This post is mostly just to update the blog to my current situation. So far I have done quite a bit of work on the car, mostly things that needed to be done in order to keep it on the road.

First, the brakes. The master cylinder was leaking very bad, the check valve was bad, and brake booster was filled with fluid. The MC was leaking so bad that I actually ran the resevior dry one day.

I ordered a new MC, booster line, check valve, and booster. The replacement was smooth overall with just a few minor problems. One of the bottom lines stripped as I tried to remove it from the MC. I had to use some vice grips to loosen it. Also the Centric MC did not allow me to use the stock retaining pin to hook it up to the brake pedal. I had to go to Ace and purchase a shoulder bolt and make my own. Overall not too bad for a 40 year old car.

When bleeding the brakes I decided to flush out the lines and I'm glad I did. There was dark black fluid that came out during bleeding. It must have been a long time since the brake system was working well. I filled a gatorade bottle full of black fluid. I also think that the air in the system was not capable of applying the rear brakes. As a result it took some driving to finally get a stiff pedal. I think that over time the rear pistons pushed out far enough to make contact with the rear.

Overall it was quite a change. I went from a brake pedal to the floor, and poor braking, to a stiff pedal that applies very predictably. Very happy.

Also the engine ran much smoother as I no longer had a vacuum leak to the master cylinder.

The second major problem was a slight over-heating. I found out it was a much greater problem. I decided to replace the hoses, radiator, clamps, and thermostat as all these parts looked very old. First sign of a really big problem was that there was practically no coolant in the radiator. The thermostat had stuck shut restricting flow. The coolant was also clearly very old. I replaced all coolant hoses, put in the new thermostat and radiator. It took a day, but it really cleaned up the engine bay quite a bit.

I also decided to convert to an electric fan, as I never really liked belt driven ones. I'm using a thermostat to switch on an A/C fan that was installed for my A/C kit. Even with a condesor in front this thing pushes air very well and works great at keeping the temperatures low. I don't know if I would have trusted it without an aluminum radiator to keep temps under wraps.

Currently the A/C is not working. I'm okay with this for now, but my windows are binding when rolling up and down, this doesn't work well with no A/C, where I will be using them a lot.

My current project is to refresh the window regulator and various mechanisms. I'll be updating this with pictures soon! Sorry for the boring wall of text.

Looks like a very fun and manageable project.  Good to hear you're starting with the brakes and cooling.  Fixing those items should prevent some bonus work! Definitely post some pics when you can.

Thanks for the interest! I'm looking to find a new host for my photos as imageshack has decided to make me pay for hosting. Once that happens I'll dump the 30-40 photos here

Below is the issue I had with the brake booster. The retaining clip could not be put on because the slide pin was not long enough to fit the Centric booster...

More work on the car. Love how the hood opens, one of my favorite things about this car.

Out with the old, in with the new. Unfortuantely IEmotorsports says this is a direct replacement. It is most certainly not. The aluminum one needs to have new holes drilled since it is much wider.

And she is in! Notice no belt driven fan. Take note for anyone removing the fan, you either need to cut the old fan so that the 4 bolts for that pulley still go through it, or add washers to push the bolts out further. If you just put the bolts in they are too long and will contact the water pump. 

Dat trunk...

Today I replaced the guibo, transmission mount, and center bearing on the drive shaft.

I have a 5 speed so the first issue I had was that the transmission mount bracket was in the way of removing the bolts for the guibo. Since I had to replace the transmission mount anyways, this wasn't a problem. A lot of 5 speed setups use different methods to mount the bracket. Mine was simply held on with two bolts. It probably isn't the best setup, but everyone was solid once I tightened it back up, so I think it works well enough. Make sure to support the transmission before you remove this bracket. I used a block of wood and a hydraulic jack.

After removing the trans mount bracket I was able to loosen each of the six guibo bolts. I kept the rear wheels on the ground when loosening the bolts, and then raised the rear up to spin the driveshaft and get access to the others.

You can safely remove all the bolts without worrying about the driveshaft dropping down. I then moved to the center bearing and removed the 19mm bolt that holds the front and rear driveshaft together. I didn't have any issues using my wrench, it takes a bit was it fit okay. You probably won't be able to get it all the way out until you remove the two bolts holding the center bearing.

I supported the front and rear drive shaft with jack stands. Next I removed the 2 bolts holding the center bearing and let the driveshaft drop to the jack stands. This allowed me to get the big 19mm bolt all the way backed out. Make sure you mark the driveshaft so that you can put the front and rear driveshaft back together how it was originally. If not it will be out of balance. I didn't remove the rear driveshaft from the differential. I was able to pull the driveshaft off the input shaft going to the transmission and then remove just the front driveshaft with the center bearing from the rear drive shaft. 

I used a puller to remove the bearing, but it came of very easily. Press the new one back on and reinstall. Putting everything back together as it came out. Remember to push the center bearing 2-3mm forward to "preload" it before tightening the bolts down. 

This is why I needed to replace mine:

I'm watching what you're doing here.  Currently looking for a 2002 to restore with my son. I'll probably find one with every problem you're finding with yours!