Blue Beauty from Malaysia

[simonc]

Well, look what arrived today courtesy of Parcelforce. Can't wait to get them installed.



And all the goodies inside

[Donald]

So when are you gonna cut the springs on this badboy and show us pictures of sparks flying?

[simonc]

Very soon dear boy. In fact she's off over to the guy who tuned up my Del Sol for a major refurb on Sunday. Watch this space gentlemen for some fab and groovy updates shortly.

[simonc]

Engine work and bushing re-fit

Good morning gentlemen and apologies for the radio silence from t’tropics. My only excuse is that I’ve been bloody busy, travelling and also tis the season for friends, relations etc to visit these fair shores (mind you, it seems like Malaysia is not exactly flavour of the month for obvious reasons…) so in between work and everything else I am currently the host with the most.

However all that not withstanding, I finally sold the Del Sol (bit of a good deal for the bloke that bought it but I really was glad to get shut of it) so with some of my ill gotten gains from the sale I finally got Blue Beauty over to my main man Mr Aaron Chow at Momentom Motorsports in Shah Alam. (Nice plug there eh?) He’s the guy who did up the Del Sol so I knew I’d be in safe hands with him as I turned over the Prelude with quite an extensive wish list.

As you can see from the photos, the work is currently still in progress but I popped over this morning to get a gander for myself and also chat with Aaron about progress.

Here’s what’s happening to my car:

Re-bushing all round with the kit I’d bought from the UK. (Farewell shock knock!)
New Skunk 2 Intake
Throttle body clean and refurb
New aluminium radiator.
New brake pads (the last guy ripped me off with cheap crap ones. I’m still fuming about that but at least Aaron will get me sorted)
New braided brake hoses on all four corners.
Silicon hosing all round
New engine mounts
Oil change for engine and gearbox plus new filters (HQ semi-synthetic oils)
Front suspension cross-brace (he tells me that’s the last thing to go on)
New exhaust extractor
New mid-section exhaust
Ram-air system plus K&N filter
Realignment after all the work is done.

It’s quite a task and hasn’t been helped by Aaron’s workshop move to newer, better facilities. The only snag has been his announcement this week that both the upper suspension arms (left and right) are knackered (I think those of you with a keen eye can see the damage in the photos) so that’ll add another RM1000.00 to my bill but all being well, my majestic beast should be back in my hands this coming Friday.

Then it’s down to the bodyshop to get the front wing un-dinged and repainted and hopefully I can enjoy her without fretting about the list of things that need doing anymore.

I apologise for the volume of pictures but just wanted to get as many snaps as possible to share with you all. I hope these shots explain the work better than my brief outline.

Hope you enjoy looking through them.

Best regards to you all.


Skunk Inlet manifold - original and non-counterfeit



Extractor and mid-section prior to fitting


New aluminium radiator


Inlet manifold installed


Extractor installed



Nice engine bay work in progress



Radiator in place



Enough already Simon, we get the picture...



The knackered upper arm (t'other side is just as bad)



Mid-ships exhaust in place (ish...)



New air intake awaiting fitment



Bushing in progress



Bushing and new pads at the front



Sorry, couldn't help it, I just love this shot.

[wurlycorner]

Very sparkly under the bonnet and a long list of work there
I take it it's the ball joint boot that's the problem with the rear arm? The boots do deteriorate over time (not seen a 4th gen where they don't look on their last legs, even though they still work ok) but it looks like that one might have been torn during removal?

[simonc]

Morning Iain, actually the rubber cover thing(boot?) are perished but the real problem is that bolt thing. It's really wobbly (I mean totally wobbly) and from what I can gather it's supposed to be pretty tight in its housing. Left and right are just the same so he's ordered two new ones as second hand ones may also be on the road to perish-hell. He's also going to provide two new boots for the drive shafts as they're looking manky as well.

[wurlycorner]

Ah right, the ball joint itself. Yeah well that's fair enough then

[simonc]

That's it! (now I remember what Aaron said!) Yup, the ball joints are both kaput.

[mart609]

bays looking great

[simonc]

Thanks mart and even better news is that the suspension arms have been delivered this afternoon so they should be fitted before end of play today.