Eric's V8 CQ

[Grillage]

It's got to be the windshield.

[cuatrokoop]

The door seal isn't great on that side, nor is the sunroof seal. Both of those will be rectified with bits from 000292. My door seals are in nice shape as is my sunroof panel and seal.

Oh, and the rotor hat bolts arrived today. woot! So I'm just waiting on the machine shop to get me the pieces.

[the german]

On my lifted car i had water leaking in from between the a aluminum trim above the door and the body. Had to remove the interior plastic trim and sit in the car while my wife sprayed the hose to find it. To fix it I drilled out the rivets, reseal it with caulk, and rivet it back in place.

[cuatrokoop]

The exterior A-pillar trim? Should not have any caulk touching that piece. That said, the seal job around the windshield that I can see, looks suspect. It also looks like they just bent the trim pieces out of the way to replace this windshield previously, based on the angle the driver side is sitting compared to what it was on my car (still has the factory glass).

[the german]

There is a black aluminum extrusion that the door seal is seated into (also has grooves milled in it to attach a roof rack), which is riveted to the steel body of the car above the door. To see a leak there you have to remove the interior plastic a-pillar trim because water leaking anywhere along there will simply run along the inside of that trim piece and be deposited along the a-pillar. The exterior a-pillar trim is just a beauty trim to cover the edge of the windshield. It has no sealing function at all.

[cuatrokoop]

Ah, yes, that piece. I'll have to check that, but with the car on level ground it fills up the door pocket.

Also, the fuel tank leaks. I guess the fortunate thing is that it appears to be from the top/rear side, as it only showed up when I filled the tank all the way and park nose high (which I have to do at work due to our parking lot). I have the fill cap off so the tank breathes better and doesn't push fuel out. Fun.

[cuatrokoop]

Also, this appears to be more than the "leak" Ben had. I have a puddle under the car. I'll have to pull the tank cover of this weekend. But, the JB Weld he used shows signs of wetness as well.

[cuatrokoop]

I cleaned the spot Ben had to seal over previously and sealed it up with new stuff (also a JB Weld product, no idea if it is the same one, the stuff I used was JB Weld Steelstik). The leak appears to be originating from that corner of the tank based on the pattern in the soaked insulation. I had to wire brush part of the tank that was bare steel to get rust off, then sprayed some rust converter on it. After that dried I got one coat of primer on it before it was getting too cold (!!) for paint and I was also loosing my natural light. We'll see how it goes. Looks like I'll need another coat of primer and then a coat of black or two.

Also, I am going to figure out how to get more CCA in the battery portion of the electrical system. I'd like to get more like 800CCA with more reserve capacity. Right now it has 650 and 110. I also have to figure out a battery tie-down system to be legal in SCCA.

[cuatrokoop]

Got another coat of primer on the car last night between work and work-out. Also talked to the machine shop owner, he's hoping to get to my parts this week or this weekend.

I'm also attempting to make the polyrib-belt tensioning system better. I ordered an 80lbf gas spring yesterday with metric eyelet style ends. I had to order sleeve bushings, as the eyelets are 10.5mm and the bolts are M8. Sleeve bushings are 10mm OD by 8mm ID, so while not perfect they should work out okay. Center to center length of this is 7.56" extended, which I know is quite close. I can make it slightly longer by fitting thin M6 jam nuts if I have to. Hopefully I don't, but we'll see. I had to hazard a guess based on the PT engine sitting on the stand that still has the factory belt and tensioner on it.

NOTE: 7.56" was NOT close at all. I cut a good chunk off, see below...

[cuatrokoop]

gas spring arrived today...Ends are separate, the gas spring is threaded on the body and rod end in M6x1.0. The ends have a 10.5mm hole, but the bolts for the tensioner are M8. I could not find any 10.5mm bushings or sleeves, so a 10mm x 8mm bushing will work out okay. Hopefully will have time this weekend to try it out.

I got the fuel tank parts painted that had the exterior coated lifted by the (evidently ethanol blended) gasoline. Unfortunately the fuel tank cover's insulation still stinks like fuel. I may have to strip a large portion of it and use something different so I can reinstall it.

[cuatrokoop]

Just a note...80lbf may be too much, I had to guess. 40lbf may be plenty. I'll know more when I get the belt on. I guess I could use the PT to check since the serp belt on it is old and crusty (factory belt w/100k on it).

[Grillage]

That spring is a great solution!

[cuatrokoop]

I thought so! I'll check it on the PT, since that is just on the engine stand and therefore about 1 meeelion times easier to work on than the shoehorned ABH, lol!

[Grillage]

I'm not sure how much you've dug into the front end, but if you take the bumper off, top cross piece and undo the 10mm bolts that hold the radiator in place, you can rotate the bottom of the radiator out and up to get to the front of the engine. I don't know if I ever took pics like that but it is actually pretty quick and gives great access. I had to do that about 10 times when I was struggling with the power steering pumps.

I put a jack stand under the bottom of the radiator to keep it in place.

[cuatrokoop]

Moved the oil cooler out of the way...But I may swap my S2 bumper on soon. I'm back to driving the 3.6-Q7, so I can fiddle with this thing whenever. I also am going to try and resurrect the A4tq this weekend first. My sister-in-law needs to ditch her '14 Scooby lease and needs something cheap...

[cuatrokoop]

Not going to resurrect the A4 very soon. Coolant has all drained out, guessing something froze over the winter and cracked.

In CQ-V8 news, I ordered a battery hold-down strap for it. Should be here Monday. Car also does not smell like fuel, other than the residual in the cover.

[cuatrokoop]

I don't like having to wait on a machine shop...I got the adapter brackets back, but I can't do a proper test fit because he has the rotor hats.

[cuatrokoop]

I stopped by with some pieces for work, they are still in the box on his desk :(

[cuatrokoop]

I think my 80lbf guess was correct. I test-fit the gas spring on the PT engine. I had to cut off about 1.125-1.25" from the rod end and re-thread it M6-1.0. I also tapped out the eyelet fully to make sure I had full range of adjustment in case I didn't get the length quite right. Compressed length with the belt on is right around 6.125". Uncompressed length is just a fuzz over 6.25". Belt feels properly tensioned. It is supposed to rain tomorrow, so depending on what we have going on I may swap the CQ into the garage and the 4.2-Q7 out, and pull the nose off the CQ so I can get this tensioner setup on it. Best part is, it looks a WHOLE lot more factory than the turn buckle (which had come loose on me and shredded a belt).

[cuatrokoop]

Also trying to find someone to dyno tune this thing...

[cuatrokoop]

I got the gas spring installed tonight, i was only able to take it up to 4k out of respect of my neighbors, so I'll have to road test it this week. But, the initial results are very promising.

I am also going to get the S2 bumper on, and I may end up swiss-cheesing the license plate area for more air flow to the radiator. It also seems that the fan mounting is blocking a large area. Not that the car runs hot, but I plan on autocrossing this thing next year, so more airflow across the radiator the better. Also thinking about venting the hood, but I don't want it to look all ricey.

[cuatrokoop]

Got the S2 bumper on...Also got to test out the gas spring officially. Made several pulls to 7k, no issues other than alternator whine through the speakers, so far I'm calling the 80lbf spring a success. I'd REALLY like to get the H1/H1 headlamps installed, but the width of the radiator would force me to cut them, which I'm not very excited to do. I'll have to work a solution.

The S2 bumper went on with no cutting of the bumper, unlike the DOT setup that Ben had to clearance in several places. It even covers up the oil coolers, which is great. I also managed to sneak another 1/8" or so of clearance between the radiator and engine, but I've noticed a coolant leak at one of the hose connections on the passenger side, even before moving the radiator.

Driving this thing reminds me how under-braked it is, and that the body motion is more than in the 4.2-Q7 suspension set to comfort, lol! That will be addressed, I've got the new rotors test fit on 000292 right now, and my new adapters are waiting for me at the machine shop, I'll grab them on Monday.

[Grillage]

Looks Great!

I had considered relocating the fans into pushers rather than pullers and scooting the radiator back a bit. That would let you not cut headlights.

I'm glad you found a good solution for the turnbuckle!

[PRY4SNO]

Bumper looks great! Some RS2 lights and black paint on the rad would really tie everything together nicely.

[cuatrokoop]

The H1/H1 are RS2, late S2 and late Cabrio headlamps. I have a set I bought 15+ years ago...