So, to work then! First things first. Declutter. I ripped out the fog lamps, stock intake snorkel, tubing and airbox. There was no battery and the tray was not bolted down at all so I removed it to look at the clutch cable. Now it’s been a while since I’ve looked at a cable closely but I could tell something was not quite right. Upon removal I could see what it was. This cable had gotten slack and was no longer making the correct pull when pressing the pedal. The owner did what any sensible person would do and got out a tap and die set, then taking a small die cutting a notch into it and fitting it to the cable as a shim. I installed a fresh cable and took a look at the wiring.
I planned to swap the pins on the ECU connector but peeling back some tape showed them to be already cut and crimped with but connectors. I little research later revealed that this was not the “old” or “new” injector rewire pattern. I don’t like butt connectors anyway and clipped them all off. Taking some time and some org help I soldered the connections for the injectors to the proper positions and swapped the coil pack wires at the same time.
When I had picked up the car, I was given only an ignition key that would turn the replaced ignition tumbler but would not open the doors. My 98 had this same nuance after a break in so having one key to open the door and one to start that car was not foreign to me. There was no door key though and it said to be lost. Since the ACR did not have folding rear seats I had no way of seeing into the trunk. On a whim I looked the trunk key hole. Inside was a broken key. So not so lost after all! Having a friend who is a locksmith has it’s rare perks and this was one of those times. A couple days later I had a working set of keys for the doors and trunk.
More photos and details as David B finds the time to continue working on his new project!
