i think that’s one of the big paradoxes....so many people that could REALLY use the help are the ones with the hardest time accepting it.

alternatives? gofund me comes to mind; minor goal being the stopgap ‘home’ level machine AS a stopgap, to get the orders rolling again (and funds flowing), with the ‘entrepreneur’ grade machine as the ultimate goal.

kind of shot in the dark, but have you checked craigslist/ebay for a comparable model you might be able to gut for parts, if this is a viable option?

more of an “8 is better than none” scenario.  i bet that Lister is a blast though!

i’m sure it’s going to make some heads spin, but since we’re talking Jags and swaps....

have seen before and ‘after recovery’ photos that were exactly that situation.

it kind of looks like he took it off of something else, and kind of hacked it on there, honestly.  need better views to know for sure, though.

it’s a nice upgrade, for sure. i have topline’s kit on the front of my Super, and cb’s kit (with handbrakes) on the rear), with 205/55's on 5.5" wheels in front, and 225/50's on 7" in back.

so how can i convince mazda to let me borrow one from SLO for a couple days of um...testing along the coast?

complete agreement on that one. i blame the dealer, honestly; with as many manuals as mazda sells (supposedly the take rate on manuals, as of 2016, was ~60% for the mx5) it’s a little surprising they’d hire someone that can’t drive a manual for a job centered around moving cars.

ditto for at least one of the lot guys at the local mazda dealer.

one of the other big reasons is so many people that fight adamantly about having any type of racing near ANYTHING, ANYWHERE.  how many tracks have been shut down by the creeping growth of cities and towns, and the accompanying noise complaints?

or to water the death foam to induce rust

as Phryxes mentioned, it’s a VW thing (skoda being owned by vw, and all); most current vw manuals for quite awhile are similar, though the “push the stick down” goes back to the beetles though that was push down and pull back, next to 2nd; my beetle has an aftermarket shifter that uses a thumb button in place of…

maybe it’s a combination of a pretty solid range on the bolt (advertised, anyway), and they haven’t been out long enough to really start falling apart?

mental note: once the vw gets a new engine, attend treffen (the whole thing!).

thanks for the heads up...didn’t know about dunlop, but the rest should be easy to avoid.  the set on her SI will be the last goodyears on any of the cars.

yep. and while it’s a pain the ass sometimes, i get the reasons CARB, as an organization, exists.

on one hand, in light of all the cheating going on on the federal emissions side, it seems a little silly that CARB is willing to trust once they pass certification.

only from the biennial tests, and probably test on ownership change. in theory, you’re still required to adhere to carb-legal or stock parts only.