I was unsuccessful in getting the car to a drivable state this past weekend.

Tried putting the stock header on and remembered I had to disconnect the over/front pipes to get the over pipe mated to the header. Mistakenly decided it would be easier to just remove the studs from the header and got just far enough to mess up the studs... So now we are trying the ptuning with just max temp RTV and no clamps which I have little faith in. But maybe it will work.

While I was figuring that out, I thought I would cheer myself up by installing some whiteline adjustable rear endlinks I got. Note to self, endlink work is never cheerful. Had to break out the Dremel of course and managed to get old endlinks off, new ones on the bar. But I forgot the whole mounting to the lca thing, which now I'm wondering if whiteline wasn't the best option to use with the verus lcas. The stiffness of the thin poly bushings on the lower mount is giving me pause because of the way the LCA is adjusted. Longitudinal (relative to car body) motion of the sway bar on the lowered car is likely to twist the LCA, which in this case is screwed into the onboard mount on the same axis. Plus it adds a significant moment to the endlink. It might be fine but just something that I should go research/ask verus about. If it seems ill advised to use WL, I might find some endlinks with pillowball lower mounts and plan to replace them ever few years.

The OEM endlinks I took off the car will still work for a bit I think, but it's going to take some cleaning and a new nut. The threaded kind, not the human.

Car is almost ready to drive, just gotta sort out the endlinks...

Oh! I forgot about the one thing I think might work. Cut out the old RTV oil leak patches under the engine. I'm pretty sure I didn't clean the first attempt properly. I had originally used the spray on sealant and probably didn't take it off before adding RTV. That spray sealant got mangled by oil seeping into it and lifted the black RTV to allow oil through. Got all that crap out of the way and reapplied the black RTV to bare metal. I think that'll do it. Got it much cleaner looking this time at least.

Forgot to take pictures apparently.

Called Verus today about endlinks to/not use with their LCA. Their general recommendation is apparently Whiteline, and neither of the guys on the phone have heard of any issues with them on their LCAs. It sounded more like a generic recommendation rather than specifically for the LCA, as they said they didn't have a lot of knowledge about aftermarket endlinks on the 86 platform. I'm sure they'll work if I can get them in place.

The next best option seems to be the Racer-X endlinks a lot of the autocross setups have.

Still not really a fan of the Whiteline lower mount, but they are halfway on the car and I already paid for them. Dilemma...

Also, selecting batteries is complicated....

That makes me feel let down honestly. I haven't bought anything from the company, but I enjoy the things they do make.

It's almost like they were pushing you off because they didn't have an answer for you.

Maybe, but at the same time it's hard to expect that a small company can keep up with all compatible aftermarket parts. Testing/researching all combinations gets very expensive, very quickly. I got what I was expecting out of the call, but not necessarily what I was hoping for lol.

I've been thinking a lot about a better rear endlink solution lately. Nothing really to report, but yeah I don't love the poly endlink solution and OEM are too long. The WL endlinks are probably a net benefit if you can make them shorter.

- Andrew

If you want to be cheap you can make end links on McMasterCarr with some patience.

Ball joint through bar - https://www.mcmaster.com/60645K441/
2" threaded rod - https://www.mcmaster.com/98750A462/
Ball joint through lca - https://www.mcmaster.com/60645K14-60645K142/

Add two jam nuts, a nut to secure the bar, a bolt/nut for the lca, and some hollow rod spacer for centering the ball joint in the LCA.

https://i.imgur.com/8HkphT8.jpeg

You're not saving much over the RacerX ones, but they're serviceable. Proper endlink length is important in the rear to prevent binding.

Racer-X has a special lower, otherwise doesn't seem much different than WL. I think the WLs can be about 1/4" shorter than stock just by eyeballing it. My main purpose was to make sure there's no preload, and because I thought it would be fun and easy lol.

Oh btw, how much gooder are the SS-3s than the T2s? Asking so I know how much I can lean on that as an excuse when my AX friend is faster than me this year. ;)

I believe you have mistaken my laziness for frugality. But not a bad suggestion. It seems like those won't be adjustable with weight on wheels though?

New problem... Connected the battery and tried to start the car last night to test out my engine bay "repairs". Starter clicked, no turn. Tried again, same thing. Windows don't get enough juice to roll up even. No problem, recharge battery and try again tonight.

Charger indicates battery is full and windows seem to be working when doors close. Insert key, immediately having difficulty priming and running the computers. Just clicking on and off. Obviously doesn't start.

I really hope it's just I killed the battery...


... Except now I gotta find a new battery before I can do anything...


Edit. Nope, not the battery, the positive terminal was just corroded. Wire brush and a charge and it's back.

Sorry, no offense intended. You can have them adjustable on the ground if you use something like: https://www.mcmaster.com/8421N77/

The ones I have are used with a Karcepts style bar so once they're set after corner weighting the length doesn't need to change to adjust the bar.

Lol wasn't offended, just making a joke about myself.

I understand that it can get expensive and all that.

I'm really all about quality and customer service. I'm ok with generic answers even. As long as they are gave in a manor of, "we haven't been able to research it that much, so this is what we suggest."

It's to often I get answers like, "I'm not sure." That's what makes me angry.

Like the wheels I've been wating for, for over a year now....I get, "They ship when they ship. We have no idea when that will be. So please stop asking. " maybe call the wheel rep or something? That's a shitty ass answer!

Got the rear endlinks on. There's just enough compliance in the lower bushings to install without disconnecting anything else, and it should be straighter after the suspension is compressed. I am not confident I'll be able to accurately remove any/all preload due to the side loads, but we will see this weekend.

Got the car started and tested out my rtv fix on the header Let it get up to temperature idling, and gave a few pokes at the throttle. Worked pretty well at idle, but I think it failed with higher revs. I had put the undertray on so no smoke test, but the right fender was getting pretty hot again...

Soooo, I called some places about getting a new header and coating it. Some info I learned:
-Swaintech header coating is about a 10-12 week lead time at the moment. Typical minimum is 6 weeks.
-JDL is setting up another batch order with a 2-3 week lead time (uncoated, equal length, uncatted) if someone orders in the next few days they will probably be in that.
-Getting a JDL header coated by Swaintech apparently voids the JDL warranty.


Hmmm....

Well, the second round of testing went better than the first.

Ran the car and checked for exhaust leaks with a smoke stick. No leaks when idling cold. No leaks when idling hot, even after poking the throttle. Still SOUNDS like a leak at certain rpms, but it's no longer dumping enough exhaust into the engine bay to cause problems. Fuel trims were fine. This all remains true after a drive so it's fixed enough I guess.

Also confirmed, new black RTV patches at the valve covers aren't oily, so that's working too. Need to get the area real clean before application I guess.

Car on ground, the WL rear endlinks stand straight up when set to the lowest setting + some wiggle room. Better than stock at least due to lowering. Haven't noticed any issues on my drive around but didn't really push it suspension wise. Cannot get a good feel for removing preload as suspected, but they are adjustable on the ground.

Bedded in brakes (Ferodo DS2500 pads and Centric blank rotors) with about 20 consecutive 60mph-20mph applications at ~50%. Actually did it 2 times because the first set I must have been a bit too easy on the brakes and didn't get a consistent deposit on the rotors. Hopefully I didn't overheat them the second as they were smelly when I got back.

The brake feel is very different to stock brakes. The pad grip to heat profile is different which will take some getting used to. It also feels a bit squishy, though I tested it and there's enough stopping power to hit the abs on street tires at least. I might bleed the brakes again and see if that makes the pedal a bit firmer. Might just be how the pads work.

Lol wall o text. Here's a bad picture of endlinks? I'll get a car picture today with the new wheels. Might want to at least wash it first...