09Jan2011
951 turbo swap finished
Finished up the turbo swap in the 951 the other day. Downpipe swapped on to the new turbo. Turbo installed. Then on went the piping and intake. Once that was done, I needed to pull the intercooler to clean any foreign debris out of that. Header panel removed to expose the intercooler. Peering in the one end, you can see some old crusty particles caked onto the surface. A trip to the power washer cleaned it right up. Intecooler out …
03Jan2011
Pre Purchase Inspection
I am always preaching to people that you do not purchase a used car without having a qualified shop perform a pre purchase inspection to check for potential issues a new owner might be faced with. I helped out an old freind in Colorado who had found this car for a client. The intended purpose would be a Driver’s Education car. A nice little example of a 964, with about 140k miles on it. Standard engine bay with a K&N …
03Jan2011
Audi A4
Had a freind bring by his A4 in preparation for a move to Flordia! We had a couple of coolant leaks to try and stop, as well as topping off the diff fluids. A hose clamp cured one leak, and a rubber cap hopefully cured the other. The drain valve was leaking slightly on the radiator, and it is only available by purchasing a new radiator. We capped it off in hopes that will prevent the leak. Topping off the …
03Jan2011
Mazda’s version of the 924/944
Was the RX-7 utilizing a rotary engine. The cars are actually quite fun to drive and were pretty popular. A freind of mine brought over his son’s TX-7 Turbo II (now don’t get excited, that doesn’t mean twin turbos) so we could put in a new brake master cylinder. It had started to puke fluid everywhere, so a replacement was needed. Oreilly’s was able to order us the part, and it was definitely not “porsche pricing.” A little wet and …
28Dec2010
More 951 Progress
Got back to the 951 after the holidays to finish up some items. I started by tearing apart the exhaust to upgrade to a Fabspeed 3″ full system, and Tial 38mm wastegate. When I crawled under the car, I realized the car, being an early 86 model, had the 1 piece crossover pipe….DOH! The wastegate doesn’t exactly fit with the one piece, so I went and got my 2 piece pipe to install in it’s place. This will also save …
22Dec2010
Project LS1?
Sigh….no not yet. But this project does have an LS1 in it! Today I took on a gauge install in a 2004 GTO. The pod and gauges were a craigslist find at a discount from what I hear, only there wasn’t any wiring bundle or oil pressure sending unit included, so it was not just a plug an play so to speak. Up and ready to go. Pod out of the car. Well, we have some work do to here. …
21Dec2010
951 Rear End Noise and Upgrades
Had a freind drop off his 951 that was making some noise from the rear end. Quickly diagnosed the patient as….you guessed it, a bad CV joint. I quickly had horrible flashback’s of the 993 axles, but at least these wouldn’t be nearly as hard to get out….still messy, but not hard, lol. Driver’s side axle out. While the boots were in good shape on this axle, the grease had dried up over the years and caused the joint to …
21Dec2010
Axle Week
When it rains it pours. One of my favorite “clean” jobs are replacing axle joints or boots. There is nothing better than getting absolutely covered in grease, and take everything you touch with you, lol. A freind of mine noticed he had a couple of torn axle boots on the rear of his 993 that needed attention. It is very important to replace these boots if you notice them ripped at all, as they no only help to keep the …
12Dec2010
996 Continued
After looking into a coolant light issue, we found the coolant tank was pretty much empty. The tanks are prone to cracking in the 996’s, usually along the backside or bottom near the level sensor. They aren’t a ton of fun to get out, not difficult, but it takes some manipulation to get it angled just right to come out. When you replace the tank you want to also install an updated radiator cap (black vs. the original blue cap). …
10Dec2010
996 Maintenance
Had a freind bring by his 996 for some winter maintenance. This was actually the Evolution motorsports prototype car for their supercharger kit they developed with VF Engineering. First thing to do was to replace the ignition switch. The 996 and boxster are notorious for having bad ignition switches. It can rear it’s head in many different ways. 1. Key switch that is difficult to turn or seems to hang up 2. Key that rotates way more than it should …