Open track day and parts runner build

[Advancedynamix]

Good news! The Capri IM shaft does in fact bolt directly up to the ZL/ZM-DE block. It appears to bolt in the exact same place as the B6 block. This means that a G series can be used with equal length axles on a Z series engine. My engine has the 1 piece steel oil pan, it is a JDM imported 1.5L. Looking at this intake manifold makes me sure that this JDM tubular intake is much better than the Z series manifolds that we got here in the U.S. it would require the engine be mounted at least 2" forward of the stock b3 though, as it takes up a lot of room. It's too dark and crowded in my storage to get a good picture of this as it sits under a pallet rack surrounded by b6 blocks and other random crap. This engine may find it's way into Pedro when I get sick of the B6D. This would be a killer engine to put on microsquirt and use ITB's, optimised cam profiles, high compression and a good exhaust tune. It's already got a really good head design and solid lifters right out of the box. This short stroke version could probably pull reliably into the upper 8k range with a good dampener. Time will tell.

[blake4591]

Ok, thanks for checking on that. I'm probably going to use a ZM-DE since they are cheap and easy for me to pick up. I'm not absolutely sure what I'm going to do with the electronics. Micro/mega-squirt is probably the best potion but I'll see what my other options are as well. I am pretty sure that I want to pair the motor with a gt1752 turbo to make sure there is plenty of motivation in the car. haha

[blake4591]

I actually did things on the car this week! I've been neglecting this all summer since I just had a bunch of other things that required my attention come up in June and July and after it was clear the car wouldn't be done by the end of the summer to play with, it got pushed much farther down the priorities list. I just finished up painting and wiring my second garage so I finally have a nice place to work on my cars.

Since I haven't really done anything with this car for 4 months I spent some time just going through everything and getting a good idea of what is going to be needed. I noticed a couple of things that I had missed before like the fact that every wire going to the radio and speakers is cut so it looks like I will need to wire an all new stereo system. I also found a small rust hole in the drivers floor. Its one hundred percent fixable but I guess that's what I get for only going to Kentucky to get a "rust free" car. Next time it looks like I might have to go out west to get something truly rust free.

After all that I actually got the tools out and did some work. I pulled the dash, all of the HVAC system, the steering column, pedals, and the wiring harness in the body of the car. This is all in preparation for my plan to take the stripped car to the coin op car wash down the road from my house to clean it completely before putting it in the garage for the build. I still have to pull some things from the engine bay to make cleaning it a little easier which I'm planning to do tomorrow on my day off.

IMG_20151101_173808859.jpg
Dash ready to come out.
IMG_20151101_182857749.jpg
HVAC system coming out. I also noticed that all of the foam seals are turning into powder when touched. I'm guessing this might be a big part of why these cars struggle so much with heat in the winter.
IMG_20151101_175658303.jpg
If you look close you can see the lack of the radio plug and abundance of stripped wires that should go to it.
IMG_20151101_180859430.jpg
Previous owner once again showing his mastery of wiring and electrical type, but on the antenna wire this time

[blake4591]

I finished taking everything out of the car today and got the chance to clean up the engine bay and inside pretty well. I took the day off work since my vacation days are use it or lose it and this was probably the last nice day we'll see in the mid-west. After finishing up a couple small things around the house I pulled out all of the A/C and other that I wanted off the car. Then it was off to the car wash to clean everything. After about 2 hours I headed home to finish cleaning up and vacuum out all of the water that couldn't drain. Once everything was dry and clean I rubbed down the engine bay with some Meguiar's #07 mirror glaze. This helps put oil into the paint to remove oxidation and bring back shine. I figured that the paint could use some care since it was probably never waxed and I just finished using some aggressive chemicals on it. Not to mention that fact that Kia probably didn't use the best paint they could get in '89. I still need to pull out the steering rack an plastic covers and clean the lower area a little more but I can take care of that later.

SAM_2668.jpg
Before picture from this morning
SAM_2675.jpg
Car mostly done at the car wash
SAM_2680.jpg
My truck gets and honorary picture for dragging the car to the car wash and back
SAM_2683.jpg
Finished engine bay
SAM_2684.jpg
Finished interior

[blake4591]

I have been busy pulling the motor out of my forester to put a clutch in so I haven't managed to get a lot done on this in the last week. I did get a couple parts ordered and I also got the steering rack cleaned out and repacked with grease. The car is now also buried in about 8" of snow since it was outside on Saturday. I'm going to try to keep getting little things done until it thaws enough to pull it back into the garage.

[blake4591]

Last night I finally got the coil-overs for the car put together. It's what is now a pretty standard setup of vw mk1s in the rear with 120lb springs and mk3s in the front with 175lb springs. I also picked up some 16 gauge steel to fix the small hole in the drivers side floor. Hopefully I'll be able to get that done on Monday so I can put some of the interior together.

I'm also planning to pull the trailing arm out in the next week to clean and paint it. Everything under the car that has any surface rust is going to get a coat of chassis saver and then two coats of rustoleum semigloss black. I've found that combo to work well in keeping the underside of cars in good condition on over projects and I don't plan to drive this car during the winter.

[blake4591]

Good news everyone, I finally found a XR2 trans to use for the build. This was the single part that was going to cause me the most hassle since they aren't common and the few people that know what they are price them accordingly.

I happen to be in one of the junkyards that is in a very rough area of Detroit trying to find a festiva front sway bar. After two extremely crusty festivas I just happen to notice a capri. All the XR2 badges were taken off and I assumed it was nothing special until I saw the Turbo sticker on the intake. I went to take a closer look and the cable clutch confirmed it. I took a look under the car and someone had already pulled the intermediate shaft and shifter out and left them under the car. Since everything was there I figured I better grab the trans when I had the chance.

I had the motor and transmission out in about an hour, pulled the trans off and headed for home. The car showed 122K on the dash and the oil the came out of the trans was a nice cherry red. It also looked like the clutch was almost new. The engine was coated in oil so I'm guessing that the oil was run low many times and the turbo burned up.

Anyways I have a trans to use now and I'm one step closer to be able to put the car together.

IMG_20151209_151841378_HDR.jpg

[Advancedynamix]

good deal! The car is coming along nicely! Were the axles still there on the Capri? They are getting really hard to find. Even if they aren't good, they can be rebuilt for 60 a side usually.

[blake4591]

Yeah I got the trans, intermediate shaft, both axles, shifter, and speedo cable for $175. It's not the best deal ever but considering how rare some of the parts are getting I'll take it. I also had a bunch of "store credit" at the junkyard that I need to use so I'm pretty happy with how it worked out. Hopefully over the Christmas break I'll be able to get the new suspension on the car and start working out the trans and engine mounts.

[mikemounlio]

So are you using the capri shifter and linkage in the festiva? If so ill have to do the same. My festiva is an auto so not having to find the linkage would be nice.

[blake4591]

I'm not sure if the capri shifter will bolt in or not. I'm thinking it requires cutting the shift linkage and rewelding to the correct length at a minimum. I'm going to see if it mounts to the floor but I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't. I'll check it out tonight.

[mikemounlio]

Im ok with cutting it down and rewelding it. I might get a small section of pipe to weld over the cut section for some extra hold. I hold it mounts somewhat easliy

[bhazard]

Do yourself a favor and make the linkage threaded in the middle for adjustment.

[blake4591]

I checked and the capri shifter will not fit the hole left by the auto shifter. It's pretty close though the length is right but the width is about an 1/4 to wide so I'll have to decide if I want to modify the floor or the shifter to work.

[blake4591]

I started to pull the trailing arm last night and found it to be in pretty bad shape. The steel sleeve in the driver side strut has rusted completely to the strut bolt and bent the strut mount has I tried to back the bolt out. Then the passenger side strut bolt hole is over sized and pretty ovalized to the point I wouldn't trust it with how I drive. What I don't get is how it can be in this bad shape and so rusty since it's an Aspire arm that was swapped in at some point. At this point I'll probably just pull the beam out from under the blue car to use. I know that one is in good shape and just needs a good cleaning and fresh coat of paint, luckily no one wanted it when I offered it for sale.

Once I get the arm out tonight I'll pull the spindles and brake hardware to have spares and maybe sell what I don't think I'll use. I'll just scrap the arm and struts since I doubt anyone is going to want an aspire arm that is in bad shape.