More! I fixed the photos in the original post.
Somewhere late 2015, I redid the front end with new shocks (just some Gabriels from AutoZone), new CV Axles, new ball joints, and that was honestly the best thing I did for this car. She/he/it drove so well.
Anyway, back to the hood:
In the midst of working on the new hood, I decided a new grille (or a repainted grill) would help the hood progress
I've always thought the car's face looked angry with a button nose.
Another fun picture next to a sixth gen:
Notice how mine rides around the same height, but with smaller tires.
Still cleans up decently:
Not much went on around Christmas, took it on its first long-haul road trip to somewhere in North AR, but it didn't do well accelerating up hills (this was before I knew what code 52 was, those were the days). When I got back, I knew something wasn't right, it was pitifully slow.
January I tore off the upper plenum and made my way down to the knock sensor.
While I was there, I replaced the timing belt, water pump, idler pulley, thermostat, etc.
--- Knock Sensor Time Warp ---
Now, never buy an after market sensor. Never ever ever. Go OEM.
Right now, I'm rocking an external KS (not a good idea) with a new line ran to the ECU (good idea) until I can take the downtime.
--- End Knock Sensor Time Warp ---
Once again, nothing really happened until June, since the car was running decently, even with the on again off again code 52.
The head gasket decided it was done. First, I wanna say, its not necessarily the 3VZE's fault. When I redid some of the upper hoses and water pump I overdid the blue stuff a bit, some of it ended up clogging my radiator (poor thing) causing it to overheat in a Church's Chicken drive though. I drove it back 30 mins in 103* weather with the heater on. I made a very clean piston.
For some reason, I am missing all of the photos I snapped of the engine, disassembly but a friend Hooked me up with a couple of us putting the 3.0 back in:
If I can fit in the engine bay, so can a 5-VZE!
About three weeks after putting the new engine in, said friend and another friend decided a trip up to Indianapolis for the Red Bull air race would be a great way to break in an engine. While true, just make sure your cam plugs don't weep out half your engine's oil (yeah, my bad)
:redbrick:
It was fun though:
We stopped through Louisville to see the Corvette factory which was really really cool.
Lets not forget, AIRPLANES:
So that was fall break.
Now, what did I do to start off my winter break?
New brakes:
My old ones were so bad, bucking the car and turning the wheel. Trust me, I didn't have the cash or time until now.
Probably the original rotors.. sigh.
I got a great deal on some Wagner disks and some Bosch QuietCast pads, stops so smooth and quiet. Thanks RockAuto.
Side-note: benefit of living in a FedEx hub city, you get packages really fast.
I also took the time to re-run my KS wire:
I've got an MG friend and according to the issues I have (dash fuse blows when in reverse). I have an "honorary membership to the Lucas society" so, what do you got?
Haha. More to come, probably lights or other exterior stuff
