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I'll see if I can't get some pics of the car tomorrow sometime. The Juice Box spent a good ten hours on a lift yesterday. Here's what actually went down...
Replaced lower ball joint and outer tie rod end on drivers front corner. Passenger front lower ball joint is shot to hell, but I had to drop an unexpected $60 to put the one side back together after we took it apart. Also on this corner, we pressed the ABS ring off the hub and replaced two broken wheel studs and one sketchy stud with bits off another rally Galant. At this point, I'm sporting 16 lugs on the car. Saftey is a cool feeling.
Power steering belt was installed. Went to start wrapping up the AC compressor, but realized I didn't have the tensioner for that belt in the trunk like I thought. It's still sitting on the k-member. 
We cut the stock exhaust off at the end of the after-cat resonator and welded up a 2.5" ID, press-bent "cat back." The piping was done by Ray at his shop (Ray Peters has a twin-charged 1G TSi AWD with an 18G and an M62, FYI) and it's got a decent looking 3A Racing muffler on the end of it. It's pointing straight and sits just under the rear valance. No ghey fart cannon sticking out the ass end of this car! The sound is deep and mellow and it *feels* like it breathes a bit easier now.
We tested the O2 sensor and found it to be shot, so Ray gave me the relatively new narrowband out of his twin-charged TSi since all this was in trade for a wideband. It's not the spec sensor, but it's really fast about heating up. From a cold start, this O2 sensor goes into closed loop inside of about one minute. Pretty cool.
Still running a tank of gas which is about 25% shit gas from the car sitting all that time, timing came in to be just a hair advanced over the basic proceedure and there was only a tiny bit of knock on the logger just as the turbo was beginning to come online, so we called timing a done deal and locked the CAS down.
I replaced the chewed up center armrest console with a good one I bought months ago and replaced the stock shift knob with the infamous horsecock shift knob from the 1G parts car. Anyone who's ever driven a Galant can attest to just how far one has to reach to get into 1-3-5. Adding a couple inches to the shift lever makes shifting much more natural feeling.
Speaking of transmission-related issues, we checked and I didn't get lucky with a 3-bolt LSD rear diff, GalantVR4.org database admin advised the transfer case recall has *not* been done, and she's a bit notchy going into first and second. Otherwise, aside from a low(er) engaging clutch pedal (we took a wire brush on a drill to the flywheel during assembly because I was broke and cheap), there's nothing I don't suspect some Synchroshift and Redline gear oil wouldn't help.
Only CEL I had when I got there was from that O2 sensor being disconnected. ABS warning light is on, but that's to be expected when you hack out the ABS box. The seeping from one of my hacked up brake lines is obvious (when seen in good light) from my cross-threading one of the nuts into the t-fitting. Brakes still stop strong, so it's a project for another day.
4WS is working fine. I can't tell when it engages or not. Warning light is not illuminated. Whatever.
We removed the headlights and epoxied over the broken parts. Then I used a bunch of washers to adjust the light pattern down to a useable result. Also replaced the four bulbs in the front parking lights. Very cool set up, I must say, with the copper traces from the bulb on the harness to the second bulbs in each housing.
Trim piece between headlights and bumper skin was installed. Ray has a tower about six foot tall full of all stainless nuts, bolts, and hardware. It's almost a shame to hide them behind a ratty bumper.
I got a boost gauge out of the deal, but it's a tacky $15 Sunpro from Autozone. Will it work? Yes. Do I like it? Not really. Will I actually use it? Dunno yet.
We discovered that my radiator has a slight crack at the top next to the radiator cap and the puller fan on the inside of the bay is siezed up, resulting in blown fusible links and overheating when stuck in traffic. I added half a bottle of Bars Leaks to the radiator tonight and drove around a bit. Due to the colder weather we've had this weekend, temps stayed level and I think the leak is fixed. Still need to source another fan, though.
I've got a TEL radiator in the garage, but the fans were tossed when I moved out. I'm pretty sure they were both melted up good. I plan on installing the TEL radiator later this spring when I install the SRT4 FMIC I've got next to it.
I love the way the turbo feels, but the car doesn't really seem faster than Daisy at all. The power delivery is different between the two engines and I can already spot how the 14b runs out of steam above 5000rpm. I'm hoping some portwork on the spare intake manifold, O2 housing, throttle body elbow, and stuff I've got lying around will help things improve.
In any case, next up is making the vac line deletions look factory stock, replacing the cracked up windshield, and getting this turkey tagged for daily driving while Daisy goes into the garage for some TLC. We might put Vanessa behind the wheel of Daisy for a couple weeks while we do some mods to her Isuzu Amigo 4x4, but Daisy is destined for some quality time in the garage for most of this spring. She needs it, too.
I'll see about getting some pics up tomorrow. Thanks for the support.
Oh yeah, and I also installed an old Alpine CD player in the car so I could stop singing that stupid song from the Kia commercial in my head everywhere I go. Too bad there's not brackets to hold the deck in place in the dash. (Everything is going to be an issue. I can already tell.)
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