Update on the JBA axle backs

They've made it to Salt Lake City from Sparks Nevada. Expected delivery date you ask? Friday! Yahoo!!

Since you guys are making me work on modifying the Mustang some more, I had to stop by Sears after work. I picked up the coveted ratcheting box end wrench set, and decided to get the 3 ton floor jack kit complete with jack stands and 3' creeper for $99. Who knows what the next Mustang mod you'll be making me do will be..

I got a little nervous when it took two of the loading dock guys to load the floor jack set into the back of the Mustang. I figured I was past the point of no return since I'd already purchased it, so onward and upward. It was a pretty good grunt to get it unloaded when I got home, but I got it done. The man cave is even more functional now. I didn't realize a 3 ton floor jack would actually weigh 3 tons...

Well, I'm pretty well set to do the exhaust upgrade this weekend. I think the only thing I overlooked is some safety glasses to keep the under car junk out of my eyes, so I'll hit Lowes, Home Depot, or Sears once more before the weekend and get that taken care of.

The blogging should pick up some shortly as we've been a little short handed at work and I've been trying to time manage by reviewing stuff every night so that no customer gets left in the dust. The teammate who managed to shoot himself is due back to work tomorrow, so the pressure should abate some over the next week or so. We will all enjoy letting "Festus" know what we really think of him milking that for 2 and a half weeks, so the humor level will be up pretty good, too.

Spending the rebate check

So, we get a tax rebate and we need to spend it to help stimulate the economy. Also, we all know that I always do as I'm told without questioning it. The key is for us to buy American.

In that vein, I figure Summit Racing is as American as it gets, so I ordered up some new parts for the Mustang. Now I have the "warm fuzzy s" that always accompanies waiting for auto parts to arrive via UPS. I need to spend part of the rebate on bills, so I only spent some of it at Summit Racing.

I went with the JBA axle back exhaust system. Minimal HP gain, but great look and sound. Here's what they supposedly sound like:

Notice the great, deep, sound and those sharp looking 3" rolled stainless tips.

If it works out right, I'll be crawling around under the Mustang this weekend. Just need to stop at Sears for a 13 MM ratcheting box end wrench and I should be ready to go.

The Maliki vs Mookie war

Omar over at Iraq The Model and Pajamas Media has a good read posted on it called Iraq's Moment of Truth in Baghdad and Basra

• The battle between criminal gangs and the state continues, yet the war is far from being over. Public statements keep coming from both sides and they don’t seem to promise a diplomatic resolution for the crisis.
  The latest exchange included a pledge for a “final battle” by Sadr’s spokesman Bahaa Aaraji and an assertion by Maliki that the government will not stop pursuing gangs militarily and politically. Telling Sadr that his movement cannot take part in elections unless he disbands his militias and surrenders weapons is a turning point in Iraqi politics, especially because a broad political front including leading Sunni, Shia, and Kurdish powers emerged to back this new trend in dealing with this issue.

Sons of Iraq info

Teflon Don from Acute Politics has a post up over at The Long War Journal called When Sons of Iraq grow up which is pretty informative on the current situation with the Sons of Iraq, AKA Concerned local citizen groups, AKA The Awakenings. Make sure you check out his slide show too.

• During General David Petraeus' testimony to Congress on the progress of the war in Iraq, he referred to the great security gains of the last year, which largely hold even in the face of clashes between Shia militias and government forces in Sadr City, Basrah, and much of the South. General Petraeus credited a substantial portion of those security gains in many areas of Iraq in the last year to the duel phenomena of Sahawa (Awakening) councils and the formation of local security teams from out-of-work men fed up with violence.

In case you forgot, TD was a Marine in Anbar Province for most of 2007 and saw first hand the Anbar Awakening.

Gee, no "benchmark" questions?

Petraeus and Crocker reported back to Congress last week, as scheduled. Did you happen to notice that the Democrats ditched that benchmark angle they used so much last time?

Frederick W. Kagan at The Weekly Standard reports Progress, Actually

• The last time General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker reported to Congress on the state of the Iraq war, "benchmarks" were all the rage. Congress had established 18 criteria in early 2007 both to pressure the Iraqis and to keep score on their progress. And in September, Congress faulted the Iraqi government for failing to meet many of those measures. Concocting a checklist of laws and actions that would lead to national reconciliation in Iraq was always a fool's errand and misunderstood the complexity of the situation. But having laid down this marker, Congress would want to hear an update, surely. Not so. The word "benchmarks" was scarcely heard last week when Petraeus and Crocker reappeared before Congress. Crocker testified that the Iraqis have actually met about two-thirds of the benchmarks, including four or five of the six key legislative benchmarks and all of the benchmarks measuring their contribution to their own security. In reply, the congressmen who insisted on legislating these benchmarks now say benchmarks are a poor way to measure progress in Iraq.

Just livin' the dream

Tinkering instead of blogging

Okay, so I've been seriously lacking in the blogging department lately. Sorry about that. I've been tinkering with the Mustang. That, of course, means tinker a little, then drive it for awhile, then tinker some more. I finally picked up all the car parts and shipping boxes out of the living room so I think I'm caught up on the Mustang. At least for now anyway.

The Mustang now has higher voltage coil packs for the spark plugs, it's running on the 91 octane torque tune from Bamachips, and has sequential turn signal taillights.

The coil packs weren't really to add HP, but just to get a hotter spark in an attempt to keep any carbon build up from forming as I only really drive it to work and back. Recommended by my crew chief.

The sequential taillights were pure vanity.

New Iraq link

Gideon1789 over at Redstate has posted about The New "One-Stop Shop" For News & Analysis About Iraq

• I encourage you to check out the Iraq Status Report web site, http://www.IraqStatusReport.com.

  This new site is a collaborative effort by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), and The Long War Journal providing the “one-stop-shop” on the Internet for news, commentary and analysis related to the U.S. Mission in Iraq.

The old adage is true

Money buys speed.

I've got the Mustang running great. There's more speed to be had, but unfortunately, I'm out of money...

Dang it!

Oh well, I'll just enjoy what I got.

Ah, bolt on horsepower

Received my SCT Xcaliber 3 tuner from Bamachips today. Douglas had it loaded up with 3 custom tunes for my Mustang. Half hour in the garage to swap back in the K&N cold air induction system and to reprogram the computer on the Mustang and I've gained about 30 hosses. That's with the most conservative of the three tunes. Should be in pretty good shape with the 91 octane torque tune, as well as the 91 octane performance tune. For now I'll stick with the 87 octane performance tune.

Yeehaw!

Anyone need me to go to the store or anything? You buy I'll fly!

Oh, and another thing. I don't see any reason anyone needs to tell Dave Cruise about this. I've closed the horsepower gap between the Mustang and the Eagle Talon. He'll find out the next time we go for a beer after work. Hehehehehehe....

Know your enemy, or at least know who votes for your enemy.

I have some on going issues with Mustang. It’s not bad, just running a little flat. Nothing drastic but it’s not “on song” like it was a month ago. I got with my electrician to diagnose the problem. I know that sounds weird, but Rocky has been the crew chief on a late model car down here at Colorado National Speedway for the past few years, so he’d know. It’s your own fault if you don’t find these people…

After a smoke with Rocky, we pinpointed the problem to fuel injectors. He recommended I add a fuel injector cleaner to the gas tank and run it for awhile to see if it came back up to normal.

My crew chief says its injectors, that’s good enough for me so I head over to Checker Auto at lunch and pick up some redline fuel injector cleaner, dump it in, hit the local Shell station and top off with 91 octane. That’s a pretty productive lunch break for me, so I hit the road to head back to work. In my effort to help cure the problem it seems logical to me to run the car. Well, it always seems logical to let it stretch out so that’s nothing new.

Heading back to the office I blend in with traffic and do the normal stuff. You know, stomp the gas and charge up behind people then slow down. Can’t help it, it’s a Mustang. Anyway, I come up to a major intersection and the left lane opens up to a two lane left turn lane. The cars turn off and I naturally hit the gas to catch up to the people going straight and almost run over this gal in a Prius at a dead stop with her turn signal on right in the middle of traffic. She wanted the turn lane and missed her opportunity. No big deal.

Well, except for the fact that she proudly displayed a bumper sticker. You will love this:

SORRY W
I’M THE DECIDER
DEMOCRATS08

That pretty much says it all, don’t it?

Reminds me of the time I was in the McDonalds drive thru behind a woman that was too busy talking on her cell phone to notice both drive thru lanes had cleared and had traffic blocked six cars deep. Her bumper sticker you ask?

HANG UP THE PHONE AND DRIVE.

For you Omar and Mohammed fans

Omar has three new posts up over at Iraq The Model.

From March 27th is Iraqis and US Presidential Elections

From March 28th is Behind the Bloodshed in Basra

And from March 30th is Iraq: Whither Sadr and the Mahdi Army?

They're fairly short, so go read all three. It'll help give you some insight.

More from Totten on Karmah

Michael J. Totten has part II up on his series about the city of Karmah in Anbar province. Check out The Liberation of Karmah, Part II.

• The story in Karmah should be familiar by now. Iraqis said no. We will work with the Americans and drive you out of our country. So many Stateside Americans still wonder aloud why mainstream Muslims refuse to stand up to terrorists, so apparently the story in Karmah – which is hardly unique to Karmah – isn’t familiar enough.

Another great read with tons of photos to help you visualize.