95 PAU Project

[Squilliam]

I was bored and compelled to draw something. I havent picked up a pencil in a long time so Im fairly rusty and the sketch is rough. But here it is



Currently working on one for my Intrepid too. That ones a little easier, Ive drawn it before, lol.

[Squilliam]

Can somebody tell me more about these wheels? I'd like to pick up a set. Do they have a specific name? I know that theyre the same size as the ones I have in the car now.

[sethjamesrimrodt]

Wow that's a really good drawing! You are very talented!

[Squilliam]

Wow that's a really good drawing! You are very talented!

Thank you . I'm going to school for mechanical engineering and had plans to transgress into automotive design, but there are far more talented people out there vi'ing for the few design jobs there are out there. So I might just find something else in the engineering field.

[sethjamesrimrodt]

Wow that's a really good drawing! You are very talented!

Thank you . I'm going to school for mechanical engineering and had plans to transgress into automotive design, but there are far more talented people out there vi'ing for the few design jobs there are out there. So I might just find something else in the engineering field.

I wanted to do mechanical engineering, I took a few car classes and enjoyed it but I am majoring in electrical engineering now. I have no artistic talent ha.

[MattStrike]

This guy went into mechanical engineering!
I can draw a little bit too.

[gweg_b]

Great drawing!! I used to do a lot of drawing, mostly character stuff, never been very good with vehicles. I've always wanted to make full color drawings of my LeSabre, but lacked the skill. However, I haven't drawn anything since '08.

I went and got myself an art degree (animation to more be specific), and that got me nowhere.

If you happen to do more drawings of either of your vehicles, I'd love to see them!

[nos4blood70]

Nice drawing. I wish I could go into engineering. Seems like a fun way to make money. Do what you love, love what you do.

[Squilliam]

I'll put up a quick update on the Buick. Well its now been sitting since the middle of July, but every once in a while I would get it out and start it. Every single time I did it, it never got any worse. No knocking at idle until you put a load on it and 2k RPM. Oil is golden, clean and free of foreign material. So the other day I wanted to scrub the carpets before it got cold and I figured the next time I would be getting the car out to fix it, it would be cold and miserable and shampooing carpets wouldn't be ideal. So I started her up and drove her 5 miles to my buddy's house going up some pretty serious hills. She had all of her power, I barely had to tap the gas to get it to torque up 3 18 percent grades. Got the car to his house and let it idle. Sounded like a healthy happy 3800 with an occasional thud from the broken sungear. We checked the oil....still clean and nothing at all in it. We check the dipstick about 10 times throughout the evening with paper towels, magnets ect, but we couldnt find anything. So we let it sit overnight and planned to tackled the carpet and holes in the roof from the old top the following day. The next day came around and we went to go start it to move it and it cranked, did a half turnover, let out a loud squelch and died. The motor locked up. Starter is clicking and we cant rotate the crank with a pry bar. So my new theory is that the knocking wasnt a rod like I thought originally. Theres absolutely no sign of it. None. The previous day we did the old mechanics trick and put an ear to a screwdriver and listened all over for the knock, found it in the bellhousing. So Im thinking that the flexplate took a *shoot*, and now its locked up because the bendix is jammed. Thoughts?

[MattStrike]

If there is no babbit in the oil, it's not bearings (babbit is not magnetic). You'd have to look at it under a very bright light to see the tiny metal flakes.

It's possible that the timing chain jumped, and one (or more) of the cylinders is locked against a valve. But I don't think that's very common.

Remove the plastic cover on the bottom of the bell housing, remove the starter and see if anything looks off-kilt, see if it un-locks.

Do you have any video or sound clips of the knocking sound it was making prior to the lockup?

Edit; It may also be something in the TCC/trans that is causing the lockup, but that would be a new one by me.

[Squilliam]

Well, I finally got around to the starter. Good news is, that's what had the motor locked up. Bad news is, flex plate is not the knocking.

Today I started off by finally cleaning the TB just because the thought finally popped in my head at the right time, and boy did it need attention.



And after 30 minutes of scrubbing with a toothbrush and a whole can of carb cleaner.



It doesnt stick anymore, it's like butter. So nice, so very very nice, lol.

And now the meat and potatoes. I got the starter off and my buddy started to manually crank it. Low and behold it turned over again and again and again. Needless to say I was pumped. The motor was unfrozen, dipstick was clean of any bad things and I thought for sure we found the problem and I was going to drive it that night. So I said I wanted to take off the pan and beat it out just because this whole event scared me and I didnt want to take anymore chances. Drained the oil, it looked good. Pulled the pan down and my heart sunk.




Metal all over the bottom of the pan and all over the pickup screen. I guess it was heavy enough to sink to the bottom and not show up on the dipstick. Here's some crappy shots of the bottom end. I played around with the rods and it was number 6 that baked right up. Which also explains why I mistook it for the flexplate.




So my mood went from super high to totally crushed speechless in 20 minutes. Oh well, I guess its on to the next step. Stripping the top end and acc. off this one and looking for a decent donor L67 to swap in before winter hits.

[Squilliam]

Even with the events that transpired, I managed to take some real shots with my Canon instead of my phone.









And even though its a mute point, the cleanest boat anchor I've personally seen, lol

[MattStrike]

That looks like a good candidtate for a crank replacement. With that low of miles I wouldn't bother with another motor.

Being that you'd be pulling the motor anyway, it's probably a safer bet to replace or rebuild the crank. You can get a reman. crank for about $200 at Autozoo, or about the same price you can get yours machined and replace the bearings. Just make sure to chase and clean all the oil passages in the block, timing cover, and oil filter bracket.

Or, donor drivetrain while you fix the low mileage one?

[nos4blood70]

What if you just try and go S2? Or is that way complicated for a car originally S1 without OBDII.

[Squilliam]

Well the plan right now is to drop another motor in it. With winter fast approaching, I need to get my other car off the road ASAP. I found one in Columbus with 97k and a warranty for 300 bucks. I just have to find a truck and spend a day and drive the 160 miles one way to get it. I'll swap over my blower, all my accessories, and all my tuneup parts. I'll keep the heads from the old motor and IDK what I'll do with the blower that comes with the used motor. I know for what I want right now, a complete OBDII compliant swap is way out of the question, plus the S1 L67 is plenty quick enough, for right now at least. I would keep the old motor, but I would have nowhere to put it and Im already going to be building up a 3.5 for my Intrepid this winter. So I'll take the old heads and send them out with my 3.5 heads to get both sets P&P'd. I think with P&P's heads, a FWI, less restrictive exhaust, and a 91-93 L67 pulley (which I cant find for the life of me. Only S1 L67 around me are 95s...all of them.), my Park should be more than enough car for the time being.

[motopsyco]

nice car, I always like the spoiler-ish style to the rear of those cars, and definatly looks better without the landau top

[Squilliam]

nice car, I always like the spoiler-ish style to the rear of those cars, and definatly looks better without the landau top

Thanks! Yeah, that top was irritating. I wouldve been one thing if it was the actual OEM Buick one, but this was some chinsy knock off that was falling apart everytime I washed the car. But I think I irritated the rear window because it now leaks like a mother. So Im going to have to get the rear window sealed up proper after I get her running again.

[Squilliam]

I updated my one thread, but I figure since this is my cars siggy, I might as well do this one too. Why not eh? So long story short, its getting a remanned motor with a 3 year warranty. The motor is sitting 20 feet away from the car and the old sludger is out sitting in front of it. It took 6 cans of heavy duty degreaser to clean up the mess that the old tumor left behind. To paint a picture, imagine our engine bays....then cover it in Betty Crocker cake mix and thats what you get. It was so thick, it preserved most of the cradle to like new status. Nice bright shiny metal underneath. Same with the tranny lines. Here's some pics of the old motor.....

Heres the engine bay right after the extraction. Anywhere its dark is thick grease



And after a good washing......




And after about 5 coats of chassis black



Here's the old motor






And the brand new motor




Yesterday I cleaned all of the parts going on the new motor. The timing cover was looked after and I rebuilt the oil pump and took care of the crank snout seal. All thats left is to put the timing cover on the new motor and drop it in. Then its only a matter of a day or two before she's running again!

[Squilliam]

I cant believe I havent updated this yet, lol. Project is finally done! Motor went in no problems but getting everything bolted up turned out to be kind of fussy. So far I put 150 miles on it and have another 150 to go before the first oil change. She's breaking in quite nicely. Motor is nice and quiet, very smooth and super responsive. I cant wait to break it in and see what that thing has to offer with it being brand new and having a smaller pulley and all.

Motor going in


Old sludger all crated up


Its in!


The other day I got to give her a real wash for the first time in months. She looks great!




One of my buddies on the Intrepid Forum made up a special decal for me to mark the occassion, haha.


A junkyard next to me has a Dark Cherry Park with flawless paint. I guess soon here Im going to go and snag the hood and decklid for a cool buck 20.

Here's a video I made for the guys over on DI.net. Like you can hear in the video, the trans needs looked at, but Im not touching it. Within the month I'll have it serviced and throw a trans go in it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4iu4hLBJHA

[sethjamesrimrodt]

Looking good!