Maiden voyage blues.
Last time on The Free Model T we were left on a bit of a cliffhanger. The Midlife crisis was on flatbed tow truck headed home. Read back and remember that the last 2 cars I’ve done major engine overhauls on both came back to my house on tow trucks. Maybe I’m losing my touch, it sure was discouraging. Or maybe forces outside of my control conspired to to keep me off of the road. Perhaps I’ve been haunted by engine Spectres, or more precisely Spectras.
So what’s the big reveal? What happened to the mustang so many months ago? The brand new condenser in the brand new Spectra Premium distributor failed. It lasted exactly one trip. Yes it indeed failed after 20 whole minutes of driving. I had intended on installing a points eliminating kit anyway but didn’t want to mess with the ignition system until I already had the carburetor tuned nicely.
You may wonder why I’m calling out Spectra Premium by name. Doesn’t it seem a little unreasonable considering I had planned to eliminate the part that failed anyway? No BECAUSE IT WAS A SPECTRA DISTRIBUTOR IN THE JEEP TOO! That’s right rustlovers! I had 2 vehicles in a row break down on their respective maiden voyages because of Spectra distributors. Shame.
Everything else has been running pretty well for the last couple of months. Except for the coolant leak on the War Rig. And the #8 piston on one of my other Jeeps kissing the cylinder head. And Patient Wife’s Jeep springing a leak. Those aren’t running very well at all.
Why don’t I just do a quick update on all the projects:
The mustang SCREAMS and is beautiful and fun. 
I recently pulled my old postal Jeep out of mothballs and have been driving it a bit but it’s not burning all its fuel so that’s a project! I put in a pertronix points eliminator and a fuel pump to get it running but it at least needs an intake gasket and tune up. At most maybe a carburetor.
The summer project has rocked! I’ve had it all over Anza Borrego and Superstition since I finished the motor. Other than being useless in soft sand I couldn’t be happier with the performance. Special thanks to the Jones Bros. for saving me with their Maxtrax. 
Patient Wife’s ’93 Jeep Cherokee sprouted a coolant leak out of the brandnewish radiator which spiraled out of control into a head gasket job. Even though the entire cooling system was less than 2 years old I believe there was electrolysis caused by a bad motor ground cable. The cooling system turned very quickly into a rusty mess so I decided to pull off the manifolds and pop out the freeze plugs to clean it all out which is when 2 studs snapped off in the head. Since I just posted about a jeep 4.0 overhaul I decided it would be too boring to read twice and didn’t do a write up on it.
New 2 ga. ground cable I made for Patient Wife. I used the tiny old cable to make the body ground.
The free car that ended up back with its owners was a 2004 Nissan Xterra. The dealership and an independent shop had both condemned the catalytic converters among other expensive emissions components to the tune of several thousand dollars. After working hard to fix some bizarre electrical issues it turns out they were causing false engine codes. With the car magically fixed it passed the state smog inspection and was ready to sell but my conscience compelled me to offer it back to the owner for the cost of repairs. They were ecstatic to have it back and I was happy not to have to detail it or do any paperwork on it :). Win-win.
I have been on a huge diesel kick lately and wish I could put a Cummins in everything. I can’t but I can put a Cummins in some things! Like a Cadillac! Yeah, I know, Roadkill already did it but I’ve had a 12 valve sitting on the patio for years that I’ve fully intended to put in my 1970 Fleetwood. Well the motor runs now and Rage helped me pull the caddy out of the corner today! I must say Roadkill really inspired me to get on this project. Here are some pictures and videos of the motor and the extraction.
It’s alive! This Cummins kicked my butt for 2 months before finally firing off.
Rusty? Nah, I’ll come up with a better nick name.
Extraction!
This thing used to be my daily driver… 7 years ago.
Just a few pine needles.
Paint is still good.
Engine bay sans 472.
Thug Life.
Until next time rustlovers build something cool. And watch Roadkill, it’s awesome.
