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NitroSpazzz
Dec 9, 2006

You don't need style when you've got strength!


Never add up the receipts, it only leads to sadness. I was nearly that much into the M3 project before selling it. I'm nearly 2/3 of that on Formula Ford and haven't turned a wheel.

Projects keep me sane but at the same time drive me crazy and cause me stress at times. It's a hard balance.

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the spyder
Feb 18, 2011
When I'm done I'll post the spreadsheet. I wanted to track it mainly because people always ask "How much does it cost to build a 20B?" and I want to provide a definite/documented answer.
But yes. Holy crap. I could have built so many projects. But the honest status is every car I want to work on needs 15k at this point. There's 3...

mekilljoydammit
Jan 28, 2016

Me have motors that scream to 10,000rpm. Me have more cars than Pick and Pull
At least you're not saving up for purpose built race transmissions, goddamn.

(I refuse to track receipts)

the spyder
Feb 18, 2011
Oh I am... pennies. But I am... Stupid sexy HGT Sequential Gearbox.

the spyder
Feb 18, 2011
I've got some project updates, but this snuck into the shop and is my happiness/motivation right now. I took the "new to me" 20b and swapped all the FD parts on it for mockup, including front cover which allows the use of power steering and AC. I spent several hours staring at the engine, just trying to figure out layout of fuel, coolant, and oil. What it meant was aprox $1k in hard lines/fittings/hoses are sitting in my cart. My biggest holdup here is 1) time and 2) scope creep. Money is always a silent third, but I've budgeted for the remaining ~$8k I need to spend. I just keep finding ways I want to do things like hard lines vs braided hose, custom little stainless tanks/distribution, all PTFE fuel lines, and just *stuff* like that which adds to the bottom line. It's both exciting and a motivation killer knowing what I have ahead of me. But that's where the money comes in and I'm just going to finally pull the trigger on the last of these parts to keep this going. Until then, I'm going to wrap up some other projects and bench this until the time is right.




McTinkerson
Jul 5, 2007

Dreaming of Shock Diamonds


:swoon:

That looks amazing. I always thought that the 3 rotors sat further forward in the FD's if you kept the stock transmission location.

I had decided on not swapping a 20B into my RX-8 but now you're making me reconsider. :argh:

the spyder
Feb 18, 2011

McTinkerson posted:

:swoon:

That looks amazing. I always thought that the 3 rotors sat further forward in the FD's if you kept the stock transmission location.

I had decided on not swapping a 20B into my RX-8 but now you're making me reconsider. :argh:

It does, nearly 3.5". I have a fancy CNC shifter relocation bracket that bolts on top of the existing trans inspection cover. You've actually touched on one big issue I have with this kit (that I made... haha) - I have to either 1) hack up the power plant frame and reinforce+hope/pray it holds 2) Remove it fully. Aaaand because I'm an idiot who decided 1000whp sounds fun, it won't matter much longer once the new trans/diff get here. Can't even use a PPF with a Nissan trans/ford diff. If I do sell this as a kit and you want to use a stock trans, it will include a shortened drive shaft, better half shaft axles, the trans relocation bit, and a trans mount for either use with or without the PPF. Sikky makes a rubber rear diff front mount, so people should be good there. I'd rather have a heterogeneous kit, but sometimes you have to mix and match to get what ya want.

Aeka 2.0
Nov 16, 2000

:ohdear: Have you seen my apex seals? I seem to have lost them.




Dinosaur Gum
Any of you nerds need a PNP EMS Series one for the FD3S? I moved on to an emtron and replaced all the drivers on the EMS (one failed), so its spankin new as far as fets go.

Zodijackylite
Oct 18, 2005

hello bonjour, en francais we call the bread man l'homme de pain, because pain means bread and we're going to see a lot of pain this year and every nyrfan is looking forward to it and hey tony, can you wait until after my postgame interview to get on your phone? i thought you quit twitter...
I read through this thread over the last few months, and I wanted to say that I love and appreciate your work and how you document it. Glad to see you're focusing on the stuff that makes you happy, I can't wait to see all these working/fixing pics leading to driving pics/vids.

the spyder
Feb 18, 2011
If you follow the chat thread, you'll have already seen what's been keeping me busy. This image dump is more stark than any other I've posted, in the sense that in a decade of living in this house I've never been truly scared that we were going to loose it. When you live in an old house, the risk of fire or structural damage from downed trees is the norm. Welcome 2020, which brings wildfire and weather conditions not seen before to the PNW. I could go on about the massive effort it took to evacuate my family, our few prized belongings, and a few cars - but all I have to say is I am grateful for the friends I have. Tucked in these photos are a few of the upsides of being stuck at home, including having firewood delivered, refinishing my trailer deck, and my favorite- a random tow truck driver stopping by to tell me about a "Yellow rx7" I might want to look at. More later. The downside to all of this has been the crash. My body gave up Monday and I can't shake this no-energy/sick feeling. Might have something to do with the unprecedented 500 AQI rating in my area. Rain's coming. Keep your fingers crossed.







































The Riverside Fire is the one we were concerned about - though there was a smaller, man lit fire just a few miles up the road from us. What primarily had me concerned is the area I live in is the end of a large timber swell, following two small rivers that run dead center of the fire. If East winds continued, it would have followed that timber swell straight to our property, which sits along the willamette river show. Scary stuff.


As you can see, last night they actually removed us from the evacuation Level map and we're now "safe".

Stressful times for sure. It's going to take a few weeks to get back to normal.

At least I get to check this out this weekend :)


the spyder fucked around with this message at 22:37 on Sep 17, 2020

Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug
What a nightmare. I'm glad you're okay.

Aeka 2.0
Nov 16, 2000

:ohdear: Have you seen my apex seals? I seem to have lost them.




Dinosaur Gum
zoinks

NitroSpazzz
Dec 9, 2006

You don't need style when you've got strength!


Really looking forward to you cleaning up that yellow rx7. Stay safe and try to take it easy so your body can recharge a bit.

I'm guessing the porsche is way back burner for now?

the spyder
Feb 18, 2011
I'm at a weird point, where I'm not sure what project will get my focus next. I've been rather shaken up by recent events and haven't got my priorities back in line.
Honestly what I probably should do is finish up some of these half finished projects.
Here's what I've got sitting around.

1) F250, all the parts/fluids are here - except $250 in batteries, and just needs assembled. Blocker is time - It's a cab off install that's going to take a few friends to get it back in the shop and engine installed with a tractor/front loader. Would be awesome to have the shop space back.
2) Forrester, all parts are here. Heads back from machine shop. I've 100% lost motivation on this one. When they heads came back, they were further disassembled than I sent them and I'll be honest, I'm not that good at reassembling an unfamiliar engine. I'm sure it could be done quickly by someone familiar, but again- it's time to learn something new. On the plus side I have the factory tools and it's super easy to work on. It would go back together the fastest.
3) 20BEEE car is now at a friends, because fire. It's disassembled still and the new subframe has not shown up. I've got about 3/4 the parts needed to get it started, but I keep going back and fourth on things like intercoolers. I've honestly lost motivation. See below.
4) 911 - Why must you seduce me! I can't get this project out of my head. There are three big blockers. 1) Title - the guy I bought it from is no longer with us and the estate is not helpful (was not in his name...) - rendering this a paper weight. The good news is, a friend knows the original owner and is trying to put us in touch. I should wait until this is sorted out before investing anything into this project. 2) Money - It's a $20k build no matter what way I split it. 3) Transaxle - no matter what direction I go, porsche or subaru, it's a $5k gear box/adaptor/clutch/cv's. That's way more than I paid for the motor and nearly what I paid for the car. Not happy about it, but nothing I can do.
5) ELECTRIC FD - Yep I still have it and yes I want to make it a reality - but I'm waiting on circuit boards to be produced. I've been quietly working on it, again money being the blocker.

As far as friends cars I need to finish up.
1) Rotary B2200 - just got the oil cooling parts in. Needs wiring, cooling system built, and exhaust. Should run and drive.
2) 93 track car - engine is back from pineapple and needs installed. Working with 2000's electronics and a stooge when it comes to spending $$$. Not fun.
3) 94 Montego Blue - needs to be detailed and head to bring a trailer
4) 93 LS7 car - back with the owner, long term project. I want to work on it, but time. Money is no problem.

And the cars I need to sell or Re-Home:
1) 71 Celica - It's time for a new home.
2) 78 Corolla - Hoping I can send this to Rob@Pinapple for some big turbo 13B fun, but I don't want to keep it here anymore.
3) 1991 Convertible - I should probably sell it... we will see
4) 1993 Black base model - I bought this from a friend who needed $$$$ and I should probably sell it. Ideally he would buy it back.
5) 2001 BMW 325XI Wagon - The driving position is irritating my shoulder every time I drive it, it's gotta go.
6) MIATA(s) - I need my brother to decide what he wants to do with his two Miata's that are rotting away here.

Now time - time is my enemy. Here's the house projects before winter. Some need done before the weather changes in a few weeks.
1) Order firewood/stack/cover.
2) Look at replacing gutters, copper due to historic house - $15k in materials alone
3) Look at installing Mini splits to replace baseboard - $10k in materials
4) Building maintenance - 2 buildings need roofs like last year and 1 needs pressure washed and painted. Already started pressure washing.
5) Building maintenance - porch repair/paint touchup. I started pressure washing and paint started peeling. Have a solid day of painting. Porch has rot against lip near stairs, requires significant work.

So yes, if you have read this thread, you know I'm crazy busy - but right now I'm still in disaster recovery mode. At some point all these cars, parts, tools I shipped away with a half dozen friends, need to return back to the shop. I should probably just take a week off ASAP to catchup.

the spyder fucked around with this message at 18:59 on Sep 17, 2020

kastein
Aug 31, 2011

Moderator at http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/and soon to be mod of AI. MAKE AI GREAT AGAIN. Motronic for VP.
If that Porsche is old enough (I'd be shocked if it isn't, though I haven't checked the cutoff year) you could simply register it in Vermont via mail and drive it that way for a year before using that paperwork to register it in your state. They'll even mail your plates and reg to you.

NitroSpazzz
Dec 9, 2006

You don't need style when you've got strength!


the spyder posted:

I'm at a weird point, where I'm not sure what project will get my focus next. I've been rather shaken up by recent events and haven't got my priorities back in line.
Honestly what I probably should do is finish up some of these half finished projects.
Here's what I've got sitting around.
...
So yes, if you have read this thread, you know I'm crazy busy - but right now I'm still in disaster recovery mode. At some point all these cars, parts, tools I shipped away with a half dozen friends, need to return back to the shop. I should probably just take a week off ASAP to catchup.
I've got about a quarter of the projects so I know the feeling but drat that's a lot of stuff. You should probably take a week off and spend half of it just planning and taking some down time once this period of chaos/stress/disaster is over. Gotta take care of yourself. Just glad it looks like you're out of harms way with the fires.

kastein posted:

If that Porsche is old enough (I'd be shocked if it isn't, though I haven't checked the cutoff year) you could simply register it in Vermont via mail and drive it that way for a year before using that paperwork to register it in your state. They'll even mail your plates and reg to you.
I did this for a couple old motorcycles, it's not my preferred way to do it but it does work. One of the bigger two stroke bike forums has a good write-up.

jink
May 8, 2002

Drop it like it's Hot.
Taco Defender
Wow, I am so sorry you have been dealing with the fire craziness. You live in an absolutely beautiful area/town!

Echoing the 'you have a lot of projects' wowza. I would suggest some time to figure out priorities and try not to feel overwhelmed. TODO lists give me anxiety sometimes...

the spyder
Feb 18, 2011
I swear the world was against me today, but the one bright point was getting to talk with the owner of the CYM.

Backstory: 13-14 years ago I saw a CYM Rx-7 near a local shopping center. I always wanted a yellow FD and this cemented that. I ended up buying my Black 93 R1 (20B FD with the frame damage) and forgetting about it. 5-6 years ago I saw a CYM posted in a local facebook group in the same area of that car I saw years ago. What stuck out was the bone-stock aspects, as everyone had wheels or suspension on these cars. I never could get the poster to tell me where he took the photo. Fast forward to last week when Oregon was burning, a tow truck driver stops by to ask if I needed help and if I knew of any forsale. He had found this yellow FD in that same part of town, but the owner turned down his offer. I nicely asked if he had the address as I've always wanted one. He obliged. My buddy was on his way over and I hopped in his car before he could get out. We drove to this apartment campus and had NO idea where to look. After 15 minutes, we found it. In the same drat spot that other photo was taken 5-6 years prior. It was that car and why that matters is this was the car I benchmarked all others CYM's I looked at against. I always told myself "if I could only find this car". I finally had. It was dirty, obviously sitting for some time, and in need of TLC. I couldn't tell if it had 150k or 50k. I left a note on the windshield and a few days later he called back. That brings us up to now. He agreed to meet today and said he was to the point in his life he wanted to sell it. The story and timing could come from a fairy tale.

Here's the history I got from him today.
He bought it new in 1992 from Billings Montana, paying in cash. It was one of two CYM cars sold at the dealer. He bought the first one, but then discovered paint defects. Due to it being a CYM the paint had to come from Japan. After several months waiting for paint, the dealer offered to exchange the car for one that just arrived. He put 2500 miles on the original before exchanging it. He moved to the Dakota's at some point shortly after for work and then moved to Oregon mid 90's. The car was towed behind a U-Haul truck on a trailer. The car has 47,700 miles - with 38k of those being driven in Oregon. He claims he never pushed the car and never went above 100, I believe it after looking everything over. This was his around town car. 95% of the time he drove his matching 93 Chevy truck. At 24k, the clutch failed (odd) and the factory tires were replaced. The factory recalls were done in 2000. Other than basic maintenance by a local mechanic (non-rotary familiar)- it's been untouched. No weird electrical, nothing. It's... strange. Around 2009 a local tech took the car for a "test drive" and clipped a small pole, think gas meter barricade, and the drivers fender and door was damaged. Sadly no photos I am aware of. Now, due to the age and condition of the CYM paint, they decided to "respray" the entire car with him covering the extra $$$$ insurance would not cover. This was not a MAYCO job, but it was not the $10k paid job it probably deserved. There's minor overspray on the trim, but overall the paint is in good condition - the exception being the peeling paint on the front bumper and spoiler. The owner has been aware of several small issues which he had not repaired. 1) The ignition switch is flaky maybe 10% of the time- which is common, 2) The turbo oil feed line leaks, 3) The drivers window switch is flakey when rolling up the passenger window, 4) The coolant light some times would come on and then go away after a few minutes, 5) The tach jumps, and 6) Mice had at one point got into the car.

Now overall these are common and easy to fix issues. Except #4. With the owners permission I pulled the plugs and they had the tell tail signs of a coolant seal failure. Nice big chunks of carbon and coolant baked on. I installed new plugs and we started the car, only to be greeted by a plume of white smoke. Interesting enough the coolant gauge did not show the car had ever been overheated. There's a tell that when the needle sits at home a 1/16-1/8" above normal, the car was badly overheated. Thankfully this did not appear to be the case. When he noticed the coolant alarm and a tiny bit of white smoke 18m ago, he parked it. He still started it every month or so, keeping the chambers from further damage.This does confirm a engine rebuild is needed and did effect the asking price, significantly. In trying to understand the coolant alarm issue, we talked through the FD cooling system - what surprised me was that in all these years of ownership, he was only ever shown to check the overflow. When I inspected the caps they were leaking and showing signs of coolant being pushed past. The car took almost a 1/2 gallon of coolant. I hate to say it and I hated to tell him, but it was the incorrect refilling of the cooling system that likely caused the cooling system damage.

All said and done, we agreed on a price. It's the most I have ever paid for the FD. Especially considering it needs a rebuild and some minor paint work, but I could not be happier. I bring it home Thursday. The seller has been great so far and is happy its with a "forever as reasonably possible" owner.





So yea, expect more to come.

the spyder fucked around with this message at 03:01 on Sep 21, 2020

McTinkerson
Jul 5, 2007

Dreaming of Shock Diamonds


Awwwwww yesssssss. Finally something is working out in your favour (apart from your place not burning down obviously).

I've got the popcorn ready. I know of another CYM FD btw in Canada that the owner would probably part with, but it has been properly messed with (including running a GTX3071 that spools backing out of the driveway).

IOwnCalculus
Apr 2, 2003





With a story like that, whatever you paid was worth it.

Crunchy Black
Oct 24, 2017

by Athanatos
Hell yes

Rhyno
Mar 22, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 10 years!
Oh man, that's so cool.

jink
May 8, 2002

Drop it like it's Hot.
Taco Defender
Wow!

How crazy to find the car you've been looking for! I am happy for you and want to see your magic touch on it.

Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug
Great story. I didn't know RX7s were so tricky to fill coolant on.

Darchangel
Feb 12, 2009

Tell him about the blower!


Seat Safety Switch posted:

Great story. I didn't know RX7s were so tricky to fill coolant on.

Just FDs, but they're finicky about almost everything.

McTinkerson
Jul 5, 2007

Dreaming of Shock Diamonds


Darchangel posted:

Just FDs, but they're finicky about almost everything.

Yeah, both the 3rd generation and RX-8's have pressurized coolant reservoirs / AST's. All the issues come primarily from that. The factory throttle body coolant heater circuit also loves to trap air.

Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug

McTinkerson posted:

Yeah, both the 3rd generation and RX-8's have pressurized coolant reservoirs / AST's. All the issues come primarily from that. The factory throttle body coolant heater circuit also loves to trap air.

Is it just a super tricky bleed like on Subarus or do you basically need an airlift?

the spyder
Feb 18, 2011

Seat Safety Switch posted:

Is it just a super tricky bleed like on Subarus or do you basically need an airlift?

Every since I started using this funnel, it's not been a real concern.
https://www.amazon.com/Lisle-24680-...789109021&psc=1

Now if I don't have it, I just pop the upper Throttle Body coolant hose and fill unit the air is out of the system. It's not 100%, but if you don't do that you risk having huge air bubbles trapped in the block/hoses.

Elmnt80
Dec 30, 2012


I have that same lisle funnel, its 100% worth the $$ on anything that is weird to bleed air out of the coolant system with. The vacuum bleeders for coolant also own like a mofo too. A buddy used that on my mazda last time we worked on it and it is some serious black magic that I will 100% have if I ever get my garage cleaned out.

the spyder
Feb 18, 2011
Ever have one of those days where you don't believe what's actually happening? Welcome to the past two days of my life.

I ended up with Friday off and picking up the car. My friend Ben came to help load. It was overall uneventful. The owner did provide all documentation and again walked me through a small box of parts he had never installed. His one regret was not resolving the issues he previously told me and enjoying the car more these last few years. He really had planned to sell it before moving, but did not plan to leave the car in its current state. What was interesting is we started talking about the local service shop and discovered he had talked to another FD that had been there for a clutch I knew the owner of. As it turns out, this was the CYM I saw sitting at that service shop 13 years ago. I knew I had seen it, but now the dots line up. I messaged the other FD owner and he confirmed he recalled meeting him/seeing the car. With everything full circle, we parted ways. He was sad to see it go, but happy I was buying it. When I find it, I am going to send him a letter and CYM toy car I have for him to hold onto. If the timing works out, I'll bring the car over and let him take it for a few days. But we have a long way to get there.

On to the car. I did stop and fill it up as pictured, not knowing how old the fuel was. When we ran it at his house, it smoked white (coolant) and smoked from under the hood. The service shop diagnosed the engine smoke as a turbo oil line. Now that I had the car, I went over it looking for common leak points and checking over the general cooling system. Due to the amount of road grime, I could not track down the leak. It was everywhere. Top, bottom, both sides. Yet it was not wet. I decided the engine smoke was mouse nest/crap burning off from sitting/not being driven. That left the tail pipe smoke. Well, there's not much of a tail pipe left as seen... but still. I filled the cooling system and brought it to operating temp with the Lisle funnel. It bubbled and eventually cleared up. I decided to take a quick test drive. About 10 miles later, the white tailpipe smoke cleared and the engine smoke decreased. It drove pretty well, but after shutting the engine off I heard popping and bubbling from the cooling system. I watched the car incase anything flared up and parked it for the night.

The next morning I decided to risk a longer drive. I had a 50/50 chance of it being a terrible idea. The cooling system was only down a 1/3rd of a cup and oil level was full. No puddles or leaks under the car. So I drove it to a friends. At every light it I checked for smoke, expecting it to pour from the engine bay. There was definitely a smell, but overall it dissipated the more I drove. I should mention I had a gallon of water and fire extinguisher on board just in case. I made it to my friends and drove it out to Rob's, another 20min drive. It popped and hissed from the cooling system.I let it nearly fully cool off and found yet again, another 1/4 cup of coolant missing. There was no smoke from the tail pipe once warmed up and the gauge never moved. So I am going to go with bad coolant seals. I will test it with a kit I have that checks for combustion gasses in the coolant, but no matter what- with 47k the motor needs to come out. Even if it's just for reliabilities sake.

Overall a successfully two days. Now to disappoint everyone, it's being parked until some other projects are done :).






















Don't worry, I still love these two. Or four. However many I have now.


Did I mention I can't stop smiling?

the spyder fucked around with this message at 05:47 on Sep 27, 2020

IOwnCalculus
Apr 2, 2003





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRYk2-9EDks

Maybe this is why I think FDs look so right in yellow.

everdave
Nov 14, 2005
I read your thread and ask myself how do you keep up with these projects? As I literally was putting about 8 vehicles to “sleep” in my backyard for my upcoming vacation (which isn’t nearly the amount I own) sometimes reality sets in lol.

Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug
How jealous was Rob?

dreesemonkey
May 14, 2008
Pillbug
OP I'm really happy for you.

McTinkerson
Jul 5, 2007

Dreaming of Shock Diamonds


That is most excellent. Congratulations. So how long until your wife makes it her DD or at the very least claims it?

the spyder
Feb 18, 2011
Who wants to guess the age of the tires?

2002 or 2005?

Either way, tires are ordered.

the spyder
Feb 18, 2011
Picking this back up after a very stressful week...
Fall has set in.
1993 CYM R1, 1994 Chase White Touring, and Jesse's 1995 Brilliant Black Base all lined up.


My only CYM update is that it has new tires and is otherwise parked. I spent waaaay to much on new OEM parts for it... next update when they arrive.


Unrelated: I picked up our Rx-8 track car I'm building with a few friends from the cage builder. Can you see the surprise? I've posted about it before, but now it runs and drives!


I had one of those "spent too much time on YouTube and ordered tools" moments. Bought a whole bunch of new products and a few details specific-tools to help with the cleanup of the CYM. The electric pressure washer is to reduce the time/gas of running my large Honda unit.


Jesse stopped by again and decided it's time to help me clean out old projects. This involved dragging the 2000's spec FD out for assessment. No real story here, except there's a lot broken or missing. Hope the owner wants to foot the bill. Did I mention this is one of only 2 customer cars left?





We also pulled out the Corolla and eventually it will head to Rob's (Pineapple) for a future build here soon.


And that brings us to something several people have questioned. I decided to sell all the shells I had been squirreling away. With the CYM and other projects being planned out, I just don't have the time or funds to do what I want with them. So, over the past week I've sold 4 cars. Only two pictured.
First up was the 93 Brilliant Black Base Model that had been setup for a LS swap. (Not to be confused with the black 93 Touring with the LS7- that's at its owners house now.) I was really hesitant to sell this one, I offhandedly mentioned to a friend I was considering it and BAM I had an offer. So we spent a few evenings after work cleaning it up. I even delivered it, but after seeing the hill to his house I regretted that offer. Poor truck. The 365k trans was not happy after backing up it to the driveway.



Next up was the vert. A nice kid bought it to replace his that was badly hit. Hopefully it does not get riced out or whatever they call it now a days. I at least came out ahead on this one and the money will fund other projects.


Not pictured is the 94 Blue Track FD and the 71 Celica. This puts me closer to my goal of significantly downsizing before the end of the year. I still have to fix the subaru and sell it, but I am finally getting a handle on all these projects.

Now for the fun part. Three months ago I ordered a "LS swap subframe" in builder kit form, no mounts welded on and bare steel/not powder coated. After multiple emails and unanswered calls... it showed up. The goal is to see if I can use this "off-the-shelf" subframe for my kit, saving me tons of work. This also happens to be the improved version that has addressed several camber/bump steer issues. If it works, I can finally "produce" this kit for sale and release it to the community.







The first impressions out of the box were great, the quality is spot on like many of their other products. The only thing to do was test fit it with the real deal. Which meant I needed two things: 1) My assembled/welded oil pan and a 20b, both still at Rob's shop due to the fires - and 2) My car and utility trailer full of parts, which was at a friends across town, again due to the fires. So Saturday afternoon I sat out with the truck and trailer. It took multiple trips, picking up the motor, towing my utility trailer home, and finally picking up the car trailer to fetch the car. I got home about 7, after a long day. I had everything I needed. Now at this point I was running on fumes. But I had to see if this would work...







It fits great, which I guess is not surprising. The main "tube" that supports the steering rack is larger than the rectangle tube I used in my custom subframe and requires I slightly change the oil pan sheet metal from a harsh angle to a radius. This is minor though and can be corrected during the next batch being manufactured. For the subframe itself, outside of welding on mounting plates in the right position and swapping to a different motor mount type, everything points to this working. I emailed the company and provided my feedback - hopefully they can supply 10 in a timely fashion when I'm ready to produce it as a kit. New engine mounts have been ordered and I'm hoping this week to mock up the plates. If this all works out, I can finally restart this project - and hopefully finish it.



While 2020 has been a rollercoaster in so many unimaginable forms, I can at least say I'm making the best of it.
I'm down to "just" these 4 FD's and each one has a future.


the spyder fucked around with this message at 08:09 on Oct 12, 2020

jink
May 8, 2002

Drop it like it's Hot.
Taco Defender
:drat:

That's a freaking butt load in one post. I can't wait for deets.

Sgt Fox
Dec 21, 2004

It's the buzzer I love the most. Makes me feel alive. Makes the V8's dead.
I really need to buy an FD one day. Your collection isn't helping me. :)

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Crunchy Black
Oct 24, 2017

by Athanatos
I always appreciate the photo unloads but holy poo poo we need details

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