Crackership

Hi all,

As I've mentioned before in a few threads, I've recently had an engine fire. It really doesn't seem to have been that bad, but it's prompted me to pull the engine so that damage can be fully assessed and various leaks and wear items can be handled.

At this point, there's not a lot to show, but I figured I'd start the thread anyway and just build as time goes on....

Here's what it looked like after the fire:



Firewall from below:


X-over:


I put about an hour in today, just pulling stuff off to get ready for the pull:


Fuel rail ***'y off and fumigating in the driveway:


Pile 'o parts on my "workbench":


one of the garage:


That's it so far, but you've gotta start somewhere. I'll probably start tearing stuff off the bottom this evening. I would go do it now, but I hate being under a car without someone around to notice if I've killed myself.

Updates as they come..

Paulyy

you've got to start somewhere. good luck with it though.

Any plans of upgrades "while your in there" new fuel rail, clutch (if you havn't done it, probably the best time to do so), headers ect?

Dougs951

Good luck!

My engine will probably get pulled this fall to address some massive oil leaks.

How are you pulling the engine?

Crackership

I'm not totally sure, I have a pretty tight budget, and I've got to further assess what NEEDS done before I worry about what I WANT to do.

If I could find a good aftermarket fuel rail that uses the existing FPR and damper, then I would probably go for that, but all the ones I've seen are not a direct replacement. As for the clutch, I'm probably gonna have it resurfaced. New/aftermarket ones will severely damage my budget . Headers, again, $$$ that I need to spend elsewhere.

There are a few "upgrades" that I consider a necessity, and will be doing though, like Powerflex bushings, a ball joint rebuild, and the sway-bar braces, as well as new fuel lines (Rennbay, probably), and then whatever is necessary for me to finally complete my war against 25 year old rubber.

I'm gonna try and squeeze in a piggyback as well.

otherwise, I'll be doing a lot of cleaning/painting while it's all apart... I'm a sucker for a clean engine bay. Speaking of which, I need ideas on a third accent color for the engine bay... obviously, the cam tower and the intake are black, and I've got all the blue hoses, but I need a third color for things like the brake booster heat shield and various other sundries... thoughts?

Oil leaks are a worthy reason to pull the engine. I just hope they don't cause you the same problems they caused me before you get there.

I'm planning to pull it from the bottom. Everything I've read and everyone I've talked to about it seems to agree that it's the best way to go. I don't know, I've never done it before, but if so many people agree on it, there's got to be something to it...

Paulyy

I didn't mean to name just expencive bits, just what ever came to mind quickly. i wasn't going to name them all. and yes i'd defently replace old rubber fuel lines and what ever else probably need replacing that's in the budget.

colour.. zink plated will come up nice againsed the black, IMO (for shields and brackets ect)

Crackership

zinc... that might do nicely. I think my budget is going to require my "colors" to come in a can... but I think I can probably get fairly close... I was also thinking something like a raw titanium color. I have gold Fuchs, it might tie in well...

Paulyy

that colour might work, it'll just give it a "cleaner" look then zinc "flashy" i'm not sure what colours come in high temp cans.

Crackership

I'll look around, I've had really good luck with Duplicolor engine enamel in the past, so I'll probably look there first.

Just out of curiosity, are there any relatively low-cost while I'm in there's that come to mind?

Dougs951

replace any and all hoses you can.

I would also look into replacing the sensors that look anything but new.

Crackership

definitely. I'm really hoping (knock on wood) that, once I've got this rebuild done, I can just drive it for a while... I mean, working on it is fun and all, but...

Crackership

Made a little bit more progress this afternoon/evening... lots of little stuff. It doesn't really look any different, otherwise I'd post a pic..

Question, though... I need to drain the radiator, but from looking at the location of the drain plug, relative to the core support, it kind of looks like coolant is going to go everywhere when I pull the plug... any tricks for draining coolant IN to a container?

Jeff N.

I have yet to find a good trick. Be curious what others suggest.

If you get a cut piece of heater hose, you can hold it against the drain plug hole to direct the fluid into a bucket. I also put a couple of old Rubbermade totes under the front beam to catch the fluid that runs along the support beam.

I think something like this is the real answer.

Crackership

Yeah, I definitely plan on seeing if I can fab up something like that or buy one for the next time I need to drain the coolant, unfortunately that's not going to make this time any more fun... oh well, I'm sure taking the occasional bath in coolant never really hurt anyone

Dougs951

Since you are pulling the engine, I would also replace the clutch. That is my plan anyway.

spammajamma

looks great, got a question though, I'm installing vacuum hoses and I have one that goes nowhere,,,its the line in the first pic that goes over the intercooler pipe middle far right side of pic..could you tell me what it attaches to?