I did post the below in a thread on the General Chat page, but decided to start a project thread as it will take some time as I have other things going so cannot spend too much time just on the coupe. Hopefully I will be done January sometime, but I will see.
Original post:
The wife's coupe was due a cambelt change. It was overdue and I hadn't kept up with regular maintenance due to a house move and not having a garage. The house still needs a load of work but the garage was finished a couple of months ago. I am in no rush to get the coupe back on the road so its getting worked on whenever I get chance and have the energy!!!
I started with knowing the cambelt needed doing so decided that everything associated with it would get done too. I ordered all of the pulleys, belts, water pump etc as well as cam phase sensor. I also have a cambelt guard from Joe that I ordered ages ago, so that will go on. Also replacing the cam cover gasket and the 5 plugs.
Whilst looking around the car I see the water hoses could do with replacing so they are on order. Going with Viper. A new thermostat going in too as its pretty old now.
There were oil leaks all over the place so that meant oil filter back plate seal as well as oil cooler pipe seals. Dip stick tube needs a new seal too. The gearbox is not leaking too much but I decided to do the output shaft seals as well.
I noticed that there was oil from the bell housing so the gearbox has come off for a crankshaft seal. Might as well do both ends seeing as the cambelt is getting done anyway. As the gearbox is off then the clutch may as well be replaced. The old Valeo is in good order, but with 315bhp I have gone for an uprated CG clutch.
With all the bits coming off I saw that one of the wishbone ball joints was loose so I am replacing both wishbones. There has been a whining noise from the front right side for a while so both front wheel bearings are getting changed as well as the steering pump bearing. At the same time I am making a 5 ton hydraulic press. It will pay for itself with just this work. I had quite a bit of the steel anyway so its mainly just time.
One of the CV joints is not great so replacing both sides.
The steering rack gaiters are split so changing these and both track rod ends at the same time.
The callipers came off and the bottom thread stripped on both so I have a Helicoil kit to repair these.
The aircon needs the compressor overhauling. I already have the seal and gasket set so good to go here. The condenser had seen better days so I have ordered a new one (Not easy to find now. I got this one from Italy). A new dryer as a matter of course too.
I am replacing the starter as its a real pain to get to and it has occasionally been temperamental.
Once its all cleaned up and back together the car will get all new fluids and filters too.
Hopefully the car will be back on the road sometime around Xmas / New Year.
I knew that the car needed some TLC and she is 25 years old now (The wife bought the car new back in 1997). I know that the investment will be worth it as the life of the car will be greatly extended. Next year hopefully, we will get her resprayed.
After all the work we will be ready for Turin 2024.
A couple of pics of the car looking a bit sorry for itself partially stripped and car parts all over the garage.
I hope that this inspires people for winter repairs, maintenance or upgrades.
Not much done this week. Mainly busy with house renovations, but avoid this where possible!!!
I have done some cleaning of the engine and engine bay, but there is a way to go. I was thinking that it may need re-painting, but actually just touching up will probably do, but I will see how it turns out. Need to sort out what paint I can get locally. Hopefully I can get colour match aerosols made up. Not sure though.
This afternoon I managed to get one of the wheel bearings out, cleaned up the hub and re-painted it.
This week I did finish my 5 ton hydraulic press. Just tried it once to remove the centre of the hub from the wheel bearing. Seems fine so should work on heavier jobs. I will know once I put the new wheel bearings in. My welding is not great, but with practice it will be fine.
I don't expect to get too much done before Xmas now, but will try to do a bit every week and post here.
The hydraulic press has come in very handy. Well worth the time to build. For anyone interested here is the link that I looked at for the design. I didnt stick to the design and I welded it as its easier for me than drilling a load of holes.
The wheel bearings went in fine. I did make a stand for the hub to sit on to get it level. Just makes life easy. It works for both sides of the hub too. I also purchased a kit for pressing bushes in or out. I used this on the power steering pump bearing. Great tool as the sleeves are idea for the hydraulic press.
I did the gearbox driveshaft seals with the press, just to make sure that they went in level.
The gearbox is ready to go back in. I just need to change the crankshaft seal, but the flywheel back on and the new CG clutch.
I do need to look at the metal work in the engine bay first. I was going to respray, but having cleaned it up there is just a little bit of surface rust, so thinking just a touchup may do. The car has only spent 2 years or so in the UK so rust so no issue. The cambelt side is worse though, so that will need painting.
Took the old crankshaft seal off today, but didn't get time to get the new one on yet.
A pic of the area cleaned up and a few pics of the chassis condition.
Looking again I have decided that this side just needs touching up once the rust has been removed or treated. It is only surface rust so not a big problem.
I will look at the other side once I get to the cambelt change. That side definitely needs more work though.
Just for interest, here is a photo of a steel workbench that I made.
Before I did any work on the car I needed some kind of workbench. I do still need to make some wood workbenches and storage shelving units. I decided that I steel one on wheels would be best to start with.
It has turned out to be great. I use it most days and it's been invaluable getting the car sorted as well as stuff around the house and garden. Being on lockable wheels has made it very versatile too.
Today I did some cleaning of parts and spraying of others. I will put some pics up later on down line.
I have also decided to spray some of the chassis legs. Not going mad, but it was a little rough. Only minor surface rust however. The cambelt side is worse so I will see how the gearbox side goes now. It should look OK without stripping the whole engine bay and doing everything. Hopefully I will get this done in the next few days.
The flywheel is back on. I didn't have a flywheel locking tool so decided that I would make one. This turned out to be way easier than I thought. Just a short length of 30mm box tubing with a hole in it. Worked perfectly. Pics attached.
Managed to get some yellow on today. Hopefully its not freezing cold tomorrow and I will get some lacquer on.
It's started with a couple of simple tasks and I just cannot resist the temptation to do a little more. I have now started painting the subframe too. Not in the plan but the job has got a lot bigger than intended. Worth the effort in the long run though. Still enjoying the journey and it keeps me off the streets.
Finished the lacquer painting this week. Not a perfect job, but the rust has gone and it looks way better than it did. Pretty happy considering its a quick blow over with rattle cans. That's one side finished.
Now I can move on and get the gearbox back in. It's now the start of rebuilding instead of taking more and more stuff off.
I also managed to get more parts cleaned off and painted.
Hopefully this week the anti roll bar bushes will arrive. I forgot to order these so have to wait. I think that I now have all the parts needed!!! Probably something else will surprise me though.
Merry Xmas to everyone. Hope you are all enjoying the holidays.
The clutch is in and I fitted the gearbox today. No issues getting everything back together.
In the attached picture you can see the metal bracket bolted to the yellow jack. This made getting the gearbox out very easy. Going back wasn't quite as easy, but still only took 20 mins or so and managed on my own, so very happy.
I do need to attached the front gearbox mount temporarily so that I can get another home made bracket on to support the whole engine and gearbox so that I can start on the cambelt side of the engine.
So far so good.
Waiting on anti roll bar bushes. They will arrive next week. That will then be the subframe renovated with new wishbones and anti roll bar fitted ready to go back in.
Still cleaning and / or painting parts that were previously removed.
The engine and gearbox are now supported and the whole lot is free. I moved the engine over a good few inches to get good access to the cambelt, but also the chassis leg etc so that I can clean it up and paint. There is a lot of grime all over the chassis leg as well as some surface rust, but its not bad really.
The engine support bracket worked well, but I did need some assistance once the engine mounts were free. The bracket is sitting on the jack and not bolted so the engine wanted to fall backwards. No problem with someone holding the engine whilst I got some axle stands under it. Now I have good access.
The engine is nice and clean inside with no significant ware to the camshafts. Synthetic oil really is worth the extra money.
The subframe is done. It's been cleaned and painted. The new wishbones are fitted as well as the anti roll bar with the new bushes.
Started to tackle the chassis leg today too. After a good clean it's not looking bad. I have started to get the rust sorted with the Dremel and some sanding. Still a bit to go before it's ready to paint.
Cleaned a few other parts too. The parts cleaning seems to be never ending!!
