jcbgrady's BP swap

[jcbgrady]

Alright thanks Wes. Make sure to give me a couple of weeks notice. If it's not till fall, I'm cool with that. No rush. If I remember correctly I need the water pump, exhaust mani., down pipe and flex pipe for the BP. I'll look at our past PM's to be sure I'm not missing anything.

[jcbgrady]

I got to spend this morning in the garage and...



I ended up pulling the engine/trans with the axle still in it. I still have to separate them... somehow. Anyway, things are progressing again and I'm happy about that!

[iceracerdude]

the key to pulling the axles is to use two prying bars at once. I'll place one long one, then just tie it off with a little bit of a load from a strap. Then I'll work the other one by hand, load it up, then just give it a sharp rap. See if you're just using one prying tool, yeah sometimes you'll just get lucky, but really you're actually just setting up a perfect "bind" situation. Use 2 tools at once, you'll be surprised at the result.
And yeah, the way I described is based on the idea that the engine is holding the trans, and the car is holding the engine lol.

[jcbgrady]

Update. Finished up the asipre swap with some fresh hardware. New calipers, rotors, pads, bearings, drums, control arms and tie rod ends. Put new bellows on the rack and pinion, the old ones were almost non existent. And I mounted my 15x6.5 wheels running 205/50/15 tires.

Next month I get a bonus check that'll pay for my coilovers. Most likely it'll be these with 350f/250r rates. Any opinions?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110659841609

Here are a couple of crummy pics.

[skimsucka]

those spring rates are probably a lil to stiff !

I have ground control coilovers with 250F 7 inch springs and 200R 7 ch springs id say there just a tad stiff by just a little only because cant get a shock with enough damper it bounces on kyb's just a little bit

[thered56]

Yeah, that sounds pretty stiff man. Whatcha using the car for?

Good to see you back at it. Looking good. Love the wheel/tire combo. Hope you don't rub.

[jcbgrady]

Thanks, I'm building it for cone dodging, light track use and occasional fair-weather driving. So I'm looking for a stiff setup. I also have a lifted Jeep XJ so I'm used to a less then comfortable ride lol.

[skimsucka]

Thanks, I'm building it for cone dodging, light track use and occasional fair-weather driving. So I'm looking for a stiff setup. I also have a lifted Jeep XJ so I'm used to a less then comfortable ride lol.

gotta love the XJ's gotta a pic of it?

[jcbgrady]

2001 Jeep XJ, 4.5" lift w/ 33" MT's

[jcbgrady]

Spent a the last couple nights working on the Festiva. Test fitting the engine and stock Festiva transmission for the motor mounts.

Terrible phone pics, sorry.

[91mcnasty]

Doing a beautiful job, keep it up!!!

[jcbgrady]

It's been a while since my last update. I've dented the firewall to fit the BP. Lined the interior, wheel wells, and rocker panels with truck bed liner. I put new rubber under coating in the wheel wells. Cleaned the engine bay and painted with black high-temp engine paint. Cleaned up the transmission, brake booster and master cylinder.

Then SC72 came up for a visit and helped me install everything except the battery for a final test fitting. Everything looks great! I have some questions about where some of the vac lines go and the wiring still to figure out. But I'm happy with what I've got so far!

[sc72]

It's been a while since my last update. I've dented the firewall to fit the BP. Lined the interior, wheel wells, and rocker panels with truck bed liner. I put new rubber under coating in the wheel wells. Cleaned the engine bay and painted with black high-temp engine paint. Cleaned up the transmission, brake booster and master cylinder.

Then SC72 came up for a visit and helped me install everything except the battery for a final test fitting. Everything looks great! I have some questions about where some of the vac lines go and the wiring still to figure out. But I'm happy with what I've got so far!

Hey had a great time visiting with jcbgrady and his family, his two sons are a blast to be around, your car is comming along real well, keep up the good work, you will be driving it soon.

[jcbgrady]

Yeah, thanks for coming up Karl. Once this thing is running I'm coming down to visit you next time.

On another note - I installed a spare seat I had and while sitting in the car I was fidgeting with things and noticed the transmission wouldn't go in to any gear. Are there any common problems that might cause this? It's bolted to the BP and installed in the car. The clutch cable and pedal are installed and appear to work fine. The shifter is also installed but when the clutch pedal is engaged I cannot get it to go in to any gear.

Ideas?

[jcbgrady]

I'm slowly getting the wiring done and I really wish I had another festiva for reference. I'm trying to figure out which wire goes to the black thing under the air intake? None of the festiva plugs seems to match it?



Also where does this ground go? Engine block?


And what are these?


Thanks for any input.