Figured I would try and update before I go into work for the night.
I'm still trying to fix my exhaust, but am struggling to remove the current pipe. I've been battling it for over a month and now I had three options left. I recently tried to use Evapo-Rust on it (and on my frame rails, which didn't really work) and I haven't had a chance to try and remove the pipe yet, but it doesn't look like anything has changed. You're supposed to soak paper towels in the fluid, wrap them around the rusted parts, and wrap it in "plastic sheeting", which I can only assume to mean saran wrap. So this is what it ended up looking like:
And while I was working on that, I noticed these little things:
Does anyone know what these are for? I only noticed them on the one side, so I don't think it'd be anything related to structural integrity, but then again I could be wrong.
I also Seafoamed the engine, but I may need to redo it again, because I couldn't get the Seafoam in through the brake booster tube (I was working by myself). I did get a little smoke show going from putting it into the oil and gas tank, so here it is, although you can see to the right all the smoke coming out my exhaust leak (that's what I'm checking halfway through). Hope you enjoy:
I also did an oil change and changed the plugs and he's runnin a lot smoother now! Now I only need to fix my exhaust and hopefully that gets rid of the vibrating shifter. I can definitely tell which plugs were affected when my coil pack failed a couple months ago:
Now I have another question. If I have rust on my suspension parts, will I be able to get the rusted bolts off with an air socket once the auto lab on campus opens up again? If so, I'm thinkin about replacing my struts, strut mounts, springs, and brakes myself (save myself over $1000 in labor alone) and then take it in for an alignment. I'm really hoping that this is the case, cuz both my brakes and struts need to be fixed ASAP, plus my tires are going bad really fast (planning on getting some General G-MAX AS-03's). All together, it would be about $900 plus shipping and alignment for the brakes, struts, springs, and tires (haven't had a chance to find strut mounts recently). Thoughts anyone?