Sprocket's Competition

[Detale]

Wow now that's a story! Funny how things happen that way. Well, funny to me and maybe one day in the distant future it will be to you as well. Lucky you didn't get juiced there bud, that would have sucked.

[clocker]

Oh no, I find it humorous right now.

At the end of the day this is mostly an intellectual exercise for me, figuring out/diagnosing the problems- and lawd knows this car presents and endless array of puzzles- is more fun than anything else.
Besides...it ain't my car.
Not gonna stroke out over someone else's toy.

[j2k4]

Mirabile dictu, indeed.

It was the bowls that flushed the problem, I'll bet.

Best diagnostic tool on the planet.

[clocker]

We'll see if you still think that when your motor is strewn all about the garage.

Edit:
Actually Kev, after thinking about it, you're in a completely different boat than I.
Your car is vastly more complex but essentially unmolested, so you get to decide what to remove/modify...which is where the bowls will be helpful.

My project (note the inappropriate possessive) on the other hand, is the smoldering remains left by a meth crazed gaggle of redneck dipshits and we're trying to modify while discovering little "easter egg" surprises left in their wake.
The car is literally a booby trap- how else to explain my favorite example of their "craftsmanship", the decision to remove the ebrake cable bracket? Not only is the bracket completely buried in the tranny tunnel- so it takes a lot of effort to even get to it- but it's totally out of the way and interferes with nothing.
Someone however, decided it had to go.
This same someone (presumably) did not find it necessary to install the brackets retaining all the fluid lines from the front to back of the car (fuel, brakes, evap), so they were just left dangling.
Brilliant.
Trust me, no amount of dope can create the mindset necessary to comprehend their plan.

You'll get to deal with the factory/OEM way of thinking and to best comprehend that I'd recommend LSD.

[j2k4]

Oh, I'm dealing with one right now; gonna whip up on it tomorrow.

Apparently the collected parts in the Stealth's starting circuit have the normal habit of degrading ever-so-slightly over time and cumulatively adding just enough resistance to over-stress the capacity of the existing conduit to transmit sufficient voltage to the starter.

Replacing the individual components brings temporary relief, and after discovering that the ignition switch ($140) had taken a dump, the relay ($60!!) went next.

We are going to replace the factory stuff by putting the big voltage on the other side of the relay so as to just tickle the switch and the relay rather than asking them to handle high current.

Funny; this is apparently a common condition with these, but no one's tumbled to fixing it the way we're doing it.

I think.

Anyway...

[clocker]

Good luck.

[clocker]

Did some final detailing today, tomorrow she goes back to Sigfrid.
Weather has turned shirty- it's rain/snowing now but I test drove anyway and everything works.

Took some final engine bay pics but first I'll show a picture from when I started...


To now...






It's easy for me to lose sight of the forest for the trees...obviously we've come quite a ways since last year.

[j2k4]

Aye.

You've done a chunk, for sure.

Hope Sigfrid feels the same.

[clocker]

Hope Sigfrid feels the same.

Oh, he does.

We had a very productive day despite the cold and wind.
Redid the suspension again, swapped the spacers to preload the springs a bit...made a big difference.

We cleaned the interior and completely installed all the panels.
This is the first time since he bought the car the inside has been completely assembled.

We removed all the window tint.
The door glass had three layers of tint, the hatch had two.
Took us about two hours using single edge razor blades and visibility is markedly improved.

Car is now going to be daily driven for a week or two as we prepare for the last big project...the dash.
If the tuner can squeeze us in, the car might get tuned during this period but she runs OK for now, so we're not really pressed.

The goal right now is for the car to go for the next two weeks without a failure/breakdown.
I think we'll make it.

[j2k4]

I take it then that he is suitably refreshed.

This is all good news.

The Stealth...just changed the oil again (it likes 10w30 much better), as well as refilling the transaxle, transfer case, and differential with the good Red Line synthetics, so I took a ride well north of the village and on a nice long straight stretch out in the woods, I let 'er out a bit - 145 (pulling like a gorilla), with a good bit of fourth gear left.

I have developed a tendency to forget about fifth, on these two lane, 55 mph roads...

This car is good fun.