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vacca rabite

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Everything posted by vacca rabite

  1. What I should have done is set the posts up, drive a car between them, mock the arms to make sure the reach okay and mark my garage there for the posts. 2002 has long doors so I suspect issues either way. With my 914 (and the 2002 once I can get it up here) pushing into final position isn't an issue. Even the WRX can get pushed the last few inches no problem. The 4Runner and I have to climb out the back. lol. Amusingly my daughters 04 Highlander I can actually open the door wide enough to shimmy out (but its tight). My plan is to use 2 of the rear anchors as the new front points and the drill and set 3 new anchors for the back That will give me about 5 inches more per side - and thats all the difference in the world. AND, if I need to move it in a little for something small (like the trailer) I can.
  2. I've had my lift installed for a few months now (4? wow!) and here are my thoughts now that I have used it on several different cars. 1) the instructions have you space the posts too close together. I have my posts spaced for a mid-size sedan as per the instructions. While I have used it in this position to lift everything from my m416 trailer to my 4runner, the posts are too close. Eventually I need to get more anchors and drill new holes to space the lift out a bit more. So far only the m416 trailer is "right" at the current spacing. Everything else (including my 914) needs to be pushed into final position or you can't get out of the car due to the posts blocking the doors. 2) This lift, for me, would be perfect with another 6 inches of lift. Which you can get with the lift spacers that come with the lift. But when you use those you can't get the lifting arms under lower cars (like my 914). I removed the garage door motor in my shop and that extra lift would make working with a rolling stool a no-ducking deal. Right now I need to work slightly stooped on my stool. I could find a rolling stool that gets me a little lower, and that is likely what I will do. 3) They make a version of this same lift with more holes for the safety pins. DO NOT GET IT. you will not use those other lift heights. And, frankly if you do need another pin location, drill it yourself. The other lift is several hundred dollars more, and not worth it IMHO. And speaking of pins, on mine I had to slightly grind the upper pin holes to get the safety pin in on one side. This was a 15 minute job with a die grinder, no big deal. Just a minor frustration. For me, the 2 safety pins are at shoulder height and belly button height. 4) I want to get longer hydraulic lines for the motor and mount it to one of the posts. I'm not crazy about the remote motor, but I totally get why they did it that way as it makes the whole thing more portable. The valving in the pump could also be bigger. The lift goes up slow and goes down even slower. Glacially slow on the way down. And speaking of the motor, it needs to be on its own circuit. If there is any other load on the line it will sometimes trip the breaker on startup. I already can't imagine continuing to work on cars without a lift. Seriously its that much better.Even little stuff like tire changes and oil changes get done on the lift now, and I find myself annoyed if a restoration project is on the lift when I need to do an oil change or other maintenance on any of the other cars in my fleet. I've used quick jacks, mid rise and low rise scissor jacks, etc. This is better. Its not as good as a full size 2 post asymmetric lift, but my shop can't support one of those (and they are EXPENSIVE). Zach
  3. 4 Post lifts are designed to be up in the air all of the time. 2 post lifts are designed to be in the air fore the duration of the work you are doing. For the most part I think it does not matter. But there are times when a 2 post lift will be come unstable much faster then a 4 post lift. Like if you tap the lift post with your car while parking under it. Or an earthquake. 4 posts bolted to the floor are stronger then 2 posts. That said, I've known people that have parked and worked under 2 post lifts for years. Zach
  4. I love my MaxJax, though at the moment it’s not holding old German iron. It’s being a workstation for a camp trailer I’m making.
  5. I've been running a PC925 Odessey in my 914 for a few years. It has tons of cranking power, but does not seem to have the AH of reserve to keep up with the car if I'm running with the lights and wipers on. I'm actually strongly considering moving away from the Lithium batteries and going back to lead acid for their reserve power. And I do occasionally worry about coming home to a smouldring heap of a garage due to the battery going up one day. But at this point with all the lithium batteries in devices and toys, I just don't know if I should worry about it and just up my insurance. Zach
  6. I was considering putting caps on my car. I have a few sets of wheels for the 2002 but the caps look good on the car. maybe I'm weird. Zach
  7. I see no reason why that would not work, but I think an IAC would probably work better and be somewhat easier to implement. Reason being is that the butterflies in the TB are large flaps, and you only want them cracked at startup, where as that IAC will have a small valve and you have many more degrees of freedom moving it to get a smooth idle and strong cold starting. But so long as your stepper motor can accurately move at very small increments, should work fine. You would have to engineer a way that operating the throttle while the "choke" was working would not strip it out or push it out of calibration, but I have to think that is a also a solvable problem (though the industry solution to this problem was the IAC valve. ? ) Zach
  8. Trying to wrap my head around this. What would be the benefit? Just want to try something new (I totally get that!)? Loosing idle control could end up being a serious issue for you. I know I tried and tried to get my 914 to run without idle control, and either had a car that would not start when cold, or would have a monstrous idle when warm. Gave in and got the IAC in. If you have any access to a mill or did some creative welding I bet you could make a 12mm (or thinner) base plate with two bungs to allow air in to each throttle body from your existing 4 wire IAC. From there it would be a simple Y to join a pair of hoses to the port on IAC. You would need a stand alone IAC valve, if you are currently using the plunger type. VW has a 2 wire stand alone unit I have used, but its on the large side. I'm currently using a Hyundai 3 wire unit and a 3D printed plate that allows some hoses to be run. Pretty simple. Plus the Hyundai valve is only $11 off Amazon. Of course you could just get a slightly larger throttle body that would allow you to tap or weld some bungs in. Either way, the IAC is a solvable issue. Zach
  9. So I bought a MaxJax from Best Buy Automotive Equipment on Black Friday for just under $1800 shipped with liftgate to my home. My garage did not have the ceiling to support a larger lift. I have not gotten it yet, and THOUGHT I had posted here about it in case someone else wanted in on the deal. I guess my post was lost into the ether... :-/ I'm super excited about it! Though my 914 gets first crack on the lift as I need to do some sprucing up before I take it to Amelia Island in March, the 2002 restoration is going to be dragged home at some point this winter or spring and hopefully I'll be able to get the doors off, stip the car down and really make some progress on my restoration efforts. Zach
  10. Keep in mind the brine MD (and most of the MidA states) now use is worse then salt, and it stays on the roadway for weeks after. As soon as they spray for the first storm, keep your 2002 off the roads until the spring rains wash that crap away. The brine will weep and wick into every seam in the car and start rusting happily away - out of sight until the rust is so bad that the rot is a hole and compromising the panel. A good friend of mine had a really nice 914 that he loved driving daily around Baltimore where he worked and York PA where he lived. The car lasted 2 years before a more or less rust free car had bubbles forming around every leading edge and seam. Seriously heart breaking. Zach
  11. I’m friends with the son of the prior owner of my home. He said the slab on the original side of my garage is 8-10 inches thick, and the restoration side is 4-5 inches thick. So that won’t be an issue. I measured my ceiling. I only have 112 inches to the rafters and 10ft if I go between the rafters. I should probably call it 110 inches as I eventually want to drywall the ceiling to keep a little more heat in the restoration bay. the little Max Jax still seems like a great option. I like that it can be unbolted and moved out of the way. I’d have to change my garage door and opener to add a larger “Real” lift. Certainly possible, but I don’t know if going up another foot is worth the added costs. The old side of the garage has an 8+ inch slab. Same ceiling height though. I may have familial issues though if I tried to put a lift on that side. Eventually I want to put a 4 post there so I could park the 2002 and 914 in the same spot. Zach
  12. I may need to cut and pour as well. I’m not sure how thick the pad is in my garage. zach
  13. Does anyone here have experience with the 6000lbs MaxJax "portable" lift? I'm thinking hard about bringing my 2002 home this winter to try and push through the rust repair. And I'm thinking I want a lift. 10Ft ceilings in my garage so I can't put in a standard. I don't really want a scissor lift. The last car I restored like this I stripped down to a shell and built a rotisserie. I don't want to do that with the 2002. I think I can get everything I need to get done done with a lift (and then I still have a lift for doing oil changes, etc with my small fleet of cars. Likewise, for maintenance - has anyone had issues with using the MaxJax on larger vehicles like a 5th Gen 4Runner? Thanks! Zach
  14. Thanks! I think I should be able to modify the stock rails to use these seats. I grew up bouncing between Dallas and Lake Texoma. I do not miss that heat and humidity! To this day I'll visit in the winter, spring and fall - but NEVER in the summer. Zach
  15. Porsche prices have jumped. But so have 2002 prices. I suspect that 2002 prices will continue to rise for the next several years. I really don't get the "Porsche guys are A-holes" attitude that I've seen in this thread. In my experience the guys that own 2002s also tend to own 914s, 912s, 944s, etc. Zach (who also owns a 914-4)
  16. This past weekend I got epoxy down on the trunk. I think I can cross this off the list until its time for final paint. Thee are a few small areas that yet need to be addressed that will be addressed when the car is in PA and I can take the rear glass out, but structurally the trunk is now sound. This makes me very happy. And today, something showed up in the mail for me! Really excited about these. There is also a rear seat cover that I have not unpacked yet. I ordered them from a small shop in Thailand that restores them, and was nervous about it being a scam. But after 8 weeks in a container they showed up at my door today! The tracking site the guy sent me had not even updated yet (as of Sunday) so I did not even know they had landed and gone through customs and been delivered to the US Post for delivery. Zach
  17. I just did mine over the spring. I waited a long time for the W/N parts to come back in stock, and then found a different trunk kit from Wolf Steel/Alfa Parts. It worked great. If anything, their kit was easier to manage due to it not being one big panel. It was easier to use the parts I needed, and the shapes were well fitted to my trunk. Zach
  18. I have not converted my 2002 to EFI (yet), but I have done it with my 914. My suggestion would be to use as many of the stock parts as you can. The M10 was used for decades, and you can find an EFI intake plenum and the other parts you need fairly easily.for piping and hard parts, don't reinvent the wheel where you don't have to. If you use Megasquirt (which was the route I went) you will want to use GM sensors both for cheapness and also for compatibility. Almost any EFI route you take will be able to run spark. DON'T do spark and fuel at the same time. Get fuel running first, and then do spark. Keep your variables manageable. I learned this the hard way... GET YOUR CAR DYNO TUNED. All the different EFI systems will claim you can tune it with a laptop while you drive. Which is technically possible. But its is not easy, and you will have better results on a dyno. EFI on its own won't make you car run any faster. It will allow you to dial in the best tune possible for almost any given running situation. Which means much easier cold starts, much better response up and down the rev range, and a lot more tolerance as air pressure shifts (ie - driving up and down mountains). Zach
  19. I spent the weekend finally getting some work done on my car. Previously I had ordered a trunk kit to replace the rusty metal in the tire well and around the gas tank. This weekend I got the well replaced. The new well was long and designed to be fit to size. I did some initial fitting and cut the lip off where it would be in the way. Next up was cutting out the old well. Fun times in cramped working conditions. Well is out and fitting the new well continues. There was a radius on the old well where it blended with the trunk floor, I removed it with a hammer and dolly to make a better connection when the new well went in. Everything is flat and a LIGHT coating of zinc primer has been sprayed on. You can see holes in the trunk floor where I have been using cleco clips to hold the new well in for fitting. fitted and clamped in place. Ready to be welded. This was as far as I got the first day. Cutting and fitting took about 7 hours of work. Next morning... Zap zap zap zap all the way around. I found a few placed where the zinc had gone on a little thick and was getting contaminated welds from it. So I took it down a bit and my welds got good again. Also welding up the holes from the cleco clips while I go. Well is in and I had plenty of time left to fit the well floor. it was close, but there were lots of gaps I'd need to close with hammer and dolly while welding it in. No room for clecos here, so I just layed in a couple tacks and went for it. Working around the well floor.The copper strip is used as a heat sink that weld won't stick to. The RR Spike is and dolly are both used to move the metal to cloe the gaps. You can see the gaps closing up where while I work around the well. This was a good bit of work. And its in, with literal minutes to spare before I had to stop work, clean up, and make the 3 hour drive back home. I scrubbed it with some ospho to remove the surface rust that had formed, and then sprayed on some more ospho to keep new rust from forming until the next time I could get to it. Next step will be the gas tank surround. Once that's done I can put the gas tank back in, run fuel lines, and no longer have to push the car around to work on it! Zach
  20. Curious to know how this story turned out? Is everything running smooth? Zach
  21. I've got my daily driver WRX, 2002, 914, another 914, and a Forrester I use during hunting season. Plus the GF's Highlander and Civic. The 2002 is still being restored. One of the 914s will never see the road again in my ownership of it (caged racer with severe rust issues). The Civic will go to her daughter when she gets her license. I'm at a point where probably something has to get sold, but I have no interest in selling anything. Its good to have options, but its too much. And I still look at things and say "ohhhh. I could buy that car." Zach
  22. My experience is apples and oranges for your application (MSII, different injectors, etc etc) but 60+PSI seems excessive for fuel pressure. I would have suspected a fuel pressure in the range of 30-40 PSI for a relatively tame 4 banger. I wonder if the pressure is part of the reason you have fuel dripping? You had mentioned that it was over the recommended max pressure. Zach
  23. Its only been a solid year since i have updated this blog. Bad Zach, no cookie for you! Over the past year I have: Bought a rusty parts car to harvest parts for my slightly less rusty car. Bought all the stuff required to redo the trunk metal floors. Cut out and welded up a LOT of rust all over the car. Cut out all the rotten trunk metal, and making my plan for welding in the good stuff. Redid my engine mounts, and a bunch of other smaller jobs around the engine bay. Got new tires put on an mounted. At this point there are basically three issue spots that remain. Both rockers still need love. The drivers side rocker is cleaned out, and still needs to be welded up. The pass side rocker is in much better shape, but still needs rot cut out. The trunk. I've cut out 90% of the rust out of the trunk. The trunk floor kit I have is modular, its not the big single stamped piece. Which is nice as its going to let me do this in stages. I want to finish up the trunk before I finish the rockers. My thinking here is that when the trunk is done, I can put back in the gas tank that I sealed 2 years ago, run fuel lines and START THE CAR. This will be a big moral victory, as it means no more pushing the car around when I want to work on it. I can just drive that bitch! I also toyed with the idea of buying a rolling shell in good shape and moving all the parts I have over. Saving me the joy of a lot more welding. This idea nearly came to fruition a week ago, when I came across an estate auction for a guy nearish to me that built 2002s. "Well hey there" I thought to myself. Up for auction were two rolling shells, both of which had the rust work done, one of which was painted and the other wasn't. I decided I would make a go for the unpainted body. As it was still more or less bare metal, and had no title I was hoping that I could pick it up for a few grand. I was wrong. The painted body sold for $14K. Absolutely stupid money for a car that had brand new paint already failing in places. The untitled, unpainted body sold for $4K. I was in the auction until $3K but was not going to go any higher then that. The guy that wont the auction was the guy that was bidding (but ultimately lost the auction for) the painted body. He had cash and was determined to come home with a car. IMO, this is crazy money. This is "buy a nice running and driving car" money for a car that had mediocre paint at best. The rolling shell was also somewhat crazy IMO. I guess you can chalk it up to "east coast premium," but again it was approaching driver car money for a shell that still needed several grand worth of work before it was actually a car again. The whole thing left me feeling pretty good about my little green 2002 that I paid 2002 for in June of 2016. I've been keeping track of my costs, and I'm going to be way under 4K once my rust remediation is complete - and my car has a clean title. Cheers all! Zach
  24. Wolf has their version of the trunk floors. I got email from them this morning and may go that route. However, a friend that restores cars professionally said not to use Wolf, as they have a rep for making substandard parts (he quoted thin metal and poor stampings). Which I am bummed to hear as I was ready to pull the trigger. Since the cost is the same, he is advising me to wait until RD or W&N or BMW had them back in stock. I don't suppose anyone had used the Wolf panel and could advise me on the fit and quality? Zach
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