4.5 hours. Rrady for fluid and testing.
Coolant is drained to fix the leaking lower radiator hose. Have some nuts and bolts to tighten up and have to put the struts on the front and it can come down off the stands. I'm feeling pretty good about my progress tonight.
Front struts changed. Alignment roughed in.
Power steering pump changed, core support clearanced, pag oil in the compressor, fresh power steering fluid.
Door speakers in, but hit the windows when they roll down. Need spacers.
Axles torqued, trans full of fluid.
Waiting on radiator hoses.
Pcm swap was a success! 87 octane!!!!!
List done except rear eibachs, headlights, and speaker spacers.
But a speedometer that works and air conditioning!!!!!!
Good enough for work this week. Ill do rear struts and final alignment and oil change next weekend. Gotta put a fuel pump in the truck tomorrow after church.
that must feel good, nice job
In reply to sleepyhead :
My god does it. Lot of space in my head back.
So, initial impressions based on 15 miles;
Its much less frantic feeling of a car. The three major changes: ecu, trans, engine mounts.
Much less vibration and noise with rubber mounts.
Throttle pedal is much more linear with regards to power. With the syked, 50%-100% throttle really didn't make any difference. Its down on piwer, but much smoother delivery, cleaner idle, and generally feels less high strung.
The trans: synchros are a game changer. Wow, fantastic shift quality. And on paper, the .81 5th gear wasnt much different than the .72. In actuality, its a whole different car at highway speed. Much quieter and more relaxed.
In essence, the work this weekend took it from a pocket rocket hot rod feel of a cheap car, to a cheap grand touring feeling car.
I have found no downside here, other than it feels slower. Which im ok with.
We need some full body pictures.
Any change this ACR will get a full period correct livery?
I can see where that might be a little hard to live with every day.
How about a retro interpretation of some classic Mopar?
Replace the 4 letters Cuda with the 4 letters Neon and in the shield replace AAR with ACR
Inspiration:
In reply to John Welsh :
The acr wont be getting any graphics done. Love the clean blurple color on it.
The r/t, however. Full craigslist style picture. Its hammered in person.
theres a full body picture of it. Think gastropod build.
With it needing to look SLIGHTLY professional for work, im going to try to stay subtle. Just a hood tripe. Playing with it while waiting for someone to come and help me pull the bed on the truck.
I confused for a moment. I thought the white was the ACR. I saw the fog openings but no fogs and that is what made me think the white was the ACR
Obviously wrong colors and junk hood. But its damn near what i had in my head. Think the separation lines (base color) are a little too wide. Thats 1 inch tape. Maybe 1/2 or 3/4 would be better?
Feedback and critique?
Final will be white hood, satin navy blue stripe.
In reply to John Welsh :
The fogs on the White (r/t) were busted and ugly . So i yanked them, and essentially (cosmetics) making it an acr with a sunroof.
Dusterbd13-michael said:Obviously wrong colors and junk hood. But its damn near what i had in my head. Think the separation lines (base color) are a little too wide. Thats 1 inch tape. Maybe 1/2 or 3/4 would be better?
Feedback and critique?
Final will be white hood, satin navy blue stripe.
I think the negative stripe widths are good. 3/4" could work too. But I'd adjust your smallest positive stripe width (up near the wipers) to be no smaller that twice the negative stripe width. I think that's what's bugging me about it. Essentially shift your prototype pattern up the hood about 4".
Im strugglingto picture what your saying. Do you Photoshop? May be easier to see what youre saying tbere....
Here's what I'm thinking. It's a subtle change.
In the image above I moved the entire pattern down (towards the windshield). In your original the last couple of color stripes are wider than the negative divisions (especially that last partial stripe), which feels weird to me. Otherwise it looks good. I like the width, position, and taper of the stripe. Following the hood contours was a good choice. Let me know if I can explain it better.
-Sean
ShawneeCreek said:Here's what I'm thinking. It's a subtle change.
In the image above I moved the entire pattern down (towards the windshield). In your original the last couple of color stripes are wider than the negative divisions (especially that last partial stripe), which feels weird to me. Otherwise it looks good. I like the width, position, and taper of the stripe. Following the hood contours was a good choice. Let me know if I can explain it better.
-Sean
Damn!!!! NAILED IT .
now, how do we convert the Photoshop into a layout i can do with a tape measure? Last one was done by eyeball .
Previous total: 2600.33
new money: supplies from oriellys (trans fluid, freon, pag oil, antifreeze, lower radiator hose, VSS, axle seals, oil pressure gauge line, can of charcoal gray dye that didn't even come close)) 140ish
new total: 2740.33
R/t itself cost as of today: roughly 1540
ok, first up, I know I post drips and drabs of progress here and there. I use these full updates to paint a coherent picture of what has actually been done in completeness, instead of nuggets. So you may have already seen this stuff. Maybe not. So, feel free to skim.
When we left off on last full update, I didnt have a speedometer, air conditioning, ride quality, or synchros. I had a spoiler, 4 out of 6 working speakers, etc. last week ive stayed busy. Fixed the truck too! Fuel pump and front end work. Not fun, but done. And back to reliable as gravity. Which is good, as I head to ohio on the 29th.
Anyway, I started last sunday to see of rustoleum gloss white and spoilerless was the route I wanted to go with paint and body on this thing. So I pulled the parts car decklid out of the scrap metal pile, sanded with 220 on a palm sander, prepped with lacquer thinner, and shot it with rattle cans. Turned out good. Right shade of white, but nothing I can do will bring the gloss I want to the white rustoleum. Unlike the blue I sprayed the miata with. So, my brain is still chewing on that conundrum. May try a spot with wetsanding and buffing, see what happens. I did use some screw hole plugs leftover from some cheap furniture in the spoiler holes. Much better.
20190311_083236 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20190311_171624 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20190312_092557 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
I then worked on getting the 3.94/.72 transmission un-screwed. Split the bellhousing off, and the screw was just about going into the trans gears. Its the screw you can see on the bench between the two halves.
20190311_171503 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
there was a fair bit of metallic paste on the magnet, but all the wear patterns (that I checked anyway) looked good. No damage was apparent. And the plastic VSS drive ring was good and tight. I cleaned everything up, used some anaerobic sealant between the halves, put in new axle seals, and buttoned it back up. Wasn't as hard as I was expecting, to be honest.
When friday night rolled around, I was ready to thrash. First stop on the list was trans swap. I HAVE to have a speedometer. And the ability to shift. In addition, the r/t trans had an annoying tendency to pup the shift cable off every 50 shifts or so, and randomly pop out of gear in random gears. Very annoying.
So I drained the coolant, as I had a leak to fix at the lower hose. Pulled it all apart, including the front bumper. 3.5 hours later from driving it into the shop.
20190315_185234 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20190315_194149 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
I also assessed the power steering pump hitting the core support, and the accident damage. This thing is CROOKED. Ill address it later. Not considered mission critical at this time.
20190315_211911 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20190315_180122 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
the power steering pump was noisy, the fluid very dirty and contaminated, and the belt was making odd noises. So, I swapped in a different used pump and a new belt. After loosening the impact bar and moving the core support out another inch. I also drained every drop of fluid out that I could, and replaced with fresh prestone fluid. All the noises went away on startup. Great success! I also removed all the poly inserts from the side mounts in the process of doing all this. Vibrations much reduced, and less noise in the cabin. Other things done this weekend include charging the AC system, putting 6.5 inch woofers in the doors (those speaker box specials that have a pair of tweeters and a pair of 6.5 inch woofers and are rated for a bazillion watts for 20 bucks at the parts store/flea market/pawnshop? I get them for about 10 bucks. Work perfect for cheap door woofers.), swapping in a stock ECU (anyone want the syked 2.4 swap ecu?), swapping the eibach/koni front struts from the acr (ran out of time for the rears), removing the fog lights, fixing the leaking lower radiator hose, painting the core support (badly), and reassembly.
Before we go to final appearance, and driving impressions, a little diversion to headlights.
Im night blind. I also live and work in some really rural, poorly lit/marked countryside. So good headlights are a safety thing for me, much more than for most other people. I have HID/Projector swapped every daily since I sold the ACR back in 12/13. I have only hit one deer in that time, which is a dramatic improvement and proof that the headlight upgrades are working for me. I didnt want to modify the clear depo lights that were in the acr before being put in this car by the PO. I love the way they look. At the time I bought those, I debated between them and the projectors made by depo. I couldn't get past the looks of the depo projectors then. However, the performance of the projectors ive used since then makes me overlook the cosmetics. I was told by modern that the depo stuff for 1st gen had been discontinued a few years ago, and all that are left are the black/angel eye projector lights and stock replacement. My plan had been to use a set of very yellowed stock housings, separate them, sand the flutes off the inside of the lens, and projector swap them. That was until a set of NOS depo projectors showed up on ebay for 89.99 shipped. I bought them as quick as I could. Dunno if any more exist, or if they are actually still being made, but I got a set. The non projector depos are safely tucked away for re-installation on the acr. The depo projectors still look like alien boobs to me, but the light output is AWESOME.
Anyway, new headlights! Initial testing of the very out of alignment lights as delivered was quite impressive. Very good optics on a dark but clear night. Im debating on doing a 5k 55w hid retro to the low beams. Time will tell. I do want to install relays though, and not quite sure of the wiring for the new 4 geadlight system that connects to a 3 wire socket.
On to the pictures!
20190313_143453 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20190313_143827 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20190316_175341 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
and full step back magazine style picture
20190316_175351 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
last thing for the weekend was experimenting with the hood strobe stripe design. Im close. Really close. Stripe will be a satin navy blue, like the factory rt logo color. Art is seeing when he can do a day to spray the car for me (the white), hopefully the same weekend I go to ohio. Drop it off stripped down on thursday after work, pick it up sunday evening when I get back, reassemble monday, go back to work Tuesday, im also still debating rustoleum vs base/clear in GM arctic white when he sprays it. About $100 difference in materials, but base clear never chalks.....
anyway, heres thr ough draft of the stripe from 3 angles. Needs some fine tuning.
20190317_111823 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20190317_113428 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20190317_113434 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20190317_113440 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
finally, a drive report. The stock ECU is down on power. Which im ok with. It also has a much more linear throttle pedal, and smoother idle. Doesnt feel as frantic as the syked did, and im looking forward to running 87 octane and seeing what the economy is like. Is also leaner at idle by smell. The .72 trans is BEAUTIFUL, and a working speedometer is a game changer. It shifts great, much more relaxed at highway speed, and quieter due to less rpm. The un-filled side mounts make the car feel much more high end, with less noise and vibration. Still have some due to the filled front mount and semisolid bobble, but the engine is controlled and clutch feel is awesome. Didn't try any hard launches, so I don't know about that. All around success this weekend. Im actually looking forward to driving it all week now. Also, the front speakers sound great. I need to space the passengers side out a smidge, as the window hits it when rolling down. But again, not mission critical. Same with installing the cruise control parts underhood.
Dusterbd13-michael said:ShawneeCreek said:Here's what I'm thinking. It's a subtle change.
In the image above I moved the entire pattern down (towards the windshield). In your original the last couple of color stripes are wider than the negative divisions (especially that last partial stripe), which feels weird to me. Otherwise it looks good. I like the width, position, and taper of the stripe. Following the hood contours was a good choice. Let me know if I can explain it better.
-Sean
Damn!!!! NAILED IT .
now, how do we convert the Photoshop into a layout i can do with a tape measure? Last one was done by eyeball .
We do that with magic photoshopped circles that are approximately one division (1") in diameter:
From the bumper to the windshield, along the passenger side of the stripe, you should have colored stripes approximately 10.75", 6", 4.75", 3.5", 3", 2", 1.5", and 1" wide, all with 1" of body color stripes in between them.
ShawneeCreek said:Dusterbd13-michael said:ShawneeCreek said:Here's what I'm thinking. It's a subtle change.
In the image above I moved the entire pattern down (towards the windshield). In your original the last couple of color stripes are wider than the negative divisions (especially that last partial stripe), which feels weird to me. Otherwise it looks good. I like the width, position, and taper of the stripe. Following the hood contours was a good choice. Let me know if I can explain it better.
-Sean
Damn!!!! NAILED IT .
now, how do we convert the Photoshop into a layout i can do with a tape measure? Last one was done by eyeball .
We do that with magic photoshopped circles that are approximately one division (1") in diameter:
From the bumper to the windshield, along the passenger side of the stripe, you should have colored stripes approximately 10.75", 6", 4.75", 3.5", 3", 2", 1.5", and 1" wide, all with 1" of body color stripes in between them.
I owe you a cheeseburger at the challenge this year. You the man!!!
Proof of concept
Looks fantastic. I think you may have accidentally started the next crazy trend of the tuner car world - cutaway "teaser" hoods. I'm calling it now.
In reply to maschinenbau :
I actually always wanted a see through hood. Like the magazine pictures, but real life.
This hood wouldn't have needed cut if it hadn't been kicked by king Kong ....
I like it!
Looks good to me.
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