Bella - The 88 Project Vert

[~Groll69~]

Well this last year has been fairly shot as far as getting progress done on the vert.  We did pick up a new s5 targa piece.  I have an s5 NA engine and computer to install into the vert to replace the current s4 NA that has had a coolant leak in it.  Yesterday I met up with ItsWill and we purchased a quart of primer and factory 60's Plum Crazy Chrysler single stage with metal flake in it to paint the engine bay.  After Dream Cruise this year, we will begin the engine bay transformation of the car.

[murz]

Can't wait to see! I didn't know you got a new targa as well, that's great!!

[ITSWILL]

I was just starring at your replacement engine yesterday.  We should start getting it prepped in the next few weeks. Spring is going to be here soon!

[murz]

Let's get er done! Let me know when, and i can come by and get that engine de'flooded.

[~Groll69~]

how about this weekend?

[murz]

I could come by Sunday morning or something and get the car started, then later help Will out with his build.

[~Groll69~]

Murz came over on Sunday and we tried to get the car going.  Turned out part of the issue was the fuel pump was not getting power.  We got those connections cleaned up and now the starter is stuck in a dead spot.  I will have to wait for another evening to mess with it and get it to crank over.

[~Groll69~]

Last night I got the convertible running.  Had to get the starter past the dead spot it was stuck in.  It turned out the car was running rough on the road and the reason for it was the trailing wires were reversed.  Once I switched those around on the side of the highway this morning, then it was running much better.  I could drive above 70mph the rest of the way into work.  I am forced to drive this while the MX3 undergoes some repairs.

[~Groll69~]

My daughter got to experience push starting the convertible on Saturday since I couldn't get the starter past the dead spot when we went to Great Lakes Crossing.  Sunday I went ahead and pulled the old starter out and swapped it with another one that I had laying around.  So far, no issues.  I am driving it until I fix the Mazda MX3

[toplessFC3Sman]

The starters are pretty simple to take apart and clean/repair if the problem is with the rotor contacts/brushes. I've rebuilt a turbo one with some old NA parts I had laying around, and cleaned up a few others electrically to get a few more years of life out of them.

[~Groll69~]

I would have to pull it apart and see what I can do.  For now it is just going to sit in my garage.  I am not sure is I have another starter laying around that I could salvage from at all.  Usually I just by brand new/rebuilt starter and call it a day.

[toplessFC3Sman]

If its a dead spot in the starter, chances are that you just need some emery paper to clean up the contacts on the rotor that the brushes slide along - no new parts needed

[ITSWILL]

Yeah, it's probably easier to fix than driving to the store!

[~Groll69~]

I found out on an 8 hour cruise to middle of Ohio and back to pick up a rear hatch glass, that the rear tires were at their wear bars.  The glass was for Elsa, the ice racer, that i blew out the glass at the beginning of February.  She did some horrible crazy fishtailing on the highway in heavy rain and forced me to slow down to under 45mph.  That was just to keep her rear end from fishtailing out on me on any little bit of water.  Needless to say, Bella required new rear tires.  I just got two new ones installed on the rims.  I plan to put them back on the car this evening.  I got Yokohama Envigors or something like that.  They seemed to be a highly rated tire for their price.  The other two tires had a decent amount of tread left.  I can't afford a full set at this point in time.

[~Groll69~]

Today, i installed a dual alternator pulley on Bella.