Wallace

[majdomo]

30 minutes ago, ray_ said:

And https://www.bmw2002faq.com/articles.html/technical-articles/suspension-and-steering/how-to-do-front-wheel-alignment-r121/

Saw this one too and thought about buying these, but going to try Minty’s suggestion first because it looks more badass.
 

Making fast work of the driver’s side, everything is put together (strut, spring, control arm with bushes, ball joint, pitman arm), just need to install back in the car and then start aligning. A lot of the time suck with this job is in the cleaning of pretty much everything. There must be about 40 years of crud on stuff, the die grinder and wire wheel are working overtime. There is a pile of old parts, dirt, used up bushes and other bits to one side of the garage. 
 

Unrelated but still exciting, sourced a short console for the interior, so that’s going to be the next project. Also going to start scrubbing down the trans I picked up last week, let the wallet recover a bit, then order up the parts for a clutch job. I’m sure that will make the suspension look like a piece of cake!

[majdomo]

Boy howdy!!!!!

 

Still can't figure out how to upload photos from the mobile site without having problems.

 

Also - tried the grease on the clutch slave pushrod trick and it worked!! Cleared up for now. My home alignment left much to be desired, so will be attacking that again later. However, what a blast it was to take this thing out on the freeway. You can see there's a ton of crud all over the dash, this is bits and pieces of leaves and other crap that is still stuck in the heater / fan system, which came blowing out all over the cabin once I got up to speed, so that was fun.

 

Still... nothing like hitting a curvy on-ramp for the first time on fresh suspension bits. Woot!

 

Edited February 24, 2020 by majdomo

[majdomo]

Made it to cars and coffee this morning, FINALLY! The general consensus from the other 02 drivers was to leave the patina on the car and keep sorting... this was a whopping 2 other people, so not the biggest sample, but I tend to agree.

 

Having more stalling problems, filled up with some Shell premium and seems to have gotten better. Spent a little time today giving the driver side door some attention. Pulled the latch off the door, and gave the lock mechanism a good cleaning and a shot of some grease, so I can finally lock my driver's side door! Replaced the grommets for the lock indicator (stick thing that sticks up from the door card), and the rod between the interior latch and the door jamb. So now it not only locks, but also doesn't sound like a can full of metal bits going down the street!

 

Received a care package from Maximillian, which included a fresh rubber gasket for the driver's side mirror, and some bits for the exhaust mount on the transmission. I may get after that tomorrow, but feeling like I want to enjoy the car a bit after spending the last few weeks on all-day projects.

[majdomo]

Not much to report. Just ran down to the grocery store and back in it, you know, to keep the battery charged.  

 

Busy weekend and next week doesn’t look much better. Need to order up some parts for the heater box rebuild to have on hand. Short console is here and ready to install, but will get to that after rebuilding the heater box.

 

For now though, off to do some research on how to plug the holes in the firewall left by the A/C hoses.

[majdomo]

Not mine but affiliated - my dad is a semi-retired architect and has taken up watercolor in his spare time. He’s been working on his technique and gave me this today. He’s done one of his ‘63 Tempest Le Mans (the one with the rope drive, widely considered a precursor to the GTO), and is planning to do more cars on commission.

 

 

[majdomo]

Been this kind of week. Stay healthy. 

[majdomo]

Miscellaneous odds and ends. Installed plugs in the firewall holes for the AC hoses, and modified (drilled holes in) the bracket that attaches to the transmission for the exhaust to accommodate a slightly larger diameter hoop, so I can install that later. Need a few bolts from the hardware store and that will be done.

 

I have an extra heater box and core that I’m going to de-assemble and rebuild, as practice for the one that’s in the car. (And possible sale here on the site, if someone wants it. I think the plastic bracket for the heater valve is broken, though.) Once that’s done, will install the short console and radio. Have all the bits I need from McMaster-Carr, just need some time.

 

And the way things are going with this COVID-19 nonsense, I’ll probably have it. A lot more than I want...

[ray_]

3 hours ago, majdomo said:

Miscellaneous odds and ends. Installed plugs in the firewall holes for the AC hoses, and modified (drilled holes in) the bracket that attaches to the transmission for the exhaust to accommodate a slightly larger diameter hoop, so I can install that later. Need a few bolts from the hardware store and that will be done.

 

I have an extra heater box and core that I’m going to de-assemble and rebuild, as practice for the one that’s in the car. (And possible sale here on the site, if someone wants it. I think the plastic bracket for the heater valve is broken, though.) Once that’s done, will install the short console and radio. Have all the bits I need from McMaster-Carr, just need some time.

 

And the way things are going with this COVID-19 nonsense, I’ll probably have it. A lot more than I want...

 

 

No bars and restaurants for you

 

Hopefully that will go nationwide, except for perhaps take-out.

 

There's a workaround for the broken bracket in the tech articles....

 

Cheers,

[majdomo]

Nothing much new to report, since everything is pretty much shut down in CA. Upside is it only takes me about 20 minutes to cover my usual hour commute in to work. Downside is pretty much everything else.

 

Hoping for a speedy recovery from all this bs. Going for a drive tomorrow.

[majdomo]

Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. Put my lame-o modern plates on the car, which will keep me from getting pulled over. Pulled the front seats today and got into shampooing the carpet. Took 3 gallons of carpet cleaner to get the funky stink out of the car. Vacuumed up plenty more rat poo, busted glass, leaves, acorns, and other assorted crap. Spent most of the day, but finally got to a point where I could put the seats back in and go for a little drive.

 

I didn’t get too far up the hill as it’s starting to rain, but got some great shots just before I turned around to come home. The curves I did hit were AWESOME.

 

 

[ray_]

Car looks great!

 

Cheers,

[majdomo]

Got bored, started to disassemble the spare heater box tonight. Didn’t break anything (well, nothing important... those wires were in terrible shape anyway...). Managed to pull the heater core out of the box top, filled it up with water and letting it sit overnight to see if it has any leaks. Hoping for no, looked like it was in relatively good shape. Needs some cleaning, that’s for sure.

 

After pulling it apart, it appears the literal last thing they put on the box was the top. Wires running on either side of the heater inlet, Bowden cables running in places that seem impossible to install once put together, etc. The old grommets that the inlet / outlet ran through were so crusted and baked on, I had to pull the top with the core in place to get it apart. Not the best way to disassemble... but maybe the reassembly is easier?

 

Anyway. Took all of about 30 minutes to get it apart. Lots learned. Very glad to have this one to practice on.

[majdomo]

Out Big Tujunga Canyon and back via Angeles Crest today. Damn that was fun! Still need to figure out why it sounds like there’s a chain in my trunk when going over bumps while on right turns, though. Might be the spare, might be the jack, might be ??? 

 

So fun. Ok, back to work.

[PaulTWinterton]

21 hours ago, majdomo said:

sounds like there’s a chain in my trunk when going over bumps while on right turns, though.

 

Muffler hitting left rear passenger footwell or further back.  Easy fix, usually. 

Edited March 27, 2020 by PaulTWinterton

[majdomo]

3 hours ago, PaulTWinterton said:

 

Muffler hitting left rear passenger footwell or further back.  Easy fix, usually. 

 

Got it. I still haven’t installed the cross-brace securing the very end of the header to the transmission, so this is probably it. I keep telling myself “why do that now, just pull the trans and swap it???”