wow charlie mac from sacramento that looks great. i love the subtle 2 tone and the body looks really nice and straight. good work

Thanks man, I took a look at your blog and your car is just on a whole different level, simply amazing.

After I get the interior done I'll start working the bottom over to try and keep up.
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Charlie Mac in Sacramento.
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Got quite a bit done today.

Molding all the way around, mirrors, chrome on top of doors and a bunch of detail cleaning ( lots left ) and the front window in.

Only one pic
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Charlie Mac in Sacramento.
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No pics today, but I made more progress.

I ended up using the big bumper for the rear as I came up with a set of BBS RMs for a good price and that blew my monthly car money.

I drilled the shocks to shorten it up, got rid of the rubber filler behind the bumper and shortened the end rubber bellows. I went ahead and cut the two top studs out so I didn't have to drill holes where I had already welded them up. I went ahead and cut o hole in it and wired up one euro license plate light dead center as I had already cut the lights off the plate frame as a setup for the small bumper. Maybe I'll run accross a shot rear chrome bumper one of these days.

I also took that stupid spacer off the top of the front struts, got two tires mounted on the RMs and put them up front.

Got the door seals back in ( A paint stir stick is the tool you want ) and the sill plates.

The stock seats in my car were wasted but I had a couple of 924S seats stashed ( I was going to make two more shop chairs with em ) but I decided to see what they felt like in the car so I just put one bolt in and tried it out, comfy. Crap now I have to make them fit, I had to widen the rails by and inch, easy enough, just an hour with the welder and drill a new hole in the back 1/4 inch further back from where it was and hey look at that, they bolt right in. Shame they are a tan color and will have to be painted with that vinyl paint otherwise I'd be done with that.


Looks like I might make it to the gold country event at the end of the month If I don't spend all my cash and time at the Reno Air Races next week.

I'll try and get some more pics for you all in the next few days, It's really coming along nicely.

Things left to do,
New front door panel substrate.
Instal rear door panel and sunroof.
Clean the inside and mount two more tires.
Make some kind of air cleaner for the motor.
Better tune on the MS.

That should be enough to get my to the event and back.

I'm friggin tired, was 102 when I got in my car to come home, yep all that stuff listed I did TODAY.
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Its coming along nicely! Those RM's will look great too!

Tom
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72tii - Whitey
74 - Blacky

New Pictures, this is what's it's gonna look like. I've been thinking about the turbo style airdam and since I'm broke and I kinda like it as is, it may stay just like this.

Got the sunroof in and the door panels redone and installed.

I'm really running out of stuff to do ( gotta hate that )
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Charlie Mac in Sacramento.
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OK the outside is done, this is the ride height after cutting the coils.

I also had to put 2mm spacers up front because the tie rod ends were just barely touching the wheel. I also got my urethane motor mounts in ( nice ), funny thing is if IE would have shipped them in a timely manner the project would have come about the other way, ( ugly but fast ). I also got a aircleaner ( cone filter ) on there. Some tuning on the MS and a trip to DMV ( Wednesday ) and 'll be driving it.

Next up a few detials here and there a stereo system of some sort and then it's on to putting a K03 sport turbo out of an Audi A4 ( hey it has 10 miles on it and was free ). It'll probably be a little on the small side but it's gonna spool so fast you won't even be able to tell it has a turbo on it ( except for the backwards press in the seat ).
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Charlie Mac in Sacramento.
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I actually drove it home today. Still needs some tuning ( alot ) but it's drivable.
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Charlie Mac in Sacramento.
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Another update but nothing special.

I drove it to the EuroSunday GTG local and it ran like crap, stumbled, wouldn't idle. It was so embarasing with all those really nice cars around.

I sat down today and fiddled with the MS for a couple of hours and SUCSESS, it idles like a top 950 rpm and not a pop to be heard, it'll stay like that for a 1/2 hour ( and did ) out on the road it pulls strong with no misses, pops or stumbles. I think I'm finally getting a grip on it.

This next week I'll start figuring out what I need to replace all the bushings on the suspension and get those ordered and also pick up a U joint that's making a bit of noise on deceleration.
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Charlie Mac in Sacramento.
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man theres nothing worse than having a sweet looking car that runs like a pos and having others witness it. thats the same feeling i have when pulling up to a stop sign on the street running race pads and squeaking to a stop. people that dont know look at you like youre rolling in a worn out shitbox ....glad you got it worked out .

I've been trying to track down the clink on decel and it's been driving me crazy, new U joints, center bearing and guibo, no luck same damn sound.

Fed up today I pulled the drive line again and started it up and ran it through the gears, not a noise to be heard. Sod it all, a trip to pick and pull and 40$ later I have another driveline in hand, replace the center bearing and bolt the new one in.

The test drive says fixed ( about friggin time ) and Tuesday will be her maiden voyage to work. I have a bunch of stereo equipment showing up the next couple of days so I'll have some ( good ) tunes here in a week or so.

I also replaced a few sway bar bushing that were GONE. The rest of the original rubber ones look really good so I'll wait on those ( only 74,000 miles on the car )

Gotta thank Blunt for helping me sell those M3 parts that financed the stereo. Thanks Bro.
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Charlie Mac in Sacramento.
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Well thanks to Blunt helping me flip some M3 E30 parts for some extra cash I had a budget of just under 600$ for the sound system for the deuce.

Here are some pics of the finish install. As per usual all work was done in house. The box/amp rack I made out of pine for the frame work and 3/4 ply for the box and 1/2 ply for the covers, 2 stacked 3/4 MDF rings for the fronts and an aluminum center consol piece ( I left some room at the bottom for some VDO guages at a later date.

I went through Ebay for all the hardware.

Eclipse 1000 deck
Pheonix Gold 8.0.4 amp
CDT 6.5 classic component fronts
Arc Audio Arc 10 4 ohm Sub.

None of it is high dollar stuff but installed correctly the results are pretty damn good. My buddy who is a car audio snob can't believe the sound quality I got for under 600$.

Pics.

I swear ( yeah right ) the suspension bushings are next.
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Charlie Mac in Sacramento.
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Nice! Very clean stereo install. Your car is really coming along well.
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that looks great charlie mac in sacramento, are the front pods just mdf cut round and covered in fabric? nice job

Exactly Mr Blunt.

I cut them out for the size of the actual speaker and then marked em for the cover and added 1/8 inch. The covering material can be had at damn near any car audio place and is used to cover subwoofer boxes. It's real easy to use and will go around compound curves like butter.
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Charlie Mac in Sacramento.
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you have one nice looking car. is that fjord blue? one of my favorites. my daily driver was originally fjord blue until a PO changed it to Maaco dark metallic blue....

someday...

i like the removal of the lower trim. cleaner appearance and less chance for corrosion at the holes. your stereo looks like it should overpower any wind noise. i've been driving mine without a radio of any sort for over a year now. just haven't gotten around to it i suppose.

jerry wrote:

you have one nice looking car. is that fjord blue? one of my favorites. my daily driver was originally fjord blue until a PO changed it to Maaco dark metallic blue.... someday... i like the removal of the lower trim. cleaner appearance and less chance for corrosion at the holes. your stereo looks like it should overpower any wind noise. i've been driving mine without a radio of any sort for over a year now. just haven't gotten around to it i suppose.

It was fjord originally, now it's a little lighter on the bottom half.

Yes the stereo overpowers wind noise, well past 80 :-), It also helps when there is some annoying kid blasting crappy sounding rap next to me, A quick change to a Ramstien or Megadeath CD and a short shot of stink eye from me usually does the trick.
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Charlie Mac in Sacramento.
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DU HAST!
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Well it's a been a while since I've made any changes or done anything to the car, happy to report that in the month I've been using it as a daily it hasn't let me down yet.

That being said I have sitting in front of me a complete urethane suspension bushing set, new ball joints, new strut bearings and a set of Ebay 94-97 Honda slip on coil overs. This Saturday I'll finally break down and do the damn suspention. I'll definitely take pics of the coil over mods to make them work.


I plan on slotting the shock towers to put some much needed negative camber in the fronts. I'll have to use the old math ( .017 of an inch for one deg at a 1 inch radius ) to figure how much camber. I'm going to shoot for a degree and a half.
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Well got it all done today and took some pics, I'm happy to report that all my rattles and shimmies are now gone and it rides pretty good ( def stiffer ). I'm tired as hell ( took 10 hours, bet I could do it in under 4 now ) and will get to posting up the pics and description Sunday night ( gotta get a student ready for his check ride on Monday so I'll be at the airport damn near all day tomorrow )

On a bright note I found out the shocks and struts in my car were the sports and not just the HDs. Weeeeee.
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Charlie Mac in Sacramento.
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OK guys ( and gals, all 3 of you )

This is how my day went on Saturday.

Started with a pile of parts and put er on the lift. I started on the rear bushings and it was fairly straight forward. A hint for you guys. You can do the bushings with the trailing arms IN THE CAR. Yes you read that right. Pull the brakes to undo the emergency brake cable and the control arm will come down plenty to get the bushings out. I used a small 2 jaw gear puller with a washer on it. Just hit it with the impact and you'll have a bushing in your had in seconds.

Next I moved to the front I knew this was gonna take a little more thought since I was going to modify a 94-97 Honda Accord Ebay Coil over kit ( hey buy it now for 10$ LOL ) for the fronts. Pretty straight forward actually.

Some highlights,

The hat on the kit I bought was urethane, there is no way that will hold so I used the stock top spring hat and cut it down with the plasma cutter real quick and used that to help support the useless hat in the kit.

The threaded collars are way to long, no problem, a quick measurement and 2 min with a sawzall fixed that.

The kit I had came with a longer than standard coilover spring ( 9" instead of the standard 7 1/2" ) for the rears, I wasn't sure which to use so we threw the long one in just in case ( the front spring was a standard 7 1/2" ), wrong choice and I also put the spacer that normally goes on top of the strut bearing on the strut shaft under the strut bearing accidentally. More about that later.

I used the plasma to hack the bottom spring perch off the stock strut.

Bolted it all in and did the other side too, while I was at it I had my buddy AJ press the new bushings in the lower arm.

Some pictures and an after shot, it's about the same height it was before, I could go down another 1/2 but I see no reason to do so.

Rides pretty harsh, but not so bad that I can't live with it. Drove the car about 100 miles today and even a trip on the nastiest ( read potholed piece of shit ) twisty road I know around here. It works well as is, the cornering and predictability are light years ahead of what it was before with the worn out bushings and cut stock springs ( which I still have in the rear ).

Back to the long spring and spacer on the wrong side of the strut bearing, When we let it down it stopped lowering with I swear a 6" gap between the fender and the top of the front tire. I was tempted to adjust the headlights and drive it to the VW GTG that night for laughs but I just couldn't bring myself into letting the 2002 be ridiculed by VW owners so.... Back up she want and it only took about 15 min to swap to the shorter spring, spin the adjusters down and make sure the spacer was on the correct side.

Next up TURBO, mwwwhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaa

More pics next post ( there is a limit? )
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Last edited by Pinepig on 11-19-06 08:30; edited 1 time in total

The first three pics for the above post.
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Pinepig wrote:

Next I moved to the front I knew this was gonna take a little more thought since I was going to modify a 94-97 Honda Accord Ebay Coil over kit ( hey buy it now for 10$ LOL ) for the fronts. Pretty straight forward actually.

Hello guys

where did you buy it ?
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Seventies Classic Club Trophy
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That's a pretty cheap kit!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/S-94-95-96-97-HONDA-ACCORD-COILOVER-COIL-OVER-SPRINGS_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33582QQihZ019QQitemZ290050969142QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

Project looks great! Keep up the good work

That is the exact kit that I bought.

Once again you'll have to modify your original top spring hat to support the urethane hat that comes with that kit. You may also have to modify the urethane hat itself depending on the strut you have ( easy ).
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Charlie Mac in Sacramento.
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Hi,

@ Pinepig Did you pick them up local? I just informed for shipping and it's $$$

Maikel

Nope I had to pay the crappy shipping charge. On the plus side it was here in 4 days. It's still the cheapest one I could find.
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Charlie Mac in Sacramento.
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Pinepig,
I don't understand the bodywork and the nail thing. To fill in the trim holes, did you weld the nails into the holes? I'm at this point now in my track car project and I'm curious as to how you did this. Can you give details?

Your car looks great!

Thanks,
Mike
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Mike
77 930
74 2002