The Red Green Machine

[Ned Loh]

Anyone have any recommendations?

Not really. Asking ask the STA brake grease (compatible with rubber seals) I use seems to have disappeared by the time I change pads. Let us know if you land on a good solution which doesn’t involve greasing every time the car sees the track…

[Roadrunner]

After fighting slide pins after every track day due to the magic disappearing grease, I got put onto Penrite Copper-eze.
Brilliant stuff. Especially after I replaced the front slide pin (with rubber sleeve) with a solid pin, I haven't had any issues. Still sliding as smoothly now as when it was first put in.
https://penriteoil.com.au/assets/pis_pdfs/COPPER%20EZE%20.pdf

[greenMachine]

Thanks RR, nice to get a recommendation from someone who gives them a workout!

In other news the rear end is together. I made a quickie trip to Sydney, spent some time with Grandie #3, then the following morning rocked up to Heaesmans. On the phone they said it would be 20 mins, but it was probably closer to an hour by the time I got out of there with one nicely functioning shock, the lock nuts moving freely again after a touch-up on the lathe to clean up the threads.

I wasn't going to put the shocks on without some protection, given my dirt road seems to produce some very abrasive dust and the rear seals are becoming a consumable item. Heasemans could only suggest some ladies' stockings! Lachie, I tried to buy the Inertia Labs dust covers you suggested but they were unavailable, so I got a couple from MCA.

Tightening the LCA inners I noticed that the axle shaft at the diff end had not gone completely back into the diff housing, so the RUCA outer was undone and after a single hefty shove seems to have clicked home. It will need a wheel alignment, not only have I changed the ride height, but the RR corner has been taken apart and put back together and inevitably the old settings will have been disturbed.

I just need to install a couple of trim pieces around the steering wheel, replace the window switches, and put the seats in and the interior is finished. Under the car the radiator tray has to go back on after giving the oil leaks a good wipe.

Almost there.

[greenMachine]

After that EOFY post, things have proceeded at the rate of a startled snail.

Found some stripped/damaged threads in the steering column cowl, fixed.

Then there was the saga of the 'broken' frankensein bolt (recorded for posterity elsewhere ), fixed.

4wd stance - fixed. I had reset the shocks with too high ride height, hopefully now a better compromise between ground clearance and CoG.

All ready to go to the shop to get the damaged bracing repaired, backed it out to drive it onto the waiting car trailer - no clutch! After a mad moment getting it stopped (gear lever stuck in reverse ), and a bit of sleuthing, diagnose leaking clutch slave cylinder. Ring around to find a new one, 'no, but we can get one from our supplier in Sydney/Melbourne/Woopwoop/... , overnight if it is in stock' ) I finally found a reco one.

Get the car back in the garage, up on the high axle stands, bottom bolt out, top bolt - rounded off, socket just rattles around !!! I don't think it was me, but who else? Again, long story short, I found a mobile thread repair specialist, he was doing a job locally so could do it today. Five minutes and $175 later, bolt is out.

It is freezing here, temperature fluctuating around 3-5*, 'feels like' down to -1.5* , so getting the replacement on and bled will have to wait till tomorrow.

[greenMachine]

Well things got quite complicated quite quickly.

First the bloke fixing the bracing decided to go on holiday to WA next week, and with a rego deadline looming I needed to get my finger out and get the car to him ASAP.

But the new slave just did not want to bleed! Saga written up here. Long story short, finally got enough pedal for the car to be driveable, and got it trailered out the other side of Canberra lunchtime. This evening a phone call, the car is ready - onya Rod!!

[ManiacLachy]

Nothing like a deadline to light a fire under you! Those clutch hydrolics are sounding very temperamental

[greenMachine]

Yes, but this time the fire had mixed results!

I think I made a mistake (because deadline) and sucked the master dry, to fill with new fluid. I think that introduced air to the line, and the thick crappy stuff further down didn't want to drain or pass air up (I have a custom line running straight up from the slave to the master, and that will allow air to flow up when the fluid is in good nick - so I am told. Same reason the vac bleeder struggled and basically failed. I should have been more patient, but the looming deadline and growing frustration with the failure to bleed properly combined to produce a predictable result.

[greenMachine]

Yes, the car passed rego inspection this afternoon, and the rego has been paid, so it is fully road legal, and boy am I looking forward to going for a blast!!

I think that it is the best part of 12 months since it has been dríven, after I decided to pull the dash to replace the heater core and then couldn't complete the job until recently.

It needs a wheel alignment before it does any distance, and I will put the tyres on the Storms and run those now that thanks to Chris Gough/MX5parts I have a shiny new one to replace the repaired bent one. The repair is not 100% (the colour matching is not quite right) so I am keeping it as a spare.

I have cut the old softtop off though the frame is still in the car, I need to sell some lenses and model kits to fund the new softtop. I might even get enough to fund a Pulsar GTX2 2860 snail, it would be a pity to waste that Kraken manifold that I have in the workshop ...

[ManiacLachy]

Nice work! Congrats on getting her back on the road. Hopefully you get some clear weather soon for a blast.

And yes, it would be a shame to leave that manifold on the shelf!

[Daffy]

Nice work! Congrats on getting her back on the road. Hopefully you get some clear weather soon for a blast.

And yes, it would be a shame to leave that manifold on the shelf!

Ditto that!!

[greenMachine]

Really nice to get out and put some kms on the car. Couple of issues have arisen, crank sensor is on the way out - I have a spare or two so NBD there - and a banging from the LHS of the car, sounds like a loose/broken brace under the car.

I had a wheel alignment done this week
-2.5* camber, 6* castor, 0 toe on the front
-2* camber and 1/8th total toe on the rear.

It now handles like the proverbial dream, very happy! Especially since I am down to do the track day at Pheasant Wood on Sunday - in the rain!!

Unfortunately the Falcon has developed that Falcon split rear brake hose malady and can't do tow car duty. That means I have to drive it down, but given the forecast rain I will run it on the nearly new RS-RRs - assuming that rattle is not going to rule it out.

[ManiacLachy]

I like those alignment specs for a street machine with track bias. I'm due an alignment myself, but finding someone you trust to take the time is tricky!

That banging is a little worrying, you'll have to get under the car and see what's loose. I don't know if I'd want to be going hard on a track with that going on

[greenMachine]

Well, today did not go to plan at all.

First up cleaned a very dirty crank angle sensor, and having a look under the car with the rattle gun. All bolts were tight, but the front bracing has some of the light panels pretty bent. The ones around the cat are almost touching it, and I am pretty sure these are the source of the noise. The panel was going to come off tomorrow, but ...

The battery dies on me - again. So yesterday I had swung by the battery place and got them to check it after the wheel alignment shop had to jump start it, and check the alternator. All good, so that is $200 that stayed in my pocket. However today, with the boot up and the two number plate lights burning for an hour or more, it was dead when I went to move it again. Fortunately it responded quickly to the charger and started the car, but that is a good enough sign that that $200 will be exiting my pocket tomorrow!

So the first thing that gets done tomorrow is going into town and getting a new battery, and then maybe I will pull the brace off and do some straightening and/or trimming.

[greenMachine]

Car is off the road again, this time it is serious. Very serious.

Went to Pheasant Wood, first session out, misfire returned and the a bad rattle surfaced.

Long story short, pulled the plugs and measured the depth of the piston pairs yesterday. As foreshadowed earlier elsewhere, No4 is 6mm (!!) lower than No1 at around TDC. Suffice it to say, the plugs are not going back in any time soon. I am on the hunt for some forged rods (possibly have a set if they can be found), a look down the bore shows no obvious sign of piston damage but highly probably there was some detonation to trigger the bendy rod, so a close look at No4 piston will be in order when it comes out.

While I am not looking forward to the rebuild, what I am more concerned about is exactly what brought about the failure. It is possible that it is a relic of some incident prior to my ownership but even then it had lasted well enough into my ownership. Bad injector? Old/bad fuel? The tune is a safe one, but that will be looked at too.

So there it is, the garage queen rules again!

[bruce]

That's not good news.