whew, what a long day,leave it to us backyard mechanics to take a small project & turn it into an all day affair!
Called the parts house around nine am & the steering box was in, picked up charger man & headed out, got back before ten, he had some errands to run so I started setting up the tools, dragged out the engine hoist, floor jack, jack stands & about all the car related tools I own!
Started buy pulling the drivers side front tire & the 2 plastic splash shields,battery & tray, got the box loose & need about 2" more between the headers & the inner fender, so we loosened up the motor mounts (ditching his solid mounts for reg)& started lifting the motor, crap, bout 3/4 of an inch short with it straight up in the front.Pulled the high press hose from the pump & cleaned up that mess. Put on the pass side mount, lowered her down & started all bolts over there. put a block under the drivers side & lowered the hoist so we could remove the pass side chain. set it up on the drivers side only, hoisted her up again & after it hit the limit we were a cats hair from clearing, one guy shoving the motor the other pulling the box out she came.
by now it's already like 3 pm . Set the new box in, got the bolts in & proceded to wonder how we would ever get the crap lined up again, motor might be sitting a tad higher on the new mounts cause the tie rod is now resting on the headers & wont clear the bolt on the idler, after some more head scratching & a little BBQ prepared by the gracious wife we loosened the boxes mounting bolts & lifted it up & slid the bar under & dropped the bolt in, C-man retightened all the stuff under there & I put the hoses back ,started to tighte up the motor mounts, finished those off & removed the hoist, filled the pump, cranked her over some, refilled, never really blead it, but she's full (rechecked after a test drive, but more on the later) what, there's more you ask, we this is Rusty, soooo........
C-man took off around 6, I cleaned up back there, bout an hour just for that, took a quick shower to reawaken my spirits & took her out for a test drive.
Had the perfect place too, they just repaved my street, smooth as a babys ass.
Slow ride straight down, around a block to turn around & stopped back by my house to check the fluid, good to go. Took her out on that longer 45mph road & she tracks straight, but my steering wheel is a 1/16th to 1/8th off, not a lot of play either, so that was the box.
tranny still clunks out the auto upshifts real early, 5mph 1 to 2 & 8 to 12mph 2 to 3 , no noise on a manuel shift with a little throttle.
With a little more throttle it was maybe 12 & 20 mph on the 2 shifts.(still clunking)
Had a tad of fun, got my first thumbs up, from a guy in a cedes no less, just as I was turning onto that bigger road, well I was in low, took off with a little more throttle & left him a nice CHIRP going into second
Speedo cable was not bad today, now I'm wondering if I need to change it, maybe I'll give it another shot of oil & see.
Oh yea had to grind the nut off the new motor mount, we went through hell not to pull those headers for the steering box, I wasn't about to pull em for a bolt. so I used 2 bolts like the solid mounts had.
Shes a tad quieter under neath, much less vibration , still waiting for the rear seal goop, that should be in mon or tues, another (though frustrating at times) day of foward progress, this could be a record, 2 in a row, I'm on a roll! Rich.
