Thanks for the compression numbers. 150 perfect. 110 shot. Got it. I know the head gaskets were replaced at 83,895 miles but I should whip out my compression tester. I'm at 157,027 now.

Draining the coolant from the lower radiator hose would be necessary. Got it. Maybe a block plug but I've only gotten as far as to spot one of those.

I removed the old oil separator valve when I had the right cover off. See the pic where I took out the 8 little screws to get behind the oil separator and pushed it out. Then I put blue-loctite on the 8 little screws going back in. I don't want them bouncing around.

I need to order a new oil separator (LLJ000010) and stick it in but overall, I didn't see much blockage.

 

Cool, ur on it (PCV). If and when you get to the valley pan it'd be an excellent time to clean up the throttle area. Can remove that (plenum) from tbe intake and then yank the entire intake off with fuel rail attached. For me thats about an hour job. If way off in the future you want more poop to the motor a 4.6 crank and rods can be swapped in, no changes needed to the ECU box.

 

No need to remove radiator hoses. Siphon coolant out of the fill plug on the radiator. Easier and neater (no spills).

 

Thanks for the tip!

 

I ordered some Bilstein rear shocks. $198 shipped. $99 each, of course. They should be here Friday.
The fronts are already the matching Bilstein's the previous owner bought 2 years ago.

 

I managed to fix the hole in the driver seat last night. It's a matter of removing the front seat (2 10mm bolts in front and 2 torx bolts in back). All the connectors under the seat had to be disconnected, along with the seat belt connection which were the same torx.

Then a trip the smog shop and then AAA for title transfer. In California, you have to smog the car before you can transfer the title.

 

I got 3 projects done this weekend. Rear shocks and transfer case fluid and tire rotation.

The rear shocks were to replace the Bilsteins that had 73,145 miles. The new Billy's feel a small bit stiffer than the old ones. Not much improvement there so I'll call it preventative maintenance.

Since the rear wheels were off, I decided the rotate the tires and measure rotor thickness.
Front 12.9mm (13.0 min)
Rear 11.8mm (11.7 min).
I ordered some rotors and pads at O'reilly's and picked them up today. Now I need to find that 52mm socket to do the End-Float adjustment on the 2 nuts.
Procedure:
Tighten first nut to 61nm
Back it off 90 degrees
Re-tighten to 4nm or just turn it by hand a bit and you can feel it 'nip' up a bit.
Then put on the lock-tab washer that bends
Then tighten the lock nut to 61nm.

I ordered the 52mm socket hub spanner tool and it should be here in a week.

Then I drained the transfer case of 75w-90 Royal Purple Gear Oil to put in something thicker. I put in some cheap 85w-140. I tried pretty hard to remove the inspection cover so I could re-seal it but the dam thing was glued on pretty good. I couldn't find even a small edge to pry the cover off. I concluded I would have to break the inspection cover to get it off. A new one is 6,000 miles away in the UK for $60. I'll cut my losses. Actually, the bolt-holes are where it leaks so I put some orange Permatex RTV on the threads and snugged up the 10mm bolt heads, then pumped the case full. I got to the end of 2 quarts of gear oil and it still wasn't coming out the fill hole. I reached in there and could touch the fluid with my finger easily so I called it full and plugged it up. I really didn't want to go back and buy another quart and use 5% of it.

Not much for a weekend but it was so hot outside. I couldn't work past noon and I was sleeping in and I may have cracked a rib so I'm pretty sore crawling around under there.

 

The next project is to remove that sagging headliner.
Since 3M glue ($50 for 2 cans) and headliner material (JoAnn fabrics $150) is probably over 200 bones, I'll just paint the thing black with rattle-cans for now. I could always take it out again and line it properly if the mood struck me. Then I checked the drain hoses and they all seem entact. Leakage should be non-existant.

 

I've done several headliners, and know more people who have as well. I've never seen 3m spray glue hold a headliner more than 2 summers. Then it's falling down again.
Miami spray glue works excellent, and is $18 for a large spray can.
Just my 2 cents for anyone doing a headliner.

 

I'de definately put Reflectix or a radiant barrier on the roof before putting the headliner board back up.
About $25 for a 4'x10' roll.