I was going to cut the exhaust out today, but thought better of it; not feeling very well today. But I did crawl under the car, to take pix of some Faulkner's "incontinence".
The first is from the differential pumpkin. My guess is that it's leaking from the drain plug (there's a drop of oil hanging from it if you look at the closeup) - I don't really see any signs of it from the flange gasket. Anyone think differently? I'll be dropping the driveshaft to "BOP" it (Brush, Ospho, Paint), and get it out of the way of othe BOP-ing activity - that would be my opportunity, I guess, to replace the gasket.
Would it be wise to put teflon tape on the threads to seal?
More worrisome is the transmission, which was rebuilt after the "Incident at Valley Forge" ten years ago with Ron, Matthew and Roger. There's transmission fluid film coatling a lot of the surfaces in this area.
transmission fluid on the cable, too, higher upcleaned up
I wonder if they replaced the rubber grommet on the tip of the shifter cable when they did the rebuild? (Two years earlier, I had, when I had a leak in this area.) Or maybe it's leaking from the tube covering the shifter cable itself. I remember checking the torque on the pan bolts, to no avail... I'd hate to have to replace this cable, especially under the dash. I know that you can get them from Imperial Services, but they are pricey.
Maybe I'll drain the trans, pull the pan (makes it easier to release the cable, as I recall), try the trick detailed below from the Forward Look Mailing List (don't see the need to remove the old cover, tho), replace the grommet, reinstall the cable and replace the pan gasket. What else should I do when I'm in there?
Carlisle 2018!
From: Forward Look Mopar Discussion List [mailto:L-FORWARDLOOK@LISTS.PSU.EDU] On Behalf Of Dave Stragand
Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2008 3:22 PM
To: L-FORWARDLOOK@LISTS.PSU.EDU
Subject: Re: [FWDLK] More Transmission questions..
A common reason is cracked insulation on the shifter cable.
As the car sits, the fluid runs out of the torque converter and fills up the pan past the level of the cable.
At least that's my theory. I had the same issue, and resolved it by pulling the shift cable and using heat-shrink tubing to seal it. Fixed it for me.
-Dave
From: Gary Nelson
To: L-FORWARDLOOK@LISTS.PSU.EDU
Sent: Sunday, July 07, 2013 12:18 PM
Subject: Re: [FWDLK] transmission cable leak
Here's a quick fix that may be long term. Remove all the old cover and slide on shrink tube. Any electronics store should have what you need. I bought a 3' x 1" before. You want the ID to be just slightly bigger than the end fitting on the cable. Slide shrink tube over cable exposing the cable end. Clean the end and apply thin coat of silicon. Slide shrink tube back over the cable end where original ended and shrink it onto the cable with heat gun or hair dryer.
I have not tried as of now. It was my plan to do so. If you try it let us all know how it worked.
Thank you,
Gary, the parts doc
Escondido, CA USA
Land of the Avocado
Mail: garythepartsdoc@glnelson.com
760.751.1958
There are two type of heat shrink tubing. The better one to get has the glue inside it plus it is thicker than the one used on electronics and you can usually get it from you auto parts store such as Napa. It also is a good idea to apply a second heat shrink tubing on top of the first one, for good measures. Fern
From: Forward Look Mopar Discussion List [mailto:L-FORWARDLOOK@lists.psu.edu] On Behalf Of RICHARD SKINNER
Sent: Sunday, July 7, 2013 5:43 PM
To: L-FORWARDLOOK@LISTS.PSU.EDU
Subject: Re: [FWDLK] transmission cable leak
Three types actually. Add in an oil-resistant version which is what is needed here.
Faulkner wrote:
But the exhaust manifold bolts look ugly!
I'm not going to chance it. I'm going to cut the exhaust out just below the headers, and drive it (loudly!) to a shop where they can remove them professionally.
Hold the bus! I was thinking (prolly from some prior Chebby experience) that the bolts were screw-in studs into the headers. Not so with Mother Mopar! It was done the right way - with bolts through the header flange:
So what if the bolts snap (and I fully expect the driver's side will) - I can tap the bolt remnants out through the header flange, no fuss, no muss.
I can do this! I have an inquiry into Waldron's now for the stainless pieces I need.
Not the best of days to be tackling the removal of an exhaust system! It's a tad warm in the garage.
I started working on the header bolts on the passenger side - was actually able to get one to turn, but the head was turning with it. Best efforts to brace a wrench against something solid while I spun the nut failed, the wrench kept popping off. So I eventually decided to save this piece for when Matthew visits (if he can find tix).
I started cutting the pipes out, drivers side first. What a gritty, dirty job! Nothing dirtier - well, perhaps power brushing the undercarriage will be dirtier
Had to finish the last little bit with a hacksaw, just couldn't reach the top of the pipe with the grinder. More fun. Oh, and get this - the remaining piece that connects to the header is loose!
One wonders if leaking exhaust didn't bake the bolts on that side, which accounts for why they look so corroded. Oh, well - they should snap right off.
Look at this nice little maneuver with the Smitty! They twisted the bracket and welded a rod through it, and right to the Smitty. I thought I was going to have to get new brackets from John Fowlie, but I was able to salvage:
Someone explain this deal to me. The tailpipe had a flange welded onto the end of it, but the flange was bolted to the frame with a rubber shock mount. You can see in the same pix, the remnants of a hangar that used to hold the tailpipe (and is shown in the parts book). So what's with this shock mount? It almost looks original.
On to the other side. More cutting as close as I dare to other members, then finishing it off with a hacksaw.
Some good news - when I crawled back under the car today, I noticed a spot of trans fluid where the cable enters the housing.
The cable itself was bone dry. Fershur, this puppy is leaking from the grommet at the tip of the cable. Either they never replaced it, or they damaged it when they shoved the cable in too far when reinstalling.
Either way, I've replaced this before. Shouldn't be too hard to do, and should fix Faulkner's incontinence at the front end.
As you know, there's a whitewall hiding under every new black wall tire. My Portawalls - and I've gone through several, generally flying off in pieces on the Pennsylvania Turnpike between 75 and 90 mph - have chafed my radials in spots where you can see the white wall:
I know that on the Left Coast, Hooten Tire Company specializes in shaving tires to expose the whitewall with a special machine. Here's a thread about it.
Does anyone know of such a place - or specialist - in the Northeast? My tires were new when I put them on, and have little mileage. I like wide whites, but am getting tired of replacing Portawalls; and I'm not anxious to drop $1K on Cokers.
Dan - l have a couple or three of 14 lnch port a walls you can have. You pay the freight. I refuse to pay $240.00 a tire for wide white walls. I'm using Hankook 205\75R14 with three guarter inch whitewalls from Walmart at $79.00 a pop. In fact after a while you get used to them. The whites get wider every time l think of the money l saved.
From what lve heard the white rubber under the black is not the same grade as used for whitewalls. Besides all the talk about it l have never heard of anyone doing it.
Dick
On the bolts through the exhaust manifold to the exhaust itself, they are supposed to have a stud in them.
Most of the times they drill them out if they break and put a bolt and nut on them
My Eastwood order came, the Ospho I ordered from Ace came, and I scored paintbrushes at $.50 each at Harbor Freight. I bought the maximum number I was allowed. No more excuses... Oh, scored a wet/dry shop vac too, 20% off coupon.
Here are the wrecking crew. The cup brush on the offset grinder works great on flat surfaces, but the 3" and 7" circular brushes for the drill came in handy for tough spots. The 7" worked great for getting to the top of the frame. (Oh, not shown here - a little hand held brush for hitting those spots otherwise unreachable.)
The crevice attachment for the vac works great on sucking out Idaho dust:
Ospho is a miracle drug! And it lets you know when you've missed a spot - it darkens the rust so the untreated areas light up:
I looped a couple of layers of Ospho-soaked rag over a screwdriver blade, and dragged it in this corner to treat the area.
Using my patented timer (1 beer = 10 minutes), I went back and wiped everything down. But, I won't get to paint with Eastwood encapsulator tomorrow - Princess Morah is coming, and she has her own agenda.
But, I've got a strategy now: Start at the back, work forward, and when I get to the end - STOP. Seriously, this is going to take a while, but I've got a handle on what's involved. I can do this!
Here's what lies ahead. I'll be squeezing 3M seam sealer into any minute opening, such as the lip of the trunk patch panel, lest moisture get in and sit - and paint over it with encapsulator.
Some good news - the pumpkin is weeping 90 weight at the plug, so it's not the flange gasket. However, the square opening in the plug is neither 1/4", nor 3/8" - I'm guessing it's 5/16". I don't have an adapter for that, guess I'll have to get one before I can try tightening it up.
Any ideas about how to back these screws in the license plate light lens out? Looks like the previous painter didn't have a clue, which is why he painted right over the lens...
