Leaderboard

Well this morning I went out to the garage and said to myself "I know my Reatta will never be faster then 2seaters but maybe I can make it prettier". So after dyeing the carpets [a couple of weeks or so ago] I decided a little detailing was in order. So i use the "Invisible Glass" product everyone was raving about [works great] and then a wax job. Wiped down the vinyl inside so it all looks pretty good. Next week I will go under the hood and clean that next.

I also use old white cotton socks for this kind of work. I slide my hand into the sock and then I can wipe everything down quickly and easily. Then when I'm done and the sock isn't too dirty I tie it around the sprayer so I have the "correct" rag for the next time I do it.

First off the bracket has to be tight to the engine [10mm bolts] There is a pin that sticks out from the engine that matches up to a hole in the bracket to maintain accuracy. Then what you do is slide the balancer into the bracket leaving it slightly loose so you can slide it around as you slide on the Harmonic Balancer. Once you have the Harmonic Balancer on [be sure it's on the key]. In other words if it is in place and on the key it will not turn in your hands. Then what you do is slide the business card between the crank sensor and the inside shutter gate on your balancer. The Tee on the business card is on the top so it doesn't fall through while you tighten the little 7 or 8mm bolt from the bottom of the bracket. The car has to be in the air and you will be on the ground using a longer extension to get to it. So here it is again. Slide the Crank Sensor on the bracket. Tighten the bracket slightly to hold the Crank Sensor from moving too freely. Slide the Harmonic balancer just a bit to do a rough alignment of the Crank Sensor to the Harmonic Balancer and making sure not to damage the Crank Sensor during this step. Once again you may have to partially slide the harmonic Balancer to make sure the Crank Sensor is in a place to allow the Harmonic balancer to go all the way on and over the key. Once you have the Balancer in place drop the card in from the top through the Crank Sensor to give you the gap needed for the spacing on the inside shutter track. Then crawl back under the car and tighten down the crank sensor bolt locking it in place. Then tighten down the Harmonic Balancer bolt to 225 foot pounds.

i I use Meguiar's Natural Shine Protectant for the interior. Under the hood I use the Tire Shine product I use on my tires.

Well, not really. Everything has it's limits. When an impact wrench will no longer rotate the nut it is trying t turn it has reached it's limits. The limit on my impact was somewhere past 150 lb-ft with a fully charged battery. I imagine that number would drop as the battery loses power. The bottom line after my test is I think my 24 volt impact will do an antiquate job of tightening the crankshaft bolt. When I replaced the balancer years ago I used a breaker bar with a short cheater pipe on it but I didn't do a good job getting the bolt tight because I had a hell of a time keeping the flywheel from turning. They make tools for that purpose but I don't have one.