more tools to purchase Definitely no tears in any of the boots, just not sealing perfectly on the passenger side. I suppose it's impossible to know if water got in if I don't take it off and service it. That's when I need a new clamp, and why not just get a full kit anyway. Hey, it's all for a good cause. The more time I spend under that car, the more money it costs me... and I know, there's no end in sight. It will never be "done"
I swapped the SC belt tensioner and idler pulley last night. Gates 535 with ATI damper is perfect fit with well more than a full hole showing. I wanted to change the top engine mount while I had the motor up, but that silly torx screw on the bottom put that off for another day - 10mm 6-sided socket doesn't have enough bite. Why on earth are they using such idiotic fasteners on this car? It's not leaking yet, but when I move the top stud it has far more wiggle room than the new part I have ready to go in. Up next is front engine service mode to get to the CPS seal, pull the intercooler to do the valve cover gasket. Also want to throw in a new thermostat. Once I run out of maintenance tasks, I hope the heavy box of goodies from Colin arrives.
I believe I have the torx socket you need for the motor mount, if you want to borrow it. Let me know.
The torx socket isn't a big deal right now. The motor is already back on the mounts and I moved on to the oil leaks. First the valve cover but another missing tool - it requires a deep socket 8mm - my smallest deep socket is 10mm. Plus I will need more 1/4" wiggle extensions to get the intercooler supports back on there. I keep hitting dead ends every night. Glad I don't need the car to drive anywhere. Before I start digging into the front end for the crank position sensor I will need to buy some fresh anti freeze - doing a full coolant swap as well when I take the radiator off. Meanwhile the oily intercooler got a nice hot bath in Simple Green tonight. Shiny! And the Coilovers and downlinks are on the truck as of today.
got some phone pix of the progress - under the valve cover: The mess below caused by a leak above the pulleys - crank seal clearly not the problem, but replaced anyway Shiny: pulled this bugger for new o-ring last night after the front of the engine got a bath in highly flammable stuff and now the super charger is begging to be pulled for an oil change... yanking the springs and shocks next to get it prepped for the coilovers. The car won't go anywhere for another week at least. For the SC oil service, I need to find a place that sells the water pump seal without asking $13 for shipping for a piece of rubber.
Is that an ATI damper with a WMW sticker? (comments withheld). The progress is looking good. While it's available you might want to also replace the dipstick tube o-ring.
Yeah we all know ALTA Ooops WAY loves to stick his name on everything even if he does not make the part himself. :lol:
just wait till I post photos of the Alta springs I am tearing off the car Bought from Way because I needed Helix arms and a few other things as well and it worked out best with shipping that way. Installed Helix arms today. What a pain to get a wrench on the bolt on the inside. It took a while going through my tool box and various extensions and breaker bars to get it to finally hold the bolt so I could get the nut off. When installing, I tightened them a little too much, I think - misread the torque spec as 100ft/lbs instead of 100nm. It felt a little tight (barely got the torque wrench to click), but I doubt that's going to cause problems. The upper frame bracket actually looks like it got a little crushed by all that torque. Due to the lack of any instructions I claim complete ignorance and assume too tight is better than not tight enough in that location. It all still moves up and down nicely. Later today then the radiator got washed, and the rotten foam ripped away (and fresh foam pieces ordered from Detroit Tuned). Harbor Freight visit cost me another $50, but now I have the tool to get that engine mount off the frame rail. I will try that tomorrow night or Tuesday. Supercharger oil and gaskets for the water pump, thermostat and thermostat gasket are ordered as well - that's all getting here mid week, around the time the coilovers and downlinks are scheduled to arrive. Looks like next weekend I could be driving again, provided everything I need gets here during the week. I also need to locate a decent alignment shop, decide on specs like ride height and camber/toe as well. Any place you recommend, Myles? There are a couple that do 4 wheel alignment, but I'd rather go to a race shop like Kelly Moss, if they do alignments. Good point about that dip stick tube. Have to take a look. Very possible it was leaking as well. The front was so messy, it was hard to find the crank position sensor bolt at first.
Even if it wasn't leaking, replace that o-ring while you have it opened up and can get to it. If you have the supercharger off it is a really easy job to do. I picked one up from the dealership for under $5, so you shouldn't have to pay for shipping. Kelly Moss does do alignments.
I just unboxed some shiny stuff from Taiwan Bor-chuann Enterprise Co. More performance enhancing stickers in the box as well.
I didn't touch the suspension tonight. Instead I swapped the busted and leaked-out engine mount and did some black gunk cleanup. That E14 bolt at the bottom is pretty corroded. Almost looks like that black fluid is some sort of acid and attacked the metal. It looks chewed away in the exposed area below the thread that goes into the mount. I'll be swapping that bolt soon (didn't come with the mount I have, or at least I didn't get that from the last owner). A totally new set of engine mounts is a mod for the near future. Before I put the coilovers in, I need to get that front end back together, super charger oil, radiator mount etc. After that I will drop the car back onto the wheels, do some measurements for my current baseline. Then back on the jacks and hack away on the old stuff. This weekend is going to be pretty busy. I may bug you for something should I get confused.
who exactly makes these things in your car? Mine actually came from California, where they got a make over by Colin.
They look good! Mine are set at 8 clicks from the softest setting, front and rear. I did not cut the hole to access the rear adjusters. You should be able to set them and forget them. You may also want to move the two inboard screws on each of the camber plates to the center location. This may provide easier access through the strut tower hole for future adjustments.
Did you get these settings from Colin, or did they arrive with these 8 clicks set? Mine are set 17 from softest in back, 22 from softest in front, but I only checked one each, so they may just be at a random position. Fresh radiator foam was delivered this morning, supercharger oil and seals for water pump are out for delivery today, and the new big plastic radiator support is schedule to arrive by Friday. When I get the radiator filled back up, I should also do an oil change while it sits on jackstands. After all that it's finally time to dig into the suspension. Regarding the coolant - less than a gallon of brown-colored crap came out of the radiator and hoses after removing the radiator - is that normal? There's still some in the super charger and the rest of the engine, but is there a way to get EVERYTHING out of the cooling system? A decent flush is what this car needs before I put fresh coolant in there.
I got it from Wellzy. He runs this same setup. It may have come from Colin originally, but either way it works well.
I pulled the supercharger tonight for the oil service. That intake tube part... @#R%!! Drained the old oil - stinks, dark, and about half of what should be in there. On the pulley side, there was a vacuum as I opened the fill plug. Years of heat cycles maybe, oil got out, no air got in. Anyway, that is all done, plugged again. When I first pulled off the unit, I turned the pulley to see if there was any gear noise. No such noise, however, the water pump did some pretty squeaky sounds. Removed it, and it still squeaked. After it sat for an hour while I did the oil change and cleaned the super charger, the pump did not squeak any longer. It still turns with some resistance. Is that normal? Is it a sign of good sealing, or is it time to replace it. It does not spin freely at all. No clicking or mechanically bad sounds. Obviously, if there is any concern about the water pump, now is the time to get a new one while the whole car is apart.