linuxpro

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While replacing the stock air filters with Green filters, I discovered a few handfuls of bees packed in the intake on my SLK-350. I giggled, patted her on the engine cover and began retrieving the bees with my handy shop-vac, and suddenly she spoke to me: "I am The Hydra. I eat bees whole, and breathe fire on my enemies. Woe to those who oppose The Hydra, they will be destroyed."

Furthermore, a pack of crows has nested in a tree behind my house, and have begun attacking The Hydra. I will sometimes find feathers on my garage floor, if I leave the door open. I've also seen them swooping at the Hydra, cawing and cackling at her, with open hatred and fear. But their attacks have no effect on the Hydra, as evidenced by the feathers found around her sleeping body. I fear a few crows may have suffered injury in their attacks.

She did suffer a recent bout with some local vandals, and as a result, I have dropped her off to have body work done - they are replacing the front spoiler, both headlights, both front fenders and the hood, along with a list of other miscellaneous parts. While she's in the shop I am having Accutint (a very good tint shop in Seattle WA) install FormulaOne Pinnacle 15% tint on all windows except the windshield. They will also be removing the 1st-edition Sirius antenna from the trunk lid and installing the newer, smaller, painted version. I will post pics in this thread when I get my car back from the shop.

Mods completed so far to The Hydra:
1) No front license plate, no holes for plate mounting in front
2) Green air filters
3) SmartTop v3.21(?) (latest version)
4) 15% tint on all windows (FormulaOne Pinnacle series tint, w/ lifetime warranty)
5) Tinted rear license plate

Mods to come (once The Hydra awakens from her sleep and returns to the Lair):
1) modified R170 antenna
2) Clear corners (or tinted)
3) Tinted tails and 3rd brake light
4) Tinted mirror signals


As for the legality of driving without a front license plate, and with windows tinted to 15%; well, all I can say is, The Hydra is possessing my soul and frankly I don't care. I'll pay whatever fines and it will be worth it.

Watch this thread for pics once I return from San Francisco (around mid-July) and pick up my Hydra from the surgeons.

etyu

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Is the hangar (garage) done and ready for The Hydra?

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Eddy

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Pewter/Beige, PIII package, Airscarf, Hands-Free Communication System, Lighting package
Designo Black Leather Cover on e-brake handle, (
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Bill T), SmartTop v1.0, Kleyman 3BFM (NoRegret Custom), Green Air Filters, Mod. R170 ant.
EuroClear sidemarkers w/PIAA PlasmaIon lamps, chromed front & rear turn indicator lamps, PIAA SuperPlasmaGTX front parking lamps, HyperWhite license plate lamps (
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Scott), bilateral rear fog lamps enabled.

linuxpro

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Yes, I finished up the garage and it looks really great. It was a major improvement. The epoxy floor is really cool, and well worth the time and expense, IMHO. I spilled some oil on the floor while changing my girlfriend's car's oil, and was able to clean it up with a paper towel.

I'll be posting the completion pics of the garage project soon. Unfortunately, that thread was deleted a while ago, and I will have to rewrite the whole thing from scratch. But, I learned some good stuff and am excited to post about it, so other people can do it too.

My total expense for doing my garage was around $250, and it is awesome.

Chris-h

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Hi Linuxpro - what did you use for coating your garage floor and how difficult was it to prepare and to coat? mine desperately needs sealing as it is a bit rough and is going to dust.

linuxpro

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I will re-create the garage floor thread and put a link to it here once it is complete.


To answer your questions:

I used Rustoleum Professional Floor Coating (http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=14) purchased for ~$60 (per kit) at Lowe's. It is a 2-part solvent-based epoxy coating. I chose this over the other Rustoleum and Quikrete options because it is solvent-based, which is much better than the water-based epoxies (for a number of reasons). I used 2 kits, and put 2 coats of epoxy on the floor. I then followed this with 4 coats of Rustoleum Concrete Sealer (http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=140), which required 2 gallons of the sealer.

Painting the floor with the coating and sealer was actually quite easy. The prep work is what required all the time and effort. My floor was fairly old, and like yours, it was dusting. It also had numerous deep oil stains, where a previous owner had never bothered to clean up spilled oil. I scrubbed gasoline into the oil spots with a deck scrub, and then pressure-washed the entire floor to remove the oil. This worked very well to remove the deep oil stains. I then scrubbed the floor about 4-5 times with muriatic acid, each time allowing it to dry for about a day afterward, before doing the next scrub. After this was completed, I patched the cracks and divots with concrete patch and let that dry for a few hours, and then scrubbed the floor down with muriatic acid one more time. I then let it dry for about a week. It looked better than I had ever seen it when I was done. Prep work is key to getting a good bond with the sealer, so take your time and do that part right.

Oh, and having a rough surface on the concrete is best for getting the epoxy sealer to bond properly. Sounds like your surface will just require some etching and you should be good to go. You want the concrete's surface to feel about as rough as 100-200 grit sandpaper.

UK-C200

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ROTF - after reading your original post, my question was "did you follow the ventilation instructions whilst applying your floor coating?" :-)

linuxpro

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Of course not! What fun would that be?!

Dolebludger

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What sort of vandals would not be defeated by the Hydra?

linuxpro

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I must have the worst luck in the world.

Picked up the Hydra on Friday afternoon, and it looked beautiful. I have had the windows tinted 15% all around, the front license plate removed with no holes drilled in the front for it, and all stone chips sanded out and repainted. When I picked her up, the Hydra looked better than I had ever seen her.

So, yesterday afternoon, I spent about 30 minutes installing the SmartTop module (version 3.2), which is awesome. And then decided to go for a drive.

As my girlfriend and I were returning home, on the freeway, and in the damn carpool lane, a huge animal appeared from nowhere and promptly destroyed my brand new front spoiler (along with various other damage). AAAAARGH!

I have to take some pics for the insurance company and will post the carnage later. I'm starting to wonder if I will ever be able to drive this car that I have sunk so much money, and put so much sweat and love into. Perhaps it is time to rename her. It seems as though it is not just in greek mythology that everyone (and everything) wants to kill the Hydra.

cousjcc

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Oh dear lord man, that sucks! I truly hope you get to enjoy that car soon! I too am hoping my vehicle damage curse is lifted with the SLK. My previous 2 cars were victims to vandals and environmental hazards (poor drivers). First my '03 Hyundai tiburon got keyed, DEEPLY, down to the primer on 4 different panels (rear quarter panel both sides, rear bumper, and hatchback). That was 6 months after buying it. Then someone backed into the rear end with a tow hitch in a parking lot (never caught the offender). My most recent, an '06 Eclipse GT, which was just a stop-gap to hold me off for 2 years till I could afford my SLK after my ex totalled my Tiburon in a 70mph T-bone, got hit in the rear end by .... you guessed it... a tow hitch. Once again the car was parked and I only discovered the damage upon returning to my vehicle. My sister curb checked my rims a month after I bought it as well. So needless to say my last 2 rides have been punished and I'm praying the SLK lives a better life. One thing is certain, NO ONE but me myself and I will be driving her. My fiancee has already sworn off getting behind the wheel, even if I would let her .

Let us know if you get your car out on the road without a mishap soon!

mtiede

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Hmm... A lot of trailer hitch damage. Does someone that doesn't like you have a trailer?

etyu

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Sorry to hear linuxpro. Hope it gets fixed soon and won't have any more.

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Eddy

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Pewter/Beige, PIII package, Airscarf, Hands-Free Communication System, Lighting package
Designo Black Leather Cover on e-brake handle, (
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Bill T), SmartTop v1.0, Kleyman 3BFM (NoRegret Custom), Green Air Filters, Mod. R170 ant.
EuroClear sidemarkers w/PIAA PlasmaIon lamps, chromed front & rear turn indicator lamps, PIAA SuperPlasmaGTX front parking lamps, HyperWhite license plate lamps (
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Scott), bilateral rear fog lamps enabled.

UK-C200

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Dude, you have some seriously bad car karma! You pee in a German's beer in a past life, or what?!

Seriously, hope you get her back up and running, and get to enjoy her without any more incidents!

linuxpro

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Heh heh, yes I must have bad car karma! My girlfriend said the same thing right after I hit the fox creature that I ran over (still not sure what the heck it was, but it looked really eery and ghostly).

I have never pissed in a German's beer and have always been a huge fan of German cars. You'd think the Teutonic gods would help me out, but apparently they are on vacation or just too busy enjoying a Wagner opera to pay attention. Heh heh...