Sprocket's Competition

**clocker** · 08-29-2010, 01:26 PM

Productive day on Saturday...we replaced the entire rear subframe/suspension*.
Our original subframe was cracked in two places (apparently a common malady on hopped up 3rd gens) and the pillowball bushes were shot.
This low mileage (reputedly under 20k) unit lacks the Delrin bushes we recently installed but the pillowballs were all in excellent shape and it seemed like a good tradeoff.
The project took about 7 hours of reasonably easy work, we had no trouble with frozen/stripped hardware and although bulky, the assembly isn't terribly heavy, so it wasn't too physically taxing.

Car now needs another alignment but the test drive revealed that all the clunks and jerkiness are gone, the new parts seem to work very well.

Sigfrid put over two hundred miles on her this last week with no mechanical issues, so we look to be close to daily driver reliability.
Oddly, the tripmeter memory problem seems to have fixed itself and the gauge is working properly.
No idea what happened, but for a change it's good to have something fix itself, so I'm going to ignore it for now.

Our next worksession is scheduled for two weeks away (next weekend being a three day holiday), we'll see what needs doing then.

*This job done, we've now disassembled the entire car with the exception of the doors.
With the advantage of hindsight, I cringe to think of the time and energy we could have saved had we just stripped the car to the bone when we started...it would have been so much easier.

**clocker** · 09-12-2010, 01:26 PM

Hello again.

Yesterday was perfect "work on the car" weather- 80 degrees, light breeze, sunny...couldn't have asked for a better day.
We had a full schedule of interlocking projects and started at 7:30am.

The initial job was installing a new fluid balanced front crank pulley.
Supposed to help with higher RPM smoothness, these pieces normally sell in the $250-300 range but I found one for $100 at an "open box" sale at the local race shop.
Although our car is considerably easier to work in than the stock Camaro/Corvette engine bay, it would still be easier to do this with the radiator removed...and that got me thinking.

Our car came with a '96 Camaro rad and it's been a sore point with me the whole time.
It's too wide to fit nicely between the frame rails (we have 28" to work with, the rad is exactly 28" wide) and is only a single core matrix...basically a crummy OEM POS.
Plus, it has a filler port with pressure cap that is completely redundant in our application.
It's also been beat to hell, the fins are completely garbaged up.

Unfortunately, a custom radiator built to our specs would run @ $350 and that's just been one of those expenses that never seemed to have priority since the car was running fine (coolant-wise, at least).

This delay has slowed progress on the intake because until the radiator is finalized we don't know exactly what kind of space we're dealing with.

Long story short, I found the perfect setup in the junkyard.
Sourced from a '92 Volvo 850, the rad/fan were so close to my ideal it was scary.
Like kismet, or something.

I got the whole shebang- radiator, fan, relays and wiring harness-for $55...impossible to pass up.

It's 27" wide, 17" tall and has a triple core matrix...this particular example was in excellent shape.
In these pics the stock Volvo mounting tabs and other extraneous bracketry have already been (quite nicely, if I do say so myself) trimmed.

So, since we already had to pull the rad to install the crank pulley, we'd just put the new Volvo unit back in at the same time.
Amazingly, we did.

Here's the crank pulley installed...

The Volvo radiator/fan in final position...

Although the rad is securely mounted, we were working with what we had laying around and the brackets are crude...now that it's positioned we can design better pieces and replace them at our leisure.
"I'm right on top of that, Rose".

Positioning the radiator took a few hours.
The best ( and easiest) location for the rad was the worst position for our desired intake and vice-versa, so compromises were made in both directions until a happy medium was found.

This is how we ended the day, the intake is merely the beginning of the finished product...

The car has been aligned (again!) and drives beautifully, the suspension is good but could be better.
It's on the list.

Next up, finalizing the rad mounts and building the intake.

**clocker** · 09-22-2010, 01:09 AM

OK, engine bay nearly finished.
Radiator is final installed, used a combination of Honda door glass stops (sturdy little L-brackets) and Kia brackets (one can't be picky...).

I made a new heatshield/beauty panel, retweaked the intake snorkels and added a new K&N filter that better fit the space we had.

Then I made up a custom set of plug wires.
This is the first time she's had a decent set of wires on her...

Tomorrow the AST gets slightly relocated using a nicer bracket (Subaru fuel filter bracket) and the engine bay will be substantially finished...I hope.

**j2k4** · 09-23-2010, 12:45 AM

I think you oughta go back to the engine plates and start over.

Nah - it's serious pretty these days.

Gold medal.

Hows trix?

**clocker** · 09-23-2010, 01:11 AM

Trix are OK but Sugar Frosted Flakes are Grrrreat!
Why my opinion on breakfast cereals is of interest I'm not sure but I'm happy to weigh in...

AST is relocated and the bay is finished.

Tomorrow I hope to finish up the dash wiring- primarily connecting the heater controls (which won't require dash removal, praise Allah!).
That should pretty much tie up all the loose ends before the weather starts to crap out...not sure what we'll do next but I'm guessing there will be somewhat of a lull as Sigfrid replenishes the money tree.

Assuming nothing breaks or falls off...

**clocker** · 09-26-2010, 03:22 PM

Originally Posted by clocker

Tomorrow I hope to finish up the dash wiring...

Yeah, like that happened.
(Hint: it didn't)

There were a few small details I wanted to address and I found myself at the junkyard again, looking for oddball bits and bobs.
Despite having done so many times before, I also searched for the elusive "perfect intake setup" and amazingly, actually scored.

A bit of background...
The intake consists of the throttle body, the MAF (mass airflow sensor) and the filter.
These three parts must be connected in such a way that the filter ends up in a spot that exposes it to fresh incoming air.

This seemingly simple job is complicated by two major factors...the size/shape of the component parts and the necessity of fitting them within the confines of the bay with the hood closed.

An additional complication is my desire to use pre-existing OEM parts so as to create the impression that the car is "stock", not custom.
Typically, an intake like ours would be fabbed up from generic aluminum tube shapes and couplers...I wanted to minimize the number of pieces and subdue the appearance, all the while getting from A to B within the confines of the allotted space.

The major problem here is component size.
The throttle body's flange is oval shaped (not round, as is more common) and the MAF needs a 3 1/2" round tube connection.

Oval shapes are extremely rare in molded pieces but we've discovered that a 4" diameter tube can be forced to stretch and ultimately fit.
So we now need a piece with one end 4" diameter and the other end 3 1/2" diameter, between 7" and 9" long and flexible enough to bend.
That covers the connection between the throttle body and the MAF.

From the MAF to the front panel, we need a piece that's 3 1/2" diameter at both ends and makes a tight 35-45° bend in the space of about 8".

Such specific pieces are very thin on the ground, especially in a junkyard where, keep in mind, a significant percentage of potential donors are cosmetically unacceptable (fire damage, parts destroyed in a front end impact, neglect, etc.)...after all, the stuff not only has to fit, but look good also.

Anyway, I actually scored some pieces that were very close to our needs...so the entire intake project- only completed 2 days prior- was scrapped and I redid it again.

Visually, it's very similar and it's only the unfortunately compulsive (me) who will notice.
From a construction standpoint, this is an almost ideal solution.
The entire intake, from the throttle body to the filter, is removable as one piece...everything is anchored to the upper radiator panel which is fastened with four bolts.
The whole thing comes off in 5 minutes.

This is it:

In the top pic, the black arrows point to the new intake rubber pieces.
The yellow arrows show new hose routing to the PCV valve and the AST.

The coil has also been relocated from the front of the driver side cylinder head to the new rad panel.
This isolates the coil from engine heat and also declutters the front of the engine.

I also finish trimmed the exposed edges of the panel ( now 1/4" thick, up from 3/16")...I like the long rear edge but need to refine the two short side trim strips a bit.
May or may not reuse the "Mazda V-8" badging from the penultimate effort.

So there.

**clocker** · 11-25-2010, 02:42 PM

Well, I'm back!
Surely you didn't think this project was done?

Let's see, what has happened in the past two months...

Finally got around to hooking up the heater controls.
It was more convoluted than I'd thought, the dash was removed twice...I really should have done this at the same time as the main harness, would have been much easier and more integrated but c'est la vie.
With all the actuators functioning and the blower fan working in all speeds...we had no heat.
Fabulous.

Out comes the dash- again.
This time I had to drain the coolant and remove the heater core and the central heater box...in other words, down to the firewall once more.
Then I had to figure out how all the controls actually worked.

The FD does not have a water valve in the heater loop, the core is always getting full water flow.
Temperature control comes from mixing air that bypasses the core with air diverted through it...this is done with several interconnected "mix doors" that channel air.
Our unit is missing (entirely!) one door and a secondary flap is cracked and non-functional.
Someone has been in here before and pretty much fucked it up.
We're going to need a whole new assembly to regain full functionality but I had to do something right away, so I used foam to mimic the door configuration for full HOT.
All air from the blower is forced through the heater core and the car warms up nicely.

Of course, when spring comes he'll roast like a turkey but we'll deal with that later.

I also had to completely disassemble the heater control unit only to find that all the illumination bulbs had been removed...no idea why that might be thought necessary, possibly needed to light up the heater doors they removed earlier.
Anyway, we now have heat, all the different "modes" work and the controls light up as they should.

During my time fixing the heat I had the opportunity to take a few long drives (back and forth to Boulder three days straight) and was appalled by the car's general behavior.
Very skittish, required "driving" the car at all times.

We know the suspension sucks but I felt there was more going on than that.
Finally decided that it was worth swapping wheels/tires, just to see what happened.
We've been running staggered all this time (18 x 9 w/ 255/35 tires in front and 18 x 10 w/ 285/35 in the rear) and we traded wheels from the RX-8 which has 18 x 9 w/ 225/45 all around.

I was expecting a change...what we got was a transformation.
I finally see why the FD is considered a high point in Japanese car dynamics, the thing handles like a go cart.
She's now dead stable on the highway- no more trammeling- and corners like a cat.
Unbelievable difference.

"More is better" is NOT the case with our car.
Search is now on for a set of 17" wheels to try...17" tires are way cheaper than 18" and they're even closer to the stock wheel size (16").
My Mustang wheels would probably work, but the big 18" rears from the FD won't fit my FC, so we can't change them out without disabling my car.

As for my car...
I've actually spent some time on her lately.
Found a cherry set of Honda Prelude seats in the junkyard- originally planned them for Sigfrid's car but they're too wide- and mounted them.
They're like Barcaloungers compared to the Corbeaus, absolutely fabulous car seats.
I also swapped out the FD steering wheel for a MOMO unit but that only lasted about a week as the MOMO obscured the gauges too much.
Now using a steering wheel from a 929, slightly less clunky than the FD but perfect fit and vision.
No pics yet.
(Soon)

My alternator crapped out, probably due to the aftermarket alternator relocate bracket breaking.
Sourced a nice replacement from the same 929 that gave up it's wheel.
Moved it back to the stock location.
All better now.

Until the cooling started to go crazy.
I'm getting such weird/contradictory data that I can't begin to troubleshoot.
First, I discovered that the fan was not working.
I finally decided that the current draw of the new(ish) Lincoln fan was too much for the Volvo relay assembly, so I redid the relays/wiring using higher capacity parts.
Still nothing...the Audi fan trigger switch apparently died as well.
I've never liked that particular aspect of my install and am searching for a better alternative, so the low speed is temporarily wired to come on with the ignition.

Yeah, it's halfassed, but I needed it to work NOW!

Of course, with the fan always on the car doesn't want to warm up properly, so this "fix" is really not all that suitable.

Naturally, I know exactly how to fix this...the thing is, I don't wanna.
Pisses me off that the damn car waited until it was 30° to demand repair.
Had all fucking summer and ran like a top- now that I'll suffer from cold, she fritzes out.

Bitch.

**Detale** · 11-25-2010, 03:19 PM

Oddly I was thinking about this thread the other day. Myfan clutch went on my Durango and my mechanic didn't have the right one the part will take 2 weeks to get here so for now he installed one he had from a much larger truck and now my car sounds like a jet taking off when I start it up. As I was out there looking at what he'd done I thought to myself How the fuck does clocker hang out in the Colorado cold fucking with cars?? He's out of his mind. Indeed you are sir as I'm sure your insanity isn't limited to this thread alone.