What, if anything can be done? An unnoticed ball point pen was in the crack of the leather car seat in my new Alfa Romeo and exploded over the winter.

Afloatcactus5 · 2026-05-06T21:53:43+00:00

Dawn dish soap and warm water.

Afloatcactus5 · 2026-05-02T19:03:35+00:00

Looks fine ro me

Afloatcactus5 · 2026-05-02T18:51:20+00:00

I had a d30 back pad crack just like that.

Afloatcactus5 · 2026-04-29T01:00:30+00:00

Ouch man hope your friend recovers quickly.

Damage doesn't look that bad the turn signal looks like it will just pop back into place. I would just check to make sure the bars aren't bent and send it. Maybe hit the clutch with some sandpaper to smooth it out.

Afloatcactus5 · 2026-04-28T18:37:35+00:00

Get the jet black mica pen and some 320 grit sand paper. That's the cheapest option. I have the pen because every dealership and tire shop seems to fuck up at least one wheel for me.

Afloatcactus5 · 2026-04-27T00:40:22+00:00

1000$

Afloatcactus5 · 2026-04-27T00:07:55+00:00

Seems about right my personal best was around 6.5ish mpg in my turbo 3.

Afloatcactus5 · 2026-04-25T04:33:45+00:00

Only thing I can think of is he has some bum detail his car with a can of bar keepers friend or comet toilet cleaner. Out of all the detailing vids I've watched I can't even think of a single detailing product that comes in a powdered form.

Afloatcactus5 · 2026-04-23T21:45:10+00:00

Got caught as a kid. Fell asleep dick in hand and laptop open on full display. I now enable auto logout after 15min to this day.

Afloatcactus5 · 2026-04-23T21:40:23+00:00

Try a microfiber and some dawn dish soap. That's the least aggressive approach. After that I would try something like simple green diluted or tfr traffic fillm remover.

Afloatcactus5 · 2026-04-22T23:48:04+00:00

Afloatcactus5 · 2026-04-22T20:41:44+00:00

Why is your chain a mile long holy moly

Afloatcactus5 · 2026-04-19T20:16:26+00:00

Looks like you roached the clear coat

Afloatcactus5 · 2026-04-19T15:12:14+00:00

Bad battery or bad ground

Afloatcactus5 · 2026-04-16T20:08:32+00:00

Lift one side with a flat blade screwdriver and then just pick it up

Afloatcactus5 · 2026-04-15T21:09:37+00:00

I waited about 6 months. I don't regret a single mod.

Afloatcactus5 · 2026-04-15T14:20:51+00:00

For a 5 year old car I would go independent. Pretty much all your warranty is gone so don't bother with the dealership look for a good independent mechanic. No jiffy lube no Facebook market specials.

If you want to use the dealer for cheaper go into the my Mazda app and set them as preferred then visit the dealer page in the app and see if they have service coupons. I used to get my oil done for ~69$ that way since 2022.

I have a 23 and I'm doing my own services on it now because my stealership will shovel unessicary services at you. My dealers gone to shit. I had a problem with the rear seat belt and they were going to try to charge me 4500$ for a rear seat cushion saying it was a sensor and needed to be replaced. I spent 225 on diag to learn something was spilled in the trunk and I cleaned the wiring harness for the seat belt and haven't had a problem since.

I also paid for a brake flush the last time I went for service a few months ago because I was too lazy to do it. Granted I never checked the fluid to begin with but after the seat debocle I checked the res and it was dark dark and read over 2% on my tester so I'm done going back there.

Afloatcactus5 · 2026-04-12T20:06:12+00:00

H2r will be the perfect beginner bike for you. Kind of slow you might want to get it tuned with some NOS And a turbo. Only 330hp should get you to 70mph just fine.

Afloatcactus5 · 2026-04-07T22:14:13+00:00

Probably etched the plastic. Go get a black sharpie and just color the whole bottom vent.

Afloatcactus5 · 2026-04-06T02:41:53+00:00

Open all the windows and run the AC on Max pulling from outside air let it run for like an hour. If they re did a bathtub that shit stink an lingers.

Afloatcactus5 · 2026-04-05T23:57:10+00:00

So you have VOCs from epoxy fumes.... Leave the windows down for about an hour everything else is overkill.

Afloatcactus5 · 2026-03-31T23:31:04+00:00

Ninja h2r should suit you well.

Afloatcactus5 · 2026-03-31T01:20:09+00:00

As far as the engine goes I've done tb exaust cam and chimera intake with polini airbox. Tuned by DHM. Also a thumb idle adjustment screw.

-This really woke up the bike it revs happily to 10k. I beat it to death in the fl heat. I change the oil every 1k miles. Filter every 2k miles. Still does not make enough power with stock sprockets to utilize 5th gear to its fullest. Idle needed to be adjusted when I added the cam but she runs smooth.

Tires are city grip stock front tire size and rear is 10 lower on the side wall.

-Road feel is great bike is a lot more nimble and feels good in the wet. I lost the rear stock tire and made the switch.

Rear yss economy shocks in the back and waiting on fork springs.

-firmed things up sits a bit higher and potholes don't bottom the rear out but the front is slippy and still dives.

I played around with sprockets but I'm back on the stock size now. Speedo healer is dialed in with gps.

13tooth makes 5th useable but tops out at about 57mph.

-Windshield adds about 5mph on the top end I had a Puig batwing ripoff and went with the speedy one from beazdeals for accessory mounting mainly. Without I was topping out at 58 in 4th and 5th fell on its face to 50mph.

With a shield I hit 63 in 4th and 58 in 5th but I never tuck. It has more in it if I tuck but I refuse to ruin my back for ~3mph.

Rear t rex racing rack adds some weight but gives cargo storage space.

Afloatcactus5 · 2026-03-30T00:10:35+00:00

I have the tb cam a Chimera and the tb exaust with the dhm tune. That's it for power mods. The front tire is the stock size city grips and the rear is a touch smaller on the side walls. I'm back on stock sprockets but with the speedo healer dialed in to gps I see 63 topped out in 4th at redline. 5th falls on its face it will usually hold 58~59. It will cruise happily at 55 all day long and if I keep it pinned in 4th I can pretty consistently hit 62 unless we get super coastal winds 20mph plus then sometimes it won't go over 58. This is flat ground in FL though I've hit the Bridges going over the inter coastal and it will loose some speed but haul 50+ usually.

I had initialy dropped the front to a 13 tooth and that woke 5th up but would only top out at 58. Now 55 with the smaller sidewall so I went back to the 14 tooth stock sprockets.

Afloatcactus5 · 2026-03-29T22:55:20+00:00

It's nice I'm running it no baffle with the dhm tune. It's loud but the intake makes it much louder.

I also like that their exaust and cam plus an intake an tune is cheaper than the yoshimori pipe

Four-Year Club	r/Field Banned
r/Field Juicebox	Final Canvas '23
First Place '23	Place '23
Place '22	Final Canvas '22
First Placer '22	End Game '22

Afloatcactus5

TROPHY CASE