My name is Earl, and I have a Stainless Steel bolt fetish =)
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Looking great Earl!
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I have been holding off on updating this so that I would have a good update but things are going slower than molasses haha
Let's start where I left off. The motor and trans got mated and I started figuring out what I need to do before it goes back in.Â
First I changed the rear carrier bushing for the shifter.
After that I ordered up an 11/16" Volkswagen Rabbit master cylinder for my booster delete. I need to fit it and start doing the brake lines for the front of the car. I also just ordered all OEM rear hard lines so that I can finish that up.Â
Speaking of the rear end
I hated how one of the bushings wasn't seated right and I wanted to redo some of the paint. I also need to refresh the seals on the diff (sold the medium case 2.93) and install a stud kit from Thayer Motorsports. That will make swapping in a medium case much easier down the line.Â
Here are some of the goodies that have arrived
I split the trailing arms from the subframe and removed the poly bushings but it got too dark to take pictures. I will be cleaning up the arms again, repainting them, and then installing the new bushings. I also stupidly drilled a hole in one of the bushing mounts last time to allow air to come out since one of the bushings did not want to install properly. I will be welding that up as well.Â
I ordered a set of LED license plate lights and installed them too. I got a set off of ebay because every brand that I could find is still made in Taiwan (even the more costly options). I tested them with a power supply to check the light output and they are a very nice bright white without being blue at all.Â
The only other news that I can think of is that I went to install my Motorsport handles but ran into an issue. It seems they have a different lock style than my handles, making  the cylinder swap not a plug and play affair.Â
I could swap the wafers from my lock cylinder into the ones for the motorsport handles, but the face plates of those cylinders are all dented up. I have the handles sold and was going to pick up another set but I think I am going to keep it simple and run plain handles.
I should be working on the car tonight and am hoping to get a bit of work done on the trailing arms.
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Welded up the hole I idiotically drilled in the one mount
I then wire wheeled all of the paint on the arms that wasn't fairing well and threw a coat of primer on. Somehow my full can of primer ran out of aerosol after finishing one arm so I had to use a different can I had on the other.Â
I will be picking up more primer today and then hopefully getting the paint on them.
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I was going to finish painting the arms the other day but ran out of paint and the paint I was using is now discontinued. I did spray them with self etching primer though to cover any spots I missed with the first coat of primer.Â
Now I just need to get a nice day to prep and paint them, as well as the subframe.Â
Yesterday I tackled the output shaft detent rings and seals on my diff. I will be redoing the paint on it as well as replacing the bolts for the sides and the dust caps on the flanges, don't worry=)Â
Popped the flanges out to see what I was working with.
Next I pulled the sides and popped out the old seals and detent rings
Then in went the new seals
I popped the output flanges back in for now to keep any debris out of the diff. I will be coating it in KBS rustseal and just need to pick up that up as well as new hardware for the sides
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Last week I realized that the color I used for the subframe, trailing arms, and diff cover was discontinued. The subframe needed repainting too so I clean it up again and reprimed it.Â
I also started KBS coating my diff.Â
I started with the Aqua Kleen. It needs to be kept wet for a half hour to clean the surface.
After that I used the Rust Blast to convert any rust and to put a thin zinc phosphate coating on the part to help the rust seal stick. I didn't really get a good picture of the diff after the rust seal but here is one with the diff disassembled and ready to coat.Â
Coating the diff was as simple as lightly brushing on the rust seal. It self levels and covers really well.Â
I didn't coat the inside of the diff flange that you see since it didn't make much sense to me and is already painted in there.
I'll be reassembling the diff today (sans hardware) and painting the subframe. I also need to clean up and finish priming the trailing arms.
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Dude.
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Got the diff assembled and the stud kit installed
I have to repaint the cover yet and get new bolts for the side covers. Can't decide if I want to match the diff cover to the subframe again or if I want to paint it with aluminum paint like the trans haha
Sprayed the subframe with paint as well. Ran out of time to prime the trailing arms
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Tuesday I finally got the arms outside to prime:
Yesterday I was able to put a little paint on them and a little more paint on the subframe
I'm not sure why they look a little greenish in pictures but the color is a nice medium gray.Â
After that I started taking the rear bumper support and mounts off so that I can redo some of the undercoating in the rear. I found some surface rust that I want to address properly.Â
Upon taking the bumper support off, I found that my drivers side mount is blown and a bit crusty
Currently on the lookout for a used one in good shape.
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Subframe and arms are all painted and I started assembling.Â
Condor bushings in and swaybar endlink bracket mounted
I am still looking for a small case diff cover without broken fins to replace my current one. I can then open the diff and see why it locks up at 3 1/8th turns either way now.Â
I also took some time Saturday removing bits from the underside of the rear to prepare for wire wheeling any surface rust spots and then cleaning for the Rust seal.
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Repainted the brake shields on Friday
Also found why my diff wouldn't make a full rotation. I must have bent this trigger wheel when I pulled the flanges out and the assembly rested in the housing.Â
I also attached the trailing arms to the subframe, bolted on the calipers/rotors, and bolted the diff in.Â
Saturday I bolted the axles on
I then bent and installed the brake lines. I still need to get the clips to hold them tight to the trailing arms.Â
Besides that Sam and I picked this up as a project for her
 
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