When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
A bunch of stuff arrived today. The gear lube, engine oil, boot struts and two boxes of goodies from Rock Auto.
It's too damn cold to even bother trying to heat the shop. The guess was -1 for the high, today. I don't think it went above -5. Now it's just falling...
Plan to take tomorrow as a "work from home" day. Might get some stuff done.
Still need the spark plugs and o-rings. Can certainly start on a lot of other things though.
Found some time - while working from home - to mess with some of my stuff.
Put the heat on at about 10:00. It was 15 F (inside). Got up to 50 in about 90 minutes. Was -15 (outside) last night.
Started piling up parts with the plan of starting on the belt/ pulley kit. Found that the Gates waterpump had a composite impeller. Hella gets to go back; so does the fuel filter - which is wrong.
All the fluids at the ready. Still need to get distilled water. It can wait a few days. First off, I won't be ready to refill and secondly, it's still going to be quite cold for another couple of days. We do get a break though. They are guessing at highs of 50 on Monday. Woo hoo!
After a bunch of part removal. Had to remove the housing that holds the p/s pump. What a pain in the ***! It seems to be the only way to get at the tensioner.
Had to quit about here. Got the tensioner and pulley installed. I was pretty much beat after all the wrestling. Ended up removing the engine lid; kept hitting my head on it. Much better with it out of the way. Did put the p/s reservoir back on after this shot. Need to get a little fluid to take the place of that which was lost.
Will go after the waterpump and thermostat next. Figure the engine mounts will also be a part of that fiasco.
Last edited by Scott at Team Harco; 02-04-2019 at 08:39 AM.
Careful, all those plastic lines a very brittle, as is the oil fill tube. Mine broke when I looked at it sideways
Hope they can't hear swear words. I dropped a 7mm socket when removing the throttle body. Then a 13mm socket and a 6mm allen when wrestling with the p/s pump. I was fishing, with a magnet, almost as often as removing bolts. Only dropped one bolt in the coolant bucket. So that was nice. I sure tried to drop a bunch of wrenches and ratchets in there...
Removed the thermostat and its housing. Then went after the waterpump. What a bugger. Was able to get the engine support plate out of the way enough to get the pump out. There is one bolt on the pump that is damn near impossible to remove with the plate in the way. There should have been a hole drilled in the plate to allow a socket extension to go through. The lower flaps on the plate should also be relieved slightly to allow clearance to the exhaust (or the lower studs replaced with bolts). If I ever get that plate out - it will be modified. Knew that the engine mounts would need to come out to move the plate, so that is partially completed as well.
With the engine supported by the transmission jack, I needed to use a ladder to access the engine mounts.
Good observation. I didn't have a chance to inspect things after removal. Was just happy to finally get it out. I had to cut my session short to attend our car club's year-end awards banquet.
Took a good look at it today. The debris is from the paper gasket. Taking lots of photos is helping to document progress, but also gives others a chance to see things I may miss.
Ended up installing the Gates pump. Had everything back together and would have started on completing the idler pulleys, alternator and belt install. I thought I'd spin the waterpump pulley to see how it felt. To my surprise, there was a spot in the rotation where I could feel resistance. There was also a little squeak. This will not do. This aggression will not stand.
Fortunately I had the routine down pretty well and I got the pump out in less than an hour. Got the Behr pump in in about half an hour. Also found a combination of adapters to actually gain reasonable access to the lower right bolt (also worked at it from above). Torqued everything to spec and buttoned-up the rest. I am much more satisfied with this pump. Not sure if I will do much more today. I'm kind of beat from wrestling with everything - twice!
OEM C4 17" 1999 wheel. Very unique. I believe it was only made for 1999
Not particularly attractive, are they? Probably could get a few for cheap, eh?
I'm not ready to give up on the 16" plan just yet. Need to spend some time looking at how severe the interference is. Then, if any safe modifications would be feasible.
Got a few tasks out of the way, yesterday. Did a very quick and dirty "scope" of some of the bores. Could only get in to see some of the cylinder walls on #2 and #5. Didn't see any holes in the pistons of any of the others.
The image below shows something I think is odd. Is there erosion of material between the intake valve reliefs? Or is this just an optical delusion?
Did a much more thorough job of flushing the coolant out. Thanks to the tutorial by Ahsai.
Today I installed the alternator. Then I removed it so I could install the oil filler pipe. Then I installed the alternator again. While messing with the little coolant pipe near the oil pipe, I dropped the bolt behind the alternator. And of course, it was stainless steel and could not be captured with a magnet. Off came the alternator, again.
Finally happy that I wouldn't have to take it off again, I proceeded to install the last idler pulley. After the P/S pump pulley went back on, I was ready for the belt. Had to consult the interwebz to get the routing right.
The correct fuel filter arrived today, as did the spark plug tube o-rings. The fuel filter is in a location that is difficult to access. I put this higher on the pain-in-the-*** scale than the waterpump.
01-30-2019, 02:36 PM
