What did you do today?

[ebinmaine 67,628]

3 hours ago, Mickwhitt said:

my luck to have stripped the engine out if Fred yesterday

Timing is never going to be perfect on something like that I guess.

But on the plus side you took it apart and made the decision to repair it before anything major went Kapowski. 

[Mickwhitt 4,642]

I would hate to have put the engine under stress and blown it just to clear the road outside. The two wheeler did a great job and gave me a good workout,  I did 16000 steps according to my fit watch.

Glad to have my Thursday night yoga class to relax my tired muscles.

 

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

I did a lot today but the highlight was replacing the motor mount, transmission mount, and dog bones in my wife's '98 Monte Carlo.  The motor now sits about an inch or more higher in the engine bay.

 

Something at the front of the engine is weeping oil, possibly the front crank seal and it drips right onto the motor mount.  If you're familiar with the W body Chevy you know that mount sits in a rectangular 'bucket' and with the oil and road dirt the drain holes on the bucket were all plugged up.  Additionally the hydraulic fluid from the mount (yes, they are hydraulic) leaked out.  What a god awful gooey greasy slimy dirty filthy mess of a job that was!  But it's done.  Wifey couldn't be happier that her car no longer rumbles and bangs because the mount was metal on metal and the motor isn't dancing around under the hood.

 

The trans mount and dogbones weren't bad bad, but they were compressed, and of course those are a piece of cake compared to the motor mount.

 

This weekend I plan to tear into the engine to replace the manifold gaskets ... for the fourth time.  I'M doing it this time and it will be done RIGHT, not like the schlocks that did it the previous three times!  I'm going to replace that front crank seal while I'm at it.  That's an easy job on this car.

 

I'll add a pic of the old motor mount tomorrow sometime because right now I need a HOT shower and some sleep! and some Advil, wash them down with a nice Bourbon...

 

OK... as promised, pics of the old mount vs. new:  I'll be changing that front crank seal this weekend along with the intake gaskets!

 

 

 

New mount installed, PRETTY!  The 'tilt' of the engine is because I didn't yet have the upper dog bones connected when I too the pic.

Looks like the control arm bushings could stand a 'refresh' too.  Things just don't last like they used to, this car only has 160K miles on it!  

 

 

ONWARD AND UPWARD!

Edited February 5, 2021 by Jeff-C175

[Stormin 9,981]

 Not been anything done over the previous two days. Never stopped raining and bitterly cold with it. Today's been cold, never got much above freezing, but has been fine.

  Spent some time splitting logs. Got a good stock up now.

[R Scheer 502]

Just updated one of my fathers old drills.  The old power cord was kind of scary! 

[ebinmaine 67,628]

Spent some time yesterday organizing the basement workshop to make it more ergonomically friendly.  

 

We had brought the big drill press in from the outdoor workshop a few weeks ago. 

I moved most all the contents of the desk top to places that are more practical and within reach of their usage. I. E. Drills with the drill. Nuts and bolts consolidated. Paint to the corner where it's better stored. 

Also moved the electric wall around a little. 

 

 

 

[tom2p 2,394]

nice work area !

[ebinmaine 67,628]

47 minutes ago, tom2p said:

nice work area !

Thanks Tom. It's getting there. 

 

I swapped out from a cheapo 1/2 hp bench grinder to the old Ram that's now mounted there. 3/4 hp. 

Whatta difference. 

Makes some interesting noises while spooling up. Once it gets to speed it turns nice and smooth with much better power. 

 

Note in front of the smaller toolbox. There's a square hole. That's for holding transmissions. 

Good to have a decent workspace. 

 

Definitely need to organize the drill bits. I'll start a thread about that. 

 

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

1 hour ago, ebinmaine said:

the basement workshop

 

And that stove!  OMG that thing is BEAUTIFUL!  Don't ever let me near it unless you wanna be cleaning up drool.

Edited January 17, 2021 by Jeff-C175

[ebinmaine 67,628]

3 minutes ago, Jeff-C175 said:

 

And that stove!  OMG that thing is BEAUTIFUL!  Don't ever let me near it unless you wanna be cleaning up drool.

 

 

No worries bud. We got a mop. C'mon by. 

 

 

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

8 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

 

 

No worries bud. We got a mop. C'mon by. 

 

 

 

I usually travel with my own spitoon so you shouldn't need the mop!  

 

We need to get back up there someday.  Ancestral roots are Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and MA, so I feel genetically tied to New England.

 

Soonaz this GD Covid thing is over I'm planning a trip, your Pon'D will be on the agenda for sure! 

 

Hide your valuables! 

[ebinmaine 67,628]

16 minutes ago, Jeff-C175 said:

Hide

We don't hide nothin'. 

I have a BBT....

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

 

Progress on the manifold gasket replacement on the treasurer's vehicle.  '98 Monte Carlo 3.1L 

 

I'm taking my time on this and fixing everything else that I come across as I find it and there have been several issues corrected so far that aren't related to the manifolds.

 

The rubber ends on the vacuum tube going down to the modulator on the transmission were cracked and dry rotted.  I honestly don't understand why these vacuum leaks were not causing idle issues, but I have noticed a 'weirdness' in the tranny shifting. FIXED.

 

The PCV hose where it enters the manifold was loose fitting, and leaking vacuum, as was the hose from the air tube to the rearmost valve cover.  I think I'm just going to clean them up and install with "The Right Stuff" black Permatex instead of hunting down those grommets.  If they still leak afterward they're easy to access.

 

If you look just to the right of the rear cylinder head you will see a round disk.  This is the 'remains' of the distributor shaft used on the pre-electronic engines.  GM cut down the shaft and still uses that for the oil pump drive.  It is common for the O-ring on that shaft to weep oil and this one has been for a very long time.  Installed new O-ring AND a bit of Permatex RTV around the shoulder for added measure.  (this should be ROUTINE whenever one of these is apart for gasket service.  It's VERY COMMON and SIMPLE when the engine is apart!  [edit 1/19: O-ring included with FelPro gasket set, see below]

 

The wiring harness where the connectors exit the split loom is taped up with electrical tape.  All of this tape was completely deteriorated.  I've ripped off all that crap and done a proper re-tape of all the harnesses I've touched. (which is ALL of them!)

 

I mentioned earlier that the front crank seal was also weeping, I'm going to do that after I'm done with the gaskets.

 

I need to b1tc4 a little bit about mechanics in general.  I fully understand that 'time is money'.  BUT...

 

The ONLY reason that this fairly recent gasket replacement failed is because of shoddy workmanship.  They did use the correct improved gasket set and this repair should have lasted at LEAST 50K miles.  We got under 20K out of this one.

 

If you've ever worked on these engines you know that the single most important point about the lower manifold is that the bolts MUST be tightened in the proper sequence AND to the CORRECT torque.

 

When I got to removing the bolts to pull the lower manifold the FIRST bolt I touched, the one where the leak was coming from, left (passenger) side, rear bank, was FINGER TIGHT!!!!!  ARRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!  I was so angry I could SPIT!  (good thing I have a spitoon!)  In retrospect, if I had known this, I could have averted all of this extra work and just reached in there somehow with a wrench and tightened just that bolt.  But of course, had I done that the other things that I fixed would not have been discovered.

 

AND the rest of the bolts were all over the place.  Some over-tight, some under-loose.  One seems to have galled thread from over-tightening so I need to buy a metric tap and chase the threads. Hope I don't end up with metal flakes in the oil galleries.  (that four center bolts enter the crankcase)  AND there was none of the REQUIRED thread lock compound on any of the bolts.  NEW manifold bolts with pre-applied thread lock and sealant are HIGHLY RECOMMENDED by both Felpro and GM.  They re-used the old bolts.

 

[later (1/17) edit to above paragraph: I bought the tap today and chased the threads.  TWO were pretty messed up but they are now serviceable.  They ALL needed 'chasing'.  I've worked on a pretty fair number of engines and IM(ns)HO when doing any work on an engine the threads should be chased, especially if it's aluminum and requires proper torque spec.)   And by the way, I was wrong about the bolts being 'through' and into the crankcase oil galleries.    They are in fact closed bottom so I had no fear about metal chips getting down in there with thanks to my handy dandy shop vac adapter for closed bottom bolt holes.  (a piece of copper tubing duct taped to the hose nozzle).  Sucks all the crud out of the bottom easy peasy.]

 

[later later 1/19 edit:  The UPPER manifold (plenum) bolts ARE through to oil, so use the Loctite SEALER and LOCK all in one on these]

 

While this engine is apart is the perfect time to install a new THERMOSTAT.  It's VERY difficult to do with the engine together but SIMPLE to do with the manifold on the bench.  Why not replace it then?  It's a DUHHHHHH.  The guys did not do this last time.

 

Also, there are two short hoses going from the heater pipe that wraps around the front and down the side of the engine that heat the throttle body.  IMPOSSIBLE to replace with everything assembled.  SIMPLE to replace when the manifolds are out.  They didn't do these either.  One is a straight piece which can be just a chunk of (5/16 ?) heater hose, the other is a molded one that should be purchased.

 

So if you are going to do this job, put a thermostat and those throttle body heater hoses on your list.  OH... and the O-ring where the heater pipe enters the thermostat. [1/17 edit:  ALSO the O-ring on the bottom of the fitting on the left (passenger side) front of the forward cylinder head next to the water pump, the black thing with the bleed fitting on top and a pipe going to the right side.  It's a coolant line going to the heater core.]

 

[later later 1/19 edit:  The O-rings mentioned above are in fact included in the FelPro MS98004T gasket kit, no need to purchase.  If you ever DO need to replace these, they are #11 and #17 O-rings for reference.  The kit also contains a new thermostat seal, and another O-ring (bigger) I haven't been able to determine 'where used' yet.  I bet it's for the oil pump shaft mentioned earlier!  I should have opened the gasket package earlier!]

 

There were also several pieces of hardware MISSING, notably the rear bolts on the coil pack which are admittedly difficult to access.  (made much easier by releasing the front dogbone mounts and pulling the engine forward as in the pic, the orange strap)

 

Soooo, it's OBVIOUS that these guys F'd up and really didn't give a 5h1t.

 

I think that is all for now... I'm in the process of cleaning parts for reassembly.  Taking my sweet azz time because I'm not on the clock and don't have to worry about 'book'.  Watch for the next installment.  Can't find my 1/4" torque wrench, I think I loaned it out a few years ago and never got it back.  Going out to buy a new one today. [1/17 edit:  Got the cheapo HF 1/4" drive inch pound wrench for $20.  These are pretty nice wrenches for the money.  They claim +/- 4% accuracy which is close enough for my purposes.]

 

Hope all this helps someone else!

 

 

[edit 1/19:  Now in the process of reassembly!]

 

Edited February 5, 2021 by Jeff-C175

[ebinmaine 67,628]

@Jeff-C175

That's ALOT of little things checked off the list. 

Well done. 

 

On the plus side ... You get to use the spittoon. And most people don't even say spittoon. 

 

[Lee1977 6,667]

8 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

Thanks Tom. It's getting there. 

 

I swapped out from a cheapo 1/2 hp bench grinder to the old Ram that's now mounted there. 3/4 hp. 

Whatta difference. 

Makes some interesting noises while spooling up. Once it gets to speed it turns nice and smooth with much better power. 

 

Note in front of the smaller toolbox. There's a square hole. That's for holding transmissions. 

Good to have a decent workspace. 

 

Definitely need to organize the drill bits. I'll start a thread about that. 

 

Nice of you to organizing Trina's work shop!

[ebinmaine 67,628]

1 hour ago, Lee1977 said:

Nice of you to organizing Trina's work shop!

Her quote:

"I appreciated it very much!" 

[Pullstart 62,912]

I spread some rock salt on a big hill in a long driveway.  I sold him one of my plow trucks last spring, but neglecting to fix a leaking transmission line when he first saw it, the transmission blew and he has no means to clear it now.  I’ve contemplated buying the truck back and fixing it myself, we’ll see.

 

I left him a present in the drive too, it’s a revolving joke.

[Pullstart 62,912]

 

[formariz 11,987]

Somethings one has to be in the right mood to do . Handsaw sharpening is one of those tasks. It’s tedious and time consuming. Today was that day since it was needed but I really didn’t feel motivated to do anything else.

 

 

 

[OldWorkHorse 3,045]

Made some chocolate covered coffee beans cuz can never have enough coffee!

[ebinmaine 67,628]

1 hour ago, OldWorkHorse said:

Made some chocolate covered coffee beans cuz can never have enough coffee!

I wouldn't be entirely angry if some o them showed up here sometime.....

[OldWorkHorse 3,045]

2 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

I wouldn't be entirely angry if some o them showed up here sometime.....

Next time I swing by I'll bring some! 

[Pullstart 62,912]

14 hours ago, OldWorkHorse said:

Next time I swing by I'll bring some! 

Ever swing through Michigan?    We very much enjoy dark chocolate covered espresso beans.  Sometimes I’ll munch on a bean from the coffee machine without the chocolate though.

[OldWorkHorse 3,045]

18 minutes ago, pullstart said:

Ever swing through Michigan?  I’ll munch on a bean from the coffee machine without the chocolate though.

Haha I've been thoigh there cant say the beans would last the trip tho might get the baggy by time I get there! I enjoy a nice dark roast bean snack every now and then. Havnt met to many people who enjoy coffee bean snacks in my life. Apparently they all own wheel horses, is that a sign? 

[ebinmaine 67,628]

59 minutes ago, OldWorkHorse said:

Haha I've been thoigh there cant say the beans would last the trip tho might get the baggy by time I get there! I enjoy a nice dark roast bean snack every now and then. Havnt met to many people who enjoy coffee bean snacks in my life. Apparently they all own wheel horses, is that a sign? 

We're smart. That's all.