The Official Hot Rod Thread - Part 3: Money Pit Anonymous

[jeffsqartan]

Engine assembly party next Saturday at Mouse’s!

I'll see if I can get my buddy to buy some parts for his F22 Honda engine and I'll bring it along

Hey Bob, progress is progress. I still haven't touched the Mustang since I started driving the truck again. Gotta get an oil change done this week and see if I can afford a second electric fan.
Maybe I'll finally get around to modifying the belt tensioner so that I can put it back on and stop that dang belt from squeaking.

Actually, question about that. Does anyone make aftermarket belt tensioners? Even one that's like a static tensioner that I could buy? Preferably something that would bolt right on.

 

[churchmouse]

I'll see if I can get my buddy to buy some parts for his F22 Honda engine and I'll bring it along

Hey Bob, progress is progress. I still haven't touched the Mustang since I started driving the truck again. Gotta get an oil change done this week and see if I can afford a second electric fan.
Maybe I'll finally get around to modifying the belt tensioner so that I can put it back on and stop that dang belt from squeaking.

Actually, question about that. Does anyone make aftermarket belt tensioners? Even one that's like a static tensioner that I could buy? Preferably something that would bolt right on.

Well now that would be far to easy yes.

 

[Bigtanker]

Just finished up the fall oil changes on our vehicles. I still enjoy doing them. The oil filter on our Grand Caravan is a cartridge type on top of the engine, kinda at the end of the lifter valley. It wasn't a horrible pain to get to but I'd rather have it underneath. It took almost 6 quarts of synthetic to top it off.

I put a quart of Lucas in my truck this time. Figure with 185k on it, it would help with the cold starts. I found that my power steering cooler is starting a to leak just a bit. It looks easy enough to change though.

 

[femurphy77]

I've spent the past hour calling every parts store within reasonable distance of my afternoon commute looking for (4) 1/2x20 castle nuts. I sure do miss the parts stores of old. Ended up ordering them on amazon. Be here wednesday.

 

[churchmouse]

Just finished up the fall oil changes on our vehicles. I still enjoy doing them. The oil filter on our Grand Caravan is a cartridge type on top of the engine, kinda at the end of the lifter valley. It wasn't a horrible pain to get to but I'd rather have it underneath. It took almost 6 quarts of synthetic to top it off.

I put a quart of Lucas in my truck this time. Figure with 185k on it, it would help with the cold starts. I found that my power steering cooler is starting a to leak just a bit. It looks easy enough to change though.

I started putting lucas in my rigs at 100K. Just because.

Do you notice a close similarity to the STP oil treatment of old. I do.

 

[churchmouse]

I've spent the past hour calling every parts store within reasonable distance of my afternoon commute looking for (4) 1/2x20 castle nuts. I sure do miss the parts stores of old. Ended up ordering them on amazon. Be here wednesday.

With the advent of the digital age I saw stocked items vanishing from the shelves in order to put the high volume bits and pieces in their place.
There is still 1 old school parts store I am aware of. Speedway Auto parts.

 

[CKW]

With the advent of the digital age I saw stocked items vanishing from the shelves in order to put the high volume bits and pieces in their place.
There is still 1 old school parts store I am aware of. Speedway Auto parts.

Watching you.......

 

[bobzilla]

Lucas does nothing but increase the viscosity of your oil. If you need a thicker viscosity buy it. That **** is snake oil. And they’ve found millions of buyers. I see this all the time where someone has added Lucas to an engine that doesn’t have fuel dilution issues and the viscosity for the 40w oil is closer to a 60. No other additives in it. Use a modern oil and leave the slick50 wannabe on the shelf.

 

[churchmouse]

Lucas does nothing but increase the viscosity of your oil. If you need a thicker viscosity buy it. That **** is snake oil. And they’ve found millions of buyers. I see this all the time where someone has added Lucas to an engine that doesn’t have fuel dilution issues and the viscosity for the 40w oil is closer to a 60. No other additives in it. Use a modern oil and leave the slick50 wannabe on the shelf.

In response.....My daughter had a Navigator with the big Lincoln 5.7 in it. It would tick and rattle on cold start. 116K on the clock. I stepped up the viscosity and it would still do it. A good friend and engine builder suggested I try a bottle of Lucas. I did. Guess what. It stopped clicking and rattling on cold start. As it got close to 4K and oil change time the noises returned. I repeated the process and quite. Until around 4K+. Thats how I knew it was time.

Just my personal experiences.

 

[churchmouse]

Watching you.......

Oh boy....she found me.

 

[thunderchicken]

Lucas does nothing but increase the viscosity of your oil. If you need a thicker viscosity buy it. That **** is snake oil. And they’ve found millions of buyers. I see this all the time where someone has added Lucas to an engine that doesn’t have fuel dilution issues and the viscosity for the 40w oil is closer to a 60. No other additives in it. Use a modern oil and leave the slick50 wannabe on the shelf.

Yeah. Most newer engines have much tighter tolerances than what was available 20+ years ago. Using an oil with a higher viscosity can cause result in setting check engine lights and manufacturers claim it can cause damage. So I would recommend using what is recommended in the owners manual.
That being said, I have used Lucas in multiple engines that had some minor rattling and it in fact quieted them down. And it would repeat similar to what CM described when done as part of an oil change. Likewise, I have seen their trans stop slip temporarily extend the life of a well abused transmission in a police car. Now, I am by no means a chemist and couldn't tell you what is in their products as compared to just plain synthetic oil. But, I do know just by comparing synthetic oil to conventional oil on my hands, synthetic is much slicker. Also, it is much more difficult to clean up because it seems to stick more than conventional (talking track clean up). All that being said, for my daily it's Pennzoil or Mobil. On my high dollar race engines I only use Royal Purple.

 

[ChristianPatriot]

Well there goes a bunch more money out of my checking account.

 

[halfmileharry]

In response.....My daughter had a Navigator with the big Lincoln 5.7 in it. It would tick and rattle on cold start. 116K on the clock. I stepped up the viscosity and it would still do it. A good friend and engine builder suggested I try a bottle of Lucas. I did. Guess what. It stopped clicking and rattling on cold start. As it got close to 4K and oil change time the noises returned. I repeated the process and quite. Until around 4K+. Thats how I knew it was time.

Just my personal experiences.

Which Lucas product did you use in the Navigator? I've got one of the old nasty 3100 series II in my Buick. 189K and getting some lifter noise in it the last year or so at start up.
They've got soft metal and wear out quick.
I need to pull the plenum and clean out the EGR passages. (also notorious for this) IF I pull the plenum I'd put a set of lifters in it while I've got it down.
But... since I'm cheap and lazy I'd rather dope it up than get dirty.

 

[femurphy77]

With the advent of the digital age I saw stocked items vanishing from the shelves in order to put the high volume bits and pieces in their place.
There is still 1 old school parts store I am aware of. Speedway Auto parts.

You've mentioned them before and it must be a store local to you, I called two Speedways and neither had them. They have a lot of stuff the typical chain stores don't but not this time.

 

[churchmouse]

Which Lucas product did you use in the Navigator? I've got one of the old nasty 3100 series II in my Buick. 189K and getting some lifter noise in it the last year or so at start up.
They've got soft metal and wear out quick.
I need to pull the plenum and clean out the EGR passages. (also notorious for this) IF I pull the plenum I'd put a set of lifters in it while I've got it down.
But... since I'm cheap and lazy I'd rather dope it up than get dirty.

I just use the oil treatment. Is reminds me of the old STP product. I think it just stays on the parts after shut down.,

 

[bobzilla]

Oil is what I do for a living. I have nothing good to say about miracle in a bottle additives.

 

[thunderchicken]

Oil is what I do for a living. I have nothing good to say about miracle in a bottle additives.

I can respect that an additive "miracle in a bottle" isn't fixing anything. At most it may help keep lube where it belongs, and mask an issue. Under some circumstances I can accept that.

 

[churchmouse]

I can respect that an additive "miracle in a bottle" isn't fixing anything. At most it may help keep lube where it belongs, and mask an issue. Under some circumstances I can accept that.

This. Mainly.

 

[jeffsqartan]

It's possible that the wheels I am buying for the Mustang are 10.5 wide. They may end up being 9.5 wide, depending on what response I get back from the manufacturer.

That being said, even after converting to SN95 components, there's a possibility that I'll need wheel spacers to keep things from rubbing. I don't care about fender clearance. I'll cut them out and put on flares.
At the risk of getting flamed, what's everyone's thoughts on using hub-centric spacers like the ones from Maximum Motorsports while auto-crossing?

I keep reading mixed things. I've heard some really good, scientific sounding arguments that say if you do things right, it won't be an issue. That most of the issues come from the user not installing them properly.
And then I've heard from people I know who say that they or their friends have tried and had issues with them wobbling loose. No idea what brand, but still. It's a thought in my mind.

So, has anyone had experience with hub-centric spacers in a use like auto-cross?

PS- if anyone knows anyone who has 94/95 SN95 front spindles and a rear axle for a good price, let me know. The junkyard hasn't had any 94/95 models lately :/

 

[femurphy77]

"Proper use" is probably going to involve retorquing them frequently which probably doesn't happen as often as it should which can lead to failure. Having destroyed a couple of wheels in autocross due to the extreme lateral loads inherent in the heavy car/wide sticky tires scenario I would counsel against them. YMMV.