u/PoniesPlayingPoker

Boat hadn't been detailed in over a decade. New seats, new lower unit, new Garmin and transducer.

Polished all the aluminum by hand, buffed all the oxidation, waxed, opened every compartment and cleaned every surface inside and out. Took almost four full working days.

I planned to drive my Kia Rio with 240k on the clock at 80mph for four hours on a road trip. I get about halfway when I start to notice the car struggling to accelerate above 80mph. No lights on the dash, no vibrations or weird sounds, but I had a feeling something was wrong. I pulled over on an exit and at lower rpm's I noticed the air intake noise was significantly louder than usual, like a vacuum cleaner. I also notice faint grey smoke coming out from under the hood. I immediately shut the car off and open the hood, and buried underneath the intake manifold, there's bright orange flames burning on what looks like maybe my subframe and exhaust downpipe. I also noticed that there's oil sitting on TOP of the valve cover, in between the individual coils. Did the usual call 911, get my important stuff out of the vehicle, file an insurance claim, etcetera. The fire puts itself out after about 3-5 minutes. I had the vehicle towed and I had a friend rescue me. I'm so confused as to what could have spilled oil everywhere on top of the engine and why the intake sounded so loud? Again, no lights on the dash, no bang, no vibrations, not even a misfire, just a slight loss of power. I'm afraid to start the car and risk more damage.

Plugs and coils done three years ago.

Water pump and timing belt done two years ago.

Air filter done three years ago.

Mechanically this car has been extremely solid up until this point.

Stretch of highway 23 in both directions. Traffic congestion is really bad as a result. I never see any construction happening inside the flex lanes so it feels pointless to keep them closed.

These are the AFTER pictures... except the mouse poop one. You couldn't pay me a million dollars to eat here.

The floor has cracked in one area and sunken 1/4 of an inch into the earth. There's panels missing and falling off. There's syrup and sugar and God knows what else on the walls. There's stains of all kinds on the floor tiling that will not come out no matter how hard I buff them. There's mouse poop. There's a terrible smell. The ceiling is falling apart in multi places.

And my boss is PROUD of the results. He genuinely thinks this is acceptable.