This is the only glimpse we’re gonna get… hopefully for many, many years to come. This is the stock Ford Ranger oil pickup that we needed to go with the oil pan. We were able to get the pan from salvage, but had to go to Ford to get the pickup. In addition to being [...]
Yeah… I didn’t get a photo of my Yaris full of Spitfire engine parts. Maybe tomorrow when I get around to unloading it. I hope to get things cleaned up, photographed and listed on eBay this weekend. Obviously, I got over to Jeff’s shop today. Picked up most of the 1500 parts. Most of them [...]
My buddy Publio tells me that I’m a bad person because I haven’t blogged Saturday’s happenings yet. He’s probably right. Oh, well. So, I got over to Mark Lasota’s place in Valrico after lunch Saturday. Packed a bunch of tools, rags, jackstands and everything else I thought I might need into the back of the [...]
Accomplished nothing today, which was right in line with the plan! I did do some more research and learned a few more things. I’ll list them here for posterity. The Duratec uses a returnless fuel system. On the donor vehicle (in this case, a Focus, but just as if it was a heart or a [...]
Well… nothing, really. The bell housing was ordered yesterday, and it’s likely to be 3 weeks before we see it, since it has to be manufactured. That gives me time to gather much-needed information and scrounge for parts! Today, I learned that the Ford Ranger Duratec 2.3 oil pan is definitely the one that I [...]
Moving right along here, I purchased an engine today. Got a 2005 Ford Focus 2.0 engine with 2000 miles on it for $550. Jeff checked it out, and it appears to be as stated, a little dusty from sitting in storage for a few years, but spins freely and is clean on the inside. Awesome! [...]
Haven’t posted in about a week, but I’ve been busy. The past few days have been a whirlwind, really. As you know, my cam and lifters got a little too friendly and sent shiny bits of themselves throughout my engine. So, new cam and lifters, new bearings, polish the crank, etc. That much was known [...]
… but, mostly the ugly. Got over to Jeff’s shop today to take a peek at the carnage. All of the lifters had worn faces, but half of them were just plain mangled. It’s obvious that the chunks I’d found in the oil pan were not bearing or thrust washer pieces, but chips from the [...]
The major malfunction appears to be the camshaft and followers, all chewed up and with chunks missing. The cause of that is not fully clear, but could be oil-related. Crankshaft main bearings were fine, rod bearings showed slight wear. That’s about it for now. I’ll get over there and take some photos tomorrow.
Drove the car over to 1st Place Engineering today to get the engine taken care of. Jeff contacted me this evening. He hasn’t fully torn things down, but he pulled the oil pan and found the pickup tube on the oil pump loose and thinks this is likely the cause of the problem. In any [...]