Okay...who poured green paint in my oil filler!

[Tabcon]

I'm not going to go into the personal and exceedingly boring details about the divorce I'm going through, so it's okay to read on. By the way, the question posed in the above subject line is rhetorical.

I actually DO know who did this sophomoric prank, but that's not the point.
The point is someone, anyone poured what looks like about a 1/2 to 3/4 cup of latex house paint, along with various nuts, bolts and washers into my oil filler cap a couple of weeks ago before I regained exclusive use of our home, and more importantly my garage.

Fortunately, fate had been shining on me that day as I had decided to pull the valve cover to tighten the emblem on the top of it. It was at that time that I noticed both of the no. 4 intake and exhaust roller rockers were a lovely shade of dark gray green, while the remainder of the rocker arms were the standard shade of gold aluminum.

If anyone can offer any suggestions other than what I've already done, please do, as this is the very first time someone has poured paint instead of oil into my filler cap.

Obviously, the rocker arms and valve springs were coated, as well as the two push rods, but not so much as I would have expected. I removed the entire rocker arm assembly and throughly cleaned everything, re-oiled it and reassembled it.

Next, I removed the head, and all the tappets. The two no. 4 tappets were almost filled with green paint, but amazingly enough, very, very little seeped past them to the cam. There were a few tiny spots paint on the cam, but they were easily removed. I spun the engine over slowly by hand and found no additional paint on the camshaft. The 2 no. 4 push rods were also cleaned and I also removed the paint that collected on the top of the head below the valve springs. No paint at all made it past the valve seals, but the springs were pretty well coated so I used my compressor and some WD-40 and some teeny tiny picks to remove every little bit of paint between the springs and the seals. I also plan on draining the crankcase and flushing it with some fresh oil before refilling it.

I doubt that the paint would have done any serious damage since it would have broken down and I would have been changing the oil in a short period of time anyway. The bolts, screws, washers, and tiny nuts I found lodged between the rocker arms and valve springs is a horse of a different color and could have caused a little grief for sure.

On a positive note, it was actually enjoyable to take it all apart again, inspect it, re-lube everything and now put it back together. I've missed working on it and this was as good a place to start as any I suppose.

 

[poolboy]

Malicious as it was it may not have been the only "prank".

 

[Tabcon]

Oh my word no. This is not the only prank by any means, but the only one directed at my car, as far as I can tell. I've looked it over very carefully and all is in order. For something more sinister to have been done, the perp would have to actually know something about cars. I surprised this perp even knew where the paint would actually end up.

 

[tdskip]

Wow - what a lousy thing to do. Sounds like you got it before it did too much damage. Any chance there is some hanging out still in the passage ways?

Hang in there.

 

[TonyPanchot]

I could say something but I should rather not
did you dust for prints ?

 

[DougF]

Have you checked your gas tank? Might want to drain it to be on the safe side. You can learn to put sugar in the tank at the movies.

 

[dklawson]

Have you checked your gas tank? Might want to drain it to be on the safe side. You can learn to put sugar in the tank at the movies.

That was my thought to. And... don't forget to check the brakes and probably flush them completely too. It also would not surprise me to find roofing nails or sheet metal screws at select points in the tires.

 

[Brosky]

Check all bleeder screws on every cylinder and every line connection.

They may not be as mechanically "dumb" as you think.

Look at every nut and bolt on the steering and suspension as well.

Ever see the movie "Walking Tall" about the southern sheriff with the big club? True story. Too bad his deputy took the car for a test drive and they didn't know the steering arm nut was loosened by the bad guys. Not a pretty sight when each front wheel turns a different direction at 100mph.

 

[GBRandy]

You need to write a book when this is all said and done. I'll buy a copy.

Keep the faith man.........

 

[TexasKnucklehead]

Having been through a similarly mean spirited divorce, I can say that the real trouble started when I was awarded sole custody of the house and garage. I also believe that you will not have to serve time if you do not stoop to that level. Remind yourself that you are better than that, and in the end, things will go the way the should -or there is nothing you can do about it anyway. I was surpised to find who my real friends were, and hers weren't. Did you document any of it and share it with your attorney?

Did you actually run the engine, or happen upon it prior to starting?

Enjoy your car, but be prepared for someone to try to take it. In case you didn't know, no price can be placed on 'sentiment' -unless you're trying to buy it from an ex.

Hang in there.

 

[SkinnedKnuckles]

Ouch - what a mean thing to do! Luckily(?) the paint is probably heavier than the oil, so I'd drop the pan rather than flush for a cleanout. You don't want a skin of paint going over or getting sucked into the oil pick-up. Unbelievable....

 

[JKB1957]

Before you do anything else I would recommend you change all the locks on your house and put a large padlock on any outside garage doors. Getting a medium/large size dog with a protective attitute to be home while you're not probably wouldn't hurt either. Good luck.

 

[mallard]

I think it's time for a new gasket set for the engine. I would take the whole thing apart and start over. It will take longer to clean and inspect it than to put it back together again. I would hate to see your engine go bad because of a blocked oil passage. People can sure suck at times. Very fine work done to the car so far, this will only be a delay and soon forgotten.

 

[Tabcon]

There is no gas tank yet, just the frame and engine and the wheels and tires were installed after I moved back in. But, just in case, I will give it a good going over again. The engine has never been started, only turned by hand to adjust the valves and such, and that was long before the night stalker did her thing.
I think it would be a good idea to remove the oil pan and take a look up it's skirt just to be certain though.

Texas, I feel for you man. I wish I could say it's over, but it's not. I can proudly say that my lawyer and I have taken the high road (mostly at her urging...lol), as opposed to the much, much, lower swamp road my wife and her counsel have chosen. The judge's and assorted commissioner's, hearing officers, etc. that hear this junk day after day can usually see right through the nonsense and I'm so very thankful for that.

I suppose I could write a book about the whole ordeal when it's over, maybe even sell the movie rights, but I think they already had a similar movie, "The War of The Roses". Those two were lightweights.

Enough of that already, on to the good stuff. As I said, I installed a set of 6" VTO's clad with Yoko Avid A-0048's and it looks incredible. The VTO's are an awesome wheel and an lot of bang for the buck, but I just can't get my head around the conical center cap of the VTO's. I'm hoping I can fit a different style cap.

All I'm waiting on now is a set of manifold gaskets and some new studs. Once all that is installed, I'll roll it out and take some shots of it. The new headers offered by Racestorations I'm using are sweet. I'm going to make my own 2.25" stainless pipe run and top it off with a Burns stainless steel 2 stage muffler. These things sound incredible with the TR. I was going to go with a dual exhaust, but I can't afford 2 of the mufflers at this time. As it is, I'll most likely have to live on bread and water for a couple of weeks to swing one Burns muffler.

Next stage will be front brakes and finally, the fitting of the tub and all the panels, doors, hood, etc. I'm going to fit everything before painting, then remove it all again and have it sprayed. I'm really torn between black or a BRG that''s almost black. If anyone knows of a BRG that looks black for the most part, let me know. I emailed a guy in the UK once that makes the D-Type replica's who uses a BRG I really like, but he wouldn't give me the paint code.

 

[emmett1010]

"heck hath no fury like a woman spurned"
Emmett

 

[hondo402000]

that sucks but if you bring it up in court all the judge will say if you didnt see her do it then you cannot proove she did it unless you install cameras and have her on video the only people getting rich are the lawyers, they create nothing

 

[Tabcon]

Hondo, the funny thing I've learned about the civil justice system, is that "absolute proof beyond a shadow of a doubt", such as in a criminal case, is not necessary. You need only show "reasonable proof." When the case starts, all parties appear to be on the same playing field. However, as things progress and the case begins 'reveal' itself, the party who has blatantly and transparently chosen to take the low road (and there always seems to be one) appears to have a much heavier burden of proof placed upon them by virtue of their past attempts at trickery, and/or lame attempts at manipulating the system.
Sometimes you need no proof at all, just a great lawyer and a story that rings of the truth.

i could cite specific instances, but that would not be prudent at this juncture as uncle George used to say.