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Dropped the oil pan cover, Misha Wing, RSS Mounts.....
I haven't had a chance to drop the oil pan on my car yet, so i figured what better time than my first oil change. It's a 2004 40th AE with about 35,000 miles. The oil's about 5kmiles old. Old oil is Mobil 1 0W40 changed by the dealer at the time of purchase. Here's a few pictures of the Oil Pan and the filter dissected. I think i am pretty pleased with the results. Did not find any metal filings in the oil pan or in the ~10 quarts of old oil that i collected from the engine. What might seem like metal shaving in the pictures of the oil pan are actually some imperfections in the oil pan cover cast. There were however a few little bits caught in the filter. There was a bit of a black film in the corners on the bottom of the cover but probably to be expected on a 10 year old car?
I personally was never a fan of the stock wing or the look of the car while it is down so i went ahead and installed Misha GT2M wing. Bottom line, it turned out ok, i am happy, build quality could've been a lot better because a lot of prep was required before paint (a lot)! And not sure why they don't supply washers as well for fastening the wing to the deck lid. Maybe they are not required but to me, they seem like a really good idea.
Contemplated for a while how to mount these grills to the inside of the wing since there was no instructions. This is all i could think of: some PL and applied pressure. They are not going anywhere. Should keep the pigeons out of the engine bay.
Mufflers are also off at the friends place for the FD mod. Since that was the case i took the opportunity to replace the spark plugs and coils. Who ever did this with only removing the rear tires should get a cookie! I had the bumper (for other reasons) off, the mufflers, the tires, and two coils still kicked my *** (one on each side). The old spark plugs looked fine, everything did, except one coil, that as bad as it looks, somehow still worked fine.
Anybody know what this hose is for? Is it some kind of coolant overflow, and should it be there?
I also did the RSS mounts, didn't have a chance to drive as it was still a freaking ice age outside at the time but even just idling on my driveway there definitely was more vibrations. Strangly, it didn't bother me, it actually kind of felt cool and not annoying as you would expect. Felt like a sports car. That's pretty much where i am at right now.
Next week i am doing a few more things:
-H&R Street Coilovers
-FisterD's are going on the car
-Valentine1 installation with LE Connect and SAVVY
-Garage Door mod adding to the dash. (targa switch)
Per RL forum protocol, the detection of any debris in your oil is cause for a full rebuild.
The wing looks great. Plugs/coils on the 996.1 are definitely easier than the 996.2, but still doable without removing the mufflers or rear wheels. It's all a function of how many different length extensions you have.
Great pics. I'll take that cookie. Just did the plugs/coils without removing the wheel or using a jack. Of course my joints will never be the same.
From what i understand, that hose is the coolant overflow hose. Seems like a bad design to aim it right at the Coils if you ask me. Mine was roughly in the same place.
FD mod done, 2" piece welded in, finally sounds the way it should. I have some sound clips if anybody is interested. Idle and full throttle are just priceless.
Numeric Racing shifter, very nice feel, left it on the middle setting. Shorter enough.
Put in a set of H&R Steet coilovers. Got a used set on Ebay for $1200. Got some more comfort out of them but still feels pretty firm on the road. My car came stock with M030 sport suspension, and i know most people say they like it, but i couldn't wait to get rid of it. It was good for driving on glass but anything else was just too harsh. I did enjoy taking exit ramps at 100 miles/hr though. You can do that with M030.
Also did the targa switch to garage door opener mod. I bought a 12V opener from ebay, tapped the hot at the cigarette lighter and there you go, no need to change batteries ever Poor mans home link option.
The finished product. Lowered. Misha GT2M Wing, Fabspeed Quad Exhaust in black chrome.
Very happy with the way it all turned out. Car looks, handles and sounds more to my liking and that's all that matters to me It was a joy to work on it as well.
You've been busy. I get the impression from what I've read that it's a little easier to do the coils on an early car without taking everything off. I did it on mine, and it really wasn't bad.
The only other one i have at the moment is this one, but i can take some more for you if you want.
Originally Posted by pontifex4
You've been busy. I get the impression from what I've read that it's a little easier to do the coils on an early car without taking everything off. I did it on mine, and it really wasn't bad.
It was pretty easy to do, there is some unnecessary work that is listed in a couple of DIYs though. Removing 32mm axle nut bolts - removing rotors, using a special tool to separate ball joints, even loosening up the control arms. I did none of that. On the front you do have to remove the callipers but in the rear you don't even have to do that. Not sure what it's like on the earlier models. But basically use spring compressors and compress the s...t out of it and get it out. Installing coil-overs is even easier. Adjusting the heights to be the same, that's when the swearing begins
04-04-2014, 02:35 PM
Dropped the oil pan cover, Misha Wing, RSS Mounts.....
