May 2017 FOTM winner

[Advancedynamix]

Congratulations Karl!
sc72's "Maxx".

Ok the story begins back in 09, I had a 90 L Plus that was a real rust bucket, remember we live in Iowa, the floor boards, well they were gone and doing the Flintstone was a reality and after putting patches on patches I told the wife it was time to pull the plug so I stripped every useable part that I could get off and started looking for a new ride. The next week I found a nice 92 KJ Blue GL that I liked but it was down in Bradenton FL I showed the wife and she thought it would be nice and at that point she called it the Blue Rocket, I kept looking but I always came back to this one, she said give him a call so I did, we talked and he said come on over and take a look, I said well I live in Iowa and he hung up, so I called back and he said he didn't have time for jokes, so I told him I was serious, so after he got done laughing he sent some pictures and we did more talking, a week later I booked some airline tickets, three weeks later I was headed to Tampa, then to Bradenton, they met me at the air port and it was about 15 minutes to their house and there he was sitting in the shade of a Palm tree. We talked for a few minutes, them took him for a drive, I was hooked, Maxx was going home with me, back at the house the wife had made some sweet tea, we sat down and started to haggle, he wanted this, I said ill give this, 5 minutes later the deal was done. We talked for another hour and I learned Maxx was bought new up in Fort Walton Beach FL and had spent all of his life in FL, We checked the fluids, wheel bearings etc, we were ready to head north west, I hooked up the GPS, threw the carry on bag in the back, said thanks and headed for the car, I heard the screen door slap shut and a voice said wait for me, the lady had made me a sack lunch and a large McDonalds glass of sweet tea for the road. I said thanks, closed the door, the wife said you call when you get home now ya hear. Maxx and I left, 18 hours later we pulled in the drive at home.

The first pic is of Maxx the morning we got home.

The next pic is the beginning of his transformation. You will see plenty of mods that have been done to Maxx from the Mazda 121 front grill, to the Euro tail lights, Im not going to dwell on all the upgrades I have done, so see what you can find, Thanks for looking.





















If you have any questions lets hear them.

[fastivaca]

congratulations on a well deserved win!

[Greywolf]

What trans is that, and what kit did you put in it?

[Skrapbob]

Grats Karl! Great car! Please tell about that trans...

[sc72]

Thanks all for the kind words, the trans is a B3- the input shaft seal was leaking, so the trans had to be completely disassembled just to replace the $2 dollar seal, one of the shift forks was bent and causing some trouble, I had read a post by (Arty) Festyboy about the shift forks being steel in the early B3 trans and they are Alum in the 90/93 trans, so I swapped them in, I checked the bearings, I used a micrometer to check all shims, checked all of the shafts for straightness, etc. , I do use 20/50 full synthetic Motorcycle oil, just my .02 but I think it's a great oil for our transmissions, that's it, so if you have anymore questions, just ask this (old) Iowa farm boy.

[sc72]

Greywolf, I could not find a rebuild kit, don't know if they even exist.

[ryanprins13]

Greywolf, I could not find a rebuild kit, don't know if they even exist.

For the transmission? Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.com/itm/370996607876

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk

[william]

Karl , congrats on the win.
I'll have to ask you a few questions about replacing that seal at lakestiva, mine is leaking on the g series.

[1990new]

Saw Maxx in person at Madness X and this FOTM win is well deserved. Congratulations Karl.

[Rick the Quick]

Nice Job Karl. Good to know the input seal goes in from behind. One more thing on my "to do list"
Rick.

[sc72]

ryanprins,

For the transmission? Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.com/itm/370996607876

Thanks for the tip, I went over to e-bay and bought it. I'm not really hard on this car but it has a huge amount of miles and this bearing kit will come in handy. Thanks.

[sc72]

Rick, replacing the seal is only a couple minute job, it's all the rest of taking the trans out, split the case, remove the gear clusters, shift shaves etc, that takes time, the wife hangs out in the garage with the other guys and there wifes, I knew it was going to take some time so we planed a cookout while I pulled the trans apart, I'm down to the bare bones now and ask the wife for a Root beer, by the time she gets back I have removed the seal, lubed and re-installed the new one.

Jump right in, it's not that big of a deal, the worst for me was getting the shift lever pins out, if I was to rebuild these trans more often I would be creating a tool just to remove those pins. lol

[Barber75]

Where is that pic taken from with the Knoxville Raceway painting behind it!?!

[ryanprins13]

ryanprins,

For the transmission? Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.com/itm/370996607876

Thanks for the tip, I went over to e-bay and bought it. I'm not really hard on this car but it has a huge amount of miles and this bearing kit will come in handy. Thanks.

Oh, cool! How many miles on the car or transmission? I didnt see that in your original post. I actually dont think miles are really hard on these transmissions, its running them out of or low on oil, poor shifting and 'launches'.
Im not sure if anyone has bought that kit before? When you get it do you mind writing a little review on here of how the parts look and who the seller was? That way even if they stop selling it they can be contacted to see if they could get it again. And then if you ever end up installing it you could just update the thread for how well it works.

I like the car and your story! It was pretty cool to read, showed it to my wife but forgot to go on the computer to vote!

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk

[sc72]

Lots of miles, yes I will let you know how they look, what brand they are and if the bearings seem tight or roll rough. yes about the seller. Thanks for your thoughts. these trans are tough and last a long time if you treat them with respect, I figure they just give up at times simply because people use a bad quality of oil or don't change it etc, I use the 20/50 full synthetic bike oil, yes it costs $10 a quart but the trans works fine in the winter and summer, so whats $30 worth if you don't need to pull or replace the trans.