I really like that beefy looking strut brace bar.
Thanks, I really like how it sits in there, despite how tight it was with the fuel rail on this intake manifold.
Glad the brace fits now, I don't think it Cleared my ls, did new motor mounts allow it to fit?
Tuff, it's a group a replica done by (the asperator) it was an old group buy a while back. Roger dee also made some iirc.
I'm still using the the OE Volvo diesel 240 mounts (and I'm quite happy with them). I bought a set of Yoshifab strut tower reinforcement plates and stacked them beneath the brace in order to clear the fuel rail.
The car looks awesome, congrats on the prizes
What is that tank looking thingy that is right beside your air-filter ?
Thanks! That's my secondary oil separator plumbed between the factory PCV outlet and my intake pipe. I'll also be plumbing the Yoshifab oil cap into it as soon as I can get them to ship me the fitting for it.
Catching up with a few other updates.
A few weeks back I pulled apart the PCV system to see if it was clogged or if there were any other apparent issues. I had the dipstick push out twice, and some oil was being pushed out around the filler cap.
As it turns out, the filter in the Provent gets pretty clogged up with blowby goo and is near impossible to clean. Under advisement of Homer, I removed the filter element and reinstalled everything after giving it a good thorough cleaning. This made an immediate improvement.
A bit later, I took the car in to have it aligned at a BMW dealer. I've put this off for way too long. As you can see, the alignment was pretty awful. It feels good now, but I still need to get a lot more caster out of it than you see here. That might be a next-year thing.
Before:
After:
I got new tires! Falken RT-615K in my favorite size--235/40R17. Thanks to both parties involved. These are fantastic so far. Grip, noise, and basically everything about them has been excellent.
I put the wasted spark back in, and it's running well. I had this in briefly last year but removed it before the iPd trip when I was running into issues. The problem ended up being a bad EZK box. Everything seems pretty happy now with it in. The car definitely runs smoother and feels a lot more refined than it did previously, which is what I wanted more than anything.
Just before my trip to Missouri, the seat support diaphragm tore in the driver's seat. I pulled it out and found this:
It should look like this (the good one I stole from the passenger seat temporarily):
And the passenger seat got this treatment so it could be usable for the trip to Eurowerks in Minneapolis--and while waiting for a seat webbing retrofit kit to arrive (I have the kit now, but haven't installed it yet)
When I got home from Minneapolis, I noticed a couple drips of coolant on the radiator support... After further investigation, I found that the radiator end tank had begun seeping at a seam, and one of the fittings developed a hairline crack due to the MAF sensor bouncing on it.
I debated what route to take, but ultimately decided to upgrade to a 92+ 940 NA radiator for more cooling capacity. While not a major undertaking, this was a little more work than expected.
Step 1: Buy 92+ 940 NA radiator and accompanying upper radiator hose.
Step 2: Cut off these plastic standoffs on the bottom of the radiator end tanks. Also trim the drain cock (or drill a hole in the radiator support for it)
Step 3: Fold the bottom core tabs flat (I gently used a deadblow hammer to do this.)
Step 4: Remove 240 turbo oil cooler to be relocated at a later date.
Step 5: Install radiator. Bend up slam panel as needed to fit while tightening down top brackets (this radiator is taller than the 240 radiators).
Step 6: Trim coolant reservoir to radiator hoses to fit.
Step 7 (for me): Get a silicone elbow with longer legs to reach around the larger radiator.
Step 8 (for me): Rework the intake pipe because the expansion tank hose now connects right in the middle of the radiator where the intake used to run. This was annoying. In the process I stepped up to a 1" PCV return on the new intake pipe, to match the Provent.
Step 9: Make a bracket to secure the air filter and intake pipe.
Step 10: Install a uncut 940/960 efan shroud that is made to fit this radiator (I haven't done this yet)
Previously, the intercooler had only been mounted by two posts on the bottom about 16" apart. While I had the radiator out, I decided it was high time to add a bracket to the top as well.
...and another picture from Eurowerks to remind me that someday I need to make the exhaust not look terrible from the back of the car.