Builds Gen. Waverly

[majdomo]

Round 1 of the CA Smog Machine smackdown ended in a draw yesterday. Took it down to another tech, who ran the entire dyno test and said that it was coming up fine, when his evap test machine ran into some technical difficulty. He couldn't get the dyno / state BAR computer and evap machines synced up, and couldn't bypass the test without failing the whole thing, so he just ended the test as an "abort" and I'll need to come back again later.

HOWEVER, based on his experience and knowledge, this should pass next time around. Good news is that I know the evap system is fine based on the prior two tests with the other smog tech. Never in a straight line.

 

[Spike Strip]

I'll post this here, rather than the other thread - You *might* consider retarding the timing 2* from stock for the test. It will reduce CO and NOx and your NOx was a bit high above 25 mph on the first test.

Return to normal or slightly advance after passing test for more oomph.

In Kalif, if you are MORE than 2* +/- from stock, you will fail visual.

Good luck with test

Cheers!

 

[majdomo]

I'll post this here, rather than the other thread - You *might* consider retarding the timing 2* from stock for the test. It will reduce CO and NOx and your NOx was a bit high above 25 mph on the first test.

Return to normal or slightly advance after passing test for more oomph.

In Kalif, if you are MORE than 2* +/- from stock, you will fail visual.

Good luck with test

Cheers!

This is done, hope to get down to retest tomorrow.

Replaced all soft lines in the evap system over the weekend, just in case. Minor pain but glad it's done.

 

[majdomo]

PASSED SMOG.

Just got the phone call, will post up results later this afternoon.

 

[majdomo]

Here we go… looks pretty good across the board except O2. Odd but I’ll take it. May be the smog pump?

 

[Spike Strip]

You're lucky - They almost never pass with Zero percent O2. Did you run the timing at 5* BTDC ?

 

[majdomo]

You're lucky - They almost never pass with Zero percent O2. Did you run the timing at 5* BTDC ?

Yes, thereabouts.

 

[Spike Strip]

 

[majdomo]

Fully admitting that this was basically throwing the wallet, shotgunning, and chucking the kitchen sink at it. Oh, and I had to go back no fewer than 5 times and run the test 4 times to get to pass. Inelegant but it worked! The 0% o2 is a bit weird, may just have B-Z rebuild that spare smog pump and toss it in whenever I get around to it.

NOW on to the fun stuff! Bumper ends are on the way, bumpers have been sitting in the garage for too long. Will get over to AAA for registration and plates tomorrow AM first thing. Want to diagnose a sticky brake pedal, knuckles need a rebuild (super bad) before taking this on any kind of road trip. Tires are fine for now. Needs shocks and an alignment. Radio too, have the dash surround ready to go.

However I must say driving home from the smog place, checking constantly behind me for a cop (no plates, yikes!), it was pretty satisfying cruising home knowing all the work that has gone into making it legal.

 

[majdomo]

Victory lap! That sh*tty bumper comes off as soon as I can get to it.

EDIT - drive in to work was uneventful, steering is a little floaty and makes some clunking at low speeds. I have a knuckle rebuild kit on the way from Cruiser Teq, but want to ensure the noise is steering rather than birfield-related first. Also ordered a fan clutch. No overheating concerns for now, but I can move the fan with very little effort with the rig stopped.

Rolls 2500 RPM at 70 mph, though, blasting A/C all the way to DTLA with the temp bang on the middle of the gauge, so it's a great start.

 

[majdomo]

Center console tech this am. But first:

Son is a Roadkill fan, hard to tell I guess.

The center console on this truck has been high on the list to clean and refurb a little, since it was the source of many loud rattles. First to recall is that this is ancient ABS - it is brittle and discolored, so have to remember to go easy when disassembling and cleaning. No harsh solvents or gorilla force needed.

The biggest rattle source was the lid. The design of this thing isn’t the best given how much action the lid sees. I had thought about using plumber’s tape to create another spot to anchor this against. But I then remembered that I had some super sticky 2 sided tape left over from reapplying the rear badge on my 3rd gen some time ago. This stuff is great and heat-resistant. Here’s the view with it off the rig.

And a look before sticking this back on the console. Some firm pressure and a clean surface needed before sticking.

Pulled off the second side of the tape and all was good. I also epoxied the busted off recesses in the bottom of the console, which I found kicking around underneath when taking this out.

Next was the little metal clips that fasten the cup holder thingy to the driver’s side of the console. These tend to rattle with vibrations from the trans or engine. A trick pulled from the OEM BMW playbook - the soft side of some Velcro to create a buffer between the clip and the body of the console. Any rattles here are amplified by the thin drum-like surface of the side of the console.

Two of these, and some time to let the epoxy set up, and all is quieter in the rig.

I also pulled the driver’s side door card to figure out my windows-down rattle, turns out the rubber door channel from the front window rail had fallen out probably 20 years ago, and was lying in the bottom of the door. I’ve ordered a new one, but the old one put back with some silicone seems to work fine for now. I need to get back in there later to replace the speakers, which are blown.

Also forgot - last item - replaced the bulb in the climate control with OEM 2.5 watt goodness. No melting plastic 5 watt bs here.

That’s it for today. Getting too hot in the garage to be outside for now.

 

[ToyotaMatt]

 

[majdomo]

Knuckle teardown started. Brake caliper and hub are off the front passenger side.

 

[majdomo]

Passenger side is apart and cleaned. Here’s what I found on removing the spindle and birfield, a little soup but not nearly as much as I feared. Just way low on grease, birfield was still packed.

 

[Spike Strip]

You doing the Trunnion and Wheel bearings, too?

 

[majdomo]

You doing the Trunnion and Wheel bearings, too?

Trunnion yes, wheel no. The wheel bearings seem in good shape and recently replaced, dust seal was pretty new and plenty of good grease in the hub.

May come back to bite me down the road, but if it happens I'd just do brakes and bearings all at the same go. I did the whole shebang on the 80 and it didn't all go to plan, brakes were shaking like crazy once done. In retrospect it was probably due to user error on tightening the wheel bearings down on final torque. That one I did mainly by feel, which for a shade tree mechanic isn't the best.

I followed the FSM religiously this time around, lots of trying and retrying and using the fish scale and blah blah blah. Same thing with the trunnion bearing preload - had to take out one thin shim with the new bearings to get it in spec. But once I did, all was good.

Drinker's side is done, having lunch now and will start captain's side teardown and see how far I get. This is a MESSY MESSY job.

 

[Spike Strip]

Messy it is!

Yes, very difficult to get to spec using FSM procedure. I do it by feel, very very slightly on the tight side since using FSM procedure always makes it too tight.

 

[majdomo]

Also replaced the little detent spring and ball, along with the O-ring on the hub cover. This is leaking on the captain's side, but have never taken apart one of these manual hubs before, since the 80 just has a drive plate. That ate up about 30 minutes of fooling around, along with searching for my tools, cleaning, more cleaning, looking for those stupid exhaust studs to stack up the gaskets and the spindle, more cleaning, flinging grease across the garage, tripping over tools, etc. Good thing we just got the big Costco thing of paper towels, we may be a roll or two short because of this. t's a fun mess in there right now and HOT af today.

 

[majdomo]

Soup! Sh*t. Literally no grease left.

 

[Spike Strip]

If you get a chance, what is the part # of the Koyo trunnion bearings you rec'd (if you rec'd Koyo) ?

Toyota has superseded the part # and it doesn't cross to the older Koyo # ... Just want to see what vendors are supplying.

Cheers