Street Build bkrathwohl's Galant VR4 #1228/2000

[Mitsuridr]

Thanks man I was actually just doing some research and found both of those ha, research goes along way. Ya you're right about location haha idk where I was thinking it was, but I was way off. A bit late in the year for Woodward, but I'm out there on any given weekend cruising around if you find your way out this way. It's a good place to hang out with tons of people cruising. Thanks for the info tho and good luck with the build!

 

[bkrathwohl]

It feels like Christmas!

I'm not really sure how I wasted so much time today. I didn't end up doing a whole lot.

I installed my rear tow hooks (now that I had the brackets back from being powdercoated), replaced a bunch of hardware with new OEM hardware, installed the windshield retainer bracket, and installed the subframe bracket.

I also started putting together the front passenger corner! I installed the lower control arm, Whiteline sway bar bushings, and the knuckle.

I put the axle in as well, as I don't think there is anything left for this corner.

I need to replace the intermediate shaft bearing tomorrow and I can get the driver corner done as well!

I also need to find some new hardware for the windshield cowl. The screws that hold it in are discontinued. I don't think they are anything special though, so I will have to take a trip to the hardware store to find some.

 

[Dsmkauai]

My clutch fork looks the same on my gvr4 and I'm using a sbc setup. I also think it's just the boot. I have no issues shifting at all smooth as butta! And all my components are new/rebuilt. I also have a killer built trans . Looking really good bro love it. Oh did your new cables come with both adjustable or just one? I also got new ones from jnz but they only have the one line adjustable. Just wondering thx

 

[GST with PSI]

I thought the same thing, it seems to be the boot that makes it look that way. It is sitting slightly to the right (drivers side) of the center line.

Yeah, guess it's the boot. Looks perfect in the picture above.

Everything is coming together awesome, man. I can appreciate the patience it takes to do everything right, even though just throwing everything back together is soooo much easier. Awesome work.

 

[illestep3]

Wow this build is insane , cars coming out good the atention to detail is great , i love vr4's wish there was more clean ones and more around period good luck with the rest of your build!

 

[92AWDHX40]

Parts keep coming keep us posted.

 

[bkrathwohl]

I'm not sure if its from lack of these parts moving for years or what, but I simply could NOT separate the half shaft from the intermediate shaft.

First I tried to mount it in a vice and use my 36" pry bar.

After much frustration I resorted to separating the boot and tapping the cup... still nothing.

Finally I resorted to beating the s*** out of the cup with a steel mallet. Eventually it came off.

Once everything was removed, I was surprised at how easy installing the new stuff was. Using the old bearing to install everything worked like a charm.

Pressing the new bearing in.

Installing the new outer seal.

Installing the new inner seal.

To install the shaft I just found something that would hold the housing and tapped it in with a rubber mallet.

 

[GST with PSI]

Cold you list the part numbers for the bearing and two seals above? I'm positive I'll need to do this sometime in the future...

 

[bkrathwohl]

No problem, it's actually a kit from JNZ: MB526956.



I want to see the front end come together, so on to the ordering!

 

[95eclipser]

I hope you plan to spend a whole month driving this beast. All your hard work is going to pay off.

 

[bkrathwohl]

Some more goodies arrived today!

Passenger side splash shield (I still need to locate a drivers side splash shield), Moog tie rod ends, dual circuit oil cooler with -8an outlets (for power steering and oil), and a brand new OEM sidemarker. I figure I should start stashing up on some of these hard to find parts.

I also received my axles!

They look to be great quality, i'm excited to see how they perform.

Wasting no time, I figured I would get the new axles in.

Weirdly, of the tie rod ends that I ordered, one was authentic and the other was some random brand. Both came from the same seller and both were in Moog boxes. Hopefully they can rectify the issue for me.

 

[bkrathwohl]

I got the ball joints pressed back into the newly powder coated control arms. Somehow I managed to break my vice trying to do this at home.

That's all that I was waiting for to re-assemble the rear end.

She's sitting on her own!

Next up is the brake calipers. I am going to try my hand at rebuilding the fronts using this guide. I ordered some seals but it doesn't look like the ones I ordered are for the dual piston fronts. Trying another seal kit, hopefully it will have the necessary parts.

I already purchased a new rear left caliper (Beck/Arnley 076-0763) so I painted that gray with some caliper paint, I will probably look for a rear right as well. I don't really want to deal with that whole e-brake mechanism. It makes the rebuild look like a pain.

 

[bkrathwohl]

I got one of the brake calipers done, but the other pack had a ripped seal so I'm waiting for another set to come in.

Next up is the interior! Overall the interior looks pretty clean. There is no better time to do a deep clean than now, though. As the front seats and center console are already out I figure I might as well take the carpet out and use a carpet cleaner on it.

A lot of this stuff was already disassembled, I just had it sitting in the car.

The carpet was pretty easy to take out, just had to remove some of the door trim.

This was a load of junk I found under the carpet. No animal hair! That makes my job easier.

After a quick vacuum.

 

[95eclipser]

On my old 97 carpet. I got a tub and filled it with water and hi traffic carpet cleaner from lowes or HD. Let it set for about 1-2 day.
Pull it out and pressure washed it. It removed so many stains I was surprised. I eventually sprayed it black with fabric spray but just letting it soak was the best thing I could have done.

keep the updates coming

 

[bkrathwohl]

I thought about trying to dye it, we will see how cleaning it turns out first.

 

[GST with PSI]

Looks good already. I pressure washed mine, and it turned out great. That's what I'd do with yours. It looks in good enough shape to not need dye.

http://www.galantvr4.org/ubbthreads...1205600&page=1&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=3

 

[livedsm4g63]

And here I thought you found the Ace of Spades under the carpet...

 

[bkrathwohl]

Sadly I don't have access to a pressure washer, and it's getting pretty cold here in MI so i'm not sure how long it would take to fully dry. I ended up using a carpet cleaner. It looks pretty good, there are some spots at the rear foot wells that i'm going to hit again. Hard to do the hump when there is nothing to support it!

Yuck

Hanging up to dry!

These are the rear spots I was talking about, it looks MUCH worse in this picture for some reason. I'm going to go over these spots again now that the carpet is back in the car.

I'm surprised at how comfortable the rear seats are.

Now to install the new shifter cables! I thought I had a shifter mounting kit, but it appears I do not. I just went and bought some washers for a temporary fix. I will probably change this later and get an actual kit.

Shifter rebuilt and installed!

A note on these cables. I ordered a new set from JNZ and it does NOT have an adjuster on both cables like the ones that came out of the car. I'm not sure if they redesigned the cables at some point or what. They seem to fit perfectly.

There were a couple of things installed in the center console area that I ripped out.

Center console back in!

I seem to be missing the plastic that covers the e-brake on the driver side. I am going to dig through my stuff tonight to make sure I didn't misplace it. I may need to try and locate another one.

 

[bkrathwohl]

It's been quite a while since my last update. I haven't really done a whole lot. I re-installed both front seats and the gauge cluster.

Today I rebuilt the second front caliper and started playing with my scirocco radiator install. It was pretty simple!

This was the placement I chose.

I also had a couple of the shifter base grommets laying around, they worked perfectly for radiator bushings. I just had to drill two small holes in the lower support.

I just need to figure out where i'm going to brace the top.

 

[bkrathwohl]

I started mocking up my oil/power steering cooler. The dual circuit cooler is bigger than I want it to be, it's going to have to get mounted to the front of the radiator I think, which I didn't really want to happen.

I will work on that some more tonight.

 

[95eclipser]

The scirocco radiator looks really good in the bay. Keep up the good work man.

 

[buddahboost]

Here's a little teaser of what's to come...

View attachment 308833

What happened to this??

 

[bkrathwohl]

What happened to this??

That's going to be a side project once it's up and running. I'm going to need a stand-alone ECU to run that.

 

[95eclipser]

What would you be using a DBW pedal for? peaked my interest.

 

[bkrathwohl]

Uhhh.. throttle input? Just trying to give some luxuries back to an older car!