EricM
UltraDork
5/19/24 7:30 p.m.
Last update for the evening. for all of you wondering how to get residual glue and stuck insulation from the interior of a car, Goo Gone citrus adhesive cleaner. We sprayed it on and waited a bit, tested with a scrapper, waited some more, then were able to scrape it off with a plastic putty knife.
It won't take up the seam sealer, which is nice, just all the other stuff. It smells pleasant which is an added bonus.
EricM
UltraDork
5/19/24 7:34 p.m.
Official target, RADwood, September 14, 2024 in Detroit MI.
Also, we are going with an LS3 Crate motor (the plan right now) the one with the hopped up Cam from GM performance.
EricM
UltraDork
5/20/24 2:36 p.m.
This is the muffler. Can you read what it says? I wonder if there is a way to make this work with the engine we are putting in it?
![](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/prod.mm.com/uploads/2024/05/20/1716230143_20240519_172628_mmthumb.jpg)
It says "Hooker" so period correct for the paint job. If we were to use it, it will need help, maybe another muffler where the cat used to be.
EricM
UltraDork
5/21/24 9:50 p.m.
Today I cleaned up the "Exxon Valdez" size oil mess that was left after I drilled a hole in the oil pan.
There was WAY more fluid in the engine than expected, but I am betting it was just every fluid mixed and ending up in the pan.
I have made one trip to recycle the oil, but I have filled the drain pan again so a second trip is in order.
No one want's this motor, so we are calling a metel recycling person and having them show up at the house right as we pull it out and will set it on their truck/trailer right away. We will also give them some of the exhaust pieces, but not the header and not the Hooker muffler.
EricM
UltraDork
5/22/24 10:37 p.m.
No action on the Dragon today. I was attending other matters. We are making a change to the way we go camping so we said goodby to the RV today.
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EricM
UltraDork
5/26/24 8:22 p.m.
When everything you research says to drop the cross member to get the engine out, you, uh, really have to do that.
Turned a 1 hour job onto a 4 hour ordeal
It's out, nothings broken but our pride. Photos later.
EricM
UltraDork
5/26/24 9:39 p.m.
![](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/prod.mm.com/uploads/2024/05/26/1716773810_20240526_175113_mmthumb.jpg)
Crank position sensor have a bunch of metal on them.
![](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/prod.mm.com/uploads/2024/05/26/1716773857_20240526_144301_mmthumb.jpg)
Bolted to the hoist (before we dropped the cross member.)
![](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/prod.mm.com/uploads/2024/05/26/1716773907_20240526_165348_mmthumb.jpg)
And out, we had a heck of a time pulling the bell housing as the rod that holds the clutch fork in place was tough to get out.
This took about 4 hours as we kept thinking we could get over the cross member. You can't, you absolutely need to drop the cross member.
EricM
UltraDork
5/26/24 9:44 p.m.
I wanted to keep the valve cover as a trophy, but like most other things on this car, it is stuck, we got the bolts off and whacked it with a dead blow a bunch of time, but no luck. looks like it will get scrapped too. And that was after we used "easy outs" to get the stripped bolts off.
Someone tried to save this engine, but ended up stripping almost every bolt they touched, lol.
EricM
UltraDork
5/26/24 9:48 p.m.
Here we are admitting defeat and pulling the anti-sway bar so we can drop the cross member, and after all, the kit for the V8 comes with a different one anyway.
Here's to the pain of experience :)
![](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/prod.mm.com/uploads/2024/05/26/1716774474_20240526_155413_mmthumb.jpg)
In reply to EricM :
The pain of experience is a performance enhancer for next time!
EricM
UltraDork
5/27/24 2:45 p.m.
We got the valve cover off, only it's not a valve cover its a cam carrier. It had six bolts inside that needed to be pulled.
We will gut it and save it's shell as a trophy.
![](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/prod.mm.com/uploads/2024/05/27/1716835491_20240527_091055_mmthumb.jpg)
I pulled two different motors out of my 944 from the top like a damn idiot. Never again.
I love that you're getting the "cliffs notes" version of learning about a bunch of 944 stuff (AOS failure, Motor doesn't like coming out like normal, cam tower not valve cover, etc....) only to not have to worry about most of it ever again.... :)
EricM
UltraDork
5/29/24 11:10 p.m.
I made a trade for a period correct amp and two 12 inch subs.
![](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/prod.mm.com/uploads/2024/05/29/1717038620_20240529_172836_mmthumb.jpg)
![](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/prod.mm.com/uploads/2024/05/29/1717039110_20240529_174728_mmthumb.jpg)
EricM
UltraDork
5/29/24 11:16 p.m.
The story
A coworker I was chatting with said that recently his mom dropped stuff off at his house from her basement, a lot of his high school and college stuff. With all the stuff was a sub woofer project that he never got to.
A Sony explode amp that was a display model at Cuircut City and two new, in the box MTX sub woofers.
He said that stuff would go well with the build. I asked how much he wanted for them, his answer, a case of beer. But not natty light.
Done. I offered to pick it all up but he wanted to see the Dragon so he brought it by.
Good times.
EricM
UltraDork
6/4/24 4:31 p.m.
![](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/prod.mm.com/uploads/2024/06/04/1717532873_20240604_130421_mmthumb.jpg)
Speakers showed up. I chose these because they hearkened back to my teen years...... not really.
I chose these because they have a 1 and 11/16 mount DEPTH. The window support/regulator is right behind where the speaker mounts and there is very little depth. Many people build spacers for aftermarket speaker, and we *could do that, but I am hoping for as stock a look as possible, so shallow mount speakers it is.
There is a person on ebay who 3D prints speaker grills, and I may go with those if suitable stock grills can not be found.
IDK how I missed this thread, but that's such a cool car to come across! Those MTX subs should sound pretty good too! They were pretty underrated with their sound quality and ability to dig really low.
Love those subs!....and this entire build!
I did a "period'ish correct" trunk/hatch setup in my gti over the past year, started with a "good deal" on one Momo/Polk 10" sub, that then turned into finding two BNIB subs, b/c, well I cant leave well enough alone....but this was the outcome
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr
EricM
UltraDork
6/6/24 10:41 p.m.
Today is my birthday, I'm 55. Wife and I are camping in Michigan
![](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/prod.mm.com/uploads/2024/06/06/1717728108_20240606_175817_mmthumb.jpg)
EricM
UltraDork
6/11/24 11:42 p.m.
On all 4 jackstands. Heard from Renigade and a few parts are back ordered and they will sip everything once they have everything. We added the electronic pieces that adapt signals for oil pressure and stuff so we can keep the VDO gauges
![](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/prod.mm.com/uploads/2024/06/11/1718163588_20240611_200628_mmthumb.jpg)
Ordered a Blaupunkt retro modern stereo. That should be it for audio except for connectors and stuff.
EricM
UltraDork
6/11/24 11:56 p.m.
Blaupunkt Bremen. All the modern features and a pre amp output for the subs.
Color changing too.
![](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/prod.mm.com/uploads/2024/06/11/1718164539_bremen-sqr-46-dab-5-1024x1024_540x540_mmthumb.png)
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Just a word to the wise- Renegade Hybrids has a pretty well-deserved reputation of selling poorly-made, ill-fitting parts with terrible customer service... I know it's probably too late, but there are multiple horror stories, some even on this board... myself included. I'll give them a pass on my experience because it was 10+ years ago, but I know there are others...