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Well ain't this just peaches and cream.

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jdubois said:
Today is the day! I'll have pictures later, and if I'm lucky I'll have an answer too.
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I'm all on tenterhooks!
 
Yeah, I know I'm coming in a bit late on this, but.... :wink:
jdubois said:
This thing was supposedly "professionally restored". Well, I'm finding all kinds of weirdness. The speedo cable was held together with duck tape. Lots of missing hardware. Some wrong hardware (including some metric stuff!). Incorrect electrical connectors, with crimps so bad they were barely holding together, some kind of homemade 'cereal box' type gasket on the thermostat, etc... I've gotta be very careful not to succumb to shipwrights too badly!
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Understood on the "shipwrights"; however, there's getting carried away on what initially was to be one, simple task, and there's the practicality of correcting potential problems (especially while they're more accessible and the car is "down" anyway) before they come back to bite you! :wall:
 
Ok, she fought me a bit more than I expected her to, but no serious problems, and most importantly it's out without any collateral damage. I'll get the gearbox separated tonight and see what I can see.

engineout.jpg
 
Ok... so I decided not to wait. And now I'm <span style="font-style: italic">really</span> confused.

Took the gearbox off the engine and nothing immediately apparent was wrong inside the bellhousing. Figured I should check if the gearbox turns. Yup, gearbox turns fine. Well, just for kicks let me try the engine... much to my surprise, it spins just fine. Um, what??? Something wrong with the clutch?!?! I guess I should bolt the gearbox back up and see if it's stuck again.
 
Well....look at it this way....apparently you DON'T have an engine tear down in front of you?! :smile:
 
Problem most definitely solved.

It was two part. First, the new starter has the wrong gear on it, which is binding on the clutch pressure plate. Second, there was a loose nut in the bellhousing (no idea how it got in there, it wasn't anything that was supposed to be in there) which had jammed the flywheel. It must have been in there a while, but coincidentally only jammed up the flywheel after the new starter was in (maybe I disturbed it when take out the old/putting the new starter in?). This caused me to not diagnose the starter gear problem, as the engine was still stuck even when the starter was out.
 
"To lock an engine up like this (locked while turning), something has to have broken or something has to have wedged its self between a moving part and an im-movable part."

Well, I was close. What do I win?

Never mind, I'm just glad you have resolution to the problem and, as it turns out, the engine or transmission would have had to have been pulled to find/fix it. At least now the engine doesn't have to be torn down.
 
bgbassplyr said:
At least now the engine doesn't have to be torn down.
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I was going to be pretty surprised if I had to tear into the engine, after I dropped the sump and everything looking almost like new. I'm even now thinking the coolant I saw on top the head may have come through the valve cover gasket, as I'd been replacing the hoses up there just before the starter issue and I could easily have leaked some onto the head which then seeped under the gasket.
 
Well, I'm on the return trip now... I ordered a bunch of new hardware and gaskets, some new speedo and tach cables, and I've begun degreasing the engine and parts of the frame for repainting. If I'm lucky I'll have her back together within a few weeks.

I've got to figure out what to do with my transmission tunnel cover though. Many of the bolt holes are torn and/or elongated such that they'll no longer actually hold the bolt head, even with an oversized washer. Anybody deal with this before?
 
jdubois said:
I've got to figure out what to do with my transmission tunnel cover though. Many of the bolt holes are torn and/or elongated such that they'll no longer actually hold the bolt head, even with an oversized washer. Anybody deal with this before?
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At least short-term, perhaps you can find some "fender washers" and trim them as necessary? Or even make your own out of sheet metal? Frankly, I wouldn't go to a great amount of effort for something that gets covered up by carpeting. So long as you can get something to help hold the bolt head, you should be fine.
 
So anybody think it's worth doing a compression test on the bench, just to be sure the engine is in decent shape, since the engine is out anyway?
 
A leak down test would be much easier to do and, IMHO, give you more/better information than a compression test.
 
Hatman said:
A leak down test would be much easier to do and, IMHO, give you more/better information than a compression test.
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:iagree:
 
Hatman said:
A leak down test would be much easier to do and, IMHO, give you more/better information than a compression test.
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Yeah... but I don't have any source of compressed air. I suppose it's a good excuse to buy a little compressor
grin.gif
 
Or a big one!
 
Ok, making progress now. Engine and gearbox are all degreased and detailed, and they are mated back up to each other. I did a bit of swearing while trying to get them to mate up, till I ran out to the hardware store and got a few long threaded rods to guide the gearbox on with. Then it went on smooth like butter. And most importantly, now that they're together, everything still turns! :laugh:

Just waiting on some more parts, and the new starter (Jeff did finally find me one of the correct ones, so I won't have to eat the cost of this incorrect one as a core for the right one), and I'll get her all back together.
 
Great news! Be driving soon!! :driving:
 
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