SX-4!

[vangremlin]

Those seats look familiar... Van had an Eagle in a yard that he pulled similar seats from..

Here are the seats I pulled.  They went to TooSlowinWyo

[DownwardFlame]

Nope, no cb antenna, and they are factory seats with original  upholstery (or at least redone). They just have custom seat covers on them. I'll take some more pics after work.

[DownwardFlame]

Well, i didn't have time to get any pics, but I did do a full inspection and found that the rear pinion seal has been leaking and the fluid was about an inch or so low and rather milky. I also found that it indeed has very little rust. The left lower bracket for the radiator has broken loose, and as it has some blow by, almost every seal is leaking. The boots on both front axles have been flinging grease. Both of the rear side marker lights are cracked, as well as the left front turn signal lens.

[DownwardFlame]

I finally got around to doing a compression check and engine flush yesterday. I used a can of BG 109 Compression performance restoration that I use all the time at work.

Before numbers:
#1.  115psi
#2. 65psi
#3. 75psi
#4. 90psi

After flush numbers
#1. 165psi
#2. 65psi
#3. 80psi
#4. 90 psi

The flush seemed to really help #1, but not much else. The low compression on 2-4 isn't likely caused by rings. The good news is I just picked up a ford 2.3L and another sr4 for $25 from a coworker. I'm going to look into how hard it would be to swap it in.

[IowaEagle]

You would be money ahead to swap in a plentiful Jeep 4.0

[DownwardFlame]

I thought about it, but I really couldn't pass up the price. Nothing for sure yet, the 2.3L might end up in a future race car. Just been kinda weighing my options. The 2.3L is attractive just because the aftermarket and performance potential for those engines is huge. The old 2.5L might as well be a boat anchor when it comes to performance. Don't get me wrong, Im not looking to hot rod it, but I would like to get 150 to 200hp out of the old bird.

[DownwardFlame]

I wanted to get a few off road pictures today, so I went out to the moses lake sand dunes on my lunch break. The old bird did pretty well, only got bogged down once when I tried to turn around in the bottom of a shallow bowl. The suspension is definitely not up to the task of the rough stuff though, as the vibration broke loose the driver's side upper support on the radiator and one of the wires to the starter. I sat stranded for awhile before I found it. I almost didn't make it back to work on time. I really don't want to hurt the car, so in the future dunes trips will be limited to my truck.


Here's the damage...

The little green wire came off and then all the starter would do is click.

[DownwardFlame]

Better pic of my wire issue.

[Mernsy]

Is that a blade terminal below and slightly to the right of the bolt?

[DownwardFlame]

Yep... That's where it disconnected on me.

[Mernsy]

Good time to clean it all up. You even have a pic to help put it back together right. If you're like me, that is!   

[Monkeyjoe]

Try one more thing on the Cylinders.  Pull the plugs and pour "Power Service" Diesel Fuel Additive into the cylinders, you only need a couple of table spoons in each one.  leave it for about 24 hours.  leave the plugs out (put a towel across all 4 plug holes) and turn the engine over to blow out any excess additive.  replace the plugs, start the engine and let it run for a minute or two.  Then check the compression again.  If you have any stuck rings or carbon build up in the piston skirts, the additive will completely dissolve the carbon and release the stuck rings.  You may be amazed.

[DownwardFlame]

Try one more thing on the Cylinders.  Pull the plugs and pour "Power Service" Diesel Fuel Additive into the cylinders, you only need a couple of table spoons in each one.  leave it for about 24 hours.  leave the plugs out (put a towel across all 4 plug holes) and turn the engine over to blow out any excess additive.  replace the plugs, start the engine and let it run for a minute or two.  Then check the compression again.  If you have any stuck rings or carbon build up in the piston skirts, the additive will completely dissolve the carbon and release the stuck rings.  You may be amazed.

I might try that, but normally the 109 does a pretty good job of cleaning up the rings. At this point I'm planing on using the money I get from selling my WRX to either rebuild the 2.5, or build up my 2.3.

[DownwardFlame]

Well, I finally was able to go pick up the 2.3L and trans yesterday. As I was getting ready to leave he was digging through the garage and offered to through in a high back aluminum race seat and a five gallon fuel cell. All for the grand total of $95. 







The fuel cell and seat are going into my wagon. The motor and 5speed trans came out of an 83 ranger. I talked to the local wrecking yard and they can get me a jeep t5 for $650. I'm curious to see if the bell housing will swap to the t5.

[DownwardFlame]

Well, I now have the 2.3 about 90 percent torn down and I'm not liking what I see... I'll have to take it to a machine shop to see if the #1 cyl is saveable.