So, that means Pete is coming this year???????????

I'm sure I could do it. Would need bluetooth speaker and some earplugs though. Just nervous about the car breaking down in the middle-of-nowhere, NC.

I think he still has me beat in the looks department. I've got a good "10-20 ft" car.

What is this "Great Pumpkin" or did my car just earn its name?

I take it you're not a "Peanuts" aka "Charlie Brown" comics fan. The Great Pumpkin was Linus' Halloween creation in lieu of Santa Claus. The Great Pumpkin was supposed to rise up from the pumpkin patches around the world and ride across the sky bringing toys and candy to all the good little boys and girls. Unfortunately Linus was the only one lying out in the pumpkin patch at night waiting for him. :le sigh:

Yup, would have been there last year too, except I had an untimely issue with the then newly installed AEM Infinity ECU. :banghead:

Finally got the suspension aligned and the car weighed. ~2340 lb with half a tank of fuel and no driver. From my understanding of stock weights that's ~300 lb lighter than the '86 base model. With me inside it's nearly an even 2500 lb - perfect.

I'm getting some noise out of the front end so I think it's time to check out the wheel bearings. Hopefully it's just preload but I'll pull everything apart and check all the races to be sure.

I still haven't replaced the front transmission bearings but I did finally order another seat and harness so I can have passenger's again. I'll be taking the new ones and swapping the older stuff to the passenger's side.

I still want to make it to DGRR and it's looking more and more like I'm going to have to drive it. I'll be taking a 3 hour road trip the weekend before, which will be a good shakedown. It won't be fully tuned but it'll definitely be broken in by that point.

There is a chance, yes. I got the new seat installed and the old seat switched over to the passenger's side. I just need to drill a hole in the floor for the fifth point.

I've ordered new rear bearings for the transmission. I figure since I'm already going to be in there replacing the front bearings I should replace the rear as well. I'm not planning on replacing the center bearings since that requires near complete disassembly of the transmission. I plan on re-checking the clearances and have ordered new washers just in case anything is out. Hopefully that'll fix the neutral and 4th gear noise I'm getting and maybe even fix the vibration in 5th. The plan is to have all this done by 4/20 and I still need to check the front wheel bearings...

Been trying to figure out why the car has been tracking to the right after the alignment. I don't doubt the shops machine so I'm thinking the issue is with the car. Tire pressures are good. Ride height is even. Front wheel bearing play and pre-load was way off. After removal and cleaning the bearings and races looked really good so I just repacked them and properly set the pre-load. I haven't road-tested the car yet but all the play is gone. I'm track to hit 2000 miles and complete break-in by the end of April. If I can make it to DGRR maybe I'll get some road tuning in...

Some pictures...

New seat and brackets:
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/791/4...4b3c2963_b.jpg

In the car with the old swapped over to the passenger's side:
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/880/4...b7318657_b.jpg

Even with the new brackets I wasn't able to get the driver's seat low enough to prevent the steering wheel from blocking the shift lights and turn signals. I broke down I got a 380 mm wheel with a 35 mm dish. The old one is 350 mm with a 65 mm dish. Installed:

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/820/4...6b7c797b_b.jpg

It's noticeably larger but overall it's a more comfortable position and I can see my full display. The larger diameter also helps with the low speed turning a little.

In order to make it to DGRR I have two things to accomplish:
1) Replace front and rear bearings in the transmission and check end play.
2) Get headlights aimed properly

(2) is easy and I'll have that done this weekend. (1) is still waiting on some parts to come in.

That looks great!

Committed. No turning back now. The FC is the plan provided I can get the transmission and wheel bearings sorted in the next two weeks. If not it'll be the SA.

Replaced the front wheel bearings and races yesterday since I had play in the driver's side. I heated the hubs in the oven and rapidly cooled the outer races with ice water get them out. I ended up re-using the seals though. The new seals put too much pressure on the hub to get an accurate measurement of the bearing pre-load (followed FSM procedure). Unfortunately, I'm still getting play on the driver's side. I'd go as far as saying it isn't improved. I even went out today and torque the hub nut to 22 ft-lb and STILL had play. I didn't see anything else moving so I'm left with the assumption the spindle itself is worn out. Does that even happen on these cars? I guess I'll try to find a used one and replace it before DGRR.

Interesting. I personally have only ever had ONE wheel bearing go bad on an FC, and I blame Chicago for that (when I lived there).

It isn't common, but I suppose it does happen. I have a couple of loaded knuckles. But they are quite heavy.

I didn't notice anything until I took the car in for an alignment a while back. They mentioned some play in the wheels so I took a look. Both sides had some play at that time but after resetting the pre-load per the FSM the passenger side was fixed. I think this just confirms the bearings were okay but something else is going on. The spindle looked okay but I didn't see any movement in the ball joint in the lower control arm so I don't know what else it would be. It seems unlikely I have two sets of bad bearings.

How much play does it have, and how did you measure/test for it?