Project 2 GTs 1 Spot (Page 4/9)
Patrick MAR 23, 02:35 PM

quote
Originally posted by skywurz:

Yesterday I went out and handled the bolts. I removed the manifold. I got the vice grips on and after awhile broke it loose. The other not so much. I tried to use an easy out but bent it and the then the second one i tried just spun. I eventually drilled and re tapped.



I still break into cold sweats when I recall the hassle I went through doing this on the front bank of my '86 GT with the engine still in the car. What a freakin' nightmare!
skywurz MAR 23, 08:29 PM

quote
Originally posted by Patrick:

I still break into cold sweats when I recall the hassle I went through doing this on the front bank of my '86 GT with the engine still in the car. What a freakin' nightmare!



Yeah i looked at doing it inside the car on an 86 way back in the day and was like nope its impossible.

Im also changing the spark plugs while its out to save the pain of doing the rear ones.
skywurz MAR 23, 08:46 PM
Started working on the 88 5spd with AC harness i had in a box.

I started going over it and found only one broken plug. However i found some awful patch jobs.

We don't need no stinking Fusible link.


ECU that doesn't need power


Oil pressure we don't need to read that


Map sensor? More like twist it and it will probably be fine.



All of these have been cut and replaced.

I staggered the splices on wires near each other and soldered them


Shrink-wrapped them


Then resmurf them


I did re pin one plug that was damaged but the wires were fine.

Patrick MAR 23, 09:33 PM

quote
Originally posted by skywurz:

Im also changing the spark plugs while its out to save the pain of doing the rear ones.



I'm sure you actually mean the front ones. The rear ones are easy!
skywurz MAR 23, 09:40 PM

quote
Originally posted by Patrick:

I'm sure you actually mean the front ones. The rear ones are easy!



I always mix that up and confuse people. Because the rear most part of the engine is the first part i see when opening the trunk in my head i consider it the front. Also because its easier to get to everything and things like the AC and Cat are "behind everything"
skywurz MAR 24, 08:38 PM
Went out and pulled the rest of the headers. One of the flanges fell off of the front manifold of the bad engine.

I decided i wanted to swap thermostat housings as the one on the bad motor looked cleaner. I may have to flatten it out as the flange looks tweaked.

I decided i was going to do that mod to remove the throttle body heater.

I un did all of the lines






I removed the 12pt 8mm bolt and the 10mm bolt on the sensor mount.

Then i made 1 cut.


One of the things that had bugged me about this mod was what to put back in the holes on the throttle body.

Here in CA if the tech thinks something is not hooked up smog related they will fail you. Since these are on the throttle body i didn't want the hassle.

I decided id just hook one side to the other.

I made some cuts to separate the lines and remove a bracket.

I then busted out my mini tube bender.


After a couple min i was ready to test fit. I cut the fitting off of the other line and put it in the throttle body. I then slide the tube in and then get the tube into the slot in the back and tighten down.

Test fit



Toss some paint on it and while im waiting for it to dry cut the sensor bracket off of the lines and reinstall.


I also hook up the 2 lines on the thermostat


With paint dry i now do the install

[This message has been edited by skywurz (edited 03-24-2021).]

Patrick MAR 24, 09:09 PM

quote
Originally posted by skywurz:

I decided i was going to do that mod to remove the throttle body heater.

One of the things that had bugged me about this mod was what to put back in the holes on the throttle body.

Here in CA if the tech thinks something is not hooked up smog related they will fail you. Since these are on the throttle body i didn't want the hassle.

I decided id just hook one side to the other.



I was wondering why the heck you'd bother attaching a tube to the TB in that manner. Looks goofy! However, I now understand why you did it that way... but for anyone else doing this mod, nothing needs to be attached to the TB where the coolant tubes were originally connected.
skywurz MAR 24, 09:47 PM

quote
Originally posted by Patrick:

I was wondering why the heck you'd bother attaching a tube to the TB in that manner. Looks goofy! However, I now understand why you did it that way... but for anyone else doing this mod, nothing needs to be attached to the TB where the coolant tubes were originally connected.



Lol yeah. I think it will look better once in the car and the air cleaner is installed
I probably could have installed some brass plugs and painted them black so they were not shinny. But this was free.
skywurz MAR 25, 10:20 PM
Today i removed the good engine from the auto cradle. I removed the flex plate.

I replaced the rear main seal


I may have pressed it too far? I swear there was an internal lip


I installed the flywheel. I will probably curse myself later for not resurfacing it.

Tossed the new clutch on



I got the engine over and onto the 5spd cradle


Unfortunately i was unable to get the engine and transmission to fully mate. Its all bound up. If i turn the engine with it in gear the hubs spin. It got late so i will fight it another day.
skywurz MAR 26, 08:27 PM
Oh my F'ing gosh. I spend 3 hours total trying to mate the engine and trans.

I eventually pulled the clutch disk and dry fit. Nope wouldn't go on. 5 min with a file removing a couple burrs and it slid on like butter.

After putting the assembly back together it took 10 min to mate it up.


This will teach me to dry fit.

This was a blessing. Turned out this was cracked.

Lucky for me i know the owner of Crazy Skywurz's Fiero Emporium.