My 360 story

Finally! We will be ready for the upcoming season... We got running today. My 10 sec video too big to post.

The vacuum fill with air compressor tools are so cool! Once you pull vacuum, you mix your coolant and while doing so will know if you have any leaks prior to filling if you still have vacuum or not.

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When I first started, the oil pressure was about 70psi. Once the coolant was warm and the oil warming, the oil pressure seemed to drop to about 15psi! should I be alarmed about this? I never really noticed before...

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After a mere 263 days!!!

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I couldn't resist and bought an inexpensive coating thickness gauge. Except for the bumper, it's all original paint!
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If you have to ask when will it be done/finished, you just don't understand, it's not a destination it's a journey...

 

The following summarizes my overall cost of a MAJOR major service on a 360 Modena doing all the work yourself. There is a tremendous amount of work to do the work! You can certainly see why these service costs are not insignificant on these cars in addition to the cost of the parts. Overall, I enjoyed most of it! The hard parts that I expected, for the most part, were not as hard as I anticipated. There were a few surprisingly hard parts but not un-doable. On the other hand, if you do not enjoy it or have the desire then don’t do it.

Remove undertrays (rear + front)
Remove rear bumper
Remove rear grill

Remove engine panels
Remove air induction
Remove support frame
Remove exhaust + catalytic converters
Remove interior and access panel

Drain coolant
Drain engine oil
Drain transaxle oil

Since the throwout bearing failed I decided to replace the clutch disk and resurface the flywheel. “While I was there” I replaced the rear seal and re-machined the housing flat. I also replaced the throwout bearing studs with Hill Engineering parts since I had to cut the old ones. “While I was there” I also replace the transmission seal. At 40,000 miles and 20 years, it seemed like a small amount of effort and cost.

It appears that around 2010 the original clutch was replaced.

I discovered I had very little slip torque, so I removed the LSD and rebuilt it with brand new disks and clutches. This allowed me to clean, flush, and inspect the gearing. Since the differential gears looked really good, I did not disassemble the transmission. I just flushed it several times with mineral spirits and put the LSD back in.

Tensioner bearings from Hill Engineering come with the major service kit. One was actually in good shape; the other was on the verge of failing! The seal was gone and the balls were running rough. I decided to replace the hydraulic tensioners since my car was 20 years old and updated my bracket for the newer style on the driver’s side.

I discovered play in the water pump shaft and decided to replace the pump. The module had to come out anyways since the power steering reservoir started to leak from the hose. I replaced the crimp clamp with a new one and eliminated that leak.

I replace the cam cover gaskets that come with the kit. The ONLY thing I did not do was replace the cam seals. I did not see the point in removing the cams from the engine. If they begin to leak, I can always do that on the next belt change.

I replace all belts and tensioned them with the iPhone harmonic app to get the proper tension. I think that with my habits, etc. I will probably look at replacing the timing belts in 5 years and the next owner will just have to deal with my “negligence”! The belts I removed were 10 years and possibly 20k ish miles.

I did a significant amount of cleaning, detailing, and spiffing up things that were “neglected”. Re-painting metal pipes, air intakes, replacing many rubber hoses, etc. I discovered that 3 of 4 coils were cracked on the driver's side and replaced all coils with Bosch coils I bought from an eBay seller in the UK. They arrived in 3 days or so. I also decided to powder coat the manifold cover in wrinkle red and the support frame in silver. All the taillights and markers were wet sanded and refinished.

The catalytic converter screws were replaced with titanium screws.

Approximate parts costs:

Clutch disk + throwout bearing replacement, Hill parts, and block: $2860

LSD clutches and disks $1090

Major service kit + tensioners, gaskets, etc. $2440

Water pump + manifold gaskets, etc. $430

Coils from eBay: $330

Titanium screws from eBay: $35

Exhaust gaskets: $115

Powder coating: $320

Misc. nuts, screws, bolts, clamps from BelMetric: $185

Engine oil: $105
Transaxle oil: $60
Power steering fluid: $25
Zerez G-05: $45
Oil filter wrench: $40

TOTAL: $8100

I had always planned on doing a major service in 2021 and was expecting approx. $3000 in parts costs. Having to replace the clutch and LSD was quite an unexpected surprise.

Overall, they are easy cars to work on and some of the hardest parts were surprising!
Getting the crankshaft pulley off (not that surprising)
Getting the accessory belts on
Cam cover gasket replacement
Replacing transmission upper mount (not that surprising)
Getting support frame back in without scratching anything

Some special/modified tools are required/to make life easier:
Cam locks
Crank pulley socket
Seal installing adapters for arbor press
Transmission support bushing puller/installer
Oil filter wrench