Attack of my 1982 GS!

[Low Impedance]

Well i dont really see the point of back going into extensive verbage on getting the car up to the point where i sold it. For starters, i basically torn the car down to nothing. Here she is prior to me selling it prior still to me moving to Colorado. Really only thing keeping it from running was a fuel flow issue. Guy i sold it too sold the engine out of it, planning on doing something, but as fate would have it, its coming back into my possession!






And for once i am actually going to have everything i need to finish a project. I am using the engine from the 1988 Vert i have now parted. Has higher mileage, burns some oil, but for now, it runs. Good enough for now. Already have the SE pan for installation and the related 12a parts for adaptation.

As for the goodies, i started buying some good deals and much needed items to ensure i can get this thing done before i leave in late April for the Air Force.

These include but are not limited to:
TWM Downdraft style individual throttle bodies
TWM Downdraft 6 port manifold
Megasquirt
Summit Racing EFI fuel pump
Aeromotive 13109 FPR
Summit Racing CDI box
(3) Summit Racing Coils (LS1 style ones)
Pineapple Racing Aux Port Sleeves
Pineapple Racing MOP block off
Pineapple Racing Oil Injector Plugs
New Exedy oem replacement clutch
Atkins Side mount alt kit
S5 alt with double pulley
RE SPEED front big brake kit w/ 5x114.3 hubs, 10.7" rotors, and 4 piston calipers.
Vert BBS wheels
(2) Tokico struts for the rear
Stainless clutch line

This is addition to the stuff i have already done previously to the car:
Suspension Techniques front and rear sway bar
GSL-SE suspension
Stainless Braid brake lines
kia sportage 4.78 final drive 3rd member (getting the SE LSD this weekend)
Eibach springs
Hurst shift knob
Isuzu Impulse seats (hoping to replace with something nicer, at least for driver here soon)

[Low Impedance]

while we made a side trip to grab two LS mesh wheels for Amy's civic, we came a crossed Sparta.

[Low Impedance]

Today i got a ton of things done!!!! Thats to Peejay for coming out and helping. Wouldn't have gotten 25% of what i got done with his help.

For starters, we got the front cover and oil pan on after spending some time scrapping away the world's hardest known substance, oil gasket. Right Stuff(tm) made up the new gasket and we carried on with the process of getting the engine ready. Also got the new Exedy clutch and PP on.

Next part that was a somewhat pain was bending the cross member in order to fit the 13B engine on the 12a subframe. While you could just spend the money on a pre made one, its really not worth it if you just have a vise, a tape measure and perhaps a pry bar. Essentially, you need to move the position of the slots about 20mm down to compensate for the increased size of the 13B. You will also have to cut a corner of the short side's ear for clearance reasons. Yes i do plan on cleaning the engine. My intake stuffs should be arriving soon. With a whole lot of luck the car may run by next weekend! Gotta love a time crunch.

[Low Impedance]

The next thing that was tackled was the 3rd member. I wanted to retain the LSD so we had to do some time with the rear end. i went to the junkyard a friend owns on Saturday (yesterday) and came across another Kia Sportage 4x4. So i came home with the 3rd member. This made today's mess a bit less of a hassle since Peejay had limited time on his hands. Having plenty more experience on setting up rear differentials that i, Pete swapped the differentials, while i documented the process for a write up ill be doing soon.

The biggest thing was trying to get the backlash set. The Mazda manual does not give useful insight on bearing preload. Pete reversed engineering their setup and determined the preload to be about 2-1/2 holes. He also recommended tightening up the backlash. The GSLSE rear end was around .007" while the Kia rear was .011". But from experience, a backlash of .004" was chosen. But synthetic lubricant is now a requirement. This should reduce the noise from the rear from chattering and also help keep it alive. After getting everything wrapped on this, i stuff on the shelf til i get the lift open so i can swap it out for the Open 4.78 3rd member currently in the car.

[Low Impedance]

Just when you thought that i had done enough today, i go and do something else. By 4:30 Pete had left so i decided to start the RE Speed Big Brake kit for the fronts. I started buy first getting all my FC parts together, and reading and re-reading the directions. Again, there will be another write up on this as well going into details. I did not have undersized spindles so no expensive Loktite was needed.

Everything well very well (nice having torches) until i tried to separate the rotors from the hubs on the FC 5 lug hubs. They just would not budge. Tried PB for a while, torches and plenty of hammering on and off the car. No go. Then the damn rotor completely broke off on the one side. :banghead: So i have to get the other set of hubs that a rotor-less tomorrow. Then i can finish putting the calipers on.

Then yet another issue developed. I had no wheels that fit that have tires on them. The vert wheels are off about an 1". No way no how were those going to fit. Not sure what size spacer would have been needed, but the tires on the rims were too large anyway. Since i could not keep the car in the bay for tomorrow, i had to improvise. Stole the spare out my friends convertible and had a DSM guy i know lend me his spare as well. So i now have two spare up front. This will have to stay this way til i figure something out.

[Low Impedance]

And of course, the rotor that had be an asshat.

[RX-7 Chris]

Like that rotor. That is what you get for having a car from the rust belt.

[jamiel]

nice build pics

[Low Impedance]

Today was more of a lateral movement, but for sure worth mentioning.

I cleaned some of the engine up, removed the oil injectors and plugged them with the Pineapple Racing plugs i got. Then i decided to get the radiator in and removed the studs from the water pump. Little stuff sure. But needed.

Next came installing the Atkins side mount alternator kit. Was extremely easy to do. Very well designed. I am going to be running an S5 alternator with a double pulley. Still need to buy two belts though.

Next i want to tackle the brake project. I had my two good hubs obtained. So i was ready. So i thought. Hubs went on fine. Rotors the same. But when i tried to get the calipers on, it was a no go. No matter how i oriented the mounting plate, spacers, etc, the caliper always hit the rotor somewhere. No good. Lots of vulgar words. Im talking with Billy with RE Speed looking for a why. Im thinking the plates might be warped.

The picture below you can the mounting bracket. Turns out i had it backwards and need the other one i had on the other side to be proper. Else the top bolt wont clear the sturt. Still having the caliper hit though. You can see that in the last picture.

[Low Impedance]

in more good news, my individual throttle bodies, downdraft 13B 6PI manifold and megasquirt arrived today!

[jamiel]

in more good news, my individual throttle bodies, downdraft 13B 6PI manifold and megasquirt arrived today!

Shiny!

[Low Impedance]

well the brakes have finally been figured out. Brian (Driver216) came out (denote picture below) to lend a hand for a while. Took a lot of tinkering but ii got the caliper to clear the rotor. Then came the brake line issues. The calipers are forward of the spindle so the stock FC brake lines didnt just "work". I tried rebending the hardline piece but that proved futile. Ended up using the stainless FB ones i already had. Got everything bleed and holy crap, the pedal feel. The thing is gonna stop good.

Next i just wanted to see what the Primes looked like. Well they for sure clear, but once i get tires on them i am going to HAVE to run fender flares.

Since the intake manifold, throttle bodies etc came in i wanted to get the mounted up. But the intake manifold need some work. Had to port match the hell out of the primary runners. They were way off. Then drilled and tapped for the brake booster vacuum nipple. From here assembly the intake and throttle bodies was pretty straight forward. I believe it uses Bosch injectors, so i am going to have to obtain a set. I also need to figure out how i am going to run the TPS.

[RX-7 Chris]

You need to do something about that electric fan. you will end up with one cold spot on the radiator and the rest will get too hot. That is why shrouds go over the whole thing. I would get a 3.8L ford taurus fan. It fits in great and has more power then that thing will ever. also the way that was mounted is bad as well. if you hit a number of big bumps you may crack the radiator.

Everything else is looking great.

[AIM WO4]

I love that fan! Looks like it may be from "12 Angry Men".

[Low Impedance]

Tonight was pretty productive as well. I elected to remove the HVAC out of the car. Which was easily up until the heater core. That thing is a pain. This allow for a ton of space under the dash. I then assembled the Aux port sleeves with the Pineapple racing inserts.



The owner of the Marathon i have been doing this work at has some nifty tools, so just to see how the sleeve lined up inside i used this cool video camera with an LED on the end of it thing. I was surprised by how much the casting of the iron when passed the opening of the sleeve.



Next i mounted the CDI box on the back side of the glove box. There is plenty of room under there now for wiring and to give the box some air flow. Plus there is no chance of rain getting to it. Im trying to keep the engine bay clean. I also mounted the Megasquirt in place of the little pocket under the radio. Going to be running all the wires out of the one of the former heater core holes in the firewall.



Next up, i finally wanted to install the leading coils somewhere. Figured out that the side of the radiator would be the best place to do so. The things are pretty big so there were not too many options that looked good. Ended up making a bracket. Pictures will explain the rest.