Progress Thread Komo's 1990 GT - Parts Gathering Purgatory & Home Remodel

[gkomo]

Got the car running again. Buttoned up everything, finally got the old oil filter off and new one on. Old one was way too tight, even with the filter wrench it was hard to remove.

Let it idle for like 15 minutes just watching for any leaks, didn’t see any even laying under the car and looking around. Was gonna take it for a test drive, took it down to the end of my street then realized my sway bar bolts were all loosey goosey so I turned around and parked it back on the ramps.

So far so good though. Only thing that sorta made me question anything, is my water pump/fan pulley seemed like sliiiiiightly wobbly?

 

[bird_dog0347]

A tip my Dad taught me for oil filters that were stuck on, just puncture them with a screw driver (with a drain pan obviously under it) and use the screw driver to break it loose.

 

[gkomo]

Do the generic ‘engine degreasers’ corrode hoses and what not? While I was at oreillys picking up my filter wrench I bought some cans of Reilly engine degreaser. I sprayed under the engine where more grease buildup was and scrubbed with my scrubber, then sprayed everything off with water on the gentle ‘shower’ setting on my hose. Just wondering if I should do a more thorough job of wiping everything down.

On a side note that stuff smells. My wife came home and immediately was like wtf is that smell. Guess I won’t be using it anymore lol. I have other general purpose degreasers, like chemical guys that I was using before. The smell does linger with the oreillys stuff unfortunately.

 

[Mac131]

Do the generic ‘engine degreasers’ corrode hoses and what not? While I was at oreillys picking up my filter wrench I bought some cans of Reilly engine degreaser. I sprayed under the engine where more grease buildup was and scrubbed with my scrubber, then sprayed everything off with water on the gentle ‘shower’ setting on my hose. Just wondering if I should do a more thorough job of wiping everything down.

On a side note that stuff smells. My wife came home and immediately was like wtf is that smell. Guess I won’t be using it anymore lol. I have other general purpose degreasers, like chemical guys that I was using before. The smell does linger with the oreillys stuff unfortunately.

I wouldn't worry about it since you rinsed it off. Recheck your water pump pulley bolts to ensure the pulley is on tight.

 

[gkomo]

Does the water pump pulley look like it’s wobbling at all?


View: https://youtube.com/shorts/wtOjKQDp3zg?si=B-tNrJUPvApzK0pv

 

[AeroCoupe]

I don't see any wobble in that pulley at all. A little light or shadow movement maybe. The belt might give the illusion of it moving but that's about all.

 

[gkomo]

I don't see any wobble in that pulley at all. A little light or shadow movement maybe. The belt might give the illusion of it moving but that's about all.

Ok good you’re right it may be light or shadows when just staring at it.

 

[Mac131]

Does the water pump pulley look like it’s wobbling at all?


View: https://youtube.com/shorts/wtOjKQDp3zg?si=B-tNrJUPvApzK0pv

Looks good to me.

 

[gkomo]

Looks good to me.

Ok glad to hear from multiple people I’m not crazy.

 

[gkomo]

Had like 10 minutes of free time today so I replaced my outer belt molding::





Small things make such a difference. I need to buy some rivets so I can install the new outer window weather stripping as well. Anyone know the correct size rivets?

 

[General karthief]

Ok glad to hear from multiple people I’m not crazy.

Nobody said you were not crazy!!!

 

[Mac131]

Had like 10 minutes of free time today so I replaced my outer belt molding::





Small things make such a difference. I need to buy some rivets so I can install the new outer window weather stripping as well. Anyone know the correct size rivets?

Not off the top of my head...

 

[gkomo]

I Googled around and found an article on the Corral that sort of talked about this. I ended up buying 1/8" x 1/4" aluminum rivets. Hopefully they'll work. They were cheap, so if they don't, no sweat.

 

[gkomo]

Had like 10 minutes of free time today so I replaced my outer belt molding::





Small things make such a difference. I need to buy some rivets so I can install the new outer window weather stripping as well. Anyone know the correct size rivets?

Got the passenger side outside weather stripping piece on. Removing the rivets was a pain in the ass I guess I didn’t have a sharp enough drill bit cause they weren’t doing anything. I ended up using wire cutters and just carefully working my way around each one till it broke off. The 1/8” x 1/4” rivets worked perfectly.

 

[gkomo]

Got the drivers side outer weather stripping on. This side went much easier now knowing how to do it.

Then I was able to tackle the drivers side sway bar bushing/bushing mount kit. What a royal pain in the ass. Was super hard to get the old mounting bolts off. And when holding the bolts on the bottom side while unscrewing the nuts from the top side I got some sparks on the nut which surprised me. So I disconnected the battery. I used a long extension and it may have been touching a plug wire or something, would that cause a spark on the nut or do I have a short somewhere?

Anyways, here’s some before/afters:





The passenger side needs to be replaced but the bushing looks 1000% better than this side. A job for another day!

 

[Rdub6]

You may want to check the starter wire that runs across the front near the sway bar. Spark plug wire wouldn’t give you sparks, but that power wire to the starter may if it’s got some cuts or breaks in the insulation.

Seeing sparks would immediately change my priority of what I was working on, thats for sure!!

 

[gkomo]

You may want to check the starter wire that runs across the front near the sway bar. Spark plug wire wouldn’t give you sparks, but that power wire to the starter may if it’s got some cuts or breaks in the insulation.

Seeing sparks would immediately change my priority of what I was working on, thats for sure!!

In the second picture, is that the thicker black wire right above the bushing mount (above to the right in the picture)? Or just crawl under and follow the wire from the starter? Wouldn’t driving it around I would notice something wrong?

It only did it on the top nut when using a metal socket/extension. I was fiddling around moving wires with my hands and it never sparked.

 

[gkomo]

Not that it’s good or anything but I think my 8” extension/ratchet was touching the metal nut and must’ve been touching some wire at the same time. I’ll look for any frayed wires in the area.

 

[Rdub6]

Yeah, I would look back at where you were when it happened, and try to see what was making contact.
Hard to tell (for me on my phone anyway) what’s what in those pics.

 

[gkomo]

Got the passenger side sway bar bushing/mount installed today. Took her for a drive around the neighborhood for a test drive, all seemed well. Car still ‘bumps’ due to the flat spot rear tire. But, my 4Runner needs 5 new tires soon so that may need to wait.

I checked the wiring around the drivers side sway bar mount where it sparked. I can’t see any fraying of any wires, all look good. Will have to keep poking around.