A few misc questions

#1

My car is most likely going to be under construction for the next few years although I am progressively getting closer.

Just a few random questions as I continue stripping out my car.

  1. Fender liners - Should I remove them? They’re ugly and they bother me but has anyone had any issues with removing them?

  2. The exhaust system on my car is kind of beat to hell and needs replaced. Since the spec exhaust is required, I’m probably going to get it in the near future. I am also going to have to run a cat until I can trailer it. Anyways, is the spec exhaust long-term now? I just don’t want to buy it and then have them change the rules two months later. How much does it cost and does anyone know of any shops in the Pittsburgh to Cleveland area that can install it? (Not something I want to tackle)

  3. There is this sound deadening/foam crap on the top section of the firewall in the engine bay. Can I rip this stuff out? It’s getting wet and may result in rust.

  4. Where should I get my fuel injectors cleaned? One of them is clicking and being obnoxious and I think it’s time to get them done.

  5. I was poking around trying to check out the condition of various bushings and I noticed that the previous owner (track car) replaced the front control arm bushings with ones that are offset. Looking underneath the car from the front, the holes were offset to the outside of the car. I’m guessing this adds negative camber but I think suspensions and transmissions are evil so I am not sure.

Thanks for the help!

#2

  1. I don’t see any reason to remove them, but if you think they are ugly do your worst.

  2. Spec Exhaust is here to stay. If you need to run a cat have the exhaust shop weld in a free flow cat into the front most or middle section of the exhaust, mid section would probably fit best. Just have Paul send you two of that piece. It really is a very simple install but I did it while the car was 6ft. in the air. I think the cost is around $300(been a while since I purchased mine)

  3. Do your worst

  4. http://www.mrinjector.us/ $106 returned to you with a couple jolly ranchers to enjoy while you install them B)

  5. previous owners CAB install is correct

#3

Are you sure it’s an injector click and not a rocker arm?

#4

spec exhaust is $260 but shipping maybe involved. Luckily I’m local so I had Paul install mine :slight_smile:

#5

Re. fender liners. I left mine in until recently. I had figured that it was worthwhile to keep rocks from putting dings in the sheetmetal that would result in rust. But they started getting loose and were rattling around a little, and every time I heard/felt the rattling from the front end I’d think “oh shit, what’s that”?

So it probably doesn’t matter. But if you do remove them I’d consider cleaning the fender wells and looking for places with no undercoating. Then hitting those places with primer and undercoating.

#6

I ditch the front fender liners. There’s a liner on the right rear that covers the expansion tank, etc. that should stay. I clean off all of the rubber like insulation stuff from the engine bay and under the car.

RC Engineering has a good reputation for injector service.

The offset bushings are in the right way. The hole in the bushing should be next to the “stem” of the lollipop. I like Delrin for these bushings.

#7

The injection is not sequential so I think all E30s click obnoxiously. At least all four that I have owned do, and I’ve never had to adjust valve lash more than .002 or .003.

#8

OriginalSterm wrote:

Yeah, I actually am doing my Masters research with a single-cylinder engine so I am familiar with the clicking sounds of injectors. This is pretty obnoxious though. Also I swapped in 2 different injectors trying to isolate the one that was clicking and ended up just moving it around to the back of the engine front the front.

I’m going to send out 8 injectors so I have two spares and then will install the 6 best injectors (in terms of how close their flow rates are).

The spec exhaust seems like a PITA to install and since I don’t have a lift or any tools to easily cut the exhaust pipe I figure it’s best left to someone who is familiar with installing the spec exhaust.

Is there anyone in my area that has had one installed before? I’d like to go to the same guy who has already installed one to cut down on the issues that arise.

#9

I’m not sure that the exhaust install is that big of a deal. I’d just take it to a Midas shop and be done with it. Our local Midas shop let me participate, I just pointed out a few concerns, and the guy welded it all up. We didn’t use the supplied pipe clamps, we welded.

The good thing about the clamps is you can later disassemble the exhaust, but we couldn’t get the clamps to work very well.