Finally posting a "build" thread. The progression of my stupidity.

[RooTBeeRthe1st]

That's enough I suppose.

 

[Charlie207]

That's enough I suppose.

Are the flanges even flat?

 

[mikez71]

Ugliest welds won't be visible when installed.
They seem useable with a little touch up..

Don't like the extra EGR ports.
Factory mani looks more durable to me.
Only need one wrench to undo collector nuts..

Unless for weight savings and sound, maybe not worth the trouble?

 

[RooTBeeRthe1st]

Are the flanges even flat?

Mostly... The supply gaskets are very thick and soft.
Some of the welds from inside the runners actually protrude above the flange face.

 

[RooTBeeRthe1st]

Well, summit thankfully returned and exchanged my ugly BBK headers with some Holly flowtech headers without issue, just took some time and a little added cost.

I should have put my calipers on the ID of those BBK primary is because they're advertised as 1.75, but the way those welds were, it was probably closer to 1.5 or smaller.

The flowtechs advertise 1-5/8, and on the flange, they are exactly that, but it does neck down immediately after to a 1.5 inch tube.

However, these welds were much cleaner and precise, and the flanges were clearly sanded flat after being fabricated, and these are for GMT 900s because they don't have any extra ports on them.
The ceramic coating is a bit different than the bbks, but still looks good.

 

[RooTBeeRthe1st]

Did and oil change and the last rotation for these tires.
Disassembled cleaned and re-lubed front brake assemblies to try and get rid of a squeak, so far it's been a couple hundred miles and I haven't heard much.

 

[Sparksalot]

Did and oil change and the last rotation for these tires.
Disassembled cleaned and re-lubed front brake assemblies to try and get rid of a squeak, so far it's been a couple hundred miles and I haven't heard much.

Almost finished the break in period for your Hoe.

 

[RooTBeeRthe1st]

Almost finished the break in period for your Hoe.

Yeah I know, getting there. I need to start working on the LC9 I bought 18months ago instead of letting it sit outside this whole time.
Have it ready to swap in!

 

[RooTBeeRthe1st]

Just posting in here to save the date that I had the parts in hand so I hold myself accountable and feel bad for the lengthy amount of time it takes for me to actually accomplish anything.
And keep the thread up to date.

Run Cool XL High-Flow hood louvers

 

[RooTBeeRthe1st]

Out with the bald 50,000mi Mud Terrains and 200,000mi 17x7.5 +31 factory wheels.
In with the Mickey Thompson Baja Boss all terrain "suv" tires on the Dorman 17x8 +24 later model steelies. Just enough offset the side walls don't rub the control arms otherwise would have kept the stock wheels.
The ride is super smooth and quiet, but I'm not a fan of the soft sidewall for cornering, I'm sure I'll get used to it. I've only had load range E tires on this until now. These are "STD" rated 44psi max.

 

[Fless]

Almost finished the break in period for your Hoe.

Wonder what happened to @Sparksalot??

 

[Rocket Man]

Wonder what happened to @Sparksalot??

Looks like he hasn’t been here since Dec of last year, kinda like @randeez. Wonder what happened to both?

 

[RooTBeeRthe1st]

Changed plugs after 100,000mi of ethanol on a 206,000mi engine.
Put on new wires and heat shields on as well.
Stripped out more old useless wiring from the car's previous life.
Through the sub amp combo under the center console out of the way.
Rewired and repositioned the weboost cell signal booster from key on power to switch power regardless of ignition position.
New cabin filter, that one was a carbon filter so it's not as bad as it appears.
And finally a new seat bottom foam and cover so I'm not sitting on metal anymore.
Also cleaned the AC condenser, not sure how much filth was in there, but some definitely came out.

Got all the metal dorman heater hose fittings also.

 

[RooTBeeRthe1st]

So it's still been 80s or 90s everyday here in SoCal. However on Tuesday we had torrential downpours and flood watches.
Made it into work without issue. Then they told me I was actually supposed to be at a job site near home and so I said I'll just take my car and go home from there.
When I walked back to my car I smelled a little e85 which is obviously uncommon.
And then went to fire it up and it almost started and then died immediately and then the whole inside of the car smelled like fuel because I had to defroster on high.
Pop the hood and everything was coated... Made me glad it wasn't gasoline because the corn dried right up and didn't hurt anything and also didn't light on fire.

Dum dum me never put the little metal clip that locks the fuel line on to the rail when I added the flex fuel sensor, because the sensor was too close and it was hitting and wouldn't go on so for the last 7 years at least it's been running around without that safety clip and apparently in that time it beat up the little lock that's in the end of the hose to where it flattened all four sides and decided to just let go on its own.

Once I knew what the issue roughly was (the main fuel line/ethanol sensor) I tied a rag around the area and got it to fire up and idle over at 10 psi fuel pressure to drive it into my shop so I could properly diagnose the issue without getting soaked.
by the time I got it in there, the whole engine bay was basically flooded with ethanol so it's nice and clean now. And I had to wait for it to dry a little bit with the help of my air compressor.

Told the dispatcher that I just called out sick even though I was already there and clocked in. haha

Thankfully auto parts stores carry the dorman part to replace it, borrowed a company pick up and went and grabbed a set for 13 bucks and put the new part in and was able to limp it home where I still had that locking clip.
Managed to bend it enough to actually get over the fuel line with the ethanol sensor in the way but it's on there now and not going anywhere. I'm going to be mad at myself when I have to take it off later
But we're not having that issue ever again.
Could have been really bad really fast.

 

[RooTBeeRthe1st]

Now, upon leaving my brother's place from dinner heading home last night, started hearing very bad noise that basically went away when I turned left and got much worse when I turned right.
Kind of thought it was the brakes because I had a similar issue with front and rear on the passenger side but this sounded a lot more like the driver side so figured I would just replace the brake pad hardware and be good.
But instead it's either the wheel bearing which I'm pretty sure has over 200,000 on it or potentially the CV which also is the original with over 200,000.
So I just spent 700 bucks or so for new hubs even though I replace the passenger side at 100,000 because it had already gone out, new bolts for the hubs, and new axles.
But of course that stuff doesn't show up until Tuesday and I had to pay extra for that.

I was hoping to go bring home a toy hauler trailer today or tomorrow but not with that wheel bearing ready to sht the bed.

So now I had to bring the little truck out of retirement.

 

[RooTBeeRthe1st]

Passenger wheel bearing went out at ~100k
Driver side lived 2x longer 208k
Got skf tapered roller bearings

Only installed the driver side so I can daily it again. Also trying to buy a toy hauler this weekend and need it ready to tow.

Then I'm going to replace the passenger side soon so I know they're both good to go.
And hold onto the passenger and swap it back in to get me by at some point if needed...so I don't get stranded waiting on good parts like I just did.

 

[RooTBeeRthe1st]

Been a while, Life has been, lifeing lately.

Finally got around to installing the metal doorman heater hose connections, and replacing all the heater hoses in the engine bay and the steam port line, and the coolant reservoir vent line.

I never had a cracked or broken fitting in 215,000mi, but the Y fitting coming out of the water pump has been leaking for a while.

80° ambient this afternoon during the test drive after the install and it never got warm enough to turn a fan on.

Also re-plumbed my pcv catch can and actually hard mounted after I made a bracket out of scraps laying around, instead of hanging from zip ties like it has for years. Replaced the hoses for it too because the old one weren't long enough after, and also they were getting hard and brittle and swollen.


...now to finally get it to the dealer for the airbag and fan recalls so I can stop getting the notices in the mail...

 

[RooTBeeRthe1st]

After a few years at this point I think of having no rear wiper or being able to pop the rear glass...I put a new wiper motor in and all is well again...just need to get the plastic interior trim for the hatch from my storage unit now to finish the job. At least the exterior is finished though. Tried re-glueing the plastic piece to the foam on the glass, we'll see if it stays.
Had to cut the old hardware off...it refused to unscrew.