Got this picture from the body shop via e-mail (yes, the attachment to this post is the real size of what they sent me...). They were asking if they should repair the scratch on the rim, too. How am I supposed to see anything, in a photo this small?
So can I, but the pic is almost comically small. Could be dirt for all I know... Definitely not the best they could do to show previously undiscovered minor damage.
My catalytic converter got clogged and it took hours of trouble shooting to figure out why I was down on power so bad all of a sudden. I checked cam timing. Inspected the valve retainers and keepers. I cheked the intake for vacuum leaks. What I thought was exhaust leak rasp is more likely to be cat rattle. Going to gut it tomorrow to find our for sure. Probably a good time to replace the garbage cast exhaust manifold with a proper header while I'm at it.
You say: "Hey Jim, where is that rust hole in the rocker?" I say: "what rust hole?" I think you can figure out how I decided to spend my evening.
My rockers are GONE on the underside. On the drivers side you can see a harness hanging down.. Car is still at the shop getting my replacement starter installed. Access was a PITA and I failed to get even one bolt loose so I decided to just have a shop do it for me.
I should probably check this myself, as this car has suffered several forms of engine abuse including: -Sitting almost completely unused for six years. -Being repeatedly almost run out of gas (and by that I mean bucking, missing, and trying to shut off by the time I reach the pump) -Being actually run out of gas once (all of about 100 yards from a gas station, because I tried to eat my drive-thru lunch before I refuelled) -Running almost without oil for way too long -Running without coolant for way too long (never actually overheated though) -Using the same single-copper spark plugs for, very possibly, 23 years. -Being repeatedly "yanked out of bed" and thrashed cold in a mad rush to work -Seafoamed out once, which isn't technically "abuse" but certainly causes the car to pollute hardcore while it's working Through all that, I could see the cat causing me grief. It's funny, you know. When first I changed the spark plugs, it seemed to run better, smoother, and faster. For all of about two days. Now it's back to where it was, running extremely rough, making a raspy tickingish sound, being really slow, and sometimes the engine will just straight up lose power in the high 4000RPM range, worse and more sharply than it ever did before. I might have screwed up the plug gaps somehow, and it absolutely needs an oil change, but what would make it run better for about two days and then go even worse than it was before?
AFR being out causing engine to run rich/lean can knacker plugs again. Dodgy fuelling? 23 year old fuel filter may well have a load of crap in it.
I smelled fuel at hi revs and noticed the power was leveling off at around 8k and even dropping off just before 9 grand. That's my bread and butter if Im doing anything else besides grocery getting if you catch my drift. I figured the stock manifold was causing it to run rich as most of these swaps come with the 4 to 1 header. As soon as it's thru emissions I'm getting a test pipe and a proper Toda style race header. That and a dyno tune should take me from 190 bhp to around 190 whp. If I ever come into money I'm not getting pool in my back yard, I'm getting a mustang dyno and all of you are free to use it, just bring me a 6 pack.
When I got the '06 the fuel filter was clogged. It ran fine besides idling kinda funny, and it was the first vic I'd ever really driven so I didn't notice anything until I timed a 0-60 and got a sickening 11.something seconds. I was afraid the cats were clogged, but I replaced the fuel filter and started seeing appropriate 0-60 times. 7.5-8 sec.
I've been thinking about the red truck, It was dyno-ed in 07 or 08, and at that time it was around 400 Wheel HP, and 870 wheel TQ, and all it had had done to it was a new set of injectors, a different fuel plate and a little bump in the timing, After doing some reading, if I do nothing but put a larger turbo on it, it can be well into the 600 HP range, and over 1000 ft.lbs, assuming I don't shred the clutch, that's really tempting.
I knew a kid with a turbo Cummins that was making around 600whp. He drag raced a guy with a 350hp cobra swapped mustang from the late 90s and ate him for breakfast. Do the turbo upgrade and than find ricers like me. Profit.
Racetruck, Clearly. Also found a couple boxes of .44 Special HP's under the seat, not too sure how long they've been there, as neither I, or my dad had a .44 special.
Interestingly, this is what I originally suspected. Practically ever since I got it, it's lurched and bucked while coasting in gear off the throttle, it's hesitated when stomping on the gas (especially at low RPM), and it's been slow (timed at 10.whatever seconds 0-60 on a back road; while that was with two people in the car, passenger operating a cell phone timer based on the driver's callouts, that shouldn't account for a gap of almost two seconds to the theoretical 0-60 time of the similar Cavalier Z24) as well. The rickety noise has not always been there, and has gotten steadily worse; still, since the car sat with gas in it for so long, it might be worth seeing if the fuel filter is full of half-dissolved fuel line bits.
The fuel filter is cheap and easy enough to replace. Needs it anyway after over 20 years. I spent like $11 on a bona fide motorcraft filter. Dunno if the funny idle was directly caused by it though. That was eliminated mostly by replacing the fuel filter then cleaning the maf and throttle body, and then finally completely done away with by leaving the battery unhooked for a few days.
Jeez... haven't posted on here in a while now. Been lurking plenty though! The 1970 Monterey is doin just fine and i am currently saving up to have some body work done to the skirts and quarter panels so i can get ready to paint it. I've been thinking about going with a pearlescent white, because i figure that would contrast nicely with the brown vinyl top(which is actually in great shape). I also bought myself a Corolla of doom! Paid 800 bucks for this rotting piece of junk, but hey it gets better mpg than the big block mercury and has a.c. so i cant really complain. It was dubbed the "meme machine" by one of my friends.
Heh. Do you deliver for Jimmy John's? It'd be badass if you don't and the light thing just came with the car.
