thehackmechanic

I'm replacing the alternator bushings (the ones in the big mounting hole in the alternator, not on the adjuster track) in my tii. I ordered the tall urethane ones from Bavarian, took the alternator out, took the snap ring off the dowel that goes through the center, and disassembled and cleaned everything. I'm confused about two things: 1) There was a brown plastic spacer inside, several inches long, running the length of the hole, that came out in crumbly 36 year old pieces. This part doesn't seem to show up on realoem, or on any part list I've seen. Is the intent that the urethane bushings replace not only the rubber bushings on the outside but also this spacer on the inside? 2) On the alternator, one side of the big mounting hole has a nice indent into which the new bushing fits perfectly and lies flat, but the other side of the hole has no such indent, so the lip on the bushing sits proud of it. It looks like this makes the total length, bushing-face-to-bushing-face, longer than the metal dowel. I see posts where people say they've had to file this down. Is this right? --Rob

I recently purchased a 1972 2002tii that has been driven very little the past 15 years. When I bought it, the car had recently gotten new plugs, plug wires, points and condenser, but that's about all, and it ran very badly, soundling like it's running on one or two cylinders. In fact at one point, while it was warming up, I pretty much caught it in the act -- pulling off three of the plug wires made no difference at all to the incredibly slow, rough idle, but pulling off the wire to cylinder #3 killed it entirely. Letting it idle more, it smoothed out, and repeating the test showed that I now had #2 and #3. Note that I verified that I had spark at all four cylinders. I went back to basics, adjusted the warm-up regulator and the valves, verified that the regulator is working and extends upward (it is and it does), timed it at 8 degrees btdc at idle, and synchronized the pump with the throttle body, and there's very little change. It still idles very badly, but the yank the plug wires off test is not repeatable -- it seems like all four cylinders are firing. The car drives ok but not great -- no obvious surges or stumbles, just a loss of power. I've verified that the fuel pump is working fine -- 30psi at the cold start valve, 60psi at the inlet banjo, and outputting the right amount of fuel in 15 seconds. I stress that this car has been driven very little, so a gummed up pump or injectors are quite possible. Opinions on where to go from here? --Rob

If you can't drive it, then it is by definition a project car. But if it is truly rust-free with intact paint (scratches notwithstanding) and an original intact interior, then the fact that it can't be driven is irrelevant given the right price point. If you see it and determine that it is, in fact, rust-free (take a floor jack and jack stands and a good flashlight and crawl ALL UNDER IT), and that the paint isn't cracked and blistered and it'll shine right up with a good compounding, and that the original interior is completely intact, then this is really all that matters, because mechanical work is dirt freaking cheap compared to body restoration. But if you buy it sight-unseen, when it shows up at your door and has big rust holes, you're going to feel like you've been had. I wouldn't believe any sight-unseen car was rust-free without an SD card full of high-res photos of every panel, crevice, nook, and cranny. So the point is that no one can tell you what it's worth when the true condition is so unknown. --Rob

I insure three cars with Hagerty: a varrry nahce 1973 3.0CSi, a decent 1982 911SC, and a somewhat ratty '73 2002. I pay in total about $250/year for all three. Yes, $250/year for all three. The 2002 is only insured for about four grand; I think I pay $26 a year for just the 2002. You gotta love it. The "catch" is that: --They CAN'T BE DAILY DRIVERS. No one will write you a classic car policy for a daily driver. So YOU CAN'T DRIVE IT TO WORK. --You have to show that you and every other licensed driver in your house have a fully-insured car that you drive every day. --There are mileage limits, but they're irrelevant. I think I get 3000 miles on my 3.0. I don't think I drove it 300 miles last year. --They have to be garaged. It's manna from heaven. It's what enables me to own these cars.

Whoa! Didn't think of that. But it's too late. The good part is that, after installing the new bearings -- including the replacement of the one I damaged -- and shimming the oil pump (someone put a new pump in it WITH NO SHIMS buttoning up the 20 bolts holding on the oil pan, which made the thing sound like a chainsaw), and starting the car, the engine is now blissfully quiet. So the $35 for a new set of bearings is now a fading memory...

Mister hack mechanic here had a brain fart putting some new rod bearings in an engine, did not have the tab lined up with the slot in the rod end of one of the caps, and thus ruined one of the eight brand new bearing shells that come in the set. I had no choice but to buy another full set so I could get one shell. So... if anyone else has the senior moment that I had... I have some extras, and I seriously doubt I'll ruin eight more of them. These are standard-size rod bearings, part number 11 24 1284550/4 on the Bavarian web site. Shoot me an e-mail if you need one. --Rob Siegel

Dan's laugh-out-loud-funny writing style was capable of reducing readers to tears. "Crusty Goes West," particularly the section on driving across Kansas, is quite possibly the funniest thing ever published in Roundel. He was a great car guy and a natural writer, and I will miss him. --Rob Siegel

As I'm looking in the New England area, I'm seeing tons of Integra and Civic seats for $50/pair. For that, I can be wrong about both fit and color several times and STILL come out ahead of what people are asking for beat-up 320i Recaros. I guess the trick is finding something that 1) has a flat bottom so the seat rails can be adapted, and 2) jives with your sense of propriety regarding visual integration into the car. I'll let everyone know what I wind up doing. --Rob

So I sold my '73 tii (someone had posted a link to it on this site), but not a month later I happened into a very similar '73 2002 -- very solid, but partially apart, and with a poor interior. I was reading the seat faq and am intrigued by the idea of transplanting both front and rear seats from an Acura Integra. The faq shows the rear seats fitting very nicely. Does anyone know what year range Integra that's from? --Rob

How is that possible? I thought that 14x6 E30 bottlecap alloys had a 35mm offset, and I've never heard anyone talk about clearance problems with bottlecaps. These alloy wheels are the same size (14x6), with the same offset (35mm). Why would they need spacers?

Hey, folks, I've read the posts about the Miata wheels that look like Panasports, and how they don't fit an '02 (with a 45mm offset, they sit too far inboard), but... has anyone ever tried some of the aftermarket Miata wheels that aren't offset as far in? The attached image is of an interesting looking American Racing AR24 nine-spoke wheel. It's 14x6", 4X100 bolt circle, with an offset of 35mm. That's the same size and offset as E30 bottlecaps, and those are supposed to fit perfectly. Any experience or thoughts? --Rob Siegel