My 60k-Mile Track Rental BAT Scud Project!

Quiet weekend. I did manage to sneak away for a few hours and tackle a few more rattles. I had an anyone one that I pinpointed to somewhere under the seat. So out it came. Didn't take but 20 seconds to find the culprit. One of the rear seat rail bolts was completely MIA (pretty safe huh?) which left the little backing plate free to jiggle and slide around. Also found 7 cents and a button! Sourced an appropriate bolt from one of my former track car seat projects and forever banished another rattle! Also cleaned up the exhaust tips with some mother's polish. Pretty sure the tips hadn't been cleaned for years! Also realized while cleaning that the exhaust tips were not perfectly centered within the diffuser cutouts so I centered them (and probably eliminated a few more rattles in the process as they were both resting on the metal ridge of the diffuser cutout! I've been putting off the shock bushing R&R and the transmission mount replacement as we have had a nice cool patch in Arizona and I have been driving the car. Now that its heating up again I'll probably get her back on the lift and tackle those two projects!
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Oh yeah, and for those using the tail light kits, I recommend you use the little rubber "isolater" grommets that come with the kit. I was reluctant to install them because I didn't want the lights to stick out more than stock, but I'm glad I did because they squish down and you can't tell that the lights stick out, and I think that they will greatly aid in absorbing the vibrations that wreak havoc on the plastic of the lights.

In my pics you can see the little temporary carbon fiber "patch" just below the exhaust tip. That part of the diffuser was damaged (presumably from years of heat and the caustic exhaust "water" that drips upon start up, so I made these up just to cover up the damage before I can get the diffuser refinished professionally.

 

Audipwr1 I just responded to your post on R-list so I won't recap all that here. In terms of updates, I've been focused on getting the gt3 ready for track season in AZ so the scud has been on the back burner a bit.

However, I did manage to swap out the lower and upper shock bushings in the front with the aftermarket equivalents from Superperformance in the UK. Super annoying job (especially the uppers...had to cut off the end to press it out and extensively modify my bushing press tool to get the clearances to work...should have just left the upper mounts alone as they actually looked ok. Probably spent three hours modifying the tool and swapping the upper mounts, and they didn't even look that bad! Bottoms were absolutely TRASHED though...as in I could move the bushing rubber around with one finger with ease! While I was in there I also changed out the front ARB bushings (they were dead and hard and cracked too), and I detailed the springs, shocks, and roll bar components. On the bright side, this job really reduced the harshness of the ride.

On the downside...ended up in the ER and then the Eye doc's office to get a piece of the upper shock bushing out of my eye. PSA...don't forget your eye protection kids. Had a bunch of dremel tool debris fly into my face and the next day my eye was on fire....turned out there was a piece of steel stuck in there and had to get it removed (along with the rust that had started to proliferate on my cornea...true story). The good news is that I'm finally feeling better and my vision will not be affected since the shard of metal just missed my pupil. So not only is the scud trying to drain my bank account, apparently its also trying to kill me and help me meet my health insurance deductible as well!

I also realigned the rear engine lid/hatch (it was a tad off and it was causing my ocd to go into overdrive). Since it had to come off to get to the hinges, I also re-painted the upper drip panel that goes at the top of the hatch as it had some fine yellow overspray from the repaint that was also bugging me! The moto continues to be that nothing comes off the car that doesn't go back on in better/cleaner/stronger condition.
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Forgot the obligatory photo of the refinished drip panel. Slowly coming along. Next project is a bit more major: manifold gasket, plenum gasket, all intake PCV lines, and new power steering hoses. Will tackle the transmission mount at the same time. All parts arrived so will start this weekend.
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Thanks. I didn't realize that, but it makes sense given the location and amount of articulation that joint must see. And yes, mine were not "low deflection" at this point. And the rubber was ripped so it was definitely time.

 

Thanks....I've been enjoying this new platform. Lots to like with these cars (albeit as with all cars, some things make you scratch your head!). I changed the oil last night, even though its only been 1000k miles. I did this primarily because when I did it last time I realized that every single damn screw holding on the gearbox drain plug plate was stripped so I had no access to the little plastic screen (I had no replacement screws and I new I would destroy them getting them out), which looked very old, brittle, and varnished. It was not clogged and there was no debris or anything, but my OCD would not let me stop thinking about it so I ordered new screws, the screen, the two rubber o-rings, and the god-forsaken, piece of ___, why-did-they-design-like-this, spawn of satan metal snap ring that retains the filter screen.

Absolute nightmare to remove but I finally developed a technique using one large screw driver and a pick that managed to dislodge it from its resting place (I'm sure) of the past 12 years. Since I was changing the oil anyway, the day before I added 10 oz of "Sea Foam" to the oil and drove it for 40 miles. I have never used this stuff before but I was shocked in that it did actually quiet down the ticking that seemed to be coming from the lifters. And I don't think it was my imagination either. I did not want to leave it in their very long but I'm glad I gave it a shot. I'll probably run it again before the next oil change. Below is a pic of the offending snap ring. My technique consisted of levering up the edge of the ring ever so slightly with a large flat-blade screw driver, and then shoving the pick underneath it as soon as any (and I mean any) daylight emerged under the ring (it was very tight!). Feels good having fresh components in there LOL.

Took the car for a 30 mile blast thereafter to warm up the oil and bring it up to the correct level. Took just under 10L to re-fill so I must have gotten a lot out (I drained the oil the day before with the engine pretty hot, and let it sit overnight). Car didn't miss a bit and the cooler night-time temps really wake the car up! Falling in love with this imperfect mistress of mine!
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One more update: Sold the Gallardo so I had to just had to transfer the personalized plate to the Scud. It is a yellow Ferrari after all!
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ha! Thanks! They do now. Only 86 more projects to go! When I start slapping ti fasteners in every accessible part that’s when I’ll know I’m done! (Just kidding....love that thread!)

 

Realized its been a while since I've updated the thread. Not much work lately as I have been enjoying driving the car as the weather finally turned nice in Arizona. I've now put 2,000 miles on her since arrival and all is still well. Still can't believe no codes or other "problems." Just a lot of little projects to tackle:

1) Seems like most of the pcv/crankcase ventilation/blowby system lines and hoses are near the end of their life, as many are weeping and moist with oil. Not drips, but just oily connection points and brittle lines. So I ordered all new ones with fresh clamps. I've also noticed a bit of weeping at the upper intake manifold gasket and a bit at the lower gasket. In poking around it also appeared that the power steering lines routed from the reservoir to the pump were pretty grimy and "weeping" (must be related to that damn e36 bmw era reservoir set up...looks identical and those always leaked at the reservoir connections!). So off came the intake runners and plenum and LOTS of cleaning (inside and out was pretty oily). Possibly overfilled at some point as the top of the intake stacks had a fair amount of residual engine oil collected in there. Felt good to clean it all out and make everything baby-butt smooth again, including injector holes which were grimy too.

2) heat shields on the cats are loose and rattly. Going to remove and try some of that high temp muffler weld stuff in the gaps between the shieid and the cat to see if that does the trick. Might also give that a try at the muffler box junctions where I can see hairline cracks that let the outer "can" move around too much.

3) Since I'm going this far I might as well tackle the gearbox mount. I can't confirm the condition but peace of mind requires that I replace it to work with the recently replaced motor mounts.

Check out those clean intakes! (last pic shows how dirty the front of the intake was (upper gasket was super hard and brittle!)
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Ok, car is back together (until next time I take it apart LOL) and running like a champ. Since I had most the exhaust out I bit the bullet and took it to a performance muffler shop to weld all the little "suspect spots," to include a cracked bypass valve bracket and the two cat heat sheilds that were loose and rattling. also welded up some gaps in the silencer in hopes of keeping any more white dust from escaping. Finally, heat wrapped the silencer before re-installing using DEI titanium wrap. Made a HUGE difference in the ambient temps under the hood. Highly recommended.

The gearbox mount was a hassle but not nearly as bas as Normal Dave's video suggested. My gearbox frame assembly came out pretty easy without the need to hammer or bang on anything. My mount was deflecting but not in horrible shape (until I destroyed it getting it out, that is). If anyone wants to tackle this I'd be happy to share some helpful tips that contrast with some of the techniques and advice in the youtube video. I didn't need the Hill Eng. tool (just bought a generic bushing press kit on ebay and it had appropriately sized "cups" to do the job, and that combined with storing the new mount in the freezer made the job go pretty smoothly).

With the entire intake tract out it also gave me a chance to do a ton of cleaning, conditioning, and sprucing up around the "valley" of the topside of the engine. What a rats nest of hose, lines, and contraptions are shoved under the manifold! I literally did not remove a bolt that I did not clean before it went back on, which is why this little project took twice as long as it would have taken a shop (but it felt good to clean...my motto is nothing goes back on without improving it somehow). One surprising thing was how much of the wiring loom tape was falling off and literally disintegrating. So after some research I bought a roll of "tessa" high heat wiring loom fabric tape to re-tape everything. That stuff is tough (cannot rip it with your hands), and really helped tidy things up. I also used it anywhere that the oem corrugated black plastic wiring protection tubing stuff was starting to allow the wires to escape. Everything now nice, tidy, and protected form heat sources.

I also continue to work on banishing rattles and vibrations. To this end I fixed a few broken clips on one of the AC vents, and also removed to door panel to address a vibration (which turned out to be a slightly loose door handle cable that was bouncing around inside a clip. The cat heat shields that are mounted to the gearbox mounting frame were also rattling and loose. They were easy to fix though by "pounding" (i.e., re-setting) the rivets to make them tight again (see pic) Lots of rattles have been banished but just last night I noticed my driver's side bypass valve is rattling on cold start up at idle. Going to try the "spring on the shaft" trick to see if that quiet's it down!

Continue to love the car and making progress! Going to drive for a few weeks but next project likely will consist of all the ball joints (joy). By that point I bet the car will be relatively rattle free!
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Man, I just looked and surprisingly, I just have this one crappy pic. Definitely should have taken more (and from closer!).
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