I am pretty sure the PO adjusted the box incorrectly, one of the adjustment screws was essentially bottomed out. New pitman arms and front end rebuild and still have a 3" deadspot each way of center. Just waiting on a decent R&P conversion kit, I think Lucky7 has one out now?
Ah, so someone had loose wheel bearings and they damaged the box by tightening the adjuster down.
I've never had steering issues with a 1st gen and I've had four...
Also.
There's a new Batcave.
and believe you me that outside garage light makes it really difficult to back up, especially when it is raining
I look forward to hearing you crab about this driveway for the rest of my life.
Who says dreams can't come true!
In reply to RBCA :
Carli and I are looking forward to having you and Pete over for many porch hangs for the rest of our lives. Still messed up that he and I literally were a 3 minute walk away during childhood and it took till our 30's to meet
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
CONGRATS on the new Batcave !
So much potential for more shenanigans đ
It's actually fairly limiting in a good way. The driveway is narrow enough that the Volvo barely makes it without scrubbing the neighbor's bushes and there's a nice yard behind the garage but not enough access that "things" can get parked back there and get forgotten.
Off to Home Depot to make Capital One happy with all of the lawn implements I have to buy. It was in the 70s yesterday, 45 and drizzling now. Perfect weather to try to vacuum the crud out of the basement drain...
Also there's a rallycross next weekend
I put an EV in my RX-7.
$502 plus a $100 gift card got me a 40v lawn mower and a weed whacker.
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
Oh there may BE a rallycross next weekend my friend. Welcome to home ownership!
Patrick said:In reply to RBCA :
Carli and I are looking forward to having you and Pete over for many porch hangs for the rest of our lives. Still messed up that he and I literally were a 3 minute walk away during childhood and it took till our 30's to meet
Thank you! I mean, I get it. As teenagers Pete and I were like peas and carrots, then didn't speak to each other for 25 years, then i serendipitously find him again on GRM and less than two years later we own property together. Life is amazingly weird
In reply to RBCA :
The GRM forum is known for rapid deals like that 
And this year's first cancellation is in the books!
Oddly I did NOT get a text notification like I'd asked. I merely went to the event page to see if there was any on site camping because expecting to leave home by 4am is not always possible. Hmm, they seem to have made a mistake and the registration ends on May 31st...
Waaaait a minute it says "rescheduled" if you look closely
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
Wait. What?
In reply to wae :
You have more time to sort out your vacuum caps and inner fender reinforcements, just like I have more time to put off replacing the oil cooler and radiator!
i mean, I've had the radiator since like 2016 and the oil cooler since 2022, but procrastination knows no bounds!
Maybe someday I'll wire the car for a trailer, too. It IS nice to be back to having tires small enough to all fit in the car without removing major interior components, but I note that there's a two-day coming up later in June and it'd be nice to bring the big cooler. And finally bring one of my bikes.
Which means making a bike rack for the trailer. And probably try to find some new elastomers for a Quadra 21R, because the ones in the fork seem to be crumbs and it sits bottomed out with just the weight of the bike.
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
I keep meaning to stop procrastinating...
RX-7 is getting pressed into daily driver duty. Need to address something.
The oil cooler is common to crack at the fitting. It's a longitudinal crack, and it's been like this since roughly when I got the car, but it's been getting worse, and magic epoxy goop and fiberglass isn't holding it anymore.
Oil coolers aren't available, used ones are cracked or going to crack, and aftermarket are available but they don't have a thermostat. Also the shorty radiator is a constant overheating issue if I want to use the A/C.
The field of battle:
Using parts that I bought a long time ago...
I'm doing this at work so I can use a lift mainly because of the oil outlet line. Usually you have to support the engine and remove the moustache so you can get enough swing on that nut. This time, somehow, I had enough room with a crow'sfoot and extension. Probably because the engine was installed in 2019 and not 1981.
Insert new oil lines to see where the cooler wants to be. These are lines made for an FC.
Now we offer up the oil cooler and figure out what to do. It's also an FC cooler, because that's what I found on eBay as a package for $cheap. Also, part of this is to install a tall radiator I've had kicking around for a decade, and the 1981 doesn't have the mounting brackets for a GSL-SE cooler like my '84 had.
I ended up rerouting the feed line, but it's taking shape with some angle iron and 1 7/8" exhaust clamps.
Zap zap, trim some excess, a very quick spray of paint that I found in the stock room...
Clearance is tight. I had to bend a couple body tabs out of the way. I know Prepared allows larger radiators and alternate oil coolers/lines but I don't know offhand about cutting metal for clearance. Anyway, bending instead of cutting means no sharp edges if/when the cooler bounces around.
No photos, but the electric fan I use was originally installed on the radiator I put in today, so installing it was a matter of changing out the brackets I made for the shorty with the setup the original guy made.
A quick run across the street to Autozone for a 12" universal hose for the lower radiator hose, and a longer length of 5/8" for the heater hose connection, and we're in business!
In accordance with the Law of Conservation of Entropy, on my way home I tagged a curb and ruined one of the General snow tires I'd installed for Nationals. Good thing I have a spare Hakka, as there's a rallycross in two weeks.
I'd like to replace the missing coolant drain plug with a temperature switch, to correct the fan controller fault that occurred right before my last run at Nationals that had me hurriedly rewiring my fan during my 5 minute mechanical allowance. It's been constant-on with ignition ever since.
I have a short 12x1.25 bolt in there now, but would like a more permanent solution. Checking the Echlin specs list, there is a 10x1.0 threaded switch that is on at 200F and off at 187F, a little high but worth a shot. It's NAPA part number FS155 and, checking the e-catalog, cross references to a VW part number for 1990-95 Volkswagens. (VW number 535919521)
I could probably drill a 12x1.25 bolt and tap it for 10x1.0 and have enough thickness to work. It'd be in the bottom of the radiator, not the engine, which is a better place to put a switch.
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