lamrith

hrmmm.
How is the Rack n Pinion rack setup on these cars? I have been in some cars that are ok at low speeds, others are not.. He is not the biggest upper body kid, so last thing I want is for it to be a nightmare parking it or maneuvering in tight places. Want him focused on not hitting things rather than fighting the wheel.

This was definitely recent damage given the grime on the rest of the car vs where the damage is/was when we looked at it.

screamin94Z

The only benefit in eliminating the power steering is if your budget is extremely tight. The car will be a nightmare for a young kid to try to park without it. I did it in my 924S with 6" front wheels and it was fine but definitely required extra effort at low speeds and changing your mindset on how to maneuver when parking.

lamrith

Started into teardown finally. Man ohh MAN! the rubber sheaths around the plug wires were roasted, completely hard and shattering when I was pulling the plug wires.
Still waiting on Pelican to deliver my parts and more importantly flywheel lock so I can continue tearing it down.
Holly oil leak, lots of oil under the timing cover and all over the belly of the car. The belts look dry surprisingly, however the pulleys and guides has a bunch of grime on them, so I know it had not been changed recently and seen a bunch of miles since they were replaced.

• Plug wires - These were old and I planned to replace, but is there a trick to the routing? From what I saw it was going to require removal of the fuel rail to get them out, so I ended up cutting them. I just saw no way for the boots to slide thru and under the rail?
• TDC - I pulled the plug and rotated the crank by hand. I could see the piston and when it same to tdc, I also made sure the rotor was in #1 position. I looked thru the window at the flywheel and there is a pointer then there is a line on the flywheel with "TO next to it. I am assuming I want the line right under the pointer or do I set it so that it is touching the pointer but still visible?
• Balance shaft seals - Are there different seals for the 2.5NA depending on the year of the car? Or can I just buy a kit and not worry about it?
• windshield washer - what is the size of the tubing used? Ours is all dry rotted and crumbling.

That is it for now, I am sure the list will get longer tomorrow.

lamrith

So quick update since we tore into the car a little this weekend. Battery had a load of pine needles and debris under it, once removed the front corner of the area by wheel well is rusted. It has not gone thru the firewall but is rusting on the bottom panel under the battery.

What is the recommended way to treat the metal and stop the rust porgression? I know in the old MG days POR was highly recommended to seal up those rust prone areas? I need to get it really dried out, then somehow treat/seal it, thankfully it is garage kept right now.

Are they always so slow to ship? Sure seems like a train wreck. They show item in stock (still right now even) but took them 3 days to let me know it was backordered. I told them to ship what is available and they said it would ship that day (Thurs). I emailed again today as the website still shows processing and they are now telling me it will ship today. Been a week since I paid and they have not even shipped instock product. Is that normal for them? I would like ot know now so I can keep it in mind for any possible future orders from them, it is worth a couple bucks more to have something ship same or next day rather than wait a week.

My son and I are stuck here waiting and unable to go farther until we get the flywheel lock tool in.

951and944S

Paragon or Pelican...?

Dunno, never had anything but great experiences with both.

Maybe you had to reach a certain amount and received free shipping and they don't want to eat the cost of shipping two packages...?

T

lamrith

Thanks for the info. Figures I would get the bad luck, I should expect it, it is par for the course. This is Pelican I ordered from. Yeah I was well over the free shipping amount. I was half expecting them to say they would have to charge me shipping on the back-ordered part which I understand. But they back-ordered it, told me it would ship that day and then continued to sit on the order. And their website still shows it in stock, in fact shows qty:6. Tempted to just cancel that part entirely as I can get it elsewhere, but I worry that will further delay the order.

Just is a little frustrating as we have decent weather so it is not super hot in the garage for working on the car and it is just he and I this week so no mom/brother to make plans we have to do in the evenings. :-p I will tear into the radio and other electrical things next I guess.

951and944S

You might kill some time pushing out some of that dent.

See if you could get a deflated football in there, then pump up the ball to push it out some.

T

michaelo

I agree with 4K. You will also need new tires, brake pads, rotors, fresh brake fluid, shocks and wheel bearings to make it roadworthy. Might as well get all that done while you are there.

Jason @ Paragon Products

In stock:

https://www.paragon-products.com/Pro...PP-WHT.001.937

Tripl7

POR will work fine after most of the rusted metal is removed. We use it at work when we have a frame repair job (jeeps always rot) The batt trays are a common thing on these cars, mine is pretty far gone I should get right on that...

lamrith

Bought the bulk of the freshen up items lastnight.
timing belt kit
timing group seal kit
ca, rotor and wires
Lot of little things left, but those are the big ones. already have brake sensors and sway bar bushings enroute form another vendor.

lamrith

1st batch of parts and flywheel lock tool landed today. Hopefully spend some time on it tonight or more likely Sunday.

Can anyone help confirm the crank/oil pump seals I need?
I think based on searches that I need:
Oil pump seal:
999-707-283-40
oil pump sleeve:
944-107-161-02
Crankshaft seal:
999-113-331-40

lamrith

So we finally got the flywheel lock tool, so dug a bit farther into the belts. I still have not narrowed the leak down, but it sure has been leaking a while with how much grime is built up. Belt kits are due Tues.

Cap rotor and plugs super pitted and worn too. Makes me wonder if they are original given how brittle the wires were.

StoogeMoe

Wow, it looks like the cap and rotor were never changed. Look at those plugs too! The gap is like twice what it should be! And the electrodes are totally worn. What a mess with the oil all over the place.

Can you say zero maintenance?

lamrith

Yeah she looks to have been run and run and run... The plug wires were still routed under the fuel rail and the extra rubber shrouds on the wires in some spots were brittle to the point they cracked and shattered at the slightest bending. My gut says someone looked at it taking removing the fuel rail to do wires and just never did them. The car ran decent during the test drive which is a testament to the engineering and design that it still had get up and go with such poor spark supply. I will check the gap on those when I get home tonight and share with everyone, just for a good laugh.

That said I knew it had sat for a while and timing belts needed changed. Cap/plug, wires, rotor are basic tuneup items, so those are an always replace item unless you have documented proof it was just done. The big oil leaks though was a bit of a surprise. I knew it had a small one someplace, didn't realize it was a big one but the timing cover was hiding it.

I am just darn glad it made it home without popping the timing belt. I was pretty gentile with her knowing it was old and had been sitting, but it was still a 10mi freeway cruise before I was on side streets to keep rpm down.

Two nice boxes of parts landed today. Timing belt and pulley kit as well as the balancer seal kit, cap, rotor, plugs, wires, windshield wiper blades. I am eager to see how it runs after the refresh.