Project Pooka

In reply to Stampie (FS) :

Cool! Thanks for thinking of me.

In reply to trumant (Forum Supporter) :

He has a boring car but loves a little sports car like a Triumph or Austin Healey. We can afford a Miata. 

I usually take custody when I'm tired of working on my Honda Scrambler and need a change of pace.

Man… Can it be almost five years from my last post on Project Pooka?  Holy Moly, let's look back at some of the highlights of the last 4 plus years in somewhat random order. 

I forgot the incident but I had to blow the factory horn at someone and they didn’t even hear it, so I got a pair of Hellas. They are certainly not train horns, but are off-key annoying and louder than the stock horn.

Ok, big whoop.

Then I put on new rotors, calipers and brake pads. I painted the calipers yellow with POR 15 caliper paint. Still looks good after several years. Replaced the existing coil-overs also because they were dead. Not wanting to spend a lot of money, I went with Yonaka. I started with the left rear, which was a royal pain. I did it without taking out the brace, after that they got easier, especially the front. It’s mostly for looks. Our roads are pretty bad, so it’s set soft for less banging around than handling. One day I’m supposed to readjust for better manners, but for now it’s fine.. 

We had three flat tires in a month, and the tires were old, so new tires were procured. They are the cheapest tires I could find. Midway through the install the tire guy calls me and says “I can’t balance the wheels with this weird hubcap thing stuck in the hub!” I just told him to knock the JB weld and retainer nut I put in there for the center caps out. He was freaked out, but did what I said and it was fine. When I first mounted those center caps it was just a test fit. I never meant for it to stay that way. So when I got the car back I put in the “permanent” mounting which is removable for tire repair or replacement. 

My pristine work bay.

Changed the fuel filter. The one I got was different from the one I had but was able to make it work.

I ran over my flashlight. Bummer.

I got some retro looking fog lamps. I was going to make brackets to put the lights in the “traditional” spacing, but… there were two existing holes just begging to be used. Experimentally, I mounted them and then spent several days looking at the placement. It was wrong, but somehow it had something about it that I liked. So, I left them. They can be removed in like 10 minutes so what the heck. Now, is it two gold front teef or purposeful locating? I like it, so for now it stays. Stands out, especially when they are turned on. It’s like “to yellow, and beyond!!!” when illuminated. Oh, I just noticed this photo shows I painted the A pillar to match the top. I really like it.

Somehow I've lost photos over the years, because installing the front and rear lip spoilers, muffler system, the new top... all missing. New seat covers, rebuilding the door cards... no evidence, except for the receipts. Oh well. Onward. More to come!

So, I kept having this idea. Finally I started workshopping on it and then decided to go for it.  You guessed it!  Actual cowl induction!  Yes!  What?!  Well, here's what happened…

I decided on a size for the opening and whipped up an aluminum “throat” for the actual firewall penetration. Weirdly, the bottle (can?) of beer was also really close to the round shape of the factory part. I tried to form it from one piece of plastic, but that just became too clumsy. So I had sizes for each end, so I switched to chipboard and resin.

I then had the “freeform” part of the project where I transferred from the intake rectangle to an oval/circle. I mocked it up in chipboard and resin. I finally was close enough so I then sawed that in half. I’m glad I think I know what I’m doing!

I then ‘glassed it and removed the chipboard.

And now we have… something.  Probably a mistake. It looks like Godzilla’s cuticles or something. Gross.

Glass them back together…

Yes, I accidentally made the Doomsday machine from Star Trek. (Deep Cut!)

I took the aluminum throat I did and installed a lip and metal screen grid.

As usual, a look at my luxurious workshop. I'm one of those people that no matter what I'm doing it takes most of the tools I own to complete it.

 Finished product, as it were.

Where is it going?!   Oh, that. 

Time to cut the original pipe. Hope it’s in the right spot!

Taa Daa!

Ooo! It fits! It’s a friction fit. A little wiggle and slip and it comes right out!

My wife's first words were “why does it look like that?” Well, I didn’t want it to stand out as a shiny addition. I would like it to look vaguely factory, or at least in the background. That was the goal; in truth I was sick of messing with it and in 1 minute it can be out and I can be modifying the appearance, so not a big deal. What the hell is on it? Flex Seal brushed on and then roughly sanded. It’s a rubber coated tube with a fiberglass body. It will worked on more. It looks like a growth in the engine bay, lol.

The coolest part? There is some sort of throaty resonance / overtone thing going on now with the intake and the exhaust and when it’s floored it sounds a tiny bit exotic. Very cool!

So, one day I saw this and took a picture. 

It was an accident, but I loved that bright strip across it in this photo. This led to tons of browsing for stripe ideas, and another photo later led to a another vague idea. So I did it to see what happened.

Dog helped.

.

Ooo, lasers!

I put vinyl wrap on the top of the mirrors. I’ve never used wrap before and I actually really enjoyed it. I found it calming, somehow. Now, every time I see it I think to myself “It’s too much, it should be like a ¾” less,” but then I think it’s ok. Since each mirror took about 10 minutes to do, it’s just another job to revisit. I will shorten it eventually just to see, but nobody’s egged the car yet, so maybe it’s in the ballpark. Another one of my ideas earlier was to paint the windshield surround Plastic-dip black. It matches the roof and I think reinforces the dip in the door sill. I may do the same to the mirrors and redo the wrap a bit higher. I’m going to leave the “stump” of the mirror white. We’ll see. 

I’ve done a lot of little stuff all over that I’m not showing, but it’s mostly maintenance and cleaning. Dog helps me clean the interior! Stupid stick! Get out of the car!

This is my “parking buddy” at work. He had this M3 but now a dual-motor Tesla 3.

I went to drive it recently and I couldn’t find the key. I finally checked the ignition switch and there was the key in the accessory position. The battery was so dead neither my battery charger or motorcycle charger would acknowledge it. Checking battery prices made me wince. To replace the battery would be $225. I could get a lawn mower battery for $75, but that’s lame. Then I remembered a post on Autopian about a battery restorer for $28. Ordered one and damned if it didn’t work! Holding full charge.

Next up is to clean up the valve cover, and to inspect the timing belt. The belt either has 60k or 120k on it. I suspect 60k, knowing the previous owners. If it looks ok I’ll probably leave it for now. TBD. Then I tackle the rust. It’s really not a lot; I might get lucky.

After that? Honestly, I’m kinda tired of Pooka. It’s been great fun, and I would like to keep it, but I don’t have a place to park it that is not in the way of other stuff, much less having to work on it outside. I guess I’m talking myself into selling it. As with any older car there is always something to fix, but it takes away time from my other projects, and I can’t spend as much time in the garage as I used to. Well, lets see when we get there!

it looks like everywhere you park, you are getting some sort of reflection, shadow or light across the back of the fender/door!   maybe God is trying to tell you something...