How did the Prius do with the traction control "off"?
Looks like you had a ton of fun 
How did the Prius do with the traction control "off"?
Looks like you had a ton of fun
In reply to Indy - Guy :
The VSC/ABS off switch worked well. On the rough roads I kept it switched off and it drove like a FWD car with mud tires should. It was very capable on rough terrain.
I had thought about snorkeling it at one point, but decided that 'electric' cars should stay out of deep water. ...then on the trail, I just sent-it when we got to water or mud. It looks like all the splash was deflected away from critical infrastructure and it did as well as the trucks. Maybe I will snorkel it.
In reply to AAZCD-Jon (Forum Supporter) :
You should be able to suck the oil out of the dipstick tube with an oil extractor. That's what I do with our cayenne diesel, easiest oil change ever. Don't need to get under the car at all. In a few days I'm going to check out a 14 Touareg TDI R line for myself...
The last thing I need is another event on my schedule and another car project, but I'm following along with this to see if it will work out:
Meanwhile, I've pulled the V8 out of the Frog and have the 2.7L engine that I got from Dan0 (with a 996 intake now) ready to raise into position after I take care of a few more things. ...coolant tubing, expansion tank, torque check some bolts, another check of the engine harness.... Rallycross March 17th (that's almost tomorrow).
Here's the FB group in case anyone is interested. Private, but any one in the group can send an invite: https://www.facebook.com/groups/649474210604481
November 16 2024 starting in Northeast Kansas. I'm working that weekend. ...considering taking a few days off. If I do it, I'll probably drive my red '07 Prius. It's a legit sub $1,000 car and that way I don't take on another unneeded project.
I was planning to have the Frog running tomorrow. Change of plan. Now I just hope to get the four broken exhaust bolts out.
I wish I had noticed that before I had the engine in. The cut hoses and a couple wires were easy to deal with, but broken, seized exhaust bolts make me sad.
Saturday Edit: There's enough of the bolts sticking out to thread a nut onto. I've repeatedly applied penetrating oil, then cleaned them up with a wire brush and file. Next I'm planning to weld the nuts on and carefully get get them out.
Sunday edit, In celebration of being able to edit posts again...
Welded nuts just broke the stub of the bolt a little shorter. Next I drilled with cobalt bits. They still are not budging.
Tomorrow the drill bits and extractors will get larger until the bolts are out or exist only as metal shavings.
Today it all soaks in penetrant while I work a long shift at a remote location that was once known as a good source of free copper.
Those seized bolts? ...I swept them off the floor. My holes aren't perfectly centered, but it was good enough to get 5 of 6 bolts replaced. The last one is in a spot where the drill and tap can't fit for a proper repair, I'll improve it later.
The engine is running now and I drove the car out of the garage and back in. I noticed the low oil pressure light came on after it had been running for a moment. Not sure if it's reading wrong or if the pressure is actually low. Next I'm planning to check the oil pickup tube/strainer for any blockage and look at putting a pressure gauge on it.
The intake had been routed to a trunk air filter. I don't like that, as the trunk gets much of the dust from the rallycross track. I'm going to either have the filter behind the driver's head or route it to the roof. There's a lot of work to do still to have it ready to race. March 17th will probably be more of a 'test and tune' day than a race day.
Just sent a deposit. This is the last one. ...again.
Parts value is easily there, but it should only be a couple hours of labor with parts on hand to get it running. Clear title, but insurance sale for front bumper and left rear control arm damage.
If anyone in the Dallas area can pick this up at the dealer in Garland and hold it a couple weeks, let me know. Otherwise I pick it up Wednesday instead of working on the Frog.
More on the latest Boxster purchase. I am picking it up Wednesday and meeting a Gambler 500 friend for lunch. I didn't tell Mrs AAZCD until after the deposit, but she is supportive - she knows it's what I do. At $2,500 I'm getting a good engine and transmission, good condition gray leather seats, Sport Classic 18" wheels, Litronic headlights, and much more.
The seller is a used car dealer that started spending money on repairs, then found that the immobilizer box under the seat had got wet (common problem with 986s) and needs to be replaced. At this point he's about $800 'underwater' and doesn't want to go deeper. I have everything it could need except for a correct color front bumper and the original looks repairable. I'm probably going to have to fix this one rather than part it.
I should probably start looking at disposing of the blue '02 S and terrible black '99 as soon as I pull the parts i want from them. ...then there's still the '03 parts car/spare rallycrosser to deal with and ...and.... How many of these things do I have anyway....???
There are a few little parts I'm looking for if you find them among your stash. A passenger visor mirror cover and the plastic cover for the interior motion sensor. And probably something else. And those sport classic 18s look great.
I've never been a fan of that light grey interior. I wish I'd seen the ad for that boxster SE here that was listed for $11k sooner
Sonic said:There are a few little parts I'm looking for if you find them among your stash. A passenger visor mirror cover and the plastic cover for the interior motion sensor. And probably something else. And those sport classic 18s look great.
I'm pretty sure I have a good mirror cover and if not I can send a whole passenger visor. Those motion sensor covers are terrible about falling out. I usually find them under a seat. I have a few in a box. Send me a message/text/email to remind me where to ship to and I'll plan to mail it on Monday.
In reply to AAZCD-Jon (Forum Supporter) :
I stumbled onto this listing. What's going on here? Is this like a kit you can buy?
Yes, it's a kit. Originally designed by Christoph Zeinecker and called Zeintop and Z-Top. He ran into legal trouble around 2010 and they went out of production for a while. Now they are available again on eBay, shipped from China.
Bran and JBauer on the 986 Forum did some detailed posts.
In reply to John Welsh :
Home built by Jeff put one on his "Rockster", if you haven't seen any of the series go back to the first video and check out what some people are capable of. The highlight for me were the doorstop "vortex generators" lol.
That silver car with the Fuchs has a lot of bling but I like the idea.
How do you get to the engine cover? Looks... cramped.
spandak said:That silver car with the Fuchs has a lot of bling but I like the idea.
I think Bran's car changes every month. Lots of cool creative ideas.
Engine cover access is terrible with the Z-top. There's a fixed bar that goes across where the clamshell would be. You really need to remove the top to get decent access.
I'm doing a little work on the Frog every night. The oil pickup had some sealant in it, maybe 20-25% blockage and a little sludge settled on the sump plate. All cleaned up now with the plate back on (torque 10nm/7.5ft for the bolts) with a very light application of sealant.
I'll put oil in tonight and figure out what to do for a muffler.
The Orient Red 2001 has had a low budget repaint in it's past and a questionable repair that I need to investigate. Still a good value for what I paid (less than engine money), but not one that I'd want to do a full restoration and flip.
I have been considering replacing the Xbox Gambler with a Boxster that has air conditioning and a little more comfort. This one is probably a better candidate for that than the Blue '02. Other than bringing it home and unloading the trailer, I haven't looked it over or done anything. Next step; clean it up and see if it runs with a replacement immobilizer module set.
It was an all-day trip with the drive being about 4-1/2 hours each way. Besides getting the car, the trip was nicely broken up by meeting a friend for Korean BBQ in Plano. I had never been to a Korean BBQ restaurant before and had a bit to learn. Great food and good time.
AAZCD-Jon (Forum Supporter) said:Sonic said:There are a few little parts I'm looking for if you find them among your stash. A passenger visor mirror cover and the plastic cover for the interior motion sensor. And probably something else. And those sport classic 18s look great.
I'm pretty sure I have a good mirror cover and if not I can send a whole passenger visor. Those motion sensor covers are terrible about falling out. I usually find them under a seat. I have a few in a box. Send me a message/text/email to remind me where to ship to and I'll plan to mail it on Monday.
I hadn't even gotten around to sending that to you when I got a nice surprise package today! Thanks again, I already have them installed. My wife took the car to work today in the surprise 70 degree weather here, had a great drive and the car is doing great.
Sonic, glad to hear the car is doing well and being enjoyed.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Today is Friday and I'm working to at least 7 pm, like I have every day for over a week except for Wednesday when I drove all day. NTX Rallycross #1 is Sunday. Tomorrow is my 20somethingth wedding anniversary with family over much of the day. Don't Panic.
The Frog still shows low oil pressure shortly after being started and is in a state of 'Some assembly required'. I may: Swap out the sensor, Connect my HF tester to it, or Install a universal oil pressure gauge and not worry about the light. Hopefully it has pressure and just isn't reading it. If that is resolved, I will spend my available time on Saturday putting the rest of the car together - stuff like bolting in a seat, putting the top, racing wheels, and trunk lid back on. Oh right... there's No muffler on it yet, but I have a plan for that and parts.
If the Frog has low/no oil pressure, I'll look at putting race wheels on the Xbox and give it a good check over. I think it needs the MAF cleaned or replaced, but should otherwise handle a day of rallycross.
Last choice, but viable alternative is to pick up the 'Parts Car Porsche' (black '04) from my daughter's backyard and throw a battery in it after chasing the rodents out.
I Really want the Frog to go even if it is only built enough for a test-and-tune day.
Prius? ...do I dare race a Prius in Rallycross? could happen too I suppose.
I had a good middle of the day family time and wedding aniversary recognition, then got to work on the Frog. Low oil pressure still and I think it's legit low. I swapped the sensor/switch. Checked for a bad ground or short. Replaced the car battery which was only a little over 11 volts and could have caused sensor error. Next up is replacing the pressure relief spring with an upgraded one.
I had been ready to prep the Xbox, but before getting to work on it, I checked in on Facebook and found out that the race is canceled due to rain making the track and access to it too muddy. I have mixed feelings. Glad for the gift of time, but bummed out that I don't get to hang out with friends and drive on the ragged edge of control with my Boxster.
It was late enough in the evening that I decided not to dig back into the Frog and spent 30 minutes on the new red Boxster.
I swapped in a spare immobilizer set (key fob, central locking module, and DME). The engine started right up.
It's going to need a left side radiator (leak) and I need to check through the wire harness and see why the windshield wipers don't work. ...and plenty of minor issues corrected.
Ah, right... no pressure relief spring at all when I went to replace it. That will do it.
The Frog's oil pressure is good now. I suspect that Dan0 had mentioned something about that to me at some point and after many months with no plans for the engine, I forgot.
I thought that I could make it significantly quieter with some cross-flow between the two sides and an internal baffle. That's what the square black tubing does.
Well, it's a little bit quieter at idle. A truly glorious sound when I revved it. I can probably be banned from most venues for noise. Hearing protection is needed above 2,000 rpm. I'll experiment a little more, but I think that an actual muffler is going to be the solution.
These will arrive Wednesday and I'll see how much noise they reduce.
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