The neverending march of progress

[Alex L]

scratch that scratch that. im a moron who cant see. engine stand was covering up the second set of upper threads.

[Erics SVO]

Like I said, make sure you're wearing shoes this time, and it'll all go back together fine!

[Alex L]

the APR flexplate bolts arrived this week, so finally got the engine back where it belongs. drivetrain slipped in without too much trouble, much to my astonishment. tranny coolant lines didn't clear the trans tunnel, so thats gonna be fun to get fitted in while avoiding the downpipe. mocked up the quarterstick, and managed to get smacked in the face by the shift linkage cable in the process of routing it. no sheetmetal butchering required for the QS, which is good; might eventually wanna switch it back to a T5 if my bum knee ever heals up right.

E6 has 2 stripped threads on the turbo mount; ordered a bob's log a few days ago, but no clue when thats gonna get here. might just suck it up and helicoil the E6 then hog it out, but would rather avoid having to remap the SD trim tables down the road... either way, gonna spend some of the long weekend hogging out the intakes. debated switching to a square intake, but thats more trouble then its worth, as i don't have fuel line connectors to fit, nor a dipstick to fit. taking the FMIC up to the local welding service to get the butchering i did to it in order to get the MAF sensor installed fixed, and then to install a IAT sensor bung.

then onto the trainwreck that is my alternator mounting. local boneyard no longer has any 2.3L engines, so im gonna have to increase my search radius it would appear.

baby steps...

[Alex L]

coming along, slowly but surely. wish my bobs log would have shown up, but he's off on honeymoon or something. oh well, cross that bridge when we get to it.

[Alex L]

put fluids in it last night, but could not get it to fire. the QH was being onery, but i think it started to behave properly.. after flooding the engine. since my TPS is junk, aint no reason to keep cranking until i fix it. but dave's mid 80s ford parts depot saves my butt yet again! *hauls on down to louisville*

[Alex L]

ok, after a few trials and tribulations (always check the dizzy rotor.. :facepalm: ) it starts and idles. actually, purrs is more like it; SD code idles like a top compared to the hunting of the way-too-big MAF.

now im dealing with a weird transmission issue; got a call into the builder, but its not looking good at this point.

[Alex L]

alright, after those drivetrain trials and tribulations, she's back where she's supposed to be. now to fix that silly ghetto rigged alterantor bracket and we should be good to go for sunday's auto-x.

[Dave S]

alright, after those drivetrain trials and tribulations, she's back where she's supposed to be. now to fix that silly ghetto rigged alterantor bracket and we should be good to go for sunday's auto-x.

Congrats! Come on down a bit early for the autocross, and we'll go over the suspension.

[Alex L]

well... never @#$@#$ing mind. think my engine just crapped itself. started making a banging noise, figured it was the exhaust smacking the cross member. its not. and while trying to find what it was, it got a lot worse real fast.

[Alex L]

ok, either the transmission pump ate part of a previously busted and replaced forward clutch seal, or a big end cap worked itself loose. crank is 'crunchy' when turned by hand ahead of TDC on compression stroke #1. im leaning towards the latter, it doesn't sound 'right' with a stethoscope plugged into the dipstick.

[Alex L]

and its not the transmission, flexplate bolts, there's a definite 'clunk' coming from the oil pan as 1,4 are passing TDC. oil and filter look clean. think in the rush to get it together for the 08 reunion the oil pickup didnt get bolted in on the back main cap (arp studs before they fixed the issue), and planned to tear it apart to 'do it right' and it never happened. out comes the motor... again.

[Alex L]

Ok, it lives and made it down to dave s' place without too much drama. Starts, stops, turns both left and right.

[thomp22]

Sweet! Good luck tomorrow at autoX, wish I could be there to put the pressure on Dave! You Guys and Gal have a good time!! Stacey keep the pressure on the guys. Get'em!!

[Erics SVO]

So, inquiring minds want to know. WTH was wrong?

[Alex L]

So, inquiring minds want to know. WTH was wrong?

crankshaft to flexplate bolts worked themselves loose. prev post had checked the flexplate to converter bolts and they were solid; didnt even think about the crank bolts until i had the converter unbolted and the flexplate went caddywompus. blue lock-tite'd the crap outta the crank bolts, but did not do the flexplate/converter bolts . now im thinking the lack of lock-tite was a mistake, as now ive got yet another unidentifiable 'clunk' coming from the lower rear of the engine after i let everything cool down when i got home. 3 people i checked with said they never ran lock-tite on the converter bolts, but they were all on v8 application, not a wobbly, shaking 2.3. if it is the converter bolts, then yay easy fix; if not, well, maybe this time i can get the tranny R&R inspection down from 7 hours to 5 hours this time.

that and it started with a lifter tick after the auto-x, but that is something that can be easily dealt with.

right now its flashing at 6psi, think if i put the adj cam gear back on and adv the 1.5 a few deg, it should flash a few psi higher. definitely took a bit to get used to, but it works quite well on the auto-x; even with the holset, boost onset is immediate, smooth and manageable.