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To OP: I don't think you need the front off the ground for any of that work, but at least it's more level. If you're doing upper valve cover gaskets, might as well do the plug wires (and vice-versa).
I told you that patience would be required for this thread and I was not lying!
So far, I've removed the blower assembly and airbox, and replaced the distributor caps and rotors. Others have covered these procedures very well, with the following threads/links being particularly helpful:
Rotors! Don't worry, I a) labeled the caps beforehand so they would go back on the correct rotor, and b) checked for any free play at this point which would indicate a broken dizzy belt
Not much to update over the last two weeks. I prepped my garage space, got my big box o' parts from Pelican, and did finally manage to the get the car on jack stands. Here's proof (ignore the bad curb rash on the wheels):
I had attempted to raise the car some years back (when I first got the stands), and ran into trouble when the floor jack I have didn't get the back end up high enough. I followed the "Catcus method" this time, but I was still short by half an inch or so. I lowered the car onto blocks, then put a pad under the jack and raised it again, this time with plenty of clearance. Raising the front end didn't require nearly as much lift height, so that was no issue. In all likelihood, I will buy a new jack before it's time to put the car down, as the blocks worked but I wouldn't be comfortable doing it that way regularly.
So now it's time to get to work. I'll take a few "before" pics before I start cleaning and replacing stuff. Next step will probably be to remove the airbox and blower motor assembly, and start to loosen the bolts to remove the mufflers and rear bumper.
Thanks for all the encouragement thus far. It's good motivation knowing that you guys are out there following my progress and waiting for updates. With two kids under 4yo in the house, my "car time" comes in tiny chunks, so you'll need a fair dose of patience to follow this thread, but hang in there!
And, since bcameron59 asked: car is a 97 C2 with 88k miles, largely stock.
I GOT NEWS FOR U! You will have less and less time the older they get. Between sports, social, and homework, you will have -x time. Enjoy you car while they're young, thrust me....
I'm making slow but steady progress, having removed the old belts without stripping the fan hub screws.
I went to swap out my plugs, got the forward-most plug in the upper-left bank out ... and discovered I ordered the wrong spark plugs (somehow I ordered the 2-electrode turbo plugs instead of the 3-electrode NA plugs). So those will need to be exchanged. I moved on to swapping the fuel filter... and discovered my flare nut wrenches weren't large enough. So those have been ordered.
In the meantime, I'm cleaning up the engine bay, swapping the pollen filters, and installing some front and rear hood shocks I had lying around.
So far I've kept the swearing to a minimum. Hoping to pick up the pace, because as much as I'm enjoying wrenching on the car, I'm looking forward to having the car on the road again!
What size line wrenches did u end up needing for fuel filter?
Haven't changed it yet, but looks like 19mm for the near side and 17mm for the far side. The writeup on pcarworkshop indicates the same.
Last night, I got the muffler off on the left side, so I finally have access to all left side plugs once the correct plugs get here. Luckily the bolts came loose with just penetrating oil; I'll be replacing those with new when I go to re-install.
Muffler off - plugs exposed!
I also replaced my hood struts. I think this job is easier with the cabin filter covers and filters removed. A long narrow screwdriver helps to release the clamp around the socket cup end, and then you can lever the strut free with just hand force.
When re-installing the cabin filter covers, this can be a bit fiddly, but the trick is to seat the tab on the inside back of the cover first, a few pictures:
Seat this part of the housing (yellow arrow):
...into this slot between the ductwork (red arrow):
Next up, replacing the decklid struts, removing the right muffler, then time to start putting parts on the car instead of taking them off!
If the gaskets are not leaking no need to replace them.
Yeah, so far everything has looked dry or what I would consider "manageable", i.e. not worth stripping things down further. There is a bit of weeping between the case and the timing housing (not between the chain housing and cover), but that would be a full engine-out disassemble, and not only is that not in my skillset right now, it's not in my budget either.
So basically I'm sticking to the first part of my TODO list, with the addition of the hood/decklid struts which I forgot I had lying around.
03-30-2015, 03:18 AM
