Return of an Original Gangsta

[autox320]

what to do before hurricane Irma hits us in NC area? why it creates perfect conditions. . . to PAINT! no wind and very nice weather calm before the storm here

In contact with family in FL, so prayers to them cause some are hunkering down in Homestead and outside Kissimmee area. They say good to go and have plenty of supplies.


I sanded the inside and we prepped it best possible for race ready. I encapsulated a few other weld seams of the cage early this morning and most of the floor areas. Finished the front tow pull area by welding washers and boxed the end capping it off. Lot's of angles painting cage work. There will be spots missed but do best we can. Headers were blasted by my buddy's shop in Arden. Painting with dark grey POR15 high temp.

Fleet white (looks like alpine white)

[autox320]

A quick visit from Eric this morning. Great to meet ya man, we'll have to grab some brews. Thanks for the Sierra Nevada for parts.

Weather still awesome so pushed on.
Round two of feeling snow blind looking at all the white in sunlight. A quick sanding of the outer body panels. I knew where I was sanding due to the factory paint so discolored. Sand the old smoker yellowing paint layer away. Barely a thin layer of white left underneath. Dad sprayed more fresh paint. Race paint job continues. Few paint runs and imperfections but hopefully we'll just go so fast nobody will see it. Looks great after a few beers and I'm honestly just glad it's all one color again. A layer of skin per say from mother nature. Finally might be over the hump and can start a final assembly. Clearing space to build the long awaited power plant. I've hopefully only a few minor issues to iron out with that.

[Somjuan]

Interesting that your car lacks the lip underneath the rear seat, that was where I was thinking tying in for more cross bracing might be a good spot. Did you remove it or is it prefacelift only? That'd be a neat distinction.

Paint looks great to me! You've made a monster of a car, can't wait to see videos of you tearing up the track.

Unrelated now that you've finished your brake design (oops) but I have a set of very crusty '77 calipers if you'd like. I owe you one or two after the secret santa

[autox320]

Interesting that your car lacks the lip underneath the rear seat, that was where I was thinking tying in for more cross bracing might be a good spot. Did you remove it or is it prefacelift only? That'd be a neat distinction.

Paint looks great to me! You've made a monster of a car, can't wait to see videos of you tearing up the track.

Unrelated now that you've finished your brake design (oops) but I have a set of very crusty '77 calipers if you'd like. I owe you one or two after the secret santa

Lip under the rear seat as in where my aluminum back firewall starts? If so I ground that off and weld seamed it across. If near the foot wells there were only the clip brackets I can remember that were also cut off.

Thanks man it is a race paint job and not meant to be of any show quality. Equipment enamel cheap fleet white. Probably most common paint can buy since most fleet vehicles wear this refrigerator look.

Nah John, don't owe me man. Enjoy the parts

I've a couple sets of crusty vented 77 calipers thanks to guys on this forum. I also strangely enough have one NEW centric 77 vented caliper. The last order I made they only sent one caliper and said the other is NLA. I said that wouldn't work so sent it back for full refund. The refund came and both calipers showed unavailable. But weeks later out of the blue a single caliper showed up and it's the one that was NLA. Sheesh whatever. They are stock steel though and not as nice and light as the aluminum Brembo's.

I need to sell/ship off small parts left that people could use for these cars. Maybe this winter I'll have more time to empty out some things from the tear down.

[autox320]

With hurricane Irma bearing down, I'm not taking any chances with winds or large rain fall. If have the means to push stuff inside it would be irresponsible of me not to. Pulled everything in. Also piled the scrap pile with heavy items, tarp over it and wheels with cinder blocks to weigh it down. Just wasn't a good weekend timing wise to haul it all off yet. Luckily I've already redone the gutters and drains on the property early this spring. Of course we can still reach the necessities, work bench, computer, and beer fridge..

[pommeree]

Jody,
Thanks for the front clip!
It was a blast to meet you and your dad and hang out for a while this weekend.
I'd love to do it again and crack a cold one next time.
Regards,

[autox320]

Living a bit far out from town expected outages, and we lost power for over 24hrs. Posted from work a few times but eventually juice was restored at the house. I was just running a generator to start to save the freezer and fridge food when it came back for my area. I shut the main breaker and back feed the panel at my compressor plug outside. Was enough to run the well pump and power up anything we needed.

Started back on the 320. . . and cleared the scrap pile. Metal turned into cash for brew. Downed some of Eric's stash and back filled the fridge. Had two perfect day 6's that didn't fit in the fridge Was a win win for us since the scrap yard is approx 5mi and needed to dispose of the stuff. It really was a bonus they gave so much cash for it. Don't normally keep the whiskey in the fridge but it keeps the bottle from being broken in the shop. Also keeps me from remembering I have more. Sanded and encapsulated the driveshaft. Started on the halfshafts. Soaking the CV's in some diesel to get them clean.

[OLD MAN]

Glad you had no really major issues Judy.

Car looks really clean - love the all white look.

[autox320]

Thanks Daryl. White looks good new but will probably wear terrible



Cleaned all the CV's and picked the best 4 out of 8 I thought. Diesel makes quick work of stripping them of all previous moly grease and gunk. A few taps to straighten the inner cap circles, then expanded to make round again. New Febi kit's and fresh moly. Coated a bit with some encapsulator grey again.

Snapped a few pics of Dad's basic wiring 101 for our notes. Just goes in the notebook along with the cage tubing bending notes. In case I get too old to remember what the hell is what. Or troubleshooting with brews in hand. I know it's a simple setup, but never hurts to have. Only need about three wires realistically to run a carb setup with electronic distributor. This is a DOT compliant racer so can get testing in on rolling road. wink wink

Put the S14 block on an engine stand. Cleared the bench and another OCD cleaning regiment. Bro is in town this week so not gonna work too hard

[autox320]

As I looked at the halfshafts putting them together, the thought of OLDMAN's words came to mind. Either way a couple of "sheer pins" ready to go haha. Dad and I figure if they don't hold up we'll have to resort to another CV from a different car and if need a different shaft will have to cut and weld it custom.

[OLD MAN]

We have a local off road racer supply house, they specialize in HP parts to build chassis, suspension and everything else. They have custom half shaft tubes made out of 1" .150 wall chrome moly tubing. They are splined for Porsche 930 CV joints, they have these made for all the VW trans-ed buggy's in off road racing. I looked into putting some together for my track car but they are pricey and the CV bolt circle is a larger radius then our E21 CVs. So it requires some axle and diff out drive mods.

[autox320]

We have a local off road racer supply house, they specialize in HP parts to build chassis, suspension and everything else. They have custom half shaft tubes made out of 1" .150 wall chrome moly tubing. They are splined for Porsche 930 CV joints, they have these made for all the VW trans-ed buggy's in off road racing. I looked into putting some together for my track car but they are pricey and the CV bolt circle is a larger radius then our E21 CVs. So it requires some axle and diff out drive mods.

I kept finding mention of the Pcar 930 CV's whenever looking aftermarket. Only thing I have in the shop is spare E30 CV's and the bolt holes are the same, but the spline count is different. It would take 4 E30 shafts to make 2 for an E21. Maybe something we'll explore if needed.

[cgifool]

How do you tell which CV joints are better and which are worse?

[autox320]

After cleaned thoroughly some were obvious in need of some help. A few had rust build up on the balls and notches; others where sticky when rotated and moved. There were 5 of the 8 that moved freely and cleaned up nicer than the rest. Easy button used those. The others I want to see if excessive wear and possibly clean up further when more time. Also want to compare size wise with a few E30 CV's to see if any measurable differences. Also thought of trying to compare angle limits between the two if it's just a simple allowable angle that causes immediate failure.

But right now it's brews and pushing forward cause probably spend lots of time on the powerplant.

[WantingAfunE21]

Now I'm nervous bout my CV's, of course I'm at stock power level and should not be. Great work!

[Jeroen W]

Some of you really take things to the extreme... wow !

[autox320]

Just looking at CV's it maybe be the size of your ballz but I'll measure some to see if any bigger.


The 930 pcar cv bolt pattern seem to fit the medium case bmw diffs output flanges and larger only. From what I gather it's all in the angle to when a CV fails and not just torque applied. Lowered cars and incorrect axle angles lead to quick failure. Suspension travel and geometry seem a bigger factor than just ball and cv size. My car with terrible attention to lowering in the beginning had the inner covers out of round. Some had impressions of the axle itself beat into it. This has to be pretty bad. Setting up the car this time using a level etc should give much better axle angle results. That plus input from Dad and Daryl should keep us out of immediate trouble. Crossing fingers.

[OLD MAN]

Just looking at CV's it maybe be the size of your ballz but I'll measure some to see if any bigger.


The 930 pcar cv bolt pattern seem to fit the medium case bmw diffs output flanges and larger only. From what I gather it's all in the angle to when a CV fails and not just torque applied. Lowered cars and incorrect axle angles lead to quick failure. Suspension travel and geometry seem a bigger factor than just ball and cv size. My car with terrible attention to lowering in the beginning had the inner covers out of round. Some had impressions of the axle itself beat into it. This has to be pretty bad. Setting up the car this time using a level etc should give much better axle angle results. That plus input from Dad and Daryl should keep us out of immediate trouble. Crossing fingers.

I agree with you Jody - both times I have blown CVs was in San Diego at Qualcomm going across a water shied grove/deep in the lot. The car hit the up side of the deep compressing the rear suspension fully. I was also at wide open throttle with the right side tire spinning. When the suspension compressed it also increased traction and the right side tire stopped spinning all at once - it was at that moment the balls came shooting out the inside shield and I lose forward drive. I think the LSD being mostly gone had a little to do with it also.

THe larger size of the CV may mean they can pivot more before they want to come apart. This would make sense if they are used for off road racing where they want more over all travel of the wheels.

[hdx]

I never broke a cv .

Wheel hopping is the big killer.

You have to know when to save the drivetrain .

I have seen old mans car break one right in front of me .

[pommeree]

... at that moment the balls came shooting out the inside shield and I lose forward drive. I think the LSD being mostly gone had a little to do with it also.

That's a funny image: The engine revving and ball bearings fleeing from under the car in all directions!

[autox320]

Since we're on a ballz story.

I've had a ballz flying incident, but it was a failed throwout bearing. It was a chinese sachs copy with the original kevlar clutchmaster kit on the M3. Last track day for a weekend wrapped the tach in third gear on the back straight as always do. Hit fourth fast as possible and heard a knock explosion immediately let out of it and a swirling scuffing sound started real loud. Could hear a sound like someone in front of me dropped bearings on the track. Then the knock sensor computer went haywire detecting the little pings inside the bellhousing. I actually made it home on the plastic center piece what was left from the bearing housing and stayed in gear much as possible on the interstate. Destroyed all engine sensors; (M3 they are mounted in the bellhousing). Cracked the bellhousing itself in a radial and finger lines spidering out. Only had two BB sized bearings left in there the rest exited out the inspection hole. Some black powdery looking metal balls that were not very hard with a file. Chinese garbage specials. I was pissed and explained to BW that sold the kit. They were baffled and I informed dude's check your supplier cause this is crap. They did finally send a new bearing and had my clutch rebuilt by clutchmasters. Worked out ok in the end but was a process.

Always throw away the bearing they give you in unknown factory clutch kits unless can verify the part numbers on it that it's a true sachs. Learned my costly lesson.

And of course since it was a S14 some people in the paddock thought I lost the motor Nahhh

[autox320]

Stripped down the S14 block and sent the block to the machine shop for a hot bath. Head is stripped down again and there too. Having them bake the headers for me to see if the POR high temp paint works. Says to bake and they happen to have a large oven. I temporarily used a sharpie paint pen to mark things and then permanent number punched pieces on the bench to note which is which. Surprising the sharpie paint pen didn't remove in the diesel fuel. Good stuff. I mic'd the rods and checked things myself here and didn't let the shop have them or the crank. Perfect shape, so the rods a quick dunk in hot diesel and wipe down. The crank is staying as is just going to make sure all oil holes are clear. This motor hasn't been apart since the German Gent at the factory assembled it in Sept of 1987. Torn down today with 70k miles on it; has virtually no wear whatsoever. Only thing found so far is no1 rod bearing starting to wear a spot and the others not far behind. Typical for a S14 or any M motor for that matter. Plan is to kiss hone the block since so low mileage no reason to bore. Pistons are OE dimension ordered just for this.

Removed all the pieces from the carb especially rubber, then dunked it in hot diesel for about an hour. Cleaned right up. Removed the internal filter. Probably start on the intake manifold to put more effort into it. When I did the carb swap I kinda just die grinded the peanut into an oval till fit the carb. Filled holes with JB weld. Worked flawless all these years but could look better Few brews and elbow grease.

Plenty of brews to go for this part of the build. Will have to mock up the head with a old gasket and find some answers with PV clearance and cam timing limitations.

[autox320]

hump day update

just lil things

-Dad final wiring checking lights and circuits; all lighting is from SuperBrightLEDS
We can't get the fuel gauge to work. Might inquiry on minds here in a bit. Have the wiring diagrams and new sender, but no dice. Will tackle it later.

-I picked up items from the shop and started JB welding areas of interest. Head checked out great, still good 3 angle valve job. New seals and guides are still like new. Machinist said if he had valves done would want them as good as this head. Our same old 79' casting 1.8i head that's milled beyond spec. Head injector holes inside the ports. I never plugged that side and want to contour the ports. About to dive into polishing some areas and sanding others. After all we are a carb setup. It's been known not to full smooth polish the intake from base of carb to the valve. Fuel likes to stick to flat surfaces and not move across. Best to have a certain grit surface and not smooth polish liked injection cars. More JB weld and clean up to go. This is going to be putting in some hours with brews and manual labor of love. I want to measure the plenum volume and see how close it is to our goals. I shaped the inside V area near cylinders 2,3 cause they were just a solid block definitely not good for flow. Like say when did the initial carb swap I just cut to fit and stuck it on. I'd like to polish the chambers a bit also since compression will be so high every little bit should help fight detonation.

More brews and JB till can start sanding it down etc. Just when thought a short stint it's a long ways to go.

[OLD MAN]

Nice! I remember the feeling I had when we started putting the wiring in the car "this is going in and it is not a another test fit!"

Starting to look like a runner.

[autox320]

Had thoughts of the finger bang episode of Family Guy. Sanding and working the intake and this head. Sometimes you just can't reach so gotta finger bang it. Found a open mysterious port on my 38 weber. Found out it's for emissions and for purging the fuel tank Plugged it and the small baseplate distributor vacuum port with 1/4-20 button bolts. Yes I was running with it open and probably had it fuel tuned out . . . damn. I set starting jets to 170 mains, 55 idles, 200 air correctors, and set the float level per weber for plastic floats.

Worked the intake to my liking and profiled the inside and out. Cut off all bungs and unnecessary parts. Gave it a 80-120 grit finish then passed a wire brush in it making a even nicer profile in the runners. Fuel travels faster and less pooling on a rougher finish. Air also likes some finish to "hug" the walls. I stuffed the inside ports with socks and weather proof taped off the inside of the plenum. It only held about 400ml of water. That's way small from what I was reading on. Basically this intake is only about 30% of engine volume. Most suggest approx 50-60% for 4cyl, but it may of been non carb cars. May need spacers to enlarge the plenum, but we'll see. It's on the small side and no wonder gives crazy velocity the way it's setup. With a 2.3L vs 2L we lose about 8% needed volume. I've not run the numbers yet to see what size spacer that is. We've a block of solid nylon 1" thick could make a test spacer, but may order a few from Carbs Unlimited.

The head I filled in the injector holes the other day and today profiled the inside of the ports. Gave the intake ports a 80-120 grit finish. Looked at the exhaust and those that have seen this before there are "bumps" in there. We used to call them emissions bumps, but not exactly what they are for. My old counter part used to remove these all the time for nice improvements. I still had mine, so in went the sanders till could remove it and profile the exhaust ports. Went all the way to a 360grit wet sand on the exhaust ports. I may polish them but my fingers are a bit tired after all this since this morning
Tried my hand at a decent polish of the combustion chambers. They looked good after the machine shop but once light sanded I went ahead and tackled them. Used the same arbor and cone sanders. Knocked off the edges of the chambers known when machined down milling the head leaves a sharp edge. This is a hot spot so knocked the edge off. Sanded the inside with 120-360 wet, then hit with a quick pass of mothers aluminum polish. I tried the cheap polish from Harbor Freight on another practice head and didn't like it.

I'll wash it out again and maybe touch on it again tomorrow. A bit addicting as they say. I have to control how far this takes up my life. Later Gent's time for brews.