Wallace

[majdomo]

The return…

 

[majdomo]

Was JUST here, ugh. The IE bypass pipe is slick but the OD is just a little bigger than the 5/8" Gates green stripe I had in the garage. Ordered the E21 hose from the heater box to the bypass, and it was too big on the heater box end, too small on the bypass pipe end, and ultimately too short. Waste of $20. IE sells silicone hoses but noooo, I had to go with the standard rubber hoses. Dumb.

 

[majdomo]

Couple quick updates - bought the fantastic 2002sonly sidedraft linkage from Hal Boyles @halboyles, am excited to receive that from him later this week. Also sold a bunch of parts in a garage cleanout, helping a few other folks along with their projects. As I sit here the latest two bits are waiting to get shipped out - the Cannon manifold for the 38/38 and the rear trim bit between the taillights. Most of the rest is gone, with a few other good parts still waiting to get picked up. In particular that TEP linkage, if someone can use it.

 

Had a scary episode on the freeway yesterday. When upshifting while merging into traffic, I could feel the shift linkage fall out from under the car and some knocking going on that sounded like something whacking the giubo. I pulled over, was able to get the car into gear and limped the 8-9 miles home. When I got under the car, I noticed that one of the bolts hold the shift platform to the trans was missing. 5 minutes and some blue locktite later, all was right with the world. Still, wasn't fun and was NOT looking forward to the tow ride home and an angry wife waiting for me.

 

So looking ahead... there's some Evaporust sitting in the cylinder bores of the numbers-matching block in the garage. I want to see if I can get it to turn, and then maybe, well, get it over to the machine shop sometime over the summer?  I foresee some 2nd oversize CP forged pistons in my future. We'll see.

Edited April 20, 2022 by majdomo

[majdomo]

Hey FAQ, been a minute but mainly that’s because I’ve been out driving the snot out of this car.  Lots of fun!

 

Tore much of the braking system apart back in late May / early June after finding that my brakes were slowly not working at all. Pulled the booster and master, had that rebuilt and found that there was a small perforation in the diaphragm and some junk that was caught in the master cylinder. Both have less than 5k miles on them, but who knows. Rebuilt and put back in the car, all is right with the world with the exception of the long brake pedal travel I’ve continued to experience.

 

When reinstalling the booster and pedals, I upgraded the big metal bushing in the booster bracket / pivot to the solid IE aluminum bush, along with the small sealed bearings and upgraded pedal bushes. This cleaned up much of the slop in the linkage, but the long pedal travel remains. I had some rear brake shoes that I’d gotten right after buying the car, and thinking these would solve my problem, promptly turned to install those. I remember them being cheap, and upon trying to install, discovered why they were cheap as there was zero play between the e-brake pull and the brake shoe body, which meant that I couldn’t get the top spring under the e-brake pull without it binding up, which meant…they were basically garbage. The PO said he’d replaced the rear brake cylinders when he purchased, and while they look new, my recent experience with the ATE master and re-rebuilt booster suggests I should get new ones. At like $15 each it’s cheap insurance and worth doing over. Will be ordering those up later tonight.

 

Second small project involved the turn signal relay. It’s been slowly going down the tubes for the last few months, and it finally gave up the ghost yesterday. I had no luck pulling the relay guts from the plastic body, and have no idea how to pry them apart without breaking something, so I ordered a new relay from O’Reilly and installed. The flashing is a little faster than I’d like, and it doesn’t have the great mechanical sound that the old one does, but this one does the job and was only $18, instead of ~$150 for OEM. Maybe. I didn’t try too hard to find one…

 

Anyway, here’s the packaging in case you need it, an EP26 4-terminal relay:

 

 

And installed. 3 of the 4 spade terminals match up to the numbering on the relay, the last one is just process of elimination and works fine.

 

 

And that’s it for now. Going on a driving tour later this month, my rear poly subframe bushes are making all kinds of squeaking noises, so may get into that later in the summer. It is SO FUN to hammer this thing on a twisty back road!

 

[majdomo]

Long-awaited tour up to Paso Robles. LA to Ojai, through the mountains north to Carrizo Plain, and across finally to Paso. Heading back via the coast. Averaged 18mpg. Car ran like a champ through 102 degree heat and plenty of twisties, didn't miss a beat. Not used to small gas tanks, though.

 

Somewhere west of Taft, CA...

 

 

Downtown Templeton.

 

 

 

[majdomo]

Twisties.

 

 

 

[majdomo]

Neighborhood car show, nice way to spend a late summer afternoon. 
 

 

 

[majdomo]

Made it to the meet-up in Orange before the barbecue at Reyn Speed Shop @steve k. this weekend. Coincidentally had a wedding in Dana Point on Saturday morning, which was about 5 minutes away from Reyn. Had to leave a little early to make the wedding, though still took the backroads to south county. Hot day.

 

Rey parked a great looking wide fender 1600 Alpina (clone?) next to me, along with a very nice Malaga from a guy in Fullerton. Also saw a 1600 NK, very nice 633CSi, 2000CS, a very pretty green 912, and a few other great cars. Would have much rather gone to Reyn than the wedding, alas.

 

So great to finally do what I've always wanted to do with this car. Making plans for an engine refresh over the winter already

 

 

 

[Charles in PA]

Quite the transformation since your first post in December 2019.  Your car looks great, glad you are getting to enjoy it!  Cheers

[majdomo]

Custom key made by a local locksmith for the gas cap. The cap came to me locked, so it’s always been fiddly to get on and off the filler inlet. This got worse once it came back from paint.

 

Hard to tell but the blank number is an Ilco 1125H. There's a fair amount of tech and discussion on this blank in the forums. The locksmith cut it by hand for me in about 5 minutes for $15, bargain. 
 

 

 

Edited September 16, 2022 by majdomo

[majdomo]

Been a while, mainly because the car as been totally fine with no issues to speak of. Plus, it was an eventful summer and am now winding down into fall, which is nice.

 

I've pressed the FJ40 into DD service, after selling my latest 3rd gen 4Runner. Was sick of trying to fix the brakes, threw everything at it and still couldn't get it right. Plus, I didn't like the first edition of the 3rd gen, the "LCI" version of that truck is much better and more refined, imo. As for now, it's just the 2002 and the FJ40 getting me to work and back. We'll see how long that lasts.

 

However, with more driving, it became apparent that my steering has gotten increasingly sloppy over the past year. The bushings in the subframe for the idler arm were fine, and the tie rods are only a couple years old with lots of life left. That left either the pitman arm, steering box, or that center link. Some quick, very small turns of the steering wheel yielded the pitman arm visibly shifting on the center linkage.

 

Spent the day swapping that out, which was painful with the exhaust and engine in the car. The pullers that I have are a little bit too big to fit under the exhaust, but finally got it figured out. Test drove and did an at-home alignment, and all is well. However, you can see on the old rod that the spindle or whatever is completely shot. There's supposed to be zero play on this one, and I was getting about 1/4" total. No wonder the steering wheel was shaky at speed.

 

 

[majdomo]

DD update - 2008 135i 6MT with a Dinan stage 1 tune. I think of it as an 02, but modern and updated. And it hauls.

 

I was having some trouble with the DCOEs spitting back at very light throttle and at start-up. On a drive yesterday, it also felt way down on power.  I was getting ready to call Pierce Manifolds for some new idle jets, but then read on an Austin board that this can happen when the timing is out. Sure enough, I was running 0 degrees at 900 idle, warm. Broke out the timing light, and was back in business in about 10 minutes. I guess the distributor can work its way to retard itself over time. Not sure, but it’s fixed and I’m happy. 
 

Finished all of my @thehackmechanicbooks, need some new reading material. Heading into winter, the only projects are really to keep driving and maybe change the oil. Some little stuff, like getting the tires rebalanced and rotated, fixing the turn signal clock off thing, install some under-hood insulation, things like that. Good place to be. 
 

 

Edited November 26, 2022 by majdomo

[Wallyinc]

Quote

My name is Wallace too (pun intended) and I also own a silver '02. Fantastic car/build, subscribed!

 

[Pdxguy]

On 4/5/2020 at 8:14 PM, ray_ said:

I polished my brass valve and clear-coated it.

 

What did you use to clear coat it? Also, any prep treatment beyond polishing and cleaning it?

 

Thanks,

Dennis

[ray_]

8 hours ago, Pdxguy said:

What did you use to clear coat it? Also, any prep treatment beyond polishing and cleaning it?

 

Thanks,

Dennis

I just used some clear lacquer. I should go have a look and see the current condition.

 

You might consult the internet for a more robust treatment; I did it as a lark.

 

😁