Jackal

Thanks for that. I did a quick google search, and I found a gardening site. Is that the one?

Hi Everyone, My Birkin didn't come with door hinges for the doors, just the posts (x4) for the windshield. I have found that purchasing these parts new is pretty expensive, and I am having to look at fabricating some or finding some extras that folks have laying around. I onlly need the parts for the doors, but will purchase the posts as well if it works out better for the deal. Let me know what you've got. Thanks.

I'll be tearing into it tonight to try and stay on track. It looks like the plate may be on the outside of the flange, and just installed incorrectly. I'll keep plugging at and have pictures tonight.

It's good to get to see the differences between my Birkin and others to show me what other parts were missing or assembled incorrecty when I got it. :toetap05: I have not got the spacer plates for the axle, so I'm looking at having to fab some up. I keep coming back to the use of wheel spacers though, and placing them under the rotor/hub. Am I overlooking a possible challenge with doing that? My reasoning is I can get a properly machined part readily available at all wheel shops, and be done the swap in moments. Otherwise I'm fabbing two spacers which may take significantlly longer. I also see an advantage that they would be easier to change if ever needed. I have never had to use wheel spacers before, so I am unaware of any possible challenges this can cause though.

Would a wheel spacer work under the rotor and hub? I figure it works between the wheel and the rotor, so why wouldn't it between the rotor hub and the axel?

I finished the headers and now need to weld an extension for the collector and weld on the bung for the wideband sensor. The collector pipe is around 4 inches too short. I got the car on the ground this weekend as well, but had some issues moving it around. The rear brakes seemed to be locked on both sides. It turns out that the brake calipers rub against the rotor when the wheel is torqued on. I have included a picture for reference. http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l294/nivaguy/0833767f.jpg I don't see how this is supposed to work unless there is a spacer that I wan not included, and it fits under the rotor and hub. Either that or I grind the caliper. Any advice as to how folks have dealt with this before would be awesome.

Not running yet. Hoped to send it to the engine guy Tuesday, but it's looking like next week will be when it goes in. Finishing the headers today to fit and cut the collector. Electrical all day tomorrow should wrap up that part of the build. Little odds and ends from there.

An S3 will be a tight fit for you then. Stalkers and Westfeilds are a bit bigger than the S3. I am only 5'6" and the S3 Birkin fits me like a glove with the pedals all the way back. As for hunting a ride, try the regional sections of this forum, and see if you can make a meet or event.

I'm guessing here, but I believe those are part of the cabin cover, and zip together, as well as zip to the trunk cover.

I think your best bet is to get out and test drive some, and get rides with others in your area. I was very fortunate to have some great members here seal the deal on getting a Se7en. My rather limited knowledge tells me that most of these types of cars will feel the same on the road, just fit the person slightly differently. Get out to the events and hitch rides with folks who have them, and go in with a short list of needs you expect out of a Se7en to be sure you find one that ticks all the right boxes.

Too bad about the motor. What pan are you using? I noticed the brake challenge with the fittings and bleeder valves. On mine, the bleeder valves are in a larger bung that is gooped to the caliper. Not the best way in my opinion. If your mechanic has any PN's for the brake bleeder parts they used, I would love to hear about them. The hole in the caliper seem huge now compared to the bleeder valve that sits on the other side of the "adapter". I don't know where I would find a one piece that will work in this situation. I have not checked the boot that fits over the gear shift lever, but I will tonight, and I think I'll drop my pan just to be sure that the gasket is set correctly. I noticed the valve cover gasket on mine was folded over itself in spots, and completely folded in in others. On mine, the pilot bearing was missingm, and so was the bushing for the CPS. It sucks that these challenges plague our cars, but they all seem to have a common theme. The parts are solid when applied correctly. With a bit of work I think they will live up to expectations. Good luch with the repairs.

As some of you may have seen, the motor pull went well, and I am now positive the pilot bearing is in (beacause we had to locate one and install it :rant:) and the bushing for the CPS is also now installed. On to some of the other questions I had. I have decided to keep the Oil/Air separator, but not in that form. I have ordered a unit from Central Florida Motorsports for the side of the block as it has a threaded bung that should be easier to work with than the female press fit grommet on the stock oil ar separator. I'll be running a line from there to a catch can, or cap (if it fits) and exhausting the air from that point. The catch can/cap will also recieve the vent from the top of the motor. As for the coolant bypass, I am still a little confused as to what needs to be done. I have been thinking of running it up to the GBS water rail kit, and running it to the bottom bung there. The GBS kit has two bungs on the elbow coming off the block. The main path then hits the thermostat, and out to the rail towards the front. You can see what I mean here: http://usa7s.com/vb/showthread.php?t=6935&page=6 Currently I have a couple sensors in the bungs from a couple thermostat housings I found in the wreckers. I think they both do the same job so I'll remove one, and add a press fit fitting to run the coolant bypass to. Any input here would help, as I'm not positive this is the way to complete the setup, but since there were no instructions that came with the kit, I'm winging it. The top fitting on the top of the thermostat housing will go to the expansion tank behind the pedal box. That's the plan so far. Thanks for the input, and keep it coming.

Back from the dead. I wanted to follow up with folks that have used the cfm part or tried the S2 solution from the link on the first page. I was thinking of using a combination of both, but don't know if the S2 solution will fit between the motor and the hood. Any pictures or details on various setups (zetec) is appreciated.

Another weekend of working on the car. One week left and it's off to Vex, and I have some work ahead of me. Friday I sorted out some more of the wiring, but over Saturday and Today I worked on some of the other stuff needed to get going. The headers were starting to rust and I will get them properly coated and wrapped next year. I wanted to take off some of the rust, and then used high temp to give them a coat until next year. http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l294/nivaguy/IMG_9115.jpg http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l294/nivaguy/IMG_9117.jpg http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l294/nivaguy/IMG_9136.jpg I also needed to modify the oil pan and the starter to get it into place. I needed to grind down some of the fins on the front of the starter to get it past the notch in the oil pan for the rear of the starter. Next I needed to notch a space into the oil pan to get the starter up high enough to get the bolts in straight.

Pictures, or it didn't happen! :boxing:

I don't think I'll be able to get away from the Garage for that long. I have to keep at it as the spring is slipping away.

I won't be ready for this weekend, but I am hoping to be off to see Terry before the end of the month. Where is the event? I may want to get of the garage at some point.

I for one, can't wait. This year I hope that I can make it to the Se7ens meet in Victoria for the first week of August. Do it all again in 2013.

.....Stupid Olympics......

I wanted to see the way the switch plate will fit in the car, and plan the wires to the panel. The switch plate will be the home for the headlight switch, high beam, hazard lights, and heated windshield switch. http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l294/nivaguy/f4c19f78.jpg http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l294/nivaguy/c9da0975.jpg http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l294/nivaguy/4b90dfc4.jpg

....But how can that be? It's on the internet....It has to be real.... In other news, I'm a prince who has a large sum of money waiting for me when I get to Canada. If you all would be so kind as to send your life savings to me, I'll repay you......

The wiring mess has continued. I have not only cut two wires to length, the rest are coiled and hanging out of the car. I have been using the wiring diagram from Slomove, and have been following it completely. I know there are some revisions to the diagram found on the Birkin yahoo page, but I will adjust the wires once I get them all in. It has been a long process so far, but I think it will save me time in the long run. I am picky about the way the wires get run, so I am taking lots of time to pull them in, and pull them back out as I don't like the way they break out of the bundle. http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l294/nivaguy/shot.jpg http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l294/nivaguy/IMG_9028.jpg http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l294/nivaguy/IMG_9023.jpg http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l294/nivaguy/IMG_9026.jpg

Just a few shots for the thread. The wiring is underway, and a shot of the mostly finised dash. The dash has three more switches to add; turn signal, horn, and wiper-washer. http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l294/nivaguy/521bfa3d.jpg http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l294/nivaguy/d13556c9.jpg http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l294/nivaguy/176ed756.jpg

This solution may seem a bit odd, but there is a spray rubber you can purchase called PlastiDip. I have used this on both interior and grills of my Subaru. After around 60K kms, it was still in perfect condition on the grill. I have recently used PlastiDip on the windshield trim and the center console of my build here. On the old Subaru forum many members are trying it on entire cars (here), with great success. The advantage to the PlastiDip is that it never gets hard, so it flex's really well when hit. I have been debating doing my rear fenders in it myself. The big drawback however, is that it is a dust magnet.

Got out to the garage again last night and started getting in some anchor points for the harness. Just the odd bit of drilling and such. I laid the rear wire pack out in the garage, and I'm amazed that they give you so much in the kit. For the rear they give you almost 20 ft worth of cable just for the rear. I was pretty amazed. The only think I don't like about the kit so far is the way the bracket that hold s the fuse box mounts. It has a couple slide tabs, but I don't see any parts in the box that would act as a recievers for the mount. No Pictures today, but tomorrow I should be able to reveal the dash as it is drilled out now. Tonight I also plan on installing the turn signal switch, and the wiper/washer knob.