After getting the rear bar installed, I was able to source a pair or Schroth Rallye 4 harnessbelts from eBay Motors for $125.50 after shipping. I couldn’t find the original seatbelt bolts anywhere, so I had to make a stop at Ace to get some replacements. Odd thing to remember just in case: the seat belt bolts are SAE not metric. The difference is pretty amazing — I feel much more attached to the car, but the downside is that I’m getting bruised on the up and the down now!
I also picked up a set of digital gauges from neons.org. The boost gauge is a nice replacement, but the oil pressure gauge needs a different sender. I also have an oil temp gauge now, but I don’t have a place to mount it yet. I’ve got a cheap-o A-pillar pod for two gauges, but I’m not sure how well it will mount without the factory A-pillar cover. I’m thinking about getting a three-gauge pod from Glow Shift for the dash and a frog-eye pod for the cluster and then flocking the whole thing.
PE#1 got cancelled due to way too much rain, and PE#2 was the Sigmatec Enduro Challenge up at National Trail Raceway. I was the only MF entrant, and overall I was able to place about in the middle. I did, however, manage to blow out the front right strut at the event. My plan was to do a LSD first and worry about suspension later, but there was someone selling a set of Koni blacks on neons.org for $400 and I had to replace that strut anyway, so I pulled the trigger.
It took me about 2 hours to shuffle cars around, do some work on the kids’ bikes, put all my tools back from my last junkyard trip, and then get the right front Koni installed. Miracle of miracles, it actually seems to be in pretty good shape! The tophats that came with the Konis use a different size bolt and nut and I only got 5 of the 6 with the shipment, so I need to go and source a new nut before I can do the left side. The seller also told me that one of the rear struts is blown, so as time and funds permit, I’ll get the rears to Koni for a rebuild. I’ll probably keep my focus to getting an LSD installed, but once that is done, I may look to doing a coilover sleeve conversion on the Konis so I can up the spring rate a little (200-250 in the front maybe and 150-200 in the rear?) And make room for a wider tire.