I guess I'll make this my progress thread. I have so many threads going on about this car, I'm all over the place.
So,..I'll throw out a few stats real quick and catch it up to today.
Bought car for 11.7k. 89k mi. engine stock, has JLT CAI, offroad pipes
Flowmaster flowchamber "H", flowmaster catback.
Clutch fragged, engine has multiple oil leaks at oil filter adapter, pan gasket, and rear main seal. Rear end also leaking. Brakes are toast, front rotors are shot. Car is very dirty, and has over 100 rock chips on leading edges of hood, and side scoops. Rear bumper has sustained a minor "bruise". The windshield has a 2" dent like it got hit by a baseball right in the drivers line of sight.
Headlights are beyond foggy, they are actually
crusty .
Overall body is excellent,..w/ no dents,....paint is a 6 out of 10 due to the bazillion rock chips, and it's freakin filthy.
( Did I mention the car is dirty)?
Interior is very good w/ only the drivers seat showing wear on the seat cushion and the side bolster.
While it looks like it's led a hard life,...everything is stock and oe. It has ten year old belts, and hoses. The spark plugs are stock, and are sporting a .050+ gap.
My plans are to fix what's broke, replace what's old,..clean it up and paint what I can.
I start by removing the trans,..and find the flywheel (made of aluminum) is also crap. I learn that the thing came factory w/ an aluminum flywheel and it has been cut once,...after that you either send it to Mccleod for rebuilding,..or replace it.
Do I replace it w/ another aluminum unit?..........
No.
I substitute it w/ the highly coveted,...very rare cast iron unit. Built by, but no longer made by ford. (Think ......obsolete)
Trans out, and the downhill snowball of rationalization starts to roll. It starts like this:
Car is 2 feet up in the air,...lets take care of that rear end leak. I mean the car is up in the air after all.
Snowball gets going and get's a little bigger.........
Well,..the rear end is out,..might as well cut the rear coils, now that the rear end is out of the way,...I'll change out the fuel filter.....
It picks up a little more speed.
Well the lower body side moldings are trashed,.....no time like the present to remove them and sand and repaint them,......since the car is, after all UP IN THE AIR!!!
Now the ball is more like a snow boulder,......and starts to consume more rational thought:
"Why,....I haven't even looked at the front of the car,...I mean how hard is it to roll the creeper up there anyway? I am actually under the car fixing junk at the back of the car,....lets just take a quick look up front.......Oh,.....There is a leaking oil pan gasket!"
AND...........there is that ease of access thing. My Lucky Day!!!!
I'll just go ahead, and pull the engine.
That's the way its been since I bought the thing.
The engine is out to replace the oil pan gasket, and an oil filter adapter gasket. May as well replace the valve cover gaskets, and the water pump since the engine is out. Since the engine is out,....may as well do the much needed 7/8 head cooling mod.
But,..I digress.
I got a chance to work on the car this afternoon. Since the engine was out I also decided to change the silver painted valve covers to wrinkle black, since I had them off to put new valve cover gaskets on. I also changed out the 10 yr old spark plugs.
Yes,...I am deleting the PCV system,....these engines manage to suck a bunch of oil into the intake when they start making boost.
The recently scratched saddle as a result of my decision to install the engine w/ the trans attached. Note to self: Trans installed separate.
When I bit ch about people posting pictures of mods made when everything else around is filthy, this is what I'm talking about. This isn't show car clean by no means, but those Bilstiens have 90k on them,....and all it took was some purple power and a 99.00 pressure washer.
Another snowball,....the rear swaybar links are obsolete according to the ford dealership. Evidently,...the PO had an issue w/ one of them and replaced it. I don't know which one is stock,..but I replaced them both w/ these adjustable units from FTR.