Friday, September 9, 2016

Loose Ends......

Always seems to be that the "last 10%" of things to get done on a project always take more than 10% of the time!

Spent the whole day (so far....) farting around cleaning up various bits and pieces of The Great Front End Rebuild.

Like the bellows boot that covers the inner workings of the right side of the power steering rack and pinion gear.

The boot was torn in half when I bought the car, BUT unless you were looking right at it, or the wheels were turned full lock to the left AND you were looking right at it, you didn't notice it. The only evidence at the time was a few drops of liquid under the right side of the car. The boot had been ripped long enough that dirt and grit got at the seal on that end of the steering gear, and wore them enough that now it drips.

I have a rebuilt steering gear waiting in the box in the garage, but I'm not going to swap it out until I get back. Yeah, I know I'll have to eat the cost ($85) of another 4-wheel alignment after I change it, but the one in the car now doesn't leak much fluid, it'll be another "Big Deal" to swap it out, and it's NOT a safety issue, as the inner tie rod ends are (still) tight, and there's no slop in the steering, so the dirt only got to the outermost seal.

The "hardest" part of swapping out the bellows boot today was removing the outer tie rod end, and getting it back in exactly the same position it was in so that it didn't throw the existing (unknown quality) front-end alignment off.

I painted a stripe on the inner tie rod end, and used the "Edd China Method" of removing and replacing it.

I counted the turns until it came off, and then screwed it back on the same number.

Simple and effective, and will work more than "good enough" to get me to the alignment shop next week.

One more item crossed off The List.....

The last thing I really have to do other than doing the final torquing of the lower control arm bolts and the strut rod nut, is to replace the power steering high-pressure hose. This is the item that my "original" smog test place said was "Spraying Fluid EVERYWHERE!", and refused to smog the car on safety grounds. Even though I could only see a very few, very small droplets of fluid, I grudgingly accepted their decision as I had a power steering hose blow on me once. And because that car (another Toyota Celica, no less!) also had a cracked exhaust manifold on the same side of the engine as where the hose was, the fluid lit off under the hood with rather spectacular results. One of my neighbors saw it happen as I was coming down the street and said he thought they were filming some kind of action/adventure movie, and I was part of the special effects......

So, yeah, that hose has GOT to be replaced!

And while I'm down under the car in GreaseLand, I'll also replace the return line.

I was planning on starting the hose replacement Saturday, BUT "duty calls", and I've been asked to help provide some help escorting some visitors on the Iowa, so this gets put off (le sigh...) until Sunday.

On the plus side, I've lost 12 pounds since I started actively working on the car (again), and I can now bend over and touch my toes again.

Which might come in real handy if The Hildebeast sneaks in to the White House this fall.....

9 comments:

  1. Your time may be better spent building an ARMORED Supra if Big Mother ascends to the throne.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good point.

      I'll see if I can "borrow" a few pieces from the Iowa....

      Delete
  2. When you make your move to NOCO I'll let you work on my stuff.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not sure if I'll do the "For Hire" bit, but you're welcome to come by and see the car.

      Delete
  3. If she gets in, we might just be needing that battleship you're rumored to have the keys to. What grade black powder for 16" rifles again?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Each of the 100 pound bags (SIX per gun) have pellets that are about 1/2" diameter and 2" long.

      Not sure where we could get that stuff on the surplus market, but I hear the Navy still has quite a bit of it in storage...

      Delete
  4. Just watch out that the 'last minute list' doesn't get out of hand... :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Short of swapping out the steering gear, which 'AINT gonna happen, these items COMPLETE the front end.

      For now.....

      Delete
  5. The oil pressure sending unit (gasket?) blew out one fine day and pumped out all the oil. Have you checked this item out on your Supra? I bet it's the exact same part.

    ReplyDelete

Keep it civil, please....

Gloomy, Gritty, Grey Day

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