Operation X

So in preparation of a possible cruise, I’m trying to go through my to do list for the car. It’s mostly just maintenance but here is the details of what I want done before then.

-First I have a leaky Clutch pedal. I lose a little fluid every day. These cold mornings are starting to be a problem because it take a while for the seals to start to hold. I’m probably going to have to pull the trans and swap the slave cylinder. It’s probably will be a good time to swap the master cylinder that I have had for a long time. It might also be a good time to replace the rear seal in the trans which shows a little leakage as well. :-\

-Another problem I may have induced myself is the clutch. I may have burned it a little getting it up on the ramps this weekend. This morning it chattered a little bit. I hate to replace it again but I’ll check it out when I pull the trans.

-I’ve only replaced the shock on the side that the mount failed. I plan to swap the other side as well.

-My rotors are a little warped so I’ll have to get them turned

-My new pulse board is still sitting in the box. I’d like to get that replaced so my wipers are not a pain to use.

-I think I’ve got a set of plugs I never installed. :-\  I might as well swap them too.

-And I have a few misc other things like seals and such.

I want to try and squeeze my new headlight design in as well. The design will not be different from the front at first. I may sneak in a little appearance tweak but atm I just want to make improvements to the mounting to reduce the shakiness and make it easier to aim.

The only thing I managed to accomplish this weekend was the tunnel mount. Since Bone and I chopped my exhaust it’s been rattling against my tunnel brace, so…

Now you see it,

Now you don’t!

Well I couldn’t take it. I just can’t stand Cloth anymore.

I fixed my procar seats, the bottom part at least.

This foam tubing was too thick when I tried to force the form insert over it. I took it out and it worked out well

I also added some ducktape support inside as to help prevent the bar from pushing its way through the foam again.

Bottom Done:

All back together:

after that i tried to mount the seats using the factory rails… it almost worked.

It just sits too high and your feet are pushed up because the front of the seat only is slightly adjustable for elevation.

So I decided to reinforce my original brackets so make the seats more stationary which feels a lot better than before. The driver side is in. the only thing left is to do the same to the passenger side

It feels good to have my seats back.

This weekend I hope to get around to swapping the other shock. I’ve got another isolator to swap while I’m there.

I managed to get around to working on the car this weekend. The driver shock is in.

The isolator looked fine on the driverside but it’s replaced with a new one just in case.

There are some big hurdles in the next few weeks. I must pull out my transmission again. My slave cylinder is leaking and my clutch is chattering a bit. I’m going to make them swap it out for a new kit.

But here is a “small” to do list in prep for the cruise. I sure as hell don’t want to break down this time.

-I’ve finally decided on a sub box concept that will work for both the sub (acoustically) and my tops.

-My Seats will be going back in as soon as I fix them and fix the mounting. My driver seat in fixed and mounted but needs adjusting and the passenger seat is next.

-A few maintenance items: a couple Cluster indicators are out, wiper pulse board, plugs, and oil change.

-My push button start is on the fritz still. I’m going to move the relays and stuff closer to the actual ignition switch to help with the voltage drop which I’m certain is the problem. My battery must be getting old and the cranking voltage isn’t as high as it used to be. Cranking with the key works flawlessly so I know is isolated with the push button.

-Finally, I’ve still got my headlights to redesign. I few people have been interested in seeing the new design because it will be a universal fit for several types of light sources to replace those shitty factory lamps.

Lots of stuff to do and only 7 weekends to do it in.

oh I forgot to mention that I’ve been looking at a better way to pull the transmission from the car. There are very few options that I’m ok with. honestly taking it to someone else’s place is not what I want to do. All they will have is concrete vs my driveway unless I find out someone i know has a lift. Then maybe I’ll reconsider.

I looked at portable lifts. That was too expensive. I then looked at portable pits. It’s better but still expensive. and i looked at a nice set of ramps. several options but none that I could say does everything I need.

So I’ve decided to stop looking for something that is close and build my own.

I’m going to first build a ramp system that will have enough reach that my car won’t bottom out on the ramp yet still give me 8″ of height. this will work for 90% of want I need to do to the car in most cases.

the second thing i will build is tall stands for the tires. I’ve seen people use tire stands to lift the whole car and it looks nice and sturdy. Each tire will be cradled in a 12×16 box made from 2×4’s just like my stands I made to pull the motor. I should be able to get 12+ inches of height if I make the stands have a nice base on them. This will make pulling the transmission a little easier.

Going to grab a new jack as well. The one I have is showing it age. Its got to be 10yrs old by now lol. It leaks down if holding weight. probably going to blow a seal at some point. probably going to grab an HF aluminum one with the quick pump.

Yesterday, I managed to get a little bit done.

I got my trunk seal glued in.

Current problem:

Glue:

Dry time: Glued in specific spots to help keep it in place all the way around.

Fixed. Hopefully.

I also think I’ve solved my Push Button Start problem. We will see.

I added 10,000 uf capacitor inline with my ignition power wire so that it can help with any voltage drop that happens during starting.

I tucked my relays and stuff under the dash. This isn’t a final solution. I have to find a place in the dash to put this stuff. Maybe I’ll take out the passenger air bag or something lol.

Little bit of a mess. One day I’ll have everything looking like it was done in the factory lol.

Swapped my Map Lights to LED. It was easier than I thought.

I popped the mirror part off. This breaks a few of the clips that hold of the mirror, just FYI.

So in order to get my transmission out in the next few weeks, I decided to build 2×4 wooden tire cribs to hold up the car while my brother and I work on the car. I was looking at race ramps or something similar that would hold up the car safely and found several people that have built these 2×4 cribs.

I knew I could build them to my specs ramps and all. So that’s what we did.

I used CAD to make all my dimensions and to measure the front air scoop and bumper to make sure I would clear without needing extra lift to get on the ramp.

We got the cribs made today hopefully we will finish the ramps and then they are ready for service

First rear crib 20″x14″x12 tall.

Front cribs: 20″x14″x8″ What’s neat about these is with ramps you can roll up onto 8in tall crib. Then if you are using the 12in rear crib then you can raise the car in the front and drop on these inserts that make them the same height as the rear.

They stack nicely too lol.

So, I picked up this jack. it’s not as tall as I wanted but it’s going to be safer than the 10 year old leaky one I’ve been using. It’s also alum so much lighter.

It is a harbor freight jack but it’s really nice.

This past week I also managed to swap my pulse board.  I have a few tips for people attempting this.

-take the whole cowl off.
-unbolt both wiper mounts (The passenger may not be necessary but it does help with moving things.)
-pop out the motor to pass linkage. It’s a ball that snaps into a socket. The passenger side is easy to get to the motor however isn’t until you pull it out
-Be mindful of the hard plastic wiper fluid lines as they do break. I replaced mine a long time ago with rubber vacuum lines and plastic tees.
– When reinstalling make sure the ball joint pops all the way in. Mine sounded like it popped in but really didn’t. It wiped a few times then popped off :-\ I had to take it all back apart and do it again.

My contortion before i realized the ball joints popped off.

Old pulse board:

Also decided to ditch them stupid wings attached to the wiper arms. I still want to convert them to the 98+ arms but this will do for now.

Since the carport was wet from the rain I didn’t get to the transmission pulled. The clutch cylinder is leaking pretty good. Some mornings I can feel it pour out and the pedal becomes nearly stuck on the floor. Next weekend looks to be dry and cool. With all luck I’ll have that fixed then.

But this weekend I managed to build what I hope to be the final, final, final sub box. I change boxes about every couple years and I’m just about ready to stop doing it.

This particular box I think will be perfect. First its back where it needs to be, in the trunk. acoustically its perfect and visually it works the best to keep it hidden and out of the sun.

I’m going to make mounts for the tops to lay in over the sub. Once I can get the box mounted, I’ll start designing the mounts for the tops and then it’ll be done, hopefully, for the last time.

1.02 cu ft …. Check!

Cut to fit the car…. Check!

Second woofer is staying where it is. this box i accidentally left room for the amps on each side.

Handles for easy lift lol

Hole cut

It’s sanded smooth and time for paint. I’m probably going to cover the faces of both boxes with a carpet to match the trunk

Currently, my setup looks like this. So much space waiting to be filled.

 

 

I started to put everything back together… and ran into problems. The one amp that is covered is really hard to get the connections into and hooking up the power connections under that side is near impossible. so my hand was forced to cut it up. I thought I could manage the difficult to get to connections. However, it prove to be much harder.

Wired up:

I do have the sub installed too but by the time I got it together it was nearly 2am. The pictures were not something that I thought about taking. A nap on the other hand is pretty much all I got. lol

 

I finished the ramps finally. That really sharp cut at the end of the ramp was really hard to find a saw that could cut it.

Attached to the stands:

This weekend we will pull the trans and get that leaky clutch cylinder out of there. It’s gotten so bad that in the mornings I can push the pedal and it will leak out in a few seconds to where the pedal doesn’t even want to come back up.

I have to limp it until I get on the highway where the block warms up the trans a bit and the seal starts to work. 5 mine drive down the highway and I have a clutch pedal again. The cold mornings are rough.

 

I always love progress.

Let’s start with my T-tops. They now have a new home.

They will tilt up for easy lock and unlock.

I’m glad that’s figured out at least. Of course I’ve got some tweaks to do but its cruise ready that was the goal.

Now the hard part, pulling the transmisison.

New ramps hard at work:

It’s always nice to see the B&M. I’m like “hello friend!”

Getting older sucks. 5 years ago I could have pull this thing out in under 2 hours. now it takes like 5. Gravel sucks. No lift sucks. I know one thing, a lift will be in the garage. That’s for damn sure. IDK how I’ll afford it but I’m going to have a lift.

The transmission is out and as suspected the clutch fluid is still dripping out.

After like 2-3 hours of searching I finally found that damn bearing. Shoutout to Jim!

And what do i find right next to it? The other thing I was looking for.

Oh and another maintenance thing as well as the complete mount for the gopro for the cruise.