Cottees' 1980 Chrysler Celeste Lancer LC GT A73M Resto

[davetrees]

Make sure you blow out the breather lines on the tank as well. I was having an intermittent problem with the rally car - it would just stop for no apparent reason - and it turned out the breathers were blocked & creating a partial vacuum in the tank, so the mechanical pump couldn't suck the fuel ! (Spiders had taken up residence in the lines .... ) Blew some high-pressure air through them & it fixed the problem (although running an electric pump now anyway)

[Cottees]

How old is the fuel in the tank ?

A majority of the petrol in the tank is up to a month old, around 10L or so is around a year old.

probably be worth removing the tank

The fuel sender isn't working, and the only way to get to it is to drop the tank. So might as well dump/filter the fuel, and drop the tank. While it is out, I can clean it out, and also get the fuel sender working too.

[Cottees]

Since today was turning out to be sunny, I decided to drop the tank in the LC to see what is going on. After a heap of hitting my head, and a heap of swearing, I got it out. I tried to use the fuel pump to get the petrol out, but that doesn't seem to be pumping like it should, so it could be blocked as well.

The fuel outlet had a bit of crap in it.


The fuel sender sensor had started to rust too.


More crap in the filler neck.


Tipped the rest of the petrol that was on the bottom of the tank onto the ground. Once it evaporated, could see the crap that came out.


I put a couple high power magnets into a glove, dropped it into the tank and swished around some more petrol, and ended up getting this out.


Because of how dirty it is, I may see if I can get it professionally cleaned.

[84GKSIG]

im in a really crap mood so its only appropriate for me to say WTF

[davetrees]

Yuk !!

That's why the fuel filter should always be between the tank & the pump, not between the pump and the carb ....

[mrd]

on the bright side, you have the best avatar ever.

[Cottees]

on the bright side, you have the best avatar ever.

Thanks!

Since it was a nice day, I thought I'd get up early at around noon to get some work done on the Lancer. Had to get the crap out of the tank, so since there was some petrol left in the tank, I left it out in the sun to dry, and then I could vacuum the dry stuff out.


It did a pretty good job at getting most of the crap out.


To try and clean out more of the inside, I got some metho to rinse around to get out what was left. Got the grape flavoured stuff!


I also cleaned up the outside with some Mr Muscle so I could give it a quick coat of paint to make it look a little neater.


All that cleaning and shaking the tank all about, I ended up chillaxing in the back of the Lancer for a while using my NOS bottle as a pillow.


Then it was time to check out the fuel lines to make sure they weren't blocked. Before I checked the lines, I checked the electric fuel pump. That seemed to be ok, but the micron filter that was on it was blocked. For the fuel lines, I just blasted a heap of air through them like this...


... And it came out the back like this. What came out didn't appear to be that dirty at all. I also did it with the vapour line too, and that was ok.


While everything was apart, I also checked the vapour separator lines at the back of the car.


Discovered a fossilised spider under the vapour separator.


I also checked out the fuel sender sensor. I ended up pulling it apart and cleaning it out. Quick multimeter test shows that it should work once it is all back together. Just have to solder some parts back on.

[Cottees]

Went down to my local Autobarn to get a serviceable fuel filter so I can clean out the filter once a week or so till I am happy that the crap isn't going to return.


Installed it, and seemed to be working ok.


I installed a 5L into the Lancer for testing purposes.


Since it was a nice day outside, I decided to do the soldering outside.


The sender unit now works. I plugged it in and set it to around half way.


Set it all the way, which looks to be past full.

[orangelancer]

yeh when the tank is full the thing goes all the way like that

[leoca64]

i should try that with my LC .
The tank hasn't been full since i have owned it 4 years !

[Cottees]

Made time to work on the Lancer again. Seeing the back seat still makes me laugh.


I gave the carbie a quick clean with compressed air. Must remember next time to not do it when the bowl is full. After that I ran it for a bit and there is still some crap coming up from the tank. Luckily the filter is doing it's job.



I put the 5L back into the Lancer to pump some petrol through the filter, then clean it out.


I did this several times and it started to look clear again.
http://youtu.be/H0B6M1S8Qhk

Once it was all clean, I fiddled with the carbie settings and got it to run better. While driving, there is a minor issue with progression, which is a big improvement over the major issue it was having.
http://youtu.be/vUvTXjcWbN4

Drove it around the block a couple times, it started to get a little worse again. Looks like I need to clean the carbie again.

[Cottees]

I got the carbie to the point that I thought it was ok to drive to work, but I was wrong. I think the foot pump has blocked up again. So looks like I'll be taking the carbie off again and cleaning it again. It did get to and from work with a little problem with progression, but she did it.
< Insert photo of my LC with a red CE. Was meant to take a photo, but forgot. >

I did get some compliments/positive comments about the LC though. A girl from work yesterday said it looked a bit like a DeLorean. This morning the girl at the servo said it was a "cool little car". She then told me she had a KE55 that she was fixing up. Then today a girl from work said the Lancer was "the bomb".

[Superscan811]

These type of filters are little better than a sink food strainer.


A LARGE paper element style fuel filter would be a better option at this stage and they will better filter out the finer crud.
Something like THIS...


The other issue is that crud in the carbs is also going through your engine, a bit like sucking in some very fine sand. Would hate to see what that stuff is doing to the pistons/rings/valves etc...

Cheers.

[Cottees]

I finally had the Dell'Orto tweaked almost right, and was running well. Took it for a drive around the block. Got around the first corner, shifted into second, heard a pop after a few moments, and the engine cut out. Tried starting the engine, and it turns over, but with no compression. Popped off the rocker cover.


As I took the rocker cover off, I tapped the #1 intake rocker, and it moved. Once I moved the rocker cover out of the way, I could see the damage.


Once the engine is cool, I'll take the rocker gear off and take a closer look to see if there is any other damage.

[A112H]

Bummer mate.
When you pull it down, buy ALL new rockers. If this has happened to one the others will have had a similar life.

[Cottees]

Hopefully it is just the rocket assembly that needs to be changed over. I was planing on going to U-Pull-It in the next week, so will have to look for a low km engine to get those parts from.

[A112H]

When you put it back together, don't forget the Rocket Cover

[Cottees]

LOL I usually type 'rocket' as in a joke, but the first time I have done it by accident. Then again, that 'rocker' did go pop, so it might have thought it was a rocket.

Anyway, rocket gear taken off. Looks like there was crud between the rocker and the rocker pole thingo. So looks like it could have not been getting enough oil, got hot, and when the engine is finally producing power properly, it gave way. Just glad it did it just around the corner from home, and not on the way to work. Once the rocker gear was off, I turned the engine over by hand, and it seems to have compression in all cylinders still, and all valves appear to be straight. So next rocker set will be getting a REALLY good clean this time.

[Cottees]

I took the rocker gear off, and everything else looks ok.


Rocker gear out of the car.


Looking closer, you can see some of the crap that was on the rocker.


Another theory is that I started to polish the top of the carbie, and the rocker couldn't handle the extra couple kW.

[Superscan811]

Looks as if it was starving for oil.

Look at the oil hole in the first cam bearing cap, it's very small in the Astron-1 heads and doesn't take much to block it.

Also look "under" the rocker shaft and see how badly it is worn.

While the rocker shafts are interchangeable between Astron-1 and 2 heads, you will need to grind out the Astron-2 shafts around the bottom of the bolt hole to allow the oil to flow properly.

I'll try and take a few pics on Thursday, if required, to explain what I mean..


Cheers.

[Cottees]

I'll try and take a few pics on Thursday, if required, to explain what I mean..

Thanks, that would be a big help.

I might need to take the head off as well to do some more inspecting. This picture should explain it. I gave the top of the valves a whack, and they seemed to be moving freely, so they don't appear to be stuck.

[geezer101]

You might get away with not removing the head for a look-see. Taking the inlet manifold off may give you clear line of sight through the inlet ports to see if the valves are fully seated. Other option is hooking up the spark plug holes to a compressed air connection to see if the inlets are sealed too. With the rocker gear off all the valves should be fully seated and no chance of air escaping. Better not to pull the head off straight away.

[A112H]

I agree, you can buy a fitting designed to allow you to pressurise the cylinder to change stem seals. As geezer said by pressurising the cylinder you will find any leaks.

[Cottees]

Went to U-Pull-It and picked up a new set of rockers and will be checking out the rest of the head on Sunday. While
I was there, I also picked up a set of GC wagon springs.

[Cottees]

I tried pressurising the cylinders, and ALL of them leaked out of the intake. Trying to look through the intake ports was crap, so I just took the head off.

Hard to see in this pic, but there is some damage.


Intake valve #1


Intake valve #3


The block looks ok still.


Piston + bore #1


Piston + bore #4

[Superscan811]

Sorry to see that, looks like the timing chain jumped a tooth or 2..

You WILL need to replace the pistons because the top ring grove will be compressed into the ring and the area where the valve hit the piston will most likely crack off if you just decide to "fix it up".

Rebuild time..


Cheers.

EDIT: You're also running very rich...

[Cottees]

It does look like it has skipped a couple teeth. Everything looks ok, the chain is still tight, the chain guides look good. This is even though the cam sprocket looks to be 35-45 degrees out. The only thing that looked out of place was the back of the timing chain cover.

[Superscan811]

Check the dowel in the cam/sprocket. It may have sheered if the bolt wasn't done up tight enough..

Cheers.


PS: that bolt hole looks like it was broken off due to a longer bolt being used OR hydraulic pressure..

[Cottees]

Check the dowel in the cam/sprocket. It may have sheered if the bolt wasn't done up tight enough..

The dowel is still intact.

[geezer101]

Damn. How'd it manage to jump teeth if the chain and gear is all good? Sorry to see you and 84's work end up turning into mangled scraps...