The SX/4 money pit

[Smitty]

Got a chance this afternoon to tinker with the SX/$.  Got the AC stuff all hooked up and tightened down, put in new heater hoses and valve, got new plugs and wires on.  I hope tonight to get the rad in and hang the head pipe and new cat so I can fire it up.  I hope the engine is as good as promised.   I have taken this coming week off from work so this baby will be out of the garage no later than Tuesday night.  Then the J10 goes in for new plugs, remove the cat, rear wheel cylinders and new rear brake drums.  Once that is done then Skeezix's Cirrus goes in for new plugs (the rear cyl head is only accessible from underneath the car ).  Then the 83 Wagon goes in for some much needed attention.  Busy week ahead.  I am tired just thinking about it.

You all have a great New Year and stay safe.

[IowaEagle]

Whew!  You got a lot done.

[rmedon]

That's one of those vacations where it feels good to get back to work and a slower pace.

[Smitty]

Finally had a day to work on the money pit.  Made some progress but not as much as I would like.  Got the power steering pump mounted and new PS hoses installed, had the rad in but thought I could put the shroud in after and it would not go so out came the rad.  I managed to drop a part on the rad so tomorrow I take it to get the holes fixed .  I did manage to get the T case filled and the rear driveshaft in and spent a lot of time trying to get the carb mounted but I need to buy some heavy gasket material tomorrow or I will have a vacuum leak at the base of the 4V adapter.  I am hoping that with a few other small parts and the rad fixed I should be ablr to get back on it around noon.  The only time consuming items left are to get the carb setup and installed and to hang the exhaust.  At least then I can fire it up and see what I am working with.  I may just throw the Carter carb back on to get it running for now.  The rad is really setting me back timewise so I doubt it will move out of the garage by tomorrow night as I need to meet Skeezix in town at 5pm but I hope the only major thing after tomorrow is to do the ball joints and install the new halfshafts.  The old ones are out so it should just be a matter of slipping them in torquing the locknut.  I did manage to get the thremostat in that I forgot earlier

Maybe tomorrow it will be running!

[IowaEagle]

"Dropped partss will always find another expensive part to break"

[Smitty]

You know the biggest problem with living in the sticks??!!  It takes forever to go get parts!!  I have the car mostly together but need some 5/16 fuel line and exhaust studs.  Skeezix and I had breakfast at the diner this morning and I run into a small town NAPA (still 14 miles away) to get the few things to finish off the money pit and they don't have either part I need.  They are out of fuel hose!!!  Too small they say cause they mostly service logging trucks and skidders.  They have exhaust studs but they are about 3 inches long and I would need to rethread the manifold.  So now I have to travel 28 miles each way to go to the NAPA I usually use.  Over an hour round trip and 3 gallons of gas.  end of rant.

Otherwise, I got the rad in and all fluids are in the car.  I have a small issue to figure out hanging the headpipe but that should go in soon after I get back from getting the studs.  Once that and the cat are on and I hook up fuel to the carb I will crank the engine with the coil unhooked to get gas to the carb and to get oil into the top of the engine.  I will do that a few times to oil soak the engine before I try to start it.  The engine has not been run in a year so I just want to take it easy and not fire a dry engine.  I could pull the dizzy and prelube it with the drill but I want to move the pistons and rods at a slow speed to circulate the oil too, hence why I will crank it over about 10 times, let it sit a few minutes, crank it again, let it sit and then try to fire it.  When I put the valve cover on I noticed one rocker arm had play in it and I think the lifter was not pumped up so I hope that one decides to pump up on its own.  That is my only concern with this engine but the guy I got it from said it ran great when the people pulled it from their Grandmothers Spirit to put in a 454.  I trust the guy I got it from so it is time to find out for sure.  Should be good to go later today.  YEE Haaa!

[IowaEagle]

Yes it is frustrating when the parts store does not have parts!  Mike James drilled out the holes in his exhaust manifold and stuck regular grade 8 bolts in thru the top in place of studs.  Have not heard if this worked well or not but I think it did.

[MikeJames]

Yes it is frustrating when the parts store does not have parts!  Mike James drilled out the holes in his exhaust manifold and stuck regular grade 8 bolts in thru the top in place of studs.  Have not heard if this worked well or not but I think it did.

Can't give you a 100% answer since I'm still waiting on some parts, but, it seems to be holding really well so far.  That header pipe is mounted up all nice and tight and I can't move that thing if I wanted to.  If that pipe falls off, the exhaust manifold fell off or that whole pipe rusted out. 

Mike

[Smitty]

Hey, IT RUNS  Smokes a whole bunch but seems to run smooth enough so that I feel the lifter pumped up.  No exhaust so it was loud.  I got impatient and decided to fire it without the headpipe.  Took me a few minutes to realize the neutral safey switch was in the wrong position but once I squared that away I cranked it for a few and then hooked up power to the coil, played with the carb for a bit and it popped and stalled.  Gave it some gas and another choke adjustment and if fired and settled down on the high idle.  No noticeable shaking of the car to indicate a dead cylinder and no backfiring so all the valves are working.

The exhaust studs are too long so I may use one stud and one bolt and see what happens.  Otherwise I will cut the studs down and clean up the threads and try it again.  Not an easy place to work in!  Still have way lots to do and I have not touched replacing the carpet yet. And I still have the damaged fender to change out.   No rest for the wicked I guess

[IowaEagle]

It's aliiiiiiiiiiiiiive!  It's aliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive!

[Smitty]

I waited a while and fired it again with the headpipe somewhat hooked up and the engine smoked a lot less but it burned off the coating on the headpipe and did that stink!  And smoke.  Seems to run well and the response to throttle inputs are quick so no indication of any major vacuum issues either.  Done for tonight.  One of the girls just got back from a week in Antiqua so the story telling will go on for the rest of the night.

I knew the garage smelled from the exhaust and heating the new headpipe but when I came in the house Skeezix told me to take a shower and wash the clothes I had on.   Guess I was pretty bad   Yes, it is Alive, finally.  I ran it into the garage in September thinking I was going to swap out the engine in a week.  It could have been done but then I decided to have the tranny rebuilt and then I had to change the oil pan and sump on the new engine and I might just as well do the timing chain and gears while it's on the engine stand.  Then, as long as it is apart how about an all new exhaust system and on and on and on.  Now though, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I just hope it is daylight and not the train

[rmedon]

I'm voting for the daylight getting brighter.
Glad she's getting closer to the road!

As frustrating as it gets having to 'go for a trip' just to get a couple things, I'll take the isolation and not have to worry about keeping my door locked at night!  When I first started working where I do now, one of the old timers told me how nuts I was when I told him I was going to live out where I bought my land.  "You go out there, you won't have any paid fire dept., no police dept.  You know how long it will take a Sheriff or Trooper to make it there when You need them?"  My response: "But Sgt, out there I won't need them!"  He's long retired and tired of watching his neighborhood deteriorate and last I spoke to him, he said he was moving out to the country.

[Smitty]

As frustrating as it gets having to 'go for a trip' just to get a couple things, I'll take the isolation and not have to worry about keeping my door locked at night! 

Exactly.  That is one of the main reasons we did not move last summer.  Our house is never locked and our cars always have the keys in them.  We are getting a goodly amount of snow right now and I am waiting for the heat to build up in the garage.  Today I hope to have it on its own four wheels and the exhaust hooked up and ball joints in.  I did find out last night that it needs a new radiator cap   I also have to get another gallon of antifreeze.  I let it warm up for a while and then when I shut it off it puked out the overflow.  Guess who has not put the overflow bottle back in yet?   No trips to town today so it will wait until tomorrow.  I have enough to do today to keep me busy enough.  The dial up at home is so slow or I would be boring you with the pics that are in the camera.

[Smitty]

All in all it was a decent day.  Maybe tomorrow I will be able to take it out for a test spin.  I managed to get the ball joints in and the halfshafts installed.  Also got  quite a few loose bolts etc tightened up.  I still need to install the throttle linkage and hook up the vacuum stuff for the Tcase and front diff.  The headpipe and cat are on but I need a hanger to install the muffler and tailpipe.  When I got all the exhaust pipes they did not order the bushing pipe to slide the midpipe into the muffler.  Had to run into town for that today so I got the rad cap and a few other trinkets too.  I also need to replace the pass door handle and try to get the seats out to replace the carpet.  I am hoping that most of the heavy mechanical is done for now.  This old body is feeling its age laying on the creeper all day  

[Smitty]

Well, Finally, after 4 months I got to drive the car again.   I did not go far but a few sorting out drives up and down the road.  Doesn't have as much pep as the wagon but all the vacuum ports are plugged so no vacuum advance etc.  I still need to change the fender and do all the interior work but it runs and drives again.  The tranny must have taken 11 quarts of fluid before it stayed at the full mark on the dipstick although all the fluids will get checked again tomorrow.  There is a vacuum leak at the dash switch when in 2WD but goes away when switched to 4WD although the 4Wd does not engage.  There are two hard plastic lines I need to sort out yet and it appears to be slightly different than the 83 .

The only major concern right now is an intermittent lifter tick.  I will try some addatives to see if I can free it up or mabe just driving it will help it.