'89 Stepside "Way Cool Jr."

[HoneyBadger]

Love the thread. Its like a horror story with moral: “no matter how bad you think you have it, you dont have it as bad as erik the awful and the stepside.”

 

[Erik the Awful]

Umm... thanks?

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

It's the ghosts of all the trucks at pull a part and LKQ. Just kidding, sometimes everyone has a run of bad luck. Last summer I was ready to shoot the Burb when I couldn't get it to stay running (thanks passlock, I'm not trying to steal my own truck! ). But that's sorted out, now I just need to do the upper control arms.
Unfortunately, the pickup we got to have something else to drive while I fix the Burb....remembered it was a cheap ass Ford! The cooling system problem had been going on for some time, and since they didn't drive it much, nobody noticed it. Then it gets driven up to Houston from south Texas, by my boss (who drives like he thinks he's running in nascar) and then for 3 weeks in Houston by us. Second week, starts drinking transmission fluid (was low because no one checked it). Labor Day, changed out the clamp on the hose under the degas bottle (was original style and leaking) and found out where the transmission fluid went. Into the coolant! Muddy water, yuck! So it's been parked all month, while we keep driving old squeaky Burb. Doesn't leak and a lot easier to work on!

 

[HoneyBadger]

Umm... thanks?

i didnt mean it in a bad way. Youve got the patience of a saint, and eventually you’ll get that thing reliable.

 

[Erik the Awful]

I haven't tackled the truck yet, instead I spent Saturday checking the main and rod bearings on the Vic. As we were working with it, the motor freed up a little. I went to take the #5 main cap off, but the rear cover on the engine overlaps it, so we pulled the rear cover, which holds the rear main seal. The rear main seal was split in two with the inner seal stuck to the crankshaft! It was just strong enough to keep the starter and breaker bar from turning the engine over. Once we had it off the engine turned over smooth. The bearings looked great, with the factory machining lines showing! It turns out the motor is a nearly new replacement. I had to buy a long 8mm hex socket to torque the jackscrews on the sides of the main caps, but got it all torqued and torque-angled. The rear cover and oil pan are back in place. Next time my son comes over we're going to get it stabbed back in the car.

After I got that done I turned my attention to the original engine from the truck, that I'm doing a cheap rebuild on. Here's a pic to remind you of how nasty and rusty it was when pulled:
View media item 32061I was looking at the heads and realized there was a plug in one of them. "Hmm... I thought I removed all the plugs."

Then I found a broke off bolt in the end of one of the heads. "Man, I'm such a dirtbag. Why did I take this head to the machine shop with a bolt still broke off in it?"

I extracted the broken bolt and started test fitting my valves. The exhaust valves were way loose in the guides, and the machine shop didn't say anything, nor charge me for machining the valve guides. I took a measurement, .030" over. Hmm... I flipped the heads back over and saw the casting number "10110810". Aha! They gave me the wrong heads. I had 193s. I went back yesterday and we got them sorted.

I'm not planning on going full-bore with this motor, but 193 heads are boat anchors as-cast. So I got out my porting tools and started referencing this video:

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I started with the head that had the worst valve seats, and I really think the head is garbage. It's a good thing, because I think I dorked it up. It's only my second time porting heads. When I was unshrouding the intake valve, like he shows, I bounced out of the pocket a couple times and put a dimple into the quench area. If you try porting your own heads, I recommend putting masking tape across the bottom of the combustion chamber so you don't do the same.

So, I'm going to look at the second head. If the seats look like trash, I may buy a set of big heads and single-plane intake for WCJr, and swap the Vortecs onto this motor. If it looks good, I might make a trip to Pull-A-Part to see if I can find a decent 193 head.

 

[Erik the Awful]

I'm still taking a break from the truck. I replaced the motor controller on my electric trike today, and managed to shoot a short video before my camera barfed.

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Today I plastigauged half the rod caps on the budget engine before my mother-in-law called with a minor emergency. Last week she took her Honda minivan to the dealer for three recalls, two of which required them digging into the engine, and an oil change. Saturday my wife and I borrowed the van and drove to Tulsa to buy a Bernina so she can sew leather purses. Today my son (who lives with grandma) used the van to go to work because his Crown Vic isn't finished yet - there's a rant below about that. He got to work today and mom went into the garage to find a puddle of oil where the van was parked. She called him and he checked the oil in the van. The dipstick was dry and there was oil all over the front of the motor. I drove 45 minutes to his work and checked the filter, thinking the filter was probably double-gasketed. Nope. Whomever did the recall dorked it up. I'm just glad it didn't strand us on the turnpike. We dumped some oil into it and it's going back to the dealer tomorrow.

The Crown Vic fought us quite a bit on the engine reinstallation. Instead of bolts that go through the flexplate into the torque converter, Ford put studs in the torque converter and nuts on the engine side of the flexplate. You have to line the torque converter up with the flexplate as you install the engine to get everything to fit. It took three tries to get that figured out and the engine in place. We went to install the nuts and the originals are all slightly rounded. They're cheap, thin M10x1.25 locknuts. We went to the ACE hardware store down the road, and they were sold out of M10x1.25. We drove to Tractor Supply, Autozone, and O'Reillys and didn't find the nuts. That evening my wife and I were in town and went to Lowe's with no success. The next day I went to Home Depot and finally the ACE in town. If you need hard-to-find hardware, skip the big box stores. Skip the auto parts stores. ACE is the place for sure. NOBODY stocks M10x1.25 locknuts except ACE.

I got a couple more carbide bits for porting, and the second head for the budget motor looks great. Some time this week I'll hit up P-A-P for another 193 head. I'd love to buy a set of Summit's heads, but with three auto insurance bills coming due this month, the $50 head beats the $500 heads.

 

[skylark]

Our ACE store is awesome! Hands down the best hardware store. I hate home Depot.

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

I'm still taking a break from the truck. I replaced the motor controller on my electric trike today, and managed to shoot a short video before my camera barfed.

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Today I plastigauged half the rod caps on the budget engine before my mother-in-law called with a minor emergency. Last week she took her Honda minivan to the dealer for three recalls, two of which required them digging into the engine, and an oil change. Saturday my wife and I borrowed the van and drove to Tulsa to buy a Bernina so she can sew leather purses. Today my son (who lives with grandma) used the van to go to work because his Crown Vic isn't finished yet - there's a rant below about that. He got to work today and mom went into the garage to find a puddle of oil where the van was parked. She called him and he checked the oil in the van. The dipstick was dry and there was oil all over the front of the motor. I drove 45 minutes to his work and checked the filter, thinking the filter was probably double-gasketed. Nope. Whomever did the recall dorked it up. I'm just glad it didn't strand us on the turnpike. We dumped some oil into it and it's going back to the dealer tomorrow.

The Crown Vic fought us quite a bit on the engine reinstallation. Instead of bolts that go through the flexplate into the torque converter, Ford put studs in the torque converter and nuts on the engine side of the flexplate. You have to line the torque converter up with the flexplate as you install the engine to get everything to fit. It took three tries to get that figured out and the engine in place. We went to install the nuts and the originals are all slightly rounded. They're cheap, thin M10x1.25 locknuts. We went to the ACE hardware store down the road, and they were sold out of M10x1.25. We drove to Tractor Supply, Autozone, and O'Reillys and didn't find the nuts. That evening my wife and I were in town and went to Lowe's with no success. The next day I went to Home Depot and finally the ACE in town. If you need hard-to-find hardware, skip the big box stores. Skip the auto parts stores. ACE is the place for sure. NOBODY stocks M10x1.25 locknuts except ACE.

I got a couple more carbide bits for porting, and the second head for the budget motor looks great. Some time this week I'll hit up P-A-P for another 193 head. I'd love to buy a set of Summit's heads, but with three auto insurance bills coming due this month, the $50 head beats the $500 heads.

The more I hear and see about later model Ford stuff, the more I wonder: do they do anything the simpler way, or is it all needlessly complicated? More reason to put money into my Chevy LOL!

 

[Erik the Awful]

But have you driven a Panther? I would have no problem doing a T5 swap in one and then dailying it. I wouldn't sell the Mustang to do it, but man, they are nice cars.

 

[HoneyBadger]

The more I hear and see about later model Ford stuff, the more I wonder: do they do anything the simpler way, or is it all needlessly complicated? More reason to put money into my Chevy LOL!

For ford I think its a revenue from parts and labor thing. Im just amazed at how many people are ford loyal. That 04-14 5.4 3v cam phaser catastrophy was it for me.