Just after I wrote my last post, I went to pick up my K-series engine in Toronto. I went to Toronto and back in one day, which may be the most driving I ever did in one day. I took the Saab and the swap fit in the rear hatch, although the seller and I had a heck of time lifting it in... we used a system of two jacks and a plywood platform. I delivered it to Choo's shop and again we struggled with the weight of the engine/tranny combo.
Since then, I have been ordering all the smaller parts we will need for the swap. Choo hasn't got started yet because he has a more urgent project: prepping his own Civic for a weekend of road racing at Tremblant later this month. In a few days I will have almost all the components on my list, but there will be some hoses and hardware and other stuff to buy for sure. Anyway, there was no real timeline for this project, since I haven't planned any track events for this season.
After I got the M3 back from the fuel pump replacement, I noticed that it was running hot in traffic. It turns out the electric fan failed again. I ordered one from Ebay and spent a couple of hours changing it earlier this week. All seems OK now, and I will confirm this with a bit more driving around town.
The big story is how the Saab came through for us. Not only did it easily handle the drive to Toronto to pick up the K-swap, but we used it for our family vacation road trip to the Maritimes (over 3 500 km) and it functioned perfectly. I had not realized that most of the roads on Cape Breton Island were real driver's roads and I was really happy to have a small sporty car with a manual transmission on this trip. I still don't know what to do with this car... it drives so nicely, and it's so rusted!
The trip itself was really fun. We visited historic sites, beaches and went whale watching. We stayed in nice hotels, a university residence and a 70's style motel. It was really a nice trip and it was tough to get back to work this week.
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| Our car met its cousin in Antigonish, NS |
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| Cape George lighthouse |
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| Saab at the lighthouse |
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| Very clean Maritimes E46 |
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| Inverness beach |
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| A pint... of water |
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| Jules watching a pilot whale |
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| There were a few of them |
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| Lunch in Moncton |
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| One of the reconstituted buildings at Louisbourg |
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| Tasteful GT86 |
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| A rare IS-F in Bathurst, NB |
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| The Saab in Ile d'Orléans |
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| Clean Cavalier back in Montreal |
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| I had never noticed how much the Civic hatch and Type R have in common |
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| Never seen this cool yellow before on a Golf R |
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| Bumper off to replace the pusher fan... I'm not happy with the alignment of the cover. |
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| I still want one of these! |
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| ... this one is from the neighbourhood and it's manual. |
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| The 812 is almost half Ferrari, half Corvette |
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| Saab at the country house |
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| Audi: Later! Hellcat: I don't think so! |
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| Too much? Yes. |
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| A pretty clean condition K20a2 |
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| I love these AMG's... now is the time to buy one I think |
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| Alfa has such nice OEM wheels |
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| First time I ever see a Smart Roadster in Canada |
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| The "small" Tesla, and a Miata |
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| I know I've said it before, but the current Continental is so much sportier-looking than the old one. |
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| When the neighbours are out of town, I live the dream... double garage! |
