There is a large community of people here in Portland that buy totaled vehicles, rebuild them, then sell them at slightly less than retail making it look like a good deal. Some may do a good job, but most of the mechanical work is questionable at best and if there is structural damage (frame...
OBDI systems have no O2 sensors after the cat so the problem has to be either defective sensors (unlikely) or something fouling them too quickly. Oil, antifreeze and non cat-friendly RTV silicone will all foul the 02 sensors pretty quickly. Also, if you are running rich constantly that will...
I am curious as to how close you are to hitting the bump stops on your front axle when you are parked on level ground. My stock springs are worn and I only have a couple of inches of clearance, but everything is completely original. I am almost certain a bumper like the Ironman or ARB would...
If you really like this cruiser offer some of the money back (which should be an obvious result IMHO) to the current owner to compensate for his/her time. Have them retest the compression with actual numbers and make your decision from there. I only recommend this if the compression test...
It also isn't a huge issue since the 3FE uses timing gears rather than a belt. I have never heard of the gears failing so the chance of catastrophic failure from the pistons hitting the valves would be nearly impossible.
The grease from the factory is there to hold the roller bearings in place. Load them up after you install and every 5k miles after and they will last a long, long time.
I flushed the tranny in my 91 when I bought it at 151k miles and am now at 165k miles and plan on draining and refilling every 10k. I didn't notice any ill effects to using the transmission machine from Snap-On.
Ditto! I had a nagging vibration around 60 mph and drove all the way to Miles City, MT (about 1000 miles) dealing with it. Got my tires balanced and rotated at one of my two options in town and the ride home was a lot smoother. Lube your DS, UJ, and get your tires rotated and balanced and see...
For the front I just routed a 1/4" tube up into the engine bay and put the tube over the spout on the gear oil cap. For the center and rear I broke down and bought a gear oil pump at the parts store.