Sprocket's Competition

Minor update.

Sadly, the first set of mandrel bends did not work out.
Put the exhaust too close to the oil pan and the drain plug could not be removed.

Another pair of bends is on the way and the exhaust should be finished tomorrow morning.

Here's a pic showing the close quarters they have to work within...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/Exh2.png

Circled in red is the end of the header flange.
From this flange to the top of the subframe is only about 6"...not a lot of room to work with.
The arrow points to the raw gaping wound where the "builders" thoughtfully hacked away the rear part of the subframe to clearance the oilpan.
We've discussed the need to box this closed but I think it'd be better to just get the right motor mount setup and avoid "repairing" this abortion altogether.
We'll see,

Next up are two shots of the finished PPF...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/PPF4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...er/Washer1.png
In the second pic, the red arrow points to stacks of washers that fill the space between the rear tranny mount and the bottom of the tailhousing/PPF.
I'll be machining some alloy spacer tubes for this when I get her to my house, so it's not as ghetto as it appears now.

You can also see the cattywumpus rear trans mount...this should be an interesting obstacle for the exhaust shop to get around.
I can't wait to see how they squeeze two cats and a resonator into this area...

Small update.

Exhaust is finished.
Looks beautiful, they did a great job snaking through the obstacles and keeping it tucked up.
Naturally, I have no pictures.

Also par for the course, the car wouldn't run.
Started fine but died after 15 seconds.

Finally occurred to me that something- almost certainly the ECU- was killing the fuel pump- it must not be seeing a sensor or something, so it shuts down the engine.
I jump wired the fuel pump direct to the battery (which has conveniently been relocated to the trunk) and she runs perfectly.

Drove her @10 miles back to my house with no problems...water temp maxxed at 190°, oil temp at 170° and oil pressure @55-60PSI.
It was 93° outside at the time, so I'm pretty happy with the performance.

The new clutch has fairly high pedal effort but is not outrageous and the tranny shifts nicely.
The new exhaust is aggressive but not ridiculous, no one seemed to pay me much attention so I guess it's OK.

I'll get some pics up tomorrow.

How's the comfort level now?

You must be heading for the twisties soon, I would imagine.

She's almost a real car.
Not quite, but close.

No twisties till she's done.

Here's the exhaust...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/Exh11.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/Exh12.jpg

Yesterday I finished up the fuel filter install.
Was not able to relocate the alternator as the geometry just didn't allow for a clear run of the belt around the waterpump...sigh.

Anyway, it was time to ferry the car from my house to S.'s and naturally, rush hour was the most convenient time to do so.
Remarkably, she drove just like a real car...sat idling in traffic without overheating and was completely docile.
Idle stayed steady, oil pressure and temp were absolutely nominal and even the clutch- which at first blush seems quite stiff- was no problem.

Steering and suspension were normal, car tracks fine on Denver's typically patched/rutted/multi-surface roads and only the new front facia's absurdly low front lip will be a problem...one must navigate dips and curbs carefully.

Once we button up all the interior she should be very liveable...kind of noisy and hot right now.
From the outside the exhaust sound is unremarkable...no one even glanced over at me in disgust, which is exactly what we wanted.
Certainly she rumbles- an astute observer would instantly know something was going on- but it's not overly loud or obnoxious.

Honestly, I was surprised.
Given what I consider some really dubious install methods and the unfinished state of the project, I was expecting a cruder, more brutal experience but that was not the case.

The T-56 transmission is more mechanical feeling than I'm used to, not sure I'm a real fan yet.
The gear ratios are probably not ideal for our application- first is essentially useless, second is where I started off, even on hills.

My involvement in this project will be winding down now I suspect.
I think S. is running a bit low on funds and he still has to get through emissions and have the car dynoed/tuned, so I may be sidelined for a while.

Sure has been interesting and fun though.

Well, so much for being sidelined.

Spent all day yesterday tracking down and solving two vexxing issues, both related as it turns out, to the fuel pump.

Long before my arrival on the project, S. had installed a Supra fuel pump- a popular alternative to the more common Walbro- necessary to provide the higher flow required by the bigger injectors.
At least, this has always been my understanding of what had happened.

Turns out, the pump actually came in the car and S. had merely added a relay/fuse to the wiring.
The wiring turned out to be the root cause of issue #1...intermittent stalling and engine cut out.
We had already spent considerable time/money chasing this through the ignition system...new plugs, wires, HP OptiSpark distributor, ignition module and coil pack...all to no avail.

The stalling continued intermittently and was getting worse.

Turns out, the relay assembly S. had installed (buried under the hatch plastics and thus, impossible to get to easily...of course) had an integrated resettable circuit breaker which was malfunctioning and killing power to the fuel pump.
After a few seconds, it would reset and begin working again.

Replaced the relay and installed a real fuse and viola!, problem solved.

The second major issue was a strong fuel smell in the car which we could never localize.
Finally removed the fuelpump access panel and JesusGawd, what a nightmare!
The wiring between the access panel and the pump cover on the tank was a total cobbler's nightmare...the +12v to the pump was bare, twisted wire and the fuel level sender wire was missing altogether (which explains why we could never get the fuel gauge to work) but even worse, there were two open holes drilled into the pump cover.

No clue what what going on here, can't for the life of me imagine how somebody could leave open holes in the gas tank, but there you go.
Used nuts/bolts/fender washers and RTV to plug the holes and surprise, surprise...fuel smell gone!
We have been extremely lucky that the combination of escaping fuel vapor and bare live wires didn't incinerate the car.

Also got the fuel gauge calibrated and working (easily done now that it's finally getting a signal from the tank) and hooked up and calibrated the speedo.
The speedometer was a bit of a trial...the ECU gets the signal from the VSS (vehicle speed sensor) on the transmission and then conditions the signal and sends it on to the speedometer.
Turns out, the Autometer speedo wants the unconditioned signal, it must do it's own processing internally.
Once we tried that, all was good.

Car now pulls strong (real strong!) through 6500 RPMs, which was as high as we dared run her without a tune.
The engine sounds like a bucket of bolts, possibly due to the solid (non-hydraulic) lifters and cheap, stamped metal valve covers.
Looking for some cast aluminum valve covers to put on after the valve adjust and I also suspect we have an exhaust leak at the header flange.
We're planning on wrapping the headers (and probably even further down, past the cats) with heat wrap and will replace the gaskets at that time.

All in all though, another great day of progress.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by clocker

Well, so much for being sidelined.

Spent all day yesterday tracking down and solving two vexxing issues, both related as it turns out, to the fuel pump.

Long before my arrival on the project, S. had installed a Supra fuel pump- a popular alternative to the more common Walbro- necessary to provide the higher flow required by the bigger injectors.
At least, this has always been my understanding of what had happened.

Turns out, the pump actually came in the car and S. had merely added a relay/fuse to the wiring.
The wiring turned out to be the root cause of issue #1...intermittent stalling and engine cut out.
We had already spent considerable time/money chasing this through the ignition system...new plugs, wires, HP OptiSpark distributor, ignition module and coil pack...all to no avail.

The stalling continued intermittently and was getting worse.

Turns out, the relay assembly S. had installed (buried under the hatch plastics and thus, impossible to get to easily...of course) had an integrated resettable circuit breaker which was malfunctioning and killing power to the fuel pump.
After a few seconds, it would reset and begin working again.

Replaced the relay and installed a real fuse and viola!, problem solved.

The second major issue was a strong fuel smell in the car which we could never localize.
Finally removed the fuelpump access panel and JesusGawd, what a nightmare!
The wiring between the access panel and the pump cover on the tank was a total cobbler's nightmare...the +12v to the pump was bare, twisted wire and the fuel level sender wire was missing altogether (which explains why we could never get the fuel gauge to work) but even worse, there were two open holes drilled into the pump cover.

No clue what what going on here, can't for the life of me imagine how somebody could leave open holes in the gas tank, but there you go.
Used nuts/bolts/fender washers and RTV to plug the holes and surprise, surprise...fuel smell gone!
We have been extremely lucky that the combination of escaping fuel vapor and bare live wires didn't incinerate the car.

Also got the fuel gauge calibrated and working (easily done now that it's finally getting a signal from the tank) and hooked up and calibrated the speedo.
The speedometer was a bit of a trial...the ECU gets the signal from the VSS (vehicle speed sensor) on the transmission and then conditions the signal and sends it on to the speedometer.
Turns out, the Autometer speedo wants the unconditioned signal, it must do it's own processing internally.
Once we tried that, all was good.

Car now pulls strong (real strong!) through 6500 RPMs, which was as high as we dared run her without a tune.
The engine sounds like a bucket of bolts, possibly due to the solid (non-hydraulic) lifters and cheap, stamped metal valve covers.
Looking for some cast aluminum valve covers to put on after the valve adjust and I also suspect we have an exhaust leak at the header flange.
We're planning on wrapping the headers (and probably even further down, past the cats) with heat wrap and will replace the gaskets at that time.

All in all though, another great day of progress.

---

How's about a few pics of the car from a few paces away for a bit of perspective?

This is about 2500 lbs. or so, eh?

If the thing has solids...gee whiz, who even uses them anymore.

Bit of a poser, that.

If the camera is available, I'll get pics on Saturday.

Yeah, solid lifters...imagine that.
Rednecks in Longmont still like 'em, I guess.

What was my car, something like 2740 full of gas, right?
Then yeah, 2500 for the FD would be about right, the sheetmetal is noticeably thinner- you daren't lean on the fenders- and the interior is made of dreams.

The car gets it's ECU downloaded on Monday and hopefully a test drive by Mike at Precision.
S. is convinced that there is something terribly wrong with the handling but cannot pinpoint where it comes from. Hoping Mike can either confirm and locate the problem or dispel the fear.

Saturday we'll be continuing down the (ever-shortening) punchlist...the end of my tunnel is definitely in sight, I think.

Back from the grave...

Still working on this POS.
And, since it's winter again, still freezing my ass off.

Rereading the thread, I see I left off quite optimistically...how naive I was.
Long story short, the car came with the wrong clutch slave cylinder- too much throw.
This caused the throwout bearing to literally get punched through the clutch (another $500 down the drain!) and ultimately destroyed the thrust washers on the crank...motor got trashed.

Found a brand new longblock- not as trick as the one we started with, only 400 HP at the crank- and traded our built motor + some cash, just to get rolling again.
Naturally, this was not the only problem.

We also discovered that the ECU was not out of the donor Camaro but instead was some truck unit.
Got new ECU but because it was a stock part, it immediately started throwing codes because it wasn't seeing all the sensors it expected.
Our tuner can fix this but we had to reinstall the old ECU just to get running.

So, the car now actually runs more or less correctly.
Now that she's driveable it turns out the suspension is crap, one blown rear shock and all the bushings in the back are shot.
Parts to rebuild the rearend are over $500 (seems like everything we need costs at least $500...), not including the shocks.
Probably going to buy a Harbor Freight hydraulic press and do the bushings/pillowballs ourselves since labor would be absurd to drop the whole rearend and have it done.

Brakes also need a complete redo but in the greater scheme of things this is a minor detail.

It's been nearly a year now since I got involved in this project and the light at the end of the tunnel is still but a glimmering mirage.

Hopefully the owner's will and pocketbook will prevail.

Hmm.

The hit he would take dealing this car doesn't bode well for the other situation, does it.

Storage for one, storage for....ah, I don't want to think about it.

You, Craig's list and Sigfrid's wallet could cure this thing in a reasonable time-frame, my guess.

But.

I will try to remain optimistic.

Things have changed- yet again.

For the last two months the owner of the car has been facing a transfer to Europe (France, specifically) but that has ended.
Since he's staying, we started to forge ahead and try to (semi) complete the project.

First on the list was the suspension, which had basically collapsed last time the car was driven.
Rather than fiddlefuck around we decided on a "scorched earth" approach...just replace everything.
So, we now have four new shocks, new springs, new shock mounts and most of the suspension bushings have been replaced with an Energy Suspension polyurethane kit.
Since the entire suspension was off we decided to go ahead and redo all the brakes also so all four rotors were turned, all calipers rebuilt, new Hawk pads all around, new stainless brake hoses, new hardlines fabricated and the booster/MC were replaced with a custom setup I built (larger twin diaphram booster from an Acura, larger bore MC with integrated proportioning valve from an Infinity, custom machined rod to mate the two).

We also decided to attempt a retrofit of a FC manual steering rack, replacing the stock FD power unit. This looks promising and the final necessary part should arrive today (fingers crossed!).

This Saturday we'll begin reassembly, starting in the rear.
We optimistically expect to have the back finished in one day (rumor has it that the new bushings make reinstalling the the suspension pieces very difficult...we've opted to ignore these dire predictions).
While Sigfrid works on the back, I'll be finishing up the steering rack install since it has to be finalized before we can do the front...if it ain't gonna fly, we need to know now.

The next weekend the front gets put together (considerably easier than the rear), brakes get bled and she should be on her wheels again.
That's the plan.

I'll get pics up after our Saturday session.

Good.

Been wondering when you'd roll it outside for a walk-around.

Of course, there's another car in the way, isn't there?

I'm on it, and relief is on the way.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by clocker

We also decided to attempt a retrofit of a FC manual steering rack, replacing the stock FD power unit. This looks promising and the final necessary part should arrive today (fingers crossed!).

---

OK people, you can uncross your fingers and carry on...the package arrived.
It was missing the steering knuckle we needed though.
"Oh," says the vendor, "made a mistake and grabbed the wrong piece, we'll ship out the right part tomorrow."

That's all well and good but means I won't know till next week if this cool rack swap is going to work out.
Damn.

[aside] I also got another package (different vendor on eBay) that contained two inner tie rods and two tie rod ends (all new) so I can properly depower another rack. This rack (as yet unbuilt) has a faster steering ratio than the manual rack we're installing and is being prepped for possible install in either my car or Sigfrid's V-8.

I have three racks in my attic and have just been waiting for some money to continue.
Purchased from Mazda, the four tie rod pieces I got come close to $300 ($80 apiece for the inners and $60 apiece for the ends).
The package was on eBay for $39.95 with free shipping.
How could I resist?

The clincher was the qualifier in the ad, "OEM Brand Parts".

Opened the package today, removed the boxes and just had to laugh.
The parts are made in China and the company name is "OEM Brand Parts".
No relation whatsoever with Mazda or whoever was the original supplier but I had to admire their gall.

Parts look OK so I'll be using them.
I'll assume that the extra cadmium, mercury and lead will only make the parts better and the child labor force was having a particularly good shift.
[/aside]

I'm stifling an array of conflicting reactions just now.

As another aside, when time comes, what do you think of this...

http://www.knfilters.com/search/prod...Prod=57-1500-1

...for the Stealth?

It's CARB-legal, hear tell.

Might as well get a bit more mileage and performance on the trip, eh?

There's also this...

http://www.stealth316.com/2-freeboost.htm

Free horsepower is good.

The solenoid mod seems straightforward enough but will make little to no difference on your trip since you'll barely be boosting at all on the highway in fifth gear.

The air filter looks mildly interesting but I have to wonder why you give a rat's ass if it's CARB legal or not.

Maybe he's worried he'll get fat??
http://fatlossdot.com/wp-content/upl.../06/carbs.jpeg

I thought there were going to be pics bud?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by clocker

The solenoid mod seems straightforward enough but will make little to no difference on your trip since you'll barely be boosting at all on the highway in fifth gear.

The air filter looks mildly interesting but I have to wonder why you give a rat's ass if it's CARB legal or not.

---

Agreed as to the first, but hey, it's free, and...

...CARB legality, while of no actual moment, creates the impression I'd be 'doing my part' while in your lovely state.

Hell, I might even order up a set of headers with a complete cat-delete exhaust to install before I hit the road, just to flout Colorado law.

Not that they'd notice (or so I'm told).

They wouldn't.
Little to no recourse even if they did.

Saturday update:

For a change, things went better than expected yesterday.
With most of the suspension pieces in hand, we hoped to get the rear of the car assembled and, as we began, that seemed a realistic goal.
The 3rd gen RX7's rear suspension can fairly be called a "multilink" setup and figuring out the proper assembly sequence took about two hours on the first side.

Using the experience from side one we were able to complete the second side in about 45 minutes.

To begin, she looked like this...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7.../Beginback.jpg
(toe control arm already in place)
Later, it looks like so...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...r/backdone.jpg
At this point the entire rear end is buttoned up.

We decided to move forward and see how far we could get.
The front end is (comparatively) simple and we got it completed as well.
"Mostly completed" would actually be more accurate, there is still the steering to finish*- waiting on tie rod ends and the missing steering knuckle- and the sway bar links need replacing, but most of the major assembly is done and the entire brake hydraulic loop is now intact.

Speaking of brakes, here is a shot of the new passenger side hardline.
Doesn't look like much in the photo, but it's a world of difference from the nasty, halfassed job the original builders left us with.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7.../brakeline.jpg

Moving to the driver's side, we see the new booster/MC assembly that I'm really dying to see in action.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...booster-mc.jpg

If my research into brake systems is correct, we should now have as good a system as possible using the stock calipers and rotors.
Again, this is a major cosmetic improvement over the system as delivered.
This car was factory equipped with ABS and it's relatively common for it to be deleted but properly doing so requires a bit of fab work, which the original builder(s) neglected to perform.
Completely redoing all the hard lines makes for a much nicer install and was really pretty simple- well worth the effort (and surprisingly cheap...we needed three pieces of hard line- 1 x 30" and 2 x 20", total cost was $12).

With any luck we have wheels on the ground next weekend.


*Ah, the steering.
All 3rd gen RX7s came factory equipped with power steering.
Why Mazda built a small, light sports car and never even offered manual steering as an option is a mystery that has plagued owners for a long time.

So, for folks wanting manual steering there have been only two options- depower the original rack or find an aftermarket rack that would work.

Depowering the original rack is straightforward but there are a few physical features that leave the newly manual rack unsuitable for our particular application.
The aftermarket racks available are quite expensive (in the neighborhood of $1000).

In the forums there would be the occasional plaintive cry wondering if the commonly available 2nd gen manual rack could be adapted for use but these inquiries were generally ignored.

I was able to find two threads where someone claimed to have done it...the first was extremely light on hard info- he basically just said "Hey I did it and it works!", the second was a bit more helpful.
Combining the meager data from both sources- and my conveniently available manual rack- we decided to proceed.
Actually mounting the rack went pretty easily- the brackets need a bit of tweaking and the bushings need some work but in general, it's about as close to a "drop in" mod as one could ask for.

The second thread starter mentioned the steering knuckle issue which I had preemptively tried to address but bad delivery times have delayed us there.

I was also aware of a potential problem with the tie rod ends- the taper of the FC ball joint stud doesn't match that of the FD hub/spindle and the offset is a little weird.
There is a Nissan pickup truck rod end that is reputed to solve both issues and we are prepared to purchase them if necessary but decided to bolt everything together just to see what it looked like.

This is where we ran into a problem not mentioned by either of the two (supposedly) successful swappers.
Even with the rod ends fully extended on the inner tie rods we don't have enough length to get the wheels pointed straight.
If each rod end was @3/4" longer we'd be fine, plenty of thread engagement and enough adjustment for the alignment, but no one mentioned this problem and until I purchase the new rod ends I have no idea if they are longer or not.

This is of course, the price one pays for following old, poorly detailed build threads.
Giant problems get glossed over leaving one to wonder if the original poster was either lying or such a wiz that the problem didn't faze him.
Either way, it doesn't help me much.
I'm really hoping to get this sorted out by next weekend because if the manual rack isn't going to work we need to explore our other options- can't drive with no steering.

Wish me luck.

It's a pleasure to be in the gallery during these trying times, sir.

You'll get 'er - no worries.

Picked up the recommended tie rod ends from NAPA this morning.
Can't tell about the pin taper but these are straight (like the stock FD ones were) and appear to be about 3/8" longer than the FCs.
With luck they'll solve all three of our issues in one fell swoop.

Forgive my ignorance bud, but why would you want manual steering?

Some people- myself included- prefer the heightened sense of connection to the road that manual steering affords.
"Feel" aside, we are dealing with a more practical issue.

Although the RX7 came stock with power steering, when the V-8 engine was installed they didn't bother with the power steering pump so we had a worst case situation.
All of the drag/resistence of a power rack without the benefit of assist.

Depowering the rack was an option but the manual FC rack has an advantageous ratio and seemed the easier way to go.
We'll see soon enough.

Thanks for the explanation. Myself I never liked the "feather touch" power steering of old in a '72 Monte Carlo I had for a short while (Started rebuilding it but it was too costly both time wise and monetarily. I much preferred the Assisted steering on later model cars. As far as manual goes I had a beat up Chevy Nova '70 I think and it had manual and I hated that thing especially living in NYC where if you get over 60 it's a big deal, and forget about parallel parking ( the norm here). I may be jaded though.

Obviously, environment is a major factor.
I can't even remember the last time I parallel parked.

This car will never be a grocery-getter anyway.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by clocker

This car will never be a grocery-getter anyway.

---

A crying shame, that is.

You could drive 'er up-and-down the aisles easily, even with the manual rack...of course, it still wouldn't fit in Sahadi's, so.

Whole Foods frowns on internal combustion shopping bags.

Even if it's passed a sniffer test administered by complete incompetents?

A sad state of affairs, that.

Of course, the only pub I've ever been banished from found it necessary only after I'd driven a friend's Harley round inside the place, so.

Friends don't let friends ride Harleys.

I picked up the super-secret tie-rod ends from NAPA yesterday(oopsie, forgot I'd already posted this...perhaps I should read my own stuff sometime).
It's impossible to tell if the pin taper is correct (it's hidden under the dust boot) but it is physically about 3/8" longer and straight instead of doglegged.
I'm encouraged that they'll work, even more so after realizing that we were trying to "zero out" the toe-in with the suspension fully extended.
This should be done while the car is on the ground and the suspension loaded, just like a normal alignment.
Having just begun to grasp the effects of bump steer, I can see how this works now.
I hope.

I also found the correct fitting to connect our clutch line hose (braided stainless) to the new Wilwood clutch master cylinder.
We found yet another little timebomb when our recent brake work opened up that area and we could see what what there originally.
T'weren't pretty.
The "builders" had fabbed an adaptor fitting that was obviously pieced together at Ace Hardware- it even had gas compression fittings in it- and then soldered the bejeezus out of it.
How it managed not to rupture is a mystery.

Still awaiting the highly critical steering knuckle...the seller has provided a new tracking # but it hasn't gone live yet.
If it arrives by Friday, we're golden.

To kill some time, I'm going to be painting the valve covers.
This is merely a cosmetic project and of no real importance other than it signals how close I think we are to actually having a functional car.
And I'm bored.

While the car is in the air we're also making templates for the underbelly tray that will ultimately need to be fabbed up.
I'll be forming this from 3/16" ABS along with a beauty panel for the radiator and a cover for the intake.
About my favorite type of fabrication, I'm quite looking forward to it.

That's it for now.

When you start the fab work man, don't forget the camera! I love watching stuff like this come together.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by clocker

Friends don't let friends ride Harleys.

---

Agreed, but it was perfectly suitable for a low-speed pass through the bar.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by j2k4

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by clocker

Friends don't let friends ride Harleys.

---

Agreed, but it was perfectly suitable for a low-speed pass through the bar.

---

It could be argued- successfully, I'd wager- that low speed passes through bars are precisely and exclusively what Harleys are "perfectly suited" for.

It has recently been discovered that Harleys are more frequently waxed than other vehicles (Paris Hilton not counted) and are therefore excellently efficient carnuba consumers.
As soon as a really positive spin can be developed ("Is there a carnuba layer in the atmosphere that needs depleting?" or "Is carnuba a shark repellent?"), HD will proudly join the ranks of the elite GREEN corporations, shepherding our future to it's best and most utopian result.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by clocker

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by j2k4

Agreed, but it was perfectly suitable for a low-speed pass through the bar.

---

It could be argued- successfully, I'd wager- that low speed passes through bars are precisely and exclusively what Harleys are "perfectly suited" for.

It has recently been discovered that Harleys are more frequently waxed than other vehicles (Paris Hilton not counted) and are therefore excellently efficient carnuba consumers.
As soon as a really positive spin can be developed ("Is there a carnuba layer in the atmosphere that needs depleting?" or "Is carnuba a shark repellent?"), HD will proudly join the ranks of the elite GREEN corporations, shepherding our future to it's best and most utopian result.

---

Harley's lame claim to fame is that it's two-cylinder configuration leaves plenty of available cylinders for the impending environmentally-conscious 'cylinder credit' program.

Ducati fans are aghast.

The tracking # for the missing steering knuckle finally went live, should be delivered tomorrow.
That will be the final piece needed to complete this latest stage of work...I hope.

This upcoming Saturday should be very interesting as many of our remaining issues should get addressed all at once.
I hope to get her to the alignment shop next week.

I'm kinda excited.

I'm knowing the feeling.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

After last week's unexpectedly rapid progress, we started work yesterday with very high hopes.
Ah, optimism.

As a teaser, I'll tell you that the car did sit all four wheels on the ground...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...ouchground.jpg

...but only briefly.
Here's why.

Our two main projects for the day were to bleed the hydraulics and finish installing the steering rack.
I also had a few (surprise!) cosmetic enhancements to throw into the mix and naturally, we gravitated to the fun/easy stuff first (strong coffee and high grade bud make for a bad decision making process...).

Since first laying eyes on Sigfrid's car, the stamped chrome valve covers have
bothered me and last weekend- as a milestone appeared to be in reach- I pulled the covers and was determined to do something about them.
Ferrari Red wrinkle finish was what I had in mind.

I only had about a half a can of this left (I used it on my engine this summer) and was unable to locate any in stock locally, which was a problem.
There was also the matter of prepping the chrome plated surface so the paint would have a prayer of actually sticking, another problem.

Last Monday, I decided to completely scrap the covers and start anew.
Went junkyarding and by Wednesday had acquired a set of stock Chevy covers, physically identical to ours but painted black.
Cleaned 'em up and sprayed on some Hammertone Black to spiff them up.
Bought some new PCV grommets and valve, along with mounting bolts.

S. was quite pleased and we immediately started installing them which, in and of itself is but a matter of minutes but lead to about an hour of rearranging/tweaking hose and wiring runs to neaten things up.
Meanwhile, the real work awaited.
Here is a really crappy shot of the bay when we finished...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...overview-1.jpg

Trust me, it looks much better in person.

When approaching a project such as this, an overarching aesthetic should be determined from the get-go.
There are basically two paths that can be taken- all out custom where every bracket and part is custom machined/finished and it's obvious that major work has been done or, a "stealth" approach which uses OEM (albeit from several different manufacturers) parts and attempts to appear as though the car was factory assembled.
We went for the second, cheaper look (custom machined parts are expensive!) and tried to make the bay as clean and organized as possible.
So far, we think we've attained our goal.

Buoyed by the easy initial success, we moved to bleeding the hydraulics- brakes and clutch.
The brake system was essentially all new and almost every new connection we had made leaked.
Took us over an hour an a half to track down every leak (some connections were difficult to see and we had to guess what we were doing based on the trail of leaking brake fluid) and finally get the brakes buttoned up.
The pedal feel is stellar, we're both quite excited to see how the brakes actually work on the road.

Next, the clutch.
All we had done to that was replace a cobbled together set of fittings connecting the braided line to the master cylinder with a properly sized banjo and the reservoir was changed.
Bleeding this should have been one of our easier tasks, so naturally, it totally kicked our asses.
We have no clutch now and no explanation why.
Of course, when installed, the slave/throwout bearing arm are completely obscured, so we cannot even determine if the slave cylinder is moving.
We get resistence from the pedal- it almost feels normal- but cannot shift into gear.
It's logical to assume that we simply have a bleeding problem but cannot seem to make any progress and will have to explore for info this week.

Stumped by the clutch, we moved on to the steering rack.

The new tie rod ends worked like a charm.
The steering knuckle connected the rack to the column just as it should.
We had steering!

Well, we had steering until the car was on the ground and we discovered that the FD rack brackets just don't work on the FC rack...at all.
We were aware of the problem but not of the severity.
Indeed, I had already ordered a part to deal with the passenger side mount but shipping delays meant that we didn't yet have it in hand.

The big problem is the driver side bracket.
This bracket actually locates the rack to the subframe and keeps it in place and the FD bracket is quite different from the FC part.
We hoped it would work but it didn't...with the wheels on the ground, turning the steering wheel causes the whole rack to slide side to side till it finally butted up against the smaller FD bracket and started to move the wheels.
Basically, a whole turn of the steering wheel (in either direction) did nothing to steer the car.

Oh well.
The new passenger side bush/bracket will arrive this week and I'll (be trying to ) modify the main FC bracket to work with the FD subframe.
I'm fairly confident this will all work out but we know how that goes.

So, we have a plan for the steering and no clue yet about the clutch.

Although we had high hopes of driving the car by end of yesterday, all in all we're still doing quite well.
In under twenty hours we've redone the complete suspension and brake system and almost swapped in the steering from a completely different car.
All in less than optimal conditions ( a freezing garage with no heat or lighting) and buffered with lots of beer and pharmaceuticals to ease the pain.
A good time has been had by all and really, what more can one ask?

This week I'll be sidetracked by another car project for a few days.
It's kinda secret and will probably not be revealed by me but may make it up here anyway.
How's that for a cliffhanger?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by clocker

This week I'll be sidetracked by another car project for a few days.
It's kinda secret and will probably not be revealed by me but may make it up here anyway.
How's that for a cliffhanger?

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Is that my cue?

Btw-

Have you checked to make sure the Mazda's clutch disc isn't stuck to the flywheel?

It happened to me, with precisely the same circumstances.

The vehicle had only been idled for about a week-and-a-half, and under similar weather/temp conditions...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by j2k4

Is that my cue?

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Yup.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by j2k4

Have you checked to make sure the Mazda's clutch disc isn't stuck to the flywheel?

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Not even sure how to go about this...any advice?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by clocker

Yup.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by j2k4

Have you checked to make sure the Mazda's clutch disc isn't stuck to the flywheel?

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Not even sure how to go about this...any advice?

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The only answer I'm aware of is to take the trans down and remove the pressure plate, which grates, because it only takes about two seconds to free the damn disc.

I've thought on occasion opening an inspection cover (if you even have one) may give enough access, but getting the plate to slide back on a good-fitting spline is next to impossible, so.

What it is, mostly, is a really stupid and annoying thing to have happen to good people.

As to the other, I'll see if I can upload some stuff.