Six_Shooter's money pit and time vampire... v.240Z

[Guest]

No real updates, I've done some other stuff to the car, like put on a different forward diff mount, and a few other small things. Still no video, I haven't been able to find a good action cam for a price I can afford. The one I did buy was too cheap and didn't even work out of the box, so I didn't exchange it for another might be just as bad...

[Guest]

You guys had to ask for an update, didn't you?

Alternator mount broke again, this time it broke the base plate completely in half. I knew the material was too soft, once I welded it the first time, but I was hoping that the gussets and re-enforcing would have proven reliable. New alternator mount design is in the works.

[Guest]

Car is fixed, I started from scratch and made it from mild steel this time. I'm also going to add a brace to it that should help alleviate any future issues.

Pics later.

[Guest]

Piktarz!


So this time the base plate broke in half:





The New Mount

I started with a piece of 3/16" plate and made every part from it. I had to stack some pieces together to get the thickness I needed in certain areas.


Plug welded the main pieces together, along with edge welding


Test fitting in the car. I found that I had to add the extra portion on top like the old mount, so that the idler pulley would clear the water pump pulley with enough space that I was comfortable with.


painted:


Installed:


And the brace I added more recently. The bracket that I was using previously is still attached to the back of the alternator and the block, this one is just added to the front side, to take some of the leverage off the other mounts.

[Guest]

Here's a video I took while shoveling the driveway back in January. I posted it to Facebook, but never got around to posting it here, until now, now that the snow is mostly melting away...

[Guest]

I think I took out a head gasket. LOL



The car was pulling like a monster too. My ECM dropped into LHM for some reason and rattled the engine a bit, then started smoking. Still made lots of power though. haha

Oh well, new head gasket should take care of it. I'll likely pull the head(s) off tomorrow, even just to see what I'm dealing with.

Has anyone tried the LZx head gasket on an LX9? I know people say it won't work, but has anyone actually tried or have they just looked at the bore size difference and decided to stop there?

[caffeine]

The bore size is 5mm different, plus aren't the LZx gaskets notorious for leaks? When my Firebird blew both head gaskets it still had tons of power; in fact off idle it didn't really run different, it just smoked white like crazy at idle. No smoke while boosting though.

[caffeine]

Also, IIRC the bore spacing is a little off too isn't it?

[Guest]

I haven't heard of the LZx being bad for head gasket leaks. If the MLS gasket is coated properly prior to installation, it will seal up fine. I ran one on my L28 for a couple years without issue.

Yes, the bores have been shifted slightly, but the over sized bore opening should be able to deal with that. I just don't want to spend the $35 per gasket to find out that they definitely won't work, so I want to see why no one so far has done it, other than just looking at some physical differences between the two engines.

[Superdave]

I'd just go MLS with copper spray, the ones for a 3400 should work but i'd double check the bore size.

I had 3.4 iron head gaskets on my 3500, bore size was just slightly larger than 3.7"

too large of a headgasket bore = carbon buildup and preignition. 3.9" is pretty big.

[Guest]

CARNAGE!!!!

So I pulled the head off today, and found this:


A little closer:


I should have seen this before I pulled the head... LMAO!!


This explains why I was smelling burning oil. Not sure why I was smelling coolant though. There does look to be some VERY small paths for coolant between the nearest steam holes and the break, that maybe allowed some coolant to get into the cylinder.

I haven't pulled the other head yet, but will likely do that in a few minutes

Now I have to decide, do I put my other short block together, just so that I can open up the ring gaps a little, or roll the dice and just put gaskets on this one?

I think I might frame this one. lol

[Guest]

I think for now I'm just going to go with the graphite gaskets until I can find a source for the MLS gaskets, that won't be ridiculously priced.

That's my concern too with using the LZx gaskets, getting too much of a gap for carbon to build up and cause problems anyway.

Dave, go back a page, we posted at the same time, and there's carnage pictures, I think you'll be impressed.

[34blazer]

Ooops, one too many knock-knock jokes for those head gaskets.

I'd fix the head gaskets and continue to drive all the bugs out of it before building another engine. Have a datalog just before the ECM went into LHM?

[Guest]

I've decided I'm going to put my other short block together. That way I can open the ring gap a bit and not have to worry about it.

I'll use these heads though, since they are together, and have the upgraded springs on them. I may, if the ambition train comes into the station, do some mild port matching, and anything else I can think of.

I pulled the other head and other than a couple slightly oblong rings on the gasket, it looks good. Inspection of the gaskets shows that the coolant was never serviced in the vehicle the engine came from, since there's some erosion of the gasket material around some of the steam holes.

No, I wasn't datalogging at the time, just playing around.

I have the short block just about ready to pull. The main starter feed wire to disconnect, the trans to adapter plate bolts and the front mount to undo.

I then need to build a better engine strut, it seems that I broke the one I had, luckily the engine was torquing against it when under power. lol

[robertisaar]

if it was LHM that did it in.... I believe it is only one connection on the MEMCAL to disable it. perhaps break it out to a small switch(probably still inside the ECM, depending on accessibility?) and leave it in an open position, that way if it does attempt to go into LHM again, the engine will shut down instead and require some driver interaction to limp it home rather than opening the engine up again.