The SX/4 money pit

[IowaEagle]

That's the way to do it!  Its great not having to fight other stuff doing your PM.

[jim]

You will have a fine machine when finished.  And you will have gotten it the true old fashioned way - you will have earned it.

[Gil-SX4]

Are you using the same type of steering box or are you going with a upgrade.

[Smitty]

Are you using the same type of steering box or are you going with a upgrade.

No upgrade, just the plain ole factory type unit.

[Smitty]

No word on the tranny yet but pressing forward on other fronts.  I have the steering put back together and got the new damper installed too.  Got all the exhaust pipes from NAPA (thanks IowaEagle for the tip on the transition pipe) and have rearranged everything in the garage so I can work a little easier. 

I broke down  and ordered the Holley 390 4V from Summit and a nice (read expensive) billet air cleaner assembly.  I really think I want to put in the HEI and pull all the wiring for the computer.  That should really clean up the engine bay.  Guess I will wait until after I pass the NY inspection just to make sure.  I also ordered the plush molded carpet from JC Whitney.  When it comes I will let you all know my impressions on quality and fit.

Does anyone have a source for a factory type catalytic convertor?  I can use a generic one but they do not have the flange to mate to the head pipe and I really like the hanger that holds that system up that bolts to the flange so I do not want to cut it off.  Yes, I have to run the convertor to pass inspection and I like to breathe clean air so I will continue to run a convertor.

[IowaEagle]

Advance says they offer an OE style but I did not confirm it.  Are you talking about the extension pipe from the converter to the tail pipe?   Yeah, that was the one that worried me for the SX/4 but without the converter to contend with it worked out fine.

[88eagle]

What intake are you putting the carb on? What will be on the car for inspection?

[Smitty]

I am going to run the stock manifold with an adapter, same as I did for the motorcraft conversion on the 83 wagon.  That one passed inspection without a problem.  I will probably leave the stock stuff on for inspection but don't think it will be an issue if I change it over.  All that really has to be on there is the evap canister and the cat.  They are supposed to do a pressure test of the evap canister to make sure the gas cap does not release vapors and that the system works.  96 and up get the full emissions testing.  So as long as there are not a lot of dangling hoses it seems to pass inspection without an issue.

This is what the wagon looked like and they had no problems passing it.


Notice that the pulse air system is completely gone.  I actually think the motorcraft setup would pass a sniffer test if required but. thankfully, they have not gotten to that part yet.  From what I understand, once the car is 25 years old then you can even run without the cat as there is no provision to require emissions checking for anything older than 25 years.  One more year for the SX/4

My understanding is that the stock manifold with a carb adapter flows as much, if not more air, than the aftermarket 4V intakes and it has the preheater for those cold days.  All I know is that the motorcraft setup on the wagon runs great and will pull from just off idle much better than the 4.0 in the Cherokee.  I hope the 390 4V adds a little more punch without overdoing it.  Right now, the SX/4 runs like a dog compared to the wagon and the wagon has 134k on it with a wrist pin knock and massive leaks from the front and rear main seals     The wagon will soon get a transplant so I am just trying to nurse it along and hope it does not blow before the SX/4 is finished.

[88eagle]

I'm curious on how it will perform with the adapter. Not saying it won't, the 390 is only a 195 with the primaries open. Flow may be better but I think the distribution stinks with the stock manifold. Not that most of the aftermarket ones are any better though. I think you will have better part throttle response than with the larger Motorcraft.

No pressure test at my inspection but they did a visual of the cat, probably the rest of the system also. They almost failed my 80 Concord because the air injection tube was broken from the cat, they just told me to fix it.

[Smitty]

Looks like another busy weekend .  Just picked up the tranny and brand new (not rebuilt) converter so it is full steam ahead with putting this puppy back together.  I am still waiting for the transmission jack to get here but I can still get everything together execpt the transfer case.  For those that will ask, the tranny rebuild with heavy 727 clutch packs and the new converter cost me $700.  The tranny has been dyno tested and carries a 3yr/36k warranty.

Let's hope the Honey do list is short so I have the time to get this car debugged and running again.

[IowaEagle]

Is the torque converter the beefed up one with the stronger input lugs?  And, did a local shop do the rebuild or did you send it out somewhere?

[Smitty]

Kind of a local shop.  I brought it to a guy I have used for those repairs over the last 20 years that were either beyond my ability or I just did not feel like doing.  He shipped it out to a shop about 70 miles away.  He uses that shop to do the tranny's he puts in the 1200hp dodge diesel trucks he builds for customers.  He had the tranny in my old Dodge 2500 diesel done and it was rock solid but, then again, mine only had the bigger turbo, 5 inch exhaust and edge chips, so it only dyno'd out at 610hp and 812+ ft lbs of torque.  what a monster!

I think he builds a good tranny.  The converter is the R 26 unit.

[Smitty]

Wow, this is getting to be a long thread.  Must mean the project car is taking me way too long to finish.  Will it ever really be finished?  I got the valve cover changed over from the old motor and bought new heater hoses and stuff on Saturday.  Flipped the engine over on the stand and pulled the oil pan to replace it with the Eagle pan.  I did not realize that the sump was pressed into the oil pump.  I have another sump in a box and pulled it out and it has the pump attached.  When I looked in the manual it states not to use an old sump if you remove it from the pump because of issues with leakage past the seal.  I spun the used pump by hand and did not really like the feel of it.  Checked with NAPA and they do not make a rebuild kit for the pump like the V8's have.  Have to figure out what I am going to do with this issue now.  Spent about 45 minutes removing the old oil pan gasket  , that sucker was really on there! 

I decided that I will replace the timing chain and gears so they will be in tomorrow.  With the engine on the stand, it should not take too long except for getting the new oil seal pressed into the timing cover.  Have a shop next town over that will do that, they are the same ones that rebuilt the 401 for my 69 Ambo.  I am beginning to wonder if I will ever get this car back together.  I keep finding things to do before I stuff the engine back in.

[Gil-SX4]

Dont worry the more you change or fix the closer you are to the end, till you start thinking on what to change next.

[Smitty]

Got a chance to work on the car last night and made some real progress.  The engine is ready to go in the car but I decided to add the Holley carb now.



I just need to figure out the linkage.  The real pain is the kickdown linkage requires that I use the stock mounting locations, otherwise I would use a mid 70's throttle cable plate and mount it to the intake manifold in place of the current throttle plate assembly.  I tried using threaded rod with carb pivot ends screwed on the ends but it still wants to pull it down instead of back.  I will need to fabricate a pivot plate that hooks to the rear carb mounting bolt or something to that effect.

For those that have engaged in the discussion on swapping a Concord/Spirit engine there is a definite difference in the oil pans and the pickup sumps are a different length too. The pic below shows the difference in the pans with the freshly painted one being the Eagle pan.



Of course, yesterday was not without the "aw crap"'s.  I put the new timing chain and gears on, brought the timing cover over to a friend who has a machine shop and he cleaned it up and installed the new oil seal and then I put it all together with fresh paint and all .  I was putting the oil pan on and had started all the bolts when I looked down and saw the oil slinger laying on the rag where I had placed it so I would not forget to install it.  Had to pull the pan off and the harmonic balancer and the timing cover just to put the slinger back in.  Oh well, at least I had not torqued the pan bolts yet.  Speaking of which, the bolts go a lot tighter than I would have thought.  I snugged then up and thought they were good.  I got the torque wrench out just to see and the little bolts get 7 ft lbs and they all moved at least half a turn if not more.  The 4 larger bolts get 11 ft lbs and they went at least one full turn before torque.  A case where snug might not have been good enough to stop a leak.

The second "aw crap" was after I ran new cooling hoses and put in the new thermostat and generaly buttoned up the front of the engine.  I was cutting a new length of heater hose to run from the heater valve to the water pump when I noticed the thermostat box sitting next to the housing - unopened!  Forgot to put the themostat in when I put the housing on.  What a dummy.  I will pick up another gasket ( I usually have about 5 spares) and redo it tonight.

All in all, progress is being made and I hope to bolt up the tranny tonight and move the engine and tranny to the hoist so that Saturday morning I can stuff it back in.  I got the tranny floor jack yesterday so I can put the transfer case in without having it keep falling off the jack.  The carpet kit also came but I have not had time to pull it out of the box. 

About it for now.  Skeezix and I are going away for a few days starting Sunday and I hope to have it running late Tuesday or Wednesday if all goes well.  The only serious impediment to that would be fabricating throttle linkage.  Any ideas?