Calan
DSM Wiseman
- 7,250
- 399
- Jan 16, 2007
-
OKC,
Oklahoma
The last several days have been all about removing more crap and cleaning, cleaning, and doing some more cleaning. It's unbelievable how much grime and gunk can accumulate in every nook and cranny over the course of 17 years.
First things first, I had to remove most everything from the bay and get the firewall pad off. It wasn't too bad, but getting it out from behind the brake booster took a bit of wrestling. The trick was to cut the piece that was left on the side of the booster, and then rotate it around and grab the other side and yank on it a few times until it ripped free. In the end it wouldn't matter, because the brake booster is coming out anyway
Here's a close up of that area before I started pulling stuff from the firewall.
View attachment 306
Major components and firewall pad removed:
View attachment 305 View attachment 314
Next I removed the brake booster/cylinder, proportioning valve, and all hard lines. They were pulled off at the caliper, since the rubber parts are going to be replaced with SS lines. All lines were cleaned before taking them apart, and all open ends covered with rubber vac plugs to keep cleaner and dirt out.
Then it was time to break out the degreaser, Simple Green, various brushes, and a buttload of patience. I put bolts in all the holes to keep as much water/cleaner out of the firewall as possible, and used a controlled spray of cleaner and then water. Several hours later, I had a fairly clean (and bare) engine bay. The area down behind the rack was a b*tch to get to! The whole area had 4 inches of grease, PS fluid, brake fluid, and who knows what else built up.
View attachment 309 View attachment 310
I also cleaned up the holes next to the radiator for the IC pipes, and welded some nuts in front of the driver side wheel well and modified the bracket to mount my Devil's Own WAI pump. (The original WAI pump bolts had separate nuts and were small and rusted).
View attachment 307
The last major cleaning project is the inside of the fender wells and suspension components that are still attached...
. This is by FAR the nastiest PITA there is as far as cleaning. On top of the years of mud, grease, and roadkill...there is the undercoating that partially wants to peel and dissolve, along with some of it that is there for good. After a couple of hours and a full bottle of Simple Green, I'm mostly finished with the driver's side.
View attachment 311 View attachment 312 View attachment 313
After I get the passenger wheel well done, I may go back and pull the hubs off completely for new bearings and a coat of paint...if I can get them off the lower ball joint without a pickle fork. They are pretty rusty, and it will just get worse. That would also mean I could pull the sway bar and mounting links for better cleaning and some new paint on it as well.
BTW - The plastic lid off of a jar of Wyler's bullion cubes is the perfect size to cover the wheel bearing and help keep cleaner and water out. It fits snugly around the outside of the seal, up against the back of the hub. Even with the cap though, I was careful not to spray anything directly at the bearing. Degreaser is pretty much the natural enemy of grease-packed bearings
In the picture below you can see how I have the bearing covered (the lid holds itself firmly in place), and you can also see how much rust I have even after several cycles of WD-40, cleaner, and a wire bush.
View attachment 315
Since I've been talking about it, you've probably realized that I didn't pop the ball joint to remove the axles like the repair manual will tell you to do. You can just detach the strut and disconnect the sway bar..and then rotate the hub around and work the axle out. Once everything is apart like in the pic above, I reconnected the sway bar which will hold the lower a-arms up without the need to put jacks or blocks under them.
*****
That's about it for now. Next time I'll be finishing up the cleaning, and getting started on mocking up the newly configured firewall...then it's on to filling, sanding, and painting.
Stay tuned!
First things first, I had to remove most everything from the bay and get the firewall pad off. It wasn't too bad, but getting it out from behind the brake booster took a bit of wrestling. The trick was to cut the piece that was left on the side of the booster, and then rotate it around and grab the other side and yank on it a few times until it ripped free. In the end it wouldn't matter, because the brake booster is coming out anyway
Here's a close up of that area before I started pulling stuff from the firewall.
View attachment 306
Major components and firewall pad removed:
View attachment 305 View attachment 314
Next I removed the brake booster/cylinder, proportioning valve, and all hard lines. They were pulled off at the caliper, since the rubber parts are going to be replaced with SS lines. All lines were cleaned before taking them apart, and all open ends covered with rubber vac plugs to keep cleaner and dirt out.
Then it was time to break out the degreaser, Simple Green, various brushes, and a buttload of patience. I put bolts in all the holes to keep as much water/cleaner out of the firewall as possible, and used a controlled spray of cleaner and then water. Several hours later, I had a fairly clean (and bare) engine bay. The area down behind the rack was a b*tch to get to! The whole area had 4 inches of grease, PS fluid, brake fluid, and who knows what else built up.
View attachment 309 View attachment 310
I also cleaned up the holes next to the radiator for the IC pipes, and welded some nuts in front of the driver side wheel well and modified the bracket to mount my Devil's Own WAI pump. (The original WAI pump bolts had separate nuts and were small and rusted).
View attachment 307
The last major cleaning project is the inside of the fender wells and suspension components that are still attached...
. This is by FAR the nastiest PITA there is as far as cleaning. On top of the years of mud, grease, and roadkill...there is the undercoating that partially wants to peel and dissolve, along with some of it that is there for good. After a couple of hours and a full bottle of Simple Green, I'm mostly finished with the driver's side.View attachment 311 View attachment 312 View attachment 313
After I get the passenger wheel well done, I may go back and pull the hubs off completely for new bearings and a coat of paint...if I can get them off the lower ball joint without a pickle fork. They are pretty rusty, and it will just get worse. That would also mean I could pull the sway bar and mounting links for better cleaning and some new paint on it as well.
BTW - The plastic lid off of a jar of Wyler's bullion cubes is the perfect size to cover the wheel bearing and help keep cleaner and water out. It fits snugly around the outside of the seal, up against the back of the hub. Even with the cap though, I was careful not to spray anything directly at the bearing. Degreaser is pretty much the natural enemy of grease-packed bearings
In the picture below you can see how I have the bearing covered (the lid holds itself firmly in place), and you can also see how much rust I have even after several cycles of WD-40, cleaner, and a wire bush.
View attachment 315
Since I've been talking about it, you've probably realized that I didn't pop the ball joint to remove the axles like the repair manual will tell you to do. You can just detach the strut and disconnect the sway bar..and then rotate the hub around and work the axle out. Once everything is apart like in the pic above, I reconnected the sway bar which will hold the lower a-arms up without the need to put jacks or blocks under them.
*****
That's about it for now. Next time I'll be finishing up the cleaning, and getting started on mocking up the newly configured firewall...then it's on to filling, sanding, and painting.
Stay tuned!
