The name has a little story. I bought it early December. I saw it along side the road for sale as we were driving back from Christmas tree cutting. My 2 yr old who was obsessed with Santa saw it and said Santa truck...red. I laughed and thought finding it was a bit of a Christmas miracle. When I told my brother the story he said you should name it the Slay. So that will probably stick.
Finnish the gas tank refurbish. LC started right up. The gas guage was not working before. Now it is. No leaks! All in all it was too much work. Next time I am getting a new one!!!
Tomorrow I am going in for a new header back exhaust. We will see how that goes.
I took it to MexMufflers. It is a local place that has great reviews. After inspection the guy brought me out and asked me if I really wanted a new stainless steel exhaust. He said in broken English. Your truck no good. Too much money for truck like this. I said good point. Let's make it. Standard exhaust from headers back. He said still too much money with a slight smile. I said $1k is worth it to get it going again. He then said he heard a engine knock. Hmmm. I thought I heard it too but hopped it was the exhaust. Ill know in about 3 hours when they are done! I hope it is the bottom end if it is anything!!
Ohhh. The tech also showed me a fairly decent oil leak. It was from a pin hole rust leak on the side of my oil pan. Looks like that is added to the list.
Well I am going to pull the motor tomorrow. The plan is to do a compression test with the motor out. If I have good compression I'll do a budget rebuild (everything but the pistons).
If compression is low then I am going to continue the quest for a 3FE that I can drive to pick up.
7 hours and I think I am only half way there. There are hoses that go to hoses that go to hard line that go to hoses. Most bolts are seized. Grinding, drilling and tapping is becoming standard. The good is the broken bolts are all on the front grill and radiator brackets.
I am pretty beat though and pretty damn nervous about how many plugs and hoses I have disconnected. I took pics but it is such a mess.
3 more hours today and everything is separated except the bell housing. I can't think of any way to get to the top 2 bolts. I think the transmission needs to come down. I am not too happy about that as the cross brace bolts are very seized on. Oh well. Must be done!
I dropped the tranny support brace and the motor down about 3 inches and found the top bolt very easly. The other top bolt was missing. That is strange. My son chipped my wife's tooth while she was putting away his toys. I had to stop to assess the damage. There are only two bolts left on the bell housing and then the motor will be out. Feeling a sense of personal pride as the most I have done in motor work is rebuild a 78 Honda 400. This forum continues to be invaluable!
So far out of six days planned on two separate occasions of uninterrupted time to work on the LC I have been able to net a total of 10 hrs of wrenching time. It is like having a hot wife that I can't touch. At least I get to look at my ruby princess every morning and night. By brain knows to keep family the priority.
Second question. How does this cylinder wall look? It feels very smooth to the touch with no gouges. Would I expect to find more damage on the piston from rubbing. I would think so.
Second question. How does this cylinder wall look? It feels very smooth to the touch with no gouges. Would I expect to find more damage on the piston from rubbing. I would think so.
I would take a really long and close look at your frame, especially the front. I have worked on 3-4 old trucks that were used as plow trucks some as low as 15,000 original miles. They lived hard lives with busted and mangled frames, trashed steering, wasted suspension and more.
For those cylinder bores, the scoring does not look horrible. I would pick up a bore gauge to determine if the bore is worn beyond tolerance. That will determine if it is worth honing or boring. In order to achieve a proper honing, you will be disassembling the bottom end as well and you will be removing bearings, you will be removing the pistons and most likely replacing the rings. It does not appear to have a ring groove at the top edge and you cannot catch a fingernail on it. That would be good for basic wear.
I do not see how you know those valves are burned without disassembling them. A burned valve is evident upon disassembly and the etching that occurs. Carbon buildup on the valves does not indicate burning of a valve.
Make sure that whatever you disassemble, make sure to keep it in order and know exactly which part comes from where and in what order.
I would suggest a parts washer to clean up that valve train.
As much gunk is inside that engine, it needs a thorough cleaning.
