well guys I have been driving for about 3000km now and thought I would report in with a sanity check.

Firstly the oil is still clean, so clean in fact it is hard to get a reading on the dip stick . When I check the oil level it is about 1/8th below the max fill mark ( on my first fill I filled it to the max instad of the middle. Should I still be looking at changing it at 5000km ? I use dyno 20w 50.

Today was about 30C and the hotest the car got was the needle sticking straight out at the 9:00pm position. It ran really strong and smooth in the 600km or so I put on this weekend.
In my spirited driving I in fact noticed a fair amount of understear, not what I was expecting, but relaxing off the throttle brought the nose around . ( just for the record I was not driving around like a maniac i would just take left and right handers a little quicker than I normally would, sometimes on the throttle ,to see how the car reacted.
I occasionaly found reverse and first difficult to engage . Not grinding by any means but just would not go in without forcing.if I let off the clutch in neutral momentarily and lett he transmission spin down again it was fine. Actually is tarted putting into first just as the car was rolling to a stop and that always workd fine.
I did find a bit of a rumbling sound coming from the steering at extreme lock when pulling away or driving at very slow speeds at extreme lock. Not sure of what That is about or if it is normal.
The car accelerated well. I wont beat any caravans off the start but droping the car into third or even second at slower speeds to pass someone, the car howls and lurches forward. The car idles VERY smooth at 1050 rpm when warmed up and the needle oil level on the guage is about 1/16th off the red. At about 3000 RPM the car reads about 4 bar and at idle it is about 1.5 with no lights on. I allmost killed the battery while parked not realizing a front and rear light stay on if the signal lever was activated while parked.. I should have known that one.

Anyway that is everything right now .. is this about what i should expect ?

thanks guys..

 

Iceman, I would say that few are the cars that don't emit some sort of rumbling sound at extreme lock, as you describe it. It is something that always grates my nerves. Never understood/knew, why this happens.

Cheers

 

guys do you mean a rubbing type of feel/sound in the steering? i've also been bugged by this but it sounds like i'm not the only one?

 

I've always had it, in jeeps, in the BMW, in every car ( I think ) and it is particualraly noticeable in very low speed manouevring, for instance inside the garage.

what is it??

 

My mechanic told me to try shifting into 2nd before trying to go into 1st and it helped a great deal. I find myself doing that in my Jeep now even though it isn't necessary there. I don't recall if that helps for reverse (rarely had to use it as my driveway's pretty sloped).

 

I think some of it is the car not turning but rubbing forward. The growl ( if I didn't know better ) sounds like a rough wheel bearing ( i know it isn't but that is the best way I know to describe it ) . but if it is no big deal I won't worry about it .
Ther going to second and first works well ,and it is very intermitent. The rest I can live with...

Ps I am just not getting back into the sloped driveway thing again .. I just about have the last episode behind me ..

 

When you get it right - really on throttle - you can almost feel it snap as it recovers from oversteer & surges forward. Passengers & passerbys are always surprised . . .

Your oil temps seem perfect. Mine were the same this weekend on a PCA run & a lot of other driving.

You oil usage sounds great, but change it at 5K km anyway. It's cheap & good insurance.

Drive the crap out of it. You should try & make it out for one of our Pelican/Rennlist runs. Watch the Ontario sections for details.

Ian

 

cool ..

 

Did you rebuild the engine? What is the report card for? I am about to rebuild my sc soon.

 

hmm where do I start ..... okay here is the list of things I did just after buying my car ... before I put it on the road.

Repaired WW pump
repaired headlight pump
repaired headlight pump relay
replaced front rubber impact strip
replaced front marker lens
replaced wipers
replaced steering shaft bushing
replaced front strut inserts
Turbo tie rod upgrade.
replaced brake lines
replaced front wheel bearings
replaced front cargo carpet
replaced antenna
replaced all fluids including brake, gear oil and engine oil
replaced relectric mirror switch
replaced stereo and 4 speakers
removed entire interior down to the tub and refurbished
replaced all shifter bushings and coupler bushings
instaled rear seatbelts
replaced all cv joints
replaced clutch cable
replaced pedal bushings and refurbed cluster
replaced all instrument light bulbs
replaced front sway arm bushings
replaced rear sway arm bushings and drop links
replaced rear shocks
replaced plugs, wires,valve cover gaskets, cap rotor, fuel filter, oil filter,
replaced engine sound pad,
replaced engine deck lid and front struts
replaced heater blower motor
refurbished alternator and replaced bearings
cleaned and polished fan and housing
replaced bumperettes
repaired targa roof panel
replaced injector o- rings, sleeves and sleeve o rings
removed cat bypass repainted and reinstalled with new gaskets and hardware
Replaced motor mounts
Replaced Transmision mounts and studs.

 

You know your car well by now.

 

When will the madness end...

Did your shifter bushing replacements help? Was that hard to do?

 

it was pretty easy to do James .. a 2 out of 10 and cheap too . don't know if it helped as I never drove it before. I bought it , the guy dropped it off in my driveway ... and I rolled it in ... 8 months later rolled it out ... kind of like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang .. I think I just dated myself ...

anyway I don't think the madness ever ends as you guys keep giving me ideas for more projects, I now have heat exchangers, a cross over pipe, a muffler , a fuel pump and an oil level sender gage on the way. not to mention a shiney new gas cap ... okay i am getting a little desperate for projects.

I REALLY want to take out the rear Targa glass but I am holding myself in check and looking forward to my clutch giving out instead .. I think I am sick !!!

 

I have a new driving technique to surely fail the clutch. First, keep the clutch slightly depressed at all times...

This summer I want to drop the engine and tranny, and rebuild the 915, and replace the clutch, resurface the plate, and redo all of the engine seals. Then I will flip the engine over on the stand and remove the heat exchangers and replace with SSI's and a new Monty muffler I bought from Steve Weiner.

Hopefully I can get the bits on the car painted before then. The body shop today said it sounds like it is doable.

 

Sounds like you have big project plans too.

The only one I am leary about is the transmision, not sure if I have the experience required for this. But we will see.

Good luck with the bodywork.