An early Delphin convertible

[TimKninja]

ahh yes Ive been to Sweet Petes compound a few times. My buddy bought alot of his older M Cars off of him . I bought my old Euroweaves off of him. He's a really cool dude. But he's also killed alot of BMWs by letting them rot to death. He's got allegedly 30-40 cars t his house that hes killed by letting them rot. A few older turbo 2002s i was told as well.

Cars lookin good dude

[Das Delfin]

^ thanks! I've been to his place a few times. Sometimes he's a stickler on prices but I get it - his stuff is old and there's not a huge demand for it. When I got my wipers a few other people had blown me off and Pete helped me grab them from the donor car and showed me how to do it - plus I'd lost his phone number and he happened to be at his warehouse by happenstance, waiting for another person who never showed up. So I gladly paid his asking price. He's coming around on price though - he knows he has stuff that isn't exactly flying off the shelf. If I could buy more stuff from him I would but my car is enough of a project as it is!

On that note.. The motor has been especially noisy lately so I adjusted the valves and ordered a bunch of parts to replace the fuel injectors and redo the intake manifold gaskets and some of the vacuum hoses. I ordered about a hundred dollars of gaskets alone. I'm gonna go to town on my engine and clean the hell out of it. This year is going to be the year of refinement. Last year I tackled the big jobs - interior, suspension, timing belt maintenance, but this year I'm hoping to get the motor cleaned up, my idle resolved (bad 153 ecu? Who knows! It idles at 1.3k), and dye my door cards (and carpet!) red to match the seats. Also some wheels/tires would be nice.

This is the last winter I'll be driving the car in the snow so my winter setup is for sale. This includes my illustrious red mudflaps (which do an excellent job at preventing snow/salt from building up on the rocker panels.. which is their intended purpose. Not to look cool... smh) But also my winter floor mats and snow tire setup (basketweaves & caps w/general artimax w/only 1 winter season). It's everything you need to be a badass with hella grip and minimal risk of rust next winter.

I'll be a the eEuroparts meet in Windsor, CT on May 1st with everything for sale plus a bunch of other shit so def meet up if you're in the area!

[15Michaeljoseph]

I might enjoy those floor mats as well :) we can talk.

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[Das Delfin]

Every time I post it's always without pics. I don't understand how people take pics of their engine work with their hands all dirty.

Anyway it's now April but feels like early March.

A couple weeks ago I worked on the intake side of the motor. Cleaned everything and then new gaskets everywhere, some new coolant hoses, new bitch tube o-rings, and refurb 17 lb injectors from that guy on here. I removed my intake manifold from the car to work on the injectors outside from the car and to be able to clean everything. I didn't have to remove the thermostat housing or and of the coolant hoses (except the ones for the throttle body), although it was a tight squeeze past the bleeder screw housing. As in 1mm of clearance. I had to angle the manifold to get it to clear a coolant hose toward the front, but it wasn't especially difficult. The hardest part of it was getting all the washers off of the manifold studs!

I got a new to me ICV from Michael (thanks!) which seems to help the car's idle problem when cold. I also picked up a 173 ecu but when I went to swap it, turns out I already had a 525, which is newer! Anyway the IVC did the trick, it no longer surges nor does it sputter and die below freezing. And you can thank the weather the past few days for supplying freezing temps for test purposes.

Bought a set of red spark plugs wires because they were CHEAP! I got them for 38 bucks from the rock auto clearance thread. Still haven't put them on.

Turns out my coworker is a licensed HVAC tech so we are going to see if my A/C holds a vacuum. I can rent a pump from autozone and we can actually park it in the store and run it while we're at work! I happened to buy some new A/C parts and a butt load of o-rings so I should be prepared. I'm crossing my fingers to keep it R12.

I got a set of shocks for the seats from Jeff here on the board but haven't found time to put them in yet. On a related note, I want to dye my carpet and door cards back to red but my car is my daily so that's on hold for now.

Also on deck are new front wheel bearings and soft brake lines.

Maybe a set of Vogtland springs and/or e90 drop hats. I want to be a bit lower and also a softer ride than the H&R's I have now

Dare I try to hook up my check engine light and subsequently replace the oxygen sensor?

Finally. Looking at 16" wheels for the summer. Do I want a set of Borbet A's? I want the ESM version to go on sale and grab those instead. All these little projects are killing my wallet...

[15Michaeljoseph]

Great stuff Brian!

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[Das Delfin]

I work a lot and when I get a day off I try to do car stuff. But sometimes it's raining and sometimes I just don't feel like it. Since last time I've done my front wheel bearings and one of my rears. My other (the one that's actually bad) is being a bitch and I'll have a go at it again this Friday.

The fronts involved a 36mm socket, breaker bar and 3ft steel pipe, a gear puller and a hammer. It's all pretty easy, just remember to put the brake shield back on before the new bearing! I replaced the bearings themselves, rear dust shields, caps, and bolts. Got everything from FCP euro (FAG brand OEM supplier) for around 200.

Before


After


I don't have any pics of the rears but I've only done the drivers side so that may change. I bought the $120 harbor freight "FWD bearing kit" which made removal/install of the bearing and install of the hub easy as pie. Just make sure to also buy 27mm and 32mm sockets to fit the bolt/nut. I used an autozone-rented slide hammer and FWD wheel adapter to pull the hub. On the passenger side the axle is stuck in the hub so I'm going to have to hammer it out.

A few weeks later I wired up the fog lights I used before I got smileys.


Since then, one has burnt out. Rather than replacing the bulb on this $20 autozone special, I want to get a set of KC spot lights and mount them in front of the kidneys. May also put the mud flaps back on the car for the overlander/Toyota 4runner look. I'm seeing more and more cars with these red mud flaps and I want the recognition that I did them before anyone else!

Kinda like this, but more tacky :D


I bought a set of new brake lines. Mine don't look super rusted in the rear so hopefully it all goes well. My ABS light comes on after driving past 3mph, which means one of my sensors is out. I'm pretty sure it's my drivers side front sensor. Also, my brake pedal is hard when the car is off (which means master cylinder is good) but gets really soft when the car is on and sometimes I have to pump the pedal to make sudden stops. I'm pretty sure it's from air in the ABS unit so I'm trying to do both these things at the same time and ASAP.

This finally happened. My commute is only 12 miles/ day so it's been coming for some time


I'm in the middle of getting my A/C together. Everything works except the low pressure switch and the compressor coil. I'm about to order a new compressor because my coil is bad but finding a coil/clutch kit is near impossible. But it will be soooo sweet when it finally works!

[15Michaeljoseph]

Excellent! Loved the update.

Pretty soon you'll be "AC on, top down"!

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[Das Delfin]

Thanks, Mike. A/C on, top down is the goal: live life to its fullest!

[Das Delfin]

fuck it! Going to do an a/c r134a retrofit. Because it's badass.

Also I drove the car across the country. I was worried for half of the first day. Also the last day was stressful because I didn't exactly want to break down in Nevada. My car acted a little funny coming down the rocky mountains into Salt Lake City, which made me super paranoid about my fuel pump, but it was fine. That was a month ago and I'm still good.

Refuel every half tank and you're golden! I averaged about 30mpg with my 4:10 gears and a 2.5 liter m20. I wanted to swap a 2.93 for the drive but didn't have room in the trunk to store the original diff

Now that I'm here.. I haven't checked my weather app in weeks! Every day is 75, breezy, and not humid. There is a certain part of the day around 5 o'clock when I feel so relaxed driving I could fall asleep. Even in traffic.

I'm not exactly trying to change my reg over. I was able to register my car in CT using my parents CA address so all my DMV bullshit gets sent over here anyway. I changed my insurance (and it went down!) and have no inspection, emissions, it's cheaper to keep it like it is etc. Though I do kinda want one of the new black and yellow 60's reissue plates. I was thinking a vanity plate that read "NUT MGR" since I have a few CT stickers on the car ;)

My drive home from work in CT in the summer.. I had many a self reflection to this sunset


The fuel up at the gas station down the street from my ex's house. My last moments in East Hartford. The trunk was filled to the brim and so was the cabin. I donated all my winter clothes, which ended up being more than half my dresser. Thank god






This in particular was the most beautiful part of the trip. In the days (and even weeks) before the trip I was unsure whether I wanted to make it alone or bring someone with me. I went back and forth in my head, weighing the pros and cons. If I brought someone with me I would feel safer, but if my car broke down I was now response for both my and their well being. If I drove alone I would get some much-needed alone time and it would be a period of self-reflecting. But along my life, I've already had time to self-reflect.. a lot. So it's not something I really need.

Either way I went by myself and this picture ended up being the embodiment of the trip. It's a place that exists between me and the side of the road. A place in both time and in space. Imagine you're my would-be partner sitting in the passenger. Think of what separates you from the inside of the car and the outside: three inches of metal and glass. Now think of the reality of each of these spaces: inside the car, we're traveling three thousand miles across the country to make a new start somewhere and be reunited with the people you grew up with. You have nothing but motion. On the outside of the car is a tree, a bush. Stuff that will be there forever and doesn't care about what happens. The dichotomy of the simple life of 3 inches outside the car vs my fast-paced, white knuckle, do what I want, driven lifestyle ended up resonating deep within me and was a very cool part of the trip. The idea that this feeling existed only and completely in the moment oozed fringe.


The east coast doesn't have Hardees or Carl's Jr. This was somewhere in Indiana, so of course I had to stop and get a chicken club sandwich!


Iowa, et al


Welcome to Nebraska


Nebraska, home of Cabella's! This entire wall was guns


No ethanol!!!


Getting fuel in Wyoming. Once you start climbing the rocky mountains, gas gets really expensive! In the midwest it was like $2/gal. At this place it jumped to $2.60!


Somewhere in UT


Such land. Very open. So space.


Somehow my car had major water spots after this

[N2MYE30]

I really enjoy road trips! Its a great time to reflect and reset my mental state. Thanks for sharing!

[15Michaeljoseph]

Excellent cross country experience... We're missing you out here.

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[berndt]

Nice work. How do you like the kyb/h&r sport combo? Do you ever bottom out the shocks? Is the ride bouncy?


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[Das Delfin]

the ride isn't bouncy.. I went with kyb because it's a convertible so I wasn't expecting much handling anyway :P If I had a hardtop I'd have wanted Konis. I actually took it on a twisty mountain road the other day and it was nice and planted the whole time. If you're on a budget, I wouldn't hesitate with the KYB's. If you ever want to upgrade in the future, the rears are super easy to swap.

[Kershaw]

A cross country road trip something everyone should try to do at least once. The country is very beautiful.

[Das Delfin]

^ thanks buddy. Might do it a few more times :P

Today and the past few days have been eventful. I'm pretty much catching up on maintenance I've been wanting to do for a while.

The other day I picked up a new front lip to replace the one that broke after catching on a parking space stopper when I tried backing up over it. It turns out the new one needs these special connectors that my old one didn't have. Instead, some prior mechanic had drilled holes through the bumper and valence to mount it with normal screws. Needless to say I have on order those special fasteners.

Today I replaced the spark plugs & wires, valve cover gasket and adjusted the valves. My car has always had valve tick and I just assumed that went with the package until today when I really felt each valve and how much play the rocker arms had. I noticed this when I went in with my gauge and found proper clearance for one rocker arm, but when I found proper clearance with the next, the arm seemed to move much more than the first. Does that make sense? So even though the gauge read correct, the arm had much more play. I had been reading about how the rocker arms develop divots in the valve tappets and these make the gauge read incorrectly, so the better way to do it was to measure it at the camshaft. I tried this and didn't come up with anything spectacular. The cam measurements seemed to be a lot tighter than at the valve tappets. Back to the drawing board, the very first valve adjustment I did just felt right. The movement, the sound it made, the feeler gauge, everything just seemed to gel, so I did the rest of the valves based on the feel of that one. Whenever I'd find a valve which was wildly out of spec, but read correct on the gauge, I could hear the sound it made as it tapped against the valve and I could see exactly why my motor was always noisy as fuck. Anyway I pretty much went by feel and got everything in order and after I started the car it purred like a kitten! I finally figured out the black magic of a valve adjustment on a 30 year old car. Feels good man.

My valve cover had been leaking for some time. I tried to clean the side of the head off but it's been dripping down onto the exhaust and making a weird smell. I may try to replace the exhaust gaskets and clean the rest of it but I'm not sure if it's worth the trouble for now - the gaskets themselves are still in ok shape.

The spark plug wires were these red ones I got on clearance from rock auto - my engine bay is pretty much JDM now. I'll snap a pic some time

And in other news.. my electric fan isn't working on high speed. It works on low speed but I'm not sure if the switch works correctly because it only seems to come on when I press the A/C button.


I've been watching Jay Leno's Garage a lot lately and for some reason I'm taken by his steam cars. They're just awesome! It's like a locomotive..but in a car! Either way I saw a special on some guy's budget model T and the idea of a 1927 car still being driven reliably today has me smitten. But only after I fix everything on the 1987 ;)