plans.

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He drove through the Traffic of Sorrow.

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Past the Accident of Betrayal.

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He drove alongside the Bridge of No Return Yet (and even managed to get the Severed Hand of the Scatterbrained Toll Taker in the shot).

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Turtle then passed beyond the Fields of Magma.

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And finally he entered the Whispering Eye Woods where Lola was waiting.

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Turtle stepped out of the car and couldn't believe his eyes. Turtle's expectations and Lola's progress have finally begun to line up.

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To Be Concluded
R
Last edited by Turtle on Thu Jan 24, 2013 5:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: The Adventures of TURTLE and LOLA the CoLola

Postby Turtle » Thu Jan 24, 2013 5:08 pm

CHAPTER 6: Lipstick on a Pig.

Part 5: Lola's Big Reveal.

A-a-a-a-a-and now, the moment Turtle's all been waiting for.

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The new and improved Lola, two-toned for her pleasure. eeeewwww.:

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Here is how Turtle found Lola in the Whispering Eye Woods:

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She was sans rear bumper, which Turtle promptly drove home to install. Here's Turtle exiting the Whispering Eye Woods and returning home through the Fields of Magma.

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And back home to install. (Lana's in the background and not forgotten, that is a story for another day)

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While he was at it, Turtle decided to change Lola's black hood, which Turtle found to be one of Lola's defining features,

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To another black hood.

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Turtle then added some driving lights. For like, seeing stuff.

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But really, so he could do this:

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Turtle had a vinyl sticker made to commemorate Lola's new skin. After applying this, Lola's repair was complete.

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And now for the self gratifications, Turtle went on a shooting spree.
Lola went from this:

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to this:

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Pictures in some actual light:

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Palabra, Paco De Los Muertos. Palabra.

R

Chapter 6: END

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Re: The Adventures of TURTLE and LOLA the CoLola

Postby YoShImUrA » Thu Jan 24, 2013 8:58 pm

:)

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Re: The Adventures of TURTLE and LOLA the CoLola

Postby Turtle » Fri Jan 25, 2013 9:34 am

Once upon a time in a magical land called The Bay Area, Turtle drove with Lola across the Golden Gate Bridge:

http://youtu.be/NIfgSH4xp_o

And then Turtle and Lola returned from whence they came (they drove back over the Golden Gate Bridge):

http://youtu.be/K4ljVADSq1s

R

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Re: The Adventures of TURTLE and LOLA the CoLola

Postby Turtle » Wed Feb 20, 2013 10:05 am

CHAPTER 7: CHMSL: Turtle's Tale of Center High Mounted Awesomeness

Note: This was originally a posting from a few years back, now fit into the story chronologically.


Once upon a time in a magical land called The Bay Area, Turtle had an improvement idea. He wanted to add a CHMSL to his car, Lola.

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But what is a CHMSL, you say? Well Turtle is glad you asked.

Back in the day, before people had a fraction of the in-car distractions they have now, the simple and elegant design of having the stop lamps in the same bulb as the rear position lamps (or known these days as the tail lights) was good enough for the morotists following us at night. In the mid-eighties, cars started showing up with these weird futuristic 3rd brake lights equipped in their rear windows. They didn't illuminate at night like a tail light would, and its only function would be to turn on when the brake is applied. This became known as the CHMSL:

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Center High Mounted Stop Lamp

In North America, if you had the car model year 1985 and below, your car probably didn't have a CHMSL.

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In North America, most cars made for the 1986 year and above came standard with a CHMSL.

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Perhaps someone had the foresight to add this 3rd brake light, as through the mid 90s, cell phones increased in popularity and they would eventually become an essential item in most motorists' hands, requiring attention away from actual driving. In the early 00s still, text messaging caught on like wildfire, which required even more dexterity and thought away from the wheel. It's quite possible that the 3rd brake light is the single thing that cel phone using motorists look for in the car in front of them! Uncool!

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This is what lead Turtle to seize fate by the boobs. If his car didn't come equipped with a CHMSL, then he'll add one! Turtle carefully observed other cars and took a few things into consideration:

Size (clunky = fail)
Angle (needs a shallow angle because Lola is a hatchback)
Style (not too fancy and round, Lola has hard edges)
Position

After making the observations and getting a feel of what he was looking for, Turtle went to the junk yard and started to look. Turtle was amazed to see how clunky and big some CHMSLs turned out to be. Tens and tens of minutes passed when he finally found exactly what he was looking for.

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perfect angle, perfect size, perfect style! Turtle was so excited about his find that he quickly bought the item and hurried home to plan out installing it! On the way home, he continued to observe where he would like to install his new find. Should it be at the top of the glass or positioned at the bottom?

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Now home, Turtle admired his find.
[img]
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_LZ3kglYiE5s/Sx9Lt ... C01642.JPG[/img]

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Look at this! it's made by HELLA! What a pleasant surprise. Hella frickin' rad!

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Turtle started to make a plan out how to install the CHMSL. How is the wiring going to work? How would he mount it?

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The wiring appeared easy enough, it just leeches off the brake light.

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What about the mounting? Turtle designed a fancy cradle for the light.

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But there seemed to be a much more simple solution. The CHMSL itself is extremely light. Would double sided tape work? Sure, but double sided tape would tend to get messy if he ever decided to remove it for some reason. Then he thought of a better solution.

VELCRO!
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Turtle went out and bought some velcro strips. After that, he soldered on a harness and cut and fit the velcro strips on.

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He then measured the center of the CHMSL and then measured the center of the rear window.

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He lined up the two centers and outlined the CHMSL on the top of the glass. From inside the car, he applied the velcro's adhesive to the glass, aligning the CHMSL with the lines he drew. The result was even better than expected.

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It can barely be seen in the rear view mirror.

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And finally, he tested to see if it worked, and it did! freakin aye!

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Turbo boost, Kit.

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All in all, Turtle was completely satisfied with this quick and easy upgrade for Lola. A few of the lights were blown out on the CHMSL, but they will all be changed with LEDs eventually. One final item to clean up is the wire that protrudes from the back, but that should be a very easy fix. Also something to consider is hot weather. Will the 3M adhesive on the velcro hold up or melt under 100 degree temperature? If it doesn't, at least the cradle can still be added.

So if you ever see Turtle's 1985 Corolla Hatchback stopped at a light and you wonder "W T F is THAT!?" THAT, my friends, would be a CHMSL.

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CHAPTER 7: END

R

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Re: The Adventures of TURTLE and LOLA the CoLola

Postby Turtle » Wed Feb 20, 2013 10:08 am

Once upon a time in a magical land called The Bay Area, Turtle and Lola arrived at the 2012 Slide-Your-Ride 86 meet held at Toyota One in the O-A-K.

http://youtu.be/2ooQDDc5_uE


R

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Re: The Adventures of TURTLE and LOLA the CoLola

Postby Turtle » Wed Feb 20, 2013 10:50 am

Chapter 8 is being rewritten.
Last edited by Turtle on Mon May 04, 2015 8:32 am, edited 5 times in total.

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Re: The Adventures of TURTLE and LOLA the CoLola

Postby Turtle » Wed Feb 20, 2013 11:00 am

Once upon a time in... Turtle and Lola drove through some roads called "East Bay SoFLR" and "East Bay PaPR". You can guess what the road is or freeze frame on road signs, but in the spirit of not enabling you, you won't get any answers from me. though I think that the windmills are a dead giveaway. Nice scenery though. I think I'd like to go back during springtime when things are greener and less desolate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FFSp7SKVOc&sns=em


R

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Re: The Adventures of TURTLE and LOLA the CoLola

Postby Turtle » Wed Feb 20, 2013 11:20 am

Chapter 8 is being rewritten.

R
Last edited by Turtle on Mon May 04, 2015 8:34 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: The Adventures of TURTLE and LOLA the CoLola

Postby Turtle » Wed Feb 27, 2013 10:48 am

Chapter 9 is being re-written
Last edited by Turtle on Wed May 20, 2015 11:47 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: The Adventures of TURTLE and LOLA the CoLola

Postby Turtle » Wed Feb 27, 2013 10:58 am

Once upon a time in... Turtle and Lola drove through a road called "East Bay NoCR" at dusk. You can guess what the road is or freeze frame on road signs, but in the spirit of not enabling you, you won't get any answers from me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwhTKRXixeQ&sns=em

R

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Re: The Adventures of TURTLE and LOLA the CoLola

Postby overspool » Wed Feb 27, 2013 7:46 pm

I love this build thread.

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Re: The Adventures of TURTLE and LOLA the CoLola

Postby mikeyee » Sun Mar 03, 2013 2:47 am

<3

some shots of lola at the meet from last night

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https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos- ... 1428_o.jpg


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https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos- ... 4698_o.jpg

nice seeing you again man!

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Re: The Adventures of TURTLE and LOLA the CoLola

Postby Turtle » Thu Apr 18, 2013 9:23 am

Good seeing you too. I miss the 1st friday meets.

R

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Re: The Adventures of TURTLE and LOLA the CoLola

Postby Turtle » Thu Apr 18, 2013 9:35 am

This part of the build is slightly out of sequence, but for the purposes of moving forward and posting up some other old things, I have decided to add it at this point.

Special thanks goes out to Max for helping out when I got stuck.

Special thanks goes out to Assassin10000 for all of the information. Whenever I had a question or a frustration, he was always happy to oblige.

Special thanks to LordHelmet for also answering some of the many questions I had.

Chapter 10: Turtle vs. the W-58, Round 1.

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Once upon a time in a magical land called The Bay Area, Turtle’s automotive life was about to take an unexpected turn.

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Turtle was driving Lola in a parking lot one day, and the transmission in 1st gear popped out!

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He tried to jam it back into gear, but then the transmission, designated by Toyota as the T-50, made an ugly grinding sound. From then on, if he were in a parking lot, being too easy on the stick would pop it out of gear, but being too hard on the stick would grind on something. Uncool, man!

What’s worse, one day when he was minding his own business, he noticed some spotting under Lola. Great, it looks like the freakin' rear transmission seal is busted.

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After one quick transmission seal replacement, off he went.

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But unfortunately, this didn’t seem to fix the problem. The downward spiral doesn't end here.

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To add to this fustercluck of a situation, it looked like the front seal busted too, even worse than the rear seal. Hella lame!

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At this point, Turtle threw up his arms and said “THAT’S IT”, and declared this stupid transmission as FUBAR. He parked Lola in a secluded spot in The Yay and then began to angrily ponder what his next move should be.

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He pondered and thought. Then he pondered and thought some more. He debated ad nauseam because he didn’t want to pick up another T-50 just to have it break on him again sometime down the line (this T-50 lasted only 2 years). He researched to see what T-50s were up for sale in the local classifieds. He wondered whether this next T-50 would be any good since the only true way to check the functionality of one is if it’s in an actual car. Outside of the car and it’s just a freakin’ crap shoot.

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He woke up from his angry slumber, hoping that this transmission issue was just a dream. But no, he just fell asleep in front of his computer again.

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But what’s this? Something on the screen caught his blood-shot eye.

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It was suddenly so clear to him now! Instead of getting another T-50, which are becoming more rare by the moment (and in North America only available in corollas between 1980 and 1987), he would adapt a stronger and by far more abundant W-58! With renewed confidence, he started to research this undertaking.

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Turtle found that W-58s transmissions are found in Celicas, Supras and even some Lexus models from 1982 until the mid 00s! They boast a larger, stronger gear box, and are even unofficially considered a “close-ratio transmission”, meaning that the gears are closer between 1, 2, 3, and 4. 5th is even taller, which means better gas mileage!

Here’s a quick comparison:

T-50 gear ratios:
• First Gear: 3.587:1
• Second Gear: 2.022:1
• Third Gear: 1.384:1
• Fourth Gear: 1.00:1
• Fifth Gear: 0.861:1

W-58 gear ratios:
• First Gear: 3.285:1
• Second Gear: 1.894:1
• Third Gear: 1.275:1
• Fourth Gear: 1.00:1
• Fifth Gear: 0.783:1
• Reverse: -3.768:1

After most of the research was done and one of the required parts (a specially made bell housing) was purchased online, Turtle began to gear up. He the grabbed his trusty tool and

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TURTLE the LOLA FIXER has COME BACK to LIFE!

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To be continued.

R

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Re: The Adventures of TURTLE and LOLA the CoLola

Postby Turtle » Thu Apr 18, 2013 9:37 am

Chapter 10: Turtle vs. the W-58, Round 2.

Turtle arrived at the South San Jose junk yard, a place in which he knows many W-58s have come and gone. He wanted to observe the W-58s in their “post-service, unwanted but still usable and waiting for a new owner” habitat. He wanted to see how hard it would be to remove one from a car, and if it were as easy as removing a T-50, he hoped to return home with one that day.

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Most cars are propped up on three home-made but very sturdy stands made from two steel rims each, which are welded to each other. It’s important to know that if one is going to creep underneath a car, that the car itself is securely seated on 3 points: 2 stands underneath the A-pillars and 1 stand somewhere in the middle toward the back, most likely underneath the gas tank.

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If the car is improperly balanced, this could happen:

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So Turtle found a W-58, bolted up inside a Supra. He checked if the Supra was securely seated, then he went to work.

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He unbolted.

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And unbolted.

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But the stupid transmission was still stuck.

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He noticed that he forgot to unbolt the starter, but there was something weird about this starter. Not only did it have a bolt on one side, it was secured by a NUT on the engine side, a nut that was impossible to get to with the tools that Turtle had that day!

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After being stumped as to what to do,

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Turtle finally decided that this was a losing battle and suffered a long drive home in defeat.

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Days later, Turtle tried again at the Junk Yard in Newark. With the knowledge of the 2 magic starter nuts, he had a better plan of attack.

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He looked into a likely candidate, a 22-RE equipped Celica for a W-58, but it was completely gutted. He was about to abandon the Celica when he noticed something on the ground.

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It was the Celica’s W-58, likely separated because the previous vulture only wanted the engine. Turtle identified the transmission by the marks on its casing and wondered “what are the chances?”

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He looked for a shifter to test it out, but couldn’t find one in all of the Junk Yard. He then decided to just take the win and purchase the transmission. What a stroke of luck that this one was found with minimal effort!

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He couldn’t find a shifter in all of the Junk Yard, so at home he made one with a ratchet extension and a socket. Turtle finally started shifting through the gears to test the quality of the mechanical shifting actions.

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Without an actual shifter it wasn’t very easy, but he was able to find 1, 2, 3 and 4. but when it came to shift to 5…

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It was dead stopped. 5th gear no longer existed for this W-58.

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To be continued.


R

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Re: The Adventures of TURTLE and LOLA the CoLola

Postby Turtle » Thu Apr 18, 2013 9:41 am

Chapter 10: Turtle vs. the W-58, Round 3.

After 30 minutes of trying to find the 5th gear, and hoping it would miraculously show up, Turtle went from being cautiously optimistic to Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter.

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Another few days pass but at this point, Turtle is only able to re-group some of his patience. This time, he returned to Newark where he identified a Supra with a W-58.

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The plan of attack that he wasn’t able to demonstrate last time was simply a variation of the first plan of attack. This plan has 3 easy steps:

Step 1: Find that Mother Effer.

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Step 2: Unbolt that Mother Effer

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Step 3: YANK THAT MOTHER EFFER!

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The hidden step 4 is to laugh uncontrollably, but this hidden step 4 will differ from person to person. Some cry.

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Finally with a glimmer of hope, Turtle returned home with his fresh kill. All seemed well in the world. And then the unthinkable happened. One of the bolts holding the old bell housing stripped, rendering it completely un-removable by normal hand tools.

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30 minutes pass again and Turtle turns from a renewed optimist to Son of Sam.

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Who’d have guessed that swearing for half an hour would summon Miracle Max, who performs automotive miracles! Miracle Max takes his trusty die grinder and takes the head off the bolt off lickety split.

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Who’d also have guessed that tossing the old bell housing aside and installing a 4ag (the engine) to W-58 (the transmission) bell housing would be magical! We are in the Bay Area after all, a land of Maaaaaaagic!

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A freaking shark transmission! A strange turn of events!

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W-T-F, indeed.

To be continued.

R

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Re: The Adventures of TURTLE and LOLA the CoLola

Postby Turtle » Thu Apr 18, 2013 9:43 am

Chapter 10: Turtle vs. the W-58, Round 4.

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Behold the Sharky, the shark transmission! Never seen living in the wild, but on the record there have only been sightings of the distant cousin of the shark transmission, the W-58 in its natural “post-service, unwanted but still usable and waiting for a new owner” habitat, the junk yard. See it swimming aimlessly!

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There have been records of half-eaten shark transmissions in the wild at the tentacles of their only natural predator, the giant metallic squid bearing puller!

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After the squid bearing puller skins the shark transmission alive, see how it ravages the organs to get to the delicious, delectable bearings inside!

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AMAAAAAAZING!

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By way of magical powers, there has been a single shark transmission found in captivity! Look at it swim through the garaquarium!

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These transmissions should never, ever be taken lightly. If they are to be installed in one’s car, one needs to whip the shark transmission into submission. One should take this golden opportunity to take out any and all frustrations,

such as not being able to remove 2 magic starter bolts

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or not being able to find 5th gear

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or even stripping the very last bolt on the bell housing in order to get this transmission to submit to your will.

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To be concluded.

R

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Re: The Adventures of TURTLE and LOLA the CoLola

Postby Turtle » Thu Apr 18, 2013 9:45 am

Chapter 10: Turtle vs. the W-58, Final Round.

After taming the shark transmission, Turtle prepared to install it into Lola.

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He bought the bell housing, he made sure it shifted through all 5 gears, he found a suitable drive half-shaft at the Richmond junk yard,

-----
The Richmond JY, by the way, is exactly like what Turtle thinks prison looks like:
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Turtle decided that a hole needed to be cut to accommodate the shifter:

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He bolted everything into place, filled the necessary fluids.

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And finally, it was time for a true test drive. After backing up into the street, Turtle shifted Sharky into gear and waited with bated breath.

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And away he went. He paused and couldn’t believe it. Lola was finally mobile again. But what’s even better,

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As he shifted through the gears,

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He couldn’t contain how great this transmission ran.

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(see the hidden step 4 again)

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And all the way back from the test drive, he still couldn’t believe the awesomeness.

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Another project completed. Turtle was again satisfied, regardless of the many steps back, regardless of the T-50 completely crapping out on him. The W-58 and the T-50 are like night and day. Sharky is a solid transmission and shifting through the gears is freakin’ sweet, especially between 3 and 4. It may just be that the shifter is shorter, but there seems to be much less “throw” between the shifts as well. Turtle no longer feels guilty going "slightly faster than freeway speeds" anymore since 5th gear is a bit taller than the T-50s. No more nearly 4000-ish RPMs at 70 MPH (or whatever high number RPM it was origially). The W-58 (Sharky) is indeed a great compliment to Lola’s current engine. And hey, look at that, Turtle even got to mess around with a transmission’s organs. If he were so emboldened, maybe one day he’ll even try to rebuild one. Eek, imagine the horror of running out of curses to swear!

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THE END

R

-----
P.S. Some interesting finds at the JY:

A corolla painted with a "panda" scheme like Lola, but it’s not the right corolla:

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A corolla body style Turtle would like to own one day in hatchback form:

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A rare early 90s 2nd gen 2-door 4runner:

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Thanks for reading.

R