JTurbo's 86 SVO - Part Deux

[JTurbo]

Well, let's see, where do I start. First some background. I bought my SVO in the summer of 2004. Attended my first Reunion that fall (had a blast), but experienced major engine issues on the way back (ended up spinning a rod bearing). Big thanks to Mr. Pink for the tow home

I ended up having the engine rebuilt at the end of 2004 (sorry for the crappy pics, my camera back then was a POS):



Figured I do it up right since this was the only time I'd be doing an SVO engine rebuild Here was the new engine back in the car:


I drove the car up until last fall, put quite a few miles on it (not as many as chalkys_explorer), but throughly enjoyed the car with relatively few issues.

I attended the 2007 Reunion, here's a pic from the Sunday auto-X:


And here is a pic of my SVO on it's last official trouble-free voyage (up to the endless Mountains of North Central PA):

[JTurbo]

Fast foward to last year's Reunion. Drove with the Northeast crew about 400 miles when it started again - yup that sinking feeling that something is major wrong, the engine started making noises, then oil pressure dropped to zilch Thanks to SVO4PWR2 for a tow off the highway to the nearest exit. I parked the car off exit 79 of Interstate 79 at the 79er Diner (no joke). Flew home from KY on Friday, rented a u-haul trailer Saturday and drove to pick up the POS:



Round trip mileage from NE PA to WV and back to NE PA (stored the car at my in-laws house):


I immediately put the car up for sale here in the SVOCA classifieds, but no serious offers. So it sat.....

[JTurbo]

I was in the middle of another project (84 Capri RS Turbo) that I acquired from SVO4PWR2 and decide to finish up that one before tackling the SVO. So I went from this:

to this:

to this:

And finally finished up the car late Sept:

Being that I only have a 2 car garage, I need to finish the RS first before taking on the SVO. So the weekend before the 2009 Reunion, I towed the RS down to PA and brought back up the SVO to my house in Mass.

[JTurbo]

Well after going back to KY this year for the Reunion car less, I came away with some SVO excitement and more importantly motivation. I spent a few nights in the garage this past week working on preparing the SVO's engine removal:

Here the engine is ready for removal:

So tomorrow the investigation begins as to what happened.

[JTurbo]

The SVO is a bit over due for inspection


And I'm not sure if I'm going to fix the current engine or go with a spare that I bought up from Madadder (Thanks Tony!!!). Here is the spare sitting in my basement:

[SVORob]

GO J Turbo Go!

[kiwi]

2nd time is the charm?

[thomp22]

Sweet Joe! Glad to see your getting it back on the road!

[svodad]

SVO motivation!

Joe, great job with the RS, I had a friend in highschool with one that I loved driving, that car looks great from all angles.

Good luck with the engine swap in the SVO, keep us posted with pics!
Jim

[NinjaBOY]

Keep going Joe!!! I need you to paint he convertible when you're done! Let me know if you need an extra hand. I'm sure I could con a few friends into coming up too.

[SVOeric]

for some reason, Reunions generate this kind of motivation

[JTurbo]

My built-in helper earlier today - working the engine hoist:

Engine out, on to disassembly:

[JTurbo]

Carnage !!!

Well, when the engine was rebuilt, the machine shop recommended using Cheby 5.7L connecting rods (they are actually made by Manley). Well I'm happy to report back that the rod survived, but the bearing didn't I guess that's what I get for allowing bow-tie rods in a Ford Anyway, number one rod bearing is now here:


Here is a shot of the #1 rod journal on the crank:


And the rod cap:


That's all for now folks!

[NavySVO]

I thought you said in '08 that you thought it was the oil filter that failed you?

[JTurbo]

I thought you said in '08 that you thought it was the oil filter that failed you?

I don't know, and I'm certainly no expert. In hind sight, the filter probably wasn't the issue. Althought I had just changed the oil/filter the weekend prior to the trip to KY. The order of events was: engine noise, pressure dropped, shut down the motor, then replaced the filter and the pressure came back up. Looking at all the garbage in the pan, my guess is that gunk could have easily blocked the screen on the oil pump causing the pressure to drop. In fact, when I removed the filter (after getting the car off the road side) it was dry....

Moving foward and onward