spyderdrifter
10+ Year Contributor
- 5,268
- 711
- Jul 11, 2009
-
Somewhere in,
Colorado
Here's a quick run down of everything since I bought my spyder. Bought it back in February with the plan to just keep it a DD and eventually get a GSX for track duty. However, I'm just gonna turn my spyder into a track car instead.
She had a bad water pump and nearly no material in the front and rear roll stops when I bought it. Thought this was a good deal since I knew how to fix those issues. My spyder was about 99% stock, the only non-stock parts being the retarded euro tail lights and welded on muffler. I've since been told that the turbo is most likely a Big T-28, so I guess that would be the only other non-stock part.
I got to drive it for a couple weeks and then had over heating issues, according to the temp gauge that is. Nothing was out of the ordinary under the hood, but replaced the t-stat and temp sensor anyway, just for peace of mind. Niether part cured the problem so I limped my baby home without destroying anything. She sat in my garage for another month before I managed to get time to start pulling the engine apart to replace the water pump, and decided to replace the head gasket and timing belt as well, so I would have comfort in knowing the age of each.
So I got everything changed out and after 2 days of trying to figure out why I couldn't get it to start, I found that I forgot I pulled the ignition fuse before I pulled the engine. No starting problems after that. Not even a week later, I had her back in the garage, prepping to pull the engine out yet again.....
I went to pick up a friend I hadn't seen in a long time who was in town, and my car broke down right as he got in and shut the door. I thought I had spun a bearing or something similar. After getting her home, I pulled the driver side front wheel and found that my oil pump sprocket had worn a hole through the timing cover and caused the timing belt to jump. Good thing I shut the engine off in only a couple seconds when it first happened. No bent valves, no spun bearings, probably don't have a bad oil pump either. The sprocket is pretty chewed up on the outer rim of the teeth though. However, even with all this, I've bought a new front case with oil pump, all new bearings, new oil and crank sprockets (I broke the crank sprocket during removal ), and a new timing belt. The other one is now frayed on the in-board edge, and probably still usable, as a last resort only, but I won't be testing that theory.
Right now, the engine is completely stripped down and I'm taking the block and head to the machine shop tomorrow afternoon for hot tanking and decking. Next month, I'll be getting new pistons and rods, and taking the block back for a bore job.
I'm planning to convert my baby to AWD and eventually have a great car for autocross... More to come later....
She had a bad water pump and nearly no material in the front and rear roll stops when I bought it. Thought this was a good deal since I knew how to fix those issues. My spyder was about 99% stock, the only non-stock parts being the retarded euro tail lights and welded on muffler. I've since been told that the turbo is most likely a Big T-28, so I guess that would be the only other non-stock part.
I got to drive it for a couple weeks and then had over heating issues, according to the temp gauge that is. Nothing was out of the ordinary under the hood, but replaced the t-stat and temp sensor anyway, just for peace of mind. Niether part cured the problem so I limped my baby home without destroying anything. She sat in my garage for another month before I managed to get time to start pulling the engine apart to replace the water pump, and decided to replace the head gasket and timing belt as well, so I would have comfort in knowing the age of each.
So I got everything changed out and after 2 days of trying to figure out why I couldn't get it to start, I found that I forgot I pulled the ignition fuse before I pulled the engine. No starting problems after that. Not even a week later, I had her back in the garage, prepping to pull the engine out yet again.....
I went to pick up a friend I hadn't seen in a long time who was in town, and my car broke down right as he got in and shut the door. I thought I had spun a bearing or something similar. After getting her home, I pulled the driver side front wheel and found that my oil pump sprocket had worn a hole through the timing cover and caused the timing belt to jump. Good thing I shut the engine off in only a couple seconds when it first happened. No bent valves, no spun bearings, probably don't have a bad oil pump either. The sprocket is pretty chewed up on the outer rim of the teeth though. However, even with all this, I've bought a new front case with oil pump, all new bearings, new oil and crank sprockets (I broke the crank sprocket during removal ), and a new timing belt. The other one is now frayed on the in-board edge, and probably still usable, as a last resort only, but I won't be testing that theory.
Right now, the engine is completely stripped down and I'm taking the block and head to the machine shop tomorrow afternoon for hot tanking and decking. Next month, I'll be getting new pistons and rods, and taking the block back for a bore job.
I'm planning to convert my baby to AWD and eventually have a great car for autocross... More to come later....
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