The SX/4 money pit

[IowaEagle]

Frustrating to get the wrong part.  Good to hear the old one still appeared sericeable.  Give Skeezix our best.

[Smitty]

Did not get a chance to work on the car last nite but I did pick up the heater core.  How about $17.12 to tank it, flush it out and pressure test.  Now I know it won't puke on me somewhere on the road.  Hope to get it in tonight.

[Gil-SX4]

THat is sure a real good price for the worke done.

[Gil-SX4]

I just did a Yahoo search for AMC SX/4 an this topic came up 6th on the results.

[IowaEagle]

Not surprising with all the posts and views it has had.

[Smitty]

Been a while since on posted on the money pit.  Skeezix is getting better but we still spend a lot of time going to doctors so it has impacted on play time.  I did manage to get all the engine pieces back together and tried to fire it last night only to have a dead battery.  I did not feel like messing with it any longer so I will throw the charger on it tonight and get it going.  I hope those new lifters make a difference.  Of course, I still need to find out what I did with the temp sensing unit.  I had to put a plug in the hole in the head so I could fill the coolant. 

I spent most of my time on getting the floor and rocker patched.  I hit it all with bed liner last night so it should be all set to start the carpet install tonight.  I can't wait to get the interior back together.  I got the heater core back in and still have some screws to put back in for the dash and glove box.  I found taking the glove box completely out made the job a whole lot easier.

Now that the floor is fixed I can also get the fender back on.  I am seriously thinking about pulling both fenders on the wagon when the new engine goes in.  You can not believe how much easier it is to work on the suspension and engine with the fenders out of the way! 

Now for the true confessions.  I will admit I was startled to find the bolts loose on the bracket from the engine to the front diff.  Apparently I started the bolts by hand to hold things in place when the engine went in and only tightened up the two on the diff itself.  The two on the block are done from the top and I must have forgotten to do them when I rolled the creeper out from under the car.  I went checking other bolts to see if anything else was missed and found one of the power steering bracket bolts to the block was also only started by hand.  One of the tasks for tonight is to check every bolt and nut in the drivetrain to see what else I missed.  CRS has set in I guess. 

After the carpet goes in I will see what is involved with installing the B&M shifter.  I have some other plans for the interior and have to wait for an EvilBay purchase to get here before I can complete it.  I hope for something unusual when I am done.  I envision some custom fibreglass work ahead. 

[IowaEagle]

Closer and closer.  Isn't it frustrating something like a dead battery holds you up?  Glad you caught the loose bolts.  Maybe we need some younger apprentices to check our work?  I did that last year with some lug nuts.  Fortunately, I remembered after the short test drive.

[Gil-SX4]

Good thing you catch the bolts before major damage had occur.
On the B&M shifter if its the cable type its nhot hard, you just have to mahe sure the cable is clear of all moving parts an not to do what I did with mine and place the cable to close to the exahust system, I had to replace my cable after the first test drive the entire sleeve melted.

[Smitty]

Thanks for the info Gil.  I was looking at it last night and can see how you could fry a cable.  Must have been frustrating.

I got delayed last night while Skeezix had some blood work done so I was not able to get as much done as I would have liked.  I did manage to get the factory shifter out, all new carpet padding cut and installed and the new carpet laid out and roughed in.  Tonight I hope to get the carpet fully in and some, if not all, of the trim reinstalled.  The inside of the car needs an in depth cleaning from all the sanding dust.  Everything has a thick layer of dust and rust debris.  I have installed carpet in both my Ambassadors and know to always start at the driver's heel pad and work out fitment from there.  I feel that it should be in by tonight and maybe I can clean up a few things while I am at it.  That is usually the problem though.  I always find something else to do and never seem to get this car done.

I did find one issue last night that I need to correct.  When I started it up for the first time after changing out the lifters there was a loud squeal from the engine.  After looking it over I found the power steering belt rubbing on the tensioner pulley.  It appears the power steering is sitting a little crooked so I have to figure out what went back together wrong or if a bracket is bent etc.  At least I have the wagon to compare it too.  Otherwise the engine seemed to run fine with no other noticeable noises.

Another dilemma surfaces now.  Do I want to change out the radio to a CD player while I have everything apart?  I hardly listen to the radio (maybe once a month for 5 minutes) but it might be nice to have tunes once in a while.  The factory radio is there but I don't know if it works since there are no speakers in the doors.  Maybe I will wait on that but I will be ticked if I have to run any new wires for rear speakers.  The factory ones look good but ya never know.  Really would like to get to driving this car so maybe that will wait.  We will be out of town Thursday, Friday and get back late Saturday so those days are shot.  We have to take Skeezix to a Doc in Syracuse for tests and I would like to have the car out of the garage for some debugging before that.

Guess I will just continue reassembly for now and try to figure out what is going on with the power steering interference.

[IowaEagle]

Just my two cents but leave the factory radio there for appearances sake and then find some unobtrusive place to hide the new one since basically you want the CD's and not the tuner part.  Our sound guys/gals here might be able to help with that.

[Smitty]

Hey, I finally get to try out this fancy new laptop I bought Skeezix.  I finally managed to get the money pit out of the hanger!!!  It had a nice bath and a short trip up and down the road but the carb on it sucks so I need to put the Holley back on.  Definely some sorting out to do but the new lifters quieted the racket under the hood.  I thought it was a good day for pics so here are a few.  I even managed to get Skeezix and the cats outside so we all had a party.  Skeezix is now officially out of work on disability and we have to head to Boston to see some Doc's there.  She loves to go for walks but has been too ill to do much of anything so it was great to get her out and about.  She even took a video of me staging the cars in the field for the pics.







I still have a bunch of little things to do but it is real close to heading for inspection.  No real rush since Skeezix can't drive anymore so I get to use her car

I just ordered all new tie rod ends and adjuster sleeves since the original equipment is still on the car.  Should make it easier for alignment.  I also ordered new coil over shocks like I put on the wagon.  The car has brand new air shocks on it that I put on but after driving the wagon I decided to change over to the coil overs.  So, if anyone wants to by a set of new (less than half a mile on them) air shocks, drop me a pm.

All the pics are at
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v105/Superglider/Eagle/spring%202006/?action=view&current=P1010062.jpg

[Gil-SX4]

They sure do look great, I whould say you are most done filling up that deep money pit.

[Smitty]

Thanks Gil, although we all seem to always find a way to spend money on these cars .  Any idea what color code to use for the red on the mouldings?  I want to airbrush the red inserts back on in some places and freshen up the rest.  I think they used the matador red color.  Mine is too faded to have scanned to get an accurate mix.

Tonight I hope to put the Holley back on although I think it is a little too much carb for the stock engine.  Then I have to hook up all the vacuum lines for the 4WD.  Right now the port is capped off on the intake.

[IowaEagle]

Good question.  Mine is almost an orange on the Krayton and still a red on the plastic parts.  I would think Matador Red would be a good choice.  I don't think AMC ever listed the color for them.  At least anywhere I could find.

[Gil-SX4]

Could it just be the same code as there red cars?