When I announced project late model restoration, I mentioned the badly worn front suspension as one of the main things that needed attention. Truth be told, the state of the suspension was really the catalyst for starting this project.

While performing other repairs I had noticed that the rubber bushings that anchor the lower a-arms were badly deteriorated. I was beginning to question the safety of the vehicle, so I put a plan in place to get the suspension back into shape.

The parts list for the suspension rehab consisted of four new KYB-GR2 struts, all of the accessories for assembling the struts including a set of Eibach “Pro-Kit” lowering springs, complete lower control arms with bushings, and of course wheels and tires.

Four Struts, Assembled Six Times

All four of the struts on the car were also badly worn. The previous owner had said that he replaced the struts only a few months prior to us buying the car. We’ve owned the car for about six years now, and I have no idea how, but the struts were completely done for.

Since I had bought all four new struts, and all of the ancillary parts for them, I had planned to assemble each of the struts before disassembling the suspension on the car. This would allow me to simply remove and replace the struts as complete assemblies, minimizing down time.

Only, it didn’t exactly turn out that way… I assembled (what I thought was) the front struts with the new springs. Only, the springs didn’t seem to match up with the lower spring perch quite the way I would have expected. After assembling two struts this way, I finally reviewed my part numbers and service manual. Turns out I had just assembled the rear struts…. with the front springs. DOH!

After disassembling the rear struts, and reassembling them with the correct parts the spring rested in the perch much more tightly. Almost like it was designed to work that way *forehead smack*

Then I got to work assembling the front struts, or so I thought. It turns out that the replacement front struts for the 1992 ES300 requires that you reuse the spring perch from the original strut.

So much for assembling the new parts without dismantling the car!

After some more confusion over parts compatibility, and some more fumbling, I got the front struts assembled, and all four struts installed in the car.

As I mentioned earlier, I chose to replace the stock springs with the Eibach “Pro-Kit” springs. These are advertised to offer a bit of a dropped stance, in the amount of one inch. This was right in the goldilocks zone for me since the car was going to continue to be used as a daily driver, so I didn’t want it “slammed” but I did want a slightly more aggressive stance.

My exact results were 1.75″ in the front, and .5″ in the back as measured from the center of the hub to the top of the wheel well. This worked out especially well since the stock stance of the ES300 tends to place the front end higher than the rear. These springs both lowered the overall height, but also managed to level out the stock stance. Score!

(Lower Control) Arm Wrestling

You may be wondering why I bought the entire lower control arm, rather than just buying the bushings. The reason is pretty simple.

I’m lazy…

No really, that’s pretty much it. I didn’t want to have to wrestle with a vice, or hacksaw, or have to take the stock control arm to a suspension shop to have them press out the old bushings and press new ones in.

By buying the whole control arm with the bushings installed, it would be a simple remove and replace operation. Unfortunately, I was, again, sadly mistaken.

The torque specs for the bolts that fasten the control arms to the frame are in the > 200ft/lbs range. Worse than that, I somehow got completely turned around and was turning the bolts in the TIGHTEN direction when I was first trying to remove them. YARG!

After some significant effort and more than a little brute force from some pry bars and hammers, I had the control arms removed. Now time to put the new ones back in, easy, right?

Wrong!

Since the new control arms had nice new bushings, it was very difficult to manipulate them to get the holes lined up with the bolts. With more help from pry bars, hammers, and cursing the new control arms found their way home.

I had mentioned that the bushings were badly worn right? I’m not sure that they were doing anything at all to resist deflection, and I’m fairly certain that irreparable damage to both the car, and my person were eminent!

Fly new kicks

The final part of the equation was set of nice shiny new wheels and tires. The wheels are replicas of an OEM wheel for the Lexus GS300/400. They’re 18×8 with a +45mm offset, and they needed to be installed with a 1/8″ spacer in the rear so that they didn’t make contact with the rear strut.

These are in my opinion the largest wheel you’re going to ever want to see on this car, but I think they look great. Since they came from another Lexus, the look is very subtle and it almost seems like they could have been a factory option for this car. Just the way I like it!

The tires are Kumho Ecsta SPT Ultra High Performance Summer tires sized at 225/40ZR18. Even though I drive the car year round, the summer tires are perfectly suited to the southern california weather. They have phenomenal amounts of traction in both wet and dry environments, and I’m very very happy with them.

Driving Impressions

It’s hard to make an apples to apples comparison between the new suspension system and “stock”, since I can never say that I truly experienced the stock suspension performing to it’s full potential.

With that said, this combination of suspension components provides very good ride quality. No, it’s not completely velvety smooth, but it is very comfortable for even long drives and it has the added benefit of changing directions quickly. Cornering and braking are both dramatically improved with very little perceived body roll.

If you wanted to have the best of both worlds, I would use the same suspension components, but stick with a smaller wheel and tire combo like a 16″ or 17″. That said I’m perfectly happy with the results!

So there I was, minding my own business, driving the Lexus from point A to point B. When I arrived at my destination, I turned off the ignition, and as it had done thousands of times before the power antenna began reeling back into the rear fender, but then it happened… I heard a horrible CLUNK, then a persistent grinding sound that simply wouldn’t go away.

I tried turning the ignition back on, hoping that the antenna might have only slipped on one tooth and cycling it would get everything back on track, but it was not to be. With the antenna stuck just a little past half way erected, I removed the trunk interior panel that covers the power antenna motor, and disconnected the power.

On another, completely different occasion I was pulling out into traffic on a fairly busy four lane street. The maneuver I was attempting was a left hand turn which requires crossing the two lanes which I can see fairly well, entering the oncoming traffic in the furthest two lanes, which are obscured by a neatly manicured and lanscaped island.

As you might imagine, this is usually a bit of a hail mary manuever and you want to do it as quickly as possible so that you have the chance to react if you happen to be pulling into traffic which you couldn’t see. I pulled across the first two lanes, reving to the redline in first gear, and quickly looking over my shoulder to check for traffic as I merge and briskly pull the shifter down into second gear. Only, this time was… different… I engaged second gear, but the shifter traveled WELL past the point it should have then felt limp and.. well.. broken!

After a minor panic attack, and some experimenting with shifting in and out of various gears, I discovered that the odd numbered gears (1,3,5) still engaged normally. But, the even gears (2,4,Reverse) had this same “limp” feeling, though I was still able to engage them.

I drove the car for many, MANY months with both of these problems but I’ve recently remedied both of them as part of my “Late Model Restoration” project. Here’s how.

Power Antenna

This one was easy, replacing the power antenna mast is both inexpensive and easy. I bought a replacement mast on eBay for under $20, and replaced it in about an hour. It would have taken less time if I had paid closer attention to the directions and installed the outside decorative nut in the right order. Ohh well!

The result, however, is well worth the effort. The shifter feels perfect now. Very positive tactile feedback, I know when I’ve engaged a gear. It’s easily “better than new” with the solid bushings and the factory fresh cable. While replacing the cable may not have been expensive (it’s a > $200 part) and not immediately necessary it’s worth the peace of mind knowing that it’s new and I’ve got at least another 18 years before I have to worry about it again.

Stay tuned for more of the Late Model Restoration, the suspension is next, and here’s a little teaser!

A common affliction to older cars is that the headlights begin to become dull, or yellow over time. This had happened to our 1992 Lexus ES300 pictured above. To be fair, the passenger headlight is a little cloudier since I had done a little bit of wet sanding before I took the photo, more on that later though.

I am going to describe the process I used to restore the yellowed and oxidized headlights, but with that comes the disclaimer. This process is not advised, I can not be held responsible if you void your warranty, destroy your headlights, starve your dog, or burn down your house. Your mileage may vary..

There are lots of “all-in-one” headlight restoration kits which have different materials and chemicals in them, and they all will work to varying degrees. However, I wanted to take the DIY approach. There are many other how to’s and lots of opinions about how this is done, I chose to wet sand to remove the oxidation then spray a few coats of clear and wet sand and polish again til nice and shiny. Here’s how I did it.

First, I wet sanded the lens with a 1500 grit paper. I used a spray bottle filled with water and maybe a quarter of an ounce of dish soap, and made sure to keep the lens nice and wet while sanding. Sand just enough to get rid of the yellowing, and get a uniform surface.

The next step was to spray on three coats of Dupli-Color Acrylic Enamel from an aerosol can. I followed the instructions of doing two light coats, then one medium wet coat, each coat separated by 10 minutes.

Then, I put two sheets of 2000 grit paper in a water and dish soap solution to soak overnight. After letting the paper soak and the paint dry over night, I used the same wet sanding process on the clear coat with the 2000 grit paper. I sanded until almost all of the orange peel was gone, but left it a teensy bit wavy so I had some material to remove in the last step.

In the last step I used some Meguiars Ultimate Compound for buffing. This buffed away the last of the orange peel and left a nice smooth shiny surface.

That’s all there is to it, and here’s the results!

I’ve written a fair bit about my 1967 Cadillac but I haven’t said much about my daily driver. Every day, I drive a 1992 Lexus ES300 to work and back. The car actually belongs to my wife, but since she’s usually home with the kids the van stays with her. The Lexus is actually quite rare since it has a manual transmission. They only put 5 speed manuals in the Lexus ES300 for a few years, and only a very small fraction of the production numbers were offered this way.

This car has been relatively trouble free, in the nearly five years we’ve owned it I’ve had to replace some leaky valve cover gaskets, install a pair of rebuilt cylinder heads due to leaking valve stem seals, replaced a clutch, water pump, battery and power steering pump. For it’s age that’s pretty good.

However the tires (which we bought when we bought the car) are getting to be just about bald, not to mention that they’re starting to crack due to age. Worse than that, the suspension bushings have been subjected to oils and other agents which have caused them to break down. There are also a number of other little issues which need to be addressed just to dress the car up a bit and make it more usable (and safe) as a daily driver.

So, thus begins project “late model restoration”. I’m going to address all of the serious mechanical issues, as well as make a few improvements so I can take pride in the car. That last part is key, because I keep entertaining the idea of selling the car, but if I’m being honest we can’t afford to replace the car right now, and there isn’t really anything wrong with it that can’t be easily remedied!

The first step was to wash the poor thing for the first time in many months, and repair the broken power antenna. Stay tuned here to watch the progress. You can consider the image above the “before” picture.

I grew up in the 80′s, not a terribly exciting time in automobile history.  In addition, my family, while sharing great stories about cool cars in their past, never owned anything particularly exiting while I was a kid.  Maybe the coolest car was the Volvo 145 Estate which we owned when I was very young.

Back then, if you were a car guy you had two options.  An american musclecar with a big block intended only to go from 0-60, or through the traps 1320ft or 660ft away as quickly as possible.  Stopping? Let’s not worry about that, shall we?  The other choice was a foreign car, usually japanese, and usually not particularly quick sporty by virtue of the excellent handling and braking abilities.

I started out by going down the musclecar route.  My first car was a 1967 Ford Thunderbird.  It had suicide doors, manual windows, no A/C and the (fairly rare) 428FE engine option.  The original owner was clearly only interested in going fast, in spite of the luxury inherent to the Thunderbird.  I may never know the story of the original owner, but I like to imagine that it belonged to a hip dude with his wife and 1.86 children.  I’d like to imagine that the car went to fetch groceries, and surprise an occasional mustang or camaro on it’s way.

The car was a lot of fun, and it was a big handful too.  As my first car, with a big block in the front driving two skinny tires in the back I saw the rear of the car pass me more than a few times.  It didn’t stop very well, the tie rod ends, rag joint, and steering box were all well worn, so I literally drove it like the hero in the last action b movie you watched.  You know the drill, tossing the wheel about 1/8 of a turn either direction from center rapidly while looking in the rear view nervously.

Sadly, the true muscle car experience was never really meant to be for me.  Since it was my first car, I didn’t have a lot of money to spend on it so I didn’t repair a lot of the things which were in dire need, and I had no real concept of how to maintain a car like that.  It lasted for a little over a year in my possession before it protested the neglect whilst traveling 105(ish) northbound on the 101 at a little past midnight.  I heard a subtle “clunk” and a loss of power, and then no matter how far I pushed the pedal down, the car continued to lose power.  Eventually, I stopped, smoke billowing from the engine compartment, and my mind racing trying to figure out how I was going to get home.  Little did I know that I had been being followed for many miles, by the California Highway Patrol.  After keeping me in suspense long enough, the police finally put me out of my misery and let me know that they weren’t going to give me a citation, and that the state of my car was punishment enough.

I did manage to get the car apart, and to rebuild the engine, and the transmission.  But then it sat.. For years… Many other cars came and went, but the Thunderbird sat.  My father finally insisted that I get it out of his shop, so the car got reassembled, but I was newly married, and had arguably less disposable income than I did when I first bought the car.  I sold it for $2500 with surprisingly little remorse.

I also had the small import experience a little later on.  I got sucked into the import culture, and wound up buying a 1989 Honda CRX Si.  This car was quick, and fun.  It wasn’t as powerful, visceral as the Thunderbird but it was composed and handled with surgical precision by comparison.  I even got to customize this thing a bit, lowering springs, high performance tires, and a decent high end stereo.  I really enjoyed this car, but I just grew out of it.  Not figuratively, not emotionally, not the fact that I’m growing up and it’s no longer appropriate.  Nope, around 23ish I actually grew an inch or two, and I simply did not fit in the car anymore.  I sold it, and I still kinda miss it, more than the Thunderbird sometimes, actually.

Neither car was exactly “right” though.  I really want a car that drives small, and handles well.  But, I really dig the acceleration G forces that can only be generated by a rear wheel drive rig with lots of ponies under the hood.  When I owned the Thunderbird, the thought that it could possibly handle like a small car was not likely.  Not only was it not “acceptable” to the muscle car purists, but the parts simply didn’t exist.

Enter the increasingly popular pro touring car.  Opinions vary on exactly what “Pro Touring” means but for me it means a synergy of a classic car’s undeniable style with all of the conveniences and luxuries that have become standard on modern cars.  Things like a smooth idling fuel injected motor, polyurethane suspension bushings, climate control, cup holders, a modern stereo system.  All of the things that we simply take for granted in our modern performance cars.  The common theme of a lot of pro touring cars you might read about in car magazines is their astronomical price tags, but in my opinion it doesn’t need to be that way.

Imagine picking up 60′s or 70′s coupe (or sedan, no shame in that) that’s in good shape.  Chevy, Ford, Mopar, pick your poison but you should be able to pick up a car that doesn’t require a whole lot of body work on the cheap.  Since we’re planning to put a modern drivetrain in it anyway you could even find a nice rolling chassis that was an abandoned project or a well cared for car who’s engine met an untimely demise, and you can save even more cash.  The next step, find a modern engine and transmission.  That doesn’t have to be particularly expensive either, your best bet is to find a modern ride that’s been wrecked, or spend a few minutes trolling craigslist or eBay.  You should be able to have your pick of fuel injected modern engines with relatively low mileage.  Now, spend some time addressing the little maintenance issues and other small fixes on your classic donor, and stuff that modern drivetrain between the frame rails.  If you play your cards right there’s probably some off the shelf parts for your particular swap to ease the effort and cost.  Chances are you’ll have spent less than $15k to build a car with all of that classic style, and the reliability and fuel economy of a modern car.  So which would you rather have, a Honda Fit, or a custom classic that you can drive every day?  Yeah I thought so.

Generally speaking, I don’t actively participate in the weekly #carchat on Twitter, but I do occasionally glean a few points as I watch it stream across my Twitter timeline.

Take for instance this week’s #carchat where I saw @banovsky say the following.

banovsky ||||||| TOPIC |||||||| Android OS in cars, yay or nay? (via @sandbarmark) #carchat

On May 13, 2010 12:49 am via TweetGrid

Now, I’ve built a CarPC and have some familiarity with the topic, and on the surface this seemed like a REALLY good idea, so I excitedly replied.

rjgeyer All the way Yay! RT @banovsky: ||||||| TOPIC |||||||| Android OS in cars, yay or nay? (via @sandbarmark) #carchat

On May 13, 2010 12:59 am via TwitterGadget

And apparently @bprosperi agreed;

bprosperi I like this idea RT @rjgeyer All the way Yay! RT @banovsky: |||||| TOPIC ||||||| Android OS in cars, yay or nay? (via @sandbarmark) #carchat

On May 13, 2010 1:01 am via twidroid

Admittedly however, my response was not based on any particular facts or prior research, it just sounded like a novel idea. So when I was challenged, I honestly didn’t have anything particularly intelligent to say.

banovsky @rjgeyer Why yay? #carchat

On May 13, 2010 1:00 am via TweetGrid

rjgeyer @banovsky Why not? I'm a big carpc fan, and ran windows, the flexibility and speed of an open source mobile OS appeals to me. #carchat

On May 13, 2010 1:04 am via TwitterGadget

That was pretty much it for that conversation, I was running out the door to head home from work, and there didn’t seem to be a lot of activity on that conversation topic. But the brief exchange did get me thinking. I’m going to be tackling the challenge of updating my CarPC and installing it in the Caddy at some point in the future, and it might make sense to consider my options in the Mobile OS arena. With that, I decided to refine my understanding a bit.

What I found, was actually quite disappointing! It seems that a lot of folks in the car computing community have given this topic a lot of consideration, starting all the way back when Android was first announced. The first several links of the search I did were all links back to the mp3car.com forums, and I observed a few common threads.

Screensize

Android is hyper focused on small mobile devices (read teeny screens), so while it’s very touch centric, which is good for car computing, existing apps will not scale well to the standard 7″ car computing touchscreen. Which means that any software which would be properly useful in a car, on the Android OS, would have to be built exclusively for that purpose. That seems fine on the surface, but it excludes you from the primary Android market, and creates a new niche which may be extraordinarily small, if it takes off at all.

Level of interactivity

Android expects the user to be engaged and actively interacting with the device. This is a reasonable expectation for a mobile phone that you’ll use to play games, use social networking, web browse, etc. But the car computing use case is VERY different, you want to be able to interact with the device with as little cognitive overhead as possible. This is the reason that the use of mobile phones is being outlawed in many states. So again, you’d have to build something exclusively for car computing, on a platform with an entirely different focus.

Pay it back

Android is based on Linux, but it is not true to the spirit and intent of Free Open Source Software (FOSS). Android has reinvented the wheel many times over, and created subsystems which do (almost) the same thing as a similar subsystem already available in Linux, but in a way that’s only useful on a mobile device. Fundamentally, this makes sense, since the problems they’re trying to solve are rather specific to the application. The problem though, is that none of that work done to “enhance” the FOSS software upon which Android is based is of any use to anyone but the Android team.

This problem would be even further compounded if Android OS were used in the context it was brought up by @sandbarmark for #carchat.

sandbarmark @banovsky Android OS in GM cars...yay or nay? #carchat

On May 13, 2010 12:48 am via TweetGrid

Can you imagine? Let’s suppose GM does decide to adopt the Android OS, and turn it into their own version of Ford’s wildly popular Sync entertainment system. Chances are they’re going to take the already very device specific Android OS, take a few key pieces from it, and write their own application suite on top of it. This would mean MORE duplicated work which would likely prove to be only useful to GM, and not to the Android community at large, or the Linux community to which it owes it’s existence!

My Conclusion

While at first blush, the idea of an “open” mobile OS powering in car entertainment devices seemed very attractive I don’t think it’s the answer. If GM is going to pursue building some software and hardware for in car entertainment, they should take a serious look at simply building on top of Linux, rather than having to work around the mobile-device-centric limitations of Android. Plus, if they did it right, the entire Linux community could benefit from their efforts.

Time for a quick update on the Cadillac. Last time you read about the caddy, I shared my discovery that it had the rather desirable “Switch Pitch” variation of the Turbo 400 transmission. As such, I decided it was best to have it examined before I put the car back together. I took it over to Alphonso’s Transmission in Goleta, hoping that it just needed to be cleaned up, and perhaps have a few smaller parts repaired or replaced. Unfortunately, this was not to be. As he started dismantling the transmission he very quickly discovered that the main forward band was broken, the forward drum was burnt, and the 2/3 clutch pack was nearly worn down to the steel. So, the only real choice at that point was to go ahead and rebuild the transmission completely.

Now, I’m totally stoked that the trans was rebuilt, and Alphonso has been building these things for longer than I’ve been alive, and did a spectacular job. I also have a brand new variable pitch torque converter. All for the (quite reasonable) price of $1100. Problem is, I only had $600 to spend, which I was hoping would be enough to get the trans repaired, and buy a few small parts I needed to get the car back together. Instead, I had to borrow the rest of the money from our savings. This means for the next 3 months I’ll be paying our savings back from the caddy’s fund, at which point we’re expecting our new son Tate! So as you can imagine I’m not going to have the time, nor the presence of mind to be working on the caddy for a while after that, and I won’t have any money to spend on it until then.

As a result, I’m trying to do little things on the caddy until Tate is born that don’t cost me anything. So I’m tearing the motor down a bit further, and trying to clean it up. I popped the timing cover off to check the timing chain/gears. Turns out this is yet another part which is going to need replaced! The chain is SUPER loose, like enough that I almost feel like I could cause it to skip a tooth with the slack. Also, apparently in the late 60′s it was all the rage to install and market “silent” timing gears. I had the same get-up on my 1967 Ford Thunderbird. It’s essentially a hard plastic cam gear for the timing set, which is supposed to reduce the normal timing set noise. I seriously don’t get this, since the other noises that these machines make more than drown out any noise that the timing set might make. But, I digress.. The point is that the hard plastic cam gear is also showing signs of stress, with hairline cracks forming down the middle of each tooth. It’ll definitely have to be replaced.

I had hoped that I could just throw the engine back together without buying a whole lot more parts for it, and as such had sorta planned not to inspect it too thoroughly. With events unfolding as they have, I think I am going to go ahead and check all the rest of the clearances and see what else (if anything) may need replaced. Depending on how things turn out, I may or may not stick with this motor. As I’ve stated before, the 429 is a low production motor and the parts are surprisingly hard to find, as well as expensive. If I find that it needs more than bearings (a cam, or some machine work for instance) I may simply sell this motor to someone who’s working on a numbers matching restoration and buy a 472/500 to put in it’s place. The good news is that my 429 is in generally good shape, and certainly does not need a lot of work, so it should have some reasonable value to someone who’s looking for original parts.

So that’s where we stand. I had hoped to have her all back together and be driving ‘er by now, but it looks like I’m going to be taking my time even a bit more, and being even a bit more methodical. I can’t wait to experience that finely crafted and tuned transmission!

It's been a while since I've provided an update about the progress of on the Caddy.  Mostly because things have been slow due to a busy work and family schedule.  Here's the rundown of what I have gotten done though.

I have rebuilt the carb, and realized that a broken vacuum pot on the carb was actually only used to crack the throttle open a bit and increase the idle RPM when the A/C was running.  Since the A/C system is not holding pressure, and looks like it hasn't in many many years, I went ahead and removed this "extra" part.  Hopefully this'll fix the hesitation problem that I detected on the few short drives I took.  

Now, when I first got the car, I immediately noticed that there wasn't any sort of linkage that I could see for the tranny kickdown.  So while I've been staring at the service manual to get my carb back together properly, I've also been trying to figure out how the heck this thing is supposed to get a kickdown signal from the throttle.  Turns out there is a switch which is supposed to be mounted on the intake manifold, near the carb which actually sends a +12v signal to the transmission for kickdown!

Even more interesting than that, the transmission in this thing is at least as rare as the engine.  I've got a THM400 with "Switch Pitch", which was only offered in the Caddy for like 3 years.  Basically the torque converter has two stall settings, one around 1000RPM and another around 3200RPM.  It switches between the two with another +12v signal (also sent by the switch which I don't have) which causes the angle of the blades in the converter to change.  So, that means two things.

First, instead of just throwing everything back together and hoping the trans "just works" I'm actually going to take the time to yank it out and have it gone over to make sure it'll work well for me.  No sense it blowing this thing up since it's a stout and apparently rather desirable piece!  I'm hoping to have it yanked out this weekend, and over to Alphonso's Transmission by Monday.

Second, because I don't have the original switch to operate the "Switch Pitch" mode and kickdown I've got to either find one (fat chance) or devise my own.  Currently, my plan is to mount up a TPS (Throttle Position Sensor) to the carb and feed that signal to an Arduino Microprocessor which will send the +12v signals to the trans for both the switch pitch, and trans kickdown.  There is actually a guy who built a controller for the switch pitch part of the trans back in the mid 80's, and I've actually been in touch with him.  His solution uses vacuum, the brake light, and timers to operate just the pitch change of the torque converter.  Then a mechanical switch for the transmission kickdown.  His name is Bruce Roe (bcroe@juno.com) and I've been in touch with him to get some feedback on how his device works.  He's been very helpful and encouraging, I can only hope my device is as effective as his.

So, with that I've decided I'm going to nickname my Caddy "Bionic Caddy" in honor of the fact that "we have the technology, we can make it better".  It's especially fitting since I'm going to put a CarPC in it, and hopefully put a Megasquirt EFI on it one day.  Also, it abbreviates nicely to a personalized license plate *BIONCAD*.  Should be good fun.

While my simple project of identifying (and fixing) a mysterious "clunk" has sorta exploded into a much bigger project of getting the engine back together and building a controller for the transmission, I still hope to get it done reasonably soon and keep the complexity to a minimum.  Stay tuned for updates!

Well there she is, the source of my clunk! And, the way it’s sitting in there explains why the engine wouldn’t turn past TDC as well since that thing woulda been right in the way. So far as I can tell it’s a small(ish) washer that got folded in half. You can see a few more shots of it over in my Flickr set. What remains a bit of a mystery is how it got there. I’m guessing it entered through the intake, and it’s possible it was sitting on top of the throttle blades of the carb. Tough to say if it was there when I got it, or if I managed to drop it there while I was working.

All in all, there doesn’t seem to be much (maybe any?) damage from the whole debacle. The you can see both the cylinder wall and the combustion chamber for that cylinder, and they both appear unharmed! Remember back when I described that one of the cylinders had a spark plug that had 0 gap and appeared damaged? Yup, you guessed it, that plug came from this cylinder. Makes sense, all of the steel for the cylinder wall, piston, and head are harder than the washer would have been, and the spark plug would have been a softer metal as well. Soft enough to sustain some damage from that thing flinging around in the cylinder. This also explains why it seemed fairly inconsistent, when that cylinder was not on it’s power stroke the washer would have happily just moved up and down the cylinder wall in place. Then when there was ignition in that cylinder, the pressure probably sent it flying around!

I also made another discovery while I was working. The bolt on the front of the crank that I’d been using to turn the motor over, doesn’t actually belong there! The balancer is simply pressed onto the crank with no big bolt to hold it on like you find on many other motors. It’s becoming more and more apparent to me that one or more people who’ve worked on this thing haven’t been terribly methodical, and clearly didn’t have a service manual to reference. In spite of that, the motor appears to be fairly low mileage and it quite good condition.

The plan now is to do some more inspection and measure things to see if they match the tolerances set out in the service manual. If everything checks out, I think I may just put her all back together and run her. Going to keep my fingers crossed that everything is as tight as it appears to be so I can get some miles outta this thing!

I got the engine out of the Caddy this weekend! The first lesson I learned is that I should have either removed all of the pulleys and water pump, or removed the front clip of the car. I had a TON of trouble getting the motor out past the radiator core support! In fact, I wound up yanking the water pump off while the motor was in limbo just to buy myself a few more inches of clearance.

Once it was finally out, and safely on an engine stand, I started my investigation and search for the source of my “clunk” sound. First, I yanked the intake manifold and the cover for the lifter valley. I found nothing particularly interesting there, certainly no obvious foreign object which would account for the noise I’ve been hearing. So, I tipped the thing over and started pulling out oil pan bolts and upon removing the pan I was greeted with what you see on the left. Now I expected to find chunks of oil dipstick in the engine, since I’d previously reported that the dipstick appeared broken. What I did not expect though was that the dipstick would be so completely mismatched! The photo on the right shows the engraving of “Ford” on the dipstick. Apparently the previous owner just decided to toss whatever dipstick he had handy into the tube, and call it a day.

Not knowing what the original design of the Cadillac dipstick is, I can’t be sure, but it feels like this is a bit of a poor design. If the dipstick is straight, and goes down the dipstick tube straight, it appears as though it’ll run right smack dab into the rotating assembly as you can see on the left.

As satisfied as I was with my discovery, I realized pretty quickly that this couldn’t be the source of the “clunk” I was chasing down. The bits of dipstick were simply too small and light weight to account for the sound I was experiencing. Plus, when I pulled the oil pan off, all of the bits were sitting right inside the oil pickup which means they were likely “stuck” there by suction from the oil pump any time the engine was running. So I kept inspecting, looking for any other foreign object big enough to account for what I’d heard.

After several minutes of looking around with a flashlight, I figured I’d start turning the motor and seeing if anything seemed out of place. I pulled all the plugs so that compression wasn’t an issue, and started turning the motor over. It turned nice and easy until it neared top dead center (TDC), where it halted and I couldn’t seem to continue turning it no matter how much (reasonable) force I applied. Perplexed, I went ahead and turned the engine the opposite direction. Again it turned smoothly until I had reached a full rotation in the opposite direction and it again stopped dead in it’s tracks. Hrrmnnn..

So that’s the current mystery, the engine doesn’t seem to turn over freely any more now that I’ve pulled it out, and turned it upside down! I knew it couldn’t be piston to valve contact, since it’s a hydraulic lifter motor and almost all of the lifters had lost pressure allowing all the valves to stay closed. So, more likely it’s piston to head contact. I didn’t notice any obvious signs of bent connecting rods or loose connecting rod caps so the cause isn’t readily apparent. Next step will be to yank the heads off and see if there is any obvious damage which might indicate which cylinder is causing the problem. The title to this post may be a bit premature, but I don’t suspect I’m going to find anything minor. Stay tuned as I continue to tear it down to find the problem!