New Here With A Project

Thank you, Rich. Now I know what it is.

Below are what I could get today of the connecting rods after removing the oil pan.

Given the amount of water that came out I expected more sludge, and definitely a barnacle or two.

Unless a better trained eye says otherwise, this does not appear to be the end of the road for the engine block.

My thoughts are to pull the other three spark plugs (the passenger side all came out wet), put a little kerosene in each cylinder and let it sit for a while and then see if the engine turns.

As always, if I’m missing something please let me know.

 

I'm seeing a fair amount of rust on the cylinder walls that I can see. The cam lobes too. No harm in tinkering with it if you like. Honestly if you do get it freed up it probably won't last long or run well.
Interested to see what it has for a flywheel. By the time it was manufactured there were few manual transmission Buicks. It could have a Buick car flywheel ( fairly hard to come by these days) an aftermarket even fire flywheel ($$) or a Dauntless flywheel ( which should have been at a minimum neutral balanced or preferably balanced to the even fire rotating assembly. There's a lot of getting away with it though)

 

I think I’m done with motor.

The three driver’s side plugs came out wet and I got lucky with the attached picture where I can see the water sitting in the cylinder. I don’t think time spent on the motor to be worth much other than to get it ready to come out.

On to the drive train…

I know there is water in the transmission and transfer case, and the transfer case leaks. So I figure I’m looking at replacing seals at least. I will search the forum for tips and tricks on removing them with or without the motor.

The front locking hubs are stuck in the LOCK position. Not sure how to deal with those yet, but it’s something else to research.

Along the way I want to convert to disc brakes all the way around. I figure while I’m down there…

J

 

Go slow, don't forget photos along the way. Lots of good info buried in the site.

 

I’m back. Actually I never left, but… life.

We are moving on to disconnecting the drive shafts from the transfer case so we can remove the transmission & transfer case as a unit.

The rear looks like it will be straight forward. The forward one maybe a little harder.

 

Looking back on this thread, I can see some of your earlier photos. I would bet your turbo engine is out of a ‘78 -‘80 Buick turbo Regal or Monte Carlo. I can also see you have an Edelbrock (Carter AFB) carburetor. Your turbo engine will never run right on that carb. You MUST use the correct Rochester 4bbl designed to operate under boost, as well as vacuum. That carb was used only for 2 or 3 years back around 1979. I’ve been looking for one for 8-9 years now.
From the look of the engine internals (and turbo complications), it might be easier and cheaper to find a Buick 231 from an early/mid 1990’s Regal. Several other GM cars also used the same engines in that era.
-Donny

 

The carb issue would help explain part of why it sat so long.

I thought about replacing it with a similar engine but decided to go with an odd fire as it had originally. I was fortunate to find one not far from where I live through a gentleman on this forum. Whatever additional frustrations await in making this thing work, the day spent picking up the engine was an absolute delight and will be one of highlights of the time spent on the project.

 

This is an interesting thread When I did my '68, I was amazed how much power the dauntless put out! Compared to my brothers F134, the dauntless was superpower! I can't imagine one with a turbo charger!
dne'

 

Where's the batt'ry?

 

Ah, yes. Now I see the bulkhead fitting under the hood. Nice work.

 

Propeller shafts are disconnected.

The rear shaft is only removed from the transfer case. I’ll disconnect it from the differential later.

The forward shaft took a little thought because the only wrench on hand that would fit the nuts on the u-bolts was an open-end. I disconnected it from the forward differential first (easy with a small socket drive) so I could rotate the propeller shaft to put the nuts on the rear u-bolts in a position where I could get the wrench on them.

None of the nuts on the u-bolts on the front shaft were tight. One of the u-bolts on the rear end of the forward shaft had lock washers. I’ve not looked at the assembly steps but I suspect the u-bolt nuts are not supposed to be very tight as they wrap around the the roller bearing caps. My thought is that I may use lock washers when putting it back together as a little insurance against the u-bolts coming loose.

Next is to do the remaining prep work for removing the transmission/transfer case.

 

Sorry to take off topic.dne -is that the brake and clutch masters on the firewall?can you give some details maybe pics on that set up?

 

I have one transmission cover panel up. It appears it is attached to a larger one. If so that one is next.

It appears the Jeep used to be either blue or orange.

It looks and feels like much of the body was coated in Rhino Liner or some similar truck bed liner coating. It will peel off if you get a corner started and this looks like the key to getting the other cover panel off.

I’m not too keen on removing the coating from the body in general, however, because that may well be what’s holding the whole thing together.

 

The bed liner coatings are okay for floors but only IF applied correctly. As you can see with your cover whomever put that stuff on didn't properly prep the metal, didn't remove paint or rust, and rust never sleeps.

I have come to hate the stuff, and when it starts to come loose because of rust trapped underneath it is a royal PITA to clean up the rest of it.

 

In other words, you are saying sort of like powder coat--- The stuff does have a place where paint gets chipped or worn off easily but it isn't a good substitute for a decent paint job.

 

I was a little slow in that realization and had not driven a Dauntless until I purchased my new 67 CJ5. I learned to drive with Go Devil power and subsequently, the F head "light breeze" anchor. The 225 was definitely an eye opening experience. To this day I remain impressed with the bottom end torque of that engine.