44 replies to this topic

[stafas]

Finally my JOY/TOY has arrived, and can't describe how happy and exited I am Always wanted a car toy what I could upgrade, modify, and have fun even cleaning it

Have done prety the same project diary for my motorcycle, and i liked it, get some great ideas and suggestions from the side, and even for my self after some time it was fun seeing the progress from the beginning.

It's 2002 silver N/A, absolutely stock with 70k km on the clock, with front and right side damage, just plastics, the frame, bottom and chassis are mint... Oh and haven't figured why, but the clutch is not working, has checked the DOT fluid, and it was missing, added, some, but there is a leakage somewhere....

The test driver is already in his place :


from the photos didn't expect crash box to be damaged, but it is as it is. Think it's an easy fix:


That part will need replacing:


some cracks on the rear:


And here is my hobby room ( wife hate this place ) :



The whole car will need respraying. Wife is already asking the car to make red, friend is telling that it cheaper and more simple to spray it in the same color... But why live in the easy way, when you can do it in the difficult one ? Have seen few photos of a mandarin VX from sweden, and i liked it so much, amybe will go mandrin, Kawasaki green is also an option... probably will change my mind million times before the time comes to respraying.

LET FUN BEGIN !!!

[davemate]

Fancy spraying mine too?!

[stafas]

How did you know? I need one more car to test and practice my spraying skills ....

[davemate]

You mean before you are perfect and can then do mine I wll be watching this thread with interest, although witht he condition of your crashbox, I would probably reccomend a replacement. If the bit that was damaged was the bit that got broken, it would be the same in the next instance... I would always replace a crash box as i would rather be safe that the car will keep me safe again ratehr than have a repair fail or not work in the designed way.

[Wreelybro]

Full stripdown and respray is the way to go it's just the side sills that will require you to mask the whole car.. The rest is detachable..

[stafas]

both of side sills are damaged, so some how i'll need to take off it to fix one, and to replace another, so probably the car will stay in the garage, I'll just need to take the plastics to the painters. Could any one tel if there is any difference in side sills for N/A and turbo model?

[vocky]

Could any one tel if there is any difference in side sills for N/A and turbo model?

you would have to fit the vxT side vents if you use the vxT sill

Might be better to repair whats on the car, you can get that section on ebay http://www.ebay.co.u...=item1e654b7aae or http://www.ebay.co.u...=item1e6dfb652d

genuine used sill http://www.ebay.co.u...=item2ec1e7d4b7

[Arno]

That crashbox really needs to be replaced. Damage is extensive and it's probably compromised. It's quite specific in it's construction and if repaired it most likely won't perform correctly in a crash when it comes to absorbing the crash impact energy by de-laminating in a specific way. Your decision of course, but I would source a new or un-damaged original one and replace it completely for peace of mind. Bye, Arno.

[fezzasus]

You'll need to bleed the clutch (look down into the engine bay, it is under the two big water hoses running over the gearbox) for the clutch to work. Same as bleeding brakes.

[OneYet]

I say: Spray it Mandarin.

[stafas]

Few evenings in the garage, no rush and the car is striped down :



As there is no body to polish, so couldn't resit putting some Autosol metal polish on the engine...

Bleeding the clutch didn't help, all the fluid is disappearing, and can hear liquid dripping in the gear box, so suppose the clutch slave cylinder is dead and needs replacing. Any other thoughts? will have to take the gear box down to check the situation. Just strange that the car is after accident, before the accident it had to run properly. The damage is only the body, but now the slave cylinder is dead also... Did it just stopped working while the car was on sale?

While starting the car engine check and antifreeze level warning indicators were on. Guess why ? Yes! some smart guy managed to put the air mass connector in to the antifreeze expansion tank and the antifreeze connector to the air mass sensor... wonder what else will find getting deeper in to the car.

[vocky]

has the clip come off the clutch pipe connector - on the top of the gearbox

Edited by vocky, 13 October 2012 - 12:56 PM.

[stafas]

yes it has. the strange thing is that I put 300ml of brake fluid in to the system, but there is no sign of leakage. I think if the slave cylinder is leaking there should be a big spot on the ground, but now the gear box body is absolutely dry. is it so hermetic?

Edited by stafas, 13 October 2012 - 01:25 PM.

[stafas]

Slowly moving forward. Preparing the side sills for fixing:


Put my saab aero wheel at the rear , and I like it much better to OEM NA wheels, will be interesting to see how they look on the finished car.

[chrishVX]

That Sabb wheel looks lovely on it . Looking forward to seeing it finished

[-Dab-of-Oppo-]

That Sabb wheel looks lovely on it .
Looking forward to seeing it finished

Suits the car nicely ::

[stafas]

Waking up from my winter sleep and getting back to the project at full power! Did some body fixing during the winter, bought some stuff for a car like drilled brake discs, armored brake lines...
As mentioned before the clutch was gone, and as the brake fluid was disparaging the diagnosis was - dead slave cylinder. So decided finally to change it. After seeing some photos in the forum with engine out, add gear box hanging in place, decided the easy way to change the clutch cylinder is to remove the engine. Actually didn't want to disconnect drive shafts from the gear box. So after few hours the engine was out:


not sure it's the easiest way to change the clutch, but as you'll see next it was the right decision to take the engine off.

That's how it looked inside the clutch room:


Looks like not just slave cylinder needs replacing:





even the car has covered just 70k kilometer I was planing to change full clutch kit, so wasn't disappointed about what I have found, it even gave me the reason but thats where the good stuff ends, and my nightmare begins:

My friend, who's helping me with the project, while disconnecting oil cooler hoses noticed strange oil color, so we opened the oil filter cap to see what's going on and that's what was waiting us:


s643.photobucket.com/user/stafas/media/Speedster/IMG_0299_zps6060445d.jpg.html

You can imagine ho happy I was, as I bought a car after a car accident, not expecting to find a bad clutch cylinder, and especially not expecting coolant in the engine ....

Edited by stafas, 31 March 2013 - 06:53 PM.

[stafas]

After reading some few hundred posts in this forum, I am almost 100% sure that this mother f#@ker is guilty for this:

few pictures from oil drain :




there were no oil at all in the cooling seestem.

Any diagnosis approval from authoritative members ?

[Nev]

Ooh dear, sorry to see this. Second hand engines are very cheap here in the UK, maybe you could find a helpful soul to find you one and send it over?

Edited by Nev, 31 March 2013 - 07:45 PM.

[vocky]

are you sure your car has not been in a flood or submerged under water ?

Edited by vocky, 31 March 2013 - 09:36 PM.