73 2.0L Progress Thread, Engine Teardown Options

[dlee6204]

Oh and I also installed the heat ducting on the car. Now I just have to order some hoses and find a fan splitter so I can cruise in warmth! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)

[silver74insocal]

wow waht a great thread thanks for all the info ..good job and happy motoring (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[maf914]

Doug,

Nice work. It looks like you are making good progress.

What brand tires are those? I will need tires soon and I am also using 205/60-15's. The only high performance tires I can locate are BF-Goodrich G-Force Sports and Yokohama AVS ES-100's. I guess no one cares about 15" wheels anymore. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

[dlee6204]

Nice work. It looks like you are making good progress.

What brand tires are those? I will need tires soon and I am also using 205/60-15's. The only high performance tires I can locate are BF-Goodrich G-Force Sports and Yokohama AVS ES-100's. I guess no one cares about 15" wheels anymore.

Thanks Mike. The tires are Goodyear Eagle GT's that I got off Tire Rack. The G-Force Sports were my second option however based on reviews i read, Eagle GT's had a little better wet traction and they also had a 50,000 mile warranty. Other than those two things, both tires are very compareable. Here is an interesting article that I read on the Eagle GTs. Article. I'll post my review on here once I run them a bit.

[dakotaewing]

And I did a little "upgrade" to the rear trunk. I added a second light. To me, it made sense to have one on both sides. This setup helps light up the entire trunk also lights up both sides of the engine compartment instead of one.

I painted the top part of the reflective lens and housing with a reflective paint. This keeps the light reflected down in the engine compartment.

Do you have any close ups of the finished product? How did you deal with getting the hole the perfect size for the light? Thanks!

Thom

[dlee6204]

Do you have any close ups of the finished product? How did you deal with getting the hole the perfect size for the light? Thanks!

I actually don't have any more pictures of the install. The extra light is mounted the same way any stock trunk light is and the hardest part about doing this was getting the rectangular hole cut out. Using the light's gasket I traced out where the holes needed to be. To make the rectangular hole, i drilled a hole on each end and then cut out the section between the holes using a cutoff wheel. I then used a series of square files to get the hole down to a perfect size to fit the light. To wire it, I simply extended the wires over from the original light.

At night this second light really lights up the trunk and the passenger side of the engine down by the injectors and intake runners. It was definitely a worthwhile modification.

[dlee6204]

Do you have any close ups of the finished product? How did you deal with getting the hole the perfect size for the light? Thanks!

I actually don't have any more pictures of the install. The extra light is mounted the same way any stock trunk light is and the hardest part about doing this was getting the rectangular hole cut out. Using the light's gasket I traced out where the holes needed to be. To make the rectangular hole, i drilled a hole on each end and then cut out the section between the holes using a cutoff wheel. I then used a series of square files to get the hole down to a perfect size to fit the light. To wire it, I simply extended the wires over from the original light.

At night this second light really lights up the trunk and the passenger side of the engine down by the injectors and intake runners. It was definitely a worthwhile modification.

[dlee6204]

I haven't been able to do much with the car yet due to this...




We had to use the garage for other projects so both the Bug and the 914 have had to sit outside. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) I did manage to get the heater system fully hooked up. Even with a few inches of snow on it, it still heats up pretty good inside! Hopefully all the salt on the road will wash away in the next day or two.

[dlee6204]

Christmas came early yesterday. I got a tow bar adapter and lights so that I will eventually be able to flat tow my 914 anywhere! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)



Here it is on a bare shell

[dlee6204]

I also got the tires mounted today (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)





The car looks much better now with the Fuchs added. The tires had a stiffer sidewall than the old ones so it actually raised the car a half inch or so. I drove the car around a bit and the new tires felt much better. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)

[dlee6204]

Not much progress but lots of a driving! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif) I was able to make a Radio faceplate from an original one.


I cut a hole for a standard DIN size radio.


And my high tech weight mechinism to hold it flat while it dries.


Ta-da!

[dlee6204]

And here it is in the car. I still need to clean the rest of the dash.

[dlee6204]

I'm planning on taking the car out of town for New Years. Its a 300 mile round trip so I have a few things I want to get done before I leave on the 31st.

-change tranny fluid
-adjust the shift linkage
-seal up some areas underneath (wet weather expected)
-clean up the interior
-check CV joint bolts
-check for slop in the front end
-adjust the rear brake clearance

The car should be able to make the trip however anything can happen...

[bcheney]

Just checked our your thread for the first time. You are doing a great job!! Keep the faith and you're gonna have one helluva nice ride!!

[wponting]

do you know anywhere i can find those LED strips that you used?

[dlee6204]

The LED strips I used were the FLB30 series from Super Bright LEDs Inc.

[dlee6204]

So I got back from my trip on the 2nd and have been too lazy to update this thing. The car made the trip just fine however two things did come up.

1. The ignition switch decided to stop working. It is a new switch so who knows. This didn't bother me much because i placed a jumper wire in the engine bay that leads to the starter. I added this the last time the switch failed just in case.

2. I replaced the cork oil filler gasket before the trip. I noticed after driving the car that it leaks some oil. I guess I just have to make sure it is mating properly.

Here are some pictures from my trip.

If you look through the trees, you can see the lake we were on.


A friend took this of me on the highway

[dlee6204]

So as some of you know I had a little accident in my 914 when it snowed here. I slid off into a ditch and hit a tree. You can read about it HERE

Well I started to fix the damage. I stripped the front end and I was able to get the front end pulled back out to speck. The headlight bucket was push in a little bit.

This is the channel at the top of the headlight bucket. You can see how its bent.


I had to remove the shelf in the front trunk but I already pulled another one from my parts car. I'll replace the vertical support too.

[jonferns]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/clap56.gif) Looks like its coming along. Let me know if theres any metal you need, I have a parts car at work.

[dlee6204]

And that's pretty much all I got done this past weekend. I do have bigger news though. I've gotten tired of looking at my multicolored car and have decided to PAINT it. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) I have my spring break from school coming up the beginning of March and so I have a good 10 days to work on it. My goal is to have most of the bodywork completed by the end of break but we all know how that goes. I plan to strip the exterior of the car down to bare metal and just sand down the trunks. More details to come in a week or so.





I also had a clean hood that I will use. The old one never fit right even before the accident.