The hoopty and I went up to the ClassicDaily HQ this week for manual swap and hangs! We had two solid days of wrenching, and intended to manual swap hoopty and swap an m20 on a vert he is trading some labor on for an e28.
I had planned to do a valve cover gasket and heater valve before I went up there, but the trip got pushed forward a day, so instead I trekked a very leaky, untested car 5hrs north.
I left out of the parts warehouse early Wednesday to grab a few last minute items.
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Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
The trip up was a success, but not without casualty. The heater valve really gave out (rivet fully failed) about half way up. No overheating, Hoopty is a sweetheart! The guibo was also living on a prayer but handled 5hrs of 85-90mph with mercy and gentleness.
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Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by
Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Within a few hours, the auto trans was out, and the subframe assembly/engine was dropped out the bottom of the vert!
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Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Tim prepping the new M20 for the vert required some assistance.
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Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
After a fight with the pilot bearing, the manual trans was in! I bought a car last year that came with a manual swap full of nice bits. I used a late model, 140k g260 I got from a customer who sold his e30, e36m shifter, all new delrin bushings, DSSR, new shift selector, 13lb lightened m20 flywheel, stock sachs PP/clutch, FTE clutch master/slave, and the $75 S3.73 from FB marketplace which ended up being great. While we were putting the trans in, Tim was up on the rolly-steps replacing the exhaust manifolds with ones that had good studs, as these snapped every stud upon removal. Tim was also kind enough to press on the new CSB on to the manual driveshaft.
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Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
I dropped the car down to do some engine bay stuff like valve cover gasket that puked on the trip up, and also swap the heater valve/heater core. Not a terrible job, but there are a few specific bolts that are a pain. The new valve had a leaking Oring, so I had to pull the entire assembly back apart to throw the orings in from the old valve and hope they didn't leak. I transitioned to the passenger seat and employed bimmerbuddah to massage a few of the pesky bolts into place the last time around. Around this time, Simple_Smith stopped by to snag some trunk tension rods and hang.
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Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Time was running out, so we threw the exhaust back up/bled the clutch hydro and forgot the heat shields, fixed that, and then dropped it back down. The car moved backwards and forwards, success!
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Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by
Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by
Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by
Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
I had to leave in the AM, and the test rip around the compound was a success so I loaded up and headed out. Realized a mile down the road that I forgot to bleed the cooling system after the second heater valve removal, so I did that on the side of the road after she got a little warm and all was well. Car is much happier with the manual, and the mission was a success! I have some vibration on decel that I'll investigate once I get time, but until then, she's a manual ripper. We didn't have time to finish getting the m20 swapped in the vert, but deemed getting hoopty done to be of higher importance, due to the fact that I had to drive it home on a timeline. Jake is making killer progress on installing his new Dynojet, so the next plan is to go up to do a video on a stock car being converted to megasquirt, using hoopty as the victim. Felt great to get out and drive an e30 with some risk involved. Driving untested 30y/o cars on extended trips keeps you honest, lol
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Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by
Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by
Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by
Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr