Good days, bad days and bad @$$ cars...

[jrfhoutx]

well I've had a heck of a month here, first it got bad, then it got worse, then it got good, then bad, then today it got good again...

now I'm not here for sympathy or anything, I just need to get this off my mind...

So, first, it got bad. I broke a windshield in an R-Class... a $1200 windshield... and you better believe it's coming outta my paycheck... now, I don't think that this was my fault since I was just following the instructions provided to me by MB, but when the instructions for removing an A-pillar molding tells you that after releasing the retaining clips that you should pull up and out to remove the molding, I do not interpret that as pulling up toward the roof and then toward the center of the vehicle. To me, pulling the trim panel toward the center of the car is pulling in, not out... but anyway, the trim caught the dash and wedged in, pivoted at that point and the tip apparently exerted enough force to put a nice big foot-and-a-half wide spiderweb in the windshield...

Then, it got worse... I realized that the owner of the car that I was working on was one of my bosses... yeah, that's right... that's how I roll... go big or go home... if you're gonna something up, better it up good... where's chaos when you need him, he'd think this was hysterical... I'd never hear the end of it... so, anyway... That made my situation really suck...

Then, it got good. My boss was cool with it, kinda... lol, he didn't pay for it, and he wasn't gonna drive the car for a day or two anyway cause he couldn't drive it while I was working on it... and then a couple of weeks later I actually got a raise, lol, after all that they still give me more money, I couldn't believe it! I may have to start breaking more stuff around the shop, lol... j/k

Then, it got bad, again... or so I thought... I got moved to the back shop and put on a different team, I thought it would suck, and it is pretty freakin' dark back there (you'll see, lol), but the back shop is clean and quiet, and when it's cold out, the shop is actually warm, and when it's hot outside it's actually cool inside. As for the new team, they're all pretty cool guys so it's all good...

Today, fairly early into my 11 hour day, it got good... The quiet of the back shop was broken today... The insanely sweet noise that broke the silence, I could hear it even with my headphones on (just got a nice new SE w580i, so I'm taking advantage of it)... so, I look up, and what do I see?...

The most bad-a$s car that neither you or I will ever have the money to buy (unless you've got a spare $498k laying around that you're not telling me about, but I know I don't have it, if you do let me know... lol)...

a McLaren-Mercedes SLR...

360 km/h /225 mph, 617hp/460 kW/626 PS, 575lb-ft/780 N m, supercharged, 5.4 litre V-8

F1 inspiration... (oh, that S-Class right over the SLR is at my bay...)

Yes, there is a purpose to the wheel design... How else do you think you get enough air across those enormous 370mm carbon-ceramic discs and 8 piston calipers to keep them cool? Oh, and yes, those side vents are functional, where do you think all that hot air is gonna go?

So, this is the view I'll get for the next few days (parts are always special order). Nice, eh?

[ra1n]

ooo thats sweet 

[kink192]

SEXY CAR!!! least it all worked out in the end, good karma

[Reaper]

My father's boss has one of them, only takes it out on special occasions however... his everyday driver is different every year, this year he is looking into the STS-V for the spring... wish I was rich...  He gets a new car every spring and auctions the "old" one off to a charity.

[P3nnyw1se]

nice car....very nice....I want that!.....well Veyron is better but 1.2 Mil....x.x
Good to hear from u dude, it's been a while since you posted

[dedafmonteur]

nice to hear its going good ...

i dont really like that car though...lol


i had the same thing once, i heard a awsome sound, i thought; wtf is that!
i look up and see a DB7 comming into the shop....i allmost :censored:ted in my pants...lol
this is a db7:

[l0rdnic0]

OMG why no pictures with the doors open??? And wait your a MB tech????????  OH no you need to make a change to BMW!!! At least IMO, but I'm one sided as I work for them 

[robin1989]

nice someone near me has one of them i think as i see it driving around sometimes

[jrfhoutx]

OMG why no pictures with the doors open??? And wait your a MB tech????????  OH no you need to make a change to BMW!!! At least IMO, but I'm one sided as I work for them 

no door open pics cause jeff the SLR tech was gone for the day when I took those picks. yes I work for MB, no I can't switch, I don't like big mean weenies... BMW isn't luxury oriented enough imo, too sterile feeling inside the :censored:pit...

maybe I'll get a few pics of the doors open later on today...

[l0rdnic0]

Next time I'm in to pickup a car and if there is one there, I'll see if I can get some pictures of the McLaren F1.

[jrfhoutx]

cool, those would be nice to see. They've got the SLR up in the air right now, I'll see if I can get a couple more pics with my camera phone and post them up later tonight...

[budgray19]

plz doo man
id love to see teh engine of that badboy

[DubbleDutch]

wow, that is a nice car

the boss from my father is a rich man
he just bought this bentley


his wife drives this car


and he has another aston martin DB7
(look at 's post for a picture)


i wish i was rich too




oh and you'll get banned because you are using small text and it's not a spoiler isnt it?

*still thinks that rule is useless*

[budgray19]

http://www.autoblog.com/media/2006/12/sixteen.jpg
ill jst give yall the link becase its a big pic..


but yea thats a real concept car
its very nice and was given a good review of topgear

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Goa-Kxy7SL0

[noah03ark]

baller cars, really

sorry to hear about the mishap...boss' car n' all


but those mecedes are really nice machines


as for the rich person i know, its my uncle, bought a porche convertable for fun once, and  a porche cayenne (the suv) later (much to my aunt and cousin's chagrin :/ )

[jrfhoutx]

We actually get a lot of Bentleys, Porsches, Lambos, Ferraris, etc. traded in after people have them for a few months and the 'fun factor' wears off, then they realize they want that same performance, but they also want something comfortable that can actually be driven every day, so they buy a Benz...

but anyway, as promised, a few more pics of the SLR... Still haven't had the time to take pics until the cars up in the air for the night, so haven't gotten one with the doors or trunk (which is pretty freakin' big, by the way...) open, or one of the engine, yet... I'll try tomorrow, should be a little slower...


not too bad for a camera phone... specialty lift, has to be extra wide to fit the car...


specialty fender covers... there is a full set to cover the door sills, rear quarters, and trunk...
oh and the side exhaust is not only functional, but has full cats and mufflers... some pretty sick pipe work if you ask me, hopefully I can get a pic of the engine bay so you can see a little of it...


that's the engine encapsulation panel...


OK, here's one from underneath... the front suspension is openly visible since the encapsulation panel is off, but notice how the encapsulation panels continue all the way to the back of the car? nothing is open underneath except the vents you see on the engine panel...



nico, what do you do for BMW?

[budgray19]

eh  get any of thease ferrari's? id doubt it tho lol

http://cache.jalopnik.com/cars/assets/resources/2006/09/Ferrari-599-GTB.jpg
thats my fav ferrari
The Ferrari 599 Fiorano
its shifts gears in 100 milaseconds

[IndyChav]

ooh an SLR would suit me nicely =P Maybe if I start saving my pennies now?
Dang it at this rate I wont obtain one, time to raise money indy style XD.... OH wait insurance GOD DAMN IT!! Just you wait ill own one of these 

WOOTNESS!!! I now have 2 SLR's one in silver and one in black arent you jealous? shame its only on GT4 =[

[dedafmonteur]

at my work they got that lift to, but than for trucks...LOL

my granddad got the range rover sport edition



i tuned it a bit:
- new air intake's
- new air filter (tuned one)
- better hose for getting the fuel in the engine


and some more stuff

[jrfhoutx]

at my work they got that lift to, but than for trucks...LOL

actually, this lift is not only wider to accomodate the SLR, but because of the carbon fiber composite frame and body the lift has to be bolted into the frame...

well the SLR left today before I could get any more pics, but we'll get another one soon, so I'll get some more pics when another one comes in, maybe the next one will be one of the 722 editions (more powerful engine, bigger brakes, different suspension setup... plus you have to already own an SLR to buy one, making this one cost over $1 million, considering that the price of an SLR is $490k plus the cost of the 722 puts you over 1 mil...)...

[jrfhoutx]

eh  get any of thease ferrari's? id doubt it tho lol

http://cache.jalopnik.com/cars/assets/resources/2006/09/Ferrari-599-GTB.jpg
thats my fav ferrari
The Ferrari 599 Fiorano
its shifts gears in 100 milaseconds

Yes, actually, though not for service, just in used sales...

OK, So, Been workin' my butt off but it's been worth it, just recently had W204 ('08 C-class) training and still haven't had much free time, but I recently got some cool new stuff for my workshop (that I'm still trying to get set up on the weekends), and got a few photos of some cool stuff for ya (another car that none of us has any chance of over affording, a few photos of some work in progress, and the main thing sucking all my money out of the bank and leaving me with no money to spend on modding or consoles)... So here we go!

The Heavyweight Champ (big George Foreman, if you don't know much about boxing, but you may have one of his grills, who doesn't?) brought his Maybach in again... This is not his actual car but is very similar to it (this is the $398k base model), this is one that we recently sold...



Now here are a few WIP shots (replacing a gas tank on an AMG E55) Notice the missing exhaust, drive shaft and gas tank...



Now here are the tanks... Old one is on the floor, new one is on the trans jack ready to go in. these are saddle type tanks so there are normally 2 parts to the fuel pump module, the siphon jet pump and the sending unit, but since this is an AMG supercharged 5.5L there is an increased fuel demand, so there are 3 parts to the pump module in an AMG...




Now the interlude... lol... here are a few random shots...
apparently even hippies buy Benzs, lol!

something for the techies...

Here's what happens when you drive like an idiot in Houston (our roads are in horrible disrepair in some areas)...

Yes, that is half of an oil pan...

Here is my future desk lamp for my workshop... It's a V12 coilpack... I had to replace one on a customer pay ($1200 for the part alone) job, and since it's CP there is no part return, it just goes in the trash (or my trunk, lol)...



Last but not least, the reason I have no money for consoles or mods... from bottom to top... and my cart...







that's about $4-6k worth of tools, equipment and parts...

So, that's my update, any Qs or comments shout 'em out, sorry some of the pics are a little blurry but they're from my W580, and my hands get a little shaky after 10 hours of wrenching... once the coilpack lamp is done I'll post some pics of the process and final product... and I'll continue to keep an eye out for some more cool cars and whatnot... Hopefully soon I will have enough time to work on a few mods I've been planning...

[P3nnyw1se]

mind if I "borrow" your tool chest...?  lol, nice though

[jrfhoutx]

mind if I "borrow" your tool chest...?  lol, nice though

lol, thanks, been putting that together over the last few months...

[MattZani]

Glad your enjoying your job, looks fun.

Long time no speak, its been almost a year!

[robin1989]

nice new pics

never new mechanics had to have there own tool chests

[jrfhoutx]

Glad your enjoying your job, looks fun.

Long time no speak, its been almost a year!

Really? a year? wow... I guess time really does fly when you're having fun, lol!

nice new pics

never new mechanics had to have there own tool chests

Yep, tools and box, mine is pathetically small compared to some of the boxes... but everything fits for now...

[Reaper]

Yep, tools and box, mine is pathetically small compared to some of the boxes... but everything fits for now...

Yeah, some of my local friends/mechanics have entire garage walls full of just snap-on sockets and wrenches alone.  I can honestly say half of their garages are just tools and work space...

[Tec_]

please god tell me that only the box is craftsman, and that you only bought it to hold your tools till you could buy something else. craftsman are fine tools if your a weekend wrench head but come on dude if your working on cars like that you should be using some snap on's or mat co.

[budgray19]

we have wrenches that work liek ratchets.. one side is a box end and the other end is a closed ratchet style  and it can bend a full 180
uuu should think about getting one of em...
i have a set of ema nd they work great
this is what they look liek but they have a piviot rachet head that like i said can tuurn 180 degrees

[Reaper]

we have wrenches that work liek ratchets.. one side is a box end and the other end is a closed ratchet style  and it can bend a full 180
uuu should think about getting one of em...
i have a set of ema nd they work great
this is what they look liek but they have a piviot rachet head that like i said can tuurn 180 degrees

We have a set of em like that here, I think they cost like 250 bucks for the standard and the metric sets, but they are so worth it when you have to get into those tight spaces!

[budgray19]

i right man
i got aset of 6 for like 50 bucks they aint cheap
lol but damm worth it
and if all else fails i have my tap in die sep if i strip the threads lol

[jrfhoutx]

please god tell me that only the box is craftsman, and that you only bought it to hold your tools till you could buy something else. craftsman are fine tools if your a weekend wrench head but come on dude if your working on cars like that you should be using some snap on's or mat co.

actually I have a mix of craftsman, cornwell and snap-on. the wrenches, sockets and ratchets are all craftsman the rest is cornwell and snap-on, the air tools are Ingersol-Rand, and the cordless power tools are Makita. Craftsman actually makes a decent product that works for any situation (including professionals, I'm not above saving money on tools) and if I break a socket or something I can get a new one the same day as opposed to waiting an entire week for tool vendors to show up at the shop (they only come once a week, in fact we finally got a snap-on vendor for the first time in over 3 years). most of the companies have very comparable product quality, what you really pay for is the name. for example snap-on tools cost twice as much as cornwell but don't really provide any better quality or warranty, so what is the increase in price for? Brand Name...

@budgray19:
the set of wrenches on the right are ratcheting wrenches... and the little sockets in the same drawer fit the ratcheting wrenches to make low profile ratchets, they're pretty cool actually...

I only buy tools that I need and use on a regular basis, all our fasteners are pretty standard metric sizes, 7, 8, 10, 13, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22mm, and they are pretty much the same on every model we have, like encapsulation panels are held using 8mm bolts, and they're 8mm on every car we make except the G-wagen (yes, it's with an 'e'; Geländewagen: cross-county vehicle, all-terrain vehicle), those are 10mm... why buy a bunch of tools I don't need? so that they can sit on a shelf or in a drawer collecting dust and rust? that's a waste of money if you ask me, besides I buy tools to use at work not so that I can show off a huge tool box full of useless junk, they have a purpose and it's not for show or a popularity contest (kinda like why should I get dressed up for church?, it's not a fashion show for God, He knows I'm there and He knows that I don't normally dress like that, I'm not pulling one over on Him, and I could care less what the pretentious patrons think of the way I dress...)

[jrfhoutx]

ok, well as soon as I get back home (out at the in-law's in the country...) and get a new coax cable for my cable modem (damn dog chewed the coax in half the other day... I coulda killed that little mutt...) I'll give ya a few more pics of some more cool stuff (like one of the minor things you get when you buy a $450k Maybach), another cool car that came into the shop (Superformance Cobra replica), and the current annoyance in my life, I'm still peeved about that coax... that's the third time this month... anyone know if it's difficult to put new terminals on coax cables? I'm tired of buying new ones, lol...

[robin1989]

get some metal braided wrap for the coax to protect it or alternativly beat it out of the puppy

[budgray19]

taht sweet dood i never heard of them before
this is what we have for a drill

milwaukee my fav drill ive ever used, its a very good drill,
and it is a 28 volt drill
but i dont think yall use these...
aww man a shelby cobra
the original style(i know its a kit car) but still is it teh one shelby made from a euro car and a truck engine?!?!?!?!
SHOW PICS!
SO  u liek being a greace monkey? lol