Figured I would post something as I haven't in a while........you can read along to kill a few minutes if you want, but, I can not give you those few moments back you wasted here.
For those that missed, I inherited, per se, a 1998 GTP Daytona. My mom bought it new.....she drove it until she bought her 04 GTP......gave it to my Dad and it only had about 80k on it. She, like me, is anal about taking care of her cars. Dad....not so much. She always ran synthetic, oil change at 3000 mile intervals, premium gas, maintenance. preventative, etc. Dad.....oil changes were optional, there was no need for premium fuel......and maintenance was only done just enough to keep it running. Oh yeah, forgot the best part, Dad was doing questionable things with questionable people.....and they liked to take their anger out on the car.
Now, the car was originally given to my sister after Dad's addictions got the last laugh. She had let it set for 7 years in the outdoors under an awning and on top of limestone gravel. I finally ended up with the car and obviously, it was going to need a lot of work. Its just a 98 Daytona...only thing special is paint and stickers....it has no sentimental value to me. So why would put so much effort into it, you ask. Well, it give me something to do. I am a tinkerer by nature. This is also going to be my work car. Due to my job, I drive a lot ( often times about 1500 miles a week). I want a car that is comfy, not too big, gets decent gas mileage, reliable, has head room to tinker with and parts are easy to find.....this platform seemed like the perfect choice. Plus, no one really knew why Dad quit driving it a week before he took the dirt nap. After 7 years, I put fresh fuel in it and a battery. Cycled the key a couple times......cranked it over......and it started immediately. The only major downside at this point was all the seals and gaskets dried up and it was leaking like a stuck pig.
So, a list of stuff I replaced or upgraded to make a road worthy car: Radiator, hoses, belts, plugs, wires, A/C compressor, A/C accumulator, orifice filter, aluminum coolant elbow, new pulleys & tensioners, oil pan gasket, front and rear main seals, water pump, timing cover gasket, rear seal housing gasket, valve cover gaskets, intake gaskets, SC gaskets, had LIM inlet opened up, rebuilt SC and installed 3.4" pulley, blocked off throttle body coolant passage, 1.8 rockers, stainless headers, all the brake hard lines and flex lines, rotors, pads, calipers, trans fluid and filter, engine & trans mounts, power window regulators and motors, thermostat, some door and window seals, struts, vacuum lines, rear tail lights ( LED's ), new headlight housings....and I know there is more I am forgetting. Surprisingly, the wheel hubs are in good shape for now....I guess I got that going for me.
I am 40 years old and have literally been wrenching in cars since I was 12 years old. I was certified through GM, Toyota, Nissan and Honda. There was one little thing holding me back. I have no place to pull an engine nor the tools to do it all anymore. Technically, I got a small concrete pad that I could have probably done it on my own had I wanted to work outside, push the car back and forth, jack the car up and down and crawl around on my back. As Danny Glover said in " Lethal Weapon "..... I am getting too old for this ....uuhhhh, crap.
So, I found a guy that does great work, but, he charges for that. I would rather pay someone twice as much to make sure its done right than have some hack in their with Vise Grips and a hammer. Which is what I did. I did all the topside work I could do. He was in charge of repairing everything else. I paid a chunk of change for him to do his work ,but, I knew it was done right.
I get the car back and it sat for a week as I realized I did not have tags for it yet. I would go out and start it to let it run for half an hour or so just for the hell of it. Got the tags done and took the car out for its maiden voyage. I stopped and put 5 gallons of 92 in it and then 4 gallons of racing fuel.....I L-O-V-E the smell of racing fuel fumes. Drove it easy for about half an hour or so. Mostly local highway driving. Get into a less traveled area..... come to a stop.....and floored it. The boost gauge maxed out really quickly due to the smaller pulley. The car pulled really hard. I can say that it never ran that good or accelerated that fast in its life. Then comes the shift to 2nd gear......and instead of getting the G-Force surge pushing you back into the seat again.....I got the negative G's. The car nose dived big time. About 2 seconds after that, it was like it got a kick in the ass and took off like a bat out of hell again.....until the 3rd shift. It did the same thing as 2nd gear. I thought to myself: " Well, it has been sitting for a long time. The ECU probably just isn't completely woke back up yet. "
I stay out of the throttle and drove it normal heading back home. I came to a stop light and noticed my oil light was flickering. I pull into a gas station and check the oil. It is full. Basically, what was happening was, when it shifted under hard load, there was a rod knocking......which the ECU mistook as detonation and pulled the timing back. Never heard the knock before, but, there was an exhaust leak by the time I received the car.....so, I wouldn't have heard it. Also at this point, a light bulb went off in my head " Ohhhhhh, so this is why Dad parked it all those years ago! "
Now, had I known this, it would have saved me a lot of money, grief and stress. So now, I got to pay someone else to pull the motor AGAIN. I did get lucky and found a 98 SC 3800 at the local pick n pull with only 72K on it. They told me $300 + tax for the motor and $100 to have the guy pull it. Well, they liked me for some reason and only charged me $250 + tax.
However, I need to replace all these seals and gaskets ( why not...... I know they will leak and this is the best time to do it ) as well as swap over all the new parts of the dead engine onto this one. Hopefully next weekend will be in the 50's as the extended report said so I can do most of the work myself to save a few bucks. I have no problem spending money.....my wife will 2nd that......I just hate " giving " money away. That money could have bought me more gun stuff....or go fast stuff.....or booze.
Cosmetically, the car is in rough shape. I will fix that over time. It will need new front and rear bumpers, decklid and spoiler, hood and paint. I am just worried about the mechanicals for now, though. So, here are some pics I took....just for the hell of it. I mean I spent this much time typing this, I might as well throw some pics in.
Replacement Engine:
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LED Tail lights in this order: Off, Parking On, Brakes On
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Aluminum wheel covered in rust....I don't know how to get it off without tearing up the finish..... tried all the rust removers...nothing is working.
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Originally Posted by BoostenGTP
