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Beluga Whale: Brendonak's Alaska '79 245 Build

I can keep my eyes peeled for some Artesia Beige doors to replace the dented ones on the car, if you'd like me to. I know that there's someone on the Seattle CL selling an '80 245DL with a blown HG for $400. Same color car. Could be a good parts car for body stuff.

-J
 
Okay, next round of work!

Lets build an exhaust on the cheap. The open downpipe, though insanely badass, was getting a bit old, additionally it worried me in any sort of traffic.

I've always wanted to use a glasspack, my dad would always mention them in passing in reference to mediocre things to do to vehicles. That said, this car is a beautiful image of a project done with mediocrity in mind. Not that I like settling, but I'm aware of my own abilities and I'm okay with not being able to get things done to the degree of the "inspiration" thread.

So! I purchased my first glasspack and a variety of other bits in hopes of creating a side exit exhaust. Keep in mind I don't have a welder, and my grinder, sawzall, and other power tools are at my bike shop.
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I needed to utilize a flexpipe because I needed a jog from the DP to make it through the Yoshifab exhaust space.
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Next I realized I'd need to prop the thing up, additionally the muffler was heaviest by far so I'd need to balance the support. I found that part out once I started using exhaust straps to hold things up. I don't have a welder and I don't want to commit to making an exhaust as I have a 3" DP waiting and that'd be a good excuse to go to bigger turbo, etc etc.
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I ran into problems with having the piping and clamp hitting the floorboard and gas tank. I wanted to create more space and the flex joint just does what it tells you. I pulled down on the thing and made room. The muffler will scrape the driveway, but since it's a modular system I can replace as needed. For now it's quiet and keeps hot gas away from under the car.

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Next!

I had to park the car in a field when I moved back down. Needless to say parking a car from Feb to May in a field made for some unfortunate discoveries. First of which were the spiders! Next was the mold on the seatbelts and carpets. I've decided to attack this one step at a time. Main reason is I want to drive it to work to break the engine in a bit and make sure it's ready for the shakedown run to Tacoma for the Griot's show.
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Lastly, I scraped pretty bad going down the driveway, it's close down there!
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This makes me think of Gran Torino
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Hey John, good meeting you finally!

Thanks for the pic, the road trip went great, even took the scenic way home.

Didn't get too many pics of the meet, too busy talking shop and enjoying people's rides!

Road trip went off without a hitch, didn't even need the cooling fan on the interstate. Car is much more manageable with the exhaust I "built" but it's still a loud mofo.

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Not a problem, man. Nice meeting you as well. Car looks good. A Dynomax UltraFlow muffler in the stock location would quiet it down a lot without making it feel lethargic. Have a 2.5" cat-back system with one on my 242. A little throatier than stock, but not obnoxious.
 
Not a problem, man. Nice meeting you as well. Car looks good. A Dynomax UltraFlow muffler in the stock location would quiet it down a lot without making it feel lethargic. Have a 2.5" cat-back system with one on my 242. A little throatier than stock, but not obnoxious.

Why don't I just drive up and we bolt that exhaust on my car...swapsies ya know?
 
lol... I can get pix of it next time I'm under the car, so you can copy it for your next exhaust setup. It is one of the old MVP exhaust systems. Peter at the V Shop might still have the specs of the system, so you can get exactly what you need to recreate it.
 
I'm torn, for dumb reasons, because I have a 3" dp that I can bolt on in my possession. So, the conundrum is, if I'm going to get something built, why not toss the 3" on there and do it that way so if I want to up the turbo I've already got the exhaust in place for it.
 
Good feedback regarding exhaust. Still haven't made moves since that takes real money. I have mounted the R-Sport cluster I got from John last year! I also tagged a boost gauge and non wideband afr to make sure things are working okay. I was on the fence if I should get a wideband or not but I have no plans on modding the programming save for getting custom "chips" for the lh2.4 and EZK. Based on that I feel like so long as I know if things are okay or going haywire I should be fine. Maybe? Open to thoughts?

Moving on! Installing the cluster!

I posted a thread and was given info regarding the factory install instructions. They have the wiring down and have great instructions. Basically there are 6 wires coming off the back of the cluster. Two are grounds, two go to the fuse panel, one to tach, and one to the oil pressure sensor. Really it's that easy!

That said the stock cluster popped out with clips on the top and two mounts for screws underneath. This R Sport had neither, but it weighed lots more so maybe it'll stay in place?

I haven't finished installing because I want to install the boost and afr gauge too. Tagging a cheap 3 pod for the center speaker mount and go from there. I was really gung ho to drill the dash like the old school way to do it. What stopped me is knowing that I wouldn't be able to do it "right" enough to be okay with it, and also knowing that not having a garage makes stuff like this insanely difficult to do remotely correctly.

The suspects
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They're in!
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Sitting normally it's better than the regular cluster. I suspect I'll have to adjust my seat a bit, the upper right and left gauge are pretty much covered by the wheel.

Started the car, fuel level, engine temp, alt, and tach work. Didn't drive it yet, waiting to finish up the oil press and the rest of the gauges.
 
There's supposed to be a pair clamps and thumb screws similar to the ones holding the large gauges on either side of the cluster that hold it to the dash.

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There's a loose clamp in the bottom of the box next to the oil pressure sender.

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I don't see how since they're made differently.

You could try PMing Roger and see if he has replacements or even dimensions. The clamps wouldn't be hard to fabricate and you can use a nut instead of the thumb screw.
 
I think the one I had many years ago (not the same one - mine had a 200 km/h speedo) was missing those as well. Used it in a '73 145. The column trim held it in place, though. So, you might try putting the column trim on and see if it remains in place while you're driving around. If it does, then add the clamps later on, once you find a pair.

-J
 
The cluster is pretty heavy and seems to keep itself in place. I'll reinstall trim and see what that's like. I suspect I'll start saving to have it rebuilt if I really like it. I liked the old gauge with the tach in the middle, Porsche style, but knowing what my oil pressure is at is hard to pass up.
 
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