Feb. 25, 2004, 62,680 miles:
Finally! I picked the car up from Reitmeir's Werkstatt. It was one of those, "Whoops, that's not right, have to fix that WIAIT" kind of projects. :) I knew it would be... most of the rubber attached to the engine was shot. That's to be expected with a 26 year-old car. I tried real hard not to call every time I thought of some question or other about the process, but... thanks for your patience, Jeff. Tino, the mechanic who did the work on the car, did a FABULOUS job. All of the areas that he touched are spotless. Here is a quick rundown of the worst of it: Water pump had to be replaced with new, since the boss that the TB tension roller pivots on was broken off. There was a shoulder bolt in the tensioner area that had been replaced with a regular bolt and a plastic sleeve. The plenum and runners were caked on the inside with oily goop, which he cleaned out. The injectors and fuel lines were removed and cleaned. The injector sleeves were replaced. The entire CIS housing was pulled, cleaned, all gaskets replaced. The rubber standoffs under the CIS housing were shot, so they were replaced. The cam seals, front main seal, etc(basically all hoses, seals and gaskets that he touched) were replaced. Some of the hoses were so bad that they disintegrated at the slightest attempt to flex them. The brakes and clutch were flushed and bled, and the transaxle oil was replaced with Redline NS. And... whatta guy... he even managed to find a perfect replacement for the messed up P-crest on the plenum.
Below are three pics that give an idea of the attention to detail regarding cleanup, hose replacement, etc. It's really hard to get pics of anything under the plenum, but this whole area was soaked in oil when I bought the car, and even though I had done a fair job of cleaning up what could be reached easily by pulling the plenum, it was still pretty messy in there when I took it to Reitmeir's. Now, anywhere you look on top of the engine, it's clean. I like it clean.
As for the results.... just... wow. The value of this work was just incredible; thanks Tino and Jeff! The car runs fantastic. Idles very, very smooth, and makes very smooth power at any speed. The transmission shifts much, much better. The clutch and brakes have a much more consistent feel. I have to say, Reitmeir's did excellent work; I would recommend them to anyone. Definitely a 5-Star establishment IMHO. The car passed smog with flying colors(IMHO)... this is the "enhanced" California smog check, where the car is run on a dyno at two different speeds. Here are the results(YMMV, click image for full cert):
So, I left work a little early, picked up the car at Reitmeir's and drove it straight to Devek for ball joints and alignment. I had made an appointment for the work to be done on the 26th, and it was just easier for me to deal with getting it to them the night before. The way I was treated as a customer was fantastic. They listened to my concerns, talked to me a bit about the car and issues that I had questions about, then gave me a ride to the train station so I could get home. Then on Friday the 27th, right on time, they picked me up at the train station and brought me back to their shop where I picked up the car. There was a slight glitch in the process of fixing the car, details not important, but I have to say that they handled it with the most honest and ethical treatment I have ever received from a shop. Very, very refreshing. Besides, the alignment feels perfect. My tires are badly worn, but I'm sure that when I get the new ones put on there will be a world of difference. It turns out that something in the steering linkage is not quite right. Although the alignment was performed with the centering bolt in the rack, and they did their best to center the wheel afterward, it's still not quite straight when driving in a straight line. It seems that I need to disassemble the linkage and move it one spline, either at the rack or at the u-joint. No crisis, it's only about 5° off.Thanks Susan and Mark... it was a real pleasure doing business with you. Another 5-Star shop, IMHO.(Edit, January 2008: looking back on this, re-reading what I wrote, I have to say it's truly astounding how my view of Devek changed over time. See the bottom of my radiator page to see what I'm talking about.)
So, when Saturday morning came, I started my own work on the car. First, I did a little running around, picking up bulbs and fuses that I knew I would need. Then, I put the car up on ramps, dropped the lower bellhousing, and proceeded to adjust the clutch. I wasn't able to get both discs to engage at the same time, but I was able to improve matters somewhat. I then went on a bulb-changing spree, and changed some fuses. This resolved a couple of minor gremlins, but I'm planning to get some Stabilant and go through all of the fuse and relay connections with it.
I had decided to switch to the 8" H4 lights, and had bought them from 928 Specialists. Not much to say here, as the swap was very easy. The only thing I needed was 4 nylock nuts, M6X1, and 4 M6 washers, which I picked up at Orchard Supply Hardware. Also, I didn't exactly "need", but chose to buy, 6 #8x3/4" stainless steel panhead screws while I was there. They are a perfect match for the recess in the pod cover, and they look great. To simplify this task, I put some masking tape crosses on the garage door right where the center of the beams were shining.... right at the '.' in the pattern that looks like _./ then I swapped the lights without moving the car. I was able to get the headlight adjustment very close with the new lights by using these marks. Later that night, I went out to a very dark, straight road and fiddled the adjustment to where I wanted it. It took me a few tries, and a few laps around some of the local hills to make sure I really had everything where I wanted it before buttoning everything back up. The pics on the right below were taken the next day after putting the pod covers back on. Fortunately the weather was nice, so I didn't have to worry about leaving the covers off. I think I may have to adjust some stops in the fender... the headlights look as though they are not quite retracting equally. Anyway, I can tell you all about how gorgeous the 8" lights look on the car, but the pictures below speak for themselves:
Also, I picked up a set of Fiamm 130db electric horns from JCWhitney(Gasp!) and mounted them up under the bumper. I left the original trumpet-style electric horns in place, as I may want to wire them into the alarm later. I was able to route the original horn wires to the passenger side horn, and made a simple 1 foot extension to reach the horn on the driver's side, complete with heat shrink tubing where it interfaces with the original connector, to keep water out. It made for a very clean install, and with the horns out front like this they are VERY loud:
So then I did the obvious thing... cleaning. :) Here is what it looked like when I called it quits for the weekend:
So far, here are the things I have planned for future episodes, roughly in order of priority:
- Halfshafts(Left Done and Right Done)
- Borla Cat-back exhaust(Started and Completed)
- New Wheels(DONE!)
- Install fire extiguisher(Done)
- Check out all tow hook attachment points(Done)
- Weld up rattling heat shield on air pump(Replaced)
- Replace High pressure PS hose, now showing slight seepage(Done, Return hose too)
- A/C charge/service(Done)
- Clean up fuse panel, re-assess list of electrical gremlins to fix(Done):
- Cruise control doesn't work(Fixed)
- Washer systems don't work(Some Progress Here, More Here)
- Panel lights are dim(Fixed)
- Rear window heater doesn't work
- Only one dome light comes on when door opens, both work manually(Fixed)
- Look into window switches that are occasionally balky
- Alarm system upgrade(Done)
- Leatherique/Carpet Dye/Floormats(Done)
- Install Devek short shifter
- Driver door window seals
- Delete pinstripe(Done)
- Replace lower bumper on hood & re-align(Fixed)
- Realign hatch, replace plastic latch(Done)
- Replace one bad clip in hatch window trim(Done)
- Work on securing spare tire; I think it's clunking on big bumps(Fixed)
- MOMO wheel/adjust linkage to center the wheel
- Clean up and repaint battery box before it rusts(Done)
- Fix up vents in door... some vanes are broken(Fixed)
- Find/replace link between door latch and lock tumbler, Pass. side(Fixed)
- Install Devek oil baffle(on order)
- Clean up fog/parking light lenses on front, replace Pass. side running light gasket(Done)
- Attempt to fix warped headliner; looks like moisture intrusion at hatch bolts got to it.
- Replace cracked inner fender panels(Done)
- Try to get back to single key for all locks(Fixed)
- Stereo upgrade