NJ Steves Pit Viper Revival

[njsteve]

Here's the main pinion bearing. Notice how high the roller is in the first photo. And then how low it drops in the second. Now compare them to the third photo next to the low mileage pinion. You can see how worn the rollers are on the bad bearing compared to the low mileage bearing on the right.

That was the "tinkling" I could hear when I rotated the yoke and heard the roller drop to the other side of the cage slot. The damn thing is so loose it sounds like a tamborine.

[njsteve]

And the shiny, clean diff with the 3.54 gears all reset and ready to go.

[njsteve]

I contacted the techs at Blackstone to send them some photos. They always appreciate the feedback when their analysis is confirmed with real-time photos/data. They were quite excited to see the reason behind the fluid's iron contamination.

[njsteve]

$50 clutch slave cylinder hack for the unobtainable 1992-2010 factory part and LUK LSC134

After seeing some mention on facebook about a workaround for the unobtainable clutch slave cylinder for 1992 to 2010 Vipers, I decided to test out out the rumor. And it is absolutely true.

The $50 Luk LSC002B is EXACTLY the same unit as the no-longer-available $300+ Luk LSC134 or the double that price, equally unavailable Dodge factory replacement part. Same base, same height, same inner diameter, same shaft diameter, same throwout bearing.

The only difference is the bleeder and the pressure fitting.

All you have to do is tap out the roll pin that secures the pressure fittings on your original slave cylinder and the new LSC002B, and then swap them, along with the rubber seal. I ended up reusing the rubber seal from my original slave cylinder as the pressure fitting flt tighter with it than the new seal on the shorter fitting. Then tap the roll pin back in. You then swap out the original longer bleeder for the short one on the LSC002B, or use as most people do, install an aftermarket remote bleeder line for easier bleeding.

Here are some camparison photos of my original 1992 vintage slave cylinder and bearing, and the new LSC002B in the middle and a Sachs SO536/SH6151 (a relabled LUK LSC134 under a different brand name).

BTW, the LUK LSC002B is a Ford/Mercury application. For example, it fits the 1989 Thunderbird with a V6 and manual transmission.

[njsteve]

Well I finally installed the rebuilt 3.54 rear differential today. It took a leisurely three hours with water/food breaks in between. Boy those diffs are getting heavy or I'm losing my ability to bench press underneath a car.

I think it's time to finally get myself a four post lift so i can get off the ground when working on these things.

After the install, the boy and I went for some Italian ice at the local Rita's. And of course forgot that this damn 30 year old relic doesn't have any cup holders. (First World Problems)

Not a sound from the rebuilt rear. Not that you could hear anything anyway with the open side exhaust blasting in your ears. But it was smooth sailing anyway.

He said he wants us to bring the Viper to the next cars and coffee event. He said there were too many Hellcats there last time and we didn't stick out enough. LOL

[njsteve]

Well, looks like the boy has the whole Tremec 6-speed thing down pretty good. After driving his 2011 Challenger 6-speed for the past couple weeks we tried him out on the Viper today. Amazing. Not a stall or anything even close to it! We went for a 10 mile cruise around town and back, and got home just before it started raining (again).

He did mention that he likes the mushy factory shifter in the Challenger much better than the super-short-throw racing shifter in the Viper.

Looks like I have to start hiding the keys since he now knows how to drive it, no problem.

[njsteve]

And you gotta just love the 1993 factory service manual that intricately described the removal procedure as follows:

Step 1: Remove hood and hinges.
Step 2: Unbolt radiator.
Step 3: Remove radiator from vehicle
To replace, reverse procedure.


Just like a 1970's Chiltons manual. Jeez

And by the way, most of my angerfullness is due to the fact that those unobtanium headlamp pods are going for around $10,000 a pair at the moment in the event I damaged them in the process. Sure glad I have an extra NOS set that I got under warranty back in 1993.

[A12pilot]

Man, I’m glad that wasn’t the deal with my 97 Gen II GTS, Steve. Massive improvement on that. I did what you did but upgraded to a 4-row and that really helped. Did all the common Gen II things too: idler pulley, PS pulley, hoses, PCV, water pump, etc. I even added two extra smaller cooling fans to the AC condenser which really helped the lack of air flow. I miss that car! I remember doing the brakes and when I got to the rears I thought, “Did these come off a Neon?” The pads were about as big as a flip phone. Painted the calipers red and it was comical to see those tiny things in the wells.



They seemed to have come back down to realistic prices again, but definitely higher than when I bought mine for $40k.

Cheers
Dave

[njsteve]

Yeah, those brakes! Here's a funny factoid: the "giant" brakes (for the day) on the front of the Viper are actually the exact same Brembo calipers that come stock, on the back of our Hellcat Redeye. Talk about progress!

And there was also the infamous move by Dodge when all the owners of the early cars complained about how the cars were running hot and that the temp needle on gauge was always in the red zone...What did Dodge do as a fix?...


...They removed the red zone from the gauge for the next model year!

[A12pilot]

That car would never run 180\190. There’s too much heat in that engine. 220 was normal on my end with no overheating and I never drove it above 90 outside. Too blasted hot!

I’d love to get another, but it seems parts are starting to get really scarce and as the 1990s “quality” parts disintegrate, you’re not left with many options other than more 90s junk to replace. A buddy had a Gen II and he had all interior parts leather wrapped. Smelled like a dead ox in there, but it looked REALLY sharp! But the invoice…..

Cheers
Dave