Worst pain in the ass projects when working with dsm's
 

Last night i was replacing my master cylinder on my 99 GSX and i gotta tell you that is one pain in the ass. It got to the point where i said screw it and took the drivers seat out and still it's a pain. I said a few choice words in the process.

What projects would you consider the worst in addition to my list?

1) Changing master cylinder
2) Taking the 2g headlights out. The bolt under the light is one pain to get to.

3) Getting the tranny input shaft to slide into the clutch when bolting the tranny back up to the block. For some reason This is always as pain for me.

Re: Worst pain in the ass projects when working with dsm's
 

I helped swap out the clutch master cylinder on a fwd 2g in a couple hours. That was a while ago, but I don't remember it being too much of a pain. We had two people though.

But I do remember helping swap out a clutch on the same 2g, and everything went pretty smooth, except for one frickin bolt that goes through the rear tranny mount. I think it was cross threaded, and there's about 1.5" of room to work in to get that bolt started. I forgot what we ended up doing, but I remember it taking about as long to get the tranny back up and mounted as it did to get that one bolt in.

Other than that, I think that trying to get the timing belt tensioner set right when all you have is a set of snap ring pliers and a drill bit is a huge pain in the ass.

Re: Worst pain in the ass projects when working with dsm's
 

Manual conversion from auto. In the middle of one and it definately sucks.

Re: Worst pain in the ass projects when working with dsm's
 

Its all seems the same for me. But the auto-manual swap sounds like a lot of fun.

~John

Re: Worst pain in the ass projects when working with dsm's
 

just blame the parts... or me for that fact since i sold them to you...

cc

Re: Worst pain in the ass projects when working with dsm's
 

the suspension was a bitch with no power tools and just me doing it. The front took like 8 hours and bleeding hands, the rear would have taken like 2 hours but i was missing a part, and something was messed up (dont remember what it was) so i had to get the rotozip out and cut the spring off of the strut.
I cant wait to do the manual swap sounds like fun to me.
OnefastGSX- did you put the bolts under the headlights back in? When i took mine out i just said fuck it and left the damn bolts out. what a PITA

Re: Worst pain in the ass projects when working with dsm's
 

I haven't put it back together but I don't think i'm gonna put them back in. I had to put tape along the bumper cover just to keep from scratching it all to hell. If you don't put the bolts back in, the headlight still has 2 other bolts. I say screw those 2 bottom ones. It's almost a scenario where you gotta take the headlight out to get the bumper cover off but you gotta take the bumper cover off to get the headlight out. What a PIA!!!

On another note: I'm glad my car is already a manual. Sounds like you're just better off getting car that's already a manual.

Re: Worst pain in the ass projects when working with dsm's
 

Right now Im in the middle off removeing my rear bumper. Notheing to hard so far. The pain in the ass would be the fact that Ive removed about 10 bolts so far and broke everyone. so after every bolt breaks I have to go over to the vice and get the bolt head out of the socket. I can't wait till I go to put it back on.

Re: Worst pain in the ass projects when working with dsm's
 

suspension techniques rear swaybar on a 1g w/ 4bolt rear end (actually putting the bar into position):

1 person: 1.5 hours
2 people: 5 mins

ahhh!

Re: Worst pain in the ass projects when working with dsm's
 

Been there done that and definitely not fun. I ended up not securing the base of my bumper and only doing the sides and the top. It's a good thing I was using a cheap POS socket set because I damn near ruined a couple sockets trying to beat the heads out of the sockets.

Re: Worst pain in the ass projects when working with dsm's
 

Havent really done much to my car yet but Id say that one of the hardest was the 2G fuel filter. OOOO man! I tried it at my house and gave up (wrenches were flying) then I went to this shop that a guy I know works at and with the right tools and a little help it wasnt so bad.
Also right now im trying to get the engine out and I cant get the damn CV shafts out. Damn things are rusted. Taking the headlights off ant to to hard. just take the bumper off. 4 bolts hold it in and then its easy as hell. But the fact that you have to do that is stupid.

Re: Worst pain in the ass projects when working with dsm's
 

I second that, it sucks big time.

Fixing electronics stuff installed by morons tops my list of PITAs.And there's definately no shortage of idiots trying to install shit

Re: Worst pain in the ass projects when working with dsm's
 

Taking old suspension bushings out to replace with Poly suspension bushings - NOT fun and its a harsh ride but its not so mushy anymore.

Diagnosing a bad clutch but removing the tranny once to find out its the the fork or ball but the Clutch PP. Also replaced master, slave, welded pedal assembly (getting that out is a PITA). Fun stuff.

I replaced almost all bolts and nuts in front clip like you guys did with the rear... all of them broke off and I had to tap new holes. Going to be doing the rear bumper this spring... Yay. Not too bad of a deal though.

Re: Worst pain in the ass projects when working with dsm's
 

I have the same problem every time.

-Putting the bolts for the water pump pulley on when the motor is in the car sucks, can't fit my hand in there too well.

- Taking the factory fog lights out (on the a 1st gen).

Re: Worst pain in the ass projects when working with dsm's
 

Tearing trannies apart and rebuilding them is probably the biggest PITA I have run into. Specifically redoing the shims on the races that are in the case. Getting out broken turbo bolts ranks up there too.

Getting a 7 bolt head on/off 6 bolt studs was fun too, that is when Nash broke out the "import monkey!".

Re: Worst pain in the ass projects when working with dsm's
 

I forgot about the fuel filter project. I did that about 2 years ago when i had my GS-T. I was cussing so much that my landlords kid next door said something to me something on the lines of settling down. I can't remember now which was the hardest the top or the bottom on the fuel filter. It was a bitch because you got wire, hoses, brackets, throttle body and all kinds of other shit preventing from any kind of decent 'throw' on the wrenches.

Oh yeah- the fogs on a 1g. I had an old '90 1gen that i parted out on the trader and a guy wanted the fogs. This was a few years back and i can't remember it all but bottom line was i ended up cutting the front bumper cover pretty much off with a cut off wheel to get at the fog mounts. The car was somewhat smashed but dammit when you're parting a car out, you don't make shit for your time so anything sometimes is better and faster than figuring out the right way to do it.

Re: Worst pain in the ass projects when working with dsm's
 

I really didnt think those 1g foglights were too bad.

I do remember the fuel filter being such a PITA that I left the damn thing in the car. BTW, if anyone needs a brand new Fram fuel filter I have one laying in my tool box.:)

Re: Worst pain in the ass projects when working with dsm's
 

I don't know about you, but my front bumper is 5 bolts and a zip tie by each fender. It takes a grand total of 3 mins to take off and put back on, which I have done easily over 100 times in the last 2 years. But still FUCK THE HEADLIGHTS, its takes a damn good reason for me to take them out.

On the other hand engine/tranny work is simple. I just take it to QPR. :D

Re: Worst pain in the ass projects when working with dsm's
 

I think I remember doing that, and the master cylinder wasn't all that bad. And I got pretty good at pulling the tranny out, and putting it back in before I finally sold it.

Re: Worst pain in the ass projects when working with dsm's
 

Stupid manual conversion is pretty much done now, overall it is a huge project, but breaking it down section by section it gets easier. Putting the pedal assembly in with the clutch master cylinder is likely the biggest hassle. Swapping rear ends is also as always a PITA, but the rest of it isn't bad at all. It is however not on my list of favorite things to do.

Re: Worst pain in the ass projects when working with dsm's
 

in car balance shaft removal on a galant ;).
Heck balance shaft removals in car in 1g's is a pita as well.
timing belts in the rain...4 bolt removals in the mud....
its all the same.

Re: Worst pain in the ass projects when working with dsm's
 

When I saw the video a while ago I wondered how the hell the head would come off of there again.

My front bumper is on by all the bolts in the front and only one on each side. I would say it is near impossible to get both the bolts off the fender without breaking them in a 1g. That is a difficult project. I had to tap one of my two.

Getting the tranny back up and in was also very difficult for me. I had to call in some reinforcement. It is easier for me to pull the engine and tranny than it is to just swap a tranny.

Re: Worst pain in the ass projects when working with dsm's
 

How much does a auto-to-manual cost for parts, or how much does it cost to have a shop do it plus parts? Just seems like a project from hell no matter how easy you try to make it. At some point you gotta wonder if its just better to spend a buck on a for sale sign, get rid of it and just buy a manual car.

Re: Worst pain in the ass projects when working with dsm's
 

Its really not that big of a pain. I did it in my 91 Celica and I am thinking about doing it to the 91 Eclipse as well. The toughest part is the damn pedals, and making suge that is right. after that, changing the trannies sucks. but overall I enjoyed the project.

Re: Worst pain in the ass projects when working with dsm's
 

On the DSM, you have to change the rear end, pedals, ecu, turbo, injectors, shifter & cables tranny & of course it requires adding the master clutch cylinder, and lines/slave not to mention rewiring some of the less obious things like the backup lights and bridging the neutral saftey switch etc. It is a large project, I gave this guy a deal as he is a friend, the next one if there ever is will be minimum 2500 plus the donor parts car. So yea, you could buy a decent 1G with a manual already for the same money. The only way it would be worth it is if you really liked you car (extrememly clean) had a POS manual car with a good tranny and parts and had a lot of patience and extra time on your hands. Or find a friend with a shop that doesn't know how to say no and you are all good.