LOL My mate is considering that in his road race MSP. Granted he's also stepped down a few classes from STU(pid money nets great positions) to FProd (I think?) which means no more turbo, but more reliability and ease of servicing. I ran a leakdown test today, at 75# versus the target 100#. Results suggested cylinders 3, 4, & 5 aren't in great shape. From 1-6, I read: 30, 30, 40, 55, 45, 25. That's percentage leakdown. Added oil to cylinder 4 and it dropped to 30% leakdown. Now again, this is at 75# versus the 100# recommended, but the outlier coming down to the value the rest seemed to be at suggests that guy's not happy I'm just gonna send it this summer and if it blows up, it blows up. ZZB here we come?
Well, it happened... I autocrossed it and, It didn't break! Much excite. Day before the event I decided to switch the power steering suction hose from the heater hose material to a 3/4" I.D. fuel rated hose. I don't have absurdly high hopes that this hose won't begin to ooze over time, but as a stop-gap measure, it worked well enough to get the car to and from the event without fuss. Overall I was impressed with the car. Going into the event, I was slightly put at ease due to my friend's parents' house being local to the venue. If anything super broke, I could at least limp it there and work on it as time permitted. Running now four-year old RE71Rs put a small damper on things, as there could have been more grip, however they handled the added power rather well. One thing that stuck out to me is the different driving style that comes with having an LSD installed. I found myself getting more comfortable directing the car with the throttle as the day progressed, and fell back into my "lift off and let the car rotate that way" driving style when it suited me. There was a Chicago box that I couldn't really figure out, so that was a bit of a bummer. Comparing this to my mate's NA 3.0L swapped SVT Contour, I would have to say on this course, he probably could have had me easily. The added torque the 3.0L has down low allows it to really pull out of corners. Nevermind the fact that he's on Hoosiers. I think I'll finish out the rest of this season on the existing tires and reassess what I want to do come the winter time with regards to refresher projects. Throwing on a modified OE front strut tower is relatively high up on the list as I never did get around to putting that on. Other than that, I could go ahead and start taking weight out, but I really don't mind having an otherwise stock looking car both inside and out. Anyways, TL;DR here's a video of my fastest run And a picture before the event
Note to self: When you think you should replace something "while you're in there," DO IT. Took the old girl out for a drive after parking her in July after the autocross and noticed a few drops on the driveway when I let the car sit for a little while. Turns out the shift shaft seal has given up the ghost... If I'd driven the car more often, I might not have run into this issue so soon, but I think it's a good reason to tear it apart to look at the differential bearings to make sure they aren't pitting as a result of the wrong amount of shims. On the bright side, the car fired up right away which means 1) the battery is pretty resilient, and 2) there isn't a drain on the battery, something I was somewhat concerned about! Planning the offseason mods in advanced, I'd like to 1) have the steering wheel reupholstered with a different material (the GTI is ruining me with how it feels) 2) grab a new seat, perhaps two, for the front of the car 3) think about and probably won't have the roof resprayed, as the car cover seems to have taken a liking to the clearcoat We'll see what changes in the coming months!
Update on the "do it" seal: New replacement in hand. Of course, further inspection reveals that, indeed the transmission must come apart to correctly R&R the seal. Older transmissions, by my observation, had provisions to remove the seal without taking the transmission apart. This however, is not the case here. Hoping to get the transmission on a bench and apart this coming weekend. May put the 'box back in while I'm home, as that would shorten the to-do list whilst the weather is miserable out.
Fixes; tenatively. I'll put the lump in next weekend. Note: a pickle fork and force applied in a shear motion will pop out the shift-shaft seal. Accurate application of force? No, probably not. But it worked, and didn't damage anything beyond repair! I managed to get my mate to omit installing the shift gate and dust boot for the shift shaft... Hopefully next weekend I'll have the thing thrown back in the car, as it's supposed to be a balmy 65 where I'm at!
A rather frustrating update: transmission is in BUT there's a noise, a new noise, that my mate reckons is the 5th gear rubbing on the case cap. On our friend's road-race car, this is a chore to remove the cap due to the stiff motor mounts from AWR, but since I'm running a Rockauto replacement passenger side one, I reckon pulling the front mount and transmission mount should afford me the room I need to inspect that area. That's a task for when it's warmer and I want to deal with it again. The warm snap is leaving in a few days, and working on cold metal isn't my idea of a fun time...
An update to pull this thread out of the depths of hibernation! I decided a month ago to dust the cobwebs off and start the Pro5 up after its winter slumber. It didn't like that one bit, and neither did I. Dead battery was to be expected (but hopefully whatever drain is on it is minimal). The cloud of smoke from the backside of the engine after removing the plastic piece holding the throttle open wasn't. The mist of smoke from the accessory belt side of the motor wasn't either. Nor, to round things off, was the pegged coolant temperature gauge, something I'd forgotten about after parking the car for the winter. That was a weekend in the wraps - nothing good could come of this. Last weekend, however, was nicer out. I decided I'd go around with my OBD dongle and my voltmeter to assess the coolant temp and battery voltage while running. This allayed my fears that 1) the alternator was smoking as it was shot from the winter and b) that the coolant temps weren't getting HOT HOT HOT (everybody). Having put those concerns to bed, and observing no more smoke, good oil levels/pressures, and no overly problematic leaks, I took it out for a good jaunt. Put 75 miles on the Pro5 over the Friday and Saturday, mostly stress testing the car as best I could. Nothing seemed wrong, but we all know where this is going... The noise from the transmission has since gone away, luckily. I did check the fill level after around 50 miles and found it slightly low, so added more fluid. While down there, however, I was elated (read: dismayed) to find some fluid still leaking out of the transmission. Knowing I've got a new shift shaft seal, I wasn't inclined to believe it was that, so now I get to play "where's it actually coming from?!" My immediate guess due to its proximity to the area is the speedometer sensor. I have a box of assorted size o-rings, and a spare sensor from my other transmission. So on the docket for next weekend I'm home is taking that sensor out and seeing if I can't once and for all seal the transmission up!!! A video of the sound from in the cabin attached. I've got to align it, and then I might take it on longer trips provided I regain my confidence in the thing
Bad news, but news nonetheless. I think that I may have cracked the transmission right in the area where the VSS plonks into. This may have all come about as a result of beating on the thing at the autocross almost a year ago, but I was chasing the issue thinking it was the shift shaft seal (it wasn't) and then moved on to the o-ring that seals the VSS into the transmission. I would clean the backside of the bellhousing up, start it, leave it in neutral; no issues. I then put it in gear and left it in gear for a few minutes and that's when it would start to weep. But it didn't weep in a "normal" sense out of the o-ring. I mis-diagnosed it as the shift shaft seal because the fluid would run down the back side of the bellhousing next to the rear motor mount, and then it would run down and around the shift shaft seal. Numerous times I'd re-sealed the VSS o-ring, with RTV, and it would still leak. I looked in the bore after suggestion to do so by my mate and there's a diagonal score in the bore that continues into the transmission case further. I'll take the transmission out and assess what to do from here. My own fault for not running a trans saver brace. I genuinely didn't think they'd do much, but I'm now discovering firsthand that they do. I'm not sure if others have suffered a similar fate on the MSP given relatively similar power outputs with the added torque being applied down low? I can't be the first person to experience this failure, but I've not seen this particular issue mentioned much. In other news, I now own this... 1998 SVT Contour. I think that it'll be a welcomed change from the Mazda. Maybe make me appreciate what I have with the Mazda as far as simplicity goes It needs some TLC mechanically, but the chassis itself is near immaculate. I plan to keep it stock in terms of the interior. Scored a 3L engine to go with it, so that will be the project for the summer while I keep an ear to the ground as to what the scoop is with the KL transmission. That motor needs some refreshing too. Now I'm not on the road for work, this should be an easier feat, fixing things, and breaking them again!
One of the reasons I'm stepping into this one. Went and looked at it with a mate who's had one since he started driving in one form or another, and he said it's the cleanest chassis he's seen. The car, with a substantial spares list, including 3L motor and second MTX-75, was had for $2250... The price was absolutely right, and I'm looking forward to it. It'll be a shame to temporarily mothball the Pro5, but I'm going to keep an eye out for spare KLDE engines w/manual transmissions to hopefully score a spare. The engine on mine, while I've gone through it, has some higher leakdown in a few cylinders, so a main project where I can make measurable ground will be welcomed. At least, that's my logic right now. I might beat my head against a wall with the pair of them if I'm not careful!
New (pssh, junkyard) transmission acquired! I took at look at local junkyards on a whim Friday evening and found a Probe GT recently arrived at the yard local to me. It appears the timing belt likely let go, as the first photo is how I saw the car when I arrived. Sat on Eibach Springs, Tokico Blues (in not stellar shape), stainless steel brake lines, seems the calipers were recently reworked. It's a shame that it ended up in the yard, but, "one dies, while another survives," or something "philosophical" like that. Pictures of the 'lump in the boot of the GTI, and a comparison between the MTX-75 that I have as a spare for my Contour... The difference in size on the bellhousing circle alone is pretty interesting.
I tore into the Probe GT transmission I picked up a few months back (well, just over 6 weeks) and am chuffed to report it's got the 4.388 final drive. This means the differential will be changed out for the MFactory unit, but I'll run the Probe GT final drive/ gear ratios which may be a bit better suited for the KL. I'm going to line up how to get the lump to my mate so the two units can be appropriately mix-and-matched, and a good unit can be had. This also means I've got to pull the old lump from the Pro5, which I haven't gone to look at in a few months. Here's to it still firing up, and playing nicely. She's going to get some love over the winter, is my thought
