I still don't know what the issue is with Safelite. What are the problems with them?
Progress Thread 1993 LX Hatch Progress
- Thread starter Mac131
- Start date
I still don't know what the issue is with Safelite. What are the problems with them?
When employees want to buy product from another company, rather than the company they work for I guess it would be due to the quality of the product?
Holler if you hear what it's about.
Bad glass?
Poor installation?
Wrong materials?
No prep?
Another update...got the quarter glass and other trim sanded, filled, sanded again, and painted. Here's the results.
All in all it turned out pretty good. Light years better than it was. I need to clean/polish the exterior again before I put all the trim back on.
On another note, I installed my new water pump and noticed that the 2 bolts that hold the plate on were completely wrong. I bought it from LMR and is a motorcraft pump (from China). You can see the heads on the bolts are too large. If I would have used these, the bolts would have hit the timing cover. Imagine tightening things up with these two bolts digging into the timing cover....could have damaged it or the pump. I'm going to reach out to LMR today. Also, the Daniel Carpenter thermostat housing I got from them is probably the cheapest piece of $hit ever...that's going back.
Here's the bolts that came with the pump...too big.
I also ran my thermostat housing across my whetstone to true up the mating surface. Should work just fine.
Progress is being made before winter. I'll post anything else I do before it gets tucked away for winter.
All in all it turned out pretty good. Light years better than it was. I need to clean/polish the exterior again before I put all the trim back on.
On another note, I installed my new water pump and noticed that the 2 bolts that hold the plate on were completely wrong. I bought it from LMR and is a motorcraft pump (from China). You can see the heads on the bolts are too large. If I would have used these, the bolts would have hit the timing cover. Imagine tightening things up with these two bolts digging into the timing cover....could have damaged it or the pump. I'm going to reach out to LMR today. Also, the Daniel Carpenter thermostat housing I got from them is probably the cheapest piece of $hit ever...that's going back.
Here's the bolts that came with the pump...too big.
I also ran my thermostat housing across my whetstone to true up the mating surface. Should work just fine.
Progress is being made before winter. I'll post anything else I do before it gets tucked away for winter.
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89ripper
Founding Member
Sorry to hear about those parts you received...but must say, nice job on your trim pieces. Makes a world of difference, i need to do mine somedayAnother update...got the quarter glass and other trim sanded, filled, sanded again, and painted. Here's the results.
All in all it turned out pretty good. Light years better than it was. I need to clean/polish the exterior again before I put all the trim back on.
On another note, I installed my new water pump and noticed that the 2 bolts that hold the plate on were completely wrong. I bought it from LMR and is a motorcraft pump (from China). You can see the heads on the bolts are too large. If I would have used these, the bolts would have hit the timing cover. Imagine tightening things up with these two bolts digging into the timing cover....could have damaged it or the pump. I'm going to reach out to LMR today. Also, the Daniel Carpenter thermostat housing I got from them is probable the cheapest piece ofever...that's going back.
Here's the bolts that came with the pump...too big.
I also ran my thermostat housing across my whetstone to true up the mating surface. Should work just fine.
Progress is being made before winter. I'll post anything else I do before it gets tucked away for winter.
Thanks man! They aren't perfect by any means but they look pretty good. Had to do a lot of prep work to make them look decent. Just glad I have them protected now.Sorry to hear about those parts you received...but must say, nice job on your trim pieces. Makes a world of difference, i need to do mine someday
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I got my thermostat housing from OReillys. Been on the car for years.
I will say that most of the issues are them being warped.
Trim looks really good!
I will say that most of the issues are them being warped.
Trim looks really good!
So check this out...
As I have mentioned earlier, my engine is a 1994, which means the timing cover was replaced to accommodate the older fox water pump. Well, during coolant filling, it start pissing a stream out of the bottom of the pump. Took the pump off and discovered this:
Gasket doesn't line up correctly. Upon further research, this timing cover is a reverse rotation and uses a different gasket to mate with the plate on the pump. I found the correct gasket...should be here in a few days. The part that matters is the direction of pump flow matching with belt rotation. That part is all good thankfully. I didn't notice this gasket mismatch because I stuck it on the pump first and mated it to the timing cover. Lesson learned to always verify both gasket mating surfaces.
It's always something...lol
As I have mentioned earlier, my engine is a 1994, which means the timing cover was replaced to accommodate the older fox water pump. Well, during coolant filling, it start pissing a stream out of the bottom of the pump. Took the pump off and discovered this:
Gasket doesn't line up correctly. Upon further research, this timing cover is a reverse rotation and uses a different gasket to mate with the plate on the pump. I found the correct gasket...should be here in a few days. The part that matters is the direction of pump flow matching with belt rotation. That part is all good thankfully. I didn't notice this gasket mismatch because I stuck it on the pump first and mated it to the timing cover. Lesson learned to always verify both gasket mating surfaces.
It's always something...lol
My engine gasket kit came with something like 8 different water pump gaskets.....
Got the correct water pump gasket and installed the new pump....wadda ya know, it seals properly now. All of the exterior trim is finished and installed. I'm gonna enjoy it for the remainder of the fall. I'll be plenty busy this winter acquiring parts and porting the upper end.
Here's some fall pictures from today:
Here's some fall pictures from today:
Well, I have been able to acquire some 5.0 parts locally for cheap. I scored an engine block that may work out with just the honing I did. I had to take about .002 out of the cylinders to get things squared up. It's not perfect, but it should be just fine. Also have a set of forged TRW pistons on the way. I'll check the cylinder wall to piston clearance to make sure things are in spec. I know that forged Pistons tend to need a bit more clearance since they expand more than hyper ones. Here's some pics:
Scored another set of heads and a crank too.
I was also able to find a complete top end to include upper/lower intake, injectors, TB, valve covers, oil pan, wire harnesses, and some other misc parts for $100. I have most everything to build me another engine that I can drop in this spring. I have lots to do this winter....lol.
Scored another set of heads and a crank too.
I was also able to find a complete top end to include upper/lower intake, injectors, TB, valve covers, oil pan, wire harnesses, and some other misc parts for $100. I have most everything to build me another engine that I can drop in this spring. I have lots to do this winter....lol.
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Update:
Car is tucked away for the winter. I've been doing more work to the 302 block as well. Got some Forged OEM pistons on ebay. They all cleaned up well. Unfortunately, I have .007" piston to side wall clearance on a couple of cylinders. That's a bit much for me. I want something between .003-.004. I'm going to get the block bored and honed .020 over. I'm also looking at some speed pro/sealed power forged pistons. They are heavy, but I just want something that resembles stock. I'm not building a racecar.
The deck surfaces cleaned up really well:
As for the heads, I just started porting them today. Got all the thermactor humps taken down and was able to smooth out one of the exhaust bowls. Here's some pics.
Stock:
Thermactor hump removed and runners widened a bit...these are just roughed in. I'll smooth and polish later.
Bowl roughed out:
I've decided this build is going to have an Anderson B21 cam as well. Maybe in the future I'll do a supercharger or nitrous.
More to come...
Car is tucked away for the winter. I've been doing more work to the 302 block as well. Got some Forged OEM pistons on ebay. They all cleaned up well. Unfortunately, I have .007" piston to side wall clearance on a couple of cylinders. That's a bit much for me. I want something between .003-.004. I'm going to get the block bored and honed .020 over. I'm also looking at some speed pro/sealed power forged pistons. They are heavy, but I just want something that resembles stock. I'm not building a racecar.
The deck surfaces cleaned up really well:
As for the heads, I just started porting them today. Got all the thermactor humps taken down and was able to smooth out one of the exhaust bowls. Here's some pics.
Stock:
Thermactor hump removed and runners widened a bit...these are just roughed in. I'll smooth and polish later.
Bowl roughed out:
I've decided this build is going to have an Anderson B21 cam as well. Maybe in the future I'll do a supercharger or nitrous.
More to come...
Completed one of the heads today. Depending on how far you go, it takes a lot of time. I bet I have 25-30 hrs into this head alone. For anyone wondering why I don't just go buy some aftermarket heads...I like a challenge and want to keep a stock look under the hood. These heads have a lot of potential when ported.
Did some small tweaks to the chamber...tapered the shelf going to the exhaust seat, flattened and smoothed the spark plug boss, softened all the edges, and lapped the valves.
Intake bowl:
Exhaust bowl:
Intake runner:
Exhaust port:
Here's the stock head for reference:
Exhaust port with thermactor hump:
Stock intake runner:
On to the other head...
Did some small tweaks to the chamber...tapered the shelf going to the exhaust seat, flattened and smoothed the spark plug boss, softened all the edges, and lapped the valves.
Intake bowl:
Exhaust bowl:
Intake runner:
Exhaust port:
Here's the stock head for reference:
Exhaust port with thermactor hump:
Stock intake runner:
On to the other head...
Im getting ready to take my transmission out with pictures out. Rear main seal is leaking like crazy. I need a sleeve, but we will be putting it up this weekend
