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Bummer update

To: morgans@autox.team.net
Subject: Bummer update
From: "John T. Blair" <jblair1948@cox.net>
Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2006 18:09:28 -0500
Hey gang,  here's the lastest report on How I spent my Christmas Vacation

My "bummer" email describes how it started on last Tues.  Went over to dad's 
on Wed. and tried some PB Blast and Marvels Mystery Oil.  Nothing.  So after 
playing some, I went home.  When I got there, I was informed that smoke was
coming from under the hood of the 89 Voyager.  So I headed to the autoparts
store to get the  1/2 shaft for my 84 accord and the radiator.

Fri. - I spent the day working on the daily drivers, I had to put a new 
radiator in the 89 Voyager.  The 1/2 shaft came in so I went and picked that
up.

Sat. - back over to dads for a couple of hours.  More Marvels, more
rocking.  Still nothing.  We pull the rocker box cover, and see that
one of the valves is open.  So we pull the rocker pedistal.  The valve
stays open.  So at least one stuck valve.  I'll bring a valve spring
compressor over next time, and we'll look into this.

In the mean time, my wife took the 89 to the store.  She got on the 
interstate, got up to 55 mph, and she said it felt like it was going to 
shake apart!  So she aborted the trip to the store.  I got home from working 
on the Morgan and took the 89 for a drive. Yup! Lots of vibration.  So I guess
I also need a new pass. side 1/2 shaft in that. So I go get one. 

Sun. - Replace the 1/2 shaft on the 89 Voyager.  While it's in on
jackstands I decide to check the drivers side front wheel.  I wiggle
it and it feels like it's about to fall off.  Grap the impact wrench
and snatch the wheel off.  I try to wiggle the steering knuckle, and
find that the 2 nuts & bolts that hold the steering knuckle to the
strut are loose.  That's were the vibration was coming from.  Finish
the 1/2 shaft, tighten the drivers side and drop it off for an
alignment.

Mon. - Back to dad's and more work on the Morgan.  It's been 6 days now and
we still can't budge the engine.  The 1st thing we notice is that the stuck
valve has now been pulled back closed.  That's a good thing. We spend about 
an hour trying to rock the can and turn the crank.  We finally decide to pull
the head.  Take the carb off and open it up.  A good bit of crud in the 
float bowl, but not really too bad.  Pull the head bolts and try to lift the
head.  It came right off!  Now #1 and #2 cylinders are dry, but #3 & #4 still
have all the Marvels in it.  We suck all the Marvels out of these 2 cyls. We 
make a wooden puck to fit on top of the pistons, set it in the cyl. and tape
it with a happen.  Nothing!  After some more fiddling we try some lacquer
thinner, hoping that the pistons are stuck to the cyl walls by varnish from
the gas.  After some time, we finally give up for the day.

So next time I go over, I guess we drop the pan, break the con and main caps
loose and try to turn just the crank.  If that moves, the we try an work on
just the 2 stuck pistons.

Moral of the story,  Pull the plugs and fill the cyls with oil on any eng.
you aren't going to run for 6 mo. or so.

John


Sun. - Spent the better part of today working on the Morgan.  We
pulled the head, 2 cyls were still full of the Marvels Mystery oil,
the other two it had drained out.  We had one valve that appeared to
be stuck, but it freed right up.  We pulled 3 of the valves and
cleaned them and polished their shafts.  Put them back in.  So next
time I go over, we have to finish the other 5 valves.  Then I guess we
are going to drain the oil and drop the pan.  Try to remove the
connecting rod caps and move the pistions up. If we can get them
clear, we'll try to turn just the crank.  Hopefully we get this engine
cleaned up.

John T. Blair  WA4OHZ     email:  jblair1948@cox.net
Va. Beach, Va             (eBay id: zebra48-1)
Phone:  (757) 495-8229

          48 TR1800    48 #4 Midget    65 Morgan 4/4 Series V (B1109)
     75 Bricklin SV1 (#0887)    77 Spitfire    71 Saab Sonett III
                       65 Rambler Classic

Morgan:    www.team.net/www/morgan
Bricklin:  www.bricklin.org

If you can read this             - Thank a teacher!
If you are reading it in English - Thank a Vet!!


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