I originally bought this unregistered beast a couple of months ago as a parts car, for a few reasons:
1. It had been in a shed on blocks for 4 years, but the engine run regularly
2. It had no rust, apart from a small spot under the driver's door sill
3. Although very dirty, it didn't drop any fluids
4. Engine had been reco'd 60000 km ago.
So I drove the beast home, and after a couple of days decided it was a bit too good to cannibalise. Ok, let's whip it into shape and get it registered. Then, if my 'real' car is off the road, I have something to drive, and I can always swap out parts to locate problems.
Turned out to be a bit of a job, mainly because of all the red dust and dirt. Here's what the engine bay looked like before I cleaned it up (I'd already started cleaning the TB side, which was just as bad) - nasty!
Here's the 'after' shot - bit of a difference!
I also decided to rip out the interior to get rid of more of the same red dust and dirt. With the seats in the car and floor mats in, the carpet didn't look too bad. Take the carpet out of the car though, and I almost threw up (not that it would have made any difference):
Uuurgh! Time to give it a washdown and then recolour it:
Now that's better!
The door trims were also pretty dirty, including the carpet bit at the bottom of the trim:
Ok, recolouring time:
I had to do a few other things, like:
- replace the leaky exhaust with my old standard one
- replace the Nissan turbo (damaged comp blades) and associated plumbing with a TC-05 (thanks Barney)
- replace timing belt (balance shafts have been removed on this engine)
- fix the map sensor
- fix power windows
- replace pits-unfriendly rims & tyres with more normal looking Scorp ones (thanks Barney)
- fit double valve springs...thanks Barney...errr...no, I think not :D
Now to take it over the pits for an inspection. I didn't expect to pass, but wanted to see what else needed doing from an inspection perspective.
Yep - failed on a few minor things. Leak in exhaust, clutch occasionally sticking, steering box leaking fluid, wheel bearings worn, one seat belt worn. Hmmm...not too bad, unless I have to remove the steering box.
Fixed exhaust leak, steering box leak (ha! didn't have to take it out :D ), fit new clutch (thanks Barney, yet again!), wheel bearings, seat belt and try again (today).
Pass! :beer
Looks like I need two parts cars now
Let's keep getting 'em back on the road!
(Thanks to fr33styl3r for hosting the pics)
at defective's avatar.