Vader's Brick (745 TIC)

Ok, here goes nothing...

I present to the world, Vader's Brick.



The tentative plan is to keep the wagon relatively stock format with only minor modifications to improve suspension and overall performance. I am not going to "stance" this car, put it on crazy wheels, or make it a pipe-through-the-hood hoon wagon.

The car was delivered to my boss's shop last night, and I got it running with a "dead" battery (read: free to me) that still had 12.7 volts in it. The seller was selling the car due to an intermittent no start/random stall issue that for the time being, has vanished for the time being.



The tentative plans for the car are something along the lines of this:
Thoroughly clean, vacuum, wash, polish, wax
Plug screw holes from a Ford Country Squire roof rack with rubber grommets
Demount tires, detail rims, mount & balance new tires
Locate 2 alloy wheel center caps
Lubricate all locks
Straighten rear edge of hood (it is bent down and catches on the metal vent grille)
Diagnose and fix non-operational speedometer
Cure ABS light (most likely dirty sensors)
Diagnose SRS light (fix if possible)
Stage 0: full tune up, timing belt (new cam?), valve cover gasket, injector seals, trans pan gasket and fresh ATF, fresh diff oil
Clean engine bay thoroughly
New vacuum lines
Remove silicone from sunroof and install manual sunroof mechanism in place of the motor
New exhaust (still deciding on who/where to buy)
New brake pads and rotors
New struts and front end bushings
Adjustable Panhard rod
Cut one coil or less out of each corner (to just help fill the wheel wells better)
New boost gauge face
Locate and install a good used driver's seat

Check the wiring on your crank position sensor, that was the cause of an intermittent no-start that I had on my '92 with an '89 powertrain. It would start just fine for a week, and then suddenly crank endlessly. Super easy to replace.

After further research, I may be sticking with the AW71 until I can get the deep pockets to do a T5 swap.
I plan on doing the accumulator modification outlined below while the trans pan is off:
http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=108965&page=1

So Saturday was supposed to be "do as much little sh*t as I can on the wagon day" but in reality life happened and then this happened (sold to someone not bought):


So yeah, that fattened my pocket a little bit. The tires I ordered were sitting in the back of the wagon so I had my buddy mount and balance them. I did clean the caked on mud off of the rims prior to any work he did. I also discovered that the brakes are completely toasted and the hydraulic lines are on the verge of bursting.

Clean wheels (bad picture):


Also, I started detailing the engine bay since it was nasty. Here's a before picture (I forgot to take an after, but I didnt finish either).


As of 20 minutes ago, I just spend a thick stack (for a somewhat broke 17-year-old) on parts from RockAuto. I didn't feel ready to cough up the near $100 for just a cap, rotor, and plug wires, so I am going to try and just clean these up until I have more dough.


In other news, I have secured a pair of minty headrest inserts, a nice cargo mat (thanks Philski), a pair of OEM mudflaps, and a manual sunroof mechanism (thanks Polvo). Update: I also just snagged a sweet period correct Yakima rack for some dough ($220 shipped) as well as a similar era short rail fork mount bike rack ($23 on eBay)- yum. I began removing the roofing tar from the sunroof on the outside, and began digging away at the silicone caulk used to seal the perimeter. I lined the manual mechanism up and tried to turn it, but was merely greeted with about 1/16 of an inch of movement in either direction followed by clicking/slipping of the gear against the cables.

How do I lubricate the mechanism with the roof closed?

And in case anyone would like to see some mediocre vlogging interrupted by me crawling around a swamp with a few 740/760's, watch below. I plan on actually recording a decent set of videos for this car as stuff happens and I'll make sure that the quality isn't crap either.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/becCzPE5t9E?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

"Luke, I am your father.."

Last weekend saw new plug wires, spark plugs, and a full seafoam treatment. Hopefully, this weekend will be the beginning of brakes and draining/changing ATF with the accumulator modification.

New video:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2ouBlRy4p0E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

You will like accumulator mod. I rode in a car that had it done for the first time the other day. I couldn't tell a difference under normal driving but it chirped the tires on the 1-2 shift under throttle.

This looks a lot like what I'll be doing with my new 940. I'm also a semi broke high schooler. I'll be keeping an eye on this thread.

The wheels are not Gemini's, they are Draco's. (pet peeve when people call things the wrong name)

I have a spare OEM boost gauge that I'll sell you for cheap. If your instrument cluster is the square kind, it'll drop right in!