I went to H2O International this weekend in Ocean City, MD.  It's a VW show, but a lot of different cars showed up in town for the weekend.

E36 convertible.

The S2000 behind it was on the pinchwelds!

Interesting mk1 was hacked to the ground.  It looked cool, but I would be afraid to ride in it!

Clean mk4

I like these wheels.

Terrible pic, but the wheel fitment was very precise.  Flush within .005" I would say.

This was pretty clean.

I spy Raychem DR-25 heatshrink on those wires :)

 

Black knockoff Wiggins connector from eBay!  It's not currently available in the 2-3/4" size I need, but it looked a lot better than the purple originals.

I wish I was normal and capable of building a simple car like this. 

This Corrado was one of the cleanest cars at the show, but the owner was the biggest megadouche I have ever encountered.  There aren't many people that make me upset, but I really didn't like his attitude.

Back to work! 

I got the cylinder head in place.

And torqued the head bolts.  33 ft-lbs, then 44 ft-lbs, then +1/4 turn, then +another 1/4 turn.  These are really tight!

I had to make a tool to torque the bolt on the camshaft pulley.  2 bolts, a Taiwan prybar, and a little welding.

New oil fill plug bolt for the A/C compressor.  This is 3/8-24 thread in case anyone was wondering, the rest of the thing is metric.

Alternator and A/C compressor in place.

I installed the timing belt tonight.

Distributor timing marks aligned.

Intermediate shaft timing marks aligned

Timing covers installed!

Only a few more items to paint, then I'm ready to start the bodywork on the car itself!

I've been as busy as a one-legged man in an ass kicking contest recently.

New tools! 

I scored an immaculate Snap-on BF633 hammer on ebay for an excellent price, this is one of the 3 discontinued hammers I needed to complete my collection.  Only two left!

Woody got married on Saturday, a great time was had by all!

Parts have been piling up, and I haven't had time to install them. 

Head gasket, head bolts, belts, pulleys, and sensors all from Germanautoparts.com

Neuspeed adjustable cam gear so I can dial my cam timing back in to spec since the head has been shaved.

I found new seals for the A/C compressor, Sanden SD7V16.  This is the seal:

And this is the mess I had to install it over.  There is a 0% chance this can be installed over the threads, woodruf key groove, and retaining ring groove without damage.

I made a seal installation tool on my lathe that allows it to slip down into position.

To help the rubber/Teflon seal go on easily, I warmed and lubricated it in PAG oil.

Great success!

I got the new rear cap installed on the A/C compressor, now I just have to make a fill plug to replace the nasty green bolt and it's ready to install.

I had a chance to go to the IMTS tradeshow in Chicago last week, it was pretty amazing! 

Here is a cargo ship crankshaft with some goofy dude standing beside it.

I got a chance to see 3 Paul Jr. Designs (Orange County Choppers) bikes.  It's easy to hide mistakes on TV, but these are fucking perfect.  Every detail was flawless - the paint was perfect, the chrome was perfect, every nut and bolt and detail was exactly right. 

All three were really nice, but the Grainger bike was extra perfect.

Faro bike

The Flow Corp bike was a little older and needed a good detailing, but still very nice.

I haven't had much time to work on my car lately, but I got the alternator pressed back together.  First I had to strip and solder tin the alternator winding leads.  I tried this once before, but you have to get them really clean to get a good joint.

I made a press tool to press the shaft into the housing.

All pressed together.  I still need to paint the rectifier, brush housing, and cover before it's completely finished.

M5 stainless 12-point bolts aren't available from ARP, so I ordered these from IS Motorsport - the same place I get my Raychem wiring harness supplies.

New tools!  Snap-on 1/4" drive semi-deep 12point metric set, Craftsman inch thread pitch gauge, two Proto 1/4" drive 12point sockets, and a Snap-on metric bolt sizing gauge.

Here are some before-and-after shots I wanted to share of my front engine mount.  It's amazing what paint and a few subtle changes will do.

I successfully reassembled the starter and mounted it to the engine.