The Project Pad

cool! I'm interested to see how it works. Maybe you said this earlier, but given that you got a bracket that was pre-made I'm guessing someone has done this before for this application?

I know some people have used the earlier version of this pump that doesn't have a reservoir on their cars - (Marc, Greg W).

The writeup I used for info and the source of the bracket was this guy who was installing it into an Acura I think: http://www.k20a.org/forum/showthread.php?t=58599
I'm guessing he makes the brackets. From that thread, It looks like he had some kind of pattern for it.

Grillage wrote:I know some people have used the earlier version of this pump that doesn't have a reservoir on their cars - (Marc, Greg W).

Actually, I don't have one in my car. Jim Green does. I know Marc used one due to limited space with the twin turbos. Jim Green uses one to eliminate the need for making a bracket off the motor. If I am not mistaken, I think Petar used one too.

Greg W.

That's right! Sorry!

that bracket is pretty sweet. nice find. let us know how the turnbuckle setup works out for ya.

Hope to see you at Carlisle. we're working hard on a customer project hoping to have it ready for the show.

Will Do. Can't wait to see everyone's new projects

I hope to bring this to Carlisle assuming everything is working well. It's a 7 hour drive and I REALLY don't want to get stranded in between here and there. If it's being difficult I'll have to bring the Cabriolet again.

Nice! thanks for the info

It all works!

I finally got the last piece I needed today. I ended up going to a local hydraulic shop and having them make a long hose that would replace my existing hose and an 8" extension for the hose in the car rather than a whole new line. I didn't want to make two trips if one approach didn't work.

I ended up using the extension first because I didn't want to pull the intake manifold and all associated stuff again to get to the other end of the hose.



After a quick bleed (all with the engine off too!) I was good to go!
It's a little stiffer steering than stock but no noise and very smooth!

Makes a BIG difference in the way the car drives. Carlisle here I come!

Sweet! Looks great down there, the integrated reservoir is nice. I'll have to explore that route if mine ever dies.

Thanks! That little heatshield works too! I measured 160* on the manifold side and 50* on the pump side with my laser thermometer just now. Crazy!

Awesome!! Glad to see it all worked out!

Grillage wrote:Will Do. Can't wait to see everyone's new projects

I hope to bring this to Carlisle assuming everything is working well. It's a 7 hour drive and I REALLY don't want to get stranded in between here and there. If it's being difficult I'll have to bring the Cabriolet again.

Is this going to be your daily driver to build confidence for carslisle?

It sure is. As long as I'm not taking the kids anywhere.

fantastic. A little toy yoda never hurt anyone except Shannon Castillo.

Awesome, you're quick! Still working on a bracket for the Volvo one I'm trying to do.

Do you know approximate dimensions for the MR2 pump? Most of the ideas I have require cutting some inches off the reservoir since the one I've got is 13" tall. That bracket you purchased is a nice solution.

viridia wrote:Awesome, you're quick! Still working on a bracket for the Volvo one I'm trying to do.

Do you know approximate dimensions for the MR2 pump? Most of the ideas I have require cutting some inches off the reservoir since the one I've got is 13" tall. That bracket you purchased is a nice solution.

It's bigger than I thought it was going to be. It's not too tall that it couldn't sit where the reservoir was but that mount I got would have pushed the top of it into the hood. I mounted it lower to avoid that.

I'll try to measure it tonight

I got a bunch more work done last night and all day today.
My parts coupe is donating most of its interior to this one.

Carpet, Door Cards, Aux gauges

So I set to swap the carpet out and hoped that the parts car would have the padding intact.
not quite:
This car has been parked in my driveway for maybe 2 weeks and the ants instantly knew something was there:

The padding has all been wet and is garbage.
So I went to Plan B which is to make all the padding as I go and put the carpet in.

Firstly, pulled my crappy carpet out:

Installed a bunch of Dynomat:


And set to cutting up the padding I bought for this:



Then I cleaned the carpet from the parts car.

Here it is as it sat in the parts car. It clearly sat very wet for some time:


Despite being super dirty, it has the backing mostly intact which was the problem with the carpet in my car previously. I had pressure washed it which got it super clean but destroyed the backing and as a result it didn't hold its shape anymore.

I bought a portable Rug Doctor from Walmart and got to work. This pic the right side is done, the left is needing done:


All clean:


And installed!

I missed a piece!


New door cards - Mine had no leather and I removed all the glue so that they were black plastic:



This car looks pretty damn good now! I just need to repaint it!

A couple more things happening.

I have a noise that I thought was related to the transmission because it was going away when the car was out of gear. Turns out it was going away when the engine revs were low. Also, it goes away after the car warms up 15-20 mins. I was able to make it happen just revving the engine in neutral too.

So it's likely related to my new alternator belt setup -duh!

Since it goes away eventually, I am assuming it goes away once the belt gets warm and stretches a little bit right? Some loosened the turnbuckle a couple turns. We'll see how that works.

Also, I got a good dash from a kind fellow project padder on Saturday! Only the is it's blu not black and has a couple small cracks. I'm going to try to repair the cracks with vinyl filler and dye the whole thing black. Wish me luck!

I wish you luck.

Greg W.

I got quite a bit done the last couple days. I made a list that I mostly completed

Firstly, I got the new to me dash repaired, dyed and installed!

I used this stuff for the vinyl repair, cleaning and dying:


The issue with my dash is that it is starting to crack all over but also has warped and shrunk in the sun. the speaker grills don't fit any more and the vent covers have all popped out too.


The Dash's damage as I got it:


I did a couple applications of the vinyl repair stuff. Sanding in between each time. I know it isn't going to look perfect but it should keep the cracking from spreading and should certainly look better than it did.


After a few treatments I sprayed the dye on.

Then I drilled in a few holes for the dash trim piece:


Then the dash as it is now:




All in all I am very pleased, the dash looks brand new and is as black as it needs to be. If I were nitpicking, I would say it is a little shinier than the old one was.

Here are the old and new side by side:




That leaves the reinstall:


Also, while I had the dash out, I decided to replace the speakers since I could get to them easily. Then I decided to replace the rears since they dont work at all. While I'm doing all that I may as well replace the head unit too so I can listen to music other than the radio.

Got some 4" speakers for the dash piece and 5 1/4" speakers for the rear cards. Took me forever to realize I had to "unscrew" the speakers out of their place


Got it all back together and I had a pin push back in the VEMS harness connector. Took me an hour to figure out why the car wouldn't run.

Here's the way it looks as of today:



I removed the ashtray and put in a wood insert from an 88 '90 in its place. I've always liked those.

The only things left on my list are to try and get the oil pressure gauge working. I've never been able to get it working.
Also I was hoping to replace the brake lines with stainless but I decided that if I started that job and needed parts I'd be screwed for the drive friday - so I'll pass for now.

That looks great Ben! All that wiring is so crazy lol... Glad I never took the dash off the 4k or I'd probably have taken it all out.

Wow, those carpets look amazing. Really nice work!!!

Looks great! Nice work

chaloux wrote: All that wiring is so crazy lol...

I read every b3 dash removal heater core replacement how to I could find.
None of them prepared me for the wiring I'd have to deal with.