@Bandit I wouldn't be in too big a hurry to put aluminum tube in there. Plastic tube is a pretty fair heat insulator; aluminum isn't. Unless you're just going for shiney.

@Bandit said in Who needs a truck when you have a Trans Am?:

I hit up my favorite cheap parts search engine site car-part.com

+1 That's one of my favourite go-to places as well.

Now having said that, if potholes are a thing, maybe consider going down to 16" wheels and tires with more sidewall.

@Ultrase7en Having a Galaxie is indeed something cool! Not sure about the girls' situation though.

@bandit I love how badass your car looks. I found the 1/18 die-cast of it on sale here for ~$77. Hopefully I can acquire one!
 
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@bandit its called shift juice.

@bandit Cruise a mile road across the cruise. When I was there I avoided the traffic as much as possible. I did cross Woodward a few times just to get a glimpse of the scene. My SS was stuffed full of old shingles in Ferndale during the Cruise back when it was a work truck.
Of all places for a screaming chicken to be?

@bandit I've done it the way you have photographed as how not to do it, takes some serious finagling to get the TOB to line up (including the stud it indexes on). Fortunately the opening in my scattershield for the clutch fork is big enough I could get a few fingers in there to help guide it. There wasn't room in-car to do it the way you did, things would hit other things trying to get it all aligned with the bell on the trans.

@rusty-vandura website MSRP on the bearing itself is about $300, figure a solid profit margin to support a low volume manufacturer and we're probably talking something like $75 tops in build cost depending on the volumes of scale they're working with... I can easily waste more than $75 worth of labor time sending these emails.

@bandit
Emails are ridiculously easy to ignore. Phone calls are better, followed up by negative customer service reviews on Facebook and Google....

@exage03040 said in Quality Customer Service Right Here:

@classicdatsundebate said in Quality Customer Service Right Here:

I’d like to know the root cause of the failure though….my guess will be either a nicked ring from the factory assembly or some crap that’s hanging up the oring….either way, it will be interesting to see if it’s a factory issue or an installation/contamination issue.

I'm patiently waiting for @bandit to take it apart and find that it's not an issue with the o-ring. Then the real fireworks will start!

"I'm sorry, sir. By disassembling the unit, you have voided your warranty. We cannot warranty any disassembled parts as we cannot be certain that it was disassembled and reassembled correctly. It would be impossible to distinguish between any damage that may have occurred during disassembly or reassembly and any manufacturing error. Thank you for contacting us with your warranty claim. Claim denied."

@bandit I don't know if you have found an answer, but it most likely is a through hole and not a blind hole. The JZ engines are like this and the manual calls for the sealing loctite formula to secure and hold the bolt, I think 242 vs 241 comes to mind.

@bandit so glad my VW transmissions weight like 70 pounds. Hand tools only to yank it.

@bandit I also throw my vote behind the Harbor Freight trans jack. My buddy has one and we have used it to wrassle out several transmissions, and its always worked well for us.

@classicdatsundebate said in Well damn, my throw out bearing is leaking:

I assumed you had a leak. Sucks man.

Same, at least it's obvious where it is coming from now. I was so confused when I couldn't find a fluid trail earlier this week!

@bandit I ended up using a pressure bleeder because I was sick of fighting with it - do recommend!

@mupalup just a shitty alignment done by a shitty shop years ago. Couldn’t get it to line up well with the 6 bolt wheel. Car goes to an alignment shop tomorrow since I’ve just rebuilt the suspension and steering rack, I’ll make sure they fix it.

@bandit I am looking forward to the "after" on the Mustang, but not necessarily the doing. Thankfully, it hasn't fought me much on other work, but I don't think the rear leaf springs have ever been touched, so I expect some fun there.

Great job getting that apart and back together. I remember when I did the Cougar, I gained 1-1.5" from the old worn suspension, and that was with 1" drop springs!

@bandit uhhhh... Oh damn. I did NOT like using the compressor to get them out. It made horrible noises and made me feel like i was gonna die.

@racinbob Yeah sadly. The spring is a couple inches too long to fit enough into the lower control arm to rotate up into place. Some people have done it by using a floor jack and a sledge hammer to force the spring into the arm, but that sounds stupidly dangerous to me.

@mybirdistheword said in I had a Bluetooth coil spring:

@bandit huh, what is it with those springs snapping like that? Was that your drivers side? I guess they are under extra strain from the transition to the flat area. Mine was broken in the exact same way

Yeah this was drivers side too. I studied these spring failures in college as part of a failure analysis class and these springs typically seem to break due to standard use and overload stress causes microcracking which leads to a stress concentration point which accelerates fatigue. Add in insufficient corrosion protection in the mix and boom you've got failure in the rusty areas.

@bandit I greatly appreciate the thought though.

@urambo-tauro I have a new Wix filter ordered which should hopefully fix the leak. I cant imagine the fitting is the issue, but it's worth having a backup in place!

I put Gas Adjusts on my GTO 25 years ago, and thought they were great. I put Excel Gs on my 58 Chevy about 15 years ago because they were cheap, and never liked them. I put Bilsteins on my Caballero about 10 years ago, and have proceeded to put them on every other car I've owned. They aren't available for my 58, but I will be installing a set on my GTO when it gets refreshed next.

We keep clicking because you're keeping us in suspense...ion
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@italia I found this mention about possibly having a problem with the pin that transfers force between the vacuum booster and master cylinder. Going to look into it today and see if evertything is in spec. I should be able to pull the MC a few inches out from the booster since I have new lines. https://techtalk.mpbrakes.com/how-to-series/got-a-soft-pedal-dont-forget-the-booster-pin-to-master-cylinder-gap

@bandit correct tools indeed.

@bandit no way your rears are worse than mine. Rust is so weird.

How are your wheel bearings? All pad and caliper slides clean and lubed? Pad knockback is a thing and can be weird to deal with (and wouldn't happen just sitting there, but going down the road you'd find the pistons not being ready).

@mm54 I was skeptical when I installed it and now I know I should have listened to the voice in the back of my head.

@bandit rear suspension was actually quite easy. Its the front end that sucks ass.

@bandit I had to rent a uhaul last minute this weekend after my Golf blew up at the track (350 miles from home, and I'd driven it there). Only option was a box truck and dolly. $270 for the one way rental plus about a hundred bucks of gas. Holy crap is an empty box truck uncomfortable and scary above 60.

@mark-tucker said in Classic car ownership is exhausting:

@bandit Dead in the driveway when it was running fine just a few minutes ago is awful. I feel your pain; I've been there.

I would take the driveway over a random parking lot an hour from home.

Last October I drove 5+ hours to spend a long weekend at the tail of the dragon with some friends, a fairly regular trip that I have missed the past....too many years. Car drove great out there, was a beast in the twisties, cruised all weekend, drove 4 hours back toward home no problem. Stopped for a quick bathroom break and to grab something to drink, dead battery. Like completely dead....after 4 hours of nonstop driving.

Jumped it to get home (took a while to charge enough to start) and dealt with it later in the week. Turns out the hard driving threw battery acid all over the place and I was quite low, plus now with an out of warranty battery and everything metal the acid touched rusted up nicely.

@bandit said in Scoop there it is!:

You might want to tack something on left to right to pevent the legs from flexing excessively left right.

@bandit oh yea, you’ve got a workhorse with a buttload of potential! Stock truck cams are absurdly mild, with just about any GM performance car cam giving 25-30whp. Aftermarket cams are worth 40-60whp, significantly more with exhaust head work.

Sky is the limit and the starting point is already really good.

@trivet Everything I use or have used is now long discontinued, and development of single DIN radios has completely stagnated because car manufacturers are now integrating their radios in different form factors (as I'm sure you know).

That said, I'm using the Kenwood KIV-901 because of backup camera screen. I don't particularly like it otherwise, and it doesn't have Bluetooth audio streaming nor HD Radio built in. I did actually have both add-on modules but decided it wasn't worth the trouble of finding places to hide them in the cabin.
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I picked up an old XXV-01D that I occasionally poke around with out of sheer nostalgia. I did think about installing a rearview mirror with a screen for the backup camera so I could use the XXV-01D.
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@bandit makes sense!
Although, I do quite like the chop

@Bandit Awesome! Congratulations!!!

@bandit You've made fantastic progress!

For the throttle cable, it'll wrap up around the cam lobe and clip in on the other end, likely have to turn the nub on the end of the cable sideways to pop it in, then it'll stay there pretty much forever.

This is coming along very well!

@bandit get the alignment done asap, if the x-pipe and extensions sit, they like to stick where they are. Just used a circular saw with a cutoff wheel to cut the pipe, and a file to deburr. Highly recommend picking up some of the band style slip fit clamps.
Most of my issues were with alignment of the underbody mufflers with the driveshaft but you should avoid that with the version you bought. I got the race pro as well, highly recommended. Sound amazing. Although yours will probably be a touch different, I always will recommend glasspacks, they flow the best, sound the best, and aren't too loud. Not quiet either...

@bandit Weird, though from the looks of things it shouldn't be too much work to make a couple tabs to hold it in place

@bandit I like the daily update blip. It’s neat to watch a project progress along

@bandit I'd rather listen to Allman Brothers than Opus Number 1

@bandit said in LS Swap Day 13 - Engine is In!!!:

I noticed I was complaining too much about the various setbacks so a change of mindset was required.

We've all been there. Wrenching can be a cruel hobby.

Don't worry, a decade prior the firewalls were already plenty wavy and wrinkly, especially around the transmission cutout.

Looks like some great progress! Glad to see things are shaping up, I know it's been a bumpy road getting this far.

@mybirdistheword said in LS Swap Day 10 - More Wrong Parts:

@bandit i think if i upgrade to rear discs, think I'm going with wilwood instead after your issues.

I would suggest doing that, the factory parts aren’t the best.

@bandit i got the pypes 2.5 inch exhaust kit, it's nice with buying some slip fit clamps oppo recommended, although I would recommend paying the extra with the giant 1 piece muffler near the gas tank. The under the car mufflers ride too low for my liking. Not sure if it is compatible with the LS but there is a lot of potential for adjustment with that kit.

@bandit That's the one I'd need but that was one of the first parts I replaced on the thing. The brakes were pretty much nonexistent at the time. Now it will eventually stop.

Previous owner on my third gen disconnected the e brake too, by bending the brackets next to the driveshaft. Still haven’t figured out how to unfuck it.

@bandit Very good!

If the lines were crusty enough to leak when bent, I think (as much of a pain in the ass / unexpected cost & time as it is) the new ones are the right call. Pre-bent should be pretty easy; I've always made my own so I can only imagine ready to go ones should pop right in with minimal tweaking - and you'll know the lines are solid and safe for a very long time.

Do the instructions for your hydramax kit claim that it will self-bleed? If so, I found that to be total BS when I did mine and bleeding it normally was necessary (and no I didn't pull the bearing apart 😉 )

@bandit said in LS Swap Day 5 - I am never going to financially recover from this:

Not pretty but it'll do. Took way less time than MyBirdIsTheWord spent bolting his mounts in lol.

Probably less swear words, too.

@bandit they did just keep adding holes. This website covers the differences for the 2nd gen f body

http://transamcountry.com/community/index.php?topic=68213.0

@old-busted-hotness That was one of my main concerns when piecing this together! I found some e85 rated press-on fuel line that's rated for fuel injection pressures. Thanks for the tip!

@bandit That's a lot of progress!

BTW... you previously mentioned you're doing an LS swap on this. Which LS specifically are you dropping in?

And what are you doing with the old Pontiac V8?

Yeah, I didn’t need a politically motivated user name that dated back to Gawker anymore. Headers are always a pain, but it helps when the exhaust ports aren’t pointed at the ground. I think even a big block Chevy would be easier to deal with.