DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

Hey guys -

Figured I'd share what I'm currently working on with you guys.

So, the car has been running great. Starts, idles, makes great power, runs cool, doesn't smoke, looks good, everything a growing boy could want. So, that means time to start messin' with things.

General overview of motor stuffs before this all began -

- Stock port motor built by me
- HKS RS intakes with K&N filters
- '96+ Y-pipe
- '99 twins, running sequential
- Apexi front mount
- CSF aluminum radiator
- Knightsports dual tube downpipe
- SMB high-flow metal cat
- GP Sports cat-back
- AEM water injection
- PowerFC with EL commander
- blah blah blah

So, why mess with a good thing?

- The AC *works*, but not *well*. Ever since I installed the front mount the AC wasn't for much. The Apexi setup lays the AC condensor down flat where it gets little to no airflow. It would work OK on the highway on a not-too-hot day, but around town it was basically non-functional.

- I like how the piping for the Blitz IC runs, it's cleaner and nicer looking.

- Many little things in the car needed some lovin', some painting, cleaning, what have you

- I've still been running the stock elbow and really want to run a nice aluminum elbow.

So, that said, time to put 'er up on jackstands and get to work.

Attached are pics under the hood and a pic from DGRR 2012 so you can see all the stripey goodness .

More in next post.....

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

OK, so time to get crack-a-lackin' on this. Here's what's going on with the new setup -

- Install the Blitz front mount
- Koyo radiator
- Modify driver's side intercooler pipe to go to an aftermarket TB elbow
- Clean and paint

So, right off the bat, problems happened.

I got a good deal on the intercooler, but I got just the piping, IC, and the brackets for the IC itself. No AC brackets, no radiator brackets. So, I got a lot of fabbing to do. I did get a copy of the Blitz install manual and a PDF showing schematics of ALL the brackets that comes with that kit which has been a huge help.

First off, got the intercooler brackets straight. They were bent up, either from shipping or from the previous owner. Some work with a hammer and a vice and they were good. Test fit the IC, that's all good.

With the Blitz kit, the radiator brackets sandwich between the sway bar and the sway bar mount. You have to cut off the stock radiator mounts from the stock sway bar mount to do this. Well, if I'm gonna cut that up, might as well buy some SuperNow sway bar mounts, right? Oh lord.

So, installed the S-N mounts, put the radiator on some wood and a jack. Found out that the radiator wants to be where the stock R2 metal oil cooler lines want to go. And the stock crossbrace bracket that the battery tray/AC lines attach to won't fit at all. And the stock power steering cooling loop is all sorts of in the way.

You can see where this is going.

Over the past few weeks, I made a BUNCH of brackets, solved a bunch of problems, and did a dry fit of everything. Blew it all back apart yesterday to start in on paint, final tweaking, and what have you.

Pictured is the car as of yesterday morning. Looks scary, eh?

Big bonus points if you can tell what throttle body elbow that is .

As I start going through final assembly, I'll be documenting and showing you guys what I'm doing.

Dale

gdub29e

iTrader: (16)

Dale Clark build thread ?! I'm in

CrispyRX7

iTrader: (139)

Nice Dale...keep it up.

Feed

Regards,
Crispy

Scrodes

This.

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

Nope, swing-and-a-miss!

I'll entertain a few more guesses .

I'll be putting up a good update tomorrow with some pics of parts that are going back on. Gotta keep you guys in suspense!

But, I'll give you a few things to keep you busy, new things that I've discovered for this build.

First off, Online Metals -

https://www.onlinemetals.com/index.cfm

This is SO COOL. As mentioned, I had to fab a LOT of the brackets for the new setup. Two brackets for the radiator bottom, one for the top, and 4 small brackets for the AC condensor.

I spent a day in the garage with the car on jackstands with some scissors, posterboard, and a Sharpie. I carefully positioned the radiator where I wanted it with wood and a jack, then made sure it was centered and leveled. (Side note: got me a level app for the Iphone to check the level, had to shim the wood blocks with a paint stick to get it right!)

Then, I went to work making templates. Some needed multiple iterations before I got them right.

I then headed to Online Metals. They have a big selection - stainless, galvanized steel, multiple gauges, you name it. Best part is they custom cut the square shape FOR FREE. This is a HUGE time and work saver, I got all the metals I needed in a size that was good. Prices are excellent. I used stainless for the top and bottom radiator brackets and galvanized steel for the AC brackets. All the brackets were 12 gauge steel (about .105") so they're thick and sturdy.

Next thing I discovered is MRO paint -


This stuff is powdercoat in a can. VERY hard, gloss black surface. You do need a good, clean surface to work with, put a light coat on first, wait 15 minutes, put a thick coat on, then wait *24 hours*. If you touch it too soon you'll get a lovely fingerprint. But, when it dries, this stuff is CRAZY hard and durable. I love this stuff, been painting a TON of stuff with it.

Dale

JhnRx7

iTrader: (12)

Stillway elbow

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

Bingo! We have a winner!

Dale

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

OK, new day new update. I've got TONS of material to cover with some of the tricks and tips I've used, so I'm going to try and do a major update every day until the car is done and in one happy piece!

So, let's cover the oil cooler lines. As stated earlier, the factory R1/R2 metal hard lines taking the oil over to the passenger side oil cooler are RIGHT in the way of where the radiator wants to live. Ah crap. So, what to do?

I have NEVER used AN lines and fittings up to this point so I've never really paid attention to any of this stuff. So time for some fast learnin'.

First off, I'm still using the stock line from the oil filter neck to the input of the driver's side oil cooler. That's fine and dandy, it's out of the way and works just great.

Second, I want a setup that's BULLETPROOF. I don't want to constantly tinker with it, worry about it blowing and dumping oil all over creation, or even dripping.

That in mind, I used compression-type AN fittings. They do have fittings that are push-on, but I just didn't feel as comfortable with these. They really were easy to assemble.

So, what to get? After a few misfires in early ordering, here's what I ended up with -

- I went with -8 size lines. The stock lines are about .46" in ID, -8 is a bit bigger than that. Many aftermarket kits do -10 lines which are bigger still, but I just didn't see the need as I'm not tracking the car and the stock lines have been working like a champ.

- I need lines. I really didn't want braided stainless. They're very abrasive, I had an aftermarket line kit on my FC back in the day that rubbed through each other and failed. Not cool. I went with Aeroquip Startlite hose. It has a soft cloth outer braid, good to plenty of PSI, and a good oil and fuel resistant liner. And it's about $7-8 a foot, I bought 10 feet to have plenty.

- I need fittings. The typical red/blue fittings are no bueno, I wanted black or silver. I bought them all from here -

https://www.hrpworld.com/index.cfm?t...ction=category

I got the Red Horse Performance fittings. Very impressed with the finish and quality of these fittings, price was decent and their customer service was great. I bought -

- 1 90 degree to -8 fittings
- 3 45 degree to -8 fittings

They were very easy to install. More on all that in a bit.

- I need adapters. First, you need a banjo bolt adapter for the front cover oil fitting, and you need a metric adapter for the oil coolers. My ole buddy Dan (Scrub) helped me out here, but there are many sources for these adapters. The adapters for the oil coolers are M22 to -8, and I'll have to look up the banjo bolt size. The banjo bolt seals with Dowty washers to the bolt itself.

- I need tools. Specifically, I need something to put in the vice to hold the fittings for installation. I got these -


$10, free shipping with Amazon Prime, and they work GREAT. I also found other good uses for these, more on that later.

- I need some way to secure these lines. Like I stated, I want a bulletproof setup, that means no lines flopping around or rubbing stuff. I got some 5/8" cushion clamps from McMaster-Carr, part number 3225T5. These loop around the hose and have a mounting hole perfect for a 10mm bolt. I also got some double-line plastic clamps to hold the lines together relative to each other, again McMaster part number 77429K45.


OK, so I have a giant pile o' goodies, now what?

The lines are super easy to assemble. Unscrew the two halves of the fitting, push the end of the hose into the outer fittings (it should push in nice and easy) and secure that end in the vice with the vice adapters. Dunk the other half of the fitting in clean motor oil to lubricate, then insert and tighten until flush. Here's a video that will give you the idea -


So, what's the whole procedure? Let me break it down.

- Remove old oil cooler line assembly. Remove short oil cooler line from front cover.

- Install banjo bolt adapter, banjo bolt, and Dowty washers on front cover.

- Remove both stock oil cooler adapters from the passenger oil cooler. Remove the inboard (the outlet side) adapter from the driver's side oil cooler.

- Install the -8 adapters on the stock oil coolers

- Install the 3 45 deg. -8 adapters loosely by hand on the oil coolers with the angle pointing toward the engine

- Install the 90 deg. -8 adapter to the banjo bolt

- Measure out the length of the hose you need. You'll go from the inside fitting of the driver's cooler to the inside fitting of the passenger cooler, then the outside fitting of the passenger cooler to the front cover.

- After measuring, cut the hose to length. I just used some tin snips, worked fine and gave a clean cut.

- Take all the AN fittings with you to the bench. Put the outer sleeve on so the end of the hose is fully inserted and MARK THE HOSE with a silver Sharpie. This will insure it doesn't push back when you install the inner fitting.

- Lube the inner fitting with clean motor oil (I filled a spray paint cap and dunked it in) and start threading it in.

- Clamp the outer fitting in the vice adapter. Screw the inner fitting in until it's flush or won't move any more.

For the final step, I wanted to pressure test my setup to make sure I did it right. I found this -

AN Lines Pressure Tester

A -8 line pressure tester! Real simple, plug one end of the line up with their plug, screw the other end in with the valve stem, put a tire chuck on your air compressor, and fill with air. I've tested the lines I've made at 120 psi, no leaks or problems. When I get the lines permanently installed on the coolers, I will test again. Real easy way to get peace of mind here.

So, that's a lotta typin'. I wanted to document this process to make it easier for others (Ericsworld/Grandmighty, you there? ) since I had to go through a LOT of fiddling and research to get a good setup. I'm happy with the final results but I have yet to run the car, so we'll have a further verdict down the road.

And I have one more bit for you guys, it'll be a little later today!

Dale

estevan62274

iTrader: (32)

Less typing and more working.....

DGRR 2013 is months away






.

Farkel

iTrader: (19)

Thanks for the write up Dale! And here I was thinking I could just take the easy route and leave my oil hard lines alone... but this seems straightforward enough that I may just have to try it in the future

Good choice on the Red Horse stuff, I'm actually using their pushlock fittings for my fuel hoses. Do you by any chance have examples/part #'s to the adapters required to hook up the hoses to the front cover + oil coolers?

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

The oil cooler adapters are M22 adapters, I think Setrab makes them. The banjo bolt adapter is for an 18mm banjo bolt to -8.

I've heard many people have gotten them from British American Transfer but I do believe you need to call them up, they don't have much of a web presence. These I got from Scrub as a favor.

Oh, and the crush washers for the banjo bolt. I got Dowty washers, which are crush washers with a rubber seal on the inside. They seal up very well and are designed for oil cooler lines and the like. They're not super cheap, but you just need 2.

I'll do another smallish update tonight!

Dale

GoodfellaFD3S

iTrader: (213)

As usual, Dale's posts make me feel all buzzy in my pants

FYI, I was able to leave my OEM R1 oil cooler hard lines installed by persuading them to slightly move rearward. I wasn't running A/C or P/S however.

See ya on the Dragon, my friend the Tree

RENESISFD

iTrader: (13)

That Stillway elbow is a real nice piece, much better than the Greddy one, wish I had one.

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

The only downside with that Stillway elbow is that it is a VERY rough and porous casting. I've spent a lot of time sanding it down to get it smooth enough for a paint job.

Hopefully this weekend will be PAINT DAY. I bought a pint of Satin Silver at the local autobody store today. More on that later!

OK, on for your daily dose of goodness....

So, the AC compressor and power steering pump look kinda ratty and crappy. And, the power steering bracket is the same. This just won't do!

So, AC compressor first. I have posted up fairly recently about how easy it is to remove the front pulley. The pullies typically get all rusty and junky looking.

Real easy to fix - one 10mm bolt in the center, remove the inner pulley, then a snap ring holds the outer pulley on. To break it down further, I unplugged the wiring from the compressor and undid the ground screw. One more snap ring removes the large black magnet and you're good to go.

I found some rubber plugs that fit snugly in one of the refrigerant holes in the compressor. The other hole I used a short piece of fuel hose and a bolt, that fit snugly. Cleaned it good with brake cleaner and a brush, masked off the machined surface at the front the pullies attach to, then primed and painted.

For paint I used a bronzish gunmetal Duplicolor engine enamel. I really like the color and I'm painting a darker shade on parts that are lower in the engine bay and going lighter higher up in the engine bay.

For the pullies, I masked off the "friction" surface that sticks together when the magnet is engaged. Sanded down the rust and roughness with a Scotchbrite, used some rust converting primer, then used the good ol' MRO black paint. It didn't disappoint, the pullies look great.

So, power steering pump. Removed the two brackets at the back and slid off the reservoir. Cleaned the brackets up, shot them with MRO paint, they look brand new. The pump body itself got the important parts masked up then hit with Duplicolor cast aluminum engine enamel. I took the reservoir and soaked it in Superclean for an an hour or so, looks nice and fresh now.

The short hose going from the reservoir to the pump was kinda crappy looking. Took the reservoir with me to a local hose and hydraulics specialty shop. They found a 5/8" hose that fit PERFECTLY on the nipple, nice and tight, and is fully oil resistant. Best part was it was free, it was a short piece that was an off cut. Score.

For hose clamps, the stock wire clamps are kinda bobo. I got some good Norma Torro clamps to replace them with from McMaster-Carr. These clamps are smooth inside so they don't cut and damage the hose, they're stainless, and they slowly tighten up, giving a lot of range of movement in the clamp and insuring a very tight seal. I LOVE these clamps, I'm also using them for IC clamps, more on that down the road .

Enjoy the pics in my fancy washing machine photo booth .

More tomorrow!

Dale

CrispyRX7

iTrader: (139)

*schwinggggg*



Crispy

silver_7

I would love to see this in person. Cant wait to see everything completed also

R-R-Rx7

iTrader: (24)

haha

looking good Dale,

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

OK, another update. Sorry for a lack of update yesterday, got busy last night!

So let's talk intercooler pipes and couplers.

My IC came with the two intercooler pipes. Few problems to address -

- Blitz puts some sort of coating on the pipes that isn't real smooth, shiny, or terribly attractive. It might have looked good when new, now just looks ratty.

- The driver's side pipe is designed to go to the stock TB elbow. I have the Stillway elbow going on. I don't want two pieces of pipe there, it should be one solid pipe. An extra pipe is an extra point of failure and just looks poor.

- The pipes have rub marks on top, probably from the hood prop rod, and they're gouged out.

So, how we gonna fix this?

First, to fix the driver's side pipe. There is a good curve at the end of the pipe, with the Stillway elbow on I put a hose clamp on the pipe itself and used a flat ruler to go from the elbow to the hose clamp on the pipe. I moved the hose clamp back on the curve until I found a spot where it was a perfect straight shot. Bingo. Used a bandsaw at a friend's shop to cut the pipe there.

Then, I got on Ebay and bought a straight 2.75" IC pipe from CX Racing. They have decent aluminum pipes, they're good and thick and weld properly. Cut it down to length, took it to a local shop to get welded together, bingo. I now have one properly fitting driver's side pipe.

The finish on the pipes is another story. Worked it with 120 grit sandpaper, didn't do much. Some of the pipes have a pretty rough orange peel to that coating. So, I put the 120 grit flap wheel on my Dremel and went to work. BE SURE to wear a dust mask and eye protection, that coating is nasty. Got it smoothed down and decent.

The gouges in the pipe - how to fix that? Yep, bondo. Mixed up some bondo, golf ball of filler to a pea size of hardener and mix up. I had the surface nice and rough for good adhesion, spread it over the gouges and let it cure. After curing, I sanded down with 120 grit to get the excess off, then worked on it with a red Scotchbrite to get it smooth and decent.

I had a few small scratches that were noticeable but too deep to just sand out. I used spot putty there, same principle - put it over the area, let cure, sand down.

Finally, I coated the whole thing with high-build primer. This stuff is great, it fills small scratches in nicely and gives a even, matte finish. That is JUST what you want for a good final finish.

This week I bought the paint for the pipes. Instead of rattle can I'm using pro auto body spray paint. I bought a pint of Satin Silver with some reducer and hardener. It's PPG Shopline, it's a good, lower-cost autobody paint, and it's single stage. I used this on my old intercooler pipes and it worked VERY well, had a nice finish and held up great.

Autobody paint is a two part epoxy-type paint. Think about how hard the paint is on your car, rattle can paint just can't get to that quality because it's all in one shot. Autobody paint is mixed with a hardener that does a chemical reaction to make the paint stick well and get a good, hard finish.

I'll make a substantial post on how this all works. It's a lot more work and a LOT of mess, but it's well worth it.

Pics are -

- Pipe after sanding and bondo. The spot that's in the light is the Bondo spot. The can is the primer I used.

- Pipe hanging after sanding. Nice, smooth, satin look to the primer - that's JUST what you want. If there are imperfections there, it will show up in final coat. Notice that I've got it hanging with wire, that's a great way to work with the parts while painting. You don't want to handle them any more than necessary.

- Wall o' brackets. You can also see some of my garage . There are a bunch of brackets hanging from the shelf, all the small brackets I made that have been coated with MRO paint primarily.

If you guys are good, I may go take some pics and do a post on riv-nuts .

Dale

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

OK, I'm guessing you're being good, 'cause I'm fixin' to learn you guys up on riv-nuts .

So, let's say you have a bracket that you're attaching something to. You can put a bolt and nut to attach it to the bracket. But, guess what?



Yep.

Or, you're going into a frame rail or something where you can't get to the back side to use a tool.

Hello riv-nuts!

It's like a rivet and a nut got drunk and got it on. It installs like a rivet, but has threads inside so you can put a bolt in there. They're also called nutserts and probably some other names you don't use in polite company.

The rivnuts have serrations on the outside so as the compress, the serrations dig into the surface and keep it tight and keep it from spinning.

There are many ways to install it, but a proper tool is way better. I got this dude -


It works OK. You put the appropriate insert into the tool - M6 thread and M5 thread is what I've been using mainly, M6 for standard 6mmx1.0 (10mm bolts) and M5 for 8mm-style bolts.

So, thread the rivnut onto the end, pop it in the hole, squeeze the handles, then unscrew the tool. Done and done.

Also, you guys get a HELLA preview pic here - this is my new cross brace, fresh from the powder coaters. Notice all the riv-nuts to install Cool Things into it? Damn right.

Dale

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

Been sanding this morning, getting ready to spray paint today! Hopefully all will be ready by this afternoon.

Dale

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

Big day of painting!

So far everything looks good. I just un-masked and gave a look-see, I'm going to let the paint cure overnight before really handling the parts. But, VERY happy with how it turned out.

Painting with real automotive 2-part paint is kind of a pain in the ***, but gives exceptional results. Here's a few bits, pieces, and tips if you guys ever want to try it out.

First off, get an HVLP gun. That's high volume, low pressure. It makes less of a mess and doesn't need as much of an air compressor to run. I think in all the painting I did today my air compressor only cycled twice. Harbor Freight has a decent gun for a fair price. If you're doing painting on occasion, that's fine, if you're looking to do a $10,000 paint job, you probably want a better gun .

Second, be aware you may screw stuff up. I've messed up a few of my first paint attempts. You have to be ready to step back, sigh, then get out the sandpaper and sand it all down and start from the beginning. Learn your lesson, move on, and get better.

So, what all do you need besides the gun?

- Paint. Google and find a local auto body supply shop. They're typically very helpful, tell them what you're doing and let them help you pick the right paint for the job. They will usually hook you up with free stir sticks, mixing cups, and paint strainers. I got PPG Shopline paint, it's a single stage (no clearcoat required) paint. It comes as a can of paint, a can of reducer, and a can of hardener. You mix the paint 4 parts paint to 1 part reducer to 1 part hardener.

- Personal protection. Get a box of nitrile gloves and a good cartridge respirator. First time I sprayed paint I didn't bother with the respirator, that stuff is VERY nasty. You can get a good respirator at most home improvement stores. Adjust it so it seals up tight on your face. A dust mask won't cut it, you need a sealed respirator where your air comes through filter cartridges. Also, you will get your clothing nasty, wear clothes you don't mind getting paint on.

- Area protection. You'll be AMAZED how far and wide that paint can go when you spray it. Buy a bunch of thin clear plastic tarps, I got a 5-pack of 9x12' .7 mil tarps for like $10 or so. I duct taped it to the roof of the garage and made a square "paint booth". In one corner I put a box fan blowing out, that keeps air moving and gets the fumes out. It also helps keep dust down. I also like to wet the floor with a hose, this keeps dust down as dust will stick to the wet floor and not get kicked up.

- Paint and prep supplies. As stated before, you want a smooth, satin, primer surface to paint. Before spraying, go over the surface with a rag or paper towel with wax and grease remover on it, make sure you're wearing your gloves as oil from you hands can cause spots in the paint. I also give it a wipe down with a tack rag to make sure there isn't any little bits of dust and debris on the surface. For primer, your final primer should be a primer sealer, this will have a good surface that the final coat will adhere to and not bleed down into.

This morning I went in the garage and did a final once-over on my parts. Found a few parts that needed more sanding, found some spots that needed more coverage with primer, etc. Also found a few spots where trash stuck to the primer, hit that lightly with 600 grit to knock those trash spots down.

Once my parts were all ready, I built my tent up. I put some screw-in eye hooks into the roof of my garage and hung the intercooler pipes and throttle body elbow from those. I also painted the end tanks of the intercooler - to do that, I put some craft paper on my garage stool and set it on top of that. That would allow me to have it at a good height and rotate it to get to all sides easily.

I also had an extra thing I painted - I'll keep that as a surprise .

So, parts in the tent/spray booth, fan running, floor wet, parts degreased and tack ragged, time to go. I put down some craft paper on my work bench as a paint prep area. Took my measuring cup and marked my fill lines on the side with a Sharpie. The measuring cup has multiple ratios marked on the side, I found a 4:1:1:1 side, marked it at "4", then marked a "1" and "1" past that. Shook up the paint, poured it to my "4" level. Shook the reducer, poured it to its level, then finally the hardener. The order doesn't matter, BTW.

After pouring, you want to stir THOROUGHLY with the mixing stick. Say your ABC's a few times, whatever, you want it VERY well mixed, as part of the process is the hardener getting mixed in with the paint to activate it.

Mind, once you mix the paint, the clock is running. I think this paint has a "pot life" of 3 hours or so, you have to use it in that time. You want EVERYTHING ready to go so you can start painting with no interruption.

OK, once mixed, put the filter on top of the paint reservoir for the gun (this looks like a high-tech coffee filter) and pour in the paint. Screw on the lid on the paint, time to go.

I put a sheet of craft paper on the wall of my tent to test-spray. There are a bunch of adjustments on the gun, use the manual that comes with it to set up the inlet air pressure and whatnot. Don't get too carried away with it, just get a decent pattern coming out. You also want your first bursts of paint coming out to go not on a part, you could have dried paint or something else in the gun, shoot that out onto the waste paper.

Spray in smooth, even strokes, try and get good coverage. Let it sit for 15 minutes before giving another coat. Go slow with it, don't put it on too thick. Take your time and make sure you get good coverage.

Once you get your second (or third) coat on, let it sit in the tent and cure. Clean your gun THOROUGHLY, I use some of the reducer to clean it, that works wonderfully. You want to run reducer through the gun until it comes out clean. If you don't clean it immediately, that paint will harden and you'll have a junk gun.

After a few hours, I moved the parts out of my tent and broke the tent down (as in wadding it up and putting it in the trash). I'm letting the parts sit overnight for a full cure.

So far, everything looks good! I'm excited that I might be able to actually start putting stuff on the car tomorrow for a final assembly, maybe in a week or two I'll be back on the road!

Attached are pics of the tent and the throttle body elbow and one pipe hanging from my shelves curing. You can see the color, looks really nice!

Hope you guys are enjoying this so far, this thread as been quiet

Dale

silver_7

Parts came out very nicely...especially the Stillway elbow. Nice job. Oh, and if your selling the CSF radiator...just PM me a price.

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

OK, time for a little update.

Final assembly is coming along nicely but slowly. The "back half" of the engine bay is pretty much done, that's -

- Stillway elbow installed with AEM water injection nozzle
- AC and PS pumps installed
- Thermostat housing installed
- All pullies back on

For the front half, the intercooler is installed, radiator mounts are in, swaybar is back on, and front crash bar is back on.

I have the radiator at the welders right now, I'm having the AST nipple on the bottom of the radiator welded shut. I also had the AST nipple on the thermostat housing welded shut - that's one permanent AST delete .

Yesterday I finished up two projects that took longer than they should. First was a power steering cooler solution.

I ordered this guy -


since the stock power steering cooler loop wasn't going to fit with my current setup and it's also huge and stupid. I installed some rivnuts into the backside of the front cross brace and bolted it to that.

To get fluid to it, I bent the stock line that goes to the rack until it pointed to the front of the car - that was a chore. For the other line that returns to the PS pump, I cut it off partway up the driver's frame rail so I just had a relatively short piece that still bolted up to the car. The cut end didn't have a hose bead on it - what to do ?

This -


The Earl's ez-beader. This is the COOLEST thing EVER. Lubricate it, put it into the pipe, then just tighten it up. It spins and works a bead into the pipe. Super easy and great final result. That will insure a good leak-free seal.

I saw this on the Gearz TV originally, I about jumped out of my seat when I saw this video. It's like watching someone do a magic trick!


So, plumbed that in with some of the hose from the PS cooler kit and some hose from McMaster-Carr. I also got some more of the Norma Torro clamps to clamp it all up, these are the clamps that don't bite into the hose.

I also fashioned a cold air duct for the intake. I used parts from various junkyard stock airbox ducts that I've collected. Made one duct that sits on the passenger frame rail pointing at the intake, then another that brings air up from the front into that duct. Pointing a hair dryer at it to test, it does funnel the air up. Also made a small heat shield to keep hot radiator fan air away from the intake.

Finally, I have the oil cooler re-installed with the new lines. With the passenger cooler off of the car and the lines to and from it installed, I used my Frozen Boost pressure test kit. Pressurized it, then used a spray called Big Blu that I keep around to check for leaks. It's for AC leak detection, if you have even the TINIEST leak at a fitting it will bubble up like mad. Checked all the fittings and connections, no bubbles, I felt much better.

So, what's left? I have to re-install the radiator and AC condensor, put on the belts and hoses, the battery, and IC pipes. I think that's really about it. I also will need to do some work on the undertray so it fits. Finally, after testing everything, reinstall the front bumper.

Attached pictures -

- The PS and AC pumps all back on the car
- The duct for the cold air. Don't mind that air filter, just ordered a new one this morning.
- The PS cooler. This is looking from the bottom of the car, it's hard to see.

Dale

RCCAZ 1

iTrader: (10)

Holy ****, that Earl's EZ beader is incredible!!! Nice job as always Dale!