02 Base for my son

Good to see this in a separate thread since you bought. Nice work and safe ride for the new driver. Good work as always!!

Mark Shipley said:

These things are famous for broken manifold bolts. Are you drilling out the old exhaust manifold bolts and replacing them.?

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I’m gonna have to weld a nut to the broken stud after removing the manifold to get it out. Then put all ARP bolts in.


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Snowbound said:

I’m gonna have to weld a nut to the broken stud after removing the manifold to get it out. Then put all ARP bolts in.


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Good call with the ARP.

I will be getting Jack more involved with the work that needs to be done. It’s just been so hot and humid lately that I haven’t been doing much myself. Last couple things I did were at work when it cooled off some.
Like today, I decided to change the cabin filters. I knew they were most likely never replaced. I got these from Rockauto. Everywhere else wanted $26 for a set of filters and I got these hepa filters for $12 from RA.


There are 3 screws holding the cover to the HVAC box. One is a little difficult to get to because it’s above the trans hump and behind the center console but it’s doable. May even be able to leave that one and still get the filters out but I wanted to clean that cover so I pulled it. Just need a 7mm 1/4” drive deep socket and ratchet.


The filter cover is held up by a screw that takes a 5.5mm socket but I couldn’t find one here at work. A 7/32 socket works just as well.


A lot of crap came out of there and it appears as if my suspicion was confirmed. If they were changed before it’s been a long time.


I attached a 5/8” hose to the shop vac and made sure I got anything that may be up in there out. Then had to clean the floor as well.


New filters went in no problem and should be a lot more air flow and better filtration.




I cleaned the filter cover in the sink with warm water and a brush before putting that back on. Now I just have to clean up the big cover and put it back on. One more thing scratched off the list.


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One other thing I did last week when my RA order came in. I replaced the rear windshield wiper stop/rest. It was missing when I acquired the vehicle.

I can’t find a picture of the back of the vehicle. I was gonna zoom in and show you how it looked but I don’t have any ass shots. Oh well, here’s the new part. It was only $10. I thought I would have to get it from the dealer but to my surprise, RA came thru for me again.


You think I don’t see how ugly that wiper looks? Lol
I was going to pull it and give it a rattle can paint job but I’m holding off because the wiper motor isn’t functioning properly so I’ll replace the motor if everything else looks good when I finally get into it. I may just order a new arm as well because this one doesn’t pull tight against the rear window. I could clean up the hinge but I think if I paint it after getting it to pivot properly, it may just stick on me again. It’s cheap, so I’m better off just buying a new one.


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Order a new wiper arm and blade from Rock Auto, and be done with it. If you believe that the spring tension on the existing arm has reduced over time, you won't get the quality of the wiper action that you need and want.

Snowbound said:

One other thing I did last week when my RA order came in. I replaced the rear windshield wiper stop/rest. It was missing when I acquired the vehicle.

I can’t find a picture of the back of the vehicle. I was gonna zoom in and show you how it looked but I don’t have any ass shots. Oh well, here’s the new part. It was only $10. I thought I would have to get it from the dealer but to my surprise, RA came thru for me again.


You think I don’t see how ugly that wiper looks? Lol
I was going to pull it and give it a rattle can paint job but I’m holding off because the wiper motor isn’t functioning properly so I’ll replace the motor if everything else looks good when I finally get into it. I may just order a new arm as well because this one doesn’t pull tight against the rear window. I could clean up the hinge but I think if I paint it after getting it to pivot properly, it may just stick on me again. It’s cheap, so I’m better off just buying a new one.


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That’s on upside down. It’s supposed to “cup” the arm as it comes down so it sits in it like a cradle. And the wiper blade is supposed to sit on the bottom of the glass not the body or trim. The stop will keep it from coming too far down if the arm and stop are installed correct. It looks like the arm might need to be adjusted up but if you install the stop right it might be ok. You just don’t want the motor pushing down too hard , the arm just needs to rest on the stop. If it’s pushing down too hard that might be why the motor went bad. If you turn that stop over you’ll see the inside is sloped to match the angle of your wiper arm. This is all from memory as I shaved the whole damn tree branch off of mine. Never need it.

Rocket Man said:

That’s on upside down. It’s supposed to “cup” the arm as it comes down so it sits in it like a cradle. And the wiper blade is supposed to sit on the bottom of the glass not the body or trim. The stop will keep it from coming too far down if the arm and stop are installed correct. It looks like the arm might need to be adjusted up but if you install the stop right it might be ok. You just don’t want the motor pushing down too hard , the arm just needs to rest on the stop. If it’s pushing down too hard that might be why the motor went bad. If you turn that stop over you’ll see the inside is sloped to match the angle of your wiper arm. This is all from memory as I shaved the whole damn tree branch off of mine. Never need it.

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I think it's on right-side up. The blade on mine sits below the glass and offset from the body so the glass can be raised without hitting the wiper arm. The blade also tucks down lower on top of the pocket on the bracket.

Fless said:

I think it's on right-side up. The blade on mine sits below the glass and offset from the body so the glass can be raised without hitting the wiper arm. The blade also tucks down lower on top of the pocket on the bracket.

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This is how mine sits too. Unfortunately, the wiper sitting on the damn paint has created a nice mark in it... seriously considering deleting mine, but that damn mark on the paint is gonna drive me nuts.

Fless said:

I think it's on right-side up. The blade on mine sits below the glass and offset from the body so the glass can be raised without hitting the wiper arm. The blade also tucks down lower on top of the pocket on the bracket.

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Oh yeah, and that makes sense. I remember now. I see @Snowbound ‘s wiper blade just isn’t sitting on it. Like I said I was going from memory which at my age isn’t good at all.