HEMIWagon Project Log: Back in the Saddle

"JGrabowMSt" (jgrabowmst) 01/16/2015 at 23:18 • Filed to: HEMIWagon

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The past couple weeks have been a wild ride. I had my last week at my old job, and my first week at my new job. Then I had my shop run into a number of delays.

The delays ranged in size and shape, but were all due to the valve seat. The intake rattled like a baby's toy, so that had to be replaced. The flywheel was being a stubborn chunk of metal and didn't want to seat correctly. There were a metric boatload of O-rings that had to go back in, and fluids and bolts, and that damn fuel pump fuse.

But what resulted?

Car going up on the lift. Ground straps are important, and a total PITA when you can't quite figure out where they went originally. Not the worst thing, it can be figured out. The important part? No rust under the car. A few odd things, but no rust. Very good news. Fuel pump fuses are also important. Always make notes of what you remove or change in order to make sure you can cover your bases later on and not run around like a headless chicken.

Had the Yokohama Snow/Ice tires mounted while the ground strap was being figured out. Multitasking FTW.

Finally, after a slight tweak of the exhaust to get rid of the rattle, she's back in business. Just need to keep an eye on fluid levels for a few days, and the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! will thrive. It feels really good to be behind the wheel again. Can finally continue the to-do list and get her all the way to 100%.

No revving past 2500RPM for the first 3k miles, and it's getting oil changes at 1500 and 3000 miles just to be sure everything is 100% kosher inside.

The #1 piston from the old motor (where the valve seat dropped), is going to be sent out and turned into a clock. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! up in Washington state does custom work, so I'll be getting in touch with them about my piston, and what they can do for me.

And finally, the biggest thanks to my shop, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! for making this disaster less of a nightmare. Easily the best shop I've dealt with for any kind of work, and if anyone wants to just go over, hang out and talk cars, these guys have some wicked stories. Mo and Pete are the best people I've had a chance of both meeting and doing business with, and I can easily say that they'll have my business for a long time.