Back on the road!!!

Well, since it only took me 30 min to take it apart and that everything looked great inside (except for the back of the TO bearing), I decided to just replace the TO unit. Oh well, if it leaks later, I will have another excuse to go wrenching.

 

Well, while I am waiting on the Hill TO bearing to arrive, I did a few other little repair/upgrade tasks. Tonight I replaced the popping door pins on both doors. Not too soon either because the driver door pin was broken in half. Now no popping from either door. Then I made up a piece of black plastic trim to go around the CD changer in the front trunk. When I got the car, there was a CD changer installed in the front end. But it did not work. So when I went to replace it, I could not find one that was the same size. They were all smaller due to improved technology. So I was left with a large gap around the new CD changer. I took the black textured plastic base from one of my diecast cars and cut it to make a nice trim piece. I am happy with the finished look. Hey Ernie, am I earning any points toward my own Stooge tinfoil hat?
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I do have a pic where you can just see where the back side is bulged up(left side). You can barely see the start of the crack there on the lower left side of the seal area. I forgot to take a pic showing the side crack with the black seal sticking out. It is now at a shop of a friend of mine where he is welding it back together. I am now getting the Hill unit but he wanted to give it a try anyway. My Hill TO unit is arriving today! I am watching for the Fedex truck like Al Bundy watching for the pizza guy!
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Look what I just got from the Fedex man! It is a thing of beauty. I sort of hate to have to put it inside of the clutch housing. Then, nobody can see it.


Thanks Daniel for getting my parts out so quickly!
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I am back again!! I installed the Hill TO bearing and everything works great! I did have a head scratcher for about 20 minutes though. I have an air powered brake bleeder system. I ran it for 10 minutes and not a drop of fluid would come out of the clutch bleeder. I finally took the bleeder tube off to try and pour fluid into the TO unit to prime it. That is when I found that someone had put a rubber stopper into the bottom of the bleeder tube. I guess it was dripping and that was their solution. I was happy to see it though because I knew it would bleed out now. After it was bled and everything was checked, I took her out for a test spin. Everything works great now. So I am back on the road again!

 

Thanks PAP!!! It feels so good to get her back on the road again. The popping doors noise is what happens when the roll pins that hold the door damper to the door get worn. You hear a popping sound as you slowing open your door each time the door gets to one of the stopping positions. I read about them in the 348 primer. The roll pin in the drivers door was cracked in half. If it had fallen out, my door would have opened too far and damaged the front fender. My door locks were working fine but the lock linkage on the driver door was gone. I am guessing that the small plastic hub that breaks often must have broken and the previous owner did not want to hassle with fixing it. So he just removed the hanging lever and linkage (never to be found). So I made a replacement instead of paying over $300 for a new one. Now the door locks work fine from either door.

 

I do have a very minor issue but I do not think it is a big deal. When I first started her up and took off, the 1-4 slowdown light came on. I drove around a bit and it went off. It came back on again for a few more minutes and when off for the rest of the trip (about 2 hours). This is the second time it has done this. Tomorrow I will reset the ECU's and let it idle for 10 minutes to start the data recording over. Other than that, she is running strong and idling great.

 

Well, if your doors are making the popping sound when you open them, I would not wait too long to replace the pins in the. I would hate to see a pic of your driver door dug into the side of your fender. It only takes a few minutes to change them out and the pins are cheap so it is a very quick fix.




By the way, I love my new Ferrari key holder! It was nice to come in from my drive and know exactly where to put the keys to my precious.