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So i spent all winter prepping my 88 900TC for the summer. Had the valve cover powder coated red, new NGK plugs, new red magnecor wires, dressed all the wires, clear coated intake manifold, wire wheeled and polished all the other metal in the engine. She was looking shiny and new! New MSD coil, tweaked APC box, new K&N filter, new clutch.
Took her out last week, top down, was boosting 15psi steady like usual. Nice power, smooth acceleration. I noticed the temp gauge rising but didnt think much as it was 70 degrees at most. 25 minutes into my ride im still boosting steady but notice weaker power. And the temp is still rising. Then i start to lose compression. I stall out and I pull over and fans arent running. Thermoswitch had a dirty connection and finally the fans kicked in. It was already past the red and the engine is stalled. radiator resivoir looked empty so i start to open the cap and it boils up. I did need to bleed the system so that may have been part of that. I wait a while for her to cool down and drive to my mechanic. All the while, very little power, had to crank it like crazy to get it to start, kept stalling out and worst of all was the knock and pinging coming from the engine.
Mechanic looks at it after a few days and says it could be a connecting rod or bearing, he ruled out all pulleys, belts and accessories. Either way its beyond his scope of work and the engine needs to be swapped or rebuilt.
So now shes sitting there waiting for a tow truck to bring her home this weekend, and I wonder what to do. Ive had her since 03 and only has 125k miles, ive replaced the tranny, rack, water pump, AMM, turbo, exhaust manifold, exhaust system, suspension, control arms, ball joints, intercooler. the top is like new, the body is ok. Ive done most of this work myself when i wasnt married with kids, but now I dont have much time on my hands. I could probably figure out whats wrong with it over time and pulling the engine, but then what? Ive never worked on the head or valves and/or pistons. I could swap an engine in but I would be getting into another unknown by over powerring an old engine that I dont have any insight into its history.
Should I bother chasing my dream car, or do I cut bait and run??
posted by 96.242.25...
, Fri, 10 May 2013 06:57:04
, Fri, 10 May 2013 08:54:38, Fri, 10 May 2013 10:08:17
, Fri, 10 May 2013 03:28:46, Fri, 10 May 2013 00:34:24, Thu, 9 May 2013 21:21:29
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