Gray Man, Inc.

Texas82GP

Just-a-worm
Apr 3, 2015
7,981
18,676
113
Spring, Texas
That 3.4 DOHC ran reeeeally good. And they were miserable to work on. Luckily they weren't super common.
My little sister took care of my autistic nephew an entire summer and my brother and sister-in-law bought her her first car in exchange. My brother and I kinda fell in love with the car. It was red with silver graphics. It had a miss when we looked at it and I foolishly stated "I can fix whatever is wrong with it." It had been hot and had dropped an exhaust valve set on one of the rear cylinders. I fixed it, and it ran great. It had a lot of guts. Lord was that car a misery to work on though. That's why the yards were full of them with them just needing a timing belt. Just too much labor.
 
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DRIVEN

Geezer
Apr 25, 2009
8,062
14,479
113
*CENSORED*
20220101_092627.jpg
 
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DRIVEN

Geezer
Apr 25, 2009
8,062
14,479
113
*CENSORED*
I'll just say it. I'm a filthy pig. I haven't really cleaned up after myself in months.


I moved a bunch of parts to the well shed. Reassembled my dad's junk Vortec and slid it against the wall. Put a bunch of stuff away and swept the floor. Sooo much better now. I know the perspective is weird but I can fit another car and my trailer in there now.



I really wish one of you guys would come by and take this stack of books.



Once I was satisfied with that side of the shop I immediately got distracted. Had to start by drilling yet another set holes in my lift plate and chasing the holes.




I needed to raise it up to drop the oil. Then I rolled it over by my toolbox and yanked the heads. When I bought it, the seller had no history and it was locked up. I had no idea what the cylinders would look like but was pleasantly surprised.




I had dumped ATF in the spark plug holes months ago, so the rings were well soaked. I smacked the top of each piston with a hammer on a piece of wood. Then I worked the ring gear with a long pry bar. Didn't take too much to free it up. It had several stuck valves but I got them free as well. There's still one being a bit sticky but I think it'll come around. The only ugly thing I saw was some vertical scratches in #3. You can definitely feel them with your fingernail. The rest is just staining.




Just for kicks I measured the valve lift. A monstrous .233" on a 1.28" valve. Spring pressure is an impressive 50 pounds.



And to help you appreciate how hilariously dinky these things are...




I had originally planned to just put it on a stand in the corner as a conversation piece. Now that I know it spins free, I just might try to make it run.
 
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DRIVEN

Geezer
Apr 25, 2009
8,062
14,479
113
*CENSORED*
Ebay carb core. Definitely not the correct one but I can make it work.






I'll still need a new distributor and starter before I can try to run it, but I have options there. I had 2 intake valves that were being stubborn and didn't always close. I opened them up and sprayed PB Blaster on the stem and guide, then just let them marinate for a week. Gave the valves some back and forth twist with a pair of pliers and now they're fine.
 
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JD1964

Master Mechanic
Dec 31, 2014
374
506
93
Only regret ive heard about pole buildings is, “shoulda built it bigger”
 
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