Gonna stick to very shallow angles with this one. And attempt to keep at least 3 wheels in contact with the pavement whenever possible...
Spent a couple hours sorting parts between my two garages, organizing all the stuff I need to finish and making another pile to go do the dump. It's a lot of stuff... Hopefully everything I need is either out of, on top of, or in front of this pile... In the process, unearthed my strut bar, and decided it needed a repaint. So did that. Found the lower seal for the boot hatch, got it installed. Started hanging front suspension parts on, replaced a broken wheel speed sensor, connected brake lines. Still waiting on new ball joints to finish the suspension. Pressed the mid-shaft bearing back onto the repaired right RMW axle, ready to install. Fire sleeve came for the PS lines, got that installed tonight. Better. Birthday present to myself... Camber/Caster gauge arrived. Still need the adapter for it, and my toe plates. Then will be able to do my own alignment stuff...
That's some serious work, adjusting the suspension. Be interested to see how quickly you can get it down to.
Lift should help. Not as good as a proper suspension rack, I'll have to drop it and roll it between adjustments. But once I get a feel (and notes) for "x amount of adjustment to y yields z change" it should be pretty straightforward. Once I know that "1/2 turn of camber link plus 1/4 turn of toe link yields x amount of camber increase with no change in toe" (or something like that) then it's money. Caster will be fire and forget. Just have to get it right once, and leave it alone. Front toe is just twisting tie rods... x turns per 1/16", etc. The place that has been doing my alignments used to be GREAT. Then less experienced guy started doing the alignment work, and after that they never quite did exactly what I asked for (and wrote down for them). Then new owner banished customers from the shop floor. RIP, I won't use anyone who won't let me watch.
yep. I sit in my car. The guy that does the work has been doing it a long time. Last time I was there I kept telling him I thought it was good enough he just ignored me till he had it perfect.
So, this happened... [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQvIyQMJGhE"]Locutus Mk2 computer startup - YouTube[/ame] Yeah, pretty excited. Plugged in the GP ECU, connected the battery, and turned the key. Brain transplant complete. Also pulled a ton of wiring through the firewall, for the Zeitronics wideband/EGT/boost/oil temp/oil pressure/RPM/Vipec connections, and Aquamist. Rolled the motor out, to get ready for tomorrow. Will swap to the OSG clutch, and hang that puppy...
Big day today... Finished front suspension bits (ball joints, tie rods). Still need to tighten and adjust everything, after the axles are in. Played around with the exhaust mid pipe, confirmed that the flex joint, cat and new resonator can all fit in where the current Milltek mid pipe goes. Will need to cut the center exhaust hanger plate for clearance. Will take final measurements after the engine and header are installed, and have this fabbed next week. Pulled the transmission and installed OS Giken clutch. It's pretty. Installed oil pressure sensor. Hung the motor! I'm getting pretty good at it. Tomorrow, need to hook everything up, install new radiator, fill with fluids, bleed brakes and clutch, install axles, tighten up all the front suspension bits, and fire it up! Might put the bumper and wheels on it and drive it around the block...
Colin reminded me... I need to move my oil pressure sensor and connect via a hose, so the vibration doesn't kill it. I have lots of extra AN lines and fittings, just need to get some adapters for it and I'll move it somewhere before I wire it.
By the way, this was the easiest iteration yet in re-mating the transmission to the motor, after a clutch swap. Method I used was I sat the motor on a couple of 2x4's laterally under the oil pan to raise it off the floor 1.5" and hold it stable, and straddled it with the engine crane (so the crane tower was on the pulley side of the motor, and the legs and boom were coming toward me, I sat on the transmission side). Hooked a chain from the crane up to the upper outboard transmission mount hole on the transmission so it could just swing freely. Then was able to easily get the height exactly right and twist and jiggle it until the shaft slid right into the clutch plate, and the bell housing slid right onto the dowels. No drama, and no manual lifting effort. About 5x easier than the methods I had used previously.
Hah. I just bought the Borg Assimilator version 1.1. It adds 2 million and one HP at twice the price. 'Cause I'm all about bargains.
If you have that kind of technology you should look into adding a force field to keep yourself and Locutus Mk2 safe. :fingerscrossed:
It's ALIVE!!!!! [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0ONCUpNB0M"]Locutus Mk2 Lives! - YouTube[/ame] I'm a very happy camper. Crazy loud right now. The video doesn't do it justice. The whole house shakes on its foundation when it's just idling. When I rev it, every dog in the neighborhood goes nuts. But it has an open RMW race header and no exhaust connected right now... so, figures. Got everything plugged up, new radiator and surround and fan assembly put together and hung, fluids in, brakes and clutch bled (still need to do ABS bleed), and turned the key. Turned over first try, but wouldn't start. Checked fuel first... no fuel pressure at the rail. Unplugged the line, and cycled power a few times. I could hear the pump cycling normally, but no fuel was coming out of the line. Usually, if you disconnect it and do that, fuel GUSHES out. So something was amiss. Checked the pump install, looked fine. Checked the fuel filter, and the canister wasn't screwed together right. Corrected that, and fixed! My one salvaged and one eBay Xenon both work. Car has DRL's enabled, because I'm using the BCM from the shell I just bought. Will be interesting to see what else is coded in that. I'll get all that straightened out. Tomorrow I'll button up the engine bay, front wheel well liners, bumper and wheels and roll it around the block. I hope the police don't come. :devil:
Was that a flat spot I heard?:devil: Great job! I hope I make it to the dragon this year so I can see it.
You better make it to the Dragon MCS02! Heck if I lived anywhere in Tennessee I would probably be there almost every weekend! Paul, your post about hooking the tranny to the engine sounds about like I did mine last year... But I didn't use my hoist to lift the trans... I just picked it up with my hands, set it on my feet (steel toes) and wiggled it into place using foot power!
So, this happened. [ame=""]Locutus Mk2 test drive - YouTube[/ame] Soooooooo happy. Lots of stuff to still work out, but this is what I've been working toward for 4 months. OK, actually more like 18 months. OK actually more like 9 years. It sounded like a tractor pull was happening in the hood, and my neighbors gave me dirty looks, because this is my exhaust. Before I drove it, I spent a few minutes hanging the bumper and a side skirt, just so I could see what it looked like. OMG I'm in love. Still needs tonneau and the cage needs repainted... and the ride height is all wrong... but it's still beautiful. But when I drove it around the hood, it looked like THIS.... No seat belts, no airbags, no roll bar padding, seats not bolted to the floor, loose wiring dangling all over the cabin... but I DID NOT CARE. Spent most of the afternoon remediating various things that drug, made noise, etc. Needed to grind the new lower ball joints (touched the DT big rotors), needed front wheel spacers (tire was touching height adjustment lock ring on the BC coils), needed to grind down some corroded spots on the rotors (dragging brakes). Now the car rolls easily and silently, as it should! Also made an attempt to adjust ride height. My first experience adjusting coilovers, I didn't quite understand that 1" of coilover adjustment does NOT equal 1" of ride hight adjustment. But now understand that, and (duh) it's obvious why. Anyway, need to work on that some more tomorrow, as I overshot raising the front and lowering the rear, now it's slammed in back and too tall in the front. Quick fix tomorrow, now that I know what I'm doing. Also did several complete cooling system flushes as that was NASTY from the motor sitting on a dolly for several months. Now nice and clean, and full of nice clean new coolant. Every time I start the car, it sounds healthier. Again, a motor sitting still on a pallet for months isn't a great thing. But I think I've about gotten it rejuvenated. Time for beer.