The reason for the name is because of how we refer to my eagles at home. I call it the SX4 to differentiate from the wagon. My finance has taken to calling them Big Eagle and Lil' Eagle. Today I went to work on more assessment of what I am getting myself into and progress in making a reliable snow car before the white stuff flies in a couple months.
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e99/mach1mustang351/0621122013a.jpg)
Here is the rig as I got it
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e99/mach1mustang351/DSCI0205.jpg)
Someone came up with a creative way of getting to the rocker arms easily... I also have the engine cut loose... I just need the cherry picker to pull it out
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e99/mach1mustang351/DSCI0204.jpg)
I went to work on the brakes and front end... I also gave a close look inside the wheel wells. The metal looks solid other than some surface rust that needs to be treated.
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e99/mach1mustang351/DSCI0207.jpg)
Got both knuckles off and stripped for new wheel bearings, pads, calipers rotors etc.
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e99/mach1mustang351/DSCI0209.jpg)
This is the pile of dust dirt rust etc that fell down as I moved, scraped etc.
I have a replacement engine lined up and also a 5 speed trans to replace the 4 speed. I hope to pick that up in the next few weeks. In the mean time I have ordered all the pieces I need to do brakes, bearings shocks and diff services.
I still need to assess the rocker rust situation. I am willing to put up with a lot on the rust damage because I am very anti-crushing when it comes to Eagles. I will have to put in the work but it looks isolated to the rockers. I will pose pics as I dig in.
Today was day two of hard work on the SX4. I pulled off the plastic on the drivers side to assess the rust situation.
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e99/mach1mustang351/DSCI0212.jpg)
The rear of the corner is the worst of it.
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e99/mach1mustang351/DSCI0211.jpg)
That is in fact the back side of the carpet... probably not good to be able to see it from the underside of the car...
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e99/mach1mustang351/DSCI0214.jpg)
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e99/mach1mustang351/DSCI0215.jpg)
Here is a decent depiction of how long it has been sitting. The relatively shiny part was cleaned off using a bit of water and a rag. I think if it were washed and waxed most of the finish would come back.
Tomorrow I hope to check out the other side of the car and possibly get the interior out to make the rust repair less of a fire hazard.
Wait... is it green? I thought it was Blue all this time! :) haha
Quote from: Prafeston on August 30, 2012, 01:27:56 AM
Wait... is it green? I thought it was Blue all this time! :) haha
Go figure right?? My neighbor came to the garage to talk to me last night while I was working on it and he thought it was black. The trim pieces are blue.
Love the green they used on these, :-[ I thought it was dark gray, lol.
Yeah, I thought it was a lighter blue on a darker blue. I can see the green now...even in the dirty pictures. :)
Went outside today to work on lil' eagle for a little while. After several hours I ended up stripping the plastic off the passenger side to assess the rust situation. All in all it is worse than I thought. Still not a deal breaker, but it is still worse. The passenger side I thought would be the better of the two but no luck.
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e99/mach1mustang351/DSCI0217.jpg)
Here is the rust on the outer rocker. The inner is also eaten up
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e99/mach1mustang351/DSCI0219.jpg)
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e99/mach1mustang351/DSCI0218.jpg)
The rear portion is the worst.
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e99/mach1mustang351/DSCI0220.jpg)
I also got the trans and transfer case out. Tomorrow I hope to get the engine out and the interior so I can work on rust repairs... Fun Fun Fun
I hope you take some hints prom Priya and her project. It seems that just about the time she got hers finished, yours started. Now we all have a new build thread to watch!
Quote from: Prafeston on August 30, 2012, 01:27:56 AM
Wait... is it green? I thought it was Blue all this time! :) haha
I thought it was blue to. Looks blue in the first picture and could be either in the second and green in the third.
wow thats a big job. so do u have all the parts u r looking for.
Quote from: max98059 on September 02, 2012, 03:24:07 PM
wow thats a big job. so do u have all the parts u r looking for.
I have the drive train stuff handled. I have been looking at my options on sheet metal and thinking on it. I'm leaning toward a "off road" style tubed rocker. I will still do some sheet metal work use the factory plastic exterior pieces.
I was looking into ordering replacement outer rockers but with shipping to AK it gets a little out of line. The steel yard I go to is closed through the long weekend so I have some time to think on it.
Well here is the progress for today.
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e99/mach1mustang351/DSCI0221.jpg)
Engine coming out
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e99/mach1mustang351/DSCI0224.jpg)
Proof the engine made it out of the vehicle
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e99/mach1mustang351/DSCI0222.jpg)
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e99/mach1mustang351/DSCI0223.jpg)
This is why the engine is no good. I don't know how it happened. I got the car this way. They must have been hot rodding it with out oil in it.
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e99/mach1mustang351/DSCI0225.jpg)
One more to prove the color of the car
Looks like you got a little shine still in that paint! :) That engine is ridiculous!
wow that is a big hole.
Quote from: mach1mustang351 on September 02, 2012, 11:46:24 PM
Proof the engine made it out of the vehicle
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e99/mach1mustang351/DSCI0222.jpg)
Also proof that a rod made it's way out of the block!
Holy crap on a cracker, I've never seen a hole like that in an engine, especially with a cast iron block! At least the hood paint looks nice lol.
I witnessed a 258 in a Jeep drive all day with a hole like that in the side of the block. I didn't think it would make it another five minutes but it just kept going and going. We were deep in the woods and the owner figured he might as well get it as close to the trail head as possible. We were all amazed when he made it out and put it on the trailer under its own power. Needless to say that was the last time that engine ran. If I didn't see it myself I wouldn't had believed it. Pretty amazing engine the 258.
If you don't mind the suggestion, send that picture in to Car Craft for thier broken-engine-part page.
well if i remember right the 258 is based off the jeep engine used during world war two which was designed to be able to go a good distance without oil just in case when soldiers were fired upon and say a stray bullet put a whole in the block they could easily drive it to safety.
There is another thread somewhere where I admit being on here a little too much. Well I haven't posted in a few days.
On Tuesday a hurricane hit anchorage. We had strong winds pushing 100mph in some parts of town. I lost my power until about 1 am this morning. I did remember to bring my hood inside before it blew away. Crazy storm. I have a mountain climb tomorrow but if I dont gas out too bad I hope to tackle some of the metal removal and fix planning.
Well I was really hoping to put together a build thread but it seems like all I am able to do on this darn SX4 is to take things apart to assess the work needed.
I was feeling a little beat down today because of a mountain climbing thing I did yesterday. I decided to challenge myself and I did better than expected. I am not in the shape I used to be but I found out I am still there mentally and my heart is there to push when tired. That was exciting. Anyway, I was tired and sore this morning so I didn't get out to the garage until about 5 and was able to put in a couple hours. Here is the results from today.
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e99/mach1mustang351/DSCI0228.jpg)
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e99/mach1mustang351/DSCI0226.jpg)
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e99/mach1mustang351/DSCI0227.jpg)
I cut out the outer rocker on the drivers side. It was rotten and I needed to assess the damage to the inner panel. The above are some of the highlights. There is a lot going on here.
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e99/mach1mustang351/DSCI0239.jpg)
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e99/mach1mustang351/DSCI0237.jpg)
I then tore out the interior to see what is going on. I managed to find $0.92 when I pulled out the carpet so I got a bonus there. The rusty looking drivers side floor board is in fact solid and this rust is surface. First break of the project!!! The rust on the inner rocker goes all the way up to the door jam. Oh Boy!!
Here is a couple other fun ones.
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e99/mach1mustang351/DSCI0235.jpg)
I thought the bolt stripped... not exactly
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e99/mach1mustang351/DSCI0230.jpg)
Even the aluminum door sill cover couldn't escape the corrosion
That's exactly what my aluminum sills look like. I gave them a quick spray of clear coat before reinstalling to prevent further corrosion until I get new ones.
:o Dang, that's what the Black Mamba's aluminum door sills look like too. Wouldn't have thought that those things would corrode like that, until I seen the Mamba's.
Some time ago I offered for sale a pretty decent set of door sill plates but no one wanted them.
theres a web sit out there.where you can by repops of the door sill pans for the spirit and they are the say as the sx4
Worked on the SX4 a little today. Worked on cutting out the bad metal on the drivers inner rocker. Still deciding how to approach the metal repair. Since moving to AK I have lost my metal working tool connection. I may have to invest in a bending brake. I can do the tack, heat and bend method but with the volume of work that needs done that may be impractical. Still gotta think on it.
If you have access to a shop/hydraulic press, you can put a 90 degree bend in a piece of steel by pressing it between two pieces of angle iron. Of course it would be limited on length. Just a thought.
Besure your angle iron jig is built right and secure in the press so as to avoid injury. Easy/cheap to build, just be safe.
The new puppy has turned out to be more work than the most busted of Eagles. Hopefully picking up my donor car next week. Then I will have my engine, and 5 speed trans, and some other goodies.
Hey Max, do you have a link for those Spirit sills? I might be interested in new ones someday :P
No pics today team but I did some work to the rig finally. I finished cutting the last of the rusty metal out of the drivers side rockers. The rust extended into the floor pan a little bit and into the kick panel some. I also found the parking brake cable was broken so, that was easy to remove. I started pulling the under coat off of the inside of the drivers front wheel well so I can POR15 and re coat to prevent future rust.
Upon probing I found a small amount of rust around the upper control arm bolt. This lead me to roll my eyes, say some choice language, and then pull the spring, shock and upper control arms on both sides to investigate. There is a small pin hole portion only on the drivers side. Should be an easy grind, and make a small reinforcement. I also found a couple "about to be issues" that should be easily fixed with some grinding and sealing. I also pulled the master cylinder for replacement and cleaned the garage.
I got another half a bucket of rust, dirt and leaves for the trash bin.
Tough day. It still seems like I cant manage to get anything fixed just more taken apart.
*sigh*
I didn't realize it has been this long since an update. The parts car has been sucking up all the time. I have it pretty much stripped and I can come up with a plan for the SX4 being put back together. I will be using the 5 speed from the donor wagon and most likely the full time case in favor of the NP 129 I have from the parts wagon. I don't know that I'm going to do much with the engine other than reseal it. Pics to come as I put things together rather than tear them down.
Here is a pic of the parts vehicle before it left for good. Now I need to clean the garage so I can find the SX4 and get to work on it again,
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e99/mach1mustang351/IMG_20121111_162156.jpg)