The Lawn Dart

[Deceus]

that new brake setup looks super baller.  are you keeping the hood black or painting body color?

Yeah I can't wait to see it fully hooked up. There's gonna be braided lines going everywhere under the hood. Definitely keeping the hood black. I've seen some body color hoods with this scoop on it and while it has grown on me, I definitely like the black.

example:

[Deceus]

Had a minor setback on plumbing the brakebooster. I got a completely different fluid cooler than the one pictured/described on summit. It'll actually work a lot better but I have the wrong AN adapters. Got everything but the return hooked up and then moved on to the engine.





The engine went together without any fuss. No really, just need to throw on my intake gaskets and it's pretty much done and ready to go back in. Spent most of my time with the gasket scraper cleaning up everything. Hopefully won't see any leaks.





Got the gf to take a shot of me in action for a change, turned out pretty good.



Shouldn't have any problems making it to the show at this point. Aiming to get the engine finished, tear all the brake stuff out and hopefully get everything but the headers back in next weekend. Gonna give the headers their own dedicated day to ruin for sure. I'm sure they won't disappoint. Hopefully might even get to log some hours one weekend of the 30th, we'll see.

[Deceus]

Engine should go in tomorrow. Got the intake, fuel pump, alternator, valve covers and oil filter relocation kit installed. Pulled out the booster since it was going to be in the way of at least 2 bellhousing bolts. Really not looking forward to dealing with those and the headers again but it's gotta get done. Hopefully it doesn't end up being too stressful. Not sure how far I'll get tomorrow but definitely still on track. Once those 2 hurdles are complete I'll just need to reinstall/bleed the brakes, hook up my distributor and efi then I should be in business.

Got some cosmetic and stretch goal stuff on the to-do list as well. Main the chin spoiler and trans fluid temp gauge. Should probably wire my brake cutoff too so it's actually useful.

[Deceus]

Engine went in without too much fuss. Was pretty difficult doing it myself. Had to twist the engine, push it back and guide it into the k-member with one hand and control the hoist with my other hand. The center of the flex plate got caught on the center of the converter so I got my jack under the transmission and started playing tetris. Wasn't really getting anywhere until I tried jerking the hoist back since it had a leg caught on my swaybar and it kinda snapped into place.




There was still a pretty large gap between the 2 at first. I put the bottom 2 bolts in and pulled the engine onto the dowels on the transmission. The rest of the bolts went in like butter. Still had a couple rage-inducing moments through-out the day but for the most part it was pretty smooth. Got a pretty short to do list at this point:

-paint/install fan
-headers
-brake booster + master cylinder
-radiator + new lower radiator hose
-spark plugs + wires
-fluids

Out of all that, the headers are the only thing I'm really dreading. Got a toggle switch coming for the brake cut-off and some 90 degree fittings for the oil relocation kit since I didn't like how sharp the bend at the engine was. Was trying to avoid running AN fittings for that since it was like $110 to convert it all but $45 for some summit push-on fittings is better than starving my engine because of a kink in my oil hose.

Had the fan installed but just didn't feel right not painting it to match everything else given how out there and noticeable it was. So I took it out and got everything to paint it together. I fully intend to convert this thing back to an electric fan but that's going to require a new radiator so being real with myself that probably aint happening until next year at the very least.

Stay tuned, I just might have this thing running soon ...

[ScottyB]

the headers are the only thing I'm really dreading

considering everything you've been through with this, if you're dreading this then its actually making ME scared

[Steve85]

I know I've had many issues over the years but I don't think I've work through nearly this many. Maybe I've just erased them memory but anyway, hopefully you'll get through this phase and enjoy driving it for a while!

[Deceus]

the headers are the only thing I'm really dreading

considering everything you've been through with this, if you're dreading this then its actually making ME scared

Eh it won't be too bad. Last time I  made it easier by ripping everything out that could remotely get in the way. Just don't really feel like doing that this time. Mostly don't want to unbolt the steering box from the k-member and may get away with just backing them off. IDK we'll see.

---

I know I've had many issues over the years but I don't think I've work through nearly this many. Maybe I've just erased them memory but anyway, hopefully you'll get through this phase and enjoy driving it for a while!

It's all just one big blur to me. I just go into the garage and enter into some kind of berserker trance and don't come out til it's time to pound a few beers and sleep. I feel like it looks a lot worse than it is. Just been a handful of really rough days and a lot of trial and error. Haven't dropped a valve or anything major so I still kinda consider myself lucky. For most of it, I have myself to blame so that helps and the alternative is paying $100/hr to have someone else fuck up. At least this way I've learned a hell of a lot.

[Deceus]

This weekend really took a lot out of me. If it wasn't for the car show deadline I would have walked away from it Saturday morning. Every little thing was a massive struggle but it's mostly done. Headers and brake system are fully in place. Just need to install my starter, the radiator and bleed my brakes and I should be good to go.

Started by getting the fan in place and just didn't feel right putting that big ass blue fan in an otherwise all green and black engine bay. So I pulled it out and hit it with some primer on Friday night, masked it off and painted the center Saturday morning and then finished it that evening. Came out really good but waste a couple of much needed hours doing it.





Got the headers in by some miracle without having to disconnect anything but the steering column and taking off the valve covers. Took a couple of different strategies and attempts at each to finally get them in. The winning ticket was to jack the engine up as high as I could, bringing it down a bit so it wasn't pressing on the trans tunnel and then pushing it as far over as I could while threading the header in from the top. So of course the throttle cable eats itself once they're bolted in place, squarely in the way of being able to fix anything. It was just 2 bad wires so I pulled the cable completely out of the sheath, unraveled the 2 bad wires from the cable and removed them from the bunch. I was able to get it back in place and shortened the end which got frayed. With the passenger side header in place I was able to finally install my oil filter relocation kit with the new 90 degree adapters. The hoses were long enough by about 6 inches so that was a relief. Let it be known that I did at least catch one fucking break this weekend.





On Sunday I wrestled the x-pipe on and then I managed to cross-thread one of my brake hoses. I just didn't make the opening in my inner fender big enough to really get it on straight. Went to open it up with the dremel and broke the wheel + adapter for the wheel somehow. Working with the car at just below chest height was bruising my ribs and destroying my back. Took a break, just laid in bed for 30 minutes to kinda let the anger and exhaustion die down and took the kid to the pool. Got the bright idea to try and fix the threads in the hose with a fitting I had thrown in a vise. It worked and I decided to get the death wheel out and was super careful it. Fortunately the wheel was far from fresh so it was small enough to get the job done without destroying my wiring harness or a hose in the process. Managed to get the hose to cooperate now that I had room to get a few fingers in and see what I was doing.

Decided to throw in the towel and just do some minor clean-up stuff after that. Made the last line I needed to finish the power steering return and tightened everything up. It's a little messy but I don't really have the resources or the patience to get all the high pressure lines custom made to the exact length I need. Doesn't look terrible, just could look a lot better if I cared.



So I'm a little behind schedule now as I was hoping to at least get a quick cruise in this weekend buuuuttttt I'm also unemployed starting this week so I got that going for me, which is nice. I'll probably try to get it fired up tomorrow and the brakes bleed on Tuesday. That should leave me time for one more order in case of emergency. Would really hate to miss the show over a damn fitting or something.

[Senor_Taylor]

Godspeed, brother

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[Deceus]

Actually had everything cooperate somewhat today. Had the starter and radiator in by 10am. Probably could have had everything finished but had too many errands to run. Just need to bleed the brakes, add oil, get the 4 converter bolts in and everything should be good to go. Now hopefully it doesn't blow up when I go to start it.

[Deceus]

Brake bleeding is being a bitch as always. Probably going to pickup a pneumatic bleeder to make it easier. Seems like I'm mostly there but the pedal is still soft. Found a dripping fitting or 2 so I'll probably hit everything again and give it another go this evening. It's the only thing keeping me from trying to fire it up right now.

[Deceus]

Well the bleeder was a complete and total waste of money. Got the car fired up but it wasn't idling well. Going to have to wait for the gf to get home so I can check the timing but at least I got to hear it run again even though it was pretty rough. Going to drop it and see how the brakes feel after going around one more time or 2. I'm using speed bleeders with check valves in them but air could be getting in past the threads. Going to do it the old fashion way tonight as well and hope for the best.

[D_Eclipse9916]

Well the bleeder was a complete and total waste of money. Got the car fired up but it wasn't idling well. Going to have to wait for the gf to get home so I can check the timing but at least I got to hear it run again even though it was pretty rough. Going to drop it and see how the brakes feel after going around one more time or 2. I'm using speed bleeders with check valves in them but air could be getting in past the threads. Going to do it the old fashion way tonight as well and hope for the best.

Get rid of the speed bleeders and bleed it the old fashion way. Speed bleeders will drive you insane.


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[Senor_Taylor]

I have no idea how you test brakes on your mountain of a driveway.

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[Jake]

I have no idea how you test brakes on your mountain of a driveway.

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I feel like he kinda gets one shot at it.

[Deceus]

Yeah it's going to be a code brown the first time down. Still don't really have a game plan yet except to pull in and out the garage a few times first and possibly attempt some power braking.

I did bleed everything the old way with the gf. The handbrake feels solid but the pedal is still pretty soft. This tells me the issue is in the master cylinder and/or the front calipers. Going to pull the master cylinder and bench bleed it tomorrow. Should have done that before throwing it back on but it's fucking messy and I was careful to keep everything sealed up on it. Should give me the chance to verify the depth on the booster pushrod and adjust it if necessary. I'm also going to re-route the passenger side line since it does go higher than the master cylinder and that could be part of the problem as well.

I need to extract a broken bleeder screw in my drive side front caliper in case air trapped behind that as well. I was able to bleed it with the other screw but the procedure is to do both. With luck I just might get a shakedown run in but I doubt it at this point.

The good news is the engine fired right up once I fully seated the 2 loose spark plug wires and made an extension for the wire running to the distributor. I couldn't rotate it enough to get the timing right since I didn't really leave much slack in it.

[Deceus]

Well today was fucking rough. No surprises there though. Started out good. Put on some jams, followed the battleplan and was in a pretty good mood. Bleeding the master cylinder was a fucking mess but it went in and out without much issue. Did get a small group of tiny bubbles but overall it seemed good. I was hoping this was going to be my smoking gun but no dice. A quick trip to harbor frieght to return the pneumatic bleeder and pickup a set of left hand drive drill bits and an extractor set.

This is where shit started to break down. I want everyone to marvel at the sheer shittiness of this engineering:



It's kinda hard to tell from the pic but here's a few key items: it's brass, a nice soft material. It's super close to the caliper on one side so no sockets. It's also embedded into the caliper itself surrounded about 60% of the way around. You can get a wrench on it but good luck spinning it. Also the bleeder is the smallest bleeder I think I've ever seen. Of course it's also hallowed out by design so it's super easy to snap. Great job Wilwood, don't think you could have done any worse.

The drill bits would bite but my drill just couldn't break the screw loose. I couldn't get the extractor to work because the one that was close enough in size, had to go too deep to dig in so it bottomed out. The next size up would risk destroy the brass base and we've already established that's not coming out so I just have to fucking leave it or swap the calipers around so this one ends up on the bottom of the other side and doesn't need to be bled.

Figured I'd switch gears and make sure I took care of all the little leaks that cropped up yesterday. Nothing major just the oil pan plug, oil pressure sending unit and top of the water pump. Let it get up to temp and then this happened:



Top radiator hose popped off and my engine got a nice steamy 200 degree bath. I had actually just muttered "at least something is going right today" right before it happened I shit you not. Not gonna lie, this put me in a pretty dark place. Anger I can handle but this was something else. I really just wanna be fucking done with this thing. One way or another I don't really care anymore. So i went upstairs and took a nice long break since the engine had to cool down. The brake pedal was still soft as baby shit and now I have 2 gallons of antifreeze to cleanup. Went to the store to get some more distilled water and stuffed my fat face with some burger king and decided it was time for round 2...

Did some investigating and found the likely culprit. The screw on the hose clamp was bottom out against the hose end housing thing, idk what to call it. It probably wasn't tightened down all the way. Fixed that, topped off the radiator, gave the hose a good yank this time to make sure it was secure and fired the engine back up. Every thing was fine after that ... haha just kidding it popped back off again. At least this time it didn't even wait for the thermostat to open all the way up. Not sure what the fuck is wrong with it but it's going in the trash. Busted out my old flex hose used to for break in and made it work.



Even threw a T-bolt clamp on it for good measure. Now I turned my attention to the brakes. This shouldn't be so hard, why is it so hard? Oh right because I'm stupid and I make simple shit complicated. Problem solved:



I'll add the handbrake back when it can have it's own dedicated caliper and reservoir. Re-routed the passenger line to stay below the master cylinder and magically the pedal feels a lot better. I left it at that for now. Waited for the gf to get home so I could check all 4 corners and didn't see a single tiny bubble. Gonna drop the car tomorrow and hope for the best.

[Steve85]

Thoughts and prayers.

[HAULN-SS]

That reminds me of the time I had to fuck with the brakes on my SS for days. I was following instructions to the T and never could get any pedal feel. Finally figured out I had the bleeders at the bottom, and had to swap calipers to the other side. Annoying af, but I'll never fuck it up again.

[Kaan]

this is the story of my life. you aren't in this alone... promise.