The Project Pad

I'll switch the pins in the next couple days and report back. all i have to do is unplug and plug them back in lol. not driving her tomorrow though. :(

Oh, and original factory piece (probably)> nissens

Aw... I guess I did get a healthy dose of hx404k on Sunday.

I've ruled out the aluminum unit. It isn't necessary at this point. I can either rebuild the OE copper unit (which I'm still leaning towards) or go nissens. I have tried to overbuild a bit in preparation for larger numbers throughout this whole thing. This is partly why it has taken so long. If the part I'd like to use costs more, I'll wait a bit longer until I have enough money to buy it. I'm not so sure I want to change that now. I know it is a lot of money, but it should serve a solid 20 years. Oh, and I need to confirm, but I remember Dale saying something about warranty.

Toph wrote:Oh, and original factory piece (probably)> nissens

Very true... I had read here about the Nissens being cheesy but was skeptical until I actually bought one. Core is definitely thinner than OE which I assume is Behr or maybe Valeo. It also didn't fit right - take a look at my build thread to see what I did about it.

On the other hand, it was only 150 bucks! I've got an OE B3 brass radiator in good shape that I think I'm going to take to a shop and see if they can delete the fitting for the aux radiator. Then I'll stuff that into the car when the Nissens fails.

Eric - There are a few copper b2 units here, one with only a good top endtank - they could change the whole endtank out. Let me know if you're interested.

I got my rebuilt copper b2 unit back yesterday. 325$ got me a slightly different-than-expected, but still good radiator. The core his supplier was able to deliver was nearly identical but with slightly fewer rows, but plenty of nice fins. I will post up some pictures in a bit.

For now, here are some shots of my oil cooler setup. The stock unit was a bit beat, and one of the lines had bent. I originally purchased an Earl’s 16 row ‘wide’ cooler, but couldn’t fit it. I traded it for the labor on painting my green b4 hood black and bought this 16 row ‘narrow’ cooler instead. Anplumbing called me after the order to inform me they only had it in black. That’s ok, I like black.

Here’s a list of parts used. I had a bunch of 10AN hose ends to play with between my project and tim’s projects and was able to create a pretty decent setup. All black anodized hose ends and fittings make me happy, but I'm weird like that.
$102 for 16 row narrow Earl's cooler w/10AN adapters
$25 for (2) m18x1.5 to 10AN adapters
$70 for (2) 120degree 10AN swivel seal hose ends
$32 for (1) 90degree 10AN swivel seal hose end
$34 for (1) 45degree forged 10AN swivel seal hose end
$29 for (3) feet of Pro-Lite Ultra hose – probably used 26”

So basically, it isn’t the cheapest solution, but it should do its job quite well. I planned on mounting the cooler with the fittings on the side to get as much oil out during a change as I could. The way I mounted it, almost half of the cooler should drain if I flex the return hose a little.

On a cooler with fittings on the side, feed and return are important. Feed bottom, return top so that the cooler will fill up. A bit of research and I found that the return port is the one closer to the rear of the block. Made up lines, and a simple angle piece welded, or Tim welded since he has more practice(thanks), to the crossmember with m6 studs to support it, and it is good to go. I still want to support the other side of the cooler somehow – just unsure which way I want to approach it.

I cut some of the 20v euro bumper to allow the cooler to fit by the foglight hole(fog light still fits of course) and provide some airflow (ducting to come) to the upper portion of the cooler as well. The only way you can see any of this is if you're laying at the base of the bumper and looking up through the lower grill - I'd like to leave the car looking like there's still a 7a in there with a few euro parts on the outside, so no major cutting.

Pictures!

Here are some radiator shots. The new core is a 35 row unit (2 row deep) versus the stock unit which is 39 row (2 row deep). Also the new core is maybe 1/8" less deep than the OE unit. It will still do a fine job. About half of the rows on the unit I brought to the radiator shop were corroded and plugged. I'll have to flush the block out before I install the new one, just to make sure I'm not mixing coolants and subjecting the radiator to a short life.

I also got some powdercoat in the mail yesterday. Going to head to Ryan's asap and finalize a few pieces with some paint.

Made up my engine bay fueling lines yesterday. Now back to the shop for more car.

more!

I decided to vent the 7a valve cover twice to the catch can, plus the block breather. The thought was to avoid sucking oil as much as possible. The outlets were placed between lobes and above a head bolt. If one vent were to try to pick up some oil, the other may take over and eliminate suction on the first. I had Ryan weld in two 1/2”npt bungs between the plug holes for cylinders 2 and 3 , 3 and 4 inline with the bolt holes. I have two 90 degree 1/2npt to 10AN adapters to thread in there, and 10AN 90 hose ends to run the hose down the exhaust side of the valve cover. I need to get the catch can back from Ryan to make up lines, but it’s waiting for me there - all welded up and ready for mount tabs.

The catch can is an old Air Conditioning drier and the design is best described in picture form. It will mount right by the fuel line bulkhead. The outlet will go to the PCV in the stock location but rotated 180 to face the passenger side. I don’t have the heat shield by the exhaust manifold, which has the bracket to mount the breather pipe(from pcv to intake boot), so I need to make something to replace it.

I haven't spent much time on the coupe recently, but I did manage to get the battery and breaker located today. This is the battery that came with the car, who knows if it'll work after sitting. It's going on the charger soon, and if it's no good I know there's an Optima that'll fit in that space. The breaker is a 150A Bussman. I just need to borrow the mega-crimper from my neighbor to finish this all off. I'll also make a plate to hold the battery down that bolts to the tank cover.








In the kitchen for safe keeping








More soon

No it doesn't run yet.

I need to finalize a couple of the many manufactured parts, then get them all blasted, washed, and powdercoated. After they are ready I can begin final assembly...but plenty to do in the meantime. I finalized the battery cables and located the battery. The hold down bracket is almost done, then I need to run a vent tube from the battery out the hole in the body just below the plastic box that the breaker is housed in.

On another note, I found a full black interior locally in surprisingly good condition, and couldn't resist buying it. In the process I met a very nice rally enthusiast who is local to me - always great to meet like-minded people. Thanks again Chris if you happen to read this. I am headed to the shop now to finish cleaning the parts (he was kind enough to clean most of it ahead of time). I will take pictures as I swap out the grey parts, which are now for sale for a lot less than a black set.

good deal. are you doing anything special for the wood trim?

I'm transfering the painted trim pieces from the grey interior, and may paint a new dash trim piece. That's all 'Piano Black' right?

actually it's brilliant black. factory color for the car and also my TT. my buddy rob painted them and cleared them, probably coulda used some more sanding/prep work, but he was still learning at the time and charged me very little.

careful removing the metal clips on the back of the pins, the pins themselves are pretty fragile. i think i broke a couple off. i almost wanted to remove them all together and mount the trim pieces with velcro for easier removal/swapping.

does it run yet?

Unfortunately, Corey, all but one pin was broken and that one was bent. I had the dash off and was able to save all of the pins on the wood trim that came with the black dash. I couldn't imagine trying to remove the clips with the dash in place. I'm having my hood painted this week or next, so it's nice to know the other trim pieces are the same as the exterior. I'll just have the unbroken wood trim painted at the same time. I have to give one of the pieces back as part of the dash trade - but that car is going to be a rally car so I don't think he'll mind glueing/velcro it on to the dash.

Today's agenda:
X -Go make money for a few hours
X -Make the last mount for the catch can
-Lower the engine and tranny ~3mm for a bit more linkage clearance
X -Remove and cut b4 hood a bit more to finish off the Aerocatch mounting points and add some safety/piece of mind clearance in a couple of areas near the front of the engine. Then strip it down for paint
-Install b5s4 shift box
-Complete wiring of engine harness
-Install dash


I'll go in order and see how far I get - skipped a step but got more done than I thought I would...might even get some more done tonight.

Pretty much everything is coated and ready to install. The powder coating is happening this weekend thanks to Ryan at Higbee Performance Fabrication. The anodizing has returned already though! MIL-A-8625 black hard anodizing on 2 heat shields, my Ross Machine Racing fuel pressure regulator, custom fuel rail, and a special little piece that Ryan made for a rear diff housing. As far as powder coating goes, Cement Grey was way too feminine, so Concrete Grey has replaced it. The Cement Grey had some strange minty-green tint to it and we all hated it. More pictures soon if I can pick up the powder coating before my trip to Vegas and Cali.

Nomnom. Floor needs refinishing lol. Never noticed haha

I had the same thought when i dug up that pic haha. It does need refinishing, but the photo makes it look way worse than it looks in person.

Ryan has been hard at work blasting and powder coating, and sent me a couple of teaser photos...behold!

is the summer of the manifold over yet?

I guess that depends on if he got to coating the intake mani yesterday or not

bit less green lol

Ya, the photo Ryan sent of the first grey looked more green than it actually was, so i think this will work even though there appears to be a hint of green still

toph is in vegas probly running out of parts money lol