Dan's S8K...Strut towers gone :)

[40v4kq]

Well, I figure its been a long time since my last update so I'll update again.
After getting my all red tail lights from JT4K installed I found that most of my rear lights didnt work. The reverse lights dont work cuz I dont have them wired up yet but all the others that should work werent. only the left brake light was working and I think the right inner marker. The bulbs looked fine so I started checking for power and found there wasnt any to any of the non working lights so I reached up in the left back corner of the trunk where the wiring runs and could feel broken wires. Closer inspection revealed all but one of the wires were broken. Dont ask me how a couple still worked.
Heres a pic mid way through the repair. Forgot to take a before. pic.


Wires repaired, shrink tubed, ready to be re-wrapped and put back in place.


This little guy was watching my back the whole time. Just a harmless jumping spider.



I also got something from Marc @ EFIexpress. Now I need to get a dash extension for it to go in.


I also got a fan installed and wired up to the high side of the factory fan relay. I"m currently on the hunt for a weld on bung for the factory temp switch. Anyone know where I can find one. Not having any luck so far. Has to be aluminum. for now I have the switch resting on the driver head which isnt really ideal. LOL. Yes i know the fan is a little small but its the only fan I could find that was thin enough to squeeze between the engine and the radiator. I may have to add another fan if this one cant keep up with the summer heat. I have found that even after racing up the canyon the engine temp stays at about 87-88 celsius so the radiator is doing a fantastic job as long as i'm moving.


Last but not least, two days ago I was on my way home from physical therapy and while jsut cruising at about 35mph i heard a noise under the car and looked in the side mirror to see what I ran over thinking it was someting in the road I didnt see but saw nothing. Then I noticed the engine would rev but I wouldnt go faster. I tried another gear and still nothing. I was able to coast around the corner and hide on a side street since coincidentally I was literally driving by my work and didnt want anyone to see me broke down. Called my insurance and they called a tow service for me. The tow driver turned our to be a friend of mine who used to work with me so that was kinda fun.
Once the car was back home I jacked it up and put it in gear with the motor running and crawled underneath to see what went wrong. I thought at first it may be the trans since there was some odd noise soming from it but it turned out to be that the bolt that secure the left fornt axle to the trans flange had come loose and backe all the way out so the axle was just kinda hangin there. Luckily nothing was damaged and it all went right back together.
I checked the other side just to be safe and sure enought all the bolts on the right side were loose too and one had even backed all the way out. My snapon dealer was close by so I ran over and bought the 8mm tripple square and tightened everything back up.
I guess after a short while I'll recheck em and if they are loose again i'll throw some loctite on em.

[matt25]

I had a similar issue with my 82 fwd coupe. I was driving down the freeway in traffic, stepped on the gas, and BANG, no movement. Turns out the bolts that attach the axle to the transmission output flange sheared off clean. Im assuming they backed out, as I have heard of other having the loose bolts problem. Im interested to see how the locktite works for you, as I still have to get a new flange.

By the way, I have been following this thread closely, and I cant wait to do the same swap. I have a 90q with a 3.6 v8, but I much prefer the B2 chassis.

[ringbearer]

Scroll down a bit and check out the SideWinder fans, never used but have seen on lots of street rods.

The Fan Man is a good place to order too, have done lots of business with them.

I carb cleaned the output flange threads and axle bolts then loctited everything to be safe.

Looking good!

[85oceanic]

Looks good man!

[Marc]

you can also take apart that case if you so chose, the bare lcd is quite a bit smaller. you could also recess-mount it behind the dash somewhere too.

[pilihp2]

Harmless spider?
that poor bastard woulda been dead the second I saw him.
Nice work.

[autoholic]

Well, I figure its been a long time since my last update so I'll update again.
After getting my all red tail lights from JT4K installed I found that most of my rear lights didnt work. The reverse lights dont work cuz I dont have them wired up yet but all the others that should work werent. only the left brake light was working and I think the right inner marker. The bulbs looked fine so I started checking for power and found there wasnt any to any of the non working lights so I reached up in the left back corner of the trunk where the wiring runs and could feel broken wires. Closer inspection revealed all but one of the wires were broken. Dont ask me how a couple still worked.
Heres a pic mid way through the repair. Forgot to take a before. pic.


Wires repaired, shrink tubed, ready to be re-wrapped and put back in place.


This little guy was watching my back the whole time. Just a harmless jumping spider.



I also got something from Marc @ EFIexpress. Now I need to get a dash extension for it to go in.


I also got a fan installed and wired up to the high side of the factory fan relay. I"m currently on the hunt for a weld on bung for the factory temp switch. Anyone know where I can find one. Not having any luck so far. Has to be aluminum. for now I have the switch resting on the driver head which isnt really ideal. LOL. Yes i know the fan is a little small but its the only fan I could find that was thin enough to squeeze between the engine and the radiator. I may have to add another fan if this one cant keep up with the summer heat. I have found that even after racing up the canyon the engine temp stays at about 87-88 celsius so the radiator is doing a fantastic job as long as i'm moving.


Last but not least, two days ago I was on my way home from physical therapy and while jsut cruising at about 35mph i heard a noise under the car and looked in the side mirror to see what I ran over thinking it was someting in the road I didnt see but saw nothing. Then I noticed the engine would rev but I wouldnt go faster. I tried another gear and still nothing. I was able to coast around the corner and hide on a side street since coincidentally I was literally driving by my work and didnt want anyone to see me broke down. Called my insurance and they called a tow service for me. The tow driver turned our to be a friend of mine who used to work with me so that was kinda fun.
Once the car was back home I jacked it up and put it in gear with the motor running and crawled underneath to see what went wrong. I thought at first it may be the trans since there was some odd noise soming from it but it turned out to be that the bolt that secure the left fornt axle to the trans flange had come loose and backe all the way out so the axle was just kinda hangin there. Luckily nothing was damaged and it all went right back together.
I checked the other side just to be safe and sure enought all the bolts on the right side were loose too and one had even backed all the way out. My snapon dealer was close by so I ran over and bought the 8mm tripple square and tightened everything back up.
I guess after a short while I'll recheck em and if they are loose again i'll throw some loctite on em.

Funny you should mention that, I've been doing some work on my 4k and discovered the other day that my Fr rt flange was out, not all the way though. It caused CV grease to get all over exhaust., must have been bouncing in and out for a while, explains the smell it was emitting last time i drove it. I guess i'll take both sides apart and locktite them, hopefully with out removing entire axle.

Awesome car BTW, love it.

[JT4k]

Looks awesome man. I like the idea of taking that display from the housing and custom mounting it. Hopefully you, Phil and I can all take that drive around Tahoe soon.... I really want to see this thing in person!

[40v4kq]

Thanks for the comments guys. Axles coming loose is pretty scary to have in the back of your mind while driving.
rinbearer, i'll look into those fans if I need to add another one. So far i'm ok but i need to get the fan temp switch properly mounted and then see how the temp are when it gets hot out. What color loctite did you use? I'm thinkin the red might be a little too much.
matt25, sorry to hear you had some damage to go along with the axle bolts coming loose.
Ben, thanks. I hope you've been able to make some pregress with your engine build lately.
Marc, thats the plan. Mounting the housing and all would be a little too advantageous for me. Is there a way to change what is displayed?
pilihp2, yeah they are harmless. Jumping spiders are the only spider i'll play with. Its kinda neat to see how far they can jump, and I dont know if they can bite you but I havn't had one bite me yet. Plus there are so many bugs around here i'll keep all the spiders that arent black widows since they help control the bug population in and around my house.
Autoholic, you should'nt need to remove the whole axle but it may make cleanup easier, and thanks.
JT4k, its always on my mind. Just having trouble finding something that the temp switch will screw into that can be welded to the radiator. I was thinkin maybe call ron davis radiators and see if they got something to sell me?

[my2000apb]

isnt the rad switch 22x1.5mm? i think
you should be able to find alu threaded inserts from mcmastercarr or somewhere and cut it down, then weld that on

[85oceanic]

Little by little man. It's all back together and ready to drop in.

[40v4kq]

Tim, yes i believe it is 22x1.5 so I'll check with them and see what they got. Thanks.

Ben, Thats some great news. Fingers crossed this is the last time you drop it in for a while. I really want to see what that turbo is like. Gonna be exciting.

[90quattrocoupe]

Trust me when I say that the fan you have will not be enough on hot days, or slow traffic, especially it not being in a shroud. You need to move the radiator more forward and put larger fans behind the radiator, or put a couple of larger fans in front, even if they are less effective that way. Is you radiator a dual core? Is it a dual or triple pass radiator? Where is the fan in relationship to the hot side inlet of the radiator? Do you have any shrouding in front of the radiator to direct air to the radiator?

Greg W.

[ringbearer]

I used blue loctite

[40v4kq]

ringbrearer, thats what i was thinking. Thanks.

Greg, when i opened the box the fan came it that was exactly my first thought. " this thing is too small". the only way to get more room between the engine and radiator would be to get a .5" thinner radiator as it is as far fowrard as we could make it(almost touching the core support). I believe the radiator is a dual row single pass unit. the fan is actaully near the outlet of the radiator since thats really the only place to put the fan on the back side of the radiator. No shrouding in the front although the plan is to add some eventually. It would be nice to add on a fan shroud but once again there may not be enough space for one on the back side. Remeber, at the most there is 2.5 inches between the motor and the radiator and that is only in about half of the space. The accessory drive pullys are much closer than that. I'm just gonna keep an eye on the temps and add some shrouding to the front side to direct air through the radiator and if that isnt enough i'll add another fan to the front side right next to the inlet which may mean cutting part of the core support off which I really dont want to do but will if necessary.

[90quattrocoupe]

ringbrearer, thats what i was thinking. Thanks.

Greg, when i opened the box the fan came it that was exactly my first thought. " this thing is too small". the only way to get more room between the engine and radiator would be to get a .5" thinner radiator as it is as far fowrard as we could make it(almost touching the core support). I believe the radiator is a dual row single pass unit. the fan is actaully near the outlet of the radiator since thats really the only place to put the fan on the back side of the radiator. No shrouding in the front although the plan is to add some eventually. It would be nice to add on a fan shroud but once again there may not be enough space for one on the back side. Remeber, at the most there is 2.5 inches between the motor and the radiator and that is only in about half of the space. The accessory drive pullys are much closer than that. I'm just gonna keep an eye on the temps and add some shrouding to the front side to direct air through the radiator and if that isnt enough i'll add another fan to the front side right next to the inlet which may mean cutting part of the core support off which I really dont want to do but will if necessary.

Sounds good. They do run hot. The first V8 radiators were about the same size as a B4, but were dual core vs single core. The later A8s, had a radiator about a 1/3 larger than the V8s. I had some problems of my own, trying to keep the AC. I may revisit that, later, but for now I am running a Spal 12in behind the radiator, with 2 A4 AC fans in front. The radiator is based off an B4, since it would fit the opening. I had a radiator made, copper and brass, with the top and bottom from from a B4 radiator. The rear and one front fan are run off relays, with a heat sensor fitted in the fins. The switch is adjustable, and receives the ignition signal from GPO1. Each fan has it's own relay. The 2nd front fan is switched off the AC switch.

It actually runs cool in whatever traffic conditions I am in. At night it almost runs too cool. At the last two track events, I got to the bottom tick on the gauge.

Greg W.

[40v4kq]

Derek did tell me that the cars that had my motor had pretty big readiators and when you see how they are stuffed into the engine compartment your know why. So with that in mind I ended up with the largest radiator that would fit behind the core support which has lead to the space issue. It sounds like your radiator setup may be a bit overkill but its best to have too much than not enough. I think I can mount a couple 4 or 5 inch fans at the bottom of my radiator without cutting anything and I may go with an aftermarket fan controller like what you have If I cant mount the stock switch properly. To run cool in traffic in the middle of summer would be ideal.

I dont think I'll ever have AC on this car because that would mean going with a 1.5" thick radiator to give enough room for a condensor. Plus two of my other vehicles that are DD status have working AC so I can just drive them when I dont feel like sweating on hot leather seats.

[40v4kq]

Time for another update. I had been looking for a bung to have welded on my radiator that already had thrads that would fit the fan relay temp switch but didnt have any luck finding one so I made my own. God a peice of aluminum that was about .5 inches thich and drilled a hole in the center, pulled the radiator and had it welded on, then tapped some threads into it(22X1.5).





At first I put the temp switch in with just some white plumbing tape and that ended up having a slights leak so I drained the coolant again, pulled the switch out and put anaroebic gasket maker on the thread and around the sealing surface and put it back in. No more leak.


It does seem that the fan comes on prematurely,but at least its all together now. Maybe I need to mount the switch in the other side of the radiator by the hose that goes to the thermostat?

When I had my axle come off the flange a few weeks ago and I was fixing that I had undone the lower ball joint bolt to get the knuckle out of my and when I put it back together the threads stripped on the poinch bolt. So this morning I pulled the RF caliper, rotor, backing plate, and cut the nut off the bolt with what I had around...a hack saw. Obviously being memorial day my work is closed meaning I cant get to my tools in the shop so I made do with what I had and it acutally worked out ok. I didnt even cut the cv boot, although it was close. Threw in a new used bolt and nut and put it all back together. Good to go now.



Then I gave the paint a fresh coat of love to make it all shiny for a while.



Time to go hit the canyon again.

[ChrisAudi80]

winning!

[Derracuda]

where dem eurolights at.....

[40v4kq]

I was looking at the euros and thinking that would be the next thing I do. Gonna see if the relay harness that the car had on it would be any good or if I need to make a new harness from scratch.

[JT4k]

Looking very nice! Tahoe is calling my friend!

[40v4kq]

LOL. I think of Tahoe every day now. Just need to get the alignment done and I should be pretty much set for a long trip like that. I might do the alignment this saturday at work. I'll at least get the toe set. After that it should be game on. I have two five day weekends in june. saturday the 9th and saturday the 30th are the two saturdays I have off, so one of those weekends would work best for me. I'm thinking we should shoot for the 30th as that would give other people time to plan should they want to come too.

[85oceanic]

Looking fantastic Dan!!! Nice work with it!

[JT4k]

For sure let's shoot for the 30th and see who can make it. Take a drive around the lake and find some nice roads.... Phil are you gunna go?