New parts same creaks

The reassembly of the gearbox was a success, there was some finagling of the gearbox drip pan (21211-PPP-000) during the assembly that was a buzz-kill, but besides that it was uneventful.

We are about ~300 miles into the break-in period, we should be at about the time that the gearbox fluid needs to be changed. The car makes some new sounds, with this clutch pack LSD when the car is not up-to-temp, and you attempt to turn the wheels, you get shuddering of the gearbox, I suppose the fluid is not ready to work yet… I called Cusco USA, and was pretty disappointed with their support, or even recommendations. We will see this week after the fluid change.

The ebay-special radiator was a complete shit show. I unfortunately bought the radiator this past July, and was installing it now in Jan. Nothing lines up!

Look at the lack of alignment, we were at least 1/2" off on the lower frame mounts, the uppers were not photographed but no better.

None of the fan tabs mounted, in ANY form…

So we did what any reasonable person does with sunk-cost… They bust out the TIG welder and repair the parts. This became almost 3 hours of work to repair.

The fitment of the radiator was shit, the functionality was very nice, it keeps the whole thing under temp, the fan really does not turn on… But we shall see on the track how it performs.

Overall the car is crisp, with precise steering input. There will be another stage of work done on the car, I would like to replace some of the rear bushings, and maybe, just maybe throw some coilovers on the car for better “driveability” on the street.

I guess the question is when do you throw in the towel and get a Porsche?

Oh I forgot to mention! The stupid saw sound still occurs! 5th gear @ 80MPH! The hunt continues.