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build diary December 3, 2006: A few thoughts. Free time. This one seems tough - none of us has the free time we want. But it's really a matter of priorities. According to the AC Nielson company, the average American spends more than 4 hours a day in front of the television. Ouch. Replace TV time with garage time and I'm still way below average. I am lucky that I have a very understanding girlfriend who's been around since the whole Seven saga started (and in a further burst of understanding or possibly a tragic misunderstanding, she is now my fiancee) and no kids. But still, four hours a day? Even an hour a day is enough to get a lot done in the garage. So what about the money? Let's pretend the Seven is a real car. I started by paying about $3000 on the frame. Over the next three years, I've spent an average of $194/month on the car if we're going to use the $10,000 budget that appeared Car and Driver. That budget is at retail, which is less than my actual cost. But still, I think the car would easily sell for $10,000 as it sits now. Think of that in terms of financing a car. $3000 down and $194/month for 36 months. I just checked, and I can't even get a base Kia Rio for those numbers if I could find 0% financing - and I doubt a three-year-old Kia has 100% resale value. I'm also pretty sure a Rio won't set lap records or outbrake a Carrera GT. To be fair, it probably has a roof. On top of that, my daily driver is a 1988 Mazda 323 GTX. A cool little turbocharged AWD critter that's the predecessor of the WRX and EVOs. The difference? I paid $800 for mine. So I don't have to worry about car payments even though I drive a fun car to work. Maybe my vehicular choices aren't so expensive after all. There's also the educational value - how much would it cost me to learn what I've learned? Enough of that rambling. Any news? Yes! After chatting with Dennis from DPcars.net about his use of motorcycle mufflers in over-powerful applications, I'm going to try fitting a Hayabusa muffler to the Seven. I chose the Busa because it's a very powerful bike and thus should have a free-flowing muffler, and also because the muffler attaches with a nice three-bolt flange. It didn't hurt that I found a used one for sale for $10 on eBay. If it works out, maybe I'll spring for one of those cool carbon cans. I'm also going to try out some new upper front control arms (the best of my control arms, but never mind that) from Kinetic. I'm even eying the very cool race seats from Westfield after learning that they'll fit. Waterproof, light and very supportive. Also worth two "payments" each, ouch. Hmm... entry 1309 of 1439 |