Hey, remember me? ....I know it has been some time.


My summer has been a whirlwind, and I am finally only now regaining control of my schedule.

This was probably the busiest I have ever been in a summer. From composites gigs, to coaching and racing, it's been crazy.

Some random shots.

Rescuing an Opti.



Taking kids sailing on a J30

Modern 8 Metre goodness.

Classic 8 Metre goodness.

And teaching the race team sailing students how to foil on the moth. This was very rewarding.






Now that the sailing season is coming to a close, I've finally started to turn my attention back to the car (I know, I know, where have you heard that before?).

I've puttered in the last couple of months, nothing of note, but made small bits of progress when I could.

I've also misplaced my damn multimeter, so until I find that, the blinkers will have to wait some more.....ugh.



Added some more carbon...although I purchased this from a competitor, mainly as an experiment to compare quality/fit/finish etc....

It's polyester, it's heavy, it's been sanded and cleared to the edge of its life, and the fit is moderate......all of that said, it ends up being 3 parts I didn't have to build tools for, so that's worth the 300 bucks to me.

These pieces will work, but it does irk me a bit that they wouldn't have thought to orient the twill in the same direction on the center panel, as on the outer panels... Although it is not an issue as it is entirely covered by the license plate, so that's just me nit picking a bit.

Sneak peak.



So yeah. Expect more from me, and this thread on a more frequent basis. Summer is dwindling, it's time to get the hell to work....damn slacker...

good to hear from you


some times life gets in the way of living huh


i know that feeling. did you see the picture from in front of my shop in the GC post?

fucking life.....

I got stuck doing some maintenance to the BMW last night... Somehow I locked myself out..keys inside, remote location. Luckily I was able to break in using a bondo spreader, a couple feet of brake line, and a door stop. That's good, cause that's literally all that was available.

Also, to the guy on the internet who said it is way easier to tie a slip knot and loop it around the lock knob - you can go fuck yourself, Buddy. I spent an hour trying that stupid technique, cause "you'll damage seals with a slim jim". That failed. 45 seconds with the ol' brake line technique, I was in. I should have just gone with my proven method from the start, but I thought I would be smart and listen to the internets first..... Doh!





..so I didn't get as much accomplished as I had hoped, but I at least installed the new blow off valve, and can take that off the list.

Freakin' dust man......killin' me.



I'm planning to black-ify the outlet, and any other contrasting blue to the blue of the engine. I'm still unsure how I will do this, I may powdercoat the outlet (maaybe, if the powder doesn't build to influence flow) and have even entertained the idea of some black nail polish. But needless to say, that will become much more subtle as time goes on.





It's raining today, so I'll be garaging it all day. Not sure what my direction is going to be. Hopefully my friend brings over his multimeter, and I'll try to diagnose blinkers.

Time will tell.

This post was edited by OldAndyAndTheSea on Aug 21 2016 09:26am

So in order to figure out what the hell else needs to be done, I made a list. Now I have some direction. If I get bogged down on one aspect, I'll take a look at the list and tackle something else until nothing else remains.




My friend brought over his multimeter, so I got around to testing the switch.

Here is a list of the acceptable range



...and here I am testing between pins 2 and 3, in the neutral position, which should give a reading of greater than one ohm. So that one is off, as were the following other tests. So unless I did something totally wrong in testing, I think my switch is bad.




But, I'm also skeptical, because it was the result I wanted, as I honestly have no idea where else the problem could lie at this point.

So I just bought a restored, tested, switch. Hoping to get that by the weekend, then I will really know what the next step is. Will it be:

Dash install?

or

Douse in gasoline and see how hot she'll burn?


Until then, I'll keep whittling away at the list. Oh the list.

Switch didn't arrive today, as hoped, so I did some other stuff instead..

Finally bled my brakes. Everything appears to be holding pressure. They work great!






I also solved another random challenge on the list. Since I deleted two of the heater vents in the dash, I need to cap off the no longer used openings in the blower,

Seen here. Note: the middle, rectangular, opening is still used for the center vent in the dash.



After measuring, and inquiring as to where to procure a cap that is about 59.30mm OD, I got nowhere pretty fast.

A couple brews, and some investigating, later.....







Turns out the cap to a specific type of spray paint is basically interference fit. Like, I honestly couldn't find something to fit this more perfectly. It's freaking hilarious. No reason why this won't work.




So yeah...I made a little progress.



Brakes working is a big deal. Now my rolling chassis can stop..


...that is... when it rolls.

This post was edited by OldAndyAndTheSea on Aug 26 2016 11:43pm

So I did some suspension stuff.. As fate (or Murphy) would have it, the blinker switch I bought was returned to sender only an hour away from my house. So while I wait for the switch to cross the country for the second time I decided to work on the list.

I did originally order the wrong tie rod end for the passenger side, so I got that replacement, powdercoated it, then proceeded to do a really really rough preliminary suspension set up, to get a baseline.







This is also the first time the car has been outside in three years. She's freakin' dirty, the alignment is comical, and there's white paint spattered on the rear driver's tire..... but I think she's purdy. Lots of potential.

I need to finish the alignment, and install the sway bar end links now that I've got a rough base setup.

Here are some teasers to show some semblance of a functioning car.