I don't have a very exciting update this time around as I'm still working through removing everything from the engine bay, but here goes:

One of the biggest pains in the rear was getting the brake booster off the firewall. The 4 nuts holding the booster to the firewall are way up high underneath the dash and a royal pain to get to! For some reason, I'm always hesitant to take extra pieces off in order to get to a hard-to-reach fastener... I'll sit there and struggle with wrenches, ratchets, extensions and u-joints and in the end it usually ends up being faster just to bite the bullet and take off the couple other parts in the way. Anyone else do this too?

I ended up dropping the steering column in this case to get at 2 of the nuts and out she came. My master cylinder had some nasty residue on the bottom from some old fluid. I had flushed in some fresh DOT4 before my last track event but mustn't have done a good job cleaning it out. I want a firmer pedal, so I will doing some research to see which master cylinder will make sense to increase my pedal firmness.
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Here are some other random parts I've been taking off and labeling: AC dryer, power steering "cooler", cruise control module and a few other hoses and lines. Slowly but surely getting there.
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That's where I stand for right now. I'm shooting to have the engine bay cleaned out by this weekend so I can get started with the cleanup and prep for paint. Lots of work ahead of me too with cleaning up the wiring harness, painting the engine and lots of other odds and ends. I'm trying to keep the momentum up doing just a little bit every couple of days and chipping away at it little bit little. Gotta enjoy the journey!

You know how to eat an elephant right? One bite at a time...

The best part is when it comes time to put all those clean and rehabbed parts back together.

I believe the best part is when all those new parts are together and everything works like it should! I have yet to get that result the first time everything goes together.

Great Thread and keep up the good work!

Can't wait to get to that part!

Thanks for the kind words, I'm trying to be extra careful so I can put things back the right way but I'm sure I'll forget a few things.

Ok another big update from this weekend. I finally have the engine bay completely stripped down and am ready to start the paint prep process. Here are some pics of the last big parts coming off:

Removed the from bumper covers, impact bar and a few other clips and pieces so I can get at the core support to paint it:
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Next up was the A/C box. It took me a little while to figure out where all of the bolts were and then to carefully scrape it off the firewall but eventually it came out. I am going to keep my AC so I will cleaning these pieces off and reinstalling them.
Top cover off:
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Nasty stuff in there!
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I then pulled the rest of the stuff in there:

The rest of the shock and spindle assembly:
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Cruise control module and vacuum tank. These will not be going back in, so they are for sale if anyone wants them?
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Bunch of zip ties, tape and crap I've taken off the car:
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Busy garage!
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Next up is power washing the engine bay and getting it ready for paint. I feel like I've hit a milestone here where I stop taking parts off and start cleaning things up now!

I'm really liking this thread. Keep at it!

:captain:

Enjoying the thread also. Keep us updated.

Nice work! Looking very organized...

Do you suffer from the OCD affliction just a bit as well? :lol:

I have a horrible memory so I need to keep organized or else this thing will never get back together!

OK, some more updates. Slowly but surely cranking away at this thing. Luckily the weather up here in New England has been reasonable so I'm not freezing my rear end off in the garage.

Last weekend we had great weather on Saturday so I took advantage and rolled the car out into the driveway so I could power wash it. Since I have no front suspension in the car right now, I had to get creative with my shop crane and slowly rolled it out of the garage:

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To clean the engine bay, I bought some heavy duty degreaser from Home Depot and diluted it in a mixing bottle. I doused the engine bay with this stuff and it worked great. Perhaps TOO great actually, it actually stripped the paint off in some spots!

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Once that was done, I started taking out all of the last little pieces in the engine bay. Things like the hood latch and cable, small little support rods, broken clips, etc. Tedious little stuff that takes a while to bag and tag.
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Here is where I stand tonight. I think I have the engine bay completely stripped (except for a couple of small harnesses I don't want to connect). Next step will be to mask off the entire car and start prepping the surface for paint.
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