Street Build 1g build - The Real Life Trials and Tribulations of building a DSM

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Great job!
Try Krylon #1403 Dull Aluminum for that "fresh" aluminum look on older parts.
I keep 3-4 cans on hand (along with Krylon #1613 Semi-Flat Black - NEW #51613 for that NEW Black Plastic look).
Here is an example:
Old Wieand SBC intake:



Same Intake Sprayed with Krylon Dull Aluminum #1403:


Installed on motor (water pump also painted with it, but it needs a fresh coat):

 

[Anfurnyy]

Great job!
Try Krylon #1403 Dull Aluminum for that "fresh" aluminum look on older parts.
I keep 3-4 cans on hand (along with Krylon #1613 Semi-Flat Black - NEW #51613 for that NEW Black Plastic look).
Here is an example:
Old Wieand SBC intake:
View attachment 696060


Same Intake Sprayed with Krylon Dull Aluminum #1403:
View attachment 696061

Installed on motor (water pump also painted with it, but it needs a fresh coat):
View attachment 696056 View attachment 696057

How durable does that stuff turn out?

I'm using VHT low gloss/satin caliper paint but it doesn't seem to be all that durable. I can scratch it with my fingernail. Maybe it hasn't fully cured.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Well I don't have a good hard answer for that durability but I have used them since about 1976. It was like a "secret" back then but it always lasted unless you get gas on it, but then a touch up and it's all fresh again. I'll see if I can scratch the water pump paint, it's been on longer and had heat cycles.

 

[Anfurnyy]

Wellllllllll... Amayama canceled part of my order.
Most shims were cancelled, as well as the top case bolts. The mid case bolts, dust cover, output pinion shim, and a random shim that was somehow in my cart are all still good to go I guess. We'll see when they come in. I might have to shoot a message to Tim and see if he sells the shims.

This sucks

 

[Tina94]

Wellllllllll... Amayama canceled part of my order.
Most shims were cancelled, as well as the top case bolts. The mid case bolts, dust cover, output pinion shim, and a random shim that was somehow in my cart are all still good to go I guess. We'll see when they come in. I might have to shoot a message to Tim and see if he sells the shims.

This sucks

This is a total long shot but absolutely worth trying. I had Monster Clutch make me a custom shim for my t56 that I just installed last night. It shipped fast and showed up dead on spec, not .001 over or under- dead on. That's for an LS application that they're familiar with but their customer service was great, fast, and they did a really good job.

I'm willing to bet that if you made a drawing with dimensions, they'd make up a custom shim to your thickness spec. I was so happy with the speed and quality that I was actually thinking about contacting them myself as a possible source for DSM shims since they're getting impossible to find. Would give us access to the product we need and could be a nice little side product for them to sell.

 

[Anfurnyy]

This is a total long shot but absolutely worth trying. I had Monster Clutch make me a custom shim for my t56 that I just installed last night. It shipped fast and showed up dead on spec, not .001 over or under- dead on. That's for an LS application that they're familiar with but their customer service was great, fast, and they did a really good job.

I'm willing to bet that if you made a drawing with dimensions, they'd make up a custom shim to your thickness spec. I was so happy with the speed and quality that I was actually thinking about contacting them myself as a possible source for DSM shims since they're getting impossible to find. Would give us access to the product we need and could be a nice little side product for them to sell.

That's actually an awesome lead. I really might have to look into that. Any idea how much it was?

I did email Tim and he just replied saying that he lost all his shims in his shop fire and that he's planning on manufacturing his own.

 

[Anfurnyy]

In other news I ordered an AEM 150psi oil pressure gauge and that came today. Of course the OFH is bspt so here I go buying another adapter online..

 

[Anfurnyy]

I emailed Jack's and asked if they had shims and they replied they had a few so I sent part numbers for what I needed and I'm waiting to hear back on if he has the ones I need.

Messed around with getting my turbo blanket installed. This was a pain. Just another specific step by step process to get everything on right.


This one is a Funk Motorsports blanket. Great quality.

 

[Anfurnyy]

So not a lot has changed or been updated.

I did hear back from Jack's about the shims they had in stock and they didn't have the ones I needed. I also emailed monster clutches and they said that the custom shims were for the Tremec transmissions only.

I did email one other shim company and they aren't sure what kind of material that the shims are made out of BUT if I knew what material and I gave them dimensions they should be able to make them.

If anyone knows what material the transmission shims are made out of please let me know.
I think they are probably carbon steel but I'm unsure and I've done a few hours of digging online but no info.

On a good note, my bspt-npt adapter showed up so I was able to mock up my oil pressure sensor on the OFH.


Threw the center console trim behind the staging brake to see if it was going to look as good as I'd hoped and it does.


My bolts for the mid housing, the 2 shims for the output pinion and center diff showed up and the dust cover for the Tcase and I was able to get them installed.


I'm also thinking about buying a Zinc Plating setup so I can refresh a lot of these ugly ass bolts. Especially on this transmission. Don't want half brand new bolts, and half trashy looking ones

I attempted to finish pulling my wheel bearings using my press but it didn't quite work. I'll need to go rent a slide hammer/hub puller. I think that's probably next on my to do list.

 

[DreamChaser7]

So not a lot has changed or been updated.

I did hear back from Jack's about the shims they had in stock and they didn't have the ones I needed. I also emailed monster clutches and they said that the custom shims were for the Tremec transmissions only.

I did email one other shim company and they aren't sure what kind of material that the shims are made out of BUT if I knew what material and I gave them dimensions they should be able to make them.

If anyone knows what material the transmission shims are made out of please let me know.
I think they are probably carbon steel but I'm unsure and I've done a few hours of digging online but no info.

On a good note, my bspt-npt adapter showed up so I was able to mock up my oil pressure sensor on the OFH.
View attachment 697182

Threw the center console trim behind the staging brake to see if it was going to look as good as I'd hoped and it does.
View attachment 697181

My bolts for the mid housing, the 2 shims for the output pinion and center diff showed up and the dust cover for the Tcase and I was able to get them installed.
View attachment 697183View attachment 697184

I'm also thinking about buying a Zinc Plating setup so I can refresh a lot of these ugly ass bolts. Especially on this transmission. Don't want half brand new bolts, and half trashy looking ones

I attempted to finish pulling my wheel bearings using my press but it didn't quite work. I'll need to go rent a slide hammer/hub puller. I think that's probably next on my to do list.

I was wondering about the zinc plating too. Aside from figuring out where it all went if sent out all at once, I have no idea where a large part of it is so would be nice to do at home as I need to.

 

[Anfurnyy]

Took a few hours today after work and finished getting the oil pressure gauge installed.

Had to extend the harness about 4 feet, and then my gauge pod broke because of the automatic seat belts. So I chopped off the 3rd pod so now it's a dual pod Also, awhile ago I must have broken my A pillar trim bummer.

 

[92Turbski]

So not a lot has changed or been updated.

I did hear back from Jack's about the shims they had in stock and they didn't have the ones I needed. I also emailed monster clutches and they said that the custom shims were for the Tremec transmissions only.

I did email one other shim company and they aren't sure what kind of material that the shims are made out of BUT if I knew what material and I gave them dimensions they should be able to make them.

If anyone knows what material the transmission shims are made out of please let me know.
I think they are probably carbon steel but I'm unsure and I've done a few hours of digging online but no info.

On a good note, my bspt-npt adapter showed up so I was able to mock up my oil pressure sensor on the OFH.
View attachment 697182

Threw the center console trim behind the staging brake to see if it was going to look as good as I'd hoped and it does.
View attachment 697181

My bolts for the mid housing, the 2 shims for the output pinion and center diff showed up and the dust cover for the Tcase and I was able to get them installed.
View attachment 697183View attachment 697184

I'm also thinking about buying a Zinc Plating setup so I can refresh a lot of these ugly ass bolts. Especially on this transmission. Don't want half brand new bolts, and half trashy looking ones

I attempted to finish pulling my wheel bearings using my press but it didn't quite work. I'll need to go rent a slide hammer/hub puller. I think that's probably next on my to do list.

Hmm, good question about the shim material. I'd say they have to be very hard (4140 heat treated, Sandvik shim material, or spring steel?) Maybe @bastarddsm might know what they're made out of.

Looking good, man!

 

[Anfurnyy]

Hmm, good question about the shim material. I'd say they have to be very hard (4140 heat treated, Sandvik shim material, or spring steel?) Maybe @bastarddsm might know what they're made out of.

Looking good, man!

Sounds like maybe carbon steel?

 

[Anfurnyy]

Rented a hub puller yesterday and was able to get both front hubs removed from the knuckles pretty easily.

The bearings in these are super weird. I've never seen a split bearing before like this. Both Inner races for both the front and the back bearings are the same race. And then there are 2 outer races, one of each that go in front and one in back.


Everything except the snap ring was cake to get out. I fought with the snap rings for over 2 hours. Ended up using 45° pliers and used a flathead and pryed it out of the knuckle.






I just wanted to say whoever at Mitsubishi/Chrysler decided to use those specific snap rings. Damn you straight to hell.


I'll be keeping both of the bearing races as they would work well for spacers for my press.

I ordered up new Timken Bearings and seals for the hubs so when those get in, I'll get it all assembled and hopefully get it back on the ground.

 

[pauleyman]

Take a grinder to the outside of that race and take a few thousandths off and it works great to press the bearing back in and not get stuck.

 

[Anfurnyy]

Take a grinder to the outside of that race and take a few thousandths off and it works great to press the bearing back in and not get stuck.

I bought new bearings so I won't be re-using these ones at all

 

[pauleyman]

I bought new bearings so I won't be re-using these ones at all

I meant as a press tool. I keep one in my press Junk pile.

 

[Anfurnyy]

I meant as a press tool. I keep one in my press Junk pile.

Oh duh. Sorry.

That's a good idea.

 

[pauleyman]

Oh duh. Sorry.

That's a good idea.

Yeah if you don't grind it a little and try and use it as is to press the new bearing then it's gets stuck and difficult to extract because there is no lip. Ask me how I know.
I actually have a bunch of old bearing races for doing this in the press.

 

[Anfurnyy]

So this transmission shim thing is really kicking my ass and is very frustrating.

Reached out to a company about getting some custom ones made and they finally got back to me and its going to cost $76 PER SHIM, .. AND they aren't the right sizes anyways.


Planning on reaching out to another company as well for another quote. At this point i can't even run the ones that were in the trans because they wouldn't even put preload on the bearings.

In other news, I decided to paint the calipers. They were blue, wanted something a little more neutral. At first I thought maybe the same silver I painted the transmission but then I decided on a gunmetal. I pulled the calipers off and completely apart, and then decided replace the seals and dust boots on them as well. Ordered new ones from Mach V motorsports. The pistons sucked to get out. I marred one of the pistons up a little right in front the dust boot groove but I'll make sure to smooth the sharp edges out later on. I ended up using the air in the valve trick. Put a 2x4 in between the piston and the caliper and blew compressed air into the brake fluid feed port and it blew them out most of the Way. If yours arent as stuck as mine yot could probably wiggle them out by hand or carefully with some pliers.


Dropping off the hubs, brakes and knuckles to be media blasted so i can spray them better. I tried to wire wheel them and it just wasnt cutting it.

 

[Anfurnyy]

Swapped out the AEM cam gear bolts with some stainless 5/16-18 Allen head bolts. Now we've got all the timing cover clearance!

 

[92AWDHX40]

Whew keep at it.

 

[twicks69]

So this transmission shim thing is really kicking my ass and is very frustrating.

Reached out to a company about getting some custom ones made and they finally got back to me and its going to cost $76 PER SHIM, .. AND they aren't the right sizes anyways.
View attachment 697620

Planning on reaching out to another company as well for another quote. At this point i can't even run the ones that were in the trans because they wouldn't even put preload on the bearings.

Let me know which ones you are looking for and thicknesses, I can see what I got from mitsu.

Now you see what I have been dealing with for shim quotes. I'm expecting 10k-15k to have a manageable amount of shims for actually working on transmissions and transfer cases. Its a real hassle.

 

[Anfurnyy]

Let me know which ones you are looking for and thicknesses, I can see what I got from mitsu.

Now you see what I have been dealing with for shim quotes. I'm expecting 10k-15k to have a manageable amount of shims for actually working on transmissions and transfer cases. Its a real hassle.

Input shaft:
MN168169 .0520"

Intermediate shaft:
MD712330 .0551"

Yeah I knew they were expensive, but not THAT expensive

 

[twicks69]

Think of it this way, mitsu sold shims in 0.001" increments and made a bazillion of each one and those still sell for $9-25 EACH!

I have 1x MD706574 - 0.0516" input shaft shim in stock. $23.53

I have only a MD712349 - 0.0527" intermediate shaft shim in stock. $11.56.

$9.10 s/h USPS small flat rate box.

$44.19 shipped.