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944t cruiser build

Looks like your making real good progress. I like how you hang your dewalt drills, creative!
Thanks! I'm in a smaller garage space now, so I had to get creative with some of my tools. It's nothing new, but works well for me.


On to today's activities....I pulled the RF strut assembly to put in the new springs and the bearing exploded. Normally I'm a bit better prepared, but as the bearings are relatively new and low miles I wasn't expecting this. Of course no one in town has them in stock, so 2-day air from FCP for some new SKF units.

<a href="https://ibb.co/TrFF5ws"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/TrFF5ws/20191111-111026.jpg" alt="20191111-111026" border="0"></a>

On a little better note the spoiler is coming along well. The first coat of paint is on and the second coat is drying. It's not too poor of a color match, I had no illusions that this would be an easy paint to get 100% matched. The second quote got it a little more green than just the first. I'll get some more pics once it dries.
<a href="https://ibb.co/SwHgNYb"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/SwHgNYb/20191111-103206.jpg" alt="20191111-103206" border="0"></a><a href="https://ibb.co/YpM38gb"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/YpM38gb/20191111-121007.jpg" alt="20191111-121007" border="0"></a><a href="https://ibb.co/c3bfvsj"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/c3bfvsj/20191111-121013.jpg" alt="20191111-121013" border="0"></a>
 
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It's too cold for me to paint, strut bearings are still "Out for delivery", and rain the rest of the week.....uhg. But at least after the second coat of paint the spoiler looks less blue.

<a href="https://ibb.co/DLTLBJ8"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/DLTLBJ8/20191113-151311.jpg" alt="20191113-151311" border="0"></a> <a href="https://ibb.co/YjzcgD8"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/YjzcgD8/20191113-151325.jpg" alt="20191113-151325" border="0"></a>
 
Hoo-ray, UPS has lost my strut bearings. That was a slightly painful interaction with them, their customer service sucks. So no fault to FCP, but I re-ordered them from Ben's shop. I guess on the upside the weather is too crappy to work on stuff.
 
Still dealing with UPS for a refund, I'm pretty sure they are purposely difficult just to make you not go through with claims. But in the meantime my new SKF bearings showed up and the car is back on all fours with the IPD springs installed. Hopefully I can get the spoiler finished this week.
 
Got everything back together last weekend. I think that I'm going to start focusing on a few interior things for a while now.

<a href="https://ibb.co/r0gckJL"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/r0gckJL/20191123-095111.jpg" alt="20191123-095111" border="0"></a>

So IPD springs on Propus wheels with 225/45r17. I need to get tires soon and I'm thinking about moving to 225/50r17s. It's not much different, but the roads here suck and I think the little extra sidewall can't hurt. Anyone have any pics of that tire/spring combo? Will they rub or foul in any way?

I've been thinking about what I want to do about the radio in this car, it works but I just don't like it. I thought about just adapting a cheap double din Android head unit the dash, but I really don't like the shifter to screen location. I'm not sure where I want this car to go after this drivetrain wise, but I think a manual is in it's future. So to kind of skirt the whole double din 7" screen thing I drew up a plan for a 5" screen Raspberry PI system. This is mostly a thought experiment to keep my mind busy at work for a day.

<a href="https://ibb.co/5hwFpcy"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/5hwFpcy/20191125-141818.jpg" alt="20191125-141818" border="0"></a>

It all fits within the inside of the current trim dimensions. I also drew one up with a 4.3" screen, but I think I like the 5" better. I even found a small bluetooth button that can fit into one of the steering wheel horn button spots.
 
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I've had this done for a while now, but didn't have the time to post the pics.

<a href="https://ibb.co/N7zPYZ8"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/N7zPYZ8/20191207-111349.jpg" alt="20191207-111349" border="0"></a> <a href="https://ibb.co/L1nzXrt"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/L1nzXrt/20191207-111354.jpg" alt="20191207-111354" border="0"></a> <a href="https://ibb.co/ZfYySYQ"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/ZfYySYQ/20191207-111406.jpg" alt="20191207-111406" border="0"></a>

I want to make a piece of trim to help hide a poor repair to the headliner, then I think I'm moving on to the radio.
 
So I'm kinda lost with this project, Originally I looked for a car with an auto to build a cruiser since I needed something to fill the gap between a 350Z and Wrangler JKU. Well fast forward and I've got a kid, sold the Z, and bought a WK2 Grand Cherokee. I don't need the cruiser, anymore and am eyeing other stuff, an inevitable fate for a car enthusiast. Now I want a manual, would like a few more revs and maybe two doors. Also I'm starting to worry about the age on the air bags making them a safety issue. I could swap to antique plates, forgo state inspections and delete them, but I see people abuse those tags so often I just can't do that. The price of sourcing the parts for a manual swap seems off and the same applies to full drive train swaps. So I'm stuck. I like the platform well enough and am not against keeping it, but i'm having trouble getting the motivation to do any mods to fix the "issues" I have with it too. Maybe the honeymoon is over, I don't know. but I'm definitely lost on the project. I'm hoping to get a shot of something to push me one way or the other soon. Sorry for the sad rant, just how stuff is.
 
If this is a ‘project car’ and not your DD or family cruiser with the kids and doesn’t ‘spark joy’ or you don’t find yourself getting out of the car and looking back at it as you walk away from it....I’d say sell it and get something that does. Once you do, the car itself will motivate you enough to want to work on it, and enjoy the ‘headaches’ your project WILL throw at you.

There’s my :twocents:
 
If this is a ?project car? and not your DD or family cruiser with the kids and doesn?t ?spark joy? or you don?t find yourself getting out of the car and looking back at it as you walk away from it....I?d say sell it and get something that does. Once you do, the car itself will motivate you enough to want to work on it, and enjoy the ?headaches? your project WILL throw at you.

There?s my :twocents:

That's about my thought completely. If I had the cash to pick up something else I'd just drive this one into the back yard and wait for motivation, or lightening, to strike.
 
As I'm pondering what I'm gonna do with this one, a question hit me about 780s. Did the 780 come without SRS air bags over the production run?
 
Started working on a few things this weekend. Got the IPD sway installed. We'll see if I like the rear one or not. The one, complaint I guess on the rear bar is that the "captive" of the rear bolts is too short with the new bar, you only get thread contact about halfway into the nut. I had some grade 10.9 hardware around and replaced it with a regular nut/bolt combo. But at the price point supplying some quality fasteners of the correct lengths and grade would be nice.

<a href="https://ibb.co/7RnnK31"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/7RnnK31/20220212-095713.jpg" alt="20220212-095713" border="0"></a><a href="https://ibb.co/D9FxW93"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/D9FxW93/20220212-101833.jpg" alt="20220212-101833" border="0"></a><a href="https://ibb.co/nL51rSL"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/nL51rSL/20220212-123123-001.jpg" alt="20220212-123123-001" border="0"></a>

Also got the frame weights pulled and the Do88 intercooler installed. The old IC had less oil than i'm used to come out of it. I think every Volvo IC I've pulled in the last 20 years had a quart in it, this one left a 2" round puddle after an hour. The next good weather weekend I get I'll be pulling the manifold/turbo/DP for the new turbo install.


<a href="https://ibb.co/S06D4Rd"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/S06D4Rd/20220212-120028.jpg" alt="20220212-120028" border="0"></a><a href="https://ibb.co/1bFNGz7"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/1bFNGz7/20220212-131710.jpg" alt="20220212-131710" border="0"></a><a href="https://ibb.co/KW4pTcy"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/KW4pTcy/20220212-131723.jpg" alt="20220212-131723" border="0"></a>
 
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Got the new 19t in and running. The Do88 charge pipe kit is a little fiddly, but works. I had to massage my ABS bracket and the lines to get the clearance needed. I also had to pull the filter/engine bay deflector I'd been using. The IC elbow needed to live in the same space/time, so something had to give. I'm running 10psi right now, I'd like to hit 15, but who knows.

<a href="https://ibb.co/GRv6nx1"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/GRv6nx1/20220217-115916.jpg" alt="20220217-115916" border="0"></a> <a href="https://ibb.co/Jkwj5my"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/Jkwj5my/20220217-095345.jpg" alt="20220217-095345" border="0"></a> <a href="https://ibb.co/ZHrSC4t"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/ZHrSC4t/20220219-105038.jpg" alt="20220219-105038" border="0"></a> <a href="https://ibb.co/FgYsPmZ"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/FgYsPmZ/20220219-103843.jpg" alt="20220219-103843" border="0"></a> <a href="https://ibb.co/hC8Sn0M"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/hC8Sn0M/20220219-105053.jpg" alt="20220219-105053" border="0"></a>

Going to start cosmetic stuff next. it'll be DIY, so there's a strong chance it won't work.
 
Had an oil dipstick blowout last Friday, so I figured it was a good time to give everything a good looking over to see if it's internal or CCV issues. Seems like I'll be building a custom CCV setup. For a ~198k mile engine I've still got roughly 150psi on all four with a compression test. And the plugs look really good, considering my wideband says I'm pig rich at WOT(11psi boost, 9.5 AFR). Part of the reason for the new turbo and IC was to throw some more air into things and see if those AFRs hit target.

<a href="https://ibb.co/PMc2DzL"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/PMc2DzL/20220303-121147.jpg" alt="20220303-121147" border="0"></a> <a href="https://ibb.co/6WL0JHZ"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/6WL0JHZ/20220303-115757.jpg" alt="20220303-115757" border="0"></a>

Also swapped out my DIY boost controller for the Grimmspeed unit.

<a href="https://ibb.co/GF8Ljbn"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/GF8Ljbn/20220303-130323.jpg" alt="20220303-130323" border="0"></a>
 
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