Week Infinite, Project Sprint

 

- May 11, 2007

 

I picked this up the other day.

 

1987 Chevy Sprint Turbo. It's a 1.0 3-cylinder with a turbocharger fit for a snowmobile - all together it pushes 70 hp at the crank (stock). It weighs just over 1500 lbs, so the power to weight ratio isn't too bad. A few mods (namely a 2.5" exhaust, more aggressive cam, MBC, and a front mount setup) and it should reach 120 hp, at which point it ought to be a mid to high 14 second car. For comparison’s sake, that (high 14 second 1/4 mile) is equivalent to your early ‘90s 5.0 Mustang. The most attractive feature of this car, though, is that it gets 42 mpg highway, and 39 mpg city. Well, that, and the fact that I can roll it over like a "strongman"

 

It's in need of restoration, though.

 

The interior is horrendous, mostly because much of the plastic is made from recycled materials that aren't quite fit for the temperatures inside an automobile cabin. I’m going to fabricate brackets and swap in the first attractive set of seats I find at the salvage yard. I may replace the carpet, depending on how it responds to a steam cleaning.

 

The crank is almost fubared (same for the sprocket), as the previous owner did not torque the crank bolt to spec and it backed itself out, allowing the crank to press a load onto the woodruff key, thus gouging the crank and sprocket. I’ve purchase a new key and repaired the sprocket. The crank will be completed tomorrow. If all goes well, I should have the car running again by week’s end.

 

In the meantime, I’ve cut off the rusted panel on the hood, welded on a piece of sheet metal and re-sprayed the hood. I just pulled it from the “booth” (aka, the empty condo two doors down) an hour ago. It looks okay.

 

Here are a few pics taken just after the tow truck driver dropped it off:

 

 

I'll probably keep this updated as I move along with the project. I'm sure enthusiasts of ironic, ugly econoboxes will enjoy the thread.

 

- May 14, 2007

 

After a few days of repairs, recharges, and resprays, I finally started the car. It started, then died seconds later. No worry, though, as there were several vacuum leaks I needed to clear up, and so the stall was expected.

 

I drove to the nearest gas station (in another vehicle) and filled up a one-gallon tank of 93 octane. I poured in the new gas and, after clearing up the aforementioned vacuum leaks, started the car. It idled on its own, and I felt as if the project was a success...

 

 

...until moments later I heard a clanking noise from the motor. The clanking occurred once every three seconds or so and did so throughout the powerband. F*ck!

 

So, I walked around to the front of the vehicle and isolated the problem. With cylinder two down, the clanking stopped and the engine actually ran much better despite running on 2/3 its capacity. Once again, f*ck.

 

I'm fairly confident that the piston is either cracked or in pieces, but I'm not sure the extent of the damage to the block.

 

I think I'm going to give the previous owner a call later tonight.

 

- May 14, 2007

 

UPDATE:

 

Well, there's what seems to be good news.

 

I prepared to tear the motor down and began removing parts. After popping the valve cover off I noticed that the valve lash was adjusted manually. This surprised me, because I thought I had read that the turbo Sprints had hydraulic lifters.

 

But, then I noticed the exhaust valve in cylinder two was missing the nut for the lash adjuster. The rocker was plenty loose and I was somewhat relieved. What concerned me was not only that the nut was probably bouncing around the head (I couldn't find it, though), but also that this head was purportedly rebuilt by a local shop (CCH), and if they forgot to torque the adjusting nut properly (or if they actually forgot to install the nut), what else did they forget?

 

Anyway, I happened to have the proper sized nut on hand, and so I installed and started the car up. No more clanking, although the engine is pretty loud. I may need to adjust all the valves. And I really need to get an exhaust on this car (the current stock exhaust is both restrictive and rusted out (the muffler is toast)).

 

 

- May 16, 2007

 

I degreased much of the engine bay today (the firewall, mostly). I also installed the refinished intake pipe and MAS with the custom MAS adapter/Filter combo I fabricated. There's not much room in that area. The largest fitler I could get into that space was 4" long. This filter isn't quite as long, but it works.

Up next is a front mount setup and interior restoration. And, after I adjust the valves and get an exhaust on the car, I'm going to do some remodeling under the hood.

In the meantime, here's a pic of the engine bay with the new intake.

 

 

- May 19, 2007

 

I decided I didn't like the intake I fabricated. So, I tried again. Here we have the new intake. It's clearly preferable to the old setup. I also connected all the emissions. In one or two weeks I should have the front mount installed and exhaust fabricated.

 

 

- May 21, 2007

 

I performed a compression test today and found out why the car has been starting and running poorly.

 

Numbers: 160, 0, 160.

 

No compression in cylinder two (the same cylinder that was missing the valve lash adjusting nut on the exhaust valve when I first purchased the vehicle), and low compression (although within the service limit) in cylinders one and three.

 

Runnning at 2/3 capacity ain't cool, and for a time I thought that what I was experiencing was just the sh*tty output of the platform (plus a vacuum leak I figured I hadn't yet located). Silly me, as I was soon to find out.

 

Off goes the valve cover, in comes the ratchet/extension/socket and feeler gauge. Back on with the valve cover and son of a b*tch: it starts up immediately and runs like a champ. After that breakthrough I decided it was time to finally wash the car.

 

The sun is down now, so I'm done for the day. I did get a 0 - 35 Autometer boost gauge in the mail today. I would have preferred a -30 - 30 (or even 20) gauge, as I don't see myself ever running more than 15 lbs of pressure (I plan to set my MBC to open at 11 or 12 psi) and I would like to know what my vacuum readings are at idle; that is, as the car sits now and after I swap in a more agressive cam. But, this one was new and priced well. I guess I'll install it Wednesday.

 

- May 23, 2007

 

The boost gauge is installed. After taking the car for a test run, I was reminded of why I wanted a vacuum/boost gauge originally - the gauge serves no purpose on the car other than tracking boost while setting up your MBC and after exhaust modifications (which may lead to creep). With no vacuum reading, it is useless at idle and through the entire driving range below 40% throttle (give or take). Wackness...

 

Here's a mediocre pic of the mediocre gauge after, admittedly, a mediocre installation (by my standards). In my defense, I made certain not to permanently alter any of the stock interior pieces during this installation, and this limited the possible locations and styles of installation.

 

 

I can always replace this gauge with a vacuum/boost gauge, and with all the lines having been run, it would be a simple swap. I’ll live with this for now, though. Perhaps, over time, we will form an unbreakable bond, and I will look back on this time with incredulity.

 

- June 8, 2007

 

I installed a new head unit (Pioneer CD player), two 4" speakers in the dash (I actually had to remove the dash for this - WTF?), and two 6x9s in the rear. I needed to make spacers for the rear speakers, as the mounting locations weren't deep enough to accomodate the new additions, but besides that (and the dash removal), everything was pretty routine.

 

A couple of days ago, though, I drove to Port Richey expecting to purchase a 2.5" turbo-back exhaust that once guided exhaust gases from a turboed Honda CRX. Here's some background info before I describe my day.

 

In my discussions with the seller, the description I received (prompted from questions I'd asked about the item) included phrases such as "it's a full exhaust," "it's mandrel bent," "the muffler is a straight-through design" and "it's 2.5" inches." I'd also asked for pictures, and he said he'd take some, but they never materialized. The item was advertised at $40. A good price. I was surprised when the day before I was supposed to pick it up, the seller told me that he didn't remember who I was, and that with all the offers he had received, he was now asking $50. $50 was still a good price, so I headed up there the following day.

 

So, I drive up to this kid's house (about a fifty minute drive from my apartment). Sitting on his front lawn, from what I saw, was part of the exhaust. I get out of the car, shake the kid's hand, and give the exhaust a once-over. Immediately I recognize that this exhaust isn't mandrel bent, but rather it is press bent (Clarification: Mandrel bends are of equal diameter at all points in the bend. So, a 2.5" pipe with a 90 degree bend is still going to be 2.5" at the bend. Press bends are pinched at the elbows. So, a 2.5" pipe with a 90 degree bend may only be 2.0" at the bend.). This isn't esoteric knowledge here. If you're into automotive performance, you know the difference between a mandrel and a press bend. And, a trip down memory lane reminds us that this jackass answered the question "Is it mandrel or press bent?" with "It's mandrel bent." What's funny is that during my time at his house I mentioned a couple of times that the exhaust was in fact press bent, with the final time prompting him to pick up the exhaust and look down the pipe. For what, I am unsure, because you're not going to learn sh*t about an exhaust bend by looking down the exhaust (for one, because there's no light, for two...well, who cares; there's no light!), and you can clearly see whether a pipe is press or mandrel bent from viewing the bend from outside the pipe. I was more concerned, though, with the exhaust being more like a muffler with a couple of short 90 degree bends than a full exhaust. There was no cat (or replacement resonator or straight pipe), no flex pipe, no down pipe...nothing. There was a muffler with a couple of short bends. The length of the "full exhaust" was about 4' from end to end. I don't know how long his car is from motor to rear bumper, but mine is about four times that. Then there was the muffler, which while indeed a straight-through design, was considerably smaller than the exhaust pipe to which it was welded. I believe it may have had a 2" ID (compared to the 2.5" ID of the remainder of the exhaust - this is a relatively large difference).

 

So, I'm looking at this exhaust. I'm looking at this kid. I'm looking at the sky (I thought the rain was coming). I think my words to this kid were, "I really don't know how to express this. I couldn't be more disappointed. You said it was a full exhaust. Where's the flex pipe? Where's the exhaust. This is barely more than a muffler." He responds with, "I didn't say it was a full exhaust. I said it was a muffler." to which I reply with, "Really? I will bet the fifty I offered for this exhaust that you did say it was a full exhaust. I didn't know mufflers came mandrel bent." (think about it :\)

 

I've been in some sort of weird simultaneously laid back fighting mood lately - something like a merger of Ron Livingston in Office Space (post hypnosis) with Joe Pesci in Casino - and so while I'm sure I appeared collected while delivering lines like "I didn't know mufflers came mandrel bent," I was dangerously close to breaking this kid's face; one of those break your stupid face moments that apparently only I have in my mind (and I've asked many people about this). I haven't thrown a punch or kick with bad intentions since the beginning of this decade (except at a heavy bag), and I'm certain $7.00 in gas and two hours of my life wasted because of some kid's patent ignorance (and not intentional subterfuge) doesn't warrant ending that streak. But damn if I wasn't in the mood to break some sh*t. And this kid insisted on telling me about the value of his no-name muffler and how it was on backorder. All the while I'm thinking about how I could just f*ck this kid up. Eventually I got tired of his bullsh*t and just said, "f*ck it." I pushed the kid (just so he knew what was coming - I didn't want to sucker punch him), put my hands up, tucked my chin, and clocked him. One overhand right. He took it well enough and started wrestling with me. I get underhooks and threw him off of me. I stepped back to get into my range and through a stiff combination: two jabs, a straight right and a dig to the body with the left. He cumpled like one of those plastic ragdoll toys, but he didn't pop back up. I kicked him a couple of times while he was on the ground before picking up the exhaust and putting it in the back of my car. When I was getting ready to leave he was still on the ground, and still being irate, I walked back over to him and spit on him. I think I said something like "You wasted my whole f*cking day. You f*cking prick." It's weird, because I don't remember ever kicking someone while they were down, let alone spitting on them. But f*ck this guy. So, I walked back over to my car and started to think about what would happen if I drove off with this kid's exhaust. I opened the passenger's side door and prepared to remove his exhaust and put it back on his lawn, when this asshole starts screaming some sh*t about calling his friends, and then calling the police, and blah, blah, blah. So, now I'm really pissed off, and I take the exhaust out of the car, walk back over to the kid and start beating him with it while he's still screaming. He still won't shut his f*cking mouth, though, so I kick him square in the face. I don't know what's he's doing right now, but I know he's not talking anymore sh*t, because I had to have kicked out about six of his teeth. I then take the exhaust and throw it onto his driveway. It's in pretty bad shape at this point and so I don't have any use for it. At that point I just drove home. I had an appointment for an internship at the preschool next to my apartments at 4:30 PM and it was already 3:00. The funny thing is that none of that sh*t after me saying "I didn't know mufflers came mandrel bent" actually happened. It's weird, huh?

 

Goodnight.

 

- June 29, 2007

 

I threw some Ds on that b*tch:

 

 

Actually, they're refinished 13" steel wheels.

 

- June 30, 2007

 

The locals are telling me that this (the wheel swap) is the worst idea I've ever had. Apparently, the new wheels are ugly, or at best "all right." Not that I should expect any feedback from this desert, but on the off chance someone sleeptypes onto this site, what do you think?

 

 

- July 3, 2007

 

And the survey says: 4-2-1 (including one "I absolutely love everything about this car."). The exhaust is supposed to get welded up on Saturday, although I'm not sure the guy is going to be able to cut the flange I need for the down pipe(four bolt, 3" ID). I'm finally getting around to removing the front seats tomorrow. Hopefully the new seats ('92-'95 Civic SI) won't require much modification to make them fit. I think I need to find new lug nuts, because I don't think the current ones are seating properly with these new wheels. I think the studs extend out too far with the new wheels, and so the lugs actually seat on the studs instead of the wheel.

I've also been waiting over a week for a shipment of interior panels that I've paid for, and I'm starting to become concerned. The Canadians are still lollygagging, so I don't know if I'll ever get all the interior parts I need. I was happy to know that one club member had a dash for me, but then I realized it was the same club member that was supposed to get a shipping quote for other interior panels three weeks ago, and he hasn't even gotten around to boxing up the parts. Hopefully he comes through.

 

- July 7, 2007

 

The shipment I was awaiting arrived two days ago. It was nothing exciting, although the rubber window track was appreciated. I removed the door panel and immediately noticed that the roller for the scissors was off of its track. I cleaned the rubber window track and applied some adhesive (probably unnecessary) before installing it. I also greased the scissors and repositioned the roller. The window now rolls up properly and with ease.

It turns out the seats (and the chassis) require quite a bit of modification in order to install them. I'm about halfway home, I think. The car's still a piece of sh*t, though. You might not know it, though, as the window tint plays the role of sunglasses on an abused woman's face. I suppose the sun has played the role of the abuser. I'll post some before and after pictures of the interior after I've restored it.

Until I get the interior panels and dash from Canada, this car's going to remain a parking lot fixture.

 

- July 9, 2007

 

The new seats are in, and here are the before and after pictures.

 

 

 

- September 6, 2007

 

I received the interior panels about a month ago. And, after an extended delay, I finalized a deal for the dashboard. That's still in transit. The most serendipitous find (at least the one I'm most fond of), though, has been another Chevy Sprint located in a local "u-pull-it" yard. It is a complete 1987 four-door non-turbo Sprint. The interior is beige, though. I pulled a dozen parts of varying sizes from it this afternoon. I'm most happy with the hood prop grommet and front grill retaining clips I snatched up. They were free and are next to impossible to find. I'll probably go back within the week to pull miscellaneous sh*t. I'm still researching the differences between the transaxles in my car and this junker. I think the junker tranny will mount to my engine block, and I think the mounts (to the frame) are identical and in the same locations. I also think the axle splines are the same. I'm concerned about the gear ratios (the final drive in particular) and the strength of the non-turbo tranny internals.

 

What frustrates me is that I have only two-four hours a week available to work on this car, and that's spread throughout the week. I'll work something out, though.

 

- September 10, 2007

 

I received a package today. Here is a pic of its contents.

Here's a pic of the pile of parts I mentioned earlier.

They're a little dirty, but otherwise they're in much better shape than what's currently in the car. Once I clean them up and dye them they'll be as close to new as I'm likely to get. Now to find time to get all of this out of my apartment and into my car.

 

- September 17, 2007

 

I finally got the new (used) dash and other interior pieces in the car. After dyeing all of the faded and discolored interior pieces, I vacuumed out the car, removed the rear seats, and cleaned the exposed painted surfaces. I think I'm going to build a compartment in place of the rear seats (something like the rear of a CRX). I'm also going to cut a piece of automotive carpet for the hatch area. I just finished installing the new dash, the new interior pieces, and the old (dyed) interior pieces. Here a few before, comparison, and after pics.

 

Old dash:

 

Example of disintegrating interior:

 

Comparison of before refinishing and after refinishing:

 

Dyed interior pieces:

 

New Dash with with dyed A/C vents, speaker grills, and fuse box door:

 

Now I need to clean the interior door panels and refinish the window cranks, door pockets, door handles (both the large ones and the ones that actually open the door). I guess I also need some floor mats.

 

- October 8, 2007

 

Note to self: door skins on living room floor + rabbit cohabiters = holey door skins and simultaneous suicidal and homicidal thoughts.

 

- November 16, 2007

 

I'm heading over to "my welder's" house to hasten the fabrication of this exhaust. I should be able to bring it home tonight. In the meantime, here are a few pics of The Red Car:

 

- November 17, 2007

 

It's 3:30 in the morning, and the exhaust is done. It was an interesting night. I left the gym around 8:30 PM. I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt and it didn't seem terribly cold, so I drove straight to the house where the fabrication was happening. I spent the first half of the night helping to prep a Talon for rally racing. That apparently distracted me from the dramatic temperature drop, because upon completion I began b*tching about the cold.

The second half of the night/morning was spent completing the exhaust fabrication. Normally this job would take 30 minutes with a chop saw and a MIG, but at 1:00 AM with someone's girlfriend asleep in the house, we had to think fast. Into the truck went the generator and chop saw, and off we went to a local recreation center parking lot. I don't know if it's weird to be cutting pipe with a chop saw powered by a generator on the tailgate of a pickup truck at 1:00 AM in rec parking lot, but I'd like to think not.

It looks good, in spite of the MIG. I'm not confident that it will fit. Consequently, I wouldn't be surprised if I have to cut and reweld it a time or two. It would have been much easier if I could have brought the car over and mock fit the pipes before welding.

...f*cking well.

One thing I need to have done before anything gets test fit is shave the gasket surface of the o2 housing. "The welder" was suppose to do that, but no time, no time. Hopefully I can have that done at any local shop. I'm looking forward to listening to the car run with the new exhaust. I'll post pics when I get the chance.

 

- November 21, 2007

 

Well, the new exhaust is on the car. I took the o2 housing to a machine shop suggested by my welder. Apparently they've got bills to pay, because the charged me $65 for what couldn't have been more than two minutes of work (by a machine). That was upsetting. The angles on the exhaust bends are perfect, which is incredible considering we used the old exhaust as a template and never test-fitted anything on the car. However, the down pipe needs to be extended (where it comes off of the o2 housing - before the first bend), because the flex is sitting on the oil pan. I told "the welder" that it was too short when I first saw it, but he thought otherwise and left it. Now it will come off and back to him. It took entirely too long to test fit it, cut the gaskets, collect the hardware, and bend/cut the hangers. But, it's on (although, again, it will be coming off), and it sounds okay. I think it's a bit loud, but I also think there's a leak where the o2 housing meets the down pipe. The muffler muffles, but not enough. Luckily we put it inline, so I can simply add another muffler at the rear. Once the down pipe is extended, I'm bleeding the brakes and registering the vehicle. It's ready.

 

- November 24, 2007

I've taken a liking to a back seat (grey vinyl). So, that's installed now as well. I've also found a pair of 4" Jensen speakers for the rear side panels. Now I have 4" speakers in the dash, 4" speakers in the rear/side, and 6x9s in the hatch. I think I'm going to place a single 10" subwoofer in the hatch as well.

Here are some pics of the parts/progress:

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