My "Retrospective" Project Thread

[rwilner]

This is my “retrospective” project thread…so named because these projects are done and my car is back on the road after an unintended break-out of the “while-you’re-in-theres.” I thought I’d share with the community here to perhaps tilt some folks that are on the edge of starting a project, and also as a thank you for the incredible treasure trove of information that exists in these archives and how empowering it is for the home mechanic.

I bought this 1984 Coupe with about 61k miles on it and drove it for about 2k miles to assess what needed doing. The car was very original which was great in the sense that it wasn’t used up, abused, or modified…but not-so-great because all the things that wear out after 30 years were, well, worn out.

The main issues that needed correcting where a significant shimmy in the wheel at highway speed which would come and go, squeaky bushings, and some refresh type of work, like replacing the dashboard and shift bushings.

This car’s purpose under my care is shine and show, semi daily driver. It might see one or two track days a year…maybe. I have a 15 month old and work 2 jobs so time is extremely limited these days with no change expected in the near future. Wrenching on and driving this car is how I stay sane.

All of this work was done during nights and weekends from October of 2012 until just about Thursday, April 25th (there’s always a few odds and ends to complete). Some weekends were intense and some I didn’t touch the car. All parts were sourced from our host or well-known and respected member vendors, such as ERP, PMB, Rennshift, and Rennline.

Here was my project list, in no particular order:
[PROJECT 1] Service external shifting system, including

• Installing a rennshift
• New bushings, including coupler whisperer bushings
• Omega spring
• Clutch cable
• Kendall trans fluid
• New trans mounts
• New engine mount bar and engine mounts (old engine bar was bent)

[PROJECT 2] Front suspension refresh

• Replace sway bar bushings
• Inspect / repack front wheel bearings
• Replace A-arm bushings
• Replace camber plate bushings
• Replace torsion bars with 22mm hollow, plated and plugged
• New ball joints
• Turbo tie rods
• New Bilstein HD inserts
• Powdercoated A-arms, belly pan, AC guard, tow hooks, other small parts

[PROJECT 3] Rear suspension refresh  biggest job by far.

• Replace sway bar bushings
• Replace sway bar droplinks
• Replace rear wheel bearings
• Replace spring plate bushings
• Replace trailing arm bushings, “sport” hardness
• Replace torsion bars with 27mm hollow, plated and plugged
• New Bilstein HD shocks
• New rear axle assemblies, including CVs, boots, bolts

[PROJECT 4] Brake and Wheel Refresh, including

• New front rotors and pads
• New rear rotors and pads
• 4 rebuilt calipers from PMB
• New soft lines
• New brake fluid (ATE super blue)
• Remove wheel spacers
• Replace poorly rattle-canned 6” and 7” Fuchs / junk tires with refinished 7” and 8” Fuchs / RE-760s

[PROJECT 5] Radio upgrade

• 6.5” JL Audio components in doors
• 10” shallow mount sub in front trunk, removable
• Bluetooth Kenwood head unit
• 4 channel alpine amp, under passenger seat
• Removable GPS mounted in ashtray

[PROJECT 6] Interior refresh

• Momo MOD-07 steering wheel
• Mitch Leland steering column bushing (tried the metal one first, that made no improvement)
• Momo leather shift knob
• Wheelskins leather shift boot in Blue
• Replace warped leather dashboard with recovered german black vinyl (would not want to repeat this project)
• Replace windscreen, new trim and gasket
• Replace factory sport seats with Recaro period-correct seats in black and grey cloth (quasi-impulse buy from another member, I blame my dad)
• Lloyd black high-pile floor mats
• Clean, scotchgard, clean again

[PROJECT 7] Engine tweaks

• Source 2nd cover for airbox and convert it to “cup style”
• Fabspeed 1 in / 1 out sport muffler to match the fabspeed euro premuffler installed by the PO
• Steve Wong chip optimized for the above setup
• Adjust WOT, idle
• New Porsche air filter
• 10 quarts of Brad Penn

[PROJECT 8] AND FINALLY, 4 wheel alignment and corner balance

I do still have a few projects on the horizon, but I thought this was a good stopping point to enjoy the beautiful spring Boston weather.

Future projects:
[PROJECT 9] Install a Griffiths AC – I need AC to enjoy this car in the summertime.
[PROJECT 10] Fix the headlight washer system…a niggling thing that just bothers me.
[PROJECT 11] Refresh the 915. It shifts pretty well but could definitely use a new synchro or 2…this will probably happen either next year or the year after.

I didn’t take a ton of pictures, but I did take some along the way…over the next few days I’ll upload sets from the various projects. Enjoy!

[rwilner]

To kick things off, here's my "photo log" from Project 1.

[PROJECT 1] Service external shifting system

Here’s the rennshift, first unassembled, then assembled:




Console coming out, and the old shifter removed…




New bushing in place with some synthetic grease. The grease in the cup sure was crusty and in desperate need of refreshing…






New shifter bolted in place.




Nice powder coated engine mount bar from rennline ready for install, along with new engine mounts and bolts.

[rwilner]

I was able to support the engine with a jack, lower it a bit, and slip the existing, broken engine mount bar out behind the gap in the tin and the body. New engine mount bar went back in the same way.








Project 2 soon to come!

[testa-rossa]

nice list and great documentation. I'm a subscriber. I have an 85 coupe so I'll be using your list to refresh my suspension and other parts. Awesome.

[rwilner]

[PROJECT 2] Front Suspension Refresh

Taking the A-arms out of the car was pretty straightforward, as long as you have the ball joint socket:




Here are the front suspension bits before and after powdercoating. I got the special marine grade powder on these, because I have no intention of ever doing this job again, at least not on this car:




A-Arm bushing install was a piece of cake using a sturdy bar clamp and Chuck’s excellent parts and instructions. Thanks Chuck!