Progress Thread 92 Coupe Resurrection Thread

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I got a little bit more done last night.

I got a wild hair up my bum and decided I needed to hide some wires. I failed to take a before pic but the previous owner had ALL of the driver side wire harness running up and over (zip tied together) the strut tower. It looked like poo as you can imagine.

Its still dirty but you get the idea
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With the washer reservoir installed
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Master cylinder/cc plates removed. (wiper motor too so it's easier to work in that area, plus it needs painted)
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Factory prop block removed.
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I got some work done, not a lot of pics to support it.

New ball joints and tie rod ends are installed. Man I forgot how bad I hate (and my back hates) replacing ball joints. I have an awesome 3/4 in socket/ratchet/breaker bar set up and even with that stuff it was hard to do the dang ball joints. But the new ones are in and done.
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Brake booster is replaced (I used a 93 cobra booster and still had to bfh the strut tower for clearance). The old one I removed had zero resistance against it and would explain my lack of brakes before. The car should really stop with ease now.

The front end is almost done, I think I mounted the calipers on the wrong sides (Couldn't remember which way nor find a good pic reference but the lines are going to be oriented correctly the way I have them (I have the bleeders facing the ground, It appears they go the other way). Regardless that's a two minute fix when I hook up the new stainless brake lines to them during final assembly.


The rear gave me a bit of trouble. Both rear caliper brackets had seized up pins in them that had to be heated, hammered or drilled out for the new ones to go in. Then I had to repaint the brackets (Why didn't I check before I painted? You got me lol). But the rear is 95% assembled and almost done.

The last major issues are sorting out the rear brake lines on the car. I have an orig 4 cy car and it still has the rear 4 cy brake line (body line). I'll have to adapt to it or run a new v8 brake line from front to rear (I have subframes so I'll be attempting to adapt to this line first). I'll tacked that this week at some point while I'm waiting for LRS to reship a missing prop valve plug that I didn't seem to rec during my initial order.

All in all I hope and pray it's back on the ground and running this weekend. I'm looking forward to cruising the car. Luckily it's rained almost the entire time it has been down so I've not missed much good cruising weather.
 
I got a lot done last night... Unfortunately it was of those progress nights that looks more incomplete after you're done than when you started.

I was finally able to get the old parking brake cables out of the car (those body clips are a pita to release). I still have to crawl inside of the car, remove the center console and parking brake handle to do the upper piece that those two cable connect to.

I have the front brake lines completely installed (Nothing is 100% tight yet, I'll come back after I'm happy with all of the routing and tighten all connections). I had the calipers on the wrong sides but all is corrected now.

I spent the majority of the evening wrestling the rear brake line situation. So to recap, My car is an original 4 cy car that has 95% of a 91LX 5.0 vert drive train swapped into it. One of those missing pieces was the rear brake lines from the v8 car. The orig 4 cy line connects and dumps right above the pass side muffler (4 cy cars have no muffler here). So I'm having to make a custom piece to go from there to the driver side of the pumpkin (20-24 inches or so). But the fun doesn't stop there. I have 94/95 8.8 rear lines for the disc brakes. NO worries, those adapt right onto the housing, however the rubber line from the rear end hard lines to the body is different. So after somehillbilly engineering I was able to remove the bracket off of the sn line and adapt it to the stock fox line so I could have both the sn hard lines and the fox 4 cy hard lines on the car. The lines still mount to the rear on the drive side of the pumpkin and I have the old rubber line mount already relocated on the body much closer to the rear so it can flex and still attach. I need to pick up a piece of the pre-made lines from O'Rielly's today, bend it up and secure it out of all moving parts way.

I've also discovered that LRS did not ship the factory proportioning valve plug. I called them Tues and they said they would get another shipped right out.. Then they called me back (which I thought was good cust service) and said its out of stock and they were expecting a new shipment in a few days. However, their web site says june 6 or something of that nature. So I've been attempting to modify my own stock plug (they have an odd rubber insert in them that you have to plug). I'm using stuff called quick steel (used before on leaky blower drain fittings on the oil pan and mod motor oil filter housings with pin hole leaks). Anyway, I rolled a bit of it up and filled the inside of the plug last night hoping it will be leak free. I'm not sure what kind of pressures are seen in the factory prop valve or if this stuff will flex (It's as thick as the plug is deep). That is my fail safe if the plug from LRS doesn't magically show by tomorrow as I need to get the car on the road to be back at paint by the 8th (needs aligned and mufflers welded up still).

So my plans for the weekend are a final assembly day. I need to finish the parking brake cables as described, finish the rear hard line conversion, tighten all brake line fittings, finish the master cylinder and factory prop valve install, tighten the upper strut bolts on the cc plates, give it a hillbilly alignment to get me to the shop, fill and bleed the brakes, install seat and any interior pieces I've removed, and road test.... I'm anxious to see how the wheels/brakes make the car look. I've also messed with the rear spring set up so I may have some trial and error on ride height. Worst case I'll order new springs if I can't get these previously cut rears to sit correctly.
 
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Coming along! I would be very cautious on any type of epoxy! You see 1000-1500 psi on brake systems.

@NIKwoaC threaded his cap. I would try that first.

I am eliminating mine completely.

Scott

Is it possible to buy a brass plug from a hardware store to fit these? I assume its some sort of a flare thread just not sure what count. I'm not liking the idea of the epoxy either and had no clue it saw that much psi. I really don't want a 20 dollar part to hold up finishing this up this weekend.
 
I'd be super aggravated about that paint issue . And that the key locks weren't removed . The handles should have been too but the design on the car you can work around them . Key locks in the door and paint leave a situation to chip easy later . The car is very clean none the less !


Sent from my iPhone using my fingers while my auto correct makes me seem illiterate
 
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I'd be super aggravated about that paint issue . And that the key locks weren't removed . The handles should have been too but the design on the car you can work around them . Key locks in the door and paint leave a situation to chip easy later . The car is very clean none the less !


Sent from my iPhone using my fingers while my auto correct makes me seem illiterate

The locks and windows were left in when the original owner had it resprayed. It's a great 5 footer but no show car (nor am I intending it too be). The mis matched bumpers are quite frustrating. I've already made another appt with the painter to get them "fixed" on the 8th.

On a side not LRS is supposed to ship the plug today but it won't make it to me until Monday. I asked about over night shipping and it was like $60 bucks... No thanks. I'll just not finish it this weekend lol.
 
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So after some more research and since I do not have the magical plug for the stock prop valve, I've decided this is the option I'm going to run.(I was able to build this kit at my local O'rielly's)
Brake Proportioning Valve Eliminator kit, 1987-93

I read all the threads arguing about if it's "safe" on a street car and tend to agree with those that the dual outlet MC offers the same protection in the event of a line failure/etc as the gutted stock valve.

These elimination will also clean up the engine bay a bit right there as well.

So now to thrash on the car all weekend and get it freaking running and driving again.
 
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So after some more research and since I do not have the magical plug for the stock prop valve, I've decided this is the option I'm going to run.(I was able to build this kit at my local O'rielly's)
Brake Proportioning Valve Eliminator kit, 1987-93

I read all the threads arguing about if it's "safe" on a street car and tend to agree with those that the dual outlet MC offers the same protection in the event of a line failure/etc as the gutted stock valve.

These elimination will also clean up the engine bay a bit right there as well.

So now to thrash on the car all weekend and get it freaking running and driving again.




I used the MM kit. Fast easy and painless, plus it's peace of mind that if you blow a line you won't lose all brakes.
 
Im doing something simular except I plan to rebend and bubble flare the rear line run right to the MC, make a new line for the front from my line lock.

That MM kit is using two cheap brass union fitting available at any hardware or autoparts store.
 
Yeah< I bought them at my local auto store. The fitting was cheap, the adapter from 1/4 to 3/16 was not so cheap. Have about $17 in that set up, just the same as the MM kit is. (disclaimer, O'rielly's is typically expensive for this crap, other parts store may not be so bad).

Anyway I'm excited to be on the home stretch of this part of the build. The wx has been so rainy recently I've not missed it but I'm getting tire of late evenings in the garage away from the wife and kiddo's. I've got a LOT of little crap to button up this weekend but don't foresee any crazy events.
 
Very nice car. I agree with @02 281 GT .. Those wheels do look slick.


edit: In fact, I have a buddy with a coupe that also has a set of those wheels put back. I just sent one of your pics to him so he could see how good it looks!
 
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It's simply amazing how much a wheel change affects the looks of a car.

The last item to solve is how to attach the rear soft lines brackets to the housing. I'm thinking about just drilling and tapping the holes to just be able to thread in the bolts and not have to jack with a nut on the back side.
 
It's simply amazing how much a wheel change affects the looks of a car.

The last item to solve is how to attach the rear soft lines brackets to the housing. I'm thinking about just drilling and tapping the holes to just be able to thread in the bolts and not have to jack with a nut on the back side.
Give me a sec and I'll get pics up of how I did mine. It wasn't ideal, but it worked, and didn't require any drilling and tapping. I may redo it later for a slicker install, but right now I've got other fish to fry..
 
Ok, I removed the hold down bolt on the stock hardline and bent the end in a 180. Use that mount point for your hose bracket.
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Pardon the dirt. I got caught in the rain last time I drove it, and now it's on jack stands, so I can't roll it out and clean it up.

Anyway, here's where I tied in the hose..
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I need to remove that mount tab on the hardline and fasten it down somewhere, but like I said, I need to put a clutch in it, and then I may figure a better way. The way these hoses are made, it's difficult.
 
Mine is caked in grease and dirt. I plan on a full rear rebuild and gear swap this winter. I'll pull the whole housing and clean it all up then.


I went ahead and picked up some grade 8 bolts so I can drill and tap the housing. I have thought of using the existing holes but think I'll just do what I planned on to begin with.