What a week
05-03-07, 09:35 PM
#1
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Location: Saskatoon, SK & Montreal, PQ
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What a week
Got tired of Carmen looking so ratty compared to Pamela in her prime, so I decided to do something about it.
First, I took Pam's old shoes, the Enkei RSE (Revolution) 16" rims with Pirelli P-Zero tires into Saskatoon Wheel Works. If anyone can get the scuffs and scrapes from Pam's accident out of the rims, they can.
I installed new headlight washer nozzles and covers in the bumper.
I took off the temporary white hood, doused and wiped it with laquer thinner, then sanded with 220 grit paper. Sprayed it with krylon Semi-flat (which is actually a bit glossy, and a half-decent match for faded factory paint) so @ least the hood matches the car
Similarly, removed the wiper arms and left windshield trim metal, sanded with 220, and sprayed, then reinstalled. It's nice having windshield trim that's black all the way around!
I removed the radiator and supports intending to refurbish the upper and side support sheet metal in a similar fashion. This I did (sanded, sprayed, reinstalled) and replaced the crusty bolts with new black-finish hardware...
...but I discovered when the shop that was safetying Carmen for this province was swapping parts out of Pamela, they let the engine sit with the water jacket open to air for awhile. Rust scale had turned my coolant the colour and consistancy of light chocolate milk. So I pulled the rad completely and gave it an internal blast with the garden hose.
I also discovered that the FMOC mounts were broken. The right side was hung by a single zap strap, and the left side had been rammed into the frame, snapping the rubber. So I machined and folded new metal mounts and reinstalled the cooler.
With everything apart, this gave me a chance to wipe down the air intake rubber, the fan shroud, and the rad hoses with Mother's Back-To-Black, changing them from whiteish grey to a proper lustrous almost-factory-new black.
I then reassembled the freshly painted rad supports, reinstalled the rad and hoses, and the air intake hoses.
Before I put the airbox back in, I disconnected the right front running light fixture from the harness (the connector is normally concealed by the airbox) and replaced the crusty, corroded, bent fixture with a relatively fresh one from Pam's carcass. It takes a bit of effort to thread the fixture wiring through both the outer and inner front fender, but I finally got it. Connected it up, and now have all running lights working!
I put the airbox back together (after cleaning and re-oiling the K&N), filled the rad with water for temporary cooling, and drove the car to a local lube shop to get a rad flush. I had to wait 45 mins while they gave the 2 cars ahead of me the works, but the kid who was managing that day was a former GXL owner and because a) I had a rotary, b) I waited patiently and c) I explained to them I needed a rad flush because the car was now full of regular water and rust scale, they flushed it twice for the price of one.
In amongst all this disassembling, spraying, and reassembling I took the battery from under the hood, disassembled the rear storage bins, epoxied a battery tray to the passenger bin floor, tied down the battery, anchored a new 2 ga. short negative cable to the crossmember, ran a new 2 ga. 72" positive cable under the center tunnel carpet, under the console, through some protective tubing as it passes down beside the shifter box on the transmission, and to the starter.
Then on went the tie-down kit. I reassembled the bins, the battery one now missing the lower fabric but the plastic at the sides and back fitting nicely around the battery (with some persuasion).
I ran another new 2 ga. wire from the starter to a custom-fabbed junction terminal I made out of machined nylon, some more hose, nut-n-bolt hardware, and a hose clamp. I cut the stock wire leading from the stock pos. battery connector to the fuseable link block and attached a new cable end to it, so one wire goes from the starter to the junction terminal, then the stock wire from the junction to the fuseable links.
Now if I need to boost the car, I simply unscrew a nylon cap and clamp the positive cable onto the positive bolt threads sticking up out of the junction, and the negative - well, pretty much anywhere under the hood.
Finally I installed new weatherstripping around the doors perimiters and along the base of each side window.
So now Carmen looks much better. I still have a few things left to do:
- install the new steering box that arrived today
- figure out why the rear wiper is on strike, even though there's power going to the new motor
-fix the loose brake pad in the left front caliper
and
- eventually, repaint the whole exterior so it's proper factory colour.
...but all in all, it's been quite a week.
First, I took Pam's old shoes, the Enkei RSE (Revolution) 16" rims with Pirelli P-Zero tires into Saskatoon Wheel Works. If anyone can get the scuffs and scrapes from Pam's accident out of the rims, they can.
I installed new headlight washer nozzles and covers in the bumper.
I took off the temporary white hood, doused and wiped it with laquer thinner, then sanded with 220 grit paper. Sprayed it with krylon Semi-flat (which is actually a bit glossy, and a half-decent match for faded factory paint) so @ least the hood matches the car
Similarly, removed the wiper arms and left windshield trim metal, sanded with 220, and sprayed, then reinstalled. It's nice having windshield trim that's black all the way around!
I removed the radiator and supports intending to refurbish the upper and side support sheet metal in a similar fashion. This I did (sanded, sprayed, reinstalled) and replaced the crusty bolts with new black-finish hardware...
...but I discovered when the shop that was safetying Carmen for this province was swapping parts out of Pamela, they let the engine sit with the water jacket open to air for awhile. Rust scale had turned my coolant the colour and consistancy of light chocolate milk. So I pulled the rad completely and gave it an internal blast with the garden hose.
I also discovered that the FMOC mounts were broken. The right side was hung by a single zap strap, and the left side had been rammed into the frame, snapping the rubber. So I machined and folded new metal mounts and reinstalled the cooler.
With everything apart, this gave me a chance to wipe down the air intake rubber, the fan shroud, and the rad hoses with Mother's Back-To-Black, changing them from whiteish grey to a proper lustrous almost-factory-new black.
I then reassembled the freshly painted rad supports, reinstalled the rad and hoses, and the air intake hoses.
Before I put the airbox back in, I disconnected the right front running light fixture from the harness (the connector is normally concealed by the airbox) and replaced the crusty, corroded, bent fixture with a relatively fresh one from Pam's carcass. It takes a bit of effort to thread the fixture wiring through both the outer and inner front fender, but I finally got it. Connected it up, and now have all running lights working!
I put the airbox back together (after cleaning and re-oiling the K&N), filled the rad with water for temporary cooling, and drove the car to a local lube shop to get a rad flush. I had to wait 45 mins while they gave the 2 cars ahead of me the works, but the kid who was managing that day was a former GXL owner and because a) I had a rotary, b) I waited patiently and c) I explained to them I needed a rad flush because the car was now full of regular water and rust scale, they flushed it twice for the price of one.
In amongst all this disassembling, spraying, and reassembling I took the battery from under the hood, disassembled the rear storage bins, epoxied a battery tray to the passenger bin floor, tied down the battery, anchored a new 2 ga. short negative cable to the crossmember, ran a new 2 ga. 72" positive cable under the center tunnel carpet, under the console, through some protective tubing as it passes down beside the shifter box on the transmission, and to the starter.
Then on went the tie-down kit. I reassembled the bins, the battery one now missing the lower fabric but the plastic at the sides and back fitting nicely around the battery (with some persuasion).
I ran another new 2 ga. wire from the starter to a custom-fabbed junction terminal I made out of machined nylon, some more hose, nut-n-bolt hardware, and a hose clamp. I cut the stock wire leading from the stock pos. battery connector to the fuseable link block and attached a new cable end to it, so one wire goes from the starter to the junction terminal, then the stock wire from the junction to the fuseable links.
Now if I need to boost the car, I simply unscrew a nylon cap and clamp the positive cable onto the positive bolt threads sticking up out of the junction, and the negative - well, pretty much anywhere under the hood.
Finally I installed new weatherstripping around the doors perimiters and along the base of each side window.
So now Carmen looks much better. I still have a few things left to do:
- install the new steering box that arrived today
- figure out why the rear wiper is on strike, even though there's power going to the new motor
-fix the loose brake pad in the left front caliper
and
- eventually, repaint the whole exterior so it's proper factory colour.
...but all in all, it's been quite a week.
05-03-07, 09:42 PM
#2
I feel your pain.
I had the intake system and injectors off and on the Se at least 1/2 dozen times this week.
Plus the fact that when I did the tailshaft housing swap from the 1st gen trans to the 2nd gen that I had moved the shift rods and it must of taken 30 times before I figured out the correct sequence that the 3 rods had to go in before I could get the shifter to work.
I had the intake system and injectors off and on the Se at least 1/2 dozen times this week.
Plus the fact that when I did the tailshaft housing swap from the 1st gen trans to the 2nd gen that I had moved the shift rods and it must of taken 30 times before I figured out the correct sequence that the 3 rods had to go in before I could get the shifter to work.
05-04-07, 03:06 AM
#3
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more a labour of love than a 'pain' - though it does suck to move one thing and find another broken thing, then move that and find another...
05-04-07, 09:33 AM
#5
wow Im jealous! I have a much smaller list of work Im waiting to do on my 7 but I probably wont have the time for another month or 2. Maybe if I sent my 2 kids to rotary summer camp at your house I could get to it sooner?
I'd like to see a picture of the junction terminal you made. It sounds like something I may want to make too...
I'd like to see a picture of the junction terminal you made. It sounds like something I may want to make too...
05-04-07, 01:23 PM
#6
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Originally Posted by Hades12
No pics? shame on you.
Originally Posted by Hades12
Where did you get the new steering box?
"install the new steering box that arrived today"
"install the new steering box that arrived today"
I emailed him about it, complete with a list (with part #s) of everything I want for the 2nd order.
He responded by telling me my spam blocker was the problem
I pointed out it wasn't an email problem, but a problem with his site
He replied that he spent a lot of time building that site, and has to deal with people too stupid to use it properly.
Last I heard from him, despite a few more emails from me saying let's fix the problem and put the order through. As far as I'm concerned, with customer service like that he can go **** his hat.
