JBDs B3 CQ

[Dan McBoost]

new photos of the coupe in the new garage please :D

[jbrentd]

new photos of the coupe in the new garage please :D

haha, good call Dan. Not much to update on the coupe other than the suspension is all on. And my son and I were able to push it over to the new shop space a couple weeks ago. It's back on its feet again for the first time in almost 2 years.






I was also able to re-cover the front door cards with some new foam underneath the original leathers.






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[Dan McBoost]

Looking great all around. Garage, car, doors...

Ughs, I need my new garage...

[jbrentd]

Looking great all around. Garage, car, doors...

Ughs, I need my new garage...

Thanks Dan!

I am happy to report some actual automotive related work happening in the new shop and that the coupe and 3B have become one.






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[jbrentd]

I got some time to myself out in the shop last night and was able to get a couple things done. First was to swap on another oil filter housing. I guess I got a little too ambitious with trying to remove one of the oil lines so I could make room for installing the starter.



Starter and replacement housing are in now. And I mocked up the AC dryer and oil cooler. They are trying to occupy the same space and the cooler is pretty crusty…I think I might buy an aftermarket cooler and fit some -10AN hoses.






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[Blueprint]

I'd say a new cooler is a wise investment and now's the time to do it. Who knows what kind of gunk has accumulated in that thing over the past 30 years. Throw in a Setrab and you don't have to worry about it for another 30 years.

[jbrentd]

So, after many attempts at acquiring an S2 style bumper and even making a custom IC and crossmember for my old euro bumper, I finally found a euro bumper that will allow me to use the OEM IC and crossmember.

I had a little time in the shop to make some more headway on the reassembly. I think I have the entire engine harness all lined out and connected, as well as the hoses/lines for turbo discharge, fuel, evap and vacuum systems.










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[jbrentd]

I have been attempting to DIY refurbish the driver's seat. It's pretty cracked and has a couple of holes from normal wear. This is after some filler, but before I applied new leather dye.





This is after I applied a couple coats of leather dye. I still need to apply a couple more coats, but I am having some troubles getting a good color match.



I've also been looking at different aftermarket options for seats and the only ones that I really liked were offerings from Recaro. I definitely did not want to spend that kind of money on new ones and used grey leather Recaros don't show up for sale very often.

Having owned my dad's C4 corvette for a bit now, I have started to appreciate the seats it has and the availability of options for replacement foam/covers. After comparing measurements between the 2 sets and some searching on FB marketplace, I found this set of early C4 non-sport seats in grey. They aren't perfect, but useable and I have off-the-shelf options down the road if I want to refresh them. $250 for them seemed like a decent deal. As for mounting them, I have a set of Planted brackets that are made for the B3 chassis on order from Quattromog. From what I can tell, I might have to make a simple adapter plate to mount them to that. Shouldn't be too difficult. The color match looks better in person than in this picture.

[jbrentd]

Last weekend, I was able to get these mounted in the CQ. I think they’ll work pretty well.

They need a little adjusting on the Planted brackets and I’m not sure yet how I’m gonna attached the seat belt receivers yet since there’s a clearance issue with the B3 slider rail.

[jbrentd]

So, a couple weeks ago I started to prep for firing it up by filling it up with fluids, checking the timing marks, hooking up the instrument cluster, etc. When I went to turn the key just to the accessories position to see if I was getting any power...I got nothing. It had been so long since I worked on the wiring, I forgot I never finished tying in all of the grounds.

Last time I worked on the wiring, I merged what was left of the 7A harness with the 3B harness, made the necessary connections and I left off with this. Even though all of the relays are connected, this wouldn't ultimately work because all of the wire looms are hanging down below and they need to be tucked up behind the relay panel.



So, I disconnected everything again and went for another try. Much better this time around. It's finally showing signs of life when I turn the key! So, swapped a couple relays and tricked the fuel pump to run to purge the air out of the lines. The system pressured up and I quickly found a good sized fuel leak on the line between the regulator and fuel rail. I was done for the weekend.

Fast forward to last weekend, I went to repair the fuel line. Having repaired another fuel line on this car, I figured this one might be similar. So, I cut out the section of braided line and replaced it with a new section of fuel injection hose and oetiker clamps.

After repairing the fuel line, I went back at trying to get it started. It was clear I wasn’t getting any fuel or spark, so I started doing some voltage/continuity checks. Something wasn’t right. After digging in a bit, I quickly realized I hadn’t finished a few more crucial electrical items…like putting in the fuses for the two ignition circuits.

That’s what happens when I pick up the wiring from where I left off over a year ago. After doing that, the thing started so smooth and idled very well.

So pumped right now. It’s been 3 years since I took it off the road.

[Blueprint]

Great progress man. Isn't it crazy how these things just kind of come back to life after a restart, like it's only been down for a few days instead of over a year?

[jbrentd]

Great progress man. Isn't it crazy how these things just kind of come back to life after a restart, like it's only been down for a few days instead of over a year?

Thanks! Yes, I feel the same. This one had me nervous because I had never heard it run for myself. All I knew was that we had good/consistent compression across the cylinders and I had the head rebuilt.

[Dan McBoost]

Amazing. So jealous. I lack the time and space to even think about mine at this point.

[jbrentd]

Amazing. So jealous. I lack the time and space to even think about mine at this point.

Thanks Dan!

[jbrentd]

One of the remaining items keeping me from a test drive is the brake master cylinder. It’s been on the car with the lines bled for a while, but it had a slow leak. I feared it was on the piston on this brand new MC, because I paid about $90 for it a couple years ago, but the only one’s available now are over $300 now. After bench bleeding it and letting it sit in my vice for a few days, I was able to confirm the source of a leak was at the rubber seals for the reservoir. So, I swapped the old ones on and it's been dry ever since. Let's hope it stays that way.






Was able to get some of the dash back together last weekend too.




And received this sweet euro S2 bit in the mail from Issam. I’m fearful my DIY drill/tap job on the stock extension is going to leak since there is very little sealing area on one side of the gasket.




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[jbrentd]

Happy to report the coupe appears to have working brakes and clutch. Got the master cylinder back on and it appears to be leak free. Also bled the system and was able to move the car at least a couple inches in the lift, to check for clutch engagement.

Put some Audi content on the shop wall too.





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[q20v]

Great thread and build, just read through it all! At the second page when you posted the car was sold I was disappointed but knew there was another couple pages so something was up.

I had a 1990 90 from 99-2010 and went through a lot of what you're going through, brings back a lot of memories.

Good work keeping this one going (soon anyway). Nothing beats hearing the engine spark up for the first time after major work has been done 👍

[jbrentd]

It's been a while since I posted any progress on the CQ...

After I got the swap running, it was idling great at first, but progressively got worse. It would fire up, but then struggle to stay running. I did a bunch of troubleshooting and found some issues, but things got busy around the house when Spring hit and I kind of walked away for a bit. Here's a high level list of what I did/checked:

• Fuel - tested FPR, tested fuel rate, had injectors serviced, replaced fuel filter
• Spark - new plugs (some were soaked in fuel), found the old wires were bad, replaced wires
• Vacuum/Boost - found lots of boost leaks - replaced BPV (wasn't holding more than 2 psi), replace breather pipes and check valve with 034, found/fixed leaks at the injector cups. Would still like to do more testing with a smoke tester I bought on Amazon.
• Other - found/fixed a bad connection on the coolant temp sensor, knock sensor connectors were switched, idle switch wasn't making contact

I suspect the main culprits were the plug wires and the fuel filter. After replacing the fuel filter last weekend (something that should have been at the top of the to-do list), I was able to give it some throttle without bogging down. Brought her out of the shop for some time in the sun!

Still lots to do, but if she'll stay running well, I think it'll be downhill from here.

[jbrentd]

Great thread and build, just read through it all! At the second page when you posted the car was sold I was disappointed but knew there was another couple pages so something was up.

I had a 1990 90 from 99-2010 and went through a lot of what you're going through, brings back a lot of memories.

Good work keeping this one going (soon anyway). Nothing beats hearing the engine spark up for the first time after major work has been done 👍

I appreciate the words of encouragement. Do those memories of your old B3 bring back positive or negative feelings? lol

[jbrentd]

Had to get her off the ground for new front springs, so I thought I'd give these wheels a go.

[jbrentd]

A little more progress. Interior is shaping up and I added an OEM cabin filter. Since these didn't come with a lid and the correct filters don't seem to be available, I might try to make some sort frame that will secure the filter a little better.

[jbrentd]

I am still fighting some issues with how she's running though. I've heat cycled it quite a few times, as I am flushing out the coolant system. When I start the car, it idles good at about 1,000 RPMs. After a few minutes, it starts to hunt between 1000 and 600. I've spent a lot of time looking for boost leaks and have found and fixed quite a few. I'm down to a couple small leaks...one around the throttle body boot and one on the ISV, but I do not think they would cause the issues I am experiencing.





I took it for a drive and it was bucking quite a bit under light throttle, not even into the boost yet. It feels like a loss of fuel to me.

I'm pretty sure I have some wiring gremlins in the harness that runs along the driver side (left) of the car. I suspect this is all some carryover from this mess I found a while back.

• When cranking or with the car running, my turn signal lights come on.
• With the car running, if I flip on the headlights, the car will die.
• The fuel sender signal to the instrument cluster gets lost when I turn on the headlights or step on the brakes.

As I was digging through the wiring diagrams, I noticed several of the circuits that are are having issues are on the H plug on the bottom of the relay panel. The H plug runs to the rear of the car.

• H87F G/Y - from fuse S13 to fuel pump
• H50w BK/BL - from relay 8 #39 to alarm control unit
• H30B R/BL - from fuse S4 to hatch light
• HT V/BK - fuel sending unit
• H58L GY/BK - from fuse S7 to rear lamp control unit 8b/5 (left side)
• H58R GY/R - from fuse S6 to rear lamp control unit 8b/6 (right side)

I need to get some time in the shop to check the voltage at the fuel pump to see if it's low on power or loosing power when I turn on the headlights. In the end, I might need to cut out a section of this wiring harness and solder in new wires.​

[jbrentd]

So, I hooked up my multimeter to the fuel pump leads to check the voltage and it is severely low. It is a wonder it even runs at all. Linked below is a short video I made with some annotations for when I toggle on the parking lights, headlights and just the brights. As you can see, I am getting less than 4 vdc.

I am fairly certain I have some wires touching to one another in the rear wire loom (contains power to FP, fuel sender, rear lamp control units, and a couple others. My plan is to relay the fuel pump. Triggered from the stock fuel pump power wire coming off the relay panel and powered from the battery with an inline fuse. My hope is that will fix the issue with it staling, but I still plan to come back and repair the shorted wires in that loom.

https://youtube.com/shorts/8HhgO5A6m...87pQNWuGYdEIpV


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[jbrentd]

I managed to get a fuel pressure gauge installed and got some confirmation of the issues caused by the low voltage. Was only seeing fluctuation pressures between 15 and 25 psi. 3B uses a 3 bar regulator.

Then I was able to test the fuel pump by hot wiring it. With it running at battery voltage, I was getting 45 psi, which makes sense for the 3B 3 bar FPR. It was quite noisy, though. Always has been…which should have been my first clue all along. I was just hopeful it magically got quiet on me. lol. I should probably replace it with a new Bosch pump that I have on the shelf, while I’m in there.



*


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[jbrentd]

I am happy to report that the fuel pump issues have been resolved, but the problem turned out to be a bad ground. After I got the relay in for the FP, there was no difference…pretty frustrating. Better up front diagnostics would have told me it was a bad ground. I was getting full battery power to the FP, when using the neg battery post to check. Versus the low voltage when checking voltage across the +/- wires at the FP.

After not being able to find the #50 ground post (supposed to be in the hatch somewhere on the driver side), I just tied in a new ground right in the loom going to the FP. Doing this fixed the FP and issues I was having with the fuel sender, turn signals and the car stalling when turning on the headlights. That #50 ground post is shared on quite a few circuits. The green wire is the new ground I added.






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[09SCiduA]

Incredible progress! I am in the process of the doing the same to mine...the 7A to 3b swap...yowza you've made some amazing progress!

[jbrentd]

Incredible progress! I am in the process of the doing the same to mine...the 7A to 3b swap...yowza you've made some amazing progress!

Thanks! If you’re planning to run a 3B ECU, I can share some wiring details.


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[09SCiduA]

Right now, yes, planning on 3b with the COP optimization..."planning" on it anyways...is need to layout my 3b harness look at a race harness with COP I had made a decade ago and see what I'm looming at...I will 100% be connecting with you about your experiences and findings tho!!

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[jbrentd]

As if this project hasn't had enough scope creep, I received a package from UPS the other day that I am excited about.

My DIY coilovers are a little tired and I have tried several combinations of springs, both with and without helper springs. I just can't seem to get a decent ride out of them. I am sure most of the problem lies with me, but I am tired of throwing money at them. So, I am going to give these BC coilovers a try. I like that they have fully threaded bodies that allow height adjustment that is independent of adjusting the lower spring perches that are supposed to be for setting spring preload. And the struts have C/R adjustment knobs as well (something the Bilstein struts on my DIY set don't have).

[09SCiduA]

Those look great! Did you find a good deal on them or just pay to play this time? I'm on my QA1 DIY Coil overs myself and though they "work," I'm tired of chasing noises around them...argh! Save a dollar to chase 100s of them! Are you going to use their (BC's) strut mount too...or, do you have too? They look l9ike they will make thing happY!

[jbrentd]

Those look great! Did you find a good deal on them or just pay to play this time? I'm on my QA1 DIY Coil overs myself and though they "work," I'm tired of chasing noises around them...argh! Save a dollar to chase 100s of them! Are you going to use their (BC's) strut mount too...or, do you have too? They look l9ike they will make thing happY!

I hope so! I bought them directly from BC, so not really a great price...like $1245 shipped. They took about 4 weeks to show up. There were some sites that listed them about $100 cheaper, but they had the stiffer springs and I wanted the 4k/5k per mm spring rates. I couldn't find those anywhere except on BC's site.

I have the Verkline strut mounts and am hoping they all work well together.

[09SCiduA]

Awesome!! I too have the Verkline top mounts and love them. Great to hear! I might need to buck-up and upgrade the suspension, too...it's the most unpleasant thing on my project...aside from the anemic 7A power... I'm looking forward to moving forward with this endeavor!

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[jbrentd]

Awesome!! I too have the Verkline top mounts and love them. Great to hear! I might need to buck-up and upgrade the suspension, too...it's the most unpleasant thing on my project...aside from the anemic 7A power... I'm looking forward to moving forward with this endeavor!

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Looking good! Do you have a build thread going?

[09SCiduA]

Negative...I've had this project for over a decade...finally playing with the heart of it...I might have one on MG but haven't been on there in awhile...

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[jbrentd]

Negative...I've had this project for over a decade...finally playing with the heart of it...I might have one on MG but haven't been on there in awhile...

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I'm old school and like to keep old project threads alive. Not a big fan of FB for these types of things. And I like to refer back to them occasionally. The problem is, you never know when one of the forums might just cease to exist one day, so I have multiple threads going. LOL

[09SCiduA]

I'm old school and like to keep old project threads alive. Not a big fan of FB for these types of things. And I like to refer back to them occasionally. The problem is, you never know when one of the forums might just cease to exist one day, so I have multiple threads going. LOL

I 100% understand and agree! Plus, a good resource for those jumping in later! I do see you've been posting on all the forums...I'm glad you have too! I'll try to make a build-thread for this project...it's just a good idea!

[jbrentd]

I had some time in the shop yesterday and was able to get a couple coilovers on. Had to stop because I need to find some of these step washers, or whatever they're called. They supplied 8 and need another 8. Used for the 12mm B3 knuckle/upright bolts.



Front left


Rear left


Some comparisons to my DIY set.





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[09SCiduA]

How much lower is she sitting? The difference between the DIY and the new ones look drastic!

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[jbrentd]

How much lower is she sitting? The difference between the DIY and the new ones look drastic!

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I haven’t set her down yet. Waiting on that hardware to do the other side. I didn’t adjust them from how they came. Wanted to see how they sit “out of the box” first.


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[09SCiduA]

Ha! Gotcha...you did state that above :P Nice work on your progress!