Nothing pretty build thread

[a2ndopinion]

So Keith, are you driving this to work on a daily basis? I'd like to come by and see it.

[TransAmBandit]

Those look like 85-92 Trans Am hood vents.

[corax]

Those look like 85-92 Trans Am hood vents.

Why am I not surprised that you'd get it right?

I got the ones I used off fleabay for $10, or I might have tried to squeeze these on as well (rear hood vents from a 85-92 TransAm)


I was also looking for LeBaron Turbo (top) or Lumina Z34 vents (bottom) while I was junkyarding . . .


 . . . or older TransAm fender vents . . .


 . . . then there's always the T-Bird Turbo coupe vents


any of those I think would have fit the general style of the car

[jrally]

Those Lebaron vents are solid epoxy, possibly concrete!!  (read into that heavy as hell...)

[corax]

Update on the fan install:
The "BMW 91 / 99* C (195/210*F) dual temp switch Part # 61311378073" switch let the engine get hot to where it the gauge would climb up to 3/4 hot before the fans kicked on.  Once the fans came on the temp gauge would drop back down to normal.  So I switched to the "BMW 80 / 88* C (180/195*F) dual temp switch Part # 61318361787" fan switch and the gauge stays in the middle no matter what.  With my temperature gun I can watch the t-stat open at 180 degrees and the fans kick on about 5-10 degrees later.

[corax]

I decided to install the upper intake & throttle body, and wait on the lower intake/teflon gasket until I get my injectors cleaned & balanced by Witch hunter.  So it was a perfect opportunity to finally install the temp switch for my idiot light.  I decided to go with a 210* switch that (nearly) fits perfectly in the blocked off hole below the temp gauge sensor.  A master list of temperature switches showing how they activate, at what temp, & the thread pitch can be found on the Wells site


I say "nearly" fits perfect because, while it threads in fine, the second shoulder from the tip bottoms out on the casting.  The solution is to open up the casting flange at the bottom of the threaded hole with a 1/2" drill bit.  The shoulder on the temp switch is exactly .500" so a bit of file work may be necessary to give it a bit more clearance if you don't drill it just right.  Oh yeah, my skinny Craftsman drill rested up against the manifold and helped me drill it straight, a thicker drill might make the bit go in on an angle - be careful of the threads.  (whoever did whatever to this engine must have used a gallon of red RTV - it is EVERYWHERE)


Installed (blurry one)


I cut down and re-threaded (5mmx0.8 die) the adjustable linkage off a 5M Cressida to give me a bit more length than the original 22RE linkage.  This way the angle of the throttle plate when I crack it open off idle won't move quite as fast as it would if the linkage pivot was further counter-clockwise (trying to eliminate some of the jerkiness in traffic).  The link lever itself was already drilled & trimmed down in this pic.


I also fitted a 2.75"-3" 90* silicone elbow that I found on fleabay for $20ish.  It fit just right with the smaller end on the throttle body and is solid enough that I haven't even bothered to brace or support the AFM yet.


In the pic above you can also see the blue temp sensor hose adapter that I ended up using for the electric fan switch - it didn't work as well as I would have liked mounted in the thermostat housing

[a2ndopinion]

I see you got your valve cover breather filter on there too.

[corax]

I had to use the UniBit to get it to fit on (parts store didn't have the right size).  I'm still thinking that I may drill one of the bosses on the throttle body to pull metered air . . .

[corax]

let the shift-gasms begin - w58bushings.com got this out to me quicker than I expected, maybe 3 days or so.
FWIW, I found it MUCH easier to cut out the rubber part of the shift rail bushing using an exacto knife & with the shifter housing removed - working through the hole for the shift seat was a pain

[corax]

The engine sump guard did it's job at last weekend's rallycross


so I made a new pull/tow point for the front end using a $5 Harbor Freight forged d-ring rated to 10k pounds.  The d-ring was welded to the L-bracket & then the modified d-ring strap was welded over top for added beef.




I also installed some steel braided goodness from TechnaFit to protect the precious hydraulic fluid from leaking due to randomly flying gravel or rocks.  Cross-drilled Cressida discs and calipers would have also gone on, but the round bits got lost in transit, so they'll have to wait till next week.




This kit comes with 6 lines - the SRA Celica only needs 4 for the front & 1 for the rear, so the spare one was used on the clutch slave cylinder

[corax]

finally got around to installing the lower intake & Witch Hunter reconditioned blue top 23250-34030 injectors.  World of difference in how the car idles now, before it was pretty rough at idles and had partial misfires from 1k-2k RPM under light to medium throttle.  When I started it, I actually though it might have stalled because it was so smooth.  I'm fairly positive I didn't need the extra flow from the blue tops, but it'll give me room to grow a bit + I'm sure the ECU just backed off the fuel trim a bit to compensate anyway ('85 TCCS).

Anyway, here are the injectors.  All pretty, sparkling clean and with new seals from Witch Hunter.

Witch Hunter report card after reconditioning


I also finished prepping another upper intake to go on, but found out before install that the AAV port is missing on the newer style manifold
old style, the capped port in the upper right is the PCV fresh air port which is no longer used since I went with a Cressida TB

new style, with missing port just below the cold start injector hole (above in the picture).  I just need to drill and tap a nipple into place

this is the main reason I decided to try a new style intake, it had nothing to do with the tiny bend which the old style intake has after the TB.  the purpose of these air dams in front of the individual runners intrigues me a bit


one other future project.  A customer at work was getting a used engine installed in their LX so I snagged this off the original engine, but had to cut/weld the one coolant hose nipple to change the direction it comes off at.  It should be a simple bolt on affair, all I need to do is figure out which coolant hoses I want to run to it - it seems the ones near the oil filter are all hot water returning to the water pump which isn't ideal

[ozzie]

one other future project.  A customer at work was getting a used engine installed in their LX so I snagged this off the original engine, but had to cut/weld the one coolant hose nipple to change the direction it comes off at.  It should be a simple bolt on affair, all I need to do is figure out which coolant hoses I want to run to it - it seems the ones near the oil filter are all hot water returning to the water pump which isn't ideal

Mmmkay, I give up, what is it?

[85GTS]

Mmmkay, I give up, what is it?

Oil cooler/heater that is sandwiched between the block and oil filter.

Ive got a similar one from a mid 90s camry that I have yet to install...

That one looks a bit thicker than I remember the camry one being... been awhile since I dug through my wrecking yard treasure chest though.

Corax: What year is that from?

[ozzie]

Okay, that's what I thought, but it looks like it'd be thicker then the length of 2xR oil filter threads.

[corax]

Corax: What year is that from?

IIRC, it came off a 2UZ engine, early to mid 2000's Lexus LX

Okay, that's what I thought, but it looks like it'd be thicker then the length of 2xR oil filter threads.

It is.  The threaded tube thing that the oil filter screws onto is removed from the engine block and there is a much longer one that goes through the oil cooler to bolt it down.  The pic below is of a Honda part, but looks about the same