So, you want to drive your 15 year old LGT to a meet eh?

[Infosecdad]

1 hour ago, Enlight said:

Is there any reason I shouldn't use Permatex Ultra Black for installing valve covers? It sealed up my oil pan fine. Listening to builder's comments on springing for the OEM stuff has got me paranoid.

That's what I used last time I did mine, been holding up great.

[m sprank]

Should be fine. I used Subiebond. 

[Tehnation]

Got my swaybar yesterday, took 3 days, so easy to spend money these days on the internet, don't even need to take out my wallet, just click and click then its at your front door.... If I had to go drive somewhere and wait on a line I would have never bought this sway bar lol. But I was like hmmm thats cheap enough and if I click this button problem solved..... Remember when you had to order parts over a phone or regular mail from a fckn catalog..... money orders, checks lol wtf is that? Took a week for your order to get to the place, then another week to process , then a couple weeks to ship it to, it litterally took a month to get sht back in the day.... now 3 days! Who can resist lol.

if  I remember correctly the procedure is to use ramps instead of jacks, drop the mufflers , then remove bent bar and install the new bar, and grease those bushings, never forget the grease! That sound right? This was like one of the 1st mods I did like a decade ago lol. 

[m sprank]

Yes.  Loaded suspension is far easier to deal with.

[KZJonny]

On 2/10/2023 at 8:29 AM, jaylew said:

Nice to do:

- refinish face lifted headlights

- install face lifted front bumper and fenders

- replace leather wrap on steering wheel

- the list goes on for mods as I am sure that's the case for most everyone here

Are your old pre-facelift headlights unit still in useable condition/for sale?

I like keeping a spare set around for when mine start fading and need to be resurfaced. Easier to do in the workshop and then just swap in known good units than try to do it on the car and try to avoid scratching the paint.

That said, I am trying a can of 2K clear this time I do them, so maybe I won't have to do it every couple years anymore.....

[jaylew]

12 minutes ago, KZJonny said:

Are your old pre-facelift headlights unit still in useable condition/for sale?

I like keeping a spare set around for when mine start fading and need to be resurfaced. Easier to do in the workshop and then just swap in known good units than try to do it on the car and try to avoid scratching the paint.

That said, I am trying a can of 2K clear this time I do them, so maybe I won't have to do it every couple years anymore.....

If i am able to get the post facelift swap done in time, the old headlights will be available to the price of a cold beer...maybe 2

[KZJonny]

16 minutes ago, jaylew said:

If i am able to get the post facelift swap done in time, the old headlights will be available to the price of a cold beer...maybe 2

That sir, is a deal, should you happen to finish that particular project before the meet. I'm sure I can find more than a 2-pack of someting crafty in exchange.

I feel like half my trunk coming down is gonna be tools (just in case) and the other half will be beer. Might still be room for a tent in there somewhere tho!

Also, finally got a couple of things scratched off the list. First post edited.

[tysparks81]

@m sprank White vinyl, but if you can get them in any other colour I would be willing to pay a little extra.  I would want to get the sedan in gold or pink so it goes with the other gold or pink stickers on my car.

 

I too have a long of a list of items to address before the meet.  Listed in order of which I will probably complete them.

Replace defective Denso O2 with a replacement - Done

Install & wire up 08-09 steering wheel +i85 harness for swc - Done 

Finish carbon ebrake handle & install - done

Replace an endlink bushing - done

Intall roof rack - done

Replace rotors, pads, and paint calipers at all 4 corners - Done 

Oil & Filter Change - Done

transmission/diff flush & re-fill - Pending

Re-seal rear diff - Pending

Change spark plugs - Pending

Prep/sand/paint and install spats, stakes, front lip & duckbill - Painted/Clear coat applied - waitng to polish and buff before installing them

Swap on new (rust free colour matched) doors, hood & trunk lid (waiting for warmer weather) - 3 of 4 doors replaced

Replace an exhaust coupler

Repaint front & rear bumper - Spots filled, and bumpers sanded waiting on paint

Touch up some rust spots on the car

Re-tint windows

 

Edited May 24, 2023 by tysparks81
Updated what's been done

[m sprank]

Stickers are matte white vinyl.  

[KZJonny]

Always two steps forward one step back...

Spent some time underneath the car marking out the RSB supports for drilling to match the USDM car. In addition spend at least a half hours screwing around with various performance shim combinations to get the sway bar links to be a little more nice and vertical, take some of the tension off the bushes...

Only to notice while doing so that one of my out CV boots lost a clamp and puked grease all over the inside of my new aluminum JDM trailing arms.... Blah. So, add CV boot replacement to the list of things to do and find some rags. Hah!

[Enlight]

Progress continues... installed cam seals, AVCS solenoids, block plugs and cleaned up the workspace a little bit.

[KZJonny]

 

Not quite done, and the headlights need to be refinished before it all goes back together. (Going to try 1K clear coat on a set and see how it holds up.)

But really,the rad support and CV boot were what I would consider the only safety/critical items on my list before taking the car out for a drive. So…. Progress. Should at least be ‘ready’ by the end of the week.

Edited April 24, 2023 by KZJonny

[jaylew]

everyone is so productive. I need to get to work. I am still trying to get my garage set up so that I can actually do work efficiently in it. At this rate my goals are quickly being reduced to

1) change the damn oil

2) try and get the face lift install done so I can fulfill a promise to supply headlights @KZJonny who knows...maybe ill drive home with flashlights in place of headlights

[KZJonny]

Give up on getting things organized. I helps. Sort of. Hah!

I'll take a picture of all the garbage I need to step over to get anywhere in the garage, since it is currently equal parts car workshop, carpentry studio and storage for building supplies. Not pretty.

The really big kicker is having the car on a set of Bendpak QuickJacks, all of which is sitting between the uprights of a Bendpak 2-post. That is disheartening, but I've waited to 2 weeks (so far) ot hear back about getting permits to start electrical work.... *le sigh*

[m sprank]

Permits???  Whats that???  Here in Murica you just hang a tarp and shoot down any drones.  If theres no video, theres no evidence.

Just make sure not to leave the door open for too long once your done. 

[boxkita]

i put a plug on the end of my cable and plugged into the welding jack 

[KZJonny]

14 hours ago, m sprank said:

Permits???  Whats that???  Here in Murica you just hang a tarp and shoot down any drones.  If theres no video, theres no evidence.

Just make sure not to leave the door open for too long once your done. 

Yeah. I'm not planning on waiting for any kind of permit before starting to wire up the actual garage. In fact, I don't believe I even need one since I am the homeowner, and entitled to do my own work. Insurance is where it gets sticky, and I'll have to investigate that. There will be too much time and money gone into the building (and it's contents!!) not to have some kind of insurance on it. A post install inspection may be required, but I'm not going to stop making progress to accomodate that.

The permit I need is to replace the mains panel in my house with a larger and more modern one. No way to do that job unless they utilities come and disconnect your house from the grid. Working live is one thing, working live on 100A mains is suicidal. There isn't enough space in it right now to have independant circuits for my welding station, air compressor and dryer, so they are all on the same 30A circuit, which is a pretty big no-no. There is also NO space for the 60A breaker needed to run power out to the garage. I'm sort of stuck until that permit arrives, and the work can get done. And where I live, you are not permitted to panel work as a homeowner, you must be a licenced electrician so it's one of those few job I'll have to pay someone else to do.

13 hours ago, boxkita said:

i put a plug on the end of my cable and plugged into the welding jack 

I thought about this, and maybe making a pigtail that will adapt from the receptacle for my dryer (14-30R), which is near a window at the back of the house, to the extension cord for my TIG, which is 14-50R, although it only uses a maximum of 28A @ 240v.  The cord itself is 50', so it should easily make it. If things slow down that badly, I may. The pigtails are annoyingly expensive to buy, and not a lot cheaper to make for yourself, but if I ever had to drag the tig to someone else's place to work, it would be handy, since I could plug into an existing 30A dryer circuit... hmmm...

[KZJonny]

Actually, FWIW, looks like a pigtail is as cheap as $20 CAD on Amazon.... so, considering how often it would get used, that might be the way to go if I get held up a whole lot longer. I'd want something better for a frequently used peice of electronics, but as the hyrdaulic motor only needs 25A at inrush and less for operation, I suspect that it wouldn't be working the wiring in the pigtail all that hard...

[KZJonny]

On 2/10/2023 at 8:29 AM, jaylew said:

I'll join in.

Must do:

-Buy all the Supertech oil available from local walmarts That was easy. Just hit order and it 6x 5qrt containers showed up

- bleed the brakes. Fluid is coming up on 4 years old likelihood of happening before the meet 56% chance

- Clean off some paint I stupidly put on the machined surface of the knuckles where wheel bearings go. (Don't tell me how I am an idiot...I already know that). Car has been driving fine, it just not the correct thing to have done likelihood of happening before meet 0% chance

- Maybe fix / replace all evap lines for the gas tank....maybe a new tank too . Not mission critical as it still runs fine but it'd be nice to have that not leak every now and again likelihood of happening before the meet 0% chance

 

Nice to do:

- refinish face lifted headlights likelihood before meet - idk but I made a promise

- install face lifted front bumper and fenders likelihood before meet - idk but I made a promise

- replace leather wrap on steering wheel lol

- the list goes on for mods as I am sure that's the case for most everyone here

 

Lol!

I also make it a point of keeping promises, but I didn't consider that offer to be one. If it helps to motivate you to get that one job done, then great tho!

I appreciate the frank assessment of the likelihood of some of those jobs happening. Maybe we really should aim for that Finger Lakes fun run this Autumn, might be the kick in the ass some of us need to finish up some of the other things on these lists that won't get done before the meet!

I know with the things on my list that almost certainly won't get done, or have a 17% chance of happening, I would have another go at them over the summer. In my case, the rad support replacement took up a bunch of evenings and nearly a whole weekend of working while the sun was up... I could've done 4-5 other jobs in that time, but I wouldn't be driving down there at all with the front end in the shape that is was.....

[boxkita]

i've been reading up about a properly outfitted gr86 needs. it's more than my track wagon had. I'm going to do the bare minimum - oil change before track day

- new pads before I leave

- track pads and rotors for weekend, then sell them.

 

as for your permits, get a whole house permit. covers all sins. they'll never ask to see your plug on your lift.

in seattle, panel replacement requires an inspection. everything gets an "all good". at least it did in our case. insurance didn't care because inspection signed off.

if your house catches fire from shoddy electrical work, it's usually apparent when you fire up the circuit the first time. the ones that catch fire are from multiple serial extension cords running higher than expected loads. or using speaker cord instead of 12 guage

[m sprank]

My uncles owned a small construction company that specialized in custom homes.  I tended to work construction during the summers.  I have performed a few "hot taps" in my day when the electric company would lag at sending out the tech so we could "hit the lights" on a new house.  Young, dumb and full of ...   Amazing I survived to be 20, LOL. 

[boxkita]

i hired a high-end electric company to re wire my house 20+ years ago. When they were ready to call for the first inspection, I pushed the button for the garage door opener. There was a brief bzzt, a bright flash, and the garage door crashed down after running free. Seeing the "huh" look on the master electrician's face was not inspiring.

We settled out of court. 

I spent several years redoing all the crap they messed up. Some on my own and some via heavily shadowed pros.

hiring a professional doesn't mean you are getting professional work. just work. The master quotes, the journeyman and apprentice do all the work. And alot times its the apprentice doing the work.

/grumble 

[KZJonny]

FWIW - I appreciate all the feedback and experiencial advice. Probably makes more sense to carry on the conversation over in my garage build thread, but for the moment, whatever...

And yeah. I have a neighbour/friend who is a licenced electrician and buddy who is a master electrician. So, at least I have good sources to bounce ideas off of, and ask for advice. I am by no means and electrician, but then again, I'm also not an automotive technician. With lots of research and a thorough understanding of principals, however, you can go a long way.

I am a licenced HAM radio operator, and the training and testing for that covers much more than a basic understanding of electrical work, and electronics. Combine that with some attention to detail and a handful of basic tools, and house wiring is really pretty simple on the whole. Obey all the minimum requirements for wiring and breakers and don't have more potential draw on any given circuit that is allowed, and you should be in the clear.

Not putting down the tradesmen who do this kind of work. They can do it far faster than I can, and spend less time referring to the local code books, but at the end of the day it's the kind of things you can do yourself with a little reading and a lot of care....

I do draw a very hard line at changing out my own panel tho... Even if I were permitted to do it, which I am not. 

[Enlight]

Does anyone in this thread have the OEM STi Defi gauges? I'm looking for info on how to properly install the sandwich adapter. Going by the manual, there is no placeholder to insert an O-ring between the oil cooler and the sandwich adapter. Would anyone mind taking a look at their setup? I wonder if the manual is wrong.

 

[Infosecdad]

Maybe I'm totally missing something, but wouldn't the o-ring mentioned in the diagram be that black "o-ring" on the GReddy sandwich adapter?