August 26, 2012

I wasn't really looking yet, but I couldn't resist a great deal on this amplifier. I got it on Ebay. It is a Blaupunkt 5-channel amp. It was actually built by Zapco, which as I understand was a good thing. It is kind of big, weighs 15lbs, looks awesome. It should fit in very nicely with my all Blaupunkt system!





I had some time on Friday, so I got the a/c compressor out of the car. It is gross right now, but that is what 23 years and a leaky oil pressure sensor will do to you I have the hose connection point bagged and zip tied for now till I can get it cleaned up and then it will be time to r&r the shaft seal.



Here are the goodies that I have for the a/c repair. New filter/dryer, new expansion valve, and the compressor kit to replace the seal along with the compressor case o-rings.



If my father in-law isn't available in the next couple of weeks, I may end up buying my own set of gauges and a vacuum pump. He is very busy, but he does have the equipment. Not to mention a lot more experience with a/c than I do. Anyway, still hopeful to have a working a/c by September

July 26, 2012 - A/C stuff

Awhile back I sent my A/C hoses off to get rebuilt.  Now I have brand new barrier hoses.

Continued Update 7-23-12

Where was I?  Looking my photobucket account helps me remember what has been done.

Okay, I finally got tires on the car this spring.  I got a great deal on some Pirelli's from www.tires.com  With the $100 rebate I got on them, the total cost with installation was under $300.

The car rides so much better and is so much quieter.  The bad news with the new tires is with the smoother and quieter ride, it has revealed undlying sounds and vibrations that I wasn't able to distinguish before. 

1st example is the passenger side front wheel bearing was "roaring" but I couldn't hear it because of the bad tire.  The kit I got included both bearings and the seal for about $75 delivered.  I got it from www.mc2racing.com

I was very fortunate in being able to pick up a speciality tool kit made for the Scorpio on Ebay. 

This made the actual process of removing and installing the wheel bearings much simpler. 

Now that the roar was gone, I turned my attention to the vibration coming from the rear.  It felt like the drive shaft.  I had replaced a u-joint in the car last fall, but there was definitely a vibration.  Recently I swapped in the drive shaft from the parts car.  It was still in good shape, and a lot of the vibration dissappeard.  After a test drive I think the balance of the sounda and vibration is coming from the driver side cv-halfshaft.  It is the original one and the boots are ripped on it.  I was waiting for it to start that "clacking" sound they make on failure, but I will just replace it.

Unexpectedly I had the upper console fall apart.  The two plastic tabs that attach it to the roof of the car broke.  This is common on these cars, bad design.  So I set about fixing it.  I came up with some metal plates and used a connection point in the existing set up.  Pictures below.

Finished Product



Update on the car and life :)

So, it has been a little over  12 months since I last posted to this blog.  The reasons why are varied, but lack of time is the most relevant reason.  That being said I do want to update what is going on.

I have done a lot to the car these past two years, so I will try to update what I have done.

1st thing that comes to mind is the sound system.  I have been thinking all along to try to keep the German flair to the car, so I decided Blaupunkt was the way to go for the sound system.  After many nights scouring Ebay or any other place I could find, I picked up a few gems.

The head unit is a Blaupunkt Key Largo, CD / Stereo / CD Changer Controller.
The real gem is the IDC-AO9 5 Disc In Dash Changer.  I have seen these around, but never thought I would be able to get one.  The head unit was used, but the changer was brand new.  They look outstanding in the car.

The stock speakers were not in good condition, and even new, they were never sounded good at all.  So I picked up these little jewels

Rear Speakers

Front Speakers

 

It sounds very good if I don't say so myself.  Future upgrades will include a subwoofer and an amplifier.  Hopefully also both Blaupunkt.

It has been too long since I posted!

Have you ever "meant" to do something and then the next thing you know it has been 9 months since you actually did it?  That apparently is what has happened with my Scorpio blog :( 
    With my wife back in school and kids activities, it has been challenging to keep up with everything.

I am now back to blogging about the Scorpio!

     I have actually worked on it a lot in the past nine months.  I have been driving it fairly regularly.  It gets around 20mpg in town which is way better than our Chevy Trailblazer EXT at 15mpg in town.  The Scorpio has been very reliable so far.  The only issue I have had is that in the dead of winter the heater was a little weak and the blower motor failed.  I have since purchased a new blower motor, and plan on refurbishing the A/C when I have the system apart to replace the blower motor.

   Here are two good stories about my adventures with the Scorpio:

1)  Three weeks ago we had a family campout with our Cub Scout pack.  The campsite was about 30 miles from our house.  I hadn't driven the car that far yet, but I had no reason to believe it couldn't make the trip.  We loaded up for the campout and took the chance.  The drive there and back went without any issues.  I do need to get new tires,  I believe the passenger side front has a flat spot, probably from sitting for so long.  We got back from camping on a Saturday night.  My family was home and we decided to catch the drive-in that night.  We took the Scorpio to that as well.  No issues, drove like a champ there and back. 
     Fast forward to Monday morning.  I go outside to leave for work and I notice that the rear bumper cover is sitting just a little crooked.  I grab it to see if it is loose, and the whole thing falls off in my hands!  Well, I didn't have time to figure out what happened then, so I drove the Trailblazer to work and decided to worry about it later.  The next weekend I took a closer look at the issue.  The bumper cover is held on to the bumper frame by two bolts, one on each end, and then there are two massive strips of velcro that go across the face of the bumper that keep the cover from moving around.  The velcro was intact on the bumper itself, but the strips of velcro on the cover were shot.  Also the two bolts that held the cover to the bumper were gone.  This had apparently happened sometime in the past. 
     The previous owner's solution was to use liquid nail and just glue the cover to the bumper!  Not the best idea, but I guess it worked for awhile :)  Why the bumper cover didn't just fly off when I drove it all that weekend is beyond me.  The solution to the bumper cover problem relied on my parts car.  The bolt and attaching hardware were still on it.  The rear bumper cover is also in better shape so I just swapped the entire thing to the Black Scorpio.  I also invested in new velcro for the cover and now the whole assembly is good and secure.  The whole repair process took about three hours to complete.

Old bumper cover



New bumper cover with two strips of velcro installed



New bumper cover installed



2)  The front bumper cover:  On the Scorpio the front bumper cover is a little ragged.  It has been hit sometime in the past and has some cracks and is sun bleached really bad.  I had the brilliant idea of swapping the cover from the parts car over to the new car.  It only has two screws and two bolts holding it in.  No sweat right?  Wrong!  Total disaster.  Each and every bolt/screw in the front bumper on the parts car was rusted solid.  I had to drill out, or use a drift and forcibly remove each one.  Even the fog lamp retaining screws were so badly corroded, they had to be drilled out also.  The entire job front to back took about 3 hours.  It should have been about 20 minutes.  The only consolation prize was that I decided for all of the pain and suffering, that I would at least R&R the fog lights, and get them working.  They look great and function for the first time since I got the car.

I will attach some pictures later.

Have a great weekend!

Darren

Some work accomplished today!

I made some time this morning and got the heat shield installed this morning.  I forgot to install this before getting the rest of the exhaust installed when doing the transmission work.  I also switched out the windshield wiper arms this evening.  The early 88 arms weren't designed correctly and they actually rubbed on the underneath of the hood.  They redesigned the arms in the later cars.  I popped the arms off of my rusty late 88 model year Scorpio and installed them on the early 88 Scorpio.  Worked like a charm!

Wow, I can't believe how much time has past!

First of all, I want to apologize for the lack of updates.  There was a couple of months when I was out of time and financing to work on the car.  I have gotten some things done so I will detail them now.

1)  I got the transmission back in the car!
2)  I installed a transmission cooler in the front bumper.



3)  I fixed the steering column issue.  The assembly at the firewall had failed and I was able to replace the parts thanks to merkurmidwest.com.  The steering wheel is solid now!

4) Thanks to my father in law we were able to replace the bad u-joint in the drive shaft.  This was a huge pain in the rear.  Special thanks to rockforddriveline.com


The car drives now, which is awesome.  I am hopefull on the transmission.  I haven't seen any leaks so I think I did a good job replacing the front seal.  I don't think I will do this job again without a better way to get the transmission out of the vehicle. 

Things I need to do next:

1) Replace front end bushings. (Thanks to Phil @ opmd.com)
2) Replace Shocks & Struts.
3) Replace front and rear brakes / turn rotors.
4) Repair and Replace a/c system of car.
5) Purchase the correct size tire for the car.

I am also convinced that I will be replacing the cloth interior with the leather out of the blue Scorpio.  The driver side seat needs some help, but the rest is in good shape.  The cloth is in really good shape, but I just don't like how you sit in the car.  The leather is much better!