OverKILL!

[mikemounlio]

Ring gear is off the diff. The rivits need to be pressed out of the gear now. Looks like i will be buying a press tomorrow night! I bet i could hammer them out but i dont want to risk messing it up. Im going to make a nice template for the rear mount tonight. Also tonight i have to make the new upper mount. Ill just use some angle iron for now to get me running again and will then look into getting a more stock looking mount made up later on.

Ill post some pictures of the process tonight.

[Advancedynamix]

A press is a great thing to have (even if all you do is crush things for IG videos).
Good call on not hammering on your ring gear. Hardened steel parts can develop microscopic cracks when pounded.

[mikemounlio]

A press is a great thing to have (even if all you do is crush things for IG videos).
Good call on not hammering on your ring gear. Hardened steel parts can develop microscopic cracks when pounded.

Working with gears as a living i know better then to beat on them. I can actually see some misalignment and hammer damage. But for as hard as its been driven it looks great! Gonna also get a bearing puller while im at it. I want to do it once and the right way. Id like this trans to last for quite some time.

[Advancedynamix]

You may want to use Redline lightweight shockproof gear lube in the tranny. It's good for dampening that hammering that you're talking about. The final drive doesn't see half of the hammering effects as the primary gears (specifically 3rd gear). The BP is known for being hard on gears.

[Team Lightning]

Charlie, how would that lube work with an Mfactory lsd?

[mikemounlio]

What is gonna be the best lube to use with the mfactory?

I now have the top mount done. The front lower is almost there. What a pain that was. So i started out just trying to make a mount just like what was on the car when i got it. It was a simple chunk of angle iron with a few holes drilled in it. Well the holes were atr different angles. Under the angle iron was washers to get the proper angle. So the mount with the rubber bushing was shot. The metal sleeve on the inside had a 1/4- 1/2" of play in it. It fell right out. So i had to swap to my capri mount that was in great shape. But the capri mount is totally different. I had to offset the bolt holes and try to come up with the same angles. After 4 tries i said screw this im gonna start from scratch. I cut the mounts off the capri bushing. I set the motor up on jack stands and shimmed it to be level and straight and over some. I used construction paper to make little cutouts of how i wanted the ount to look and started cutting, grinding, and welding. I think it will look ok when im all done. It will be 100% better then what was there thats for sure. I just hope i didnt move it to far over.

My welds are not that great looking but i dont think they will ever come apart! I will keep an eye on them tho. My front core support and bumper seem to be doing just fine.

[Advancedynamix]

Charlie, how would that lube work with an Mfactory lsd?

It should work good. The M factory is a copy of the Qiaife ATB differental. Lots of race teams use Redline gear lube with quaife differentials.

[Team Lightning]

I was looking for something more available than the Torco that mFactory recommends. Thank you.

[mikemounlio]

I was looking for something more available than the Torco that mFactory recommends. Thank you.

How do you like you mfactory diff?

[mikemounlio]

[mikemounlio]

The Federals came in last night! As of now they are very soft. Like i could stare a hole in them soft. I have been told that they will firm up with a few heat cycles. As of now they are way softer then my Nito NT01's. I cant wait to get them on the car.

Still dont have the motor mounted! I have come up with a new idea tho. I will replace the upper mount that was on the car. i will then add spacers to it as needed to move the motor over. That way i keep all the same angles but get it over to the drivers side more. I will then shim the motor in place and remove the mount. I can easily build my own mount at that point and finally knock it out.

I also got all of my precision washers in. Now i need to order some full thread bolts for the rear spindle upgrade.

Closer and closer by the day. My neighbor sold me a drill press for 20$ last night as well. I will measure the diff bolts and grab a drill bit the next size up and go to town tonight.

[mikemounlio]

My to do list looks like: (but in no real order)

1. remake motor mounts.
2. drill ring gear for mdiff bolts
3. put trans back together.
4. put motor back in
5. install rio power steering rack
6. install festy inner rods
7. install escort gt outter tie rod
8. Tune with carlos
9. set suspension preload
10. set camber/toe in front
11. remove aspire rear beam
12. cut aspire sway bar out
13. rebuild brakes (upgrade spindle bolting hardware)
14. paint beam
15. install beam
16. set camber/toe in rear
17. install new tires
18. make door cards
19. flat panels for rear panels and floor
20. piss on LS sticker
21. put ovr kil plate on
22. plasti-dip the car
23. install dual boost control
24. install turbo timmer
25. remove dash replace with aluminum panel.
26. install push button start
27. weld in seats from shadtree
28. build harness bar
29. make plexi rear windows
30. make spare tire mount for street use (quick remove for autoX)
31. dry ice off the insulation in the interior.
32. paint and coat the interior with something
33. drive the crap out of it!!! until i can think of more crap to do

As you can see the list goes on and on and on! It makes me sad to actually think of all the crap im going to do. When this car is done its going to be 1 sweet festy that i will be very proud of! It may not be show car quality but it will be mine!


(edit- im gonna need to hire an intern...)

[mikemounlio]

still no progress this week. Im all set up to drill the ring gear. I even got some high dollar drill bits from work for the job.

I have a plan for the mounts. I know the stock mount was doing fine until i added camber and low. The axle bind was only slight. Ill bolt it back up to the car and just add spacer to t to push the motor over .25" That should put me about 1/8" past the frame. I should be good to go then. Once the upper mound has pushed the motor where it should be ill lever the motor out with stands under it. I can then reweld the mount on top, finish the front lower, and start the rear mount. I should have that done this weekend for sure. The wife is wanting to go out of town saturday so my day is gone there. Gotta get this done as soon as i can so i have a good amount of time to test and tune the suspension and evo tune before my 1st race day.

[mikemounlio]

I finally have the motor in a spot that i like.


The upper mount is welded together. I might add a brace tho.



I didnt take a final picture but the motor is level! Or as level as the valve cover can be.


I now have a monster of a hole to weld back up. Gonna get some plate today to weld in the frame.


Tires!

[mikemounlio]

Im picking up som 1/8" plate to box the frame back in. Next time i will just bash it in... I will try my best to make the frame look good again. I know ill make her strong tho! Gonna remake it to look normalish but beefy kinda.