My name is Earl, and I have a Stainless Steel bolt fetish =)

[johnprusinski]

i like the after picture earl. very good job. i must come out there to see what you've done so far.

[Earl]

I attempted to be a little productive on Saturday=)

The first thing I did was work on my intake manifold.
There are three bolts that hold the upper half of the manifold to the lower manifold. Two of them are M7x55 and the other is M7x100. When I placed my order with Downstar, Frank notified me that M7 hardware is very uncommon and that he could not source any. I could have just opted to order OEM replacement bolts, but they would just be zinc coated steel head head bolt. That was unacceptable since they wouldn't match the rest of my hardware. I then had the thought to ask if M8 hardware was easier to get. Frank told me that he could easily get me M8 hardware in the sizes I need. Saturday I ended up drilling out the holes in the upper manifold to fit M8 bolts through. I then drilled and tapped the lower manifold to accept the new hardware. I forgot to get pictures, but it looks exactly how it sounds. All for the sake of looking good=D

After that ordeal I decided to fit up the front end so I could adjust the front fenders properly before pulling them a bit more.

It is nice to see a face on her after being apart since December. You can see how the front fenders sit way too high compared to the rears. You can also see that I have a little bit more plastidip to peel......fun

John and I tried to do the old magazine fender pull trick but we couldn't get it to pull as far as I would like. Time to borrow a roller again.

I also snagged another shot of the rear fenders that need to be tweaked a bit more for my liking.

I am hoping my hardware shows up early in the week so that I can start getting the motor back together again=)

[B C]

estimated start-up date?

[Earl]

Snap said:

estimated start-up date? 

09/09/2023

[Jdesign]

Earl said:

09/09/2023

Made me LOL

[Earl]

Did a handful of things at the shop yesterday.

I started by clearing out my hatch so that I can start installing the management and figuring out my trunk setup.

I had my side moulding back there so I put them back on the car to keep them from molding out of shape or getting damaged. To do this I started rubbing off a ton of plastidip left all over the car. I may just need to take a day and get the rest of that off of this car. Anyways, I got them on and was happy to see they still look great=)

Rear quarter with trim

I also had to get some booty shots=D

I still need to finish shaping the bumper where it was notched. I am happy with how good it looks being shaved though.

I climbed up a ladder and grabbed a box out of my stash. Opened it up:

It was just my management, compressors, and gauges=)

I pulled up my trunk mat to see how much room I have to work with.

I need to fit at least my dual 444c compressors, VU4 manifold, and a secondary battery. I tossed the compressors and manifold in to get an idea of how much wiggle room I have.

The secondary battery is a very small Braille. I think I will put both compressors to the left, mount the VU4 manifold horizontally in the right side, and then mount the battery right below that. My primary battery will go in that pocket on the right. It will probably be a similar Braille or maybe an Odyssey of the same size.

I found a roller to borrow for Saturday and I will also be grabbing a digital protractor from work so that I can make sure the camber of my fronts are exactly the same. I am hoping I can get a little work in the trunk done, as well as securely mounting the air lines under the car instead of having them just connected to the bags.

Time will tell what I end up motivated to do. Hoping my next update is a good one

[Earl]

Well I only got one thing done Saturday and that was getting the front wheels situated.

I started by pulling the passenger fender to clear the tire. I sat the car back down and the car still wasn't any lower. I then maxxed the camber out on both sides to see how that would work out. The car still didn't sit any lower, but the fitment seemed a little better. This made me realize that I pulled the passenger fender too much. I beat it back down to match the other side using a hammer and block of wood. I then spun the strut bodies shorter 8 turns each side. I dropped it down and still no change......After leaving for lunch and doing all of this over a 3 hour span, my friend decided to peak under the car and found what the issue was. I am sitting on the frame=P We decided to pull the car out of the garage to see if the driveway changed the fitment.

I then threw the front end together and bolted it down securely for the sake of seeing how it will look. I am still not sure why I tightened it all down snug. haha

I am not sure if the crosshair in the high beams looks too aggressive for the clean and classy look I am going for. If I don't like them when the car is painted, it is easy to get another set of DJ Autos=)

After this we decided to finish peeling the plastidip on the header panel and bumper. I then put the mouldings on the bumper and didn't take any pictures of that. haha I will have to snap one on Wednesday before taking it all back apart.

I didn't get a chance to do anything is the trunk because I was being far too lazy and my buddy who was going to assist me had a family party to go to. I will take measurements on Wednesday to see how much wood I will need and how I will go about getting it to fit right.

One more picture from when the car was outside.

Jake and John photobombing me=P

[B C]

That is one mean off-roadin machine. I love the Unabomber shot.

[Earl]

Thanks sir. They kept trying to push me off of the ladder. lol

[KaiserRolls]

this needs to be moving under its own power before the snow flies!!!!!

[Earl]

Tiny bits of work yesterday.

I was going to remove the front end, but I want Alex to see it before I take it apart. He will be swinging by Sunday before we go to the get together=)

Most of the time at the shop was spent installing some of the new hardware and talking to the landlord. I am very happy with how the hardware looks so far.

Alternator bolts with beauty washers

Motor mount arm

Intake manifold

I need to figure out how to clean up the throttle linkage a bit since it now looks like crap with everything else looking new.

Throttle body

After getting those in I noticed I made a mistake on the length of two bolts. Look what I did wrong

I ordered them the length of the studs without thinking how far the nut threaded down onto the studs=( I just need to cut them down at work and run a die on the threads to clean them up. No biggie

I peeled the plastidip off of my lux slats and then took some pictures of the front of the car with its Calypso goodness=)

If I wasn't so dead set on keeping the car black it would either be sprayed Calypso of Diamond Schwartz. Black will keep with the classy, subtle look I am shooting for.

[alexw]

Looking good man. Love all the cleaning and wrinkle paint you're doing. Looks brand new!

[Earl]

alexw said:

Looking good man. Love all the cleaning and wrinkle paint you're doing. Looks brand new!

Thank you sir=) That is the goal. Some of the black brackets aren't perfect in spots you can't see which bothers me, but if I sit and nitpick everything I will never get done. lol

[B C]

OCD:   OFF   [ON]

[Earl]

haha I get it from my dad=)

[jc43089]

"I just need to cut them down at work and run a die on the threads to clean them up."

Run the die on first, then cut them off, and turn the die back off.  Easier than trying to get it started on the cut threads.

[Earl]

jc43089 said:

"I just need to cut them down at work and run a die on the threads to clean them up."

Run the die on first, then cut them off, and turn the die back off.  Easier than trying to get it started on the cut threads.

I did exactly that=) haha I know the game

[jc43089]

Earl said:

I did exactly that=) haha I know the game

Good deal, don't mind me, just sharing lessons learned the hard way...

[Earl]

Haha I totally understand

[Earl]

Tiny minimal update.

Finally was able to source some nice stainless socket head screws to replace the rotten ones that held my TPS in place.

I am also working on picking up a rare part that I have been after for over a year and a half. Tomorrow morning they will either be mine, or I may lose out on them. Hoping I get them=) I will clue you guys in once they belong to me