1990 4WD Project

[redheddude222]

I forgot to mention, I also installed a GTR steering rack. The 2.5 turns lock-to-lock is a HUGE improvement! I've only driven it around the block so far but I'll get to feel it for real tomorrow after the exhaust is finished.

[redheddude222]

I finally got my hands on another GTX strut bar, after giving away my last one over 10 years ago. I've also started buying some GTR turbo parts. Hopefully I stumble across a GTR trans for sale eventually so I can start building this the way I really want to.

[me109]

Didn't know about the quick rack. That's awesome man.

[redheddude222]

It's developed an intermittent starting issue. Most times it cranks normally and starts in under 2 seconds, However, I'm occasionally getting a random slow crank, the tach jumps and holds at ~4k rpm, and I have to crank it for 10-15 seconds before it starts (and it's sluggish to idle properly when this happens). I'm guessing it's either a ground going bad, or the eBay alternator I threw in. I'll get around to looking into it eventually.

[me109]

I've never had that combination of issues. Hope it's something simple.

[redheddude222]

I finally finished the complete urethane suspension bushing install. The fronts were cake, they're just standard BG LCA bushings from Energy Suspension. The rears had to be pieced together from different places.
The 4WD trailing arm takes two kits: one for the body side (smaller diameter) and another kit for the knuckle side (larger diameter).
The 2072G are "universal" bushings from Energy Suspension, and they have to be trimmed down after installing because they stick out a little too far. I used the steel inserts from the Whiteline kit for both sets of lateral arms.
The Whiteline W61753 kit only works on the lateral arm with toe adjustment, and the steel outer sleeves from the old bushings have to be removed. I had to mill them out because a torch and a press didn't budge them.
I also replaced the long bolts on both ends of the lateral arms. Part numbers are included in the photo.

[redheddude222]

I also threw on some brand new rear mudflaps I got from Piotr Gromek in Poland. That guy is a wonderful asset to the BG community.

[redheddude222]

I picked up some Amazon "racing" seats to replace the destroyed stock ones. They were supposed to be grey in the center but they look more silver in person. Hopefully they don't look too out of place in the car. I did the headliner in black diamond-stitch, so I'm hoping this ties it together a bit.

[me109]

Nothing ties a room together like a rug.

How you like that seat? Is it comfortable, or supportive?

[redheddude222]

I haven't gotten around to installing them yet. Hopefully soon, I have the seats out to redo the stereo anyway.

[redheddude222]

I finally put a "real" stereo in the car, and I mounted the seats. I haven't taken any photos of the seats yet. I mounted them to the factory rails and sliders, I just had to drill one new hole in each rail. I guess I forgot to take photos.

Some of my photos won't upload because they're too big, but I packed the whole car full of sound deadening. I lined the trunk lid, coated the entire rear deck, I deadened the third brake light and its housing, all 4 doors were deadened, and I did a second layer on the front doors. I removed the factory vapor barriers and made them out of sound deadener. Now my doors shut with a solid thud instead of ringing like a tin can. The car sounds pretty incredible, especially for reusing the cheap Kicker speakers I threw in previously. I left the powered 8" sub under the passenger seat and adjusted the operating range up to make it into a mid-range speaker. I think it's working really well. Ignore that there are no fuses on the rear battery. They hadn't shown up yet and I was anxious to test the setup.

Equipment used:
JVC media receiver head unit
Kicker 6.5" CS Series coaxials front and rear
DC Audio Level 3 M4 2-ohm subwoofer
Down4Sound JP95T 1500w 5-channel amp
eBay 130-amp alternator (I think this might be faulty. Half the time it charges at ~15v, the other half it struggles to reach 13v and doesn't seem to be charging at idle)
NVX sound deadener material
2x Optima Yellow batteries
Pre-built ported box from Crutchfield