well, i picked up a set of craftsman low profile bolt/nut remover sockets today.
there are no sears stores near me, or at least within 15 miles, so, after looking up the locations, i realized i had to leave to get to my therapist. thats when it clicked - there was a sears about 10 minutes from where her office is, so i sort of glanced at the directions, and after my session at 2, i found my way there. took a little while cause i had no clue where the heck i was going, but eventually, i found it. i was pretty happy and excited to try em out. i was gonna get the set of 6 regular profile ones, and the special locking ratchet that came with it, since it was on sale for 13 bucks, but, i decided to get the low profile ones, since there were more socket sizes, they were about half the thickness, meaning i could no doubt get into any kinda bolt that i had to, and i just figured it was a better shot at being successful. oh, and it came with a case
anyway, so i got home, and tried them out. sure enough, they worked like a CHARM!! i highly highly recomend these to anyone who works on their cars... these area a priceless addition to any tool chest.
anyways, so after that victory, i got the manifold, and the turbo off, and got back to work on wiring. i sucessfully managed to get 90% of the passenger harness done, including the dizzy wiring, which was in need of an extension. after that, i pretty much just cleaned up the block, which i still need to do more on, but is 10000x better than it was, and just cleaned a bunch of other stuff. once it got dark, i packed up, and took inside all my parts to start cleaning and polishing.
so far, my BOV is done, my wastegate is like 50% done, since im polishing the whole thing to a shine, instead of leaving the base of it the cast steel or aluminum that it came stock. i got the hat done hyesterday, and its super shiny, which is nice, cause it was always just kinda brush finnished. i also got to work on the turbo, although i still need to do another coat of compound on the compressor side, and have yet to even start on the hot side. i also got to work on the manifold...
let me tell you, there was so much rust, so much gunk and crap on it, that im only about 35% done sanding it, and havent even moved past 80-120 grit. im gonna take my grinder to it some more, and also hit it more with the wire brush attachment on my drill, but its too late to do any more tonight, and quite frankly, im exhausted from so much hand sanding. however, when its all done, and all smooth, which it never quite was, im guessing that after a nice coat of compound and a quick polish and buff, it will look MINTY FRESH. i also imagine that with all this intense sanding and polishing, that the parts will go a nice brownish bronze/blue metallic color once its had some heat through it. this would be really nice, since its always just kinda been dull and brown. even if it gets just brown or matted again, ill still be happy, as this smoothing out and sanding will hopefully prevent rust from building up in the little crevices on the surface, like it did before. now, i know your all saying... wow, thats a heck of a lotta work, after just needing to do the clutch line and master cyl...
...well, the car needed it, badly. its been neglected for near 2 years, and a lot of stuff needed attention. in my experience, a clean engine bay, is a happy engine bay, and more problem free. hopefully when this is all done, i can take my mind off of stuff going awry in the engine bay.
im also decking and sanding all my flanges, both the head side, the turbo side and wastegate side of my manifold, as when inspecting the two edges, it looks as if there was a tiny exhaust leak. i also have found a small crack in my dump tube piping (no biggie at all) and will take it to my friend to have it welded back up this weekend, but its nothing major, and wont effect the car at all.
anyway, i have no new shots of the engine bay, as i still have a few more tricks up my sleeve, and want to get them when its really all done and clean, before, and after the engine parts go back in. however, i have some nice pictures of the polishing so far. excuse the mess, i have a tiny appartment, and have little space to do this kinda work. as stated before, everything is a work in progress, and only a few little things are actually done, but youll get the idea... its gonna look DANK as hell in that bay when im through with this.
im even re polishing my top intercooler pipe that has the BOV flange on it, although, i have a feeling that the pipes were anodized with some kinda super shiny coating, which seems to get stripped off when sanded down smooth again... however, when polished, it buffs to near mirror... i just hope it wont wear down, and if it does... well, ill just hit it with the buffer again!
well, here you go... some shiny *** engine parts!!
