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Olga the Second Revised

Well, found out what was mostly the problem, the signal wire for the O2 sensor was partially cut! Found it as I was beginning to install a wideband O2. Patched the wire and drove it to see if that was indeed the culprit. Then I re-surfaced some ground connections on the block and no more codes. So good times!

Then I cancelled the car registration and parked it in the garage :-P Just when the going gets good, you decide to finish some of the smaller building blocks over the winter. Besides, doesn't make sense to have two cars registered when I can only drive one at a time. So in the next few months I'll get the wagon sold and finish some of the more exciting plans I've been mulling over...

Starting with a new intercooler, major bling!!!!

Before :-(:
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After :cool::
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Christmas came early as I ordered a do88 unit during the 20% sale. First thing I thought when I picked it up was wow, that thing is massive! A direct drop-in unit that'll be the perfect performance replacement :-D

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If you haven't noticed, I like keeping things as stock looking as possible. That even means keeping the car looking like it's been around almost 30 years. So why put in nice shiny parts that scream "new addition" when you open the hood? So, off to the store for a can of paint!

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Gloss black may have been how the original intercooler looked on the showroom floor, but the rest of the engine bay aged so nicely, I didn't want to disturb the aesthetics.

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A bit of reverse polishing

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And a transplant of the top beauty plate makes it fit right in! I'm really pleased with the outcome, again it looks like "nothing special here" :ninja:

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After that was done I got into tearing out the tranny. Before springtime it will have been replaced with an M90 ;-)

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And while I finally got a shop where I can tear the car apart and leave it sitting, I'll be dealing with a leak around the rear window and a rust spot that developed under the license plate. The bumper rubbed away the paint and was left to fester for a few years...
 
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I like the stock look you gave it. Also, I'm sure there are at least some girls in Sweden called Olga
 
Thanks guys, appreciate the thumbs up :cheers:

Will end up leaving her named Olga though, she's come to far to give up her roots and put on a new face ;-)
 
Wideband is on the list of mods for the winter.

Before I parked her she was ripping pretty darn good. Already excited about seeing what the intercooler, lower final gearing, a new transmission will do on the autobahn!
 
I haven't touched the rev limiter, still running the stock 6800. But with a responsive turbo in the lower rpms and the double cams flowing up top you have a lot of usable power right up to the redline.
 
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Woops, that could be a problem!

The two months I had the car registered in the fall were able to rip through some rubber, both on the tires and in the supension. :) Since I already had the bushings for the rear end, nothing was holding me back from swapping them out. At the same time I get to change the axle back to a stock 3.54 end ratio, so double the fun!

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I also threw the spare Geminis to a local company to get powder coated in silver. Going to mount summer weather approving 225/50 v12 evo2's and leave the set of all weather's that are currently on the car for winter.

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Got to do some Photoshop fun and really didn't like how the black looked...

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vs. stock Silver

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My wife was trying to convince me to keep them black until she saw the comparision pictures. Her reaction was "Ewww, yeah that's pretty ricey!" :rofl:

As far as the tranny swap, I'm only waiting on the Sachs -763 pressure plate for the clutch to ship, got everything else on hand, then I'll be ready to throw in the M90 and get her back on the road!
 
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The M90 will make a huge difference, buttery smooth shifts. Also, I still have a reinforced subframe laying around in case you're interested.
 
The do88 cooler is a nice upgrade, I like how you made it look stock :) the M90 will be a nice upgrade as well, much nicer feel than the M46 :)

Are you using poly or rubber bushings in the rear end?
 
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You guys are getting me excited about the M90!

I'm installing rubber bushings. I already had poly bushings in my "pegleg drift can" 740 with the same suspension that Olga here has and just didn't enjoy them at all, at most I felt they only increased road noise and vibration.
 
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