Ok, so last night I started to break down the diff on the car to fix the terrible leak I created from last week.  I know it was not a good thing to go going through all that oil but I did not expect the problems I did.

I ended up spending about 6-8 hours with a putty knife as that was the only way I could find to get the old gasket off.  Of course GM hates people with large hands so I had to drop one side of the pan hard.  the other was too dependent on the spring seating for me to worry about.  So with much more arm room to work with I was able to finally get all that freaking paper gasket off, even though it took forever.

I smeared a light coating of high temp RTV on each side of the gasket so it should not only make a good seal but be easy to clean if anyone other than myself has to do it.

So today I thought I would pop open the differential to do a visual check of the gears to make sure nothing was amiss with them since I heard the popping a couple weeks ago and do a fluid change while in there.  Fortunately everything looks good with no nicks, breaks or pitting on any of the gears.  The unfortunate part was when I went to clean up the inside of the differential cover I found a rather large patch of oxidation.  This was concerning since water isn’t supposed to have access to this housing in the first place.  So I went after it with some steel wool but it was too late, the cover is pitted over a good sized area and will likely continue to rust.  So I took that in stride since I want to start saving up for a Strange S60 anyway and it should be more than adequate until then.

However, once I went to clean off the housing to install the new gasket there arose another problem.  I don’t know what backyard redneck was working on this diff in the past but he loved him some gaskets and RTV.  There was a minimum of 2 layers of the standard paper gasket that was slathered with so much RTV it had spooged all into the housing and occupied all the bolt holes.  I proceeded to take a razor to the the gasket off, no go.  I broke out a screwdriver to try scraping it off.  This worked to a degree.  If you call hammering the butt of the screwdriver with the palm of your other hand in order to get it under the gasket and to scrape marginal amounts off, working.  So after about an hour of trying to get this done I had managed to clear maybe a 6 – 7 inch perimeter around the bottom of the housing.  There was no way I was going to be able to get that done.  Especially since with the stock exhaust still being installed and having a muffler all up in my business I was barely able to get my hands to the top of the diff to access the bolts, much less go all out with a screwdriver to get that god forsaken gasket off.  And I didn’t have the time to hack out the exhaust or drop the rear end to get the job done properly.  So instead I had to settle for a working car over a properly fixed one.  I had to lay the new gasket on a half cleaned housing and hope for the best.

Unfortunately this means the seal is half assed and is constantly leaking gear oil at this point.  So I have to keep an eye on it to make sure I don’t burn up the gears until I have the time to either drop the rear or hack off the end of the exhaust for more working room.  Probably at least a week if not more.

So I’ve been waiting for my new exhaust to come in with nothing to do to the bird in the meantime.  So after looking at the car for a bit I decided that it would look better if I removed the factory moulding along the sides.  After about an hour & a half of rubbing adhesive off the car I now have huge blisters on my thumbs.  However, I think the bird now looks much sleeker for the effort.

Even more great news.  This morning on the way to work a suburban decided I needed some cosmetic alterations and tossed a rock at me.

So, I started hearing a whining and low roar from my rear end about a week or so ago.  Not saying that it wasn’t already there but when someone points it out to you, it is all you can think about.  Unfortunately I am also getting some rough and tumble when reversing when accel is applied.  Couple times there has been a pop to the rear when turning while reversing as well.  So it sounds like it is due both a gear change and some carrier bearings.  Not something I really want to invest into the GM 10 Bolt.  I am hoping that they will both hold up until I have enough cash for a Strange S60.  But no holding my breath as it will take a while to save up for something like that.

Received two books from Amazon today about EFI and engine tuning.  Time to get reading and theorizing.

http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Tuning-High-Performance-Injection-Systems/dp/1932494901/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1331785971&sr=8-2

http://www.amazon.com/Engine-Management-Advanced-Greg-Banish/dp/1932494421/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331785971&sr=8-1

Called up TSP today and spoke to Matt to find out why my exhaust order hasn’t been shipped yet and both the ORY and Catback are on back order.  Bummers.  So it looks like it will be at least another 3-4 weeks before I will be able to get the exhaust in.

Had more goodies show up on my doorstep today.  Prothane motor and transmission mounts from WS6store.com, Corsa Clone exhaust tips from 6LE Designs and my HP Tuners Pro suite.

Came home today to find my NGK Powerdex AFX Wideband O2 kit on the doorstep.  It will be interesting to see what I will be able to get done once the HP Tuners kit shows up.

I’ve created this page to track the changes and modifications that I perform to a 2000 Trans Am that I picked up this past October.