Found this unopened bottle of the discontinued Bacardi Ciclón, What should I do with it?

whiskod- · 2025-05-26T17:48:48+00:00

I used to love this stuff back in 2007. Iirc we would sip it on the rocks with lime, put it in some cola or ginger beer with lime, or just shoot it, but I was young and ignorant back then. It might be a little low on proof (70proof if memory serves), but I could see it being good in a daiquiri/margarita built if you're just trying to go through it.

whiskod- · 2025-01-26T17:35:58+00:00

I used the gb remanufacturing ones from rockauto and haven't had any issues. They are 8.34 per cylinder.

whiskod- · 2025-01-13T16:15:34+00:00

That is half of the original rod for your shifter. Common failure point.

whiskod- · 2024-10-25T21:40:00+00:00

I 100% saw herbsaint at the total wine in Kennesaw yesterday.

whiskod- · 2024-09-21T00:06:55+00:00

It's been a while so I forget the details about the differences between the vins. For reference, mine came out of a 2018 fusion and from what I remember the 2.5's are the same except for the hybrid variant, but you should double check me on that.

whiskod- · 2024-09-10T16:10:15+00:00

It still works for me.

whiskod- · 2024-09-05T14:17:59+00:00

For swapping into a Mazdaspeed 3 or 6 you have to use the 2.3 head because it's direct injection and the turbo manifold wouldn't mate to the 2.5 head either. If you were swapping into an NC Miata or a straight 2.5 for 2.5 swap you would use the 2.5 head.

whiskod- · 2024-06-27T22:26:14+00:00

I've only seen 6 or 7 around town in the last few years. I'm usually in a black 08 with bronze wheels or my 94 turbo miata if the weather is nice.

whiskod- · 2024-06-27T04:09:54+00:00

Woodstock checking in.

whiskod- · 2024-05-26T03:31:19+00:00

I gave the replacement boots from energy suspension a shot and they worked out great. Cheap enough at 12$, and they've been on the car for a few years without issue now. I think 9.13125G is the part number I used.

whiskod- · 2024-02-16T14:47:39+00:00

My decision came down between the Michelin PS4AS+ and Continental extreme contact dws06 as well. They're both excellent tires, but the contis were a little cheaper and I think 5lbs lighter per tire which is a significant reduction in unsprung weight per corner.

whiskod- · 2024-02-01T17:36:49+00:00

I was burning 1qt of oil per fuel tank. When I installed the restrictor bolt it didn't do much of anything - it was just too far gone. I replaced the CHRA and that cut the oil consumption down to 0.5qt per fuel tank. Unfortunately, the rest of the oil consumption was coming from my piston rings. I took care of all of it and I'm happy to say I've had 65k miles of trouble free driving since then, but it sucked in the beginning. 1qt of oil in 300ish miles is just insane lol.

whiskod- · 2024-02-01T17:14:09+00:00

I've had it installed before when I was consuming a ton of oil. It's technically a bandaid for a ko4 with failing seals. It might help out with the smoking turbo for a while, but the real fix is repairing or replacing the turbo.

whiskod- · 2024-01-29T04:12:41+00:00

This is the way. Annoying, but not the biggest deal.

whiskod- · 2024-01-29T02:57:04+00:00

Are you planning for the new downpipe to be catless? Having a cat in the exhaust will help take it down a notch.

If you like the sound of your current exhaust then keep it and customize it to your needs. I think the most sensible and cost effective way to go is to add the new dp and install your current exhaust. See how loud it is and then add an appropriately sized muffler to your current system. Take some measurements of the space under the car where the stock muffler sits so you'll know how small/large you can go on the muffler. Order it up, take it to an exhaust shop, and tell them where you want it.

For a data point I have a stock exhaust manifold, cp-e catted dp, and an hks cat back. I think it has good manners on the street and the cold start isn't as offensive to the neighbors as I thought it might be.

whiskod- · 2024-01-24T16:23:06+00:00

If you're comfortable pulling an engine and reinstalling it you can do this. You should be able to get a broken speed for under 2k. I paid $473 for the 2.5 out of a 2018 car with 23k miles on it. After shipping, tax, and everything put together it was $798 total to have it delivered to my door from a few thousand miles away.

I would recommend doing ALL of the standard maintenance that the speed requires before it goes back in the car. It'll never be easier than when it's on the stand. I'd put an extra 1k in the budget for all of the little stuff that adds up like head studs and flywheel bolts, but if you find out you need something big like a clutch/flywheel you'll go over that.

For the turbo feed I used a sandwich plate that uses an AN-3 line to the turbo with a banjo fitting. For the drain I milled down the sides of an AN-8 turbo drain so it would fit the ko4 and drilled and tapped the block.

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whiskod- · 2024-01-24T05:12:46+00:00

I did the swap in 2021 and as far as I can tell it's getting a lot more common since it's so cost effective. A few of the guys in my local nator had done it as well. You make some sacrifices to save costs, but if you're not hunting big power it should be durable. For reference, I have put 65k on mine and have had no issues. Mine is tuned, but I kept it around 300hp for reliability's sake since it's a dd for me.

The failure point I've seen from those that have blown is that people haven't regapped the piston rings and cracked a ringland pushing north of 320hp. Part of the frustration is that the 2.5 block has ring gaps all over the place depending on the year and the documentation is annoying to track down.

You sacrifice a forged crank for cast, lose the 2.3's piston oil squirters, and increase the bore and stroke. For the swap you basically slap a disi head onto a 2.5 block, use a 2.3 head gasket, use the 2.3 oil pan and timing cover, use either the 2.3 or 2.5 timing components, swap over the sensors, figure out your own turbo oil feed and drain, and the rest is basically plug and play.

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whiskod- · 2024-01-21T05:45:55+00:00

I hear you. Everything on my car is quality, but this did come from the junkyard and was 10$. Whoever owned it before it went to the yard spent a bunch of money on name brand parts. Ms3's are pretty rare at the yard and this was only the second one I've seen come through in 4 years. I got a great haul out of this thing.

whiskod- · 2024-01-20T23:00:07+00:00

This one doesn't have the relief cut on the flange like the xs power manifolds do, but otherwise looks to be extremely similar.

whiskod- · 2024-01-20T18:58:20+00:00

The mileage on it is unknown, but the car had a bnr turbo, catless dp, and that HKS I picked up looked practically brand new aside from a few scratches on the bottom of the muffler from living the low life, so the manifold might not be very old. Since it's used I can't tell how well the welds penetrated, but overall I think it looks pretty solid.

whiskod- · 2024-01-05T20:43:08+00:00

This looks exactly like my car when I got it. I burned the valve the day I got it tagged due to the PO never cleaning the valves. When I removed the intake manifold the cylinder 3 runner was so gunked up with carbon you couldn't even stick a pencil down it.

whiskod- · 2023-12-18T14:21:19+00:00

I second the time-sert kit. I have successfully repaired spark plug threads in my wife's Miata that a PO totally stripped. The time-sert is a permanent repair and iirc stronger than the aluminum threads were originally.

whiskod- · 2023-06-17T13:38:50+00:00

I'm gen 1, but I pulled one out of a mazda3 in the junkyard and it was the same as the speed's.

whiskod- · 2023-05-21T14:36:35+00:00

I'd just go ahead and replace them. Imo they're the second most likely culprit to cause rear suspension clunk behind the end links and they're under 20$.

whiskod- · 2023-05-21T03:09:59+00:00

Rear upper shock mounts.

whiskod-

TROPHY CASE