Mods begin again

[Cman01]

Ok here are some pics of the CHE axle brace install and Lethal Gen 2 OTA pipes. The pipes actually fit pretty well and were an easy install for my friend Mr. GM Freak (Clayton).

The brace was a bit of a PITA. Drilling the holes for it were a bitch even for C (he is the shop foreman at the Honda dealer I used to work at). He took his time going ever larger on the drill bit diameters to get to the hole size needed for the brace studs to pass through the housing. Drilling into cast iron wasn't bad but when he had to drill the 2 holes on the driver's side axle control arm plate that was hardened steel and that took a lot of time but he got it done.

Stock axle pipes removed, that took like 5 mins. for him.

C drilling axle housing for brace studs to pass through

Bolting down the brace

Since I don't have relo brackets, on the pass. side there are 2 spacer plates that go between the brace flange and the stock control arm axle bracket. Those plates don't just slide in you needed to pry the brace slightly to try to fit them into position, that was easier said than done. I was doing that for quite a while until the service manager at the dealership saw me working on the car with "C" and he told me for liability reasons I can't be under the car or work on it so I had to step back and let C handle the rest of the job. I used to work there but I know I shouldn't be doing things in the shop now as a non-employee. I didn't argue................at least he didn't say I couldn't even be in the shop so I let it go (the car did have a work order on it so it can be worked on and there will be a bill to pay later...................I get a really good labour rate though). When C took a look there he installed 1 spacer plate a certain way and the other one went in fairly easily..............that's why he's the shop foreman and I'm not......................that's experience.

The only real issue with the brace is the right bolt that attachs the brace to the diff cover plate was off a bit, everything lined up decent except for that. C will need to dremel a bit of the cover plate hole there for the bolt to line up to screw into the brace but his dremel that day was at home so basically I have to go back next week with the car and he will finish it off. So right now I'm driving the car with the brace on missing a bolt there (not worried about that it'll get taken care of)..................so much for afkt parts "bolting on" as I mentioned earlier.

The lethal axle pipes were again an easy install for him, took a bit longer to install than to pull off the stock pipes but C made sure proper clearances were under there and the mufflers looked even and not crooked. The only issue here right now is that each pipe is 2 piece (vs. the stock pipes which are 1 piece) so where they clamp together just going over the axle on both pipes I currently have a very minor exhaust leak. I'll let it go for now and I might consider welding them together at a muffler shop in the future.

C checking clearances as OTA pipes were installed

Finally done...............sorta

Glad this is done..............definitely not a job I would tackle in my garage without a lift. Sorry for the long posting.

Tony

 

[biminiLX]

Looks good buddy.
-J

 

[Cman01]

The axle brace is finally sorted out with the right side plate issue to the bolt brace area. A little dremel did the trick but currently instead of the supplied alum spacers between the brace and the cover plate (they are too thick) we had to put washers in there for now to take up the clearance.

Supplied spacers are 5/16" thick the clearance there is only 3/16" thick. GM Freak did install one spacer last week but looking back he didn't want any stresses on the parts so he went this route. All fasteners now can be threaded in by hand without needing the tools till final tightening.

I will source out the proper thickness spacers down the road and replace the washers with them, not a big rush for that at the moment.

Today another friend will drop by and handle wiring in a switch for me to control the HE fans. Wished I didn't have to do this but I will need to remove the bumper again so he can access the HE wire harness. He needs access to the ground for the harness and the switch will interrupt the ground when off so the fans won't run and grounds the circuit when switched on all without messing with the operation of the IC pump.

Then I will be done for this part of the mods..........................until next month when the 3:90 goes in, all the parts are sitting and ready to be installed (seals, brgs, bolts, nuts everything replaced with the gear install).

 

[Cman01]

Switch is installed, now I have complete control over HE fan operation. Not too bad of an install and my friend did a great job routing the wiring and mounting the switch.

Bumper is still off the car, I've decided to redo the wiring on my Hella horns and remount them differently than what my previous pics show so I will take care of that before putting the bumper back on.....................will get done later today or tomorrow.

 

[Cman01]

Wiring and different placement of horns are done, bumper back on.

Fresh gas in car, gonna enjoy driving it for the next few weeks and not having to work on it.

3:90 gear install on deck.................scheduled for middle of June.

 

[SteveWK]

Been following your mods. I'm really curious what you think of the K-Member. I had a BMR K-Member on with the sole purpose of lowing the c.g. but I had lots of vibration which I think now was exhaust related - long tubes.

BTW - I quoted you in my sig. I got a huge laugh out of that comment and it is so true.

Steve

 

[Cman01]

I don't think I was the one that made that quote, what post was it in???

As for the K, I'm happy with it. Like I mentioned when I first got the car going a few weeks ago and just driving around my neighbourhood there is a bit more vibration usually on the first cold start. As I start driving I would feel tiny vibrations in my steering wheel then it goes away after a few minutes. On a cold start and idling the engine you feel the shakes a bit more then again it smoothes out after a few minutes.

My guess (and I'm speculating here), the poly engine mounts are hard on a cold start so you feel the vibs more then as the engine heats up and the compartment gets warm it might soften up the mounts a bit so they are more forgiving. I still have to retorque my fasteners though.

Basically when the engine is warmed up I don't feel any more extra vibrations vs. stock, it's only rougher on that initial cold start.

 

[SteveWK]

Cman01 - You are correct, it was Jam421 that made that quote. My mistake; though, still funny to me

I hope your experience with the k member will be better than mine. I was a happy camper when it was gone. But as I mentioned above, a lot of my disdain for it may have been because of the exhaust touching the body of the car.

I've had a lot of suspension mods done and removed for various reasons, and the two I won't removed are the Watts link and torque arm. I can't say exactly how much each contributed to the total experience, but my rear is planted and controllable now. I think the torque arm had the biggest effect. Something to consider.

Steve

 

[Cman01]

If you still have your BMR K member you should consider putting it back in after you sort out your exhaust issues. Your exhaust touching the body of your car isn't really the fault of a tubular K member.

I'm still running stock manifolds (but ORX and now Lethal OTA pipes), my exhaust isn't touching anywhere so other than the cold start extra vibs my car still feels like it has the stock K. I still have the tiny leaks from the OTA pipes but that's minor for now and isn't going to cause issues with driveability, right now I'm more concerned about bombing the car around to get more used to driving it with this current setup and getting prepped for the gear install.

 

[sleek98]

I pulled the battery and box out last night to run a new power wire for my rear intercooler pump and noticed that my header was resting on the stud that holds the ac lines down. The motor from below looked like there was clearance everywhere, you could see it was not touching the frame itself but with the battery box gone you could see it touching.

So I loosened the motor pushed it all the way over and pulled the stud out, cut it and put it back in. Now there is 1/8" clearance between it and headers. I would have never seen it as its back by the firewall without the box removed.

Hoping when I get my new pump in and can fire it back up that the vibration that I have been feeling is gone.

 

[SteveWK]

If you still have your BMR K member you should consider putting it back in after you sort out your exhaust issues. Your exhaust touching the body of your car isn't really the fault of a tubular K member.

I'm still running stock manifolds (but ORX and now Lethal OTA pipes), my exhaust isn't touching anywhere so other than the cold start extra vibs my car still feels like it has the stock K. I still have the tiny leaks from the OTA pipes but that's minor for now and isn't going to cause issues with driveability, right now I'm more concerned about bombing the car around to get more used to driving it with this current setup and getting prepped for the gear install.

I left the k-member with Chad at London Chassis works. He and I put my stocker back in and it instantly made a huge difference. This was mostly because of the stock motor mounts. And yes I drove 1/3 of the way across the country to have him do this among other things to the car because it was fubared after my Griggs install at Hallett Raceway.

They had this car so screwed up it was unbelievable. Never ever let their "Mustang Guy" touch your car including the brakes. For example, I saw some teenager sitting there with a pair of pliers and a Porsche caliper trying to gain enough clearance with the new pads to put them back on while marring the crap out of the caliper. "Hey these cost 20k per set." What a moron.

So, the short story is, no I don't have the k-member anymore. I was literally so disgusted I gave it to him and maybe threw it across the floor .