What did you do to your FB today?
01-02-13, 09:21 PM
#1952
Well, I have been working on my SA and GSLSE a lot these last couple of weeks. Some of the things I have accomplished is:
SA
- Fixed an electrical gremlin that I have been fighting for close to a year, this required a lot of rewiring and search, and then I found it by luck, haha
-- This fixed a lot of electrical problems I have been fighting, some for years
--- Surging voltage at the alternator
--- Excessively high voltage at the alternator, while surging
--- Tachometer not reading correctly from leading coil
- Built and ran new battery cables and additional ground wires, more grounds are coming
- FD alternator installed
-- Tried to install a dual belt pulley, but it resulted in weird bearing noise at the alternator, so I will tackle that another time
- Tried to test fit Vert wheels, but apparently they only fit a certain type of lug nut
-- I will try to source these tomorrow
GSLSE
- Some more body work on the widebody fiberglass work
-- As much as I thought I would hate this, I oddly found working with body filler extremely relaxing
- Made a bleeder based on this: DIY $20 Brake Pressure Bleeder
-- This made bleeding very simple
-- It also made realizing I have a leaking master cylinder very easy too
Coming soon:
SA
- Moog tie rods, alignment, and finally drivable again!
- Fix squeaky issue with clutch, bearing is what I am thinking at this point
- Fix lack of e-brake issue
- Drive it!!
GSLSE
- Dropping and cleaning the tank. What to do with 16 gallons of bad gas?? Bonfire anyone?
- Undo modifications from previous owner and reinstall fuel injection equipment
- If I can get hold of an engine hoist, I will be dropping in the motor
SA
- Fixed an electrical gremlin that I have been fighting for close to a year, this required a lot of rewiring and search, and then I found it by luck, haha
-- This fixed a lot of electrical problems I have been fighting, some for years
--- Surging voltage at the alternator
--- Excessively high voltage at the alternator, while surging
--- Tachometer not reading correctly from leading coil
- Built and ran new battery cables and additional ground wires, more grounds are coming
- FD alternator installed
-- Tried to install a dual belt pulley, but it resulted in weird bearing noise at the alternator, so I will tackle that another time
- Tried to test fit Vert wheels, but apparently they only fit a certain type of lug nut
-- I will try to source these tomorrow
GSLSE
- Some more body work on the widebody fiberglass work
-- As much as I thought I would hate this, I oddly found working with body filler extremely relaxing
- Made a bleeder based on this: DIY $20 Brake Pressure Bleeder
-- This made bleeding very simple
-- It also made realizing I have a leaking master cylinder very easy too
Coming soon:
SA
- Moog tie rods, alignment, and finally drivable again!
- Fix squeaky issue with clutch, bearing is what I am thinking at this point
- Fix lack of e-brake issue
- Drive it!!
GSLSE
- Dropping and cleaning the tank. What to do with 16 gallons of bad gas?? Bonfire anyone?
- Undo modifications from previous owner and reinstall fuel injection equipment
- If I can get hold of an engine hoist, I will be dropping in the motor
01-04-13, 11:43 AM
#1953
^ Looks good!!
I've been heavily researching the installation and placement of an amplifier for my sound system and may have finally come to a solution. I found an old post from someone about it and will be putting my amp in the driver's side bin to the four stock locations and be done.
I'd like to do subs but don't think I will.
New list of things to get done this winter is as follows:
-DLDFIS
-FC fuse box swap
-Rat's nest deleted again
-Install amp
-Finish up sound system
-Test both the 80a alt in the car and the 55a stock out of the car to ensure they both work
-CAI
-New silver MAZDA badge where original was on front from a Mazda MPV
-Fix A/C with 154a refridgerant
-FC FMOC install
-Rebuild carb/possibly mechanical secondaries
-With much to come
Should be a fun few months since I want to DD it starting in the end of April or beginning of May
I've been heavily researching the installation and placement of an amplifier for my sound system and may have finally come to a solution. I found an old post from someone about it and will be putting my amp in the driver's side bin to the four stock locations and be done.
I'd like to do subs but don't think I will.
New list of things to get done this winter is as follows:
-DLDFIS
-FC fuse box swap
-Rat's nest deleted again
-Install amp
-Finish up sound system
-Test both the 80a alt in the car and the 55a stock out of the car to ensure they both work
-CAI
-New silver MAZDA badge where original was on front from a Mazda MPV
-Fix A/C with 154a refridgerant
-FC FMOC install
-Rebuild carb/possibly mechanical secondaries
-With much to come
Should be a fun few months since I want to DD it starting in the end of April or beginning of May
01-04-13, 06:38 PM
#1956
12mm x 1.5 threads, and 19mm wrench size, IIRC. Same threads as GSL-SE.
01-04-13, 07:41 PM
#1957
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One thing leads to another
So I found a Pick-n-pull with a Fan clutch for my '85, swapped it out, and now I've got the "fill coolant" Idiot Light that won't go out, even after I did a radiator flush today, and the idle has gone to ****, don't understand, any help?
01-05-13, 10:45 AM
#1958
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The previous owner of my '85 put in one of those tube type subwoofers in the back, tied down with the stock tiedowns, I like the sound, but it sure makes using the trunk area hard for anything besides groceries.
01-05-13, 12:37 PM
#1959
As far as I know, the vert wheels us the same lug nuts as any other FC wheel. I'm using the same lug nuts from my standard GXL wheels on the vert wheels I have on my '90. Now, they are open, sort of low-profile lug nuts rather than the closed acorn style used on the wheels with exposed lug nuts, I suspect they have to be to fit under the center caps.
12mm x 1.5 threads, and 19mm wrench size, IIRC. Same threads as GSL-SE.
12mm x 1.5 threads, and 19mm wrench size, IIRC. Same threads as GSL-SE.
In my experience, most Japanese cars are 12mm x 1.5 thread.
01-06-13, 02:00 AM
#1961
On the car I have really nice locking lug nuts with bearings in the ends to prevent wheel damage. They even fit under the Vert wheel center caps, but the adapters that I picked up off of the GRM forum has 1/2" x 20 studs. The next day I picked up different lugs that fit the vert wheels, and test fitted the wheels again. From that I realized that the spacers are a little wide, at 30mm, so I need to get some slightly thinner, 20-25mm.
In my experience, most Japanese cars are 12mm x 1.5 thread.
In my experience, most Japanese cars are 12mm x 1.5 thread.
You shouldn't have too much issue with wheel damage from the lug nuts. As I recall, pretty much all the RX-7 wheels I've run across have steel inserts at the lug seats to prevent galling and such. I sincerely dig that feature.
I believe I'll convert my SA to 5-lug/TII brakes, either by adapters or via a subframe swap. The vert wheels on my '90 will likely find their way on to it at that point, though I like my 16" Konig Rated-Rs, so I may re-drill the TII hubs for 4 x 4.5".
01-06-13, 08:37 PM
#1963
Temps in the low 50's today made it a good day to work in the garage.
On the 85 GSL-SE I loosened all the bolts in the left front suspension I had apart a couple of months ago and applied anti seize compound and torqued to spec. Ground off the head of the bolt on the control link on the left side. Replaced with all new hardware and polyurethane bushings. The spacer was so badly rusted to the bolt nothing I tried could have worked. Both front suspensions are all back together. I need to replace the brake flex lines in the rear and then bleed the system. After that is replacing the lines to the oil cooler.
On the 85 EV I pulled the windshield washer bottle and put it in the kitchen sink to let the block of ice melt. The gallon of -20F rated washer fluid appears to freeze at about 32F. I am lucky it didn't split the bottle.
I had a loose connector on the washer bottle in the GSL-SE last summer and I tipped the bottle sideways while full of fluid to see the connector on the bottom. Don't do this as the float in the level sensor fills up and it always thinks it is low on fluid. Since I was messing with the bottle on the other car I took the opportunity to fix this one too. I dumped the good stuff in it into the bottle on the other car and then made sure the float was working and topped both up with the good stuff.
The EV is my daily driver so I do drive it to work most days. But I drove it this afternoon just for fun!
On the 85 GSL-SE I loosened all the bolts in the left front suspension I had apart a couple of months ago and applied anti seize compound and torqued to spec. Ground off the head of the bolt on the control link on the left side. Replaced with all new hardware and polyurethane bushings. The spacer was so badly rusted to the bolt nothing I tried could have worked. Both front suspensions are all back together. I need to replace the brake flex lines in the rear and then bleed the system. After that is replacing the lines to the oil cooler.
On the 85 EV I pulled the windshield washer bottle and put it in the kitchen sink to let the block of ice melt. The gallon of -20F rated washer fluid appears to freeze at about 32F. I am lucky it didn't split the bottle.
I had a loose connector on the washer bottle in the GSL-SE last summer and I tipped the bottle sideways while full of fluid to see the connector on the bottom. Don't do this as the float in the level sensor fills up and it always thinks it is low on fluid. Since I was messing with the bottle on the other car I took the opportunity to fix this one too. I dumped the good stuff in it into the bottle on the other car and then made sure the float was working and topped both up with the good stuff.
The EV is my daily driver so I do drive it to work most days. But I drove it this afternoon just for fun!
01-07-13, 12:24 AM
#1964
^You seem like you're getting a lot done and your projects seem to be going very well, I hope this continues for youthroughout this year! Would be cool to see you at a meet, if we ever get around to having one.
I started getting ready for a FC fuse block swap into the 84, looked at the 83 parts car and didn't feel like spending any time on it. Will be finishing up some sound system stuff soon and FC FMOC swap to start chipping away at mylist that only gets longer every day
I started getting ready for a FC fuse block swap into the 84, looked at the 83 parts car and didn't feel like spending any time on it. Will be finishing up some sound system stuff soon and FC FMOC swap to start chipping away at mylist that only gets longer every day
01-07-13, 01:56 AM
#1965
dougingraham,
I had that very same problem with the passenger side sway bar link. The spacer was fused and nothing was going to get it off. The ball joints were shot in both of mine anyway, so I ended up replacing both control arms with new OEM units. The driver's side end link was fine, however.
Yesterday eve, after putting the little girl to bed, I pulled the air pump off and cleaned up years of oil mulch around the oil pan and the OMP. It was an ugly mess! I was going to pull the OMP and replace it with a my new one, but I didn't have feeler gauges to check the slack on the linkage, so I decided to call it a night until the next day.
Today, I got my feeler gauges and Napa and checked the slop in the linkage. A little too loose for my taste. Pulled this ugly thing off:
and replaced it with this:
Thankfully the OMP lines looked to be in good order. I put everything back together and noticed that I had broken an air hose from the rats nest when pulling the air cleaner housing off last night. I put it on anyway and fired it up anyway....seemed to run fine after the warmup.
Hoping this finally takes care of the oil spots on the garage floor.
fm
I had that very same problem with the passenger side sway bar link. The spacer was fused and nothing was going to get it off. The ball joints were shot in both of mine anyway, so I ended up replacing both control arms with new OEM units. The driver's side end link was fine, however.
Yesterday eve, after putting the little girl to bed, I pulled the air pump off and cleaned up years of oil mulch around the oil pan and the OMP. It was an ugly mess! I was going to pull the OMP and replace it with a my new one, but I didn't have feeler gauges to check the slack on the linkage, so I decided to call it a night until the next day.
Today, I got my feeler gauges and Napa and checked the slop in the linkage. A little too loose for my taste. Pulled this ugly thing off:
and replaced it with this:
Thankfully the OMP lines looked to be in good order. I put everything back together and noticed that I had broken an air hose from the rats nest when pulling the air cleaner housing off last night. I put it on anyway and fired it up anyway....seemed to run fine after the warmup.
Hoping this finally takes care of the oil spots on the garage floor.
fm
01-07-13, 01:46 PM
#1966
Well I picked up my wheel from the powder coating shop.
They had it for 3/4 weeks now and all they did was sand blast it this morning.
I took it back due to the frustration of having false complete dates (once when I dropped it off and then I called last week and was told it would be done later that day) and poor communication. (last week their sand blasting machine broke and wasn't told about it cause they lost my information)
While I was leaving he said that he would do all four wheels for 250$ which was half of the original price.
What do you guys think?
They had it for 3/4 weeks now and all they did was sand blast it this morning.
I took it back due to the frustration of having false complete dates (once when I dropped it off and then I called last week and was told it would be done later that day) and poor communication. (last week their sand blasting machine broke and wasn't told about it cause they lost my information)
While I was leaving he said that he would do all four wheels for 250$ which was half of the original price.
What do you guys think?
01-07-13, 03:46 PM
#1967
Well I picked up my wheel from the powder coating shop.
They had it for 3/4 weeks now and all they did was sand blast it this morning.
I took it back due to the frustration of having false complete dates (once when I dropped it off and then I called last week and was told it would be done later that day) and poor communication. (last week their sand blasting machine broke and wasn't told about it cause they lost my information)
While I was leaving he said that he would do all four wheels for 250$ which was half of the original price.
What do you guys think?
They had it for 3/4 weeks now and all they did was sand blast it this morning.
I took it back due to the frustration of having false complete dates (once when I dropped it off and then I called last week and was told it would be done later that day) and poor communication. (last week their sand blasting machine broke and wasn't told about it cause they lost my information)
While I was leaving he said that he would do all four wheels for 250$ which was half of the original price.
What do you guys think?
01-07-13, 08:22 PM
#1968
Got this in the mail today, 70 on Amazon, nothing too fancy. Grandfather has a similar unit in his jeep and it's a nice unit, mine is essentially the same minus bluetooth. Next paycheck will be speakers, front and back. Don't know if I want a sub yet...
01-07-13, 08:37 PM
#1970
Well I picked up my wheel from the powder coating shop.
They had it for 3/4 weeks now and all they did was sand blast it this morning.
I took it back due to the frustration of having false complete dates (once when I dropped it off and then I called last week and was told it would be done later that day) and poor communication. (last week their sand blasting machine broke and wasn't told about it cause they lost my information)
While I was leaving he said that he would do all four wheels for 250$ which was half of the original price.
What do you guys think?
They had it for 3/4 weeks now and all they did was sand blast it this morning.
I took it back due to the frustration of having false complete dates (once when I dropped it off and then I called last week and was told it would be done later that day) and poor communication. (last week their sand blasting machine broke and wasn't told about it cause they lost my information)
While I was leaving he said that he would do all four wheels for 250$ which was half of the original price.
What do you guys think?
See if you can get a completion date in writing, maybe?
Last edited by Frankenrex; 01-07-13 at 08:39 PM. Reason: Added quote for clarity
01-08-13, 03:36 PM
#1973
Well honestly I ran out of time.
I sent the one wheel in with hopes of it being returned in a short amount of time to see if this is the way I wanted to go before I spend another 12 hours (4 hours per wheel, some maybe more time) with the other 3 wheels.
With school stating up next week and work from tomorrow to Sunday I have ran out of time to get them all done around the same time. His offer stands for 4 weeks.
I'll start tomorrow on the other 3 by breaking them down and doing what i can.
I'll also contact them with a color change (an even lighter silver than I chose before) and tell them that I'll be coming back, but I will need them returned in a reasonable amount of time. (to be determined later)
The big thing that sucks is that no other shop will touch them, the one piece wheel with the face popping out sent red flags to the other shops that I contacted. There is one other shop that is highly recommended but there location is waaayyy too far. I tried making it out there before but is was an ill fated attempt.
Something so small can start some of the biggest problems.
I sent the one wheel in with hopes of it being returned in a short amount of time to see if this is the way I wanted to go before I spend another 12 hours (4 hours per wheel, some maybe more time) with the other 3 wheels.
With school stating up next week and work from tomorrow to Sunday I have ran out of time to get them all done around the same time. His offer stands for 4 weeks.
I'll start tomorrow on the other 3 by breaking them down and doing what i can.
I'll also contact them with a color change (an even lighter silver than I chose before) and tell them that I'll be coming back, but I will need them returned in a reasonable amount of time. (to be determined later)
The big thing that sucks is that no other shop will touch them, the one piece wheel with the face popping out sent red flags to the other shops that I contacted. There is one other shop that is highly recommended but there location is waaayyy too far. I tried making it out there before but is was an ill fated attempt.
Something so small can start some of the biggest problems.
01-08-13, 05:47 PM
#1975
Attachment 486031
Got this in the mail today, 70 on Amazon, nothing too fancy. Grandfather has a similar unit in his jeep and it's a nice unit, mine is essentially the same minus bluetooth. Next paycheck will be speakers, front and back. Don't know if I want a sub yet...
Got this in the mail today, 70 on Amazon, nothing too fancy. Grandfather has a similar unit in his jeep and it's a nice unit, mine is essentially the same minus bluetooth. Next paycheck will be speakers, front and back. Don't know if I want a sub yet...
Researching and emailing about finding an s4 trans to swap in the FB
