#1721/2k's new, terrifying adventure.

[Machiavellian]

So, as my first post in the boards I'll make this as sweet as possible. Eloquence is not my thing, but hey, I'll try for you guys.
#1721 found its new home back in the fall of good ol' 2014, that is, after a few hundred miles on a trailer. The trans was already pretty funky about 2nd (Presumable synchros, probably nothing major.) and the water pump was jealous of a sieve's ability to hold liquids... and the clutch likes to think that the only time to be engaged is all the time until you put the pedal through the floorboards. Regardless it did start and run enough for a quick test, and it proved to be the one. Enough of that story though, as that was back in the olden' times of last year.

It has spent the last few weeks... or uh *Cough.* Months... sitting idle, as progress was halted by my drive to get an edumakation from skule. (Which I done did got now, by the way.)

But now the progress has started and the parts are starting to leave the engine bay nice and smoothly... kind of. So, now 1721 is destined to get some TLC in the nature of: New water pump, New trans, general maintenance, long walks on the beach - wait..., replacement of all the main belts (Timing included.), R-12 to R134 conversion, and some touch up paint. By no means is there going to be a referb, but it'll get a bit of a sparkle.

I sorta forgot to take pictures on a device I could upload from prior to parts coming out, but so far, after a day of reading and an hour or two of curious poking, prodding, and unbolting this is where it's at tonight:











All photos taken with a 100% genuine Grade B kosher Potato.

Anyway, this is all for today.
So, now I'm confirmed alive, but by no means am I mentally well... which is perfect.

 

[iceman69510]

Welcome. I will say your writing contains a bit of entertaining whimsy.

Good luck with the car. If you can, please send me the VIN so I can check it in my registry (may have it already, but don't have it here to check).

 

[89Patches]

Quoting Machiavellian:
All photos taken with a 100% genuine Grade B kosher Potato.



/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rofl.gif

Welcome!

 

[Machiavellian]

I'll get the VIN to you when I can, If my memory and attention span last long enough to walk out and look at it this afternoon.

- The internet is a glorious thing. What better a way to use the world's most powerful cat database, than to shed a little humor? Keep it light, and the guardians of the internet will remain pleased. (Never anger the internet guardians.)

Thanks for the welcome! I'll keep 1721's progress a little better cataloged from now on, that way you can all have a detailed report of how many times I've slammed my head against the bottom of the hood.

Cheers!

 

[iceman69510]

If you only hit the bottom of the hood, you're good. I always catch the edge with my forehead, usually hard enough to raise a lump or give me a headache. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Machiavellian]

Pretty sure I've concussed myself at least once over the course of today, but hey, maybe if I keep it up enough I'll scrub all the oil off the hood with the back of my head. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif

Today... well... I forgot about the giant white ball of doom that looms over us all when its least convenient... 91 deg. Weather... FANTASTIC! Relatively speaking though, it all went well enough. Didn't get too much done because I'm still pretty green on the whole car scene. But references to Vfaq, common sense, and gvr4.org have helped out in those particularly questionable situations.

First went injectors and fuel rail:

After which the coil pack got a little TLC... and by TLC I mean confused staring as I tried to figure out what was still holding it on... (I hadn't noticed the bolt that's housed back behind the CP and in the curve of the Intake manifold.)

The rest just came out in gradual moves.






Of course off came the exhaust... but at a bit of a price. Sure all the bolts holding it to the head came off like they were brand new from the factory... but the bolts holding it to the turbo... those were a new story.
1/4 was a pain, and I'm pretty sure I almost ruptured a blood vessel when cranking at it, but it came off.
2/4 took some persuasion but it too eventually came off.
They say the 3rd times the charm, right? Well 3/4 said "Well to heck with that." and decided to just snap off. I hadn't even put all that much force into it either, it started acting like it was moving, then it wasn't , then POP goes the rust-coated weasel. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif Too bad it didn't take notes from its brothers, as 4/4 just came off like a dream.

But here's the carnage after the fact:




After this all the turbo lines got taken off and the V-band loosened from the exhaust... but it refuses to let go. (It seems to be in a pretty serious relationship with the exhaust, I'm almost going to feel bad about wrecking that.) So come tomorrow and some light I'll be getting further in on that V-band and lift the turbo out.

 

[clevr4]

Kicking ass! 3 posts and still makes my thread look like a toddler in a museum!

 

[iceman69510]

Another Galant being turned into a pile of parts (hopefully only temporarily). /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rofl.gif

 

[Machiavellian]

Thanks for the support, guys!

This galant will only be a pile of parts for a little while. As soon as I get the engine out I'll check the vitals, take it out to dinner, spend a night with it... y'know... the usual. (Love your engine and it'll love you back, right?) But after that all goes down... it'll be right back into the car and hopefully I'll remember how to put it back together without too many extra bolts laying around at the end. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif

And to prove just how much I love this car... The steam summer sale is going on and I haven't bought anything from it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jawdrop.gif

Also, clevr4, I think you've mistaken the sarcasm for skill. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rofl.gif Because There's a lot of sarcasm and a lot of words that I pretend to know in here. You, however, seem to know what your talking about on your thread. As far as I've read into your thread you actually know things about building cars!

The catalytic converter goes /in/ the engine, right? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/uhh.gif

 

[MellowVR4]

I can tell this is going to be a fun thread to follow.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[tektic]

"Liquid wrench" helps a lot. If your not using it already your working too hard.

 

[Machiavellian]

Liquid wrench is some high dollar stuff right there. I've got a can of WD40, and tin of penetrating oil that's about as old as I am. So far the only trouble bolt has been just the one holding the turbo to the manifold... the rest is coming off fairly easily. Though I have come up with some rather colorful phrases while trying to get a wrench on/remove the bolts on the bottom of the intake manifold... while its still in the car. (Mistakes were made, this was probably a bad decision, but now I'm determined to get this thing out...)

 

[iceman69510]

I always leave the intake on.

 

[OpticalPhenom]

It's too late now but for future reference, the intake manifold comes off really easily after the head is off. Fire helps with the last exhaust turbo bolt also.

 

[Machiavellian]

Yeah, heat will be a huge assistance in the further stages of disassembly. One of them being removal of the god-sized axle bolts. I think the intake manifold has won the battle and I'm just going to finger-tighten the bolts that I have loosened... then the manifold is going for a ride with the rest of the engine as it gets lifted. Once I have good leverage on those little bastards... the trouble bolts will be loosened.... WITH EXTREME PREJUDICE.

Otherwise today has been going well. No broken bolts.

I also have great news! There's a new baby in the household! - Well... a baby of sorts... it's the most expensive part that I've held so far. That's right as of 6/12/15 my 24 year old girl, mitsu, gave birth to a healthy... uh... well mostly healthy beautiful(On the inside) baby 16g. The v-band flanges were really determined, and I congratulate them on their strong bond with the clamp... but... that bond was finally broken and the turbo lifted out.

Next up: Alternator and AC compressor.

Pictures will come soon. Cheers and thanks for the advice, guys!

 

[iceman69510]

Just disconnect the ac compressor from the bracket and move it out of the way. NO need to remove the lines. Alternator can stay along for the ride if you want. I always put the engine back in with it already installed.

 

[Machiavellian]

I"m planning on doing an R-12 to R-134 conversion on it anyway, and the compressor has been without a belt for a while... so depending on how long its been sitting I don't even know if its good or not. SO I'll probably tear down the system inspect it, make the conversion, and then reassemble it. Then again, that may be a bit ambitious and I'm pretty dang lazy... so I may take your advice anyway. Less work to do is always fantastic. \

As for the alternator, well, it's pretty seriously fouled and needs some specific attention to clean up (Terminals are oil soaked and covered in what can only be presumed as sublimated belt bits form years of service). Cleaning and buffing an old alternator is always cheaper than burning it out 10 miles down the road and having to pull the whole dang thing again. Plus... ehehe, before you had even replied... I may have already taken the sucker out. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif

Leaving this post summary at: Updated (And much more educated.) to-do...
Compressor bracket demount, starter motor electrical disconnect, ALl the good trans-y stuff pertaining to shift cables and clutch slave cylinder hide the bodies in the newfound space under the hood for the night - Best not tell the police on this one.

Tomorrow: Lift the car, front driveshaft(s) removal, And hopefully teach an engine to fly. Give 'er some brand new vitals, spitshine on the old ones, and scoop out tumors along the way.

As promised: Today's photos. Not much to see.

The turbo:
It's just a standard 16g, so I figure you guys are pretty familiar with those by now. No need for a multi-angle shot.


Here we have my fashionable footwear choice, oh, and the alternator.



And lastly, out of pitty from the family I got an upgrade from driveway to garage, so now I've got a fancy workspace in here that'll let me take full advantage of my nocturnal nature and work until 5 A.M.


As always, thanks for the help and advice along the way. I hope to have this car back on the streets and driving by midway/late next week. I'll keep spamming up posts until it is... then I'll probably get really really quiet... as I'll be obsessing over getting this thing cleaned up and sparkly.

Cheers!

 

[kumfasa]

Intake manifold support bracket bolts can go to hell! Check this out! (pics at the bottom of the post)
My latest post

 

[tektic]

Quoting Machiavellian:
Liquid wrench is some high dollar stuff right there. I've got a can of WD40, and tin of penetrating oil that's about as old as I am.



It's not nearly as expensive as bringing a part to the machine shop to have a broken bolt drilled out.

WD40 won't do anything for you to penetrate rust. It's a Water Dispersant oil. The Penetrating oil you have is probably fine but for the $7 I'd like to know I did everything I could not to brake anything.

 

[Machiavellian]

Now that looks like an interesting tool to say the least. Quite the impressive assembly for sure. Sadly mine is pretty well torqued down and I only managed to loosen the 1 bolt I could get a reasonable angle on. The rest just tried to get me to slit my wrist on whatever sharp things I could find right there in the engine bay. I actually tried something quite similar to your design there, but still no luck.

I simply tease about liquid wrench costing too much. So far in this disassembly I've invested $0 directly. (Preparations for the reassembly however are a different story. I already have gaskets, belts, filters, brake pads, and more goodies fresh in their boxes and ready to go.) Thankfully I do have family members with a full machine shop at their disposal (Because farm tractors.) So I'll be running the turbo out there and take care of that broken bolt. So, lucky for dumb ol' me that'll be a freebie, might cost me a few hours manual labor unless they're feeling generous. So for that bit I'm quite thankful.

Alas, next time I'm at a store I'll remember to pick up a can of penetrant that isn't from the cretaceous period.