TSG's Unified Fleet Thread

[thesameguy]

Oddly, I have never liked the Stones or the Beetles or Zeppelin. In fact, I mostly hate them. :P

[George]

What do you prefer?

I'll guess L.A. Skateboard Punk. :cool:

[Kchrpm]

He wants that weird, wacky, Burning Man music. I don't even know what it is, but I'm sure it's hip.

[thesameguy]

I'm all over the map - I can't stand pop-country and that weird modern pop that is like a hybrid of R&B and EDM and not very interesting, but everything else is fair game. Those three bands aren't the only bands I don't like, but they are three stand-out, hugely popular bands that I don't like. :)

I think I will make a What Are You Listening To post.

[George]

I don't know much about Burning Man either, but I always assumed that was a jam-band festival. You know, Phish, Widespread Panic, Further, Gov't Mule, Phil Lesh & Friends, and any band with Warren Haynes and/or Jimmy Herring. :lol:

[thesameguy]

Burning Man is about 75% EDM, and 25% other stuff. There is about no hippie music to speak of. Hippies are generally frowned upon - it's not a Dead show (I don't like them them, either!), it's an art & engineering festival. :)

[Random]

...with naked people.

[thesameguy]

YES!

[thesameguy]

... and then there were... I dunno. But I sold the diesel Suburban. #cryingsoftly

[Godson]

:(

[novicius]

End of a couple of eras. :toast:

[thesameguy]

As it said in the ad:


I am the second owner - I bought in 2005 from the original owners who are good friends of mine. I have been involved with this truck since 1989 when I learned to drive. I've been everywhere in it as a passenger and as a driver and it kills me to even consider selling it.

The guy who bought it seems really cool - he came out to look at it last week and we ended up talking about random car stuff for three hours. He wants to build it into a monster, which I kinda support. He has a plan and he has the funds, so I'm confident it'll get done and not end up torn apart and scrapped. That's really all I care about.

I haven't felt this way since I sold the '85 745t, which was the first car I ever drove. It was crazy hearing someone else start it up and drive it away. 25 years gone like that. In a strange way it's a relief because I don't have to fret about whether or not to sell it, it's just done.

Falcon is sadly next on the chopping block. I've got a few people scheduled this week to come look at it. I am debating on whether to sell the Jag or not - the '99 Suburban simultaneously fills the "something newish with AC" and "tow vehicle" requirements, so the Jag is largely redundant.

[thesameguy]

The Fiero apparently didn't learn the Suburban's lesson about what happens to vehicles that I have needs I can't be arsed to address, and left me stranded in yuppieville today. It spontaneously sputtered and died, leaving a strong gas smell that made me pretty sure it was the ignition control module that kicked the bucket. My diagnosis seemed confirmed when an hour later it started right up again. Of course it only drove about five miles before dying for realz, but that's consistent with an ICM failure.

No matter, an ICM is a five minute job with a screwdriver, so I replaced it on the side of the road. While I was in the area, I was shocked to find EVERYTHING BROKEN. Both connectors on the coil are shattered, one connector to the ICM is broken, the coil HT terminal is significantly corroded, one screw on the distributor cap is shredded so the cap only has one screw, and there was only one screw holding the ICM down with zero thermal paste on it. Total class act back there! I should never have taken for granted that the shop that did the engine swap (3.4pr, before I owned it) was worth a crap.

Unfortunately, the new ICM did not fix the issue, it still won't start. Definitely seems to be a coil issue as there is no sign of spark, so it could the ignition coil or the pickup coil on the distributor. Or maybe a second bad ICM. Too much for me to handle, so I called AAA. While dude was loading it up on the flatbed, I noticed one wheel stud in each of the rear wheels is broken off, so I'm down two studs and two $5ea lug nuts. :hardcore: #studscanthandlethegs

I probably could be irked, but honestly I have had 2.5 years of totally trouble free motoring in 30 year old Pontiac, so whatevs. Time to place a rockauto order I suppose. But I really, really do not want to replace the spark plugs. Ugh.

[thesameguy]

So, the ignition coil looks good - Primary Resistance is 0.7-0.8 ohms, bouncing around a little. Secondary resistance is 5.8kohms. It's an MSD coil, so spec is a little off from a factory coil, but still within reason. The pickup coil not so much - resistance between the terminals is 23mohms... like, 23,000 ohms. Spec I believe is ~1ohms. So, it's a little off. :) It's actually really off:

http://sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/fiero_broken_pickupcoil.jpg

There is also this fun bit on the distributor cap (notice the bottom screw):

http://sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/fiero_broken_distcap.jpg

And this stuff on the ignition coil:

http://sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/fiero_broken_coilconn.jpg

And, just for grins I've got one of these on each side:

http://sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/fiero_broken_wheelstud.jpg

Does anyone have any experience with Cardone new or reman distributors? About $70 buys a reman distributor that includes a new ICM, cap, rotor, and pickup coil. Seems like not a bad deal. I mean, the parts are a little more than half that, but having everything just show up ready to plop in seems like not an all bad deal.

[Godson]

My limited experience is that they work...

[JoshInKC]

Yeah, back when I was selling parts at least (~15 years ago? Jesus...) A1 Cardone was the good, reliable, reman brand with good warranty support. I would generally trust them.
We generally didn't see many more out-of-the-box failures with them than we did newly manufactured parts like ac-delco or bosch.

[thesameguy]

Good to hear - I think that's what I am going to do. $70 gets a new distributor with a new ICM, cap, rotor, and pickup coil. I guess I already have a $40 ICM I won't need, though. Whatever. $70 to not have to mess with roll pins and drifts and tolerances sounds like win. The alternative would be Delco at $120 - it's a big gap for an uncertain advantage, and at $120 it'd be way cheaper to rebuild mine.

[thesameguy]

I ordered the Cardone from Amazon. It was $7 more than rockauto and there's tax, but OTOH rockauto was $9 for ground shipping, so about a wash. I will still need to replace some connectors (and some wheel studs), but I just want to get the car back to running and this is - in theory - the silver bullet.

[thesameguy]

Cardone distributor looks to be of impeccably low quality, which is what is expected for $70. Not sure the shaft rides on a bearing - seems more like luck or something. I've heard the ignition modules typically only last a couple months, but since it'll take another year to rack up most peoples' "couple months" of driving, I'm not too worried. I'll carry a spare - it's a few minutes and four screws to change. The only important thing is that it does run the car, so I'm happy with it. Need to put together an order for new wheel studs, plugs, plug wires, and some plastic connectors to get it back on the road, but at least I don't have to push it around the driveway. ;) :up:

[thesameguy]

Rebuilt the front caliper on the XR4Ti - it was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Took maybe twenty or thirty minutes. I'll post pictures later on in case someone might wanna try it on their bananamobile. :D

Unfortunately, the caliper does not seem to be the problem. I was working fine before I rebuilt it, and it's working similarly fine now. However, the car is still pulling under brakes *and* seems to have developed a general pull to the right to boot. Investigation revealed yet another thing for me to be embarrassed about: Since I bought this car I believed the PO had installed poly bushings on the front suspension, because there are bright yellow poly bushings on the driver's side. Guess what? Passenger side is still freakin' rubber! What kind of numbskull puts poly bushings on only one side of a car??? Well, I know who. :lol: The rubber outer LCA bushing is totally wrecked, so I'm thinking that might be the source of my pull. Pricing out a lot of poly right now... Got $3k wrapped up in the dog and another $1k-$2k on the horizon, so the XR may have to go back to sleep for a while. :sadbanana:

[novicius]

Yeah show me dem pics first! ;)

[thesameguy]

it'll be a while before the photographs are developed, but basically -

1. Loosen the two bolts on the sliders - it's a 13mm hex and a 16mm open end wrench to hold the slider
2. Get a small clamp/spreader from Sears, and undo the banjo bolt on the brake line. Use the clamp on the banjo to keep the fluid in.
3. Remove the two bolts on the sliders, pull out the caliper
4. Put a block of wood in the caliper where the brake pads would go, and use compressed air in the hydraulic port to blow out the pistons.
5. Remove the dust boots and use a small pick to pull out the two seals in the piston bores.
6. Lube up the new seals with brake fluid, fit them in the bores.
7. Fit the new dust boots to the bore, and lube in the inner lip with brake fluid
8. Lube the new pistons with brake fluid
9. This is the worst part: Wrangle the pistons into the dust boots. Small fingers would help, I don't have them. Start near the caliper bridge and work around the outside. The Centric boots I used seemed quite nice - very stretchy! Easy to manhandle without damaging them. Make sure you get the piston the right way - the hollow bit faces outside, you can clearly see the recess where the other end of the dust boot sits. If you don't get it on the first try, I'd recommend and going back and re-lubing the seals with brake fluid to keep them damp.
10. Once the dust boot has its mouth around the piston, seat the piston in the bore. It will not want to go. Place something thin and sturdy (I used a small square of 1/8" steel) on the piston, and use the spreader to gently drive the piston into its bore. Be sure you drive it in straight. I'd recommend only a couple turns at a time with the spreader, then remove it and wiggle the piston around by hand a little. Rinse, repeat. After the piston passes the seal it should ride home easily.
11. Repeat on the other piston.

Basically you need two unusual tools - brake caliper spreader and a spreader/clamp - plus a block of wood and a piece of metal. I think the parts are about $12 per side. Two pistons, one seal set.

[thesameguy]

Does this work?

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=761A647D1BA02FAC!2635&authkey=!AHVw_BRpFRSRl58&v=3&ithint=photo%2cjpg

[speedpimp]

Yes it does.

RE: only replacing one side bushings.
I'm of the mindset that if something is going out on one side it's always best to replace the other side as well, just to be one step ahead.

[thesameguy]

Definitely. It's exceptionally nuts to only do one side with a totally different material. Especially on an old Ford with crappy front suspension as each link plays a significant part in geometry control. They car would literally have one side doing one thing, and the other side doing something else.

I am increasingly amazed at all the things I never noticed. Heh.

[KillerB]

"Photographs are developed"

O_o

[Godson]

I think that was sarcasm for getting them uploaded and posted.

[thesameguy]

1. Get a small clamp/spreader from Sears, and undo the banjo bolt on the brake line. Use the clamp on the banjo to keep the fluid in.

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/mustangbrakes/mustangbrake1.jpg

2. Loosen the two bolts on the sliders - it's a 13mm hex and a 16mm open end wrench to hold the slider

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/mustangbrakes/mustangbrake2.jpg

3. Remove the two bolts on the sliders, pull out the caliper
4. Put a block of wood in the caliper where the brake pads would go, and use compressed air in the hydraulic port to blow out the pistons.

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/mustangbrakes/mustangbrake4.jpg
http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/mustangbrakes/mustangbrake3.jpg

These are all four of my pistons. The first pic is of the driver's side, which was functionally less bad. Visually, I can't tell the difference!

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/mustangbrakes/mustangbrake5.jpg
http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/mustangbrakes/mustangbrake6.jpg

5. Clean up the piston bores - you'll surely find crappy old fluid trapped in there. It's worth noting that these brakes were fully flushed not 500 miles ago. The sludge that's in there survived a pressurized flush. No wonder the pistons ultimately fail.

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/mustangbrakes/mustangbrake7.jpg

6. Remove the dust boots and use a small pick to pull out the two seals in the piston bores. You'll note the bores became suddenly very dirty. That's because these specific calipers have been sitting in the garage for four months. :lol:

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/mustangbrakes/mustangbrake8.jpg
http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/mustangbrakes/mustangbrake9.jpg

7. Lube up the new seals with brake fluid, fit them in the bores.
8. Fit a new dust boot to one bore, and lube in the inner lip with brake fluid
9. Lube the new pistons with brake fluid
10. This is the worst part: Wrangle the pistons into the dust boots. Small fingers would help, I don't have them. Start near the caliper bridge and work around the outside. The Centric boots I used seemed quite nice - very stretchy! Easy to manhandle without damaging them. Make sure you get the piston the right way - the hollow bit faces outside, you can clearly see the recess where the other end of the dust boot sits. If you don't get it on the first try, I'd recommend and going back and re-lubing the seals with brake fluid to keep them damp.
11. Once the dust boot has its mouth around the piston, seat the piston in the bore. It will not want to go. Place something thin and sturdy (I used a small square of 1/8" steel) on the piston, and use the spreader to gently drive the piston into its bore. Be sure you drive it in straight. I'd recommend only a couple turns at a time with the spreader, then remove it and wiggle the piston around by hand a little. Rinse, repeat. After the piston passes the seal it should ride home easily.
12. Repeat 8-12 on the other piston.

Basically you need two unusual tools - brake caliper spreader and a spreader/clamp - plus a block of wood and a piece of metal. I think the parts are about $12 per side. Two pistons, one seal set per caliper.

I am going to order another rebuild kit here in the next couple weeks to put my spare caliper back together, so I'll get pics of that then.

[thesameguy]

Received parts for the Fiero today - various replacement connectors, new spark plugs, new spark plug wires, and new wheel studs. Got the ignition system done. I had expected total disaster on account of the available room on the front three cylinder:

http://sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/fiero_sparkplugclearance.jpg

There is basically none. But it wasn't bad at all! I've definitely enjoyed way worse efforts.

The plugs that came out looked, well, totally shitty.

http://sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/fiero_oldsparkplugs.jpg

Tomorrow I will do the wheel studs, which will begin what I hope to be another full year of totally painless midengined Americana.

[Random]

The plugs that came out looked, well, totally shitty.

http://sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/fiero_oldsparkplugs.jpg



Yuck!

Was the engine pressure washed at some point? That is a ridiculous amount of rust. :|

[thesameguy]

I would have blamed the rust on the bad drainage off the rear deck, as it tends to roll off the front and right onto the engine. It typically rusts out the exhaust manifold, but being California it may just rust where it pools around the spark plug wells. There was actually a weird recall in the '80s to remove the weatherstripping that would prevent this behavior - it was removed to improve cooling IIRC. So, you get overheating or rust, your choice. :lol:

That said, I don't understand why one of the rear bank also rusted. The whole thing could actually be really old spark plug wire boots collecting water and causing rust. The three in the front obviously get hammered from trapped heat, and the one rusty one in the back coincided with the worst boot. Hopefully the fancy new Taylor wires with silicone boots will help keep moisture out longer.

Of course, it really doesn't matter. The chances of me having this car and that engine being in it in seven years (last time the plugs were changed) is about nil. I am actively shopping for Pontiac G6s to donate an engine & 6-speed.

[thesameguy]

Ok, so maybe there is some sort of omnipotent force out there in the universe. If the Fiero's pickup coil hadn't failed, I might never have noticed the broken wheel stud until something bad happened. If I hadn't fixed the broken wheel stud, it might have taken something very bad happening to find this:

http://sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/fiero_badbrakehose.jpg

Both sides are the same, totally frelled. :down:

I did get all the studs changed, though. It was more work than I thought it was going to be, less than it might have been. As always, manufacturers make zero provision to replace wheel studs without removing the whole hub. A tiny little notch anywhere on the bearing carrier would allow the new stud to slip in, but nooooooooooo.... take the whole bearing carrier off just for grins.

Fortunately on this car it's just a cartridge so it's the axle nut and three bolts. Not awful. I used my handy ball joint tool to remove the old studs

http://sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/fiero_studremoval.jpg

Most were in ok shape, but two totally shattered. I am positive the 8^(&*$# place that replaced the rear tires grotesquely overtorqued the nuts. I had to stand on a breaker bar to remove more than one of them. I really want to support this place - they are friendly, locally owned, and nearby - but I've about had it with their shit quality control.

http://sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/fiero_allbrokenstuds.jpg

My handy Lisle wheel stud installer put new ones in with zero fuss

http://sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/fiero_studinstall.jpg

Took about an hour per side. Could have been way worse. A couple specialty tools and copious air power made it pretty painless.

http://sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/fiero_rearstudfinished.jpg

Er, a couple specialty tools, air power, and copious Rockstar made it pretty painless.

Now I get to go hunt for new brake lines. I will probably cheap out and buy factory rubber ones, but if I can find braided stainless at a decent price, I'll do that.

Edit: I am also considering the possibility of a rear brake swap. There are numerous kits out there put 10"-13" brakes on the back of this car. I'd consider something like that if it isn't bank-breaking. Working new calipers, pads, and rotors into the hose swap isn't totally dumb... fewer openings of the hydraulic system would be ok by me.

[thesameguy]

I was able to further thin my wretched excess of computer crap and put the proceeds to new poly (Powerflex) bushings for the XR4Ti to go in the new Moog LCAs. If you have a sec, pray to whatever god you believe in that these parts *finally* wrap up the XR for a while.

[thesameguy]

And $50 off a $125 purchase at AAP makes stainless steel brake lines for the Fiero and some leak finding dye & cleaner pretty affordable... :up:

[thesameguy]

Nothing like buying new parts and throwing them away - as I did with some brand new bushings.

Out with the old:

http://sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/xr_lca_poly1.jpg

In with the new:

http://sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/xr_lca_poly4.jpg

Sadly the balljoints on the XR's LCA are not replaceable, the only way to get new ones is new LCAs. Since I did not want to take things apart and find out I have wrecked balljoints, I decided to just get new ones and dismantle them. C'est la vie.

Installation hopefully tomorrow afternoon!

[thesameguy]

Oh, and in case anyone ever wondered, this is what Lojack looks like...

http://sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/lojack.jpg

[thesameguy]

Seems like maybe there was something wrong with the old bushings:

http://sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/xr_lca_poly5.jpg

Fortunately it's all pretty again!

http://sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/xr_lca_poly6.jpg

Once it cools down I am going to replace the rear diff mount as it's falling apart too. I hope that's it.

[Godson]

My favorite thing is new suspension components.

[thesameguy]

It's so nice when it's done, but it's SOOOO MUCH EFFORT for something you really don't get to see. The XR is pretty straightforward all said and done, but it was still three hours for dumb little colored circles.

Got the rear diff mount replaced, and since that means freeing the diff cover I changed the diff oil too. The diff oil was in no better shape than the mount...

http://sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/xr_diffgarbage.jpg

[novicius]

Gross. ;)

[Godson]

:lol: I like the small things that can't be seen, but can be felt.

[thesameguy]

Based on how the cover was sealed to the housing, I think it is very likely that oil is original to the car. That's 30 years and nearly 300,000 miles on the same quart and a half of oil. :up:

[Random]

Tasty.

[thesameguy]

Made significant progress on the parts Jag in the last week - there ain't much left of it at this point. What's still left to consider are door parts (locks, windows, etc.) and dash parts, but I'm not sure how useful any of that stuff is. Still considering, but I'm hoping I can get someone to haul it away on July 3rd since I have that day off. Tomorrow someone is ostensibly coming to pick up the engine, which will pay for the whole car, the tow to my place, and then some. It'll literally be the sole part I've sold off the car. Gotta get going on that - there is a mountain of stuff I have absolutely no use for! Tonight I'll get it out of the garage and post a picture. Sad stuff - not only because it was a nice car that is just a wreck now, but also the sheer amount of stuff that's still getting thrown away. :(

[thesameguy]

You may recall from the last installment seeing that the bores of these calipers were corroded from sitting. 600 (or finer) grit sandpaper cleans them up nicely and leaves a nice finish behind. It's no problem to polish the bores as the only thing that does any work in a caliper is the seal. So, stay away from the grooves where the seals lives. :)

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/mustangbrakes/mustangbrake10.jpg

Clean out the bores with brake cleaner to ensure no particles get left behind, then install the seals. Lubricate the with brake fluid to ease installing the pistons.

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/mustangbrakes/mustangbrake11.jpg

Lube up a piston.

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/mustangbrakes/mustangbrake12.jpg

Install a dust boot on the piston, and work the dust boot into its groove. Once you have it seated, tug gently on the piston to ensure you have a good seat.

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/mustangbrakes/mustangbrake13.jpg

Use a caliper spreader and something along the face of the piston to slowly & gently drive the piston home. Keep it straight, you don't want to wreck the seal.

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/mustangbrakes/mustangbrake14.jpg

Repeat on the other side, then done!

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/mustangbrakes/mustangbrake15.jpg

[thesameguy]

Dragged the parts jag out of the garage on Saturday so I could load up its engine in the back of a Escalade. Happy to have it out of the garage, happier to have paid for the entire cost of the car in one transaction. :up:

I'm going to stare at what's left of it for a week or so and be sure I don't want anything else from it, then have it hauled off. There isn't much left, but you never know.

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/partsjag/partsjag1.jpg

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/partsjag/partsjag5.jpg

[KillerB]

That piece of wood trim on the dash has got to be good for something.

[Random]

Assuming it's wood.

[thesameguy]

It is wood, adhered to a plastic mounting backing. It's part of the airbag module which a) I don't want to remove because it's a pain, and b) because it's a pain I'm not sure anyone would ever replace the piece of wood.

I didn't delve into the dash at all - I'm not even sure what's really in there anyway. Back in the day there would be mountains of fun electronics, but these days all the important stuff is handled by BCMs. I think the only things in the dash would be the climate control box, the steering column motors, and the heating/cooling cores. I also left the doors intact - I really wanted to remove the door lock motors and the window regulators, but since I've never seen a Jag where these things don't work I don't think they fail often. That's really it... I think.

I'm happy to have that thing out of the garage, as now I can return the garage to the state it might have been when it was built in the mid '60s. :)

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/fleetwood_falcon_garage.jpg

[pl8ster]

Any cool badges on the trunk?

I, uh, have a secondary collection of automotive badges.

[thesameguy]

There are two remaining badges - the one on the trunk integrated with the lock cylinder and one of the badges on the fender (where a Euro side marker would go). Hmmm... there may be a "XJ Sport" badge on the trunk too. I'll check it out later! Sadly, the leaping cat got ripped off.

The internet suggests I have it wrong, and the Sport badge is integrated with the trunk lock:

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NTcxWDg1Ng==/z/UMsAAOxyYSdTFFgm/$_35.JPG

There is a Jaguar badge on the other side:

http://d2kt1nelsss5fp.cloudfront.net/images/16784/product/HND5995AA.jpg?1335652394

And a leaper on the fender:

http://thumbs3.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/m4djhJ7_4BRs8t7LtJA-VRA.jpg

[pl8ster]

Well, if you wanted to give any of those up, I could trade you some license plates, if you have the inclination/space in the garage to display them.

I just checked the 'import' section of the badge collection in the basement, and only have two Jag badges...1281

[thesameguy]

That's an awesome collection! Someday you should get hammered and stick them all on a neighbor's car. :lol:

I'll see what comes off the Jag & get 'em to you!

[pl8ster]

Cool, thanks!

[thesameguy]

http://sacsaabs.org/forsale/jagbadges.jpg

The one at the top has a clip in the back to slot into the spot on the fender, the other two are stuck on. They are covered in a puffy rubber that isn't perfect, but I didn't notice they were weathered until I pulled 'em.

[GB]

Puffy rubber.

[thesameguy]

Um, a puffy rubber.

[pl8ster]

Awesome.

[KillerB]

I can identify all of those badges except the 12 TRS and the CLUB that looks to be in the same font. WTF are those from?

[thesameguy]

Same car!

http://www.livearad.ro/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/oltcit_club_12_trs-6.jpg

[thesameguy]

Got my fancy Russell stainless brake lines installed today... It wasn't nearly the PITA I thought it was going to be, and I'm glad it's done.

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/fiero_stainlessbrake_1.jpg
http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/fiero_stainlessbrake_2.jpg

I've never used Russell brake lines before, and they are kind of a mixed blessing. I enjoy that they are coated top to bottom, and that dotted line is a nice touch to ensure the brake line isn't twisted. The fittings, however, are a little lacking. The body side doesn't have a "washer" to set against the bracket like the factory lines do, and the knuckle side has an oddly cut banjo fitting. Ultimately, that's ok - what I do not like is that the factory lines have a metal part to direct the line away from the wheel, but the Russells are flexible top to bottom. This may pose a problem. and I have no idea why they would do this. Working in my favor is a much larger than factory wheel that may keep the entire thing wheel inside the rotating parts. Fingers crossed!

In other news, I am totally furious with the Jag right now. The fuel level sensor failed and tripped the CEL (wtf?) and since I've reset the light the emissions readiness monitors are taking forever to set. I finally got the 7th of 8 to set this morning after more than 100 miles of random driving, but in a subsequent 100 miles the 8th still will not set. The whole scenario is stupid stupid stupid.

[Random]

I bet if you do a massive burnout, the 8th monitor will set.

Yep.

Sure will.

:devil:

[thesameguy]

No joke, I tried that. I also tried a couple full-throttle runs to 80 to try and keep it in lower gears til redline and a discrete run to 140. I have done just about everything I can think to do to "test" a car short of high speeds in reverse. I don't know what else there is to do, what else the "comprehensive" monitor monitors. :(

[Random]

No joke, I tried that.

I knew there was a reason we liked you. :D :up:

[thesameguy]

I was sitting at a light in midtown waiting to rocket up the onramp and an elderly dude in an SSR (they are still UGLY) pulled up next to me. I decided the correct answer was a little tire smoke in addition to an expeditious merge.

The thing about the XJR is that it's just not the CTS-V, despite being very similar on paper... 3800lbs, V8, 400hp. The Jag's smaller displacement means it just doesn't have that off-idle torque so there just isn't huge burnout potential. You can definitely get some nice smoke, but not the same perpetual tire fire the V could generate. It's probably for the better, I don't need to be exploding expensive diffs or Mercedes transmissions. :)

On a side note, in parting out that XJ8 I learned something kind of interesting: The Jag does not have CV joints in the back, it has U-joints. Two big beefy Us at each end of the axle. I don't reckon I've ever seen that before.

[Godson]

U-joints are good for burnouts...or rebuilding.

[thesameguy]

27 key cycles, 300 miles, and STILL not the emissions readiness was not set.

I went off to Google and found:

http://www.justanswer.com/jaguar/5se...hallenged.html#

and

www.obdclearinghouse.com/index.php?body=get_file&id=1418

Neither discuss the x308 but they do suggest there are some quirks with the Jaguar engine management that make it essentially impossible for Comprehensive to set in normal driving. I know from experience that '96-'98 Volvos do not retain emissions readiness status between key cycles... every time you start the car, they have to reset. As such, they're exempt from the OBD2 portion of the smog test in California. These two facts made me wonder if maybe the Jag had a similar impossible to meet criteria that might exempt it. While there are broad exemptions that apply to everyone (like the evap monitor exemption) which are widely known, the vehicle-specific exemptions are not. Only The Computer knows what the weirdo exemptions are for any given car.

So, based on fact and frustration I just took the car in and it passed. No need for the Comprehensive monitor to be set on an x308 Jaguar for a California smog.

Next up is annual routine maintenance, including SO. MANY. OIL CHANGES. Jaguar, Falcon, SPG, motorhome, and the Suburban. I'm going to wrap in a spark plug change for the SPG and a fuel filter change the Jaguar.

I also need to keep my eye on the end of August, as I gotta get some work done on the motorhome. I'm just trying to figure out whether I'm going to do it or pay someone to do it. Or not do it at all. I want to replace the 6v house batteries, all four rear tires, and I *have* to do something about the power steering/brakes. I have learned it could be an adjustment on the driveshaft brake drum, but failing that it's a power steering pump. That does not look like a fun job *at all*, although honestly I suppose I've done worse. Probably talking the difference between $1400 and $2200. Maybe not worth losing sleep or getting sore over? I dunno. I've got about a month before things need to actually happen. ;)

[novicius]

Just throw it on your credit card. ;) :toast:

[thesameguy]

For the same reason I'm not buying a $20,000 Ford, I will put serious thought into the balance between cost and value. ;)

If spending an extra few hundred bucks frees me up to do something else more useful or saves me from hurting something (including myself), then I'll do it. But if spending a few hundred bucks just means I get to sit on the couch, it probably isn't going to happen. I'm just not a sit back and relax type of person.

[thesameguy]

Obvs.

[Godson]

I'm with you. If I can net equal for the work vs my actual work. I am not touching it.

[GB]

I wish I could afford to pay someone to do (almost) EVERYTHING for me. I love sitting on the couch.

[thesameguy]

At this stage in my life I am completely ok admitting the fact that my parents - mostly my dad - totally messed me up.

[thesameguy]

Dear Universe,

WHAT THE EFFING EFF?

Got the Jag smogged and everything seemed a-ok. Then on the way home in 110 degree weather I looked down at the temp gauge just in time to see it rise pretty dramatically and flick on the red over temperature light. As the gauge is not calibrated, I don't know what the light means, but it's definitely not good. A brief moment of panic and a choice: Shut it down and back up traffic or use the open road in front of me and ease it up to speed and stay there for a little bit. I did the latter, and within less than a quarter mile the light was out and the temp had dropped significantly. I took a couple small roads that don't have stops to get to my place and I shut it down and popped the hood.

The Autel showed 246 degrees at the ECT (OUCH) but the cooling system was holding, just a normal burp into the overflow tank. What was not happening was anything from the fans. Gee, shock. I know factually they were working Monday as they ran after I parked, but you can't hear them with the engine running so I have no knowledge of them running since. Turns out one of the fan fuses had blown - put a new fuse in it, fan started right up, all good. I came back several hours later (ambient temp = 100 degrees, engine temp = 200 degrees) and started it up just to see if it was okay. Sure seemed like it. Played GTA and shot people in the face to take my mind off it.

This morning at 9a (82 degrees ambient, FML) I drove it to work watching the ECT and everything seemed fine. Held 180-190 most of the way, crept up to 205 after a freeway drive and a long stop at an intersection. It does not appear anything was damaged and that now everything is working. I checked the fuses again after parking, still good.

The situation makes me pretty nervous - I am obviously not one of those never looks at the gauge types. Old cars don't stay running if you don't pay attention. But the Jag's gauge is abstracted, everything between 180 degrees and 230 degrees is 50% on the gauge, so there isn't a lot of time between "all good" and "too hot." The fans are inaudible inside the car, there isn't any good indicator of them behaving themselves.

There's a dude that sells a little doohickey that modifies the gauges behavior so it reads accurately, but it's like $130. I really, really don't want to put any more money into this car right now. I really need to justify its existence with more miles before it gets more of the car budget. Maybe a better short term fix would be a small LED powered by the fan 12v run to the cabin... I wouldn't know if the fan was actually running, but I'd know if the fan system was working. Maybe a ScanGauge or something temporarily to read ECT via OBD2 so I'd know when to pay attention to the fans? At least until faith is restored the fuse isn't going to blow at the WORST POSSIBLE TIME?

[thesameguy]

Decided to look into those little 2 1/16" OBD2 gauges and found this:


I have an Ultra gauge for my Land Rover and use it primarily as a digital thermostat because the idiot light doesn't show shit until it's too late.

Heh.

[Random]

I wouldn't know if the fan was actually running, but I'd know if the fan system was working. Maybe a ScanGauge or something temporarily to read ECT via OBD2 so I'd know when to pay attention to the fans? At least until faith is restored the fuse isn't going to blow at the WORST POSSIBLE TIME?

GoPro + external monitor? :D

[thesameguy]

A few paypal transactions came together last night (sold Falcon, XR4Ti, and PT Cruiser leftovers) so I put the proceeds into an Ultragauge. Cost $6.82 OOP, can't be mad at that. I really wanted to justify the Jag gauge correction circuit, but it's quite a bit more for a product that only has one purpose, and I can almost assuredly use the Ultragauge elsewhere down the road. Of course, the blown fuse has not re-blown in a lot of miles so maybe it was just a fluke. I dunno, not taking the chance.

http://davidelmore.com/simg/DE13019125B.jpg

Tomorrow a tow truck will show up to haul off the carcass of the XJ8, putting me back at 10 cars (plus the Fiat). So, you know, go me.

[Random]

Operating speed governor active?

Diesel?

3:05am?

[thesameguy]

Apparently!

[thesameguy]

Just like any other 4th of July...

In 1986.

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/80s4th_1.jpg

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/80s4th_2.jpg

Representing all the great '80s accomplishments, like turbos, IRS for the masses, plastic body panels, bi-wing spoilers, and mid-engine commuters. ;)

[Random]

"Did you just take my picture?"

[Godson]

:lol:

[thesameguy]

I gave warning. Not my fault when people don't move fast enough. :D

[thesameguy]

I got so excited by the '80s I forgot the point of why I came here...

I've been noodling over the spots where the parking lights used to be on the XR - they had to go to make room for MEGAINTERCOOLER. You can sort of see them here, just inboard of the headlights:

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/xr_dirtybutrunning.jpg

I was hoping to use the space for something worthwhile but nothing came to me so I decided to just block them off:

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/xr_parkinglightblock.jpg

I was going to paint them white, but matching 30 year old Ford paint was daunting. I think the bare aluminum works ok. I'm going to leave it for now.

[thesameguy]

Also, decided to do a little recon on the Fleetwood this weekend, and I think removing the pump isn't going to be awful. With the shield removed and the wheel turned out, there is actually enough room to sit inside the wheel well comfortably with a good view of the pump.

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/southwind_ps_pump.jpg

It really doesn't look too awful in there.

Interestingly, the pump appears to have already been replaced, but I don't see any ready way of telling when.

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/southwind_ps_pump2.jpg

That QR code on the tag suggests not all that long ago, which gives me doubts about the merits of doing it again. I've definitely run into bad remans with PS pumps, and there is a dampness around this pump that could be from a leak. But, do I want to bet $100 and an afternoon that's the case here? Or, perhaps there is another cause of the groaning. I still need to check the autopark drum adjustment, so I guess there is that.

[GB]

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/80s4th_2.jpg



I like the 4th chassis from the left.

:devil:

[Random]

Also from the 80s!

[Kchrpm]

There's a something about having a blower in there, but I can't suss it out.

[thesameguy]

No pressure, we'll wait. :)

[Kchrpm]

I think three of those can be had with a blower, just the one with a sucker.

No, that's not it...

[thesameguy]

Yeah, but good effort. Now, finish strong! The Fiero really messes the whole thing up. :(

[Kchrpm]

Indeed. If it was a supercharged MR2 instead...

Pictured: two hair dryers, a blower, and a sucker.

Sucker, squeezer, banger, blower. And three cars.

At least one of those needs to be a drop top.

Two of these have a hair dryer, one has a blower, and one has both.

NONE OF THOSE ARE IT EITHER :|

[thesameguy]

Plus I'll tell you what the 80's like (obvs),
And I know what the ladies like,
Need a man that's polite, listens and takes advice,
I could be all three, plus I can lay the pipe.

[FaultyMario]

I don't get the blower reference, wouldn't they need to have a supercharger and be British for the joke to work?

[thesameguy]

Yeah, but sometimes you gotta let the details slide for the joke to work. :)

[thesameguy]

I need to find a better place for it, but the Ultragauge seems pretty darned awesome.

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/03xjr_ultragauge.jpg

[FaultyMario]

I don´t think YOU got my idea, i was merely implying she must posh up. That way YOU will be chuffled.

[thesameguy]

I need to be honest, that sounds like a lot of work. The last thing I need is upkeep, I have all I can handle right now.

Last weekend I changed the Suburban's oil and traced it's AC leak to the compressor (the seal between the two halves) - it's recharged and working now, but no idea how long that will last. Don't care, either. :) Changed the SPG's oil and spark plugs - after years of honoring the NGK Platinum tradition I decided to give a try to NGK Iridiums - so far so good. Changed the oil in the Jag and replaced its fuel filter - hopefully next weekend its new spark plugs show up and I can knock that out.

Got our Burning Man tickets from the UPS guy yesterday so that officially kicks off Pay Attention to the Southwind season. Oil and filter arrived via UPS about an hour ago, waiting on ignition parts from rockauto along with the Jag's plugs. In the meantime, I am spending quality time in its wheel well trying to figure out exactly how autopark works. Intellectually I know how it works, but it's an effing mess in there!

The power steering pump has four connections on it - fluid fill (external reservoir), pressure to hydroboost, return from hydroboost, and return from power steering. That's easy! Most of the middle works like a normal fullsize truck, with the hydroboost and steering gear daisy chained to each other. Normally, after the steering gear fluid returns to the pump, but not on a motorhome. Those get this extra doodad:

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/southwind_autoparkthingy.jpg

That thing is the autopark valve, which directs or diverts pressure to the brake. It is controlled by a smaller valve (you can see the small pipes heading up) that is activated by the footbrake. Presumably you could set the footbrake while the thing was in Drive and override the autopark. I don't know, it doesn't matter. The circuit is pump -> hydroboost -> steering gear -> autopark valve -> return to pump.

I had previously installed my cooler between the autopark valve and the external reservoir, which is dumb. Unlike a conventional power steering system where fluid circulates through the reservoir, on this system the reservoir is there as a place to fill and a place to collect the release from the autopark. During operation, there is no flow here whatsoever. Total fail! The actual flow is between the hydraulic components and the *pump* reservoir: Pump -> hydroboost -> steering gear -> autopark valve -> COOLER -> return to pump.

This is not a difficult project at all - just moving some 5/8" hose and adding some 3/8" hose. And, I suppose, dumping a quart or two of power steering fluid on the ground. The sole roadblock, as it always seems to be for me, is a stupid hydraulic fitting that nobody carries! A 1/2" NPT (cooler) to 3/8" hose barb (between pump and cooler). My friends at fittingsandnipples.com of course stock this fitting. $5 for a pair, $10 in shipping. BLAH.

I don't think my replacement pump is going to make it for this weekend as it hasn't even shipped yet, but I am going to get going on the work... I'll have some time to drain the system to minimize mess, maybe get the old pump out. Then be ready to plop the new one in when it arrives.

[thesameguy]

Maybe instead of 1/2" NPT to 3/8" hose barb and some 3/8" hose, it's a 1/2" NPT to -6 AN fitting, and some -6 AN hose with a clamp. Using $5/foot hose where $2/foot hose and $5/ea clamps where $1/ea clamps work? Sure, why not.

[thesameguy]

Found some 1/4" NPT -> 3/8" smooth barb adapters in Ye Olde Boxe of Pipe Fittings so that settles that. Two 1/2" NPT to 1/4" NPT reducers from Ace Hardware and I'm done.

Guess I'll start that drain & redesign tonight. Maybe do some more oil changes too. YEAH!

[thesameguy]

I spent all evening yesterday crammed into the Southwind's wheel well. I undid my Stupid Power Steering Cooler and got to work my Awesome Power Steering Cooler. Fluid drained, hoses run where they need to, cooler remounted in the wheel well instead of under the front cooling core. I'm thinking positive pressure from the spinning tire will keep it properly ventilated, but worst case I can make a scoop to pick up air off the road. Tonight I am going to tackle getting the pump out. I keep looking at the pictures hoping for an angle that will cut the time or pain but I'm not seeing one. Hopefully with all the hoses out of the way it won't be too bad. Wish I had a 454 in a truck nearby so I could see how the pump is attached to the block - it could be one stud on the bottom and on bolt on the top and that's it, but somehow I'm sure there's a third hidden bolt on the other side I can't see. :(

The internet tells me the replacement pump was delivered this afternoon, and that my rockauto order of ignition parts won't be here til next Tuesday, so I guess have almost a full week to work on the pump. That's cool. :)

Hey, here's a pic showing the area I'm working in, and my solution to draining the pump. :up:

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/southwind_drainpump.jpg

Praise Dog for crow's foot wrenches!

[Random]

The few pictures I've been able to find make it look like there are eleventeen bolts. But they don't seem to match up with what you've shown so far, so I dunno.. Heh.

[thesameguy]

There are eight positions for bolts on the pump, four in the front and four in the back. Mostly like this:

http://thumbs2.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mSXK50qbIiLxdjss-ceKBOA.jpg

What I can *see* is the one of the rear positions is used (you can see it in my draining picture above, at the bottom of the pump) and that two of the front positions are used - but the front positions are bolted to the adjusting bracket like so:

http://www.showcargarage.com/gallery/files/1/454MagnumInstalled019.jpg

If that's all there is, it shouldn't be very difficult to get out of there at all. I can see them quite clearly!

[thesameguy]

I need to consider what power steering fluid is going back in here, too. I am leaning towards Redline synthetic at ~$13/qt. There is also Royal Purple's at $17/qt and current GM factory fluid at $15/qt. Autozone only carries Lucas (meh) and Prestone (nope) these days. O'Reilly's still has Valvoline, but it's regular Valvoline as the good Synpower stuff got discontinued. I'll need to place an order this evening to have it in time to put it back together this weekend. The Redline stuff gets generally good reviews on various GM forums (whether it's the pickup rockcrawler crowd or the HPDE Corvette crowd) and it's actually the cheapest. But I do want the best, and two quarts of fluid is not going to break the bank no matter what I buy.

Edit: This stuff is a couple bucks less at Summit - Redline at $11, Royal Purple at $13. Except the GM fluid, which is $16. Heh. Royal Purple or Redline?

[thesameguy]

That wasn't bad at all. Two bolts on the bottom bracket, the tension bolt, and one bolt into the side of the block then the whole thing lifts out the side, no drama. However my pulley puller decided it wasn't going to play nice and it took me a little while to coax it into behaving and then I couldn't find a bolt to thread into the new pump to pull the pulley back on. Dumb problems for sure.

On reinstallation, I could not get the bolt that came out of the side of the block to thread back in. Threads looked good on both sides, so zero explanation. I found a similar bolt in the SAE hardware collection and *it* threaded in nicely so I left it there. No idea, doesn't matter. Installation was a little rough - no easy way to hold the pump while installing hardware. A second person really would have made all the difference but an hour of struggling paid off. Pump in, lines connected, belts tightened.

I put about 20 actual work minutes into it yesterday and about 2.5 hours today. There was an easy hour wasted with the pulley & bolt fiascos - so far, not a big time investment. I had to call it quits as it was getting dark and I was getting hungry. Tomorrow I just gotta double-check my work and then fill it up with whatever I am about to order. :)

[thesameguy]

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/southwind_pscoolernew.jpg

[Random]

Any rubber in the mounting points?

[thesameguy]

Not exactly. The panel that the cooler is attached to is bonded only to fiberglass, so it's not exactly a rigid connection. The cooler should be pretty well isolated from vibration. Shit, the whole rig is well isolated from vibration. SO MUCH PLYWOOD AND FIBERGLASS!

Also, forgot to share this sad sight from last Friday:

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/jag_parts_dead.jpg

[Godson]

You have any mesh to protect the cooler from flying debris ?

[thesameguy]

It's *way* into the wheel well. the front airdam hangs about 2-3" lower than the cooler. If something is in there, it's going to be a big problem for other reasons.

[thesameguy]

What's impressive about this thread (IMHO) is that it's starting to appear on google web and image search when you search for "autopark." That shows how little information there is on the web about this system!

Initial results with my repair are positive. I've not yet had the thing on the road, but in the driveway this operation sure seems like a success. Everything is working properly and pump makes no noise except a very brief (1 second) moan when putting it in drive and disengaging the autopark - I suspect the sudden big load is the cause, but it might be a small amount of trapped air. I think I don't care - the whole thing is so quiet now it's amazeballs.

I learned a couple things on the way:

1. The plumbing on the autopark system is truly insane. Placing the autopark valve higher than the pump is dumb. Placing the return from the autopark at the top of the valve is dumb. Not returning the autopark to the reservoir is dumb. Here's why: Fluid is only circulated within the power steering pump's internal reservoir, which means the only place air can escape the system is in the internal reservoir. Since the external reservoir is connected with a nearly 2' horizontal length of hose and the inlet from the external reservoir is cocked off to the side of the pump, getting air out is a real challenge.
2. The only real way to get air out of the system is to WAIT. Air needs to make it out of wherever it is into the pump's internal reservoir and then all the way to the external reservoir. Placing the driver's side up in the air will help direct air out. The official bleed instructions say to run the vehicle for a short time and then wait a few minutes before repeating, but that isn't even remotely adequate. I found running it for 30-60 seconds and then letting it sit for 2-3 hours was necessary to full de-aerate the fluid. Repeated checks of the fluid on dipstick and the fill level revealed that things settled down after 2-3 hours, but it took 2-3 hours. After 3-4 cycles of this, the primary system would fully bleed reliably. I say this because I ended up having to do this three times. Grrr.
3. Don't even THINK about messing with autopark until you are 100% sure the primary system is free of air. When you disengage autopark (shift out of Park), all the aerated fluid in the pump's internal reservoir goes straight into the dead-end autopark actuator and you set yourself up for a gigantic, annoying, bleed process. I made this mistake on Friday and ended up with a milkshake of foamy power steering fluid all over the driveway. Poo.
4. The official autopark bleed instructions say to run the engine with the gear selector in neutral and then open the bleeder until clear fluid runs. This is great if you have three people - someone to manage the gear selector, someone to manage the reservoir, and someone to do the bleeding - but I didn't. Even still, it's a cumbersome process - you are dealing with a very fast loss of fluid that you not only have to capture but a helper has to replace AND you have a pump running which is just thrashing fluid around making things worse. I did it this way last year, and it was awful. this time, I found it very effective to park the thing nose-down, run the engine for 30-60 seconds in neutral to build a little pressure up, shut it off, then bleed. Air naturally travels upwards, and the autopark actuator bleeder is at the top of the actuator making it easier. A few feet of clear vinyl tubing placed over the end of the bleeder will help you see when bubbles stop, indicating an air-free line. It took me five passes to do it this way - the fifth just to verify the fourth was successful - but I was able to easily do it by myself and I wasted a LOT less fluid, maybe 1/2 pint. I considered doing a reverse bleed - forcing fluid into the actuator and pushing air into the primary system, but the bleeder on the thing is *so bloody small* I couldn't find any hose that fit tightly enough to hold fluid. Another Grrr.

There are a few ways this system could be easily improved, *especially* the addition of a bleeders on the autopark valve at the return and the actuator feed. A few dollars worth of hardware to get air out at the highest points in the system. I am also *baffled* as to why they ran the pressure hose for the actuator along the front rail right next to the exhaust manifold, literally inches away. Inside the frame rail, under the frame rail, outside the frame rail. So many better places... but they didn't. Bah. I swear, if I ever have to do this again I'm making these improvements, or copying that one guy who used a linear actuator. That's a $200 damn-near-permanent solution, plus it means getting to play with linear actuators!

I've run the thing for about 10 minutes at a time thus far, an in 10 minutes just idling the cooler gets very warm - you can hold it easily, but it's definitely not cold. That's 10 minutes in the driveway. I can't imagine how hot the fluid must get driving down the road, using steering and brakes and holding the autopark off. Very interested to find out!

A friend of mine took my lead and just replaced his 20' travel trailer with a 35' (I think) Bounder motorhome, about the same vintage as mine and also being a Fleetwood has a lot of similarities. His has a better rear bedroom (queen bed) and a much cooler center bathroom. Not sure if those features are really worth *another* 3' of length, but I've been thinking about it. And, you know, the bottom line is that I really like this Southwind. I imagine newer RVs are nicer to drive and they probably have some nicer systems and materials, but the fact is that this 20 year old Fleetwood does exactly what I want it to in every regard. I hate having it sitting around and I hate the space it takes up but I am really starting to wonder about the merits of keeping it around "just in case" or selling it this year and trying again in the future. Unlike a lot of my vehicle decisions, this is 0% sentimentality and 100% practicality. Are improvements actually attainable?

Just pondering. Hopefully some near-future road-time to test what I've done, but first I need to make an appointment for new rear tires first. The current ones are *not* happy. :) Tuesday I get a box of ignition parts, then maybe this weekend for tires.

[thesameguy]

Someone actually did this:

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/04santafe_strippedbrakescrew.jpg

And there is no way this damage was done one time on installation. They massacred the screws getting them off and decided to put them back on, making them worse. It's like $1 to replace them WTF?

[Random]

To top it off, you don't actually need them, particularly on a car with studs. :|

[thesameguy]

Indeed - an unneeded part that when broken becomes an epic roadblock.

Whoever worked in this car was a toolbag. The engine cover was missing (no surprise) but so was most of the bracketry and hardware. Someone clearly didn't know how to remove the thing and just started taking pieces off. That was my first clue several months ago. While doing this work - replacing the wheel bearings - I found the clamp in the inner CV boot was installed sideways and thus loosely, letting grease leak out of the CV. I rammed my pneumatic grease gun (BEST THING EVER!) into the boot and pumped a bunch more grease in there... hopefully the CV itself is fine. I've heard some clicking, but only a little. I don't want to replace the CVs at all. Also, there was zero grease on the hub splines, which resulted in a little wear and a lot of rust. Total fail. I think someone did a shitty job of replacing CVs in the past.

Wheel bearings weren't too bad, thanks to the magic of the OTC Hub Grappler. I bought that thing for $500 a few years ago and have only used it a handful of times (how many wheel bearings does one person change?) but it's been totally worth it. Took about three hours to do both of them on the Santa Fe. Really a neat tool.

So far I've put about $150 into the Hyundai and it's done about 4500 miles. Kind of a crappy ratio, but when it's been needed it's been nice to have so I can't complain. I mean, I wish it wasn't a Hyundai Santa Fe but whatever. It was free. :)

[thesameguy]

Southwind is now officially "tuned up" - oil change, new fuel filter, new ignition system. If life can hold itself together for just a while longer, Imma drive that bitch out into the desert and PARTY.

[thesameguy]

Five years later I've started work on garage doors. I actually really like the openness, but it's murder in Fall when the garage fills up with leaves and I'm done with it.

I talked to several contractors and none of them would consider a roll-up overhead door due to, um, structural concerns with the building. I admit, it looks pretty jenky. :lol:

After quite literally years of research I found a solution I liked, but then couldn't find any B&Ms this side of the Rockies that sold the stuff, or anyone online whatsoever. About a month ago I found some company in Illinois that accidentally posted the manufacturer's price list on their website, so that was positive. Their website seemed pretty complete, like they were actually maintaining an online presence, so I sent them an email. Long story short, four weeks later a FedEx Freight truck dropped off 300lbs of hardware. YEAH!

These are sliding doors, like you'd use on a barn. Since I have a LOT of horizontal room it seemed a good solution. First step was to get the tracks installed, which I started yesterday.

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/garage/garage_track1.jpg

As you can see, there are two tracks. Each will hang three doors, allowing me to stack a pair and halve the horizontal space they take up. When it's done, I'll be able to open any two sections of the garage but I won't be able to do all three at a time. I can't think of any scenario where that's a problem. :up:

I'm about 2/3rds of the way done, I stopped where things get tough - the rest of the run is into the workshop where I can't use through-bolts and have to use lags. I am concerned about hitting studs with 3/8" lag bolts, I'm just not that talented. I will stare at it a while - measure twice drill once, etc. - and hopefully finish next weekend.

Some fun things about the garage:

:up: None of the three major walls are the same height
:up: The garage is not square on the cement pad
:up: The cement is level
:up: The roof is level
:up: The major front crossbeam is not level. :twitch:

I have no idea how it works, but it does. Whatevs.

[speedpimp]

Nice.

[JoshInKC]

If you're worried about hitting/not hitting studs, just do all your diagnostics (measure carefully, tap with knuckles, etc) and then drill what amounts to a pilot hole with your smallest bit. You should be able to tell if you're on a stud pretty easily, and tiny (sub 1/8") holes wont have much effect if you miss.

[thesameguy]

The lags are massive 3/8" diameter deals, and I'm more afraid of not being square in the stud.... I only need to locate two holes, and my stud finder thinks it know where they are. I am planning on drilling LOTS of tiny holes. :) I can fill them, and the garage needs paint anyway. And, really, a half dozen tiny holes is not going to make a 50 year old structure (I use the term loosely :lol:) any worse. I hope.

[Random]

Yeah, these door rails should do a nice job of squaring everything up. :D

[thesameguy]

I am very satisfied with the hardware - and very happy I just spent the cash on it and didn't try to reinvent the wheel.

I am still working on the door design - my original plan would have cost a huge amount of money so I'm looking for an alternative. Right now I'm thinking a simple frame of 2x4 with a composite ("engineered wood") skin. I have some dimensional considerations WRT to the tracks which makes things more difficult. I'm going to pick up some materials this weekend and prototype one. Definitely knee deep into stuff I know nothing about. :lol:

[Random]

Two layers of 3/4" plywood might work, with the inside layer being cut out into a perimeter frame and X. Sandwich the two pieces and glue them together w/ construction adhesive and screws?

Couldn't find a picture of what I'm talking about, so here's a teardrop trailer with a plywood interior frame that's been routed out in a similar manner:
http://www.vulcaniavolunteers.com/TEARDROP/WALLS09.jpg

[GB]

Are the tracks for the doors only at the upper edge? What secures them at the bottom? Or do they literally just "hang" from the top edge?

And... you have to make your own doors??

[Random]

They just hang. There are some locking alternatives to secure the bottom edge once they are closed, if one is worried about security or wind/etc.

[thesameguy]

Something similar to that (haven't put too much thought in yet) is the backup backup plan.

The brackets have about 1.3" of adjustment, so they can either be moved in tandem away from the crossbeam that distance or the brackets can be moved individually away from each other that distance creating more gap between the two tracks. There is some trim on the garage I'd like to clear than is 1" thick, so the ideal solution is to move the brackets away from the crossbeam in tandem. However, I could also remove that trim and then separate the brackets giving more door space, or I could pad the brackets out from the crossbeam with 1x4 or something and create space that way. I have options to build doors up to about 3" thick, but obviously I'm a fan of less work and less weight. :) I *think* 2x4+ply+trim will clear as is, but if that doesn't work I can probably build something thinner using duplex ply like you posted. I admittedly am trying to balance form and function. I don't want it to look like I slapped some plywood over an opening and called it good. :)

This is experimental, as the hardware is designed to hang very big, very heavy doors. Each hanger can support 600lbs, and there are two hangers per door. My project is definitely out of scale with the intent. :lol:

The other thing I need to figure out is how wide to build the doors. I have something like 330" to cover across three openings of which no two are the same size. I originally planned on four 60" doors and two 48" doors (a little overlap) but I am now wondering if I should make six equal sized doors. Closed up, I think it would look better and it would obviously ease construction. I just can't intellectualize whether four equal sized doors impairs the opening at all. I don't think it does since I am going to end up with about 168" of door per track, whether it's 60+60+48 or 56+56+56 doesn't matter. I think. The only side effect of doors not matching the openings more precisely would be the possibility of having more doors to move to completely expose an opening. I think. My spatial reasoning used to be much better. I think too long working at a desk has impaired me. I am going to buy 330" of 2x4 and sacrifice it so I can visualize how the doors will move. Hopefully I can reuse it in some way.

[thesameguy]

They just hang. There are some locking alternatives to secure the bottom edge once they are closed, if one is worried about security or wind/etc.

Yeah, and I am. They sell bottom guides, but that would mean placing obstacles in the concrete for me to trip on and drive over, so that's out. Instead, I think I have a plan to place "lips" on the edges of the doors so they are braced on the structure, preventing them from being blown in. I will put latches in place to lock the doors against each other so that they are heavy and resist being sucked or blown out. Wind is a big consideration for me, as the backyard takes a lot of it. That's why the garage is always full of leaves - it's precisely the problem I'm working against. Grrr.

I'm glad to have discussed this, because I think my latching mechanism would be compromised if all four doors were the same size... Hmmm.

[Random]

Yeah, and I am. They sell bottom guides, but that would mean placing obstacles in the concrete for me to trip on and drive over, so that's out. Instead, I think I have a plan to place "lips" on the edges of the doors so they are braced on the structure, preventing them from being blown in. I will put latches in place to lock the doors against each other so that they are heavy and resist being sucked or blown out. Wind is a big consideration for me, as the backyard takes a lot of it. That's why the garage is always full of leaves - it's precisely the problem I'm working against. Grrr.

I'm glad to have discussed this, because I think my latching mechanism would be compromised if all four doors were the same size... Hmmm.

Oh, I was just thinking about cane bolts (http://shop.360yardware.com/18-Stainless-Steel-Cane-Bolt-Drop-Bolt-Satin-Black-Finish-1945.htm) (there are locking versions). I would personally try to keep the opening as obstacle free as possible. Then latch the doors together for security, if needed.

[thesameguy]

The problem with just a cane bolt is I have six doors that aren't attached to each other in any way, so I'd need six bolts to locate them.

What I am thinking is this:

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/garage/garagedoorssketch.png

The grey areas represent the structure. The black areas represent the doors. You can see "lips" on the doors - the lips perform two functions - they catch others doors as they pass, and they brace doors against the structure to help prevent them from blowing in.

The two L-shaped thingies are some sort of hinged bracket to capture the doors when they are open - just lift the catch, slide the door in. When the door is moved, the brackets flop down against the structure. The center rectangular thingies are similar devices that lift to capture the door and fall down when the door is moved. The red brackets limit the doors from blowing out. The only door not "externally limited" is the right most door, but I think it will be secured sufficiently by the workshop and it's adjacent door.

You can see from my awesome Paint work that the two right most doors can stack in front of the workshop - that's the track I have not yet installed. That nets access to one port. The middle two doors can slide left or right to get access to the second port. The left most doors can slide right to get access to the third port.

I can either have the two right ports open, the two left ports open, or the two outside ports open. Just can't do all three at once. For example,

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/garage/garagedoorssketch2.png

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/garage/garagedoorssketch3.png

Edit: There is also the possibility of bolting a very short strip of something to the concrete, and then using pulley wheels to ride it, locating the bottom of the doors. Like how a screen door works, except it would actually be supporting any weight. Something that's a 1/2" tall would probably be enough, and wouldn't pose much of a tripping or vehicular hazard. I just don't have a mighty enough hammer drill to bolt anything to concrete, and frankly don't want to buy one.

[thesameguy]

Got the '80s Museum out of the way this afternoon and took a 20 mile drive in the Southwind. Not a peep from the power steering system coming off freeway offramps or stop & go surface street driving. Felt nothing odd in the brakes or the steering, so it seems the problem all along was indeed the pump. *Really* glad I did not pay someone $600 to try and bleed the system... because it's less awful than I was led to believe and it clearly wouldn't have done anything. The power steering cooler got quite warm but not too hot to hold so I think it is doing its job just fine and is appropriately sized for the task.

Tomorrow AM it goes in for new tires. They are $298 each - FML, but I've been anticipating the cost for a year and budgeted accordingly, so it doesn't hurt too bad. Considering the alternative is crashing and dying (I never exaggerate), it seems like the right thing to do.

Final piece will be taking it back to the shop that did the work last year as the transmission pan gasket is seeping, and I can't have an ATF leak in the desert. Big no-no!

[novicius]

A lot of hard work but the results sound great! :up: :up:

Now it may be time to break out the welder and make it look like an escapee from Fury Road. :D

[GB]

Now it may be time to break out the welder and make it look like an escapee from Fury Road. :D

No... EM-50 Urban Assault Vehicle

http://www.silverbearcafe.com/private/01.09/images/The_EM50_UrbanAssaultVehicl.jpg

[thesameguy]

Man, I keep reading about people with older RVs being denied access to the fancy campgrounds... I would hate to do anything to create further risk! My bargain basement Fleetwood is mighty presentable, and I'd sure like to keep it that way. :D

[thesameguy]

$1304 in tires. Ouch. But it's done, and they should never be a problem for me again. Of course, it makes continually decreasing sense to sell the thing ... what's left that it could need?

I also rebuilt the house battery cables as they were quite old and crusty. I did the engine battery cables in the spring as they were a disaster area from the factory. It's so clean up there it makes my heart sing. :up:

I bought this battery terminal crimper explicitly for the Feetwoo which I *still* haven't touched, but now having made new cables for the Falcon, SPG, XR4Ti, and Southwind I feel like that crimper was one of the best things I've ever bought. Not having to drive anywhere and have cables made when I need them is absolutely wonderful. Totally worth the price. But, I am plowing through the big sizes of marine heat shrink like nobody's business. Gotta go back to Harbor Freight. ;)

[thesameguy]

BATTERY CABLES!

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/southwind_batterycables.jpg

[thesameguy]

You ever deal with something and then think, "WTF is wrong with me, how did things get like this?"

For many, many years I have been irked at the XR because the pedal configuration sucks... the relative placement of the throttle and brake make any sort of single footing impossible - the throttle hangs quite a bit lower than the brake. You can't even get on the throttle until the brakes are fully engaged. The car has been so awesome since the Great Slumber I decided that I needed to seriously look at it - modify the bracket or use a pedal cover to raise the height of the throttle. Something had to be done.

Well, as it turns out there is nothing wrong with the relative placement of the pedals, but there was something very wrong with the ferrule that secures the throttle cable to the pedal. There was about 1-1.5" of cable doing absolutely nothing - so the pedal hung low AND the butterfly was only opening - no joke - about 20%. Full throttle on this car has been 20% of full throttle for, well, ever.

How did things get like this?

Dunno.

An oddball washer I've been saving for just such on occasion plus a tiny amount of Dremel work seems like a totally workable permanent fix. I think it's safe to say the next drive in the XR should be exciting.

[thesameguy]

Oh. Yeah.

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/xr_throttlecable.jpg

[Godson]

How's it drive?

[thesameguy]

I dunno, and probably won't for a week or more. It's trapped on the wrong side of the motorhome right now and the dog goes in for resurgery tomorrow. Ain't going nowhere for a while.

[thesameguy]

I couldn't take it. Had time this evening between coming home and coming back to work and I moved everything around.

One word: holyshit.

The car feels a little insane.

Someone on the XR forum with similar overall mods (right down to 18psi!) posted this at-the-wheels dyno:

http://uconncarclub.com/Joe/XR/Dyno/FinalPull.jpg

240hp/315tq feels a little nuts in a ~2800lb car.

To the butt dyno it feels very equal to the Solstice, just a whole lot more tinny and old. And loud. And NVH-y.

[thesameguy]

Boost response is much improved. I'm getting useful boost at the top of 2nd and more than full boost in 3rd by 4000... which, if you look at the dyno above seems expected! :lol: It appears I have to reset the boost controller. It's screaming north of 20psi in 3rd now. Oopsie doodle.

I am happier than ever that I stuck with my automatic rear end rather than switching to the manual ratios when I did the T5 swap. The auto's ratio is 3.36 and the manual's 3.64. 1st and 2nd are very short as it is - a shorter rear end would make them useless.

Man, it feels like a new car all over again. Twice in one year!

[Godson]

Hehe. I haven't experienced that kind of torque, but I know what that level of power feels like ;)

[thesameguy]

With vacation off the table, and being trapped at home unable to get garage-building supplies, so I spent some time staring at the Cadillac, trying to remind myself what I was doing when I last stopped.

I'm not convinced I quite got there, but I did make an interesting discovery... while jacking the car up the air compressor magically kicked in as if the ignition switch was flipped on. Inexplicably disconnecting the trigger from the relay did nothing, but pulling the fuse did. I need to do some testing, but I can't think of any reason this could happen unless the relay was sticking. There could be something else going on, but at least this might explain why I was having an issue with it shutting down reliably... something electrical ain't happy.

Anywho, I started making the new battery cables. The positive side is basically done, just need to noodle on how the negative works. There are almost no places on the block to bolt them to, so I will need to get creative...

Grainy picture, cell phone flash with no lights on the garage. Just wanted a photo I could stare at & think about...

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/fleetwood_battcables_bad.jpg

[thesameguy]

I decided since I was doing it right I should do it right, so some work I did last year is getting scrapped. The end result will be less wire under the hood and some better flexibility to boot. I repurposed the bracket I made for the PRM to hold a Megafuse for the alternator and then made this doodad:

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/fleetwood_fusebracket.jpg

It bolts to the hood hinge support, so no making new holes. It will help de-GM the car - that is, remove the main chassis power from the starter stud and bolt it directly to the PRM. I absolutely hate how GM used to do that, as it means important wires end up soaked in oil and cooked in exhaust heat - it's a big, annoying point of failure that hosed me on both old Suburban *and* this very Cadillac. Stupid design.

Uh, the bracket will be painted black before it's actually installed. ;)

And now I do nothing... I need some battery lugs and they won't be here for a week or two. Bah.

[thesameguy]

Took the XR up to Auburn today, about a 40 mile drive from sea level to 1400' in 100-102 degree weather. Nothing too serious. I am sad to report the XR's cooling system could not keep up. The temperature crept from it's normal 205 degrees to 220 degrees while booting it up the mountain. Not failure, but I expected more from the gigantic radiator. That said, I've always had my suspicions about the design of the thing so it's not really a surprise. The unsubstantiated "Oh, it's better than stock" never really sat well.

I'm not sure I am going to do anything about it - it does not seem to be a dangerous situation and today was kinda worst case scenario. Eventually it'll have to be dealt with, though. Just something on the long-term to-do list.

Edit: Oh - I still want to make some shrouding for the radiator to prevent air from escaping around the radiator, so I guess I should work on that and see if it actually produces a meaningful result.

[Random]

That's the first thing people do with boosted Miatas--make sure the radiator is well ducted/shrouded.

[Yeti]

Does it have a giant electric fan to go with the giant radiator?

[thesameguy]

It has two 12" fans - the entire surface of the thing is fans.

It could be an air flow issue - too much air escaping around it or not enough air getting to it, but it mostly mimics the factory configuration so it doesn't seem like either of those can really be on the table. It could be a side effect of placing the intercooler in front of it, but that is a pretty conventional setup that works fine elsewhere so it seems unlikely. The radiator is a bar+plate configuration instead of a more conventional tube+fin, and I've always wondered if there is a side effect of that design that doesn't lend itself to automobile radiators... it seems like if it was a superior design, someone would be using it. I dunno. I'm not a mechanical engineer. :)

220 is not a scary temperature in any way, it doesn't actually concern me. I just hoped for better. 80mph slightly uphill in 100 degree weather is hardly a stress test.

I did squeeze in some more tinkering on the Fleetwood. I've got a couple loose ends but I'm pretty confident in my knowledge of the basic electrical system now. I am still having trouble wrapping my head around the previous behavior:

1. Gen light not going out
2. Engine running after key is removed

plus

3. Things randomly turning on while being jacked up recently

I have a game plan to eliminate suspects which sadly involves cutting wires, but I don't know what else to do. So, I'm going to start cleaning up and then wait for my battery lugs to show up.

Maybe I will work on the XR's air guides this weekend. I've been really looking forward to taking the front end apart again, gritting my teeth to dust and praying the front fascia doesn't finally disintegrate.

[Godson]

The 911 will reach 107* c on hot days. It is supposed to be a 90*c thermostat, some people add the middle radiator to aid with cooling. I might do this, I just haven't decided.

[thesameguy]

The XR is an iron block and head so it can take the heat, but it *is* turbocharged so it's ability to quickly make lots of heat is pretty epic. I would have expected the much larger radiator to offer some improved cooling, but I haven't realized that. It's really doing no better than the stock radiator while weighing more and taking up more space (albeit space I didn't need in exchange for space I did). It's a totally lateral trade, except it allows the intercooler to fit... so, that's nice. My concern is that if it can't stave off cruising up a hill in the heat, how is it going to perform when really pushed? I guess I probably wouldn't do a track day in 100 degree weather (if I ever get to do one again in the first place...) so there's that, and maybe at 220 degrees equilibrium was struck and it wasn't going to get any hotter. I dunno. I'm just irked that "cools better than stock" claims were clearly inaccurate, and I have a system with obvious and attainable limits instead of undiscovered and unattainable limits. That sucks.

[Random]

What's the oil-cooling situation?

[thesameguy]

Big fat Setrab oil cooler. Which is even more consternating, as I've taken some of the load off the cooling system by removing the factory oil cooler from the equation.

[Random]

Hrm.

I guess for what it's worth, the LeMons car runs at 210 on the stock radiator and isn't making nearly as much power/heat. It'ii back off to 180-190 during FCY.

[thesameguy]

Yeah, it's acceptable just not ideal. On an NA car I wouldn't give it a second thought... the Fiero is always between 210 and 220 in normal weather. But when boost comes into play I really prefer to keep average temps down just a little. Especially when the high temps result from "normal" freeway driving and not big pulls or anything. Double especially on a $200 radiator. :down:

Oh well.

Had a small breathrough on the Fleetwood... I temporarily connected everything back up so I could pump up the airbags and puuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuush it back into the garage, and the GEN light came on. That shouldn't happen, because the light was disconnected from the alternator so there was no ground. In theory. Based on my Aggressive Wire Tracing I gritted my teeth and cut what I hopedthought was the resistor wire to the ignition switch. Light went out. I put the alternator into the equation and the light came on. Something is wrong with the resistor wire, which would explain why the GEN light wasn't going off.

What I do not understand is why it worked properly with the old alternator. I don't know what changed, or how it could change, but it appears that it did.

During this little push I also determined a weirdness in the ignition switch. There are two circuits coming out of it, the Ignition circuit (pink) which basically just switched the coil and dash lights, and the Chassis Switched circuit (brown) which switches everything but the lights - including the alternator resistor wire. With the ignition off, both circuits disconnect from the battery but they do not reliably disconnect from each other! With the ignition off, sometimes brown stays connected to pink. I think my backfeed situation was alternator -> resistor wire -> brown circuit -> pink circuit -> ignition system.

I don't know exactly how the funky resistor wire and the goofy ignition switch play together, but I'm feeling really good about "somehow."

With the resistor wire cut I have solved both the goofy alternator light and my backfeed scenario. What I have compromised is my alternator continuing to charge if the light fails. That should not be a functional issue as the CS130 is self-energizing with a few revs.

"I think"

[thesameguy]

Bought some air shears from HF last night. They lasted about three minutes before the air valve failed, but it was long enough to get through the aluminum that will make the shroud so I mocked a piece up.

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/xr_ic_shroudmaybe.jpg

I will make the shroud in two halves to facilitate installing and removing it without having to remove the radiator & intercooler. What there now is one half, from the back. You can see the intercooler is several inches taller than the radiator. I was originally planning to have the shroud duct air that's passed through the intercooler down to the radiator, so that's what you're looking at. The red circle highlights that duct. Now I am wondering if that's actually a good idea. I am wondering if that duct will inhibit flow through the IC - either by changing the direction of airflow and causing unnecessary turbulence or pressurizing the space between them blocking new air flow. Maybe the better approach is to just seal the gap between the IC and rad where they match in height and call it good?

Hmmm.

[thesameguy]

On a side note, for the few seconds they were the $25 air shears ripped through this aluminum. Awesome results, I'm definitely replacing them.

[Godson]

You could water tunnel test the idea in a big Rubbermaid tub if you really wanted to know the best way to do it.

[thesameguy]

ZOMG. The intercooler is 24x30 alone. It would be a very big Rubbermaid!

[Godson]

Scale it down dude. Scale it down.

[thesameguy]

I don't know how you would construct a reasonable facsimile of the intercooler and radiator. It'd be easy enough to see what happens around them, but I can't fathom how you'd recreate what goes through with a useful degree of accuracy.

[Godson]

Thin cloth of some sort might work. I was really just pissing on a light socket to see if it would light up

[thesameguy]

I like your style.

A lot.

[Godson]

:cheers:

[thesameguy]

I decided to skip the duct for now, and see if just the front half offers any improvement. Did above the bumper this afternoon:

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/xr_ic_shroudtop.jpg

It's imperfect, but there is so much going on up front with gaps, supports, and angles doing much better was not a possibility without way more tooling than I have at my disposal. I hope that a 3" deep "box" around the intercooler will encourage air to go through the cores rather than over & around. Looks crazy, but doing it in three parts was a requirement to avoid having to remove the intercooler and radiator in the event I need to do something up there. The waviness is a result of an interference fit in back, which although ugly totally solves a problem I was having with an intercooler pipe so it's gonna stay. it's all invisible with the fascia installed anyway.

I started on the bottom as well, which is a lot easier. I'm going to build in a little scoop to direct air towards the IC. The XR was very aerodynamic for its day but all the performance considerations were done on the Cossies, and I'm just not going to throw $1000 and 200lbs of plastic and fiberglass at this car when $40 and 10lbs of sheet aluminum will do the trick. ;) I may invest in some lawn edging, though. :lol:

[thesameguy]

Finished the bottom last night:

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/xr_ic_shroudbottom1.jpg

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/xr_ic_shroudbottom2.jpg

I thinkhope the big issue originally was that air would hit the intercooler and bounce away rather than go through. Now IC's core is nearly totally boxed and air is encouraged to go through and not around. It's not ideal - there is still room between the two cores for air to escape on the top and sides, I'm hoping the air guides in the front help funnel air in the right direction and the IC "straightens" the flow out to hit the radiator properly.

I have another trip to Auburn in a few weeks, and although the temps are dropping around here it should still be a reasonable test. I never saw any problems in normal-aggressive driving around town, but who knows, maybe I will still see an improvement.

I got sidetracked last night replacing a 12" section of the alternator cable last night - it was totally jacked up - but I'll get it back together tonight. I got the bits for the Fleetwood yesterday, hopefully I will have time to get them installed this weekend. Then I get to focus on putting the interior back together. Not looking forward to that, as I have zero recollection about how anything came apart. Bah.

[thesameguy]

Unrelated, my friend got t-boned in an intersection and her Focus got smashed. I am buying the salvage from the insurance company. The car is surely not economically fixable and it's in poor, poor condition, but it does have a 2.0l Duratec that I know runs, so that's something I can play with in the Falcon maybe. :)

[Godson]

Sweet!

[Random]

Some inspiration in case you feel like two Fleetwoods should become one:
https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpt1/v/t1.0-9/11181342_940818305978927_3465723714345718195_n.jpg ?oh=f2a496717bfa1838267be5ff0fbebd77&oe=566720C8

[thesameguy]

So, like, that is something I am never going to do. At least until my insurance agrees to cover the lobotomy. No way I am going out of pocket on that.

In Fleetwood news, I got the battery cables Good Enough yesterday (I misordered a stupid terminal!) so I cranked it over for a little while to get oil circulating, then left it to soak in nice and good. I am not a scientist. This morning, I cranked it for maybe 5 seconds and it fired up and set into a nice idle. Oil light off, gen light OFF. I left it idling for about a minute then turned it off with the key. GEN light OFF and ignition switch actually working are two things I could not accomplish previously, so I am 100% confident that Messed Up Resistor Wire was the explanation for all of my problems. *So much* dismantling and troubleshooting for nothing, something I could have solved with a pair of side cutters in like a second.

I'm not committing, but it *seems* like I'm on the home stretch. It is quite possible that I am back into that rarified position of nine cars all running properly and nothing on the to-do list. Again, not committing, and I'm not ready to break anything else quite yet, but it sure it looking good.

[thesameguy]

Now I gotta deal with this mess:

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/fleetwood_dismantleddash.jpg

:sadbanana:

[thesameguy]

I changed the alt & ps belts in the Fleetwood last night and started cleaning up my wiring mess. I got it to pretty good state and then got the headlight switch and ignition switch reinstalled. I have zero recollection why I removed the headlight switch in the first place. I need to get the dash vents and pad reinstalled, but I am finding it daunting. Fortunately I am encouraged by the fact it *still* starts and run, and hearing the mighty 7.0l is pretty nice. :)

At this point in time, the only difficult nonfunctional thing is the switch for the variable pitch torque converter and kickdown - I can pretty easily replicate the idle switch, but I don't know how to replicate the "60% WOT" switch. The factory switch is a multifunction rotary deal that I cannot readily apply to the Edelbrock's throttle arm. I think I need a pair of microswitches and a cam on the arm, but I seriously lack the engineering skill to do that. I may come up with something simple short term - the only thing I *need* to do is control the torque converter on/off idle and kick down the transmission "at some point" and that's just 12v here or there... but it would be nice to have it work as intended. I put a lot of thought into it last year and got nowhere. :(

I need a new AC belt (not for AC, but because it helps drive the water pump), exhaust gaskets (they're toast, and since I'm not engaging in headers right now they need to be replaced), an oil change, and I need to order some good friction tape to clean up the wiring. I think Tesa brand tape is what's used on Audis and I like that stuff. I really think that's it. It's lovely!

[thesameguy]

Also, in terms of getting back into trouble, I want to share this:

https://www.opgi.com/cadillac/1967/brake-systems/disc-brakes/CDB5017/

https://www.opgi-static.com/common/CDB5017-lrg.jpg

Someday, new front brakes for the Fleetwood.

[thesameguy]

Just going to put this here so I can stare at it periodically and infuriate myself with my mechanical impotence.

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/fleetwood_throttleswitch2.JPG

[speedpimp]

In case you ever come to think of the F eetwoo as being "too passe", may I present this (http://www.hemmings.com/hcc/stories/2008/10/01/hmn_feature15.html?1=1&refer=hccweekly) to something a little more "exotic"?

[thesameguy]

Wow, that is super cool. I have seen a few "classic limos" and been tempted by them, but who needs two? I don't know. But that AMC is just superb.

[thesameguy]

And a video of the throttle linkage for me to stare at...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXqd9BWP-y8

[thesameguy]

I have found out that Cadillac's carb switch is unique - Olds and Pontiac put the switches on the pedal or pedal linkage. Those were the days where GM divisions could choose where they put trivial functional components! Unfortunately the Cadillac's accelerator isn't similar enough to make those switches compatible (if you could even find one!), but it did get me thinking. This is a terrible mockup illustrating my idea:

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/fleetwood_throttleswitchthought.jpg

I can make a bracket to attach a flat piece of whatever to the intake manifold or the back of the head, then use a pair of microswitches activated by the arm as it passes by. There isn't much to provide stability there, and I am worried about mounting the switches to the engine since its relationship to the throttle arm isn't exactly fixed, but the approach seems reasonable. And, I can't think of anything better.

I've ordered a few different styles of microswitches better suited to this application... even if it's not a permanent solution, hopefully it's good enough for a while. :)

[thesameguy]

Look, I don't know how I made this but I did.

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/fleetwood_throttleaudrant1.jpg
http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/fleetwood_throttleaudrant2.jpg
http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/fleetwood_throttleaudrant3.jpg

Unfortunately the success of this operation means I probably just wasted $25 on lever microswitches when I need roller microswitches, but it never hurts to have switches around.

Tomorrow I will work on a prototype bracket to hold roller microswitches I don't have yet... but this is all conceptual anyway.

[thesameguy]

I am now officially that guy who wastes huge amounts time on boondoggles.

Part 1: Totally kickass control for the Fleetwood's transmission:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJepufdV1ao

Part 2: The Fleetwood doesn't have a switch pitch transmission.

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/fleetwood_nostatorcontrol.jpg

:lol:

[thesameguy]

Got some OCD today, so after sorting my zip ties I decided to replace the IAC diode on the XR to see if maybe it is responsible for my lingering idle issue. It took a while to get all the 30 year old wrap off the wiring, at which point I found this:

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/xr_iacdiodewiring.jpg

In a way, it's not as bad as it looks - those bare + and - wires were not just hanging out together in the harness. However, the insulation for these wires had literally turned to dust, and when I unwrapped the harness it blew away. You can see traces of it remaining on the wires. Scary stuff!

[Godson]

Pretty common for 30+ year old Ford wiring

[thesameguy]

Really? I haven't found anything that bad anywhere else on the car... or even on the Falcon for that matter! It looks like dirt!

[Godson]

The wiring I dug through on the Volvo had some pretty shit sections of insulation too. It was 4-5 years newer...

[thesameguy]

I got my fancy German electrical tape in the mail on Saturday, and I gotta say it was worth the wait. This Tesa tape is The Shit - the cloth-backed PVC under-hood tape is beautiful and super strong, and the fleece-lined interior tape is the exact amount of adhesive to make a good wrap without it sticking to everything. I rewrapped the XR's harness where I spliced in a new alternator charge wire and the new IAC wiring and am super happy with the results. I should have bought this stuff years ago. A put a few miles on the car, and while it's too early to say, I think replacing that wiring cured my idle dodginess. Hot restarts are clean, with none of the bouncy, unstable idle, and I have not experienced any idle wackiness in traffic. The real test will be my commute home - but I'm pretty confident. Truly, it doesn't matter - I am willing to bear a random idle wonkiness for this car. It's a damn rocket ship, so much fun to drive.

However, my motivation for getting the XR on the road is primarily the Cadillac. Although it is untested, I think the Feetwoo is officially roadworthy. Yesterday I finished cleaning up all the wiring, finalized the battery cables, replaced the fusebox, and it started right up. Spent a little bit dinking with the idle mixture before resigning myself to the fact I have no idea what I am doing, then set the cold and fast idle (650rpm and 1300rpm resp.) and, well, that's it. It sounds fantastic - much better with the downpipes actually sealed to the exhaust manifolds than without. The single v-belt seems fine on the 105a alternator and throttle response seems snappy.

I have not reinstalled the dash top as I plan to go through all the light bulbs in there to be sure everything is working before buttoning back up, but I don't need a dash top to drive the car. I do want to get new tires for it, however. They are all at least five and a half years old and none of them of particular quality. Although they've lived indoors, I just don't feel good about a 5500lb passenger car on questionable tires. Sad I missed all the Labor Day sales, but hopefully I can find a decent price on some 235/70-15s anyway. Hopefully I can find some 235/70-15s. Heh.

Gonna do some final checks over the next couple of days, but I'm hoping to be able to get it out of the garage, cleaned up, and on the asphalt this week sometime! Yeah!

[Godson]

235/70r15s should be pretty damned easy to find I would think.

[thesameguy]

In a light truck tire, definitely. In a passenger car tire options are slim. The load range is also a pretty important factor. ;) The Radial T/A is one of the few passenger car tires in this size, but it's an SL-rated 102 index... it's only rated for 7200lbs. I'm not sure that's an adequate safety margin - that's only 1700lbs for passengers and cargo in a nine passenger vehicle. Would I ever load it up like that? Probably not. But still...

Not sure how to fix this. The T/A is about the only "American" tire... I'd feel bad about putting Kumhos or Hankooks on it. Seems inappropriate. There is no other similarly-sized tire available. Going down to a 225 universally drops the load capacity another 200lbs.

Also, I'd really like white walls, at least good sized stripes.

Not asking for much, eh?

[Random]

Seems like a light truck tire might be the way to go, anyway, for load purposes?

[thesameguy]

I thought so too, but after looking last night I guess not... all the tires in this size are load index 102 whether they're passenger car or light truck. Bah. And no luck on white walls, either. Am disappoint.

[Random]

https://www.cokertire.com/tires/styles/street-hot-rod.html

edit: lube up before you click that link.

[thesameguy]

Yeah, not even gonna. I remember looking at them for the Falcon.

"Ugh."

[thesameguy]

Hmmm. Hankook Optimo H724 in 235/75-15 has a load index of 105. I think that may be the answer.

[thesameguy]

I found from talking to a friend (he has an OG Gran Prix) that Coker tires are neither load nor speed rated, "for show use only." Happily, they can be out of the equation. Not going to put a bunch of dancers on non-rated tires. ;)

There is, however, Diamondback Tires, who OE Toyo radials and put whitewalls on them... They run about $250 per, a little more than Cokers but are actually rated and intended for highway operation.

I do think I am going to roll with the Hankooks, at least short term. I can swallow a $400 tire bill, I can't swallow a $1000 tire bill right now. And I don't want to wait, lose more time, and not get to drive this thing til 2016!

Yesterday I started it up, backed it out the garage, changed the oil, and then drove it right back in. FELT SO AWESOME.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8v30UBaH-g

It starts & runs so much better than it ever has. I am guessing the carb & fuel pump had been dying for a long, long time.

I have to do some work on my friend's new-to-her Volvo this weekend, but I really hope I can swing the time to bathe the Fleetwood and at least drive it around the neighborhood.

Next up... dismantling a Focus! Bought a wrecked '05 for cheap, gonna steal its motor.

[Godson]

I was going to say something about washing that poor thing, but you beat me to it.

[thesameguy]

:sadbanana:

Felicia is a 2005 Ford Focus ZX5. Pretty much a base model but with AC and an automatic. One-owner car, a modest 120k and about the filthiest interior I have ever seen in my life. Not so bad from the passenger side:

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/05focus_dead_niceside.jpg

Sadly, she got t-boned in an intersection. Dude on his cell phone ran a red light, saw my friend starting to move, and decided his best chance was to accelerate and try and get in front of her. It did not work out.

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/05focus_dead_bent.jpg
http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/05focus_dead_camber.jpg

Felicia took the hit pretty well, all things considered. A few feet back could have been bad, but she's pretty sturdy in the nose it seems! Obviously she is beyond repair, though. So I am going to yank her motor out and see how well a Duratec can fit in a Falcon. I got her up and running yesterday and would like to see if the transmission is still good as it'd be a major cost offset. Unfortunately, when the strut mount got manipulated it ripped the transmission mount off:

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/05focus_dead_transmount.jpg

Not sure quite yet how to solve that. I have no intention of actually going anywhere, I'd just like to idle around the yard a little. ;)

[thesameguy]

Despite actually breaking the transmission mount the pieces fit right back together pretty much perfectly. I'm kinda of uncertain as to what actually broke the mount - maybe just a bunch of impact energy with nowhere else to go. Good news for me, as judicious application of a strong come-along put the transmission right back where it should be and made the car mobile again. Kickass.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fTp4OfYptE

Check out my sweet cold air intake!

[thesameguy]

In other news, a G37S cannot pull the XR on the freeway. A pretty even match, actually, with the edge going to Thirty Year Old Ford. I know it's immature, but it's nice to see long-running efforts pay off. A G37 is a totally acceptable performance target for a SOHC iron-headed four cylinder. ;)

(Had this encounter not happened, my post would be a good 5 minutes in the future :lol: )

[Godson]

Duratec in a falcon. Love it.

[thesameguy]

I am not sure if it'll be *this* Duratec as I want a 2.3l, but having *a* Duratec will give me a sense of how it fits horizontally in the engine bay. Having room towards the front opens up transmission options. :up:

I *rocketed* the XR4Ti up to Tahoe today. It was warm but not hot - mid to high 80s. The second I started the incline in Placerville engine temp crept up to 220 and stayed there. Until I hammered on the throttle in 3rd, crested 120, and it climbed to 235. Never got any hotter, though, and cooled off very quickly after I let off the throttle. I more or less stayed on it for an hour straight and there was never a problem... other than some close calls with CHP. ;)

I don't think it means anything. I am measuring at the hottest point of the engine - the thermostat housing - which isn't all that typical. I think most cars measuring somewhere towards the middle of the head. I guess maybe I am seeing more dramatic temperatures as a result. There are definitely *quick* reactions from the gauge with changes to load. I dunno... I was not being nice to it and I didn't break it, so....

It was a great drive - roads I knew in a fast car with excellent road manners. It was good timing to have to do it, and a good day to do it on. Despite never letting up I still managed like 26mpg too. RAD.

... Of course ... Now that the car is doing so well I am already eyeballing the things that have to come next. That list could be huge, but one thing I have got to do is replace the seats. They are still super comfortable, but I think a seat with less padding will net me a better driving position, save some big weight, and do general good in the corners. I am just trying to figure out whether I want to do some fixed-back seats and scuttle the rear seat.... or not.

[thesameguy]

30 miles in the Fleetwood today without a single hiccup. Okay, one hiccup: A brief panic when the LF drum became unstuck, made a decently loud TWANG THUNK and then a grinding noise for about a half mile. Other than that, totally smooth motoring and lots of thumbs up from people on the street. Yeah, I see you over there checking my ride out. STRAIGHT PIMPIN.

Put 20 gallons of $3 premium unleaded in it, ran some errands, and tucked it back in the garage for inspection. It runs so amazingly I cannot imagine I will find anything, but after a while of doing nothing I won't feel right until I do a post-drive evaluation.

I got burned in the Burn and wrangled some unexpected vet bills this year, but on the upside I got the XR4Ti and the Fleetwood back on the road so it ain't all bad. Throw in a little unexpected credit card cash and, overall, 2015 seems like a net positive.

[novicius]

Fantastic! :rawk:

[thesameguy]

I am pretty thrilled.

I am sure the car is happy losing 30lbs of dust!

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/fleetwood_2015_30miles.jpg

[Random]

Sweet. :cool:

[Godson]

Awesome

[Random]

https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtf1/v/t1.0-9/12063716_1053720207973487_8808736056903388199_n.jp g?oh=b751ffa365ee55a92bde21b49255835b&oe=565D9ECC

[thesameguy]

Look, I'm going to be honest with you..... that is every bit as awesome as T2T.

[thesameguy]

Okay, almost as awesome.

http://www.postyourlesbian.com/lesbian/albums/userpics/lesbian_girls_rubbing_her_boobs_together_8.jpg

[George]

I am pretty thrilled.

I am sure the car is happy losing 30lbs of dust!

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/fleetwood_2015_30miles.jpg

Mmm, mmm! That shore is purty! :up:

--Charter Member of the F eetwoo F n Cl b

[thesameguy]

It sure is.

Now, of course, that I'm here I will probably need to pay attention to all the accessories that don't work. Trunk pull down on a 50 year old car anyone?

[pl8ster]

What is that thing between the roof and the trunk?

[Random]

What is that thing between the roof and the trunk?

Rocket launcher.

[thesameguy]

What is that thing between the roof and the trunk?

Are you looking at the air intake for the rear HVAC?

[speedpimp]

That's what he was probably looking at.

[thesameguy]

Not perfect, but a good improvement over the stupid Y2K California plates!

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/fleetwood_blackplates.jpg

[speedpimp]

:up:

[thesameguy]

Focus threw up its engine & transmission last night. Things I thought were going to be hard were easy, and vice versa. The biggest timesuck turned out to be the dead strut, as it made removing the lower ball joint in that corner incredibly difficult. Of course, adding to the pain was the knowledge that once apart I'd eventually have to put it back together again so I can roll the car around. And I was right, that was even worse. It involved the Suburban and a comealong!

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/05focus_dead_engineout.jpg

Pulling one of these IRL would be a royal pain as I just can't see how you'd do it without emptying the AC system... there just isn't room to pull the motor with the cooling cores there. Fortunately in this situation I was able to break off the radiator crossmember (literally, I broke it off) and evac the HVAC into the atmo ( :( ) and then, more or less, the bits came right out.

Guy is coming by later to pick up the transmission, so I am 30% back to $0 on this project. I foolishly did some googling last night and found a couple places that sell prepackaged Megasquirt for the Duratec, so now I am debating whether I should buy an electrical manual and pull all the fuel injection stuff I could possibly need, or whether I should just sell all that and invest in a MS kit instead.

Or for giggles take a tip from the Locost weirdos...

http://locostbuilders.co.uk/gallery/throttlebodiesduratec.jpg

[Godson]

Stay stock. It is more than capable

[thesameguy]

Yeah, but there could be big challenges in making that happen. I don't know how integrated the ECM is with the TCM and BCM, nor do I know how adaptable the returnless/PWM fuel pump might be a totally foreign fuel tank. There are lots of variables here and nobody has done this before so it's all new ground. I'd like to run the stock fuel injection for a lot of reasons, but there isn't a lot of documentation here.

If I could keep the Focus around forever it might be less of a problem, but I can't... so I have one opportunity to grab it all.

[Godson]

If you need I can drag up some good wiring schematics, etc. To help out. SLM might have a little more access to some of the finer details than I do.

[thesameguy]

I think the FSM should have all the things I need - typically I've found Ford's electrical manuals to be very good. It's just $100 to buy one, which rather sucks. ;) And I need to do some research on whether HP Tuners or something similar supports the Focus ECU. If it does, that makes things easier as I can potentially just dial out the bits I don't need. :up:

The 2.0l Duratec is 20" long from the flexplate to the crank bolt, 25" tall from the bottom of the pan to the top of the valve cover, and 22-23" wide from the edge of the alternator to the intake manifold. Lined up crank bolt to crank bolt it reaches the six's #5 spark plug, so I have lots of room there. Lined up at the sump, it reaches the top of the carb (under the air filter) so I have plenty of room there. Incredibly, width seems to be the major issue - at the vertical middle of the shock towers I have exactly 22", and it narrows as they go down.

It may be ok, if the engine sits far enough forwards the alternator doesn't have to negotiate the shock it shouldn't be a problem. That is predicated on somebody making RWD block-hugger headers - and I sure believe something like that exists for Locosts. Moving the engine forward also creates clearance for a bellhousing, which no matter what won't be as compact as the Ford-o-matic's is. Moving it forwards also reduces the likelihood of steering->sump interference. However, I do need to sit it back far enough to clear an electric fan since obviously a mechanical one won't work.

I am not ready to truly tackle this, but I really would like to know if it'll fit. Since it's not that awful, I am really thinking about just yanking the six and test-fitting the Duratec. It's a day's work. Ish. I guess it'd give me an opportunity to replace the RMS while it's out.

[thesameguy]

Man, that VW thread got me thinking... this engine is a PZEV which means a secondary air pump and EGR, which creates a fitment issue. Worse, it has a pre-cat in the exhaust manifold and main cat downstream. There is no way I can fit all that into the Falcon. I mean, the idea of block hugger headers with an integrated cat is insane. Not to mention dealing with catalytic converter heat in that car. I could possibly buy an HP Tuners programmer and eliminate all that stuff (assuming HPT supports the PZEV Duratec), but by the time I did all that I could have just bought a Megasquirt.

I need to do some research on this general topic, but upon further reflection I am thinking the OE injection is out no matter what. I am wondering what Rangers used for emissions equipment.

[Godson]

A lot of the ford emissions stuff can be turned of via the factory scan tool

[thesameguy]

That is a $3000 problem I do not intend to solve. :lol:

Confirmed that HP Tuners does not support the Focus. It does support the '07+ Fusion and Ranger 2.3l, so I could go that direction. Meh. Not in a hurry. :)

[pl8ster]

Not perfect, but a good improvement over the stupid Y2K California plates!

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/fleetwood_blackplates.jpg

Nice! CA really wanted to make sure that the new number/letter sequence couldn't be confused with the old one, didn't they?

[thesameguy]

Yeah, definitely no possible confusion.

Honestly, it's probably for their own computer systems rather than any sort of human/visual issue.

[thesameguy]

$400 SCT X4 programmer can delete all the emissions equipment from the Focus ECM. That's cheap and easy.

$400 programmer, $800 (PUCKER) headers, $500 T5 bellhousing, and whatever fab work is necessary for the oil pan and motor mounts. That leaves the PWM fuel pump and VSS as the real remaining challenges. Although it's not money I'm thrilled about not having, this project is seeming like a $2000 project instead of a $5000 project. That's not so bad *at all*. Hopefully, the guy who did the Cadillac air bags is still around and can help with the motor mounts & oil pan. Or, there is always that shop with the sweet Magnum I can go talk to. :up:

Hmmm... I might seriously considering buying something like this:

http://stockton.craigslist.org/cto/5229578409.html

to have an actual body to mock up rather than doing it on my running car...

[Godson]

I always support the use of oem electronics. It'll be worth it in the end, especially to have an obd2 scanable engine in the car.

[thesameguy]

Totally agree. The existence of the X4 is totally awesome, and it even saves money over the MS option.

I am waiting for info back on the fuel pump and the VSS. Given those are both affirmatives, I will yank the ECU and the wiring harness (for good measure) and then offload all the emissions stuff. That could be some very good money coming back!

[thesameguy]

Discount Tires Ebay is doing their regular $100 of $400 sale. Hankook Optimo H724s in 235/75-15 are on sale for $81ea (normal price is $83ea) so four is only $324. But, the Fleetwood has a full size spare, and 5 H724s is $405. Since Discount Tire has no presence in California there ain't no sales tax either. Minus $100 = $305 delivered for five new Cadillac tires. All win.

[novicius]

:up: :up:

[Godson]

Damn. I'm jealous

[thesameguy]

I am very tempted to replace the SPG's tires too as they are from 2009 and have done TWO 24 Hours of Lemons and are pretty much hard as rocks and bald, but one tire purchase per season is all I can take... and I've now done two. :down:

I miss the days when questionable cars could be bought for a couple hundred bucks and would yield tires and batteries and such. These days, even wrecks are a grand. :sadbanana:

[thesameguy]

Got the dash crossmember out of the Focus today... it was remarkably easy, just a half dozen M8 bolts. I expected more.

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/05focus_dead_interiorcrossmember.jpg

Made it a lot easy to get at the wiring harness. Been a while since I pulled a wiring harness that hasn't been chopped up by a bunch of "installers." Everything in its place!

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/05focus_dead_interiormess.jpg

Coupled with a vacated engine bay, I am just about ready to pull the engine management harness out of the car and save it for later.

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/05focus_dead_emptyenginebay.jpg

It seems like the engine harness connects to the main harness in only two places, which will hopefully make reusing a good portion of it easier. I'm still waiting to hear back from the tuner on what can be deprogrammed - hopefully that happens later this week. I want to get rid of this Focus ASAP!

[thesameguy]

One Focus engine management harness coming up!

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/05focus_dead_ecmharness.jpg

Got about a dozen wires I need to figure out what they do, the connections to the chassis harness and fusebox. My $6 factory wiring harness manual should get that sorted right out!

I have a few more things I want to grab out of the car and then it's off to the scrapyard. Not this weekend - doing the Aftershock festival again (Marilyn Manson, Death from Above 1979, Faith No More, Clutch, w00t) - but perhaps the weekend following.

One of the things I have to get out is the fuel tank. As it turns out, PZEV cars have a steel fuel tank to prevent gasoline vapors from escaping through a plastic tank. I would never have imagined that's a thing. Good news for me, because that allows the potential to have someone weld the Focus's fuel pump "receptacle" onto the Falcon's tank. That solves a huge problem!

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/05focus_dead_fuelpump1.jpg

(Yeah, I totally cut a giant hole in the floor of the car)

[Random]

http://bringatrailer.com/listing/1969-saab-96/

[thesameguy]

I believe I have seen that car and it's pretty darned cool. If we weren't heading into winter I would definitely consider owning it for a while. If it was a wagon I might not hesitate!

[JoshInKC]

But isn't winter really the perfect time to own a Saab rally car?

[thesameguy]

If people around here drove better I'd say yes, but since I have to be on the road with people on cell phones, no.

[Random]

While we're fooling with wheels: in addition to the 18" OZ Superturismos I mentioned elsewhere, one of the locals also has a pair of 17x7 Team Dynamics wheels available.

Just sayin.

[thesameguy]

I'm really happy with the fitment of the Ford Tuner wheels on the SPG right now. They are only 18 or 19lbs and with ET38 absolutely perfect for the Saab. I'd just like to find something a little less dated, maybe a little lighter, that also fits. I vaguely recall having issues with ET40 wheels on my '86 900S, but that was the old bolt pattern with slightly different suspension members, so more offset might work. And, it's kinda gotta, because ET38 is about impossible. :(

Now that you mention TD, I used to own some Pro Race (don't remember 1 or 2) that I sold to a friend and he had fitment "concerns" on his car, which is pretty much identical to mine. Just a little tight, and they visually were just a little to inboard. Do you know what the modem & specs of those 17x7s are?

[Random]

The owner's checking for me, but I'm going to guess that they are the same as the ones I just ordered: 45mm offset, 7.5kg, Ford hub center (63.1?).

[thesameguy]

That would be interesting. My TD "Focus" wheels (group buy off Focus Fanatics) had a universal 72mm or 73mm center and we made some Delrin centering rings.

The Saab's hub is 1mm larger than the Focus... I think it's 65.1mm and 66.1mm, but I'm not certain. Definitely 1mm, though. :)

[Random]

5W2-770454108-White Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2, 17x7/4x108/45mm offset w/73.1 hub bore w/hub centric rings


There's the deets.

edit: asking $275 for the pair, w/ tire totes (a $20 value!)

[thesameguy]

Well, two does me no good, and white does me even less good! :P

[thesameguy]

So much for this one...

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/05focus_dead_dead.jpg

[Random]

I can never remember if the white Saab is rare because it has a trunk or because it doesn't​ have a trunk?

[thesameguy]

It's a 4-door hatch... only imported here in '79 and '80. Of course now I could just 25-year-rule an 1986 Euro 5-door and call it a day. :(

[Random]

Well, in that case, here's a buddy for it: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/cto/5254218286.html

:D

[thesameguy]

I saw that a little bit ago... he wanted $5k at the time. Sadly, I think he's dreaming at $4k. It's a $3k car, IMHO. The market is teeny-tiny. Just me and a dude from SLC. :lol:

[Random]

Ha. :lol:

[thesameguy]

Duratec + my existing Megajolt + http://danstengineering.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=59_76&product_id=299 = awesome Falcon?

[thesameguy]

1995 F150 XLT.

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/95_f150_side.jpg

Mixed bag what $2k gets you in a truck in California. No major body damage - obviously something with the bumper, the bed has a bunch of bumps from a camper being loaded into it, and the paint... well, the paint covers the metal in most places but not much more. On the other hand, it moves under its own power, doesn't have any weird smells, and can also stop and turn when asked. Admittedly, it's the only truck I looked at, but it seems representative of its peers. Probably could have saved some money or gotten a nicer truck, but this one was available on a Wednesday at noon with funds I could pull directly out of an ATM, so.....

Interior looks like you'd expect it to for a '90s Ford. Failing in all the same ways my SHO was, yet still pretty darned comfortable. Looks like it had a CB and an alarm at home point as there is excess wire all over. Windshield has a sweet crack in it which matches the dashboard nicely. Did I mention it was two grand?

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/95_f150_interior.jpg

I haven't had the opportunity to test, but I am betting its sonar system works quite well, as its lighting system clearly does not.

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/95_f150_bustedlights.jpg

Engine seems fine - it idles high, but also has a few vacuum lines that are broken so maybe there is a relationship. Transmission has a slight hum on the freeway but shifts great. My expectations for 300ci six and Mazda transmission are fully, 100% met. :up:

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/95_f150_engine.jpg

The only actual problem I am aware of is a broken radiator - a pinhole leak in the inlet. Definitely something I will have to replace - I'm just debating on whether to try an epoxy or something for fun versus spending the $80 on a new radiator. Ordering the radiator will inevitably lead me to buy tuneup parts at the same time. Best guess is an $80 radiator will cost $300 and six hours of my time.

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/95_f150_radleak.jpg

Two gas tanks + Built Ford Tough mudflaps = America. Obvs.

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/misc/95_f150_murica.jpg

I am going to do so much man stuff this weekend.