My '85 MGM, "Maisa"

[Tiggie]

Exciting day. Will be more exciting when the new/rebuilt one goes in.

[Arquemann]

Ooh, I found black paint!
Before:



After:



Most of desired end result was achieved, steering linkage is still filthy with grease and the pump and steering box need another pass after there's something other than me holding it in place. Needs another once-over, some hoses replced, fuel lines reconfigured and kinda want to paint the vacuum booster.
And the desired end result is as follows: 1. Doesn't look neglected. 2. I can see what'd leak if it starts leaking. 3. I don't get a shower of oily crud every time I work under the car.

I've got an operation on wednesday with a few days' recovery and the car is going to winter storage on Sunday. So tomorrow I need to whip up something to keep the torque converter from sliding out and something better than a bungee cord to keep the PS pump from yanking on the hoses.

[87gtVIC]

That came out well.

Good luck with your surgery.

[gadget73]

Looks much better

chunk of wood with a hole drilled through it so you can bolt it to one of the tranmission mounting holes would do fine. Use 2 holes if you want to be fancy.

[Arquemann]

Cleaned up the trans a bit, no real visual improvement, but hopefully less crap falling on me upon engine reinstall. Really couldn't bother measuring and drilling holes in wood or messing with nuts and bolts, so I just reinstalled the inspection cover. It's a stamped piece with 2 bolts holding it on. Stuffed a rag between it and the converter so the converter doesn't have room to move. Should be fine.

Reattached the shift linkage after jacking up the trans a bit more and tightening the strap that's holding it up. I need the car in neutral to move it around, in hindsight would've been smarter to put it in neutral before even pulling the engine.

AC compressor sits nicely on the battery tray with a bungee cord keeping it from leaving the premises. PS pump and bracket is now securely attached with 2 bungee cords instead of one!

[Arquemann]

The engine didn't look that big in the engine bay, or on the ground. But damn when it's on the stand at almost chest height and you're pushing it in through a doorway, it's suddenly pretty big
Engine stand is a cheap piece of shit, big surprise. Don't even have to think about rotating the engine without some serious weight loss first.
Found some damage, flexplate has been rubbing the spacer plate for some reason:



Engine isn't terribly filthy, or atleast the block isn't. Rear china wall leaked before the intake swap, front china wall leaked before and after. Pan gasket is fuckulated and the oil level sender leaks internally.

[gadget73]

Measure? What? Woodworking of that sort is done by eyeball and maybe shoving a marker through the hole to show where to drill.


See how much the crank will slide back and forth in the engine. I'm wondering if your thrust bearing is just wiped out and thats the noise and the rubbing. Did the converter slide back into the transmission by any noticeable amount when you pulled the nuts? It should, if it does not it may be ballooning and pushing forward on the crank. That will wipe out the thrust bearing and the trans pump.

[Arquemann]

See how much the crank will slide back and forth in the engine. I'm wondering if your thrust bearing is just wiped out and thats the noise and the rubbing. Did the converter slide back into the transmission by any noticeable amount when you pulled the nuts? It should, if it does not it may be ballooning and pushing forward on the crank. That will wipe out the thrust bearing and the trans pump.

I don't have a way to keep the crank jammed one way alone, but smacking it one way or another I did not see any perceptible thrust play without measuring. Will recheck with another pair of hands later. I was able to slide the converter back a bit after the nuts were off, maybe 5-10mm ?

[gadget73]

So roughly the diameter of the converter studs? thats fine. If it was messed up it wouldn't move back noticeably.

Have to pry back and forth on the crank to check the play. Last time I did this I set up the indicator against the balancer on the front and stuck a bolt in the crank on the back. Pry against the inner hub of the balancer up front to move it that way, pry against the bolt in the crank to move it that way. Just thinking if it was really sloppy it might explain the damage to the spacer plate. If you don't obviously see it slopping back and forth, probably not it but I'd still be surprised if its not out of spec. New main bearings will usuallyfix that, the center bearing is the thrust bearing and the faces are often down to copper.

https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/pit-stop-wrong-flexplate-causes-main-thrust-bearing-failure-302-ford/

[Arquemann]

I've got a car trailer reserved for a few hours on sunday, it comes with a hand winch.
Since the MGM has no engine, and there's an almost full tank of gas and a bunch of junk in the trunk, I'd guess the car is a bit rear-heavy now?

Where the heck do I attach a winch / strap in the rear?

[sly]

If it doesn't have a trailer hitch on it, rear axle or hook holes in the frame. Don't use the holes next to the bumper in the frame. They're a little too thin there for my liking. Don't use the bumper either since they might pull off. The mounts shouldn't pull out, but they aren't designed for tension, only compression.

Do have wheel chocks/timbers/blocks on hand to keep it from rolling away or ramming the front of the trailer. A buddy to assist with that would be a bonus.

[Arquemann]

Had to re-remove the shift linkage off the bellhousing, mechanism was binding up so I couldn't shift into neutral. Now it's in neutral and will stay so until there's an engine in holding up the trans in the correct position. Also ripped out the shreds of the evaporator housing heat shield mat and what was left of the rubber/fiber splash shields above the upper control arms.

I thought about removing the wiper linkage box to make engine reinstall easier, but now I'm definitely taking it off. As I fingerbanged the drain grommet-thing I realized the linkage housing is packed with decomposing plant matter. Will need thorough cleaning.

If it doesn't have a trailer hitch on it, rear axle or hook holes in the frame. Don't use the holes next to the bumper in the frame. They're a little too thin there for my liking. Don't use the bumper either since they might pull off. The mounts shouldn't pull out, but they aren't designed for tension, only compression.

Do have wheel chocks/timbers/blocks on hand to keep it from rolling away or ramming the front of the trailer. A buddy to assist with that would be a bonus.

Yeah I saw those spindly little holes and I wouldn't trust those even on flat-ish ground.

[Lutrova]

The rear sway bar?

[sly]

The rear sway bar?

If it has one. I know the 88 I had didn't, so it's not uncommon for them to be missing on boxes.

[Arquemann]

The rear sway bar?

I wish I had one...