My Build Thread: Project "Rain Cloud"

[hEaT]

Just saw a pic of the front end of you car on some Camaro forums. How was Uconn? Get any pics?

I didn't snap any myself, but was a great show as always! I'll see if I can dig up some picture threads from around the web.

Found the thread you're talking about on NECF. In response to vipershark11 on there, nope, I didn't get pulled over in it last year.


And the pic:




CRAVING some autox time now. Probably the first and only car show I'll be going to this year. I've found a much greater liking to standing around a lot, thrashing and talking cars than armchair racing.

[hEaT]

Did some work on the car this weekend:

AEM Wideband (DONE with my crap Innovate; hoping the AEM last more than a year ha), ES T5 mount and ES rear motor mount bushings for a Focus (made a mount for friend):


New mount in:


Odd how I still need to space the cross-member down so far to keep the trans from hitting the floor.

Wideband in and working! Still need to some work with the MS. I'm showing a few tenths of a point different between the gauge and TunerStudio. I'm assuming this due to grounding offset and I need to relocate the sensor ground to where the ECU also grounds. Easy enough.


Also began ripping the interior out. The mice did a number on the car this winter and the smell is finally getting to me.


Nest #1:


Nest #2 and headliner down. Board has holes in it and is soaked in urine. Definitely need an entire new one


Everything out of the car less the upper/lower dash and pillar trim:


While everything was out, using a bleach and water solution sprayed and wiped down every inch of steel to remove any urine hopefully get rid of the smell. Also chased the threads for the seat mounts and cleaned up the bolts. Re-taped the wiring into the channels on the roof as well as the factory tape being 28 years old wasn't holding anymore.

Back and drivable:




Little bit of rot coming through. While the carpet is out, going to cut this out and put new steel in before it gets worse.


Plan for the interior is to pick up a black carpet, disinfect my interior trim and dye black, get a new headliner board and cover in black suede and get a set of proper seats in the car. Debating between fixed back and a sport seat seeing how much street time the car has.

[BeefFajitas]

Cage and race car time!

[hEaT]

Cage and race car time!

Haha as much as I would like to, I drive the car on the street so much I won't put in more than a harness bar.

[Ray]

Yeah, keep your car streetable. I like the progress. If you need help wrapping that 'liner let me know i've got some experience with fabric work from my car audio days.

How much was that tranny mount?

[hEaT]

Yeah, keep your car streetable. I like the progress. If you need help wrapping that 'liner let me know i've got some experience with fabric work from my car audio days.

How much was that tranny mount?

Definitely will do, thanks Ray. Unfortunately...I don't think the board can be saved. Sourcing a new one is going to be hard just due to size and rarity Finding a new one I don't care about the quality of the fabric as long as the board is clean.

Tranny mount I got from here:

http://www.energysuspensionparts.com/pr ... rod=4.1104

After I bought it, I saw a few posts of having them go on people. Maybe hold off and I can see how this one holds up?

[BeefFajitas]

I've got two head liner boards. I'm not sure if I'll ever use them. PM me if you are interested. They've been sitting for awhile, so I'll need to inspect them.

[Ray]

Joe, if Nate's boards aren't in decent shape it is fairly simple to just do a layer of f'glass cloth to get what you need - all you need for strength is the ability for it to hold its own weight and shape. However, if Nate's are good that saves several hours and a few bucks in 'glassing materials.

for spray adhesive use 3m surebond super77, for fabric check www.partsexpress.com - they have some nice faux-suede (trust me, you dont want to spend the money on real suede) that stretches well. I used it for the A pillars in my legacy.

[hEaT]

Thanks Nate. I will let you know.

And thanks for the info Ray. The LGT pillars came out nice and that's the look I'm going for. I'll be throwing some ideas off you since you have much more experience with interior if you don't mind.

[hEaT]

Quick update from pics I took a few weeks ago.


On the drive back from David's place, stopped by Barkhamstead reservoir. Very nice roads and area:





One of the small parts I got was a set of Lockwood gauge faces and cluster. Had good bulbs which I replaced mine with, and also a fixable tachometer. I've re-soldered mine a few times and it still doesn't work. These one barely read anything when in-car, but after re-soldering every joint on the board it works perfect.


Back home, little bit of mixing and matching putting together the best of two clusters. Also swaping over my speedometer guts to keep the mileage.



Done! They were pretty dirty, but cleaned up nicely:



The "cockpit" for now. Interior plans will be addressed later this year or next:



Gauges at night. Still need some tweaking as they aren't 100%. I'll see if I can play with the face positioning to make it look OEM. The camera is picking up a lot of light bleed with the long exposure which isn't as bad in person. Still want to give it a go and see what I can anyways.

[Ray]

When you doing your front brakes? Power steering?

[hEaT]

When you doing your front brakes? Power steering?

Front brakes are good, though I could use new rotors/pads. I do NOT like the EBC greens.

Power steering I'm going to play with this coming weekend I think. Same with the front bushings. Ordering the rear setup tonight to install in July along with the rear disc setup.

[Ray]

You coming to thompson next weekend, then?

[hEaT]

You coming to thompson next weekend, then?

Doubtful, unfortunately. That will only give me Friday night thru Saturday I'll need to do all the front bushings and figure out the power steering. If the car is mostly done I may come for a bit to spectate or just work on it all Sunday.

[RatFink]

Front brakes are good, though I could use new rotors/pads. I do NOT like the EBC greens.

I'm curious. What, other than the horrible dust do you not like about the EBC pads? I run them on the factory rotors and have yet to find a pad with less fade. I remember when they were new they squealed pretty bad too, but that went away as they broke in.