Some more hard work

Sunday again.  Spent the morning on grooming my baby.

1. Washed and touched up with Meguiar Ultimate Quick Detailer. 
2. Lubricated all windows with silicone grease. 
3. Re-nourished all leather seats with Armour-all Leather-Care.
4. Cleaned dashboard with Armour-all.

Time started:  1100
Time ended: 1430
Result:  Looked good.  Smelled nice.  Loved it.

My tyre valve cap was missing!!!

Realized that the tyre valve cap of the front right wheel was missing this morning.  When did it come off?  Or was it some itchy hand?  Luckily nothing else was damaged or lost.

After a day’s of hard work

Sunday again.  It was 2 months since my baby was last polished.  This time DIY.  Afterall, I was getting fat and lazy. 

1. Washed with plain water. No shampoo. No claying.
2. Waxed with Meguiar All-In-One 
3. Applied two layers of Meguiar No 21 Sealant. Expensive but good stuff.
4. Final layer with Meguiar Ultimate Quick Detailer

Time started: 1000
Time ended: 1500
Result: Happy with the shine. But I was flat.

Roof

Trunk

Bonnet

Side

DIY: Glovebox Light

Unlike the 2008 batches, the 2007 Civic FD in Singapore did not come with a glovebox light.  Ordered a glovebox light switch from a civicfd-sg forumer (Auan) who flew in from Thailand.

Installation was simple.

1. Drop the glovebox.  Procedure is the same as installation of aircon filter.  Go here to see if unsure.
2. Install the switch.  The holes are already in the dashboard.  No drilling required.  But you have to stick your head right in the see it.  Auan did it for me.  The pic below is not very clear and excuse my fat finger
3. Connect the wires.  Pink to a hot wire and black to ground. Viola! Lights!  Pic below not too impressive because I took it under bright day light.  But you can still see the light on my tissue box.

Woman sitting on ledge of Benjamin Sheares Bridge

On 10 Jan 08, a middle aged woman sat at the Benjamin  Sheares Bridge that span across Marina South.  It looked like she was about to jump and say good bye to the world.  The saga brought traffic to a crawling pace.  Fortunately, she did not jump.  Probably, the police managed to convince her that there was much more life than burying herself in meseries.  Below was an extract from asiaone.com. 

A bespectacled woman possibly in her 40s or 50s was spotted sitting on the ledge of the Benjamin Sheares bridge this evening. A motorist who declined to be named said he saw police cars, traffic police, and fire engines at the scene. A check with the police revealed that they had been called in at 5.45pm, and the woman’s stand-off with police is currently still underway. Traffic on the flyover leading to the East Coast Parkway in the direction of Changi Airport has slowed to a crawl as drivers and curious onlookers tried to catch a glimpse of the woman.

According to the New Paper, police spokesman ASP Toh said two fire engines, two ambulances, three support vehicles and an amphibious vehicle were dispatched to the scene. An inflatable life pack was also deployed on land beside the bridge.

Divers and boats from the police coast guard were also spotted in the Kallang Basin. The woman was finally coaxed to move back to safety at 7.55pm.

ASP Toh said the woman, who’s in her early 50s, was taken to safety by the police with the assistance of the SCDF Disaster Search and Rescue Team. He said she was then arrested for the offence of attempted suicide. The maximum penalty for attempted suicide is a year’s jail or a fine, or both.

Rock Baby Rock

This is a non-car post.  

I always wanted to put a slideshow on my blog.  After spending many hours hopping around wordpress.com, rockyou.com, slideshare.net, …, etc, and reading almost all the FAQs on slideshow, making countless futile attempts, I finally managed to put up a slideshow.  I made a “Gallery” specially to put the slideshow.  

Dicota PDA holder

Recently bought a Nokia N95 8G.  When using the GPS,  I was holding the N95 on one hand, driving with the other.  Dangerous and illegal. So, I bought a Dicota PDA holder (Model: Keeper I.  Pic below).  To my disappointment, the holder could not secure the N95.  Should have bought the Dicota Mini Holder instead.

I have to sell the brand new Dicota Keeper 1.  (Update:  Sold on 31 Jan 2008)

Changed engine oil (Odometer: 005000)

Bought a bottle of 4L Shell Helix Ultra and an oil filter.  Headed to Mova Automotive for an oil change.  Mileage was around 5K.  My reasons for changing oil at 5K are:

1. Although synthetic oil could last up to 10K, carbon and other comtaminants still get into the oil.  The amount of contaminants is directly proportional to the mileage.  The earlier the engine oil is changed, the lesser is the amount of harmful contaminants.
2. Can the filter last as long as the oil?  The higher the mileage, the dirtier it gets.  Efficiency is reduced.  The oil pump has to work harder to force the oil through.  Just observe how much hair is needed to choke your bathroom drainage.

Ask yourself:  Do you prefer coffee from a coffee maker with fresh filter or coffee from a machine with filter that is used over and over again?  Which is nicer and smoother?  Go figure. 

Dead rat in my aircon!

I couldn’t recall when my aircon smelled like dead rat; but it was something too much for me to bear further.  So, I did the following:

1. Threw a bottle of air freshener in the cabin. 
2. Installed a DIY aircon filter made from the filter material for my kitchen gas hopper. DIY steps can be found in the civicfd-sg forum.
3. Wired a car ioniser bought from Autobacs. It was a small 30-minute DIY project. I installed it in the empty compartment right in front of the shift stick. It was partially hidden. In the night, it emits a bluish glow lighting up the compartment. Picture below.
   

So far so good. No more dead rats.

Shine baby shine

I washed my baby over thrice a week.  Yet, it collected spots all over.  I tried polishing them off with car wax but stopped after a small section.  It was exhausting!  Perhaps, I was also a little lazy too.

I contacted a freelance groomer, Eric. He came over and spent almost five hours on my baby. Washed, clayed, waxed and polished, and sealed. Wooooooo, the shine was something that I had never seen before; not even when my baby was collected from the showroom. Credit to Eric.