Hasn't happened again. Maybe because I've had it up on car jacks the last 10 days doing the upper control arms and the lower ball joints. LoL. Now I'm in work stopage waiting for the new brake discs to be delivered next Monday. In the mean time I'll install a couple of hood pins and work on the trunk rust.

https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...nt-advice.html

 

Moving along nicely!

 

After taking wifey to Cosco this morning I'll grind off the outer wear lips on my old discs. I'll use them until my new discs arrive. Anxious to see the difference in front end noises! Guess neighbors, and me, are tired of seeing my car jacked up in driveway past 10 days! Still under $2k invested in restoration. Ordered hood pins cause tired of trying to get my hood to close properly! I'll just remove the hood's upper mechanism.

UPDATE: DISCOVERED STRESS CRACKS IN ONE OF THE DISCS SO I DIDN'T USE THE OLD ONES AS A TEST TRIAL. INSTALLED NEW DISCS.

 

As a last try to make this hood pull down properly, and release, i ordered a new upper hood latch. Otherwise hood pins are going to be installed. The one now is kinda worn sloppy in it's operation and am trying a last try fix. Latch locks and releases but hood doesn't pop up even though the spring is doing it job. The upper hood latch "loop" gets caught under the "duck bill" of the lower latching lock. I have tried adjusting the hood's upper latch loop "adjustment nut" to no avail. I even took a small file and filed under the duck bill smoothing and rounding the tip. To open hood I have to use a screw driver to push the "loop" past the duck bill to get it open. The new/used upper latch was only $14 so I'll give it a try.

 

Finally got the driveshaft apart after three days of trying. Took it to a repair garage and they got it apart for $50. He said it took a "lot" of heat and a big hammer as it was really rusted together. Best $50 I've spent lately! So tomorrow I'll be putting the driveshaft back in and hopefully I'll be done with everything underside! Shocks seem ok. Don't know what it would have cost me if I had not done the work myself. It should ride lot better now that the driveshaft can flex up and down. Things I've done underside are:

1. Replaced the tie rod link assembly
2. Replaced upper control arms
3. Replace Ball joints
4. Replaced Center support bearing.

 

I would not put too much stress on it. All that heat probably made it a bit brittle.

 

Tomorrow should be a good day in the neighborhood. Been up on jack stands, in my driveway, almost two weeks and the neighbors and I are tired of seeing it there! LoL. Car should ride totally different with an "unfrozen" driveshaft yoke. Now driveshaft can flex with the up and down with movement of the differential. Frozen yoke splines is what caused the center support bearing rubber to deteriorate. The bearing itself was fine. With a little luck and about three hours labor it should be back on the road.

 

Guess I'm getting pretty close to fixing that hole in the trunk and the hatch latch. Wonder why I haven't got my new hood pins yet?Should check on that. I'll have to disconnect the hood open sensor after they re installed. I'll remove the hood's top locking loop as it won't be used anymore. Can anyone say, "FREE Battery! Come and take it." Lol

As a side note: I changed the oil in my other 2006 Coup yesterday. I used one of those battery operated pumps to suck the oil out by the dip stick tube! It was really fast and easy! I noticed Jiffy Lube did that to my wife's car without touching the drain plug.

 

Yea! The center support bearing is done and rides much smoother. Still gonna have to chase after some minor rattles. Of course the hood and the front bumper cover is loose. No more noise from center bearing clunking or front suspension though. Had to reorder the hood pins. Now the next "BIG" project is the hole in the trunk.

 

Hard to believe it's been two months of working on this car almost every day and still not done. Here's what has been accomplished. So far about $1300 to $1500 in parts. (New floor jack and some hand tools $150.)
1. New air filters including the cabin filter
2. Hatch struts
3. License plate light assemblies (2)
4. Seat relay
5. Rear view mirror
6. Door lock pump
7. FOB shell
8. Tie rod steering link assembly
9. Tranny oil change
10. Ball joints
11. Upper control arms
12. Brake rotors
13. Front end alignment
14. Removed security siren, (No more battery drain)
15. Cleaned the MAF sensor
16. Repaired frozen driveshaft yoke splines ($50)

 

"I THINK I'M GOING INSANE!" Very cool morning and I took the car for a spin. Lot's of rattling noises from the front end "SOMEWHERE!" Nothing left to replace in the front suspension so it's gotta be something loose and rattling. When it warms up, back under I'll go. I've not had the engine splash shield off yet so I'll take it off and see if maybe somethings loose. It has new engine mounts which was already replaced when the new/old engine was installed. Did not put new shocks on because the bushings looked good.

 

There may be something that fell onto the splash shield and is rolling around?

 

Nothing loose in the splash shield. Most all the various plastic "tupperware" is broken or cracked but that's not the sound that I'm hearing. When time allows I'll remove all the broken plastic and repair it. I'm going to do two things as a last gasp try. I'll put new shocks on, even though I believe them to be good and replace the right side upper control arm. (See where I said "I hope I don't regret not replacing it because I felt it to be good and I was lazy that day!" STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES! LOL ).

 

Here's a hack that's new to me but I'm sure quite common. I bought a new 3-ton floor jack because I got tired of using my little 2-ton that I had to stack 2x4 wood blocks on top to raise it high enough for jack stand use. The 3-ton would not fit under the bumper so as to lift in the middle of the cross member. I just drove up on two bricks under the tires and the jack slides right under. Life got a whole lot easier

 

Hopefully it's something simple.
If you're going to do the shocks, here are a couple of links:
LINK - Front Shocks replacement
LINK - Rear Shocks replacement

 

Wow! This project is talking forever! Every nut, bolt and part is fighting me! No matter how much cursing I do it just doesn't matter! Can't believe shocks and upper control arm is such a nightmare to change. Been chasing a fantom noise for two weeks and am just been throwing money at it. That's the kind of mechanical work I've always complained about of others and am doing it myself! LoL. Rattles will drive a person "insane!" Front fender liners will be here in a couple days and hope to have shocks and one right upper control arm on by then. Maybe by the time I finish this project I'll have $5k in a car worth $3k. ha Ha Ha But just think of all the fun I'm having!

 

Yea! I finally got the front shocks on and the car now rides fantastic. No more noise from the front due to bad shocks. They were so bad that when you push in on the plunger it would take five or six minutes for them to come completely back out. Right side was a learning process and left side went much better. Below is the method i used to install the front shocks.

Removal:
1. Put car on jack stands the higher the better. 2. Loosen and break loose upper control arm knuckle to last few threads but do not remove nut. 3. Put floor jack under lower control arm and jack up to remove "pressure" off the shock. 4. Remove the nuts from top of the shock. 5. Remove lower shock nut and bolt, remove shock.

Assembly: (Goes without saying to tighten all the nuts etc.)
1. Install shock in the shock tower with the nuts supplied. 2. Lower the floor jack until the shock will fit into the lower control arm shock bracket. 3. Reinstall the bolt and nut thru lower shock bushing. 4. Jack up lower control arm to tighten the top knuckle nut. Done

Hope someone who reads this, and needing to install shocks on the front, will work for them as well as it did for me!

 

Tried changing the rear shocks with new but after getting one off there was nothing wrong with it. Both rear shocks did not look that old. The shock was strong and not need changing. Put the old one back on. I used para cord, aka 550 cord, top to bottom to keep shock compressed and it slid right back into the lower control arm. The phantom squeak, after spraying silicone on all bushings and grommets is still there but very diminished. Maybe it will completely disappear with use!

Once I get the hood pins installed I'll start on the one thing that I have been drudgingly postponed till the last minute! Fixing that big hole in the trunk!!!!

 

Dang it! I did it again on ordering something and not looking at the delivery "date" instead of the "day!" Now the hood pins are being estimated delivery15 Nov. I'm just gonna use the junky ones I already received and swap them out when the nicer one arrives. Just hope the four screw holes are the same location oriented. By the way my car is really runing sweet and I'm being rewarded by all my "money" thrown at it and countless labor hours! Not to mention my screw ups and having redo things twice! LoL

At least my new fender well liners arrived this afternoon.

 

Is it really "ever" done? I think I'm getting close to getting everything fixed. Here's an updated list of things I know that are still needing to be done. The "things to do" list is getting pretty short from other list! I did paint my rim center caps black today and look good. Now need to find some sort of 2" medallion to glue to the center.

1. Fix hole in trunk 2. Fix the hatch back lock 3. Install hood pins 4. Install new fender inserts 5. Oil change just in case 6. Fix loose mirror 7. Bleed brakes & clutch with Dot 4

Who knows what kind of tool needed to tighten the interior mirror? I can't twist my neck and head to see inside the two holes of the mirror. Don't really want to replace it but rather just tighten it up so it's not floppy! I added an "over mirror" with dash cam on the OEM mirror.