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Journey into the Valley of Death: Part 1
Journey into the Valley of Death: Part 1
Date: 02/08/2020
Mileage: 38,901
As previously stated in the last post, I had performed anything this involved on any engine before so I was feeling very intimidated by the whole thing. Over the course of the week, I did copious amounts of research via DMCTalk, DMCToday, DMC Knowledge Base, and various websites and blog posts. Jimmy (VIN 2706) ended up convincing me to do all of this myself and after reading through the process and finding/given a step by step guide on how to do this, I decided to give it a shot. The guide truly made it seem like it would be a lot less stressful and I had plenty of resources at my disposal.
Draining the Coolant
On Saturday, February 8th, I took the first step into the project and never looked back. I started by jacking the front of the car up and bleeding the radiator via the drain on the drivers side followed by pulling the hose off of the radiator's passenger side tank. Afterwards, the hoses were pulled from the rear of the car where it comes out of the frame in order to drain as much as possible. I did not necessarily want to drain from the engine block though I should have.
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Guide
Following the guide attached to this post, I decided to bag every piece of hardware and every item as well as label said bags with the contents and a number in order to ensure that I do not miss anything. I also wanted to make sure that everything goes back correctly so I decided to video every step and every piece that was removed so that I could reference it later. I followed the guide, step by step, down to Step 6 (Removing the Fuel Distributor). Over the course of the process, I noticed my ISM (Idle Speed Motor) harness looked a little bit melted so I consulted a few of our TNDMC folks. Jimmy sent me his ISM harness since he just did an EFI conversion and didn't need it. Awesome. Once I removed the W-Pipe, I called it quits for the day. A buddy of mine was to come up tomorrow and help me take her all the way down to the Valley the next day. At this point, I felt pretty confident though the Fuel System was still intimidating at the time.
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10 Attachment(s)
Journey into the Valley of Death: Part 2
Journey into the Valley of Death: Part 2
Date: 02/09/2020 - 02/19/2020
Mileage: 38,901
A buddy of mine came up to assist with the removal of everything in order to get down to the Valley. As we continued further towards the VOD, we continued to bag and label hardware and pieces. I did not take any photos of this process as the entire process is the same as stated in the guide. Fortunately, the previous owner replaced every nut, bolt, and washer with stainless steel hardware and also used anti-seize on the bolts that needed it. Everything was easy to remove and we had no issue with any bolt. Once we removed the Intake Manifold, I was able to see the true extent of the coolant leak as coolant had filled the crevices and canals of the valley. We quickly plugged the 6 ports into the cylinders and continued onward.
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We decided to try to clean up most of the coolant immediately however it only proved to be pointless. I wanted to get the Y-Pipe out and it didn't occur to us that this would have been full of coolant which flooded the valley far more that previously. Oh well, that is why we are doing this. With the Y-Pipe removed, we removed the Water Pump and set everything aside. We cleaned a majority of the coolant out of the valley where we could actually survey what was going on. I believe that the hose between the WP and Y-pipe and the hose between the WP and the block on the drivers side were leaking causing all the mess. What really didn't look good was the tar/oily looking crap on the block.
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Ultimately, that tar/oily substance was the POR-15 coating that was applied to the block. Coolant and moisture got between the block and the POR15 coating which then caused the POR15 to absorb the coolant, turning parts of it into a rubbery substance. Most of the POR15 coating simply separated from the block.
Cleaning the Block
Doing all of this out of a storage unit with no electricity was rather a large PITA. I did not have the use of a shopvac so I opted for a DeWalt Cordless Wet/Dry Vacuum since I already have a moderate supply of DeWalt 20V batteries. This thing made life much easier. Over the course the next 10 days, I peeled and cleaned and scrubbed and brushed and washed and dried and scrubbed and brushed the block to remove the old POR15 coating. During the course of the clean up, I used needle nose pliers to pull chunks of POR15 out of the 4 channels in the block and some debris. Those channels are rough to clean out completely.
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After much inspection of the block, I can safely and confidently say that it is in great condition with no signs of pitting, rusting, or block rot.
After consulting with many people as well as a few different vendors, I decided to not reapply any POR15 and let the block breathe going forward. At this time, it was time to place my orders with various vendors for items that I am replacing while I am there and while the coolant is drained.
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Pressure Testing and Rebuild
Bleeders
Date: 03/07/2020
Mileage: 38,901
I ordered a self-bleeder for the Water Pump from DPI however afterwards and upon much closer inspection, it appeared that I had one installed on the car from John Harvey. It didn't occur to me since the PO hid this bleeder hose under the passenger side coolant hose connecting to the water pump… hidden in plain sight. That's OK, this is a learning experience for me. I'd like to use the DPI hoses anyway and I can give the DPI kit and Harvey hose that I replace to someone who needs it.
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I also ordered a Radiator Bleeder Valve from DPNW and installed that where it should be with the addition of a brand new silicone hose (Not Pictured)
Pressure Testing
I acquired a Pressure Tester Kit from Autozone via their Loan-A-Tool Program. Side Note: The only one you can use is adapter 21 from this kit. I pressure tested to 15 PSI and heard plenty of leaks here and there so I tracked them down, tightened up clamps, and repeated until I no longer heard any hissing. Unfortunately, I still lost pressure so I filled the system up as much as I could. Repeating multiple times and finding leaks and clamps to tightened, I was able to get it to hold at 14 PSI for 2.5 hours. Good enough for me.
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Rebuilding
Date: 03/08/2020 - 03/11/2020
Following the Intake Manifold Guide in reverse, I got to work over the course of four evenings after work. I installed new, Blue Vacuum lines in the engine since I was there. O-Rings around the ports were replaced, gaskets on the intake replaced, nothing really to note. I do think it is rather strange that the entire fuel distributor and mixture unit is secured by two screws in addition to the W-Pipe. While going through the rebuild process, I took careful note of the pipe of agony and ensured the O-Ring in the mixture unit was in good shape so that it would provide a decent seal. Unfortunately, as to be expected.. I f----ed up in some fashion by dropping the 19mm Banjo Bolt down into the back of the VOD though I was able to retrieve it with a magnet.
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