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Wallace


majdomo

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Funny enough, getting back from that trip I noticed that the exhaust was back up kissing the bottom of the rear facia. It moved way more than I’d like, and thought “I wonder if there should be another bracket that holds the exhaust, you know, closer to the trans?” Looked in my box o’ parts that was delivered with the rest of the car and found...the exhaust bracket that bolts up to the transmission. Duh. Bonus project for the day!

 

Sitting at a Lexus dealer now waiting for them to “test” the dead battery from my wife’s car before they decide to give me a new one. At least there’s free WiFi and donuts. And I get to shop for suspension bits :)

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So more shakedown driving has revealed this oil leak, on the drivers side of the engine, which looks like it originates from the head gasket. It’s around the space just ahead of cylinder 1. Nothing odd in the oil, coolant, exhaust, under the oil cap, dipstick, etc suggests this is a huge problem, yet. May need to pressure test too.

 

Researching pulling the head to do the gasket, unless anyone thinks it could be something else? I’ve read that this area is prone to leaks due to a pressurized oil passage in the vicinity?

 

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Most likely leaking at the front timing chain cover/head gasket joint if you pull the front cover you'll see 2 small holes in the head gasket right at this joint these should be filled with a dab of rtv then lightly tighten the front 6 bolts in the head and snug down the 2 bolts into the lower timing cover then tighten the first 6 bolts to spec see if that helps, remember oil leaks in the front part of the engine tend to get blown rearward by the fan.

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If everybody in the room is thinking the same thing, then someone is not thinking.

 

George S Patton 

Planning the Normandy Break out 1944

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Most likely leaking at the front timing chain cover/head gasket joint if you pull the front cover you'll see 2 small holes in the head gasket right at this joint these should be filled with a dab of rtv then lightly tighten the front 6 bolts in the head and snug down the 2 bolts into the lower timing cover then tighten the first 6 bolts to spec see if that helps, remember oil leaks in the front part of the engine tend to get blown rearward by the fan.

Thanks much - this is way easier than pulling the head. It did look like it was running down the block from behind that joint, but I’m down to pull that cover and put some RTV in there first.

The M42 upper timing cover has a similar problem, dealt with that a few months back.


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Been busy at work and a full weekend, but managed to get some wrenchin' in this afternoon. Doused the block with brake cleaner and scrubbed off years of grime and oil to get the area of my suspected leak super dry. That was fun, big pile of newspaper in the middle of the garage full of disgusting grease and dirt, but the block looks way better and that area near the upper timing cover / head junction were super clean.

 

Next, moved under the car to see if I could get those bushings in around the shift lever. Managed to finally shove it loose with some PB and one of those weird pliers you use for your exhaust - has a plate on one side with a u-shaped hole, and the other side has a pin. The hole was just the right size to sit on either side of the lever pin, and it had just enough clearance to get up between the bottom of the trans tunnel and the driveshaft. Pushed it out, installed new bushings, put it back and reinstalled the set screw. Now I can actually feel where each gear is!

 

Went for a short drive down to pick up dinner, and took a look at the area on top of the motor. Looks like the culprit is indeed the upper timing cover. Big relief, going to research torque specs later tonight and have new gaskets for both the right and left sides on order.

 

Placed a big order from Turner, FCP, and Pelican for suspension bushings and some other parts, including a new reverse switch and washer which should clean up my transmission leak. Waiting on a few responses from fleBay sellers regarding refurbished control arms and a full set of new B6s. The current control arms look thrashed, and I'm not doing this job again, so buying all the goodies all at once.

 

Other note - had some random dude come up my driveway as I was under the car, and wanted to know how much I wanted for the E30, the 02, or the 3rd gen. He didn't bite at $10K for the 02, or $20K for the E30, and the 3rd gen is not for sale. Was definitely a first, I usually find a business card and note on the windshield when someone wants to buy one of the cars.

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Again - busy work week but got some time in this afternoon to get under the transmission to do a transmission fluid change. Dumped out the old, even more swarfy gear oil and cleaned off the magnetic plug, full of crud. Probably about half of my 2nd gear synchro is on there... Cleaned off the transmission and reverse switch, which had a leak, and replaced the switch, magnetic plug, and fill plug. Pumped in some new Redline MTL and we're ready to go. Gearbox feels a little better, slightly easier to get it all in gear. 2nd still grinds if I don't double-clutch, though.

 

I'm getting some clicking from the new clutch slave cylinder, so that may need to be reinstalled. It seems like the metal pushrod isn't seating correctly against the clutch plate at rest, but once I depress the clutch it seats and clicks into place. I have some new OEM retaining rings, wondering if that makes any difference (shouldnt?)

 

Other exciting things...found a gas station with good nozzles for the temperamental gas inlet. Drilled holes in the back of the car and installed the patina'd roundel I bought a few weeks back. Pulling more of the under-dash components off, along with the front of the Frigiking in anticipation of pulling the heater box for rebuilding and replacement of the blower motor. I'm kind of liking the look of the car without the big honkin' AC unit right in the middle of everything, so that may be a permanent change. We'll see, but the price of center consoles is kind of steep for what it is. I may post up in the WTB for a good one locally.

 

About half of the suspension components are here, but I'm thinking I should really replace much of the hardware at the same time, along with some new springs. Scope creep, for sure, but I'd really like to do this just once if I can get away with it. I don't mind the stock ride height, and most of the aftermarket springs make the car ride lower.

 

How does one know that the springs should be replaced, other than to drop ride height?

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Crap.  I was hoping that a little grease on the clutch slave push rod would do the trick and eliminate the click.

 

I don't mind the stock ride height either.  I did buy new springs back when I first got the car, when the "while I am in there..." bug bit me.  It was sorely in need of shocks/struts and the associated rubber bits.  I installed H&R springs and removed the 3/4" aluminum spacers at the same time.  That dropped the car quite a bit.  Not too long ago, I put the spacers back in on top of the new springs and it brought it back up closer to a stock (non spacer) height.  At the same time, I went from 2 dot pads in the rear to 3 dots.  I appreciate a little more ground clearance.

 

If you find yourself at a gas station with the troublesome pumps, try rotating the handle up in the air, so the nozzle end is pointing down.  It is a little awkward, but seems to work a lOt better.

 

Tom

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1 hour ago, majdomo said:


Hah... got a short console? :)


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Well that's what she said.

 

?

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Ray

Stop reading this! Don't you have anything better to do?? :P
Two running things. Two broken things.

 

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Quickie repair this afternoon to fix the leak from the upper timing cover turned into a small pain in the a$$, after stripping one of the bolts right where the damn leak is located. I have plenty of RTV in that location, new gaskets, and all other bolts are torqued just fine (that is to say, just barely). But dammit if this isn't the same crap luck that I had doing an even easier repair on the E30, replacing the valve cover gasket. I used 1/4 inch drive ratchets and went extra, extra slow and still got hosed. Frustrating to say the least.

 

I'm just going to let it ride and see how we do. If it doesn't leak, I'm not going to mess with it for now. If it leaks, I'll deal with it later, after the suspension is done, and will take it down to M Shop to have Joe put in some Time-Serts when he does the alignment.

 

in the good news department, I cleaned off the valve cover from the original engine and put that on instead of the spray-painted weirdness that was there before. I also pulled some weird metal piece out of one of the oil passages leading down to the exhaust side of the engine, on cylinder #3. No idea what that was, but was very glad to pull it out. My guess / hope is that I'll find the other half of it down in the pan...

 

Just nothing like the shitty feeling of the last bolt on one of these covers spinning freely in an aluminum head. Ugh.

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Minimal stuff today. Finished pulling the Frigiking, which is now sitting in a box with all trim bits intact. I bench tested the blower on the AC unit, and all worked great. Seems the only reason it wasn't working was due to a blown in-line fuse. Well, that, and the rat chewed insulation, hoses, and all that crap. Pulled the drier out, vacuumed up the rest of the rat poo, acorn shells, and chewed up foam, and laid the radio in the passenger footwell for the time being.

 

Now, time to order up some parts to rebuild the heater box and fan. Really liking the look of the interior without much in the way... we'll see how much I like it in mid-summer :)

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