[chuzz]

We have everything out of the way and the ONLY thing that kept us from getting the engine and trans out today was the stinking axles. He doesn't want to fool with it tomorrow because it's Sunday and I'm okay with that. I have hurricane shutter that I've been working on that I'd like to get done before hurricane season sets in. I have repaired 9 of the 13 that came with the house. I only have 3 to go after the one I started on this morning before going over about 11:00 to help Sean. We were SUPPOSED to get on it at 0900, but someone slept late. And it wasn't ME. LOL

 

[chuzz]

We got the engine and trans out yesterday and then it started raining on us again. He said the heck with it and I came home. I told him if it stopped raining, to remove the trans from the engine and take a look at the flywheel. Sure enough we'll have to change it out. Anyone have any suggestions of how to get that sucker off? I don't know what the torque is on them, but Sean's 6'1 and about 280 and he said he can't move them. I need to figure out a way to hold the flywheel from spinning the engine. I'm sure I can wedge a crowbar down a cylinder against the crank, but getting the automatic flywheel off the new engine is the major issue. Suggestions? Neither of us has air impact tools.

 

[valiant67]

Borrow or rent a good electric impact wrench.

 

[chuzz]

We don't have any neighbors that have one to borrow and neither of us has the money to rent one. I will figure something out. I figure so what if we break a couple of teeth off the automatic flywheel? He isn't going to use it anyway. I'll put a large steel rod through one of the guide pin holes and use a prybar between a couple of teeth of the flywheel to hold it and see what happens. GM's "special tool" is just a piece of L shaped metal that bolts through a mounting hole and wedges between the teeth on the flywheel anyway. We will overcome this.

 

[valiant67]

This guy can’t come up with $75?
Usually a $50 deposit and maybe $25/day.
Or he could buy a fairly decent one for $75.

 

[chuzz]

Well, getting to old one off the busted engine was simple. I shoved a crowbar down cylinder #3 and locked it down. He removed the flywheel pretty easily then. The automatic was almost as easy. I jammed a pry bar into the teeth and braced it while he loosened and removed it. NO PILOT BEARING!!?? Oh well, he didn't want to go get one, soooo. Got the engine and trans back together yesterday before the rain set in again. We had to separate it after getting it back together because somehow the slave cylinder piece got pushed up about an inch and wasn't fully seated. Hard head tried to argue with me that is wasn't supposed to fit all the way down. After separating the engine and trans, he finally concurred that I was right after I managed to get it into proper position and fully seated. I don't know if this car will ever run again. He is shot gunning bolts here and there instead of bagging and marking the bags like I told him to do upon disassembly. I have a bad feeling that he's going to have parts left over, but it's his car and he has to do things his way. I'm just going to help him get it back in the car and then he'll be on his own to get all of the wiring and stuff back where it came from.

 

[chuzz]

We finally got the new engine in on Sunday afternoon and Monday I got the old automatic wiring harness off this engine and put the manual shift harness in for Sean. He didn't have a clue where to even start. It only took me about 45 minutes! I'm surprised it was that easy. Okay, he broke a couple of hard fuel lines because he couldn't get them apart and doesn't have the money for new ones. He wants to put rubber fuel line and clamps on the car and drive it like that. I need to know if he can get some high pressure fuel injection rated hose and be safe in doing this. It seems like I have read somewhere that the fuel injection rated rubber hose takes a special clamp too instead of your usual spring clamp or worm type clamp. Is this true and if so, would the auto parts stores have these in stock?

 

[85lebaront2]

High pressure fuel hose and clamps. I bought some for my 1986 Lebaron from Amazon, I believe what you need is SAE J30R9 I ordered it from Amazon, but most part stores should carry it and the clamps (K cars take a load of clamps). Here is the link to the 5/16" clamps: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0040CU0HM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[valiant67]

Are the fittings setup to use a rubber hose? The fitting needs to be flared or you can’t safely use a rubber hose.

 

[chuzz]

I'm not sure, Mark. Sean said he had it under control. It's his car, so I'm leaving it up to him. If it catches fire in the driveway and burns up, he's SOL. We got everything buttoned up yesterday and he tried to start it. No dash lights, no interior lights, NOTHING. He had the battery sitting on his concrete floor of his garage for about 6 weeks. I told him to put a board under it or put it on a shelf, but he didn't listen. I checked the voltage and it showed 12.3 volts. He hit the key, I heard a slight click and then checked the voltage. It showed 4.6. I suggested that he charge the battery overnight and try it again today. He's not up yet and I have church in a couple of hours. I'll go over after church and check the voltage. IDK how sensitive these cars are to voltage or anything else. I have a feeling he's missed a couple of grounds as he finished all of the wiring without my being there. I told him he may have to go back over the wiring harness and make sure he's got every ground connected clean and tight and he just groaned. I've done all I am capable of as far as helping him goes. I don't even know if he installed the clutch switch or not. He said he transferred everything he needed to from the manual shift trans to the automatic engine, so I don't know what's going on. I'll give him a can of electrical contact cleaner and tell him he needs to unplug and clean every connector as we've had a LOT of rain in the past 2 weeks and he left the car uncovered several times. Do you guys think there could be a wet connector not making full contact?

 

[valiant67]

My bet is it may never run again and he will blame you. People like him are usually the ones that blame everyone else for their misfortunes.

 

[chuzz]

Well, IT'S ALIVE!!!
Well, after several weeks of cussing and fussing, Seans car is back on the road again. Finished that sum beech up yesterday with a new battery. He'd had his sitting on a concrete floor for 6 weeks with me repeatedly telling him to put it on a board. Damn thing had 4 volts in it and would not take a charge. Original battery, so I told him a new one was in order. Put the battery in, he hit the key and NOTHING happened. Oops, seems he forgot to connect the starter wires. Got those hooked up and after 7 attempts, it started. At first it was kind of rough but after letting it run for 15 minutes, you couldn't tell it was running unless you looked at the belt and pulleys turning. This new engine is SMOOTH! He got a lot of lights on the dashboard, but most went out after turning it off and starting it a few times. He drove it around the hood, called a lady friend and decided he'd go on a date last night. At 9:00 pm he called me. He was 2.5 miles from the house and as he went to pull onto the main highway, the shifter popped on him and the car would not go into gear. I drove up to where he was, helped him push the car back and out of the road and popped the hood. I took a flashlight and looked at the linkage while he tried shifting it. The big dummy had NOT tightened the top nut on the shift linkage like he had ASSURED me he would do. I had him tighten that nut and drive back down the road to our neighborhood and return. He said is was shifting smooth as silk, so off he went to see his lady. I didn't hear from him the rest of the night and when I went out to walk my dog this morning, his car was sitting in his driveway. So, apparently, mission accomplished. Now I can get back to building my hurricane shutters before the season jumps into high gear.

 

[chuzz]

I would like to take a moment to say thank you to all of you who had suggestions and offered advice here. My Allpar family was much more help and support than ANYONE on the sonic forum I signed up on trying to get help and information. They don't know squat about the cars they're driving and talk a LOT of crap. Throw our a simple question and it's crickets there. Good news is that I don't have to go to that forum again. I told Sean he'd be on his own for that car from now on. I'm done with it. Thanks again, fellow Allparians and continue to stay awesome!

 

[chuzz]

Are the fittings setup to use a rubber hose? The fitting needs to be flared or you can’t safely use a rubber hose.

As a side note here, Mark. The hose Sean thought was a fuel line actually turned out to be the over flow line to a cooling tube. So, no need to cut and splice, thank God. He'd tucked the fuel line under the cowl and forgot where it was!

 

[06PTElectricBlue]

Well, IT'S ALIVE!!!
Well, after several weeks of cussing and fussing, Seans car is back on the road again. Finished that sum beech up yesterday with a new battery. He'd had his sitting on a concrete floor for 6 weeks with me repeatedly telling him to put it on a board. Damn thing had 4 volts in it and would not take a charge. Original battery, so I told him a new one was in order. Put the battery in, he hit the key and NOTHING happened. Oops, seems he forgot to connect the starter wires. Got those hooked up and after 7 attempts, it started. At first it was kind of rough but after letting it run for 15 minutes, you couldn't tell it was running unless you looked at the belt and pulleys turning. This new engine is SMOOTH! He got a lot of lights on the dashboard, but most went out after turning it off and starting it a few times. He drove it around the hood, called a lady friend and decided he'd go on a date last night. At 9:00 pm he called me. He was 2.5 miles from the house and as he went to pull onto the main highway, the shifter popped on him and the car would not go into gear. I drove up to where he was, helped him push the car back and out of the road and popped the hood. I took a flashlight and looked at the linkage while he tried shifting it. The big dummy had NOT tightened the top nut on the shift linkage like he had ASSURED me he would do. I had him tighten that nut and drive back down the road to our neighborhood and return. He said is was shifting smooth as silk, so off he went to see his lady. I didn't hear from him the rest of the night and when I went out to walk my dog this morning, his car was sitting in his driveway. So, apparently, mission accomplished. Now I can get back to building my hurricane shutters before the season jumps into high gear.

 

[85lebaront2]

Fantastic! Sounds like he got a good engine from the junkyard. Now if he will just try listening to someone who just might actually know what they're talking about.....

 

[06PTElectricBlue]

Fantastic! Sounds like he got a good engine from the junkyard. Now if he will just try listening to someone who just might actually know what they're talking about.....

And he's got a good (patient) friend in Charlie (chuzz)

 

[chuzz]

Fantastic! Sounds like he got a good engine from the junkyard. Now if he will just try listening to someone who just might actually know what they're talking about.....

I'm hoping to run into someone who knows what they're talking about. I'm just a flying by the seat of my pants, old, dumb hillbilly. But I love cars and have NEVER run from a challenge.

 

[chuzz]

Seans car has been doing great since I got the axles seated last Sunday. In retrospect, I have come to the conclusion that HE screwed the engine up initially by putting a timing belt on without having the cams aligned properly. He fed me a little info at a time of things he'd tried. After his first attempt at it, he said the car popped and backfired and he actually made 2 more attempts with the same results before asking me for help. I think that somewhere in his 3 attempts and failures, one or more of the intake valves got cracked and after I got it timed properly and he drove it for a week, the valves that were cracked started to break off. He pulled the oil pan one day this week off the old block and there are the tops of all 5 valves in it along with a multitude of pieces of broken rings and the other pieces of the pistons. All the more reason to leave things alone if you don't know what you're doing. At this point in time, I don't think it was the Autozone sensors that killed it, it was Sean having the intake cam so far out of time that did the trick. BUT, I still won't ever buy sensors from the Zone. LOL

 

[chuzz]

One whole week without incident and Sean says the Sonic is doing great. His a/c isn't working (wasn't before the engine swap) and he's "pretty sure" it's the low pressure switch. I told him I don't know anything about a/c and he's on his own with that. I WILL NOT GET INVOLVED!! I gave him a 6" rotating fan that plugs into the power outlet of his car. I told him that would help blow the hot air around for him until he gets the a/c fixed. I'm DONE with that Bowtie. Only cars I'm touching for now will be my Kia or my sons Toyota. Once I get back to TN, things MIGHT change if I can find an old Mopar I want to work on.