Edit: I have moved this over from the archive section. This post was originally from December 2010, but I thought it was worth keeping. I found it very interesting to go back over my original plans for the car and see how they have changed. Will post some current updates shortly.
This build thread is long overdue, but I've been too busy enjoying the car over the summer to "waste time" writing about it! Now she's in hibernation for the winter (I live in MN, USA) I have a bit mor
Over the 2010-11 winter, I took care of a few bits and pieces on the rear end but never updated this blog. I did a complete tear down/paint/rebuild of the rear subframe - every nut, bolt, hard & soft brake line, bearing, and bushing replaced. Switched from E21 rear drums to disc brakes too. The improvement in the handling of the car was astounding, and so was the reduction in clanking and banging noises from worn out bushings. I wish I had tackled this job much, much sooner.
Other proje
This sub-project was a case of "because it's there". I'm not a seasoned mechanic by any means so this was definitely a challenge for me, but that was half the fun. I know which is the business end of a spanner/wrench, but this was a major escalation in terms of goals. I learnt a lot in the process, and made mistakes. It has been very satisfying to pull it all together.
It started as a complete front suspension and steering rebuild, and snowballed from there. As I was dropping the subframe a
Many of you will have seen an abridged version of this on the 2002 group on Facebook, so apologies for the repetition.
After taking the car to the dyno once the EFI build was finished, I kind of got the bug for more power which is probably no surprise to anyone here. I was somewhat disappointed in the 134rwhp/129tq on ITBs+EFI, and figuring that another dyno session with no substantial changes would only yield modest gains, I decided to stretch myself and go forced induction.
I looked
I spent most of 2014 installing the engine and trans, finishing and fine tuning the Megasquirt installation, and a bunch of other miscellaneous tasks to get it ready to turn the key for the first time. Also a million and one other "while I'm there" jobs like LED bulbs for the dash, securing the oversize spare wheel, fixing the hood support, etc., etc.,...
Then it was off to a local dyno shop for tuning with some great results for a first effort.
Installing Engine