SLC: 1989 Zinno coupe. Superlight, Super Functional *6spd swap inside*

[bruner]

Lookin good! I can't wait to see you get this baby on the road!!

[mitchlikesbikes]

Great job, the texture looks good on that ABS. I didn't know the window switches fit in those spaces on the HVAC plate, I'll have to fit all 4 in mine somehow.

Yeah they aren't an exact fit like the other switches but they do work without modification

[eduTechnic]

Great job, the texture looks good on that ABS. I didn't know the window switches fit in those spaces on the HVAC plate, I'll have to fit all 4 in mine somehow.

[mitchlikesbikes]

i was out of town over the weekend and it was cold as balls today so i didn't get anything big done. i was able to set up a workspace inside and make my dash delete block offs today though. i made one for the radio, OBC, and climate control sliders. i also drilled holes in the radio one to mount my 12v outlet and USB outlet. the obc one is also a perfect candidate for a gauge but i don't need any more gauges at the moment, so maybe sometime in the future it will get one.

i used 1/16" thick ABS plastic for the plates. it is pretty easy to work with, cheap, and looks great.

i marked first with a sharpie, then scored my lines with a razor blade to give a bit of a guide while cutting. i made the cuts with a hacksaw, which seems weird but actually worked pretty well. then i fine tuned them and rounded the corners where necessary with sandpaper. i used a holesaw for the plugs and then glued all the plates in with epoxy.



marked and scored:



before:



first dry fit:



plugs mounted:





dry fit with plugs:



epoxy on and ready to dry out and be reinstalled



as far as the fuel pump goes, i pulled shit apart and was able to determine that i have power at the pump. which means i think the pump itself must have gotten messed up by the short that was causing the fuse to blow. either that or the pump was just junk, which is possible since it was a cheap chinese unit (that did at least get good reviews). i decided to just bite the bullet and got a walbro 255lph with an install kit. they are proven to be very reliable but still a fair bit cheaper than an oem pump. so once that gets here i will install it, taking a bit more time with the wiring this time to make sure nothing shorts out or goes wrong.

also planning on bleeding the brakes/clutch tomorrow with fresh ATE fluid.

current to do list before driving:

-install new pump upon arrival
-weld up rust hole
-bolt exhaust back on
-bleed brakes/clutch
-torque halfshaft nuts and lock
-reassemble dash
-pound the rear fenders for a little extra tire clearance
-maybe alignment

[mitchlikesbikes]

so my car sat all winter, and started right up the other day on the first try. i replaced the fuel pump with a felco 255lph unit, then replaced a bunch of fuel hoses over the winter so i had to prime those before it would start but it did.

then the next day i go to start it and it cranks for an eternity but won't fire. turns out my fuel pump fuse is blown. replace. start again. car runs for 15 seconds then dies. fuse blown again. try 15 amp fuse just to keep it running for a minute. nothing. go back to 7.5 amp fuse. still nothing. i guess i'm gonna have to pull the pump back out and see what's going on with it. i don't know of anything i could have messed up on the install but i will have to double check i guess.

in more successful news, i miraculously found a brand new ebay control arm locally for $25, so i went ahead and bought it. not that into ebay suspension parts but it will get me through the year until i redo front suspension next winter. i also decided to install my treehouse eyeballs while i was already gonna have one side apart, so i'm probably gonna have to get an alignment now.





and a couple random garage pics cause i thought they were cool:







current to do list before driving:

-figure out fuel pump issues
-weld up rust hole
-bolt exhaust back on
-bleed brakes/clutch
-torque halfshaft nuts and lock
-finish dash delete plates and reassemble
-pound the rear fenders for a little extra tire clearance
-maybe alignment


oh yeah, i also got some nice kicker speakers for the car since the 2 alpines that came with it sucked really bad. the kickers sound twice as good and were only $40. i have a total of like $75 into my entire stereo setup, its awesome.

[mitchlikesbikes]

finished my oil change and installed my front stainless brake lines after work today. i also decided to shake the wheels and test for any play, and discovered that the subframe/center ball joint on my driver side lower control arm was toast. so i am going to grab one of those from a part out or brad or something within the next couple days. i already pulled the old one so i'll just bolt the new one up and be good to go there.

also considering installing my treehouse eyeballs while the one side is already ripped apart. i'm assuming i'll have to get an alignment afterward, but does anyone know for sure if it will throw off my toe?

here is a picture of one of my front brake lines, they were totally toast.

[mitchlikesbikes]

got home from work last night and went ham on this thing til 1am, then woke up today and went ham again after changing my friend's brakes.

long story short, subframe/diff/brakes are all back on. i still need to bleed the brakes, fix the hole i cut out, install the new filler neck hose when it gets here, and torque down the axlenuts.

then i need to install the SS brake lines in the front, change the oil, and finish my dash stuff.

i also pulled off my oil filter housing today to replace an O-ring and clean up some stuff on my adapter for my gauge senders. hopefully the new o ring holds, it was just one in my random baggie of them that i found so i don't know if it's really even the right size.

[mitchlikesbikes]

no hoses today, so i just installed my amp/speakers and pulled the hvac panel off to make some delete plates for the obc/radio/climate controls.

the stereo sounds decent for what it is but the alpine speakers that came with the car sound pretty shitty. might just grab some decent new speakers for cheap and call it good. i don't need much of a radio, just something to keep me entertained when i take it for slightly longer drives, or when i'm riding with other people.

amp in glovebox:




speaker:




now i'm really just waiting on hoses. fuhhhh

[mitchlikesbikes]

been a bit busy lately and last weekend was my 21st birthday but i still worked on the car a fair amount over the last few days. the weather here has been unusually warm which sucks for snowboarding but fantastic for wrenching. i was able to prep everything and por15 the areas of the underside i needed to and follow with undercoating. the areas underneath the roll bar plate welds were especially nasty thanks to the welding burning off the undercoating, so i went ahead and wire wheeled them up nice and got them protected. other than a bunch of miscellaneous spots theres nothing too crazy other than the big chunk on the driver side. i haven't gotten to that yet because i haven't decided how exactly i wanna fix it yet. but i'll get there.













i also dropped the fuel expansion tank and filler neck to clean everything for por15, as well as replace rubber hoses. i am replacing everything i can with the fuel tank still in now, and will do everything else (on top of the tank) when i drop the tank next year. since it requires dropping the midpipe and driveshaft i decided it would be easiest to just do it at the same time as my motor swap because those parts will be getting yanked anyway.





before:



after:







beauty cover cleaned and por15'd. this thing was RUSTY on the inside.





if the one hose i had to order gets here this week then i should be able to reassemble everything on the expansion tank and then bolt up the subframe this weekend. we'll see what happens i guess.

[mitchlikesbikes]

spent the whole weekend fixing my jeep and my cousin's isuzu trooper so no progress on the e30. my jeep needed a new track bar, oversized bushing, and welding on the axle side mount to stabilize it and stop my death wobble. i had to weld a new section of pipe onto the trooper's exhaust due to a broken flex pipe. it didn't turn out great but it was good welding practice.

this weekend is gonna be really warm here so i'm planning on doing some e30 things as long as my jeep doesn't act up again.

[eduTechnic]

Love shots like this. Can't wait to hear how you feel about that whole rear-end setup. Looking good man!

[mitchlikesbikes]

did a little reassembly of the subframe last night, i bolted the trailing arms back on, then installed the brake lines on the trailing arms and then my new stainless BMA lines on the body side. i will install the caliper ones when i put the subframe back on and reassemble the brakes. i could do it now but i'd rather keep the subframe a little bit lighter to ease bolting it up on the car.

the weather is supposed to be reasonable this weekend so either tomorrow or sunday i'm planning on finishing off digging out what rust i can, then hitting the rest with some por15. after that it's gonna get undercoated and i can move on.

subframe pics:

[DREWHALL]

Looking good. My car was 2650 on the scales with me in it and a quarter tank. No ac or p/s on obd1 s50 that supposedly put down 260 whp. Its fun!

[mitchlikesbikes]

latest progress: i got my trailing arms back from brad freshly powdercoated. so today i got started reassembling those. first i pressed my new wheel bearings in, then reassembled the dust shields and parking brakes. after that i pressed in my hubs, and finished off by installing my condor bushings in the subframe and trailing arms. still need to dig out some more rust and fill the holes in the trunk. then i can paint/undercoat everything and bolt the subframe back up.

here are some pictures from today:

[mitchlikesbikes]

over the weekend i put my press to some more use and separated hubs/bearings/trailing arm bushings for brad, meanwhile he is powdercoating my trailing arms for me. as soon as i get my trailing arms back from him i can start reassembling my subframe. this weekend i need to dig out some more rust and patch stuff up.

today my new treehouse CABs came, they're used and the paint is a bit beat up but i will touch them up nicely before i install them. i also picked up my new tool box, i'm extremely happy with it. it's like new and i got it for less than 50% of the snap on catalog price. since it is shorter/wider than my other one i am planning on sourcing a butcher block to build a top for it so it can double as a work bench, since i currently don't have room for a real work bench.

eyeballs:



blue is new, red is old. red will be my work box now.