Barefootdan

Totally agreed with both comments above. But at this time (and with my current budget), my main focus is getting the car driving. I fully understand it is not the cure, but it should last me a couple years before I do a full strip down. Theres a couple other spots of rust (hatch lid corner, lower fender, for example) that I would want to tackle at the same time. Luckily Arizona is DRY, so fingers crossed no new spots come up

Some recent photos from the work I did over the week. As I mentioned before, I stripped that grimy wiring harness. Just did a quick electrical tape to get it back together. I forgot to take and after photo...oops! And then I got around to some more floor pan cutting. Its ugly and theres still some pinhole rust, but I think the major cancer is out. I'll use the POR15 fiberfill for the small stuff and patch in a new sheet for the big cuts. The passenger pan near the firewall has another spot I may take out. But it is a bit more complex shape and curve. I dont want t

Haha thats great

Yea I may resort to buying one...I should look at it like I am able to get a deeper clean in and replace the clutch if needed too. I'm this far in already!

Small project update. I was able to finally decide the direction of the build. I'll be rebuilding the current head (if the machine shop approves) and use the stock cam for now. I figure it is not worth the money for a stage 1 cam and the original EFI. Later on I can decide on megasquirt or carbs and worry about power then. I'll slap on some 6-2 headers and some twice pipes out the rear. I was debating in my post above to not worry about the rings, but I did a quick test by pouring some gas into the cylinders to see how bad they are. Welp, good thing I checked. Within 15 minutes there was

Thats a good point. I almost wonder if I should just toss the head back on after fixing the bent valve to see where it puts me.

I'll get out there and measure to be sure. I think 107.9mm is the spec. I dont recall if it had bronze valve seats, but it did have the spray oiling bar for sure. I am leaning towards a valve job on mine. Buying a different motor seems like the easy way out 🙂 Would it be worth the time to have the head shaved to increase compression? Then shim the cam towers of course. I wouldnt run flat top pistons if I went this route for cost savings.

Hmm, time to decide now which route might be best. Picking up the longblock with unknown psi (it does spin freely) or rebuild mine. I've got some thinking to do!

It looks like there is about a 1/16th of an inch. Head is definitely not flat. I was able to slide a .3mm feeler, granted my straight edge is not super precise, but it (straight edge) felt flat on the block. On the head, it rocked on the 4/5 cylinder wall regularly. I different angles and positions of the straight edge to try to rule that out. Is this too much to shave?

Ill check out the thermal switch and warming plate removal. thank you! I agree, tps is better left on. Is BCDD pretty mandatory? To be honest, that is a bit of a wizard device to me (like carbs!).

Eh, not a ton. But I dont mind spending more to know it is done right. Rather than picking up the $450 combo, see it also needs a rebuild 😅 As you can tell, I am not a betting man. Id be happy if I could freshen up mine for under $800. Rings, deglaze (bore/hone if needed), regrind the cam and refinish rockers, new seals throughout, misc block off plates, new timing kit and waterpump, new head bolts.

Oops, i guess a better term is just overall running of the engine. Trying to remove as much unneeded stuff as possible while still retaining whats *needed* for a smooth experience. I read that you can also take out the TPS and AAR but it start to have negative impacts. Is that right?

Exactly! I would be so bummed putting a fresh head on only to find out that the rings were also bad....Well since we're this far I may as well pull the block! It could use a deep clean anyway 🙂 Started tearing the head apart more today. Got the rockers and cam out. I'll need to get a spring compression tool to move forward. Planning to send off the cam for a stage 1 grind as well as the rockers to refinish. Darn EFI limits me on the cams! Also was able to start cutting some rust out of the floor pans. I think I'll get the big chunks out, weld in new plates, then POR15 the enti

Same! I think I will run them with some fresh rings and a deglaze. Overall compression was averaging around 90psi so I think its safe to do rings while im here. You got my hopes up 😄 I dont think it is base on the pictures. I did front, lobes, and rear.

Did a quick clean of the piston tops. @Captain Obvious thoughts? Im no expert on internals yet, but #6 definitely looks like something was flying around in there. The rest look okay for what they are. Looks like #5 and #6 also had a run in with a valve! (Hopefully they upload in order starting with #6)