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nice Xmas present....my car is running!!!! (archive)
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Posted by carl on December 24, 2000 at 13:58:59:

Well, after over a year and a half, my car is finally back in one piece and running again. This whole saga started in February of 99 when I bought my 02 in Redwood City and drove it home. I kept it running for about a month and then started taking it apart. Before I knew it, everything was out of the car and I was finding someone to paint it.
Jump forward to November 2000: the paint and bodywork finally get done and the car looks great. Now the reassembly process begins.
About a month ago I towed the car to a friend's shop in Newcastle, CA (Steve Barsotti). He has been gracious enough to let me keep my car there while we got it running. For the last four weekends and half of last week, Steve and I have been putting everything back together along with another friend, Dan Graves. The list of stuff done to the car is as follows:

1985 318 block punched out to 2.2 liters.
MM 9.5:1 pistons
Schrick 292
121 head with oversized valves
Weber 40s on TWM manifolds with UNI filters
320 5 speed with Ireland driveshaft
3.90 LS diff
3 row radiator with 10 electric fan
H&R springs with Biltein Sports
ST swaybars
KMac adjustable camber plates
urethane bushings everywhere
Optima battery mounted in Summit battery box in trunk
15x6 Panasports with 195/50-15 Dunlops Sport 8000s
Sparco seats
Ireland aluminum calipers on 320 vented rotors
250 mm drums
braided lines
and probably some other stuff

It's taken quite a while to get everything back together. The car is still not on the road because we developed a small oil leak on one of the head studs near the distributor, the seats aren't mounted yet, and we're still figuring out a throttle cable setup.
Everything went together pretty smoothly, except for a couple of things:
The "bolt-up" Ireland aluminum brakes turned out to be a complete pain in the ass! After mounting them, it turns out that they rub on the wheels near the lugnuts. So I had to get some 1/8" spacers so they would clear, and one side still rubbed! We had to grind a bit of the caliper down, which really sucks. Paying several hundred dollars for some Brembo aluminum calipers and then having them not fit really sucks. I like the boys at Ireland, but I WOULD NOT get this "kit" if I were you. It really doesn't fit our cars very well.
FIguring out a good linkage and throttle cable set-up for sidedrafts is a pain. We are using the Pierce linkage (a la Corey Turner), which is a pretty nice item, but figuring out how to run a throttle cable from the linkage to the pebble box and then mounting it is taking a lot of thought. I was hopign it would be easier.
5-speed conversions are a pain! My shift platform turned out to be tweaked, so it's not fitting in the tunnel properly. I think when I have some time, I'm going to get another non-bent platform and do it right.
All in all, it's been an exciting project. I'm sure there are going to be many other bugs to iron out, but overall the car is 95% there.
I would publicly like to thank Dan Graves (a board regular) and Steve Barsotti (internet challenged) for all of their help with this car. I owe them big time.
Dan is also helping me out with a website, and I think he's going to be posting the latest pictures soon.
Take care, happy holidays, and e-mail me with any questions you have. I'd be happy to help.

carl

72 2002
00 M Coupe
73 R75/5


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