Assorted ramblings and bolt-ons with Daniel and George

[tlc1976]

Wow I guess I?ve been lucky. 3 engine swaps and always torqued them to spec and never had a problem.

[Duke George V]

Bad news lads! I'm an absolutely clumsy fucking clown who probably shouldn't be allowed near a car again.

So as I said in an earlier post, I am having issues with the torque converter bolts. Or bolt, as it were. The issue being, the last one of three that's still present is backing out. Since the yellow sedan is, uh, inconsistent during the summer, keeping George on the road is a priority, so I've been tightening the one bolt daily. On Thursday, this all went wrong. I did not position the jack correctly, and the car fell off the jack. Damage report:
?Snapped off the fan shroud. No big, just a trip to the yard.
?Snapped the oil pressure sender in half. A little more concerning, but since it didn't damage the block, and the computer doesn't seem to care, I am less worried than I am about...
?Snapped the solenoid off the starter. Slightly bigger problem. Just fucking destroyed it.









On the bright side, I've been meaning to change the starter anyway, since it sometimes hangs up in the way a failing starter does. I wanted to upgrade to a high torque unit for, say, the Malibu the engine came from, but there was something like a $70 price difference, so I just went with a stock replacement. Having the starter out also meant I could access the flexplate and replace the lost torque converter bolts. WITH THREAD LOCKER THIS TIME YOU ASSHOLE. All's well that ends well, as they say.

[Keiths1976]

Mines from the junked 3.5 lx9 lol

[Duke George V]

Finally chased down this goddamn misfire in the wagon. Parts replaced:
-7x crank sensor
-Ignition module
-ignition coils
-spark plug wires
-spark plugs
Basically the whole ignition system...except #6 plug. It's cross threaded. Past Daniel jammed that fucker in there without a care in the world. It will probably pull the threads out of the head, so I'll take it to a shop to have it helicoiled, eventually.

[Pontiac6ksteawd]

Same plug on my 3400 in my Aztek. And the dealer installed it that way. I got lucky, it didnt pull the threads out on the last tune up, but I bet it will on the next one.

[papawhellie]

I feel your pain. Most of us real Americans live this way. Current for me:
88 cutlass cruiser still waiting on new struts, brakes, rotors etc. fan running 24-7 cause I have not time or opportunity to repair/troubleshoot/fix.
83 diesel toy pu starter died, diesel from pump leak killed it
95 f250 7.3 long process to install fuel upgrade 800 in parts
84 6.9 diesel still in rehab
Running
69 f250
91 Camry
97 Saturn coupe
Various motorcycles
No AC average ga temp 95 but who cares
The olds cruisees as well

[Duke George V]

I went ahead and spent some money on some parts I definitely don't need for a car that doesn't deserve it. Ported upper intake, LX5 65 mm throttle body and adapter, and linkage bracket to match. From WOT-Tech, one of two suppliers of Chevy V6 parts that I know of. When combined with the headers I found at the yard last year, these parts should hopefully wake this engine up to its true performance potential.

3100 for the sleeper aspect, and the vacuum ports I need.


LX5 throttle body.


Big mouth.


Modified linkage. It looks like the modification is to accommodate the adapter plate's thickness?


The linkage is different from the LA1 throttle body I'm running. I settled on cables from a Lumina, and Milzy swapped the linkage out for me to match. According to Ben at WOT, the linkage is non-serviceable on this TB, so I will need a new cruise cable to match it. Good thing there's a yard just up the street.


With this, I might even be able to dip into the 16s in the quarter mile!