Help me prep our Cruiser for my daughter. (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter IdahoDoug
- Start date
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I've been using McGeorge......and for certain other parts PartSouq.
www.mcgeorgetoyota.com
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Another fan of McGeorge. Good prices and fast shipping. Recently ordered something in the morning and they shipped it by end of day
iptman
SILVER Star
I like Conicelli outside of Philly even though McGeorge is closer to me. Shipping seems to be about the same and I can avoid VA sales tax. Either place you'll need to do the transaction fully on their website. It's not like it was when you could just call up Dan or Onur, tell them what you were working on and they'd ship you exactly what you needed. Conicelli, once you're on their email list will a couple times a year send out a 10% off your entire order coupon code and that's after their wholesale pricing. A pretty good deal to wait for if you have a big purchase coming up.
- Thread starter
- #25
OK, I've got the entire exhaust ordered and sent to my brother's in Michigan. What oxygen sensors are people using? I couldn't do a MUD search - feature must be down. The dealership sensors are an insane price and I'm only getting new ones because its likely I will not be able to get the old ones off when I get off the plane. The truck has been running with the check engine light on for 160,000 miles due to the EGR flow error nobody's been able to resolve, so if the sensors you recommend get the job done but throw a code, I really couldn't give a rip. What do you folks think?
I just rebuilt my 96 and went with the Denso's since they were direct plug and play replacements. I ordered and received them pretty fast from Joey at Absolute Wit's End. He even includes new locking nuts!
Denso 234-4157
Denso 234-4153
- Thread starter
- #29
OK. Things seem under control, and frankly the enormity of what I'm trying to do sunk in the last couple days. I started really stressing out as I completed the parts orders, called Cruiser Outfitters (thanks Bryce and Chris!) and started looking at tools to bring and what my brother Scott has, etc. This is a logistical challenge. I have a question for you lads.
Among other things, I'm doing a full front axle repack and seal. I've done this front axle repack several times and am I correct that we don't have to disconnect the tie rod from the lower knuckle steering arm? I have a vague decade old memory that I was able to disconnect the lower knuckle arm and just secure it to the side - is that correct? Someone please confirm that if you could.
While I'm mentioning this - I will have an interesting data point for the forum on the inner axle seal. I last did the front axle repack and seal 150,000 miles ago and noted the seal wear was at 12 O'clock and faint. I'll be curious if this is the same. There is no gear oil dripping yet out of the felt/rubber seal so I'm pretty impressed. I did the diff vent elevation on a fuel hose so there's never been any vacuum drawing grease into the diffs but will confirm that as well.
So - I think I can leave the tie rod on and the trick may be to release the lower knuckle steering arms from BOTH sides and then the arms just dangle and the steering arm just rests on those huge longitudinal suspension arms until you're done. Someone confirm that because if I'm wrong I have to put my tie rod separator in carry on, or buy one there on Memorial Day Weekend. Thanks.
Among other things, I'm doing a full front axle repack and seal. I've done this front axle repack several times and am I correct that we don't have to disconnect the tie rod from the lower knuckle steering arm? I have a vague decade old memory that I was able to disconnect the lower knuckle arm and just secure it to the side - is that correct? Someone please confirm that if you could.
While I'm mentioning this - I will have an interesting data point for the forum on the inner axle seal. I last did the front axle repack and seal 150,000 miles ago and noted the seal wear was at 12 O'clock and faint. I'll be curious if this is the same. There is no gear oil dripping yet out of the felt/rubber seal so I'm pretty impressed. I did the diff vent elevation on a fuel hose so there's never been any vacuum drawing grease into the diffs but will confirm that as well.
So - I think I can leave the tie rod on and the trick may be to release the lower knuckle steering arms from BOTH sides and then the arms just dangle and the steering arm just rests on those huge longitudinal suspension arms until you're done. Someone confirm that because if I'm wrong I have to put my tie rod separator in carry on, or buy one there on Memorial Day Weekend. Thanks.
Doug, its been close to 8 yrs. ago when I did mine last and I don't remember having to disconnect the tie rods.
iptman
SILVER Star
You do not have to remove the TRE from the steering arms.
mdawg
SILVER Star
I have done the front axle service 3x in the last 6 years and have not needed to disconnect the tie rod ends from the steering arm.
Now, it was a challenge getting the steering arm back on the knuckle on reassembly, but putting a bottle jack underneath the steering arm to support it helped a lot.
Now, it was a challenge getting the steering arm back on the knuckle on reassembly, but putting a bottle jack underneath the steering arm to support it helped a lot.
You do not have to remove them but it sure makes it easier.
- Thread starter
- #35
Cool. That's how I remember it as well. Nice - saves me bringing a TRE puller or having my bro grab one. I went out to look at my 93 and got a deja vu on literally just letting the steering link just sit on the suspension links. Getting very close here - I leave on Friday. Can I get all of you to sit on standby MUD alert status for Memorial Day Sunday/Monday/Tuesday for 24/7 help line access???? Heh.... Spent the day cleaning up the sealing surfaces of the original alloys. It's been on crappy winter rims there at college for 4 years and I won't have her there in Texas with those! Cleaned the inner lips up with a plastic wheel abrasive, then followed up with 320 wet sand. Feels smooth again. Now to order tires. Found a humorous loophole in shipping rims since I'm flying. UPS/FedEx/US Postal all $255+ for bare rims. I'm flying home so just for grins I checked the oversize luggage pricing. What's this? A $100 upcharge for a package up to 100lbs, and 115" total inches (HxWxL). Well knock me over with a feather - I can tape them into a tube that's 88lbs, and total dimension is 109 inches. So a save a couple benjamins and don't have to wait to pick them up. i'll use rope to wrap handles and to pad the rim lips I just got all purty. The intention of these dimensions appears to allow a full set of golf clubs. I'm not a golfer but I found a Cruiserhead benefit!!!
Remind her to stop and pick up her rifle.
And not to be shocked if she goes to the beaches this summer. The Girls have a different 'tan line'.
Welcome to TEXAS.
- Thread starter
- #37
Ha! Thats what I like to see. So I have the wheels secured together into a tube that conforms to the airline's baggage policy. It looks menacing now that I have it set up. Hope I don't get any undue attention wheeling what looks for all the world like an aluminum civil war cannon into the ticket counter area.....
- Thread starter
- #38
So, the trip to square away our daughter’s 80 has gone well so far. I put in three 14 hour days back to back in order to get the work done. All the parts arrived from Cruiser Outfitters (Thanks, Kurt) and everything fit as expected. I ordered a complete exhaust system from Rock Auto and managed to get that on as well but more on that later.
On the first day, I arrived at my brother’s first thing in the morning to discover he’d been called out to fly. We took a 15 minute whirlwind tour of his garage to get me oriented and I thought that would work out. Boy was I wrong. I started texting him questions almost from the first hour as I began work on the front axle repack.
After getting the truck up on stands, it took an excruciatingly long time to get the dirt and grease scraped off in order to begin the work. Got into my rhythm late into the afternoon when my high school buddy stopped by to hang out and catch up. He still enjoys working on his cars and was a great help. By 1130pm I had the right side buttoned up and the left side done except for the bearings. I found a couple divots in the inner race which explained the slight whirring sound I had not decided whether it was something mechanical or the old tires. This must have been my mistake as it was obviously contamination from 160k ago when I did the job last.
Luckily, I threw a full set of spared new Koyos in my carry on luggage, so I hardly missed a beat during a Memorial Day weekend under Covid19 restrictions.
I mentioned above that I was curious how the inner axle seals would look since they had not leaked enough gear oil to run past the seals yet. Perhaps due to the shim I installed to get the spinning shaft to run dead center through the inner axle seal. Yes, that seems to have worked as both inner axle seals were in astonishingly good shape. I marked them both before removing and the wear was so minor at the 12 o’clock position that the only wear to be seen were the little chevrons molded into the seal to guide gear oil away from the seal. They were merely worn mostly off, but the seal lip was still perfect all the way around without the characteristic half moon worn into it.
So, I was very happy that experiment worked out. The birfield was full of thinned grease so my semi-annual pumping of fresh grease into the square plug (about 500 squirts per side) kept it full as the grease slowly weeps out the felt/rubber seal as designed. I’ll have to look in the log to get specific as to how much/often if anyone’s interested.
I broke down both birfs, kept track of the balls locations with numbered paper towels, and reassembled exactly as I found them. A few minutes of late night confusion on reassembling the joint was resolved by looking at a diagram from my 93’s factory service manual I drew and took a photo of before leaving Idaho.
The swivel or knuckle bearings were essentially perfect as were the races, so I reused them. I packed them 160k ago with Mobile 1 synthetic red grease and there were traces of red in the cracks but otherwise they appeared to be running in the same grease as the knuckle. l remembered to lock the lockers before starting, so the axles literally slid home almost without moving. Used the hose clamp trick to get the birfs reseated on the axles with new clips.
One of the treats for me was an accidental result of my brother not being here. I worked in his garage with the door open to the Michigan late spring and it was a treat. Alone, I disassembled with that “loose/tight” focus of doing something you’ve done before. The flowers in bloom and the unique combination of scents woke up the nostalgia that exists in all of us for the place we grew up. I was flooded with memories of my first car and working out in the barn exactly like this, on my 1968 Ford Thunderbird at 15. It was a respite from the world and very likely led to my enjoyment of the reflective solitude I found myself immersed in again here. I realized even the compass point of the open door (North) is the same as the barn’s was. The calls of the Cardinals out in the trees, the snark of the brash bluejays and the big fat black squirrels were great to experience as we don’t have them in Idaho.
Day one ended with a 10pm decision to change out the original fuel filter. My brothers did some work here in Michigan for me a couple years ago when it acted up and we thought it would be a fuel pump, etc. But they could not get that filter off. My fault as I did not change it when I did the HG many years ago and I must have overtightened it. I also left off the inner bolt to make it easier to change. Which means when you try to unscrew, the force is against that un attached side and the filter just twists on itself and begins to distort. Wow. Don’t do this.
I had to find a way to keep the filter from rotating so I could put force on the fuel fittings. Hit on a solution to insert a handy wooden dowel up in there under the missing fastener. Then the floor jack to lift up and press hard against it. Everything I had in the confined, elbows-bent, standing on a milk crate posture and it finally popped loose. Man that felt good to change and the fuel the poured out looked like Mississippi river water.
The morning of the second day, I got up super early to try to stay on timing. I was worried I did not get the torque right on the right spindle. So I pulled it apart and sure enough. Went back to the left side, pounded out the race with a brass drift and put an old stock Koyo in there. It was with satisfaction that I used Tools’ recommended 35 lbs-ft on the lock nut, bent the tabs, paused a moment and never looked back.
The rear axle went extremely fast. Both my high school buddy and my 87yo Dad were there and I got to brag a bit about the design of the bearing lock nut and preload system - showing them both how it worked as I put it together. Dad’s a retired pilot so he appreciated the overview. Why Toyota didn’t use this exact setup on the front axle is a mystery to me - would have saved us a lot of grief over the years.
The diffs, transfer case and tranny sat draining for hours to get all the residual stuff out I could - a tradition for me.
Then it was time for the exhaust. I ordered the full kit from Rock Auto including the oxy sensors and both catalytic converters. At 285k miles the entire length was done - primarily due to these 4 years in Michigan with our daughter at college. But still. Cutting into it was crossing a line. Now the truck would be disabled on a Monday and on Wednesday we had to drive all the way to Texas. My buddy was over again and I looked at him, fired up my brother’s sawz all and slid under. In 20 minutes it was over. Amazing how thick the factory exhaust is. Like plumbing pipe compared to the light stuff they use today. I’d wager the whole setup weighed 80lbs or more. This new system is about half that.
An exhaust manifold stud fought us and the nut distorted and got chewed up. We heated it cherry red and used one of those easy outs and it worked perfectly for once. Another nut was fused to its stud and came out. Bummer. Except that I tossed exactly two spare nuts and two studs in my carry on in Idaho - all I had. All I needed.
The exhaust fit perfectly. It was a bit of a Rubik’s cube puzzle getting the Y pipe in and out as on jackstands we could have used another foot of swing room. I solved it by bending the inner fender back with large channel locks. Writing this, I’m reminded I need to flex that back into place as we’re putting plus size KO2s on it this Friday in Austin.
However, the connections leaked and I’ve heard criticism of the seals they provide before. So the truck is at a muffler shop overnight and they’ll replace them with good ones. I replaced all the rubber isolators and was very impressed how solid it felt in place and the cats are more streamlined for ground clearance than the originals were.
Day 3 started at 6am (3am my time) as I pushed hard to be done. I looked forward to it because all the heavy dirty underside work was done and this day was belts, hoses, spark plugs, coolant flush, etc. Easy. But not so fast.
Spark plug #6 came out fine. Spark plug 5 I could not get the plug socket on it. Laying atop the engine with a flashlight, to my horror I could see a chunk of the black plastic from the plug wire hold down had fallen in. It took 90 minutes to get out. I also noted there was some blow by on the plug and I think I did not torque it all the way correctly. I used to go a little easy on my spark plugs as its my nightmare to have one seize in a head. But this is the second time in my life this has happened and I no longer do that - up to proper torque.
Then the belts. Can we all agree that the tensioning system on the twin water pump belts is worthy of 50 lashes in terms of access? I could have pulled the battery box but my hands are just able to do this job contorted in pain and I have bruises on my forearms. My Dad bumped the starter to pull the belts on (Toyota - couldn’t you have given another 1/8 inch of adjuster travel?) and we were in business. The coolant flush went well and I switched it to Prestone after all these years because Toyota Red is harder to find and if she needed a top up, its now easy.
So this morning I hope to get a call that the muffler shop has swapped the seals and its ready to go over to the A/C shop to have the system drawn down to remove moisture and then refilled. Texas can be hard on A/C. I have new Schrader valves and a full O ring kit with me which I’ll leave with them.
We had planned to head to Texas today after the A/C shop but opted to stay and leave early Thursday. It’s 19hours of driving to our appointment at the Austin tire place so we’ll knock out maybe 12 hours, then make it on time I hope. I’m curious if the new oxy sensors will improve MPG,
If you’re still reading - thanks for the interest. Many of you are newer to thee 80 world and a few of you have shared this enthusiasm for decades like me. These are solid beasts and I’m excited our daughter shares our enthusiasm as we’re a Cruiser family. I’ll update on the trip down later.
On the first day, I arrived at my brother’s first thing in the morning to discover he’d been called out to fly. We took a 15 minute whirlwind tour of his garage to get me oriented and I thought that would work out. Boy was I wrong. I started texting him questions almost from the first hour as I began work on the front axle repack.
After getting the truck up on stands, it took an excruciatingly long time to get the dirt and grease scraped off in order to begin the work. Got into my rhythm late into the afternoon when my high school buddy stopped by to hang out and catch up. He still enjoys working on his cars and was a great help. By 1130pm I had the right side buttoned up and the left side done except for the bearings. I found a couple divots in the inner race which explained the slight whirring sound I had not decided whether it was something mechanical or the old tires. This must have been my mistake as it was obviously contamination from 160k ago when I did the job last.
Luckily, I threw a full set of spared new Koyos in my carry on luggage, so I hardly missed a beat during a Memorial Day weekend under Covid19 restrictions.
I mentioned above that I was curious how the inner axle seals would look since they had not leaked enough gear oil to run past the seals yet. Perhaps due to the shim I installed to get the spinning shaft to run dead center through the inner axle seal. Yes, that seems to have worked as both inner axle seals were in astonishingly good shape. I marked them both before removing and the wear was so minor at the 12 o’clock position that the only wear to be seen were the little chevrons molded into the seal to guide gear oil away from the seal. They were merely worn mostly off, but the seal lip was still perfect all the way around without the characteristic half moon worn into it.
So, I was very happy that experiment worked out. The birfield was full of thinned grease so my semi-annual pumping of fresh grease into the square plug (about 500 squirts per side) kept it full as the grease slowly weeps out the felt/rubber seal as designed. I’ll have to look in the log to get specific as to how much/often if anyone’s interested.
I broke down both birfs, kept track of the balls locations with numbered paper towels, and reassembled exactly as I found them. A few minutes of late night confusion on reassembling the joint was resolved by looking at a diagram from my 93’s factory service manual I drew and took a photo of before leaving Idaho.
The swivel or knuckle bearings were essentially perfect as were the races, so I reused them. I packed them 160k ago with Mobile 1 synthetic red grease and there were traces of red in the cracks but otherwise they appeared to be running in the same grease as the knuckle. l remembered to lock the lockers before starting, so the axles literally slid home almost without moving. Used the hose clamp trick to get the birfs reseated on the axles with new clips.
One of the treats for me was an accidental result of my brother not being here. I worked in his garage with the door open to the Michigan late spring and it was a treat. Alone, I disassembled with that “loose/tight” focus of doing something you’ve done before. The flowers in bloom and the unique combination of scents woke up the nostalgia that exists in all of us for the place we grew up. I was flooded with memories of my first car and working out in the barn exactly like this, on my 1968 Ford Thunderbird at 15. It was a respite from the world and very likely led to my enjoyment of the reflective solitude I found myself immersed in again here. I realized even the compass point of the open door (North) is the same as the barn’s was. The calls of the Cardinals out in the trees, the snark of the brash bluejays and the big fat black squirrels were great to experience as we don’t have them in Idaho.
Day one ended with a 10pm decision to change out the original fuel filter. My brothers did some work here in Michigan for me a couple years ago when it acted up and we thought it would be a fuel pump, etc. But they could not get that filter off. My fault as I did not change it when I did the HG many years ago and I must have overtightened it. I also left off the inner bolt to make it easier to change. Which means when you try to unscrew, the force is against that un attached side and the filter just twists on itself and begins to distort. Wow. Don’t do this.
I had to find a way to keep the filter from rotating so I could put force on the fuel fittings. Hit on a solution to insert a handy wooden dowel up in there under the missing fastener. Then the floor jack to lift up and press hard against it. Everything I had in the confined, elbows-bent, standing on a milk crate posture and it finally popped loose. Man that felt good to change and the fuel the poured out looked like Mississippi river water.
The morning of the second day, I got up super early to try to stay on timing. I was worried I did not get the torque right on the right spindle. So I pulled it apart and sure enough. Went back to the left side, pounded out the race with a brass drift and put an old stock Koyo in there. It was with satisfaction that I used Tools’ recommended 35 lbs-ft on the lock nut, bent the tabs, paused a moment and never looked back.
The rear axle went extremely fast. Both my high school buddy and my 87yo Dad were there and I got to brag a bit about the design of the bearing lock nut and preload system - showing them both how it worked as I put it together. Dad’s a retired pilot so he appreciated the overview. Why Toyota didn’t use this exact setup on the front axle is a mystery to me - would have saved us a lot of grief over the years.
The diffs, transfer case and tranny sat draining for hours to get all the residual stuff out I could - a tradition for me.
Then it was time for the exhaust. I ordered the full kit from Rock Auto including the oxy sensors and both catalytic converters. At 285k miles the entire length was done - primarily due to these 4 years in Michigan with our daughter at college. But still. Cutting into it was crossing a line. Now the truck would be disabled on a Monday and on Wednesday we had to drive all the way to Texas. My buddy was over again and I looked at him, fired up my brother’s sawz all and slid under. In 20 minutes it was over. Amazing how thick the factory exhaust is. Like plumbing pipe compared to the light stuff they use today. I’d wager the whole setup weighed 80lbs or more. This new system is about half that.
An exhaust manifold stud fought us and the nut distorted and got chewed up. We heated it cherry red and used one of those easy outs and it worked perfectly for once. Another nut was fused to its stud and came out. Bummer. Except that I tossed exactly two spare nuts and two studs in my carry on in Idaho - all I had. All I needed.
The exhaust fit perfectly. It was a bit of a Rubik’s cube puzzle getting the Y pipe in and out as on jackstands we could have used another foot of swing room. I solved it by bending the inner fender back with large channel locks. Writing this, I’m reminded I need to flex that back into place as we’re putting plus size KO2s on it this Friday in Austin.
However, the connections leaked and I’ve heard criticism of the seals they provide before. So the truck is at a muffler shop overnight and they’ll replace them with good ones. I replaced all the rubber isolators and was very impressed how solid it felt in place and the cats are more streamlined for ground clearance than the originals were.
Day 3 started at 6am (3am my time) as I pushed hard to be done. I looked forward to it because all the heavy dirty underside work was done and this day was belts, hoses, spark plugs, coolant flush, etc. Easy. But not so fast.
Spark plug #6 came out fine. Spark plug 5 I could not get the plug socket on it. Laying atop the engine with a flashlight, to my horror I could see a chunk of the black plastic from the plug wire hold down had fallen in. It took 90 minutes to get out. I also noted there was some blow by on the plug and I think I did not torque it all the way correctly. I used to go a little easy on my spark plugs as its my nightmare to have one seize in a head. But this is the second time in my life this has happened and I no longer do that - up to proper torque.
Then the belts. Can we all agree that the tensioning system on the twin water pump belts is worthy of 50 lashes in terms of access? I could have pulled the battery box but my hands are just able to do this job contorted in pain and I have bruises on my forearms. My Dad bumped the starter to pull the belts on (Toyota - couldn’t you have given another 1/8 inch of adjuster travel?) and we were in business. The coolant flush went well and I switched it to Prestone after all these years because Toyota Red is harder to find and if she needed a top up, its now easy.
So this morning I hope to get a call that the muffler shop has swapped the seals and its ready to go over to the A/C shop to have the system drawn down to remove moisture and then refilled. Texas can be hard on A/C. I have new Schrader valves and a full O ring kit with me which I’ll leave with them.
We had planned to head to Texas today after the A/C shop but opted to stay and leave early Thursday. It’s 19hours of driving to our appointment at the Austin tire place so we’ll knock out maybe 12 hours, then make it on time I hope. I’m curious if the new oxy sensors will improve MPG,
If you’re still reading - thanks for the interest. Many of you are newer to thee 80 world and a few of you have shared this enthusiasm for decades like me. These are solid beasts and I’m excited our daughter shares our enthusiasm as we’re a Cruiser family. I’ll update on the trip down later.
She will run the A/C from Mid March through Late November (and a few times during what we call Winter down here). So yes, VERY important.
You've made good progress. Drive safe and Godspeed.
- Thread starter
- #40
All went well, and we got 14.7mpg on the 1200 mile trip down vs about 13.5 for years. Must be the new oxy sensors and new exhaust as there were a growing cacophony of quiet air leaks developing and I'm sure if the old sensors were even online they were not getting accurate data. Engine feels quite a bit more responsive.
Exhaust was a nightmare. Someone here posted the seals were inadequate and they are right. It fit like a glove - very impressed with the dimensions. I put all new rubber isolators on it as well. On the down side, there was a nasty weld on the Y pipe from Davico, and I paid a shop in MI to fix the seals and all the joints with what they use. The morning we left MI I could hear a leak as we accelerated hard onto the expressway for the first time. Crikey. Nothing for it but to push on to TX, so I called ahead and made an appointment for the literal hour we'd arrive according to the GPS. In TX, Bill's Muffler in Copprus Cove took care of it but wanted to charge literal highway robbery pricing to loosen a 72 hour old exhaust connection from the Y pipe to the exhaust manifolds with copper antisieze on the bolts, and put in two new seals of his choosing for a whopping $186.50. I talked them down to a ripoff price of $140 (all this was before the work but after he'd inspected it so he knew full well this was not normal rusty exhaust work), paid it and was pissed for hours. While waiting, I spoke with another customer just chatting and he was having a cat back exhaust bent at Bill's and installed on his car for $350 just for scale on the ripoff pricing. What an ass. We had no choice as the next day we had moving her in, getting a bunch of things done, meeting her new boss and and zero time for anything on the truck. There's a special category for shops like this one.
Anyhow that was the only fly in the ointment for an otherwise monster wrenching sesson and trip. Kudus to Costco in Austin for staying late to install the KO2s and doing a great job. They hand tightened the lugnuts per my request, and offered to check the spare pressure. Very accomodating and notably professional demeanors.
Flintknapper - thanks for the kind gesture on the complimentary tensioner. It's on and humming quietly and I really do appreciate the Texas style welcome to our daughter and to our family. The front wheel bearings were tightened to Tools R Us' 35lbs-ft recommendation and I paused a moment to think of the value of our daily lives and those we love. Worth doing.
This morning, I switched her plates around, and noted one of the twin license plate lights out. Replaced both 1194 bulbs, cleaned the car inside and out and she's ready for the next couple years. I see the rear caliper seals are shot as the bleed resulted in some rusty crappy fluid coming out and my log shows that happened last time so that will be on the next cycle. Cheers.
Exhaust was a nightmare. Someone here posted the seals were inadequate and they are right. It fit like a glove - very impressed with the dimensions. I put all new rubber isolators on it as well. On the down side, there was a nasty weld on the Y pipe from Davico, and I paid a shop in MI to fix the seals and all the joints with what they use. The morning we left MI I could hear a leak as we accelerated hard onto the expressway for the first time. Crikey. Nothing for it but to push on to TX, so I called ahead and made an appointment for the literal hour we'd arrive according to the GPS. In TX, Bill's Muffler in Copprus Cove took care of it but wanted to charge literal highway robbery pricing to loosen a 72 hour old exhaust connection from the Y pipe to the exhaust manifolds with copper antisieze on the bolts, and put in two new seals of his choosing for a whopping $186.50. I talked them down to a ripoff price of $140 (all this was before the work but after he'd inspected it so he knew full well this was not normal rusty exhaust work), paid it and was pissed for hours. While waiting, I spoke with another customer just chatting and he was having a cat back exhaust bent at Bill's and installed on his car for $350 just for scale on the ripoff pricing. What an ass. We had no choice as the next day we had moving her in, getting a bunch of things done, meeting her new boss and and zero time for anything on the truck. There's a special category for shops like this one.
Anyhow that was the only fly in the ointment for an otherwise monster wrenching sesson and trip. Kudus to Costco in Austin for staying late to install the KO2s and doing a great job. They hand tightened the lugnuts per my request, and offered to check the spare pressure. Very accomodating and notably professional demeanors.
Flintknapper - thanks for the kind gesture on the complimentary tensioner. It's on and humming quietly and I really do appreciate the Texas style welcome to our daughter and to our family. The front wheel bearings were tightened to Tools R Us' 35lbs-ft recommendation and I paused a moment to think of the value of our daily lives and those we love. Worth doing.
This morning, I switched her plates around, and noted one of the twin license plate lights out. Replaced both 1194 bulbs, cleaned the car inside and out and she's ready for the next couple years. I see the rear caliper seals are shot as the bleed resulted in some rusty crappy fluid coming out and my log shows that happened last time so that will be on the next cycle. Cheers.
