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PostPosted: Wed May 27, 2009 11:24 am 
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Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:50 pm
Posts: 40
Location: Hemlock, MI
About
I'm Dexter from Michigan, USA. I posted an intro thread a long time ago and it sucks, so I'm going to start over.

Here's a few things you'll need to know when reading my project logs.
I refer to my shop/polebarn as "Dexter's Laboratory". So when I say my shop, the lab, or something along those lines, I'm referring to my polebarn.
Tri-City Evolution is my car club. Most of the names I drop and pictures of people are fellow teammates and members.

Engine Mods
Right now, this car is bone stock under the hood.

Suspension Mods
All factory. Sort of...
Expo knuckles
GVR4 rotors
1G DSM single piston clipers
Elantra Control arms
240sx sway bar end links

MISC Mods
5-speed cable clutch transmission form a 4th gen Colt.
14" American Racing Wheels painted flat black.

Future Stuff
This car is going to be dailied for a while. Ultimately, this car will have a DOHC Sirius engine of some size and probably with a turbo.

Pictures here
Here's the car as I bought it. I picked this car up in October of 2008.
Image


Last edited by DeXteR on Thu Oct 04, 2012 7:02 am, edited 3 times in total.

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PostPosted: Wed May 27, 2009 11:32 am 
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Location: Hemlock, MI
After sitting in the yard for eight months, the blue Colt has finally graced the lab floor!
Image

There was no transmission in the car when I got bought it. The guy I bought it from said the tranny was crapping out on him. He pulled it and had it tore down for rebuilding, but it was going to cost more than he was willing to pay, so no transmission returned.
Image

Originally, this car was equipped with a cable-clutch 4-speed transaxle. I'm not sure what the specs on that were as far as gear ratios and final drives and whatnot, but I'd like to figure those out. I'm sure if I drove this on the highway with the 4-speed, I'd be turning 5krpm; but I don't have a tachometer anyway, so I wouldn't know anyway.

On our last trip to Parts Galore (a great you-pull-it yard in the ghetto in Detroit), Bill and I found a transmission that I hoped would work. It's a cable-clutch 5-speed that was harvested from a 4th gen Colt. The mileage on the odometer read some 250,000 miles. When we dropped the tranny from the car, the gear oil was relatively fresh. When we split it from the block and started taking stuff apart, I observed that the pressure plate, clutch disc, and flywheel all looked very fresh as well. I did not do any preliminary homework on compatability before I bought the gearbox and I was unsuccessful at finding much information after it was purchased. I decided to just go for it and see what happens.

Here's the "new" gearbox in the lab. I did notice that the bellhousing had that junkyard-spec yellow paint marker serial number on it. Hopefully it has less than a quarter-million miles on it; but moreso, I just hope it works.
Image

Curt came out to lend a hand last night.
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Everything went together pretty smoothly. As with most FWD tranny installs, the input shaft didn't slide right into the crank, so that took some finagling, but we finally got it. Here's a list of the critical parts I used from which model.

3G shift linkages and bracket
3G upper tranny mount to frame
4G upper tranny mount bracket
Remove the 4G bellhousing mounts
3G driveaxles, starter, flywheel, pressure plate, and clutch
The reverse plug on the 4G tranny fits the 3G harness
The 4G tranny levers for the gears and clutch fit the 3G cables

Image

I haven't been able to hook up the speed sensor because when we pulled the transaxle, we broke the plastic input for the speedometer cable. I'm going to have to find a new one of those.

To complete this phase of the project, I need to replace the front brake pads and rotors, top off the gear oil, and fire it up. I'm just going to use the battery from the DSM.

Hopefully it will be running when I update next time.


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PostPosted: Sat May 30, 2009 11:39 pm 
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Spends Too Much Time Under The Hood

Joined: Fri Sep 05, 2008 11:55 pm
Posts: 244
Location: Montezuma IN.
Nice work can't wait to c how it will work out for you :D


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PostPosted: Sun May 31, 2009 11:52 pm 
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Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2009 11:03 am
Posts: 120
Location: NY; L.I.; (631)
Dexter... thanks for taking the time to photodocument the trans transplant. Very helpful/useful for us stock 4 speed persons. The 4 speed gearing is interesting... by just 'seat of pants' (non-number and tach not hooked up yet) oddly torquey (feels like an engine brake/jake brake when you let of gas in 1st or 2nd) but surprisingly agreeable on highway at ~60 to 70. Will be tracking this thread/look forward to updates.

Good Luck and Skill with the project,
#89


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PostPosted: Sun Jul 05, 2009 5:17 pm 
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Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:50 pm
Posts: 40
Location: Hemlock, MI
It's been a while since I've updated, so I'll bring this back up to date. I ended up using the speedometer driven gear assembly from my DSM. It fits perfect and I'm fairly confident that the ratio is correct - I haven't verified it yet. I ended up finding a battery in my other red Colt that took a charge and has been working just fine since then.

I also decided against freshening up the brakes... I discovered that the Colts have this weird rotor setup that requires removing the spindle and pressing out the hub to remove the rotors. I wasn't really thrilled about that thought, so I just hit the rotors wtih a wire wheel and put the pads from the red Colt on it since they were better. They're working just fine now. The handbrake works well too.

Here's a current engine bay shot. The only difference is that I removed the blinging oil cap Curt (one of the TCE guys) gave me. It leaked when it was on his DSM and it leaked on my car. I think it needs a new O-ring. In the mean time, I've switched back to an OEM cap.
Image

Here's a picture of the first "upgrade" the car recieved:
Image
The previous owner had disconnected the swaybar endlinks for some reason and blew out the ball joints. The Colts have the stupid 90* joints. I ended up having to cut one off, but they were both junk. So I looked around the lab to see if I had anything laying arond. I thought DSM ones would work at firts, but I coldn't find a matching pair laying around. What I did find were the original end links from my 240sx convertable. A while back, I purchased some Suspension Techniques sway bars second hand. They were complete but the endlinks and bushings were kind of blown out. So I put the original nissan links on the colt with the used poly bushings.

The other two things I've done (and don't have pictures for) were removing the silencer in the air filter (which is one of the "free mods" I recalled from my DSM days) and installed the DSM shift knob. The DSM shift knob is ridiculous in the Colt - as if the throw wasn't long enough as it was, the DSM knob is about 4" taller. So rowing through the gears is actually rowing. It does help me reach better since the shifter assembly sits really low in the car.

Couple complaints.
It leaks gear oil. I wasn't smart enough to replace the axle seals before I put the tranny in. It drips a puddle the size of a silver dollar between the time I get home in the evening and have to leave in the morning.

The gas pedal and brake pedal are too close together. I hit both of them with my right foot at the same time.

Lastly, there's some pretty ugly rust in the driver-side rear wheel well. I don't remember seeing it before, but it's going to get really bad really fast if I don't take care of it.



All right, moving on, I got started on the red Colt also. One of the guys from MIDSM (Michigan DSM forum) has a blue Colt just like mine except his block has a hole in it. So I pulled the block from the red Colt and sold it to him.

Part of the reason I didn't start with this car is because it wasn't as complete. It needs more than just a tranny:
Image
I noticed that all the bracketry on this car was rusty. The chassis and body seem pretty clean, but everything else looks rusty. I thought it was a bit strange.

Anyways, it took me about 2 hours of work time to pull the engine:
Image
Image

I haven't had a whole lot of time or money to work on this red project, so I'mthinking about giving up on trying to get it done in time for the Lot Bash or Shootout. I could have it swapped and running in time, but I don't want it to be half-assed. I'd rather have it done the way I want it and have it take longer.

I'll update again when I get back to this project. I've got a few other things that need my attention - like finishing the upstairs in the house and getting some things done out in the lab. I have some more insullation and panelling to put up, a work bench to put in, and a waste oil furnace that needs to get working.


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PostPosted: Wed Jul 07, 2010 6:41 am 
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Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:50 pm
Posts: 40
Location: Hemlock, MI
UPDATE REGARDING SPEEDOMETER DRIVEN GEAR: The DSM SDG is not the correct ratio for this transmission. It's about 10% off from what I've found out. This ends up not being a bad thing if you'd like to run a larger overall diameter wheel and tire setup. I'm running a 185/70-14 tire right now which is a bit small to totally compensate for the SDG difference.

It finally came time to change my pads and rotors, so I decided to ditch the captive rotor setup. See this thread for details: http://www.4g61t.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=32097


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 1:49 pm 
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Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:50 pm
Posts: 40
Location: Hemlock, MI
Here's another important update regarding axles...

So I was having a slight issue with having my right axle popping out randomly. I say randomly, but it always seemed to do it on my way to work. The first time it happened I thought I grenaded my clutch or something in the transmission. You see, since the differential in a FWD is open, the load doesn't get to the ground if you don't have both wheels connected between the ground and the transmission, it will just free spin.

Anyway, this popping axle started happening more frequently. It got to the point that I couldn't deal with the inconvenience any more. I purchased another set of Expo hubs from a junkyard for the red colt and I couldn't get the axle nut off the right side in the junkyard, so I had to buy that too. The expo axle is slightly longer than the Colt's - don't ask me for specifics, because I never bothered to measure. It was tough to get it in there and I'm sure there's probably a little binding when accelerating around corners.

I've had it this way since early spring and have not had any issues yet. I drive this car like a maniac pretty much every time I get behind the wheel. I live on a dirt road so, I spend a lot of time kicking this thing around and practicing my rally maneuvers. I also take corners hard enough to squeal my sticky summer Sumitomos near the point of maximum traction and scare people who don't see me coming. My point here is that I abuse this axle as much as the rest of the car and it hasn't blown up yet.

Right there, I'm pretty sure I just jinxed myself.


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 23, 2014 4:08 am 
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Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:50 pm
Posts: 40
Location: Hemlock, MI
The blue car gave up the ghost a while ago. Died on the way to work and I threw in the towel. I got a
B13 Sentra that I bomb around in now. Decided to just sell all the Colt stuff for now. I never did get around to doing a 4G63 swap even though I bought a forged engine for it. Selling that too. Decided To focus on my Nissans for a while. It was fun while it lasted. The Colt was way better than the Sentra is now though.


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 23, 2014 10:32 am 
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Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2006 3:03 pm
Posts: 1134
Location: Calgary, AB, Canada
You'll be back 8-[ . Having a 4g63t colt is addicting. I'm sure you would have loved that swap.

_________________
05 wrx wagon
99 Benz ML 320
91 eagle summit swapped - 6/4 bolt combo
94 Audi s4 - sold
88 Eagle Vista Turbo LX sedan, RIP


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 23, 2014 6:17 pm 
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Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:50 pm
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Location: Hemlock, MI
I'd say that's highly probable. Still love the cars, but I just don't have the time or the money to spend on them currently.


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 23, 2014 8:15 pm 
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Joined: Tue Apr 20, 2004 3:20 pm
Posts: 5583
Location: Wisconsin
Keep the better of the two and the parts, save it for a rainy day! Everyone that gets out always ends up jumping back in a few years later.

_________________
Had a:
1991 Eagle Summit ES Hatchback - 4g15 12v 5spd
1991 Dodge Colt -4g15 12v 4spd
Have a:
1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass - 468BBO TH350
Round 3:
1990 Dodge Colt-4G63T 5spd


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 23, 2014 10:29 pm 
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Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:50 pm
Posts: 40
Location: Hemlock, MI
I all ready have a couple "rainy day" projects. These need to go. If I want another one, I'll buy one later.


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