My totaled '89 SC Daily Driver

One year later and I am still driving this SC, hard for me to believe actually. Odometer just rolled over 226K, and for some reason this car simply won't die. At this point I've accepted the car owes me nothing so I keep making repairs. Have yet to get it painted as originally planned, my '95 has been out of commission / under the knife since Carlisle 2015 so funds have been focused on fixing it first. Hope to have both cars painted in/by 2017. Current push is to have the 95 SC ready for the Shoot Out.

Since the accident I've replaced quiet a few parts, granted the majority were free hand me downs from various parts cars. I honestly try my best to sink as little as I can into the car or be savvy when I do. Or sell some parts on ebay to offset anything cost wise. Keeps the wife happy this way, for she feels its a waste of money to keep putting money into this car - I can understand where she is coming from.

Replaced the following since the accident:

Cam Sensor
Supercharger w/ 94/95 blower - Parts car
IC w/ fan - Wreck banged the other one up pretty good - Parts Car
Radiator - Parts Car
Wiper Motor - Reman Unit from Advance
Blower Motor - Parts Car
Fuse Box under dash - Melted when Wiper & Blower Motor went out - Parts car
Passenger Rear Hub - Parts Car
Passenger Window Motor - Parts Car
Rebuilt the rear suspension - Completed by Garage - Moog Replacements
Rebuilding the entire AC Prior to Carlisle - Parts on the way from Rock Auto.


Also I've been in the process of swapping interior panels over to Black since the factory interior was Grey and extremely tired. When the car was inspected this January I was also made aware by the inspector that she could see my carpet from underneath the car. So sure enough I noticed a baseball sized hole on the drivers side. Following pictures depict my weekend when I went to swap black carpet into the car.

-Tim



r1.jpgr2.jpgr3.jpgr4.jpgr5.jpg
 
The original plan was to cut out the needed metal from a parts car and use seam sealer and rivets to make a patch. But....given the parts car is 30 mins away and my cordless sawsal died mid first panel cut out...I went the poorman/hack route. Purchase an oil drip pan from advance and cut it to size. Seem sealer to bond it all and some stainless self taping screws. Sanded all rust and sprayed with the rust to primer paint and then coated it all heavily with bed liner. Not the most cosmetically appealing repair but certainly will do the job for a 226K Daily Driven SC.

-Tim
 
As a side note to anyone who lives in a rust belt area or drives their car year round in rain or snow. I would immediately work on removing the sound deadening material Ford used on the floor pans. From what I was able to tell it's a cork/fiber material with a sticky backing. Essentially it acted as a sponge to hold water in the rusted area once the floor began to rust out. Mine came out like wet cardboard and was wet from the affected area all the way to the transmission tunnel area. Once that crap was wet it then moved to the carpet backing which also held water for sometime...I suppose the idea of rusting out wasn't something engineers considered.

Middle of the front pan area there is a quarter sized hole and behind the front seats there is also a drain hole that's roughly a 2 inch oval. These areas also seemed to just be covered with the same material and do little more than act as a sponge.

First time I have really dealt with a rusted car being in VA. I've purchased a handful of cars from up North as parts cars but nothing I've used as a driver. Rather enlightening to see how easily it was for rust to start.

-Tim
 
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Good to see that you're still fixing it up, Tim! Once rust makes its way through the floorpans, even just the carpet getting wet will make it worse. When I was growing up, we had a 1980 Monte Carlo that was just a total piece of junk.......on a trip to the US, I had felt something building up in the carpet underneath my feet; a growing lump. This was winter, and what we had found out that was happening after we got out and looked under the car, was that there was snow getting trapped in between the carpet and the very rotted out floorboards. I cringe to think of what may have happened, had I done the very kid-like thing of stomping on it or something. :eek:
 
Good to see that you're still fixing it up, Tim! Once rust makes its way through the floorpans, even just the carpet getting wet will make it worse. When I was growing up, we had a 1980 Monte Carlo that was just a total piece of junk.......on a trip to the US, I had felt something building up in the carpet underneath my feet; a growing lump. This was winter, and what we had found out that was happening after we got out and looked under the car, was that there was snow getting trapped in between the carpet and the very rotted out floorboards. I cringe to think of what may have happened, had I done the very kid-like thing of stomping on it or something. :eek:

lol, that reminds me of one of my first cars, a mid 80s Cutlass. The floor had rusted out near where you would rest your left foot while driving. I discovered it when driving through snow... when the front wheels would kick up snow/slush, I could feel it bumping the back side of the carpet and pushing against my foot. That was a very unusual experience while driving :p
 
Holy crap Tim ! I had no idea there was rust in that spot !! My bad. I bought it from a used car dealership near fredricksburg I think they said the car was a NC OR SC car but not 100% on that. Just remember if you ever sell it you better call me first !! If I can't get it back maybe Chris V will want it....but I hope you get a lot of use out of it. Will my old SC make it here to our wedding? Trying to have members that are coming to bring their SC/XR7/Marks for pictures.

Chris C.
 
Holy crap Tim ! I had no idea there was rust in that spot !! My bad. I bought it from a used car dealership near fredricksburg I think they said the car was a NC OR SC car but not 100% on that. Just remember if you ever sell it you better call me first !! If I can't get it back maybe Chris V will want it....but I hope you get a lot of use out of it. Will my old SC make it here to our wedding? Trying to have members that are coming to bring their SC/XR7/Marks for pictures.

Chris C.

Oh no blame to anyone on the body - shoot it's no ones fault. If the car goes anywhere you certainly will be the first one notified. I have a freshened up motor and 5 speed I plan to drop in it once this one gives up the goose...besides burning a little oil and leaking oil the engine purrs.

When I did the Marti report - they provided the history of the cars details...shows it was owned for the majority of its mileage by 1 owner in Washington D.C. I want to say till like 160K or so...

The bird will be there for pictures also.

-Tim
 
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So 1 year later and the factory long block finally failed - 242k miles - hard miles at that...and roughly 50k after the head gaskets were replaced. Have a rather loud rod knock (sounds like either #5 or #6)

My nephew borrowed the car - and 30 miles later she let loose :D ...I laugh for it sounds like something I would do in my younger years. I've blown up my fair share of cars so can't blame him. Plus plenty of parts laying around to fix it with nothing more than time invested.

I'll update as the next chapter starts on this car.

-Tim
 
Tim,

242K miles is pretty impressive.....RIP

So what is the status of your 95 SC ?

David

Some moving parts here - so I'll outline it the best I can without boring too much.

I bought Dave Clark's 1.7 AR over the winter when he is decided on upgrading to the 2.3. Bought his setup with the understanding the "kit" would be sent to Ken to use to fab up the new 2.3 intake plenums, return plenums etc. Seeing as Ken is finishing up Dave's stuff - the 1.7 kit should be on it's way to the east coast to be installed. The tentative date is end of May beginning of June.

While all of this was taking place, (knowing there was some down time) I sent all my parts off to be chromed just the same as Dave's - so everything will be chromed just like his - brackets, tensioners, alternator, throttle body, pulleys, water neck, sent the MP FMIC pipes to be chromed...pretty much anything that the eye can see will be chromed. The AC compressor will be Polished however...anyways should look "show worthy" in the engine bay. On top of that several new parts, switching to MP FMIC w/ griffin radiator, AR Kit, 95mm MP TB, 4" intake, slot MAF,re- installing A/C, Wide band setup, snow kit and several other maintenance items. Also picked up the chrome oil cap cover and the new aluminum bleeder cap...

As for the car - it's been taking up space at Chris Vining's shop...he made the comment a few years ago "You should just let me fix this thing right over the winter..." so I took him up on it in 2015, but with the understanding to take his time and not so much worry about a timeline. He started working on it end of 2016 after I gathered most of the new parts ...then Dave offered the AR kit...so that moved the timeline back again...and well here we are.

Once it's done, it should be finished and not a pieced and patched together project without end in sight.

-Tim
 
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Some moving parts here - so I'll outline it the best I can without boring too much.

I bought Dave Clark's 1.7 AR over the winter when he is decided on upgrading to the 2.3. Bought his setup with the understanding the "kit" would be sent to Ken to use to fab up the new 2.3 intake plenums, return plenums etc. Seeing as Ken is finishing up Dave's stuff - the 1.7 kit should be on it's way to the east coast to be installed. The tentative date is end of May beginning of June.

While all of this was taking place, (knowing there was some down time) I sent all my parts off to be chromed just the same as Dave's - so everything will be chromed just like his - brackets, tensioners, alternator, throttle body, pulleys, water neck, sent the MP FMIC pipes to be chromed...pretty much anything that the eye can see will be chromed. The AC compressor will be Polished however...anyways should look "show worthy" in the engine bay. On top of that several new parts, switching to MP FMIC w/ griffin radiator, AR Kit, 95mm MP TB, 4" intake, slot MAF,re- installing A/C, Wide band setup, snow kit and several other maintenance items. Also picked up the chrome oil cap cover and the new aluminum bleeder cap...

As for the car - it's been taking up space at Chris Vining's shop...he made the comment a few years ago "You should just let me fix this thing right over the winter..." so I took him up on it in 2015, but with the understanding to take his time and not so much worry about a timeline. He started working on it end of 2016 after I gathered most of the new parts ...then Dave offered the AR kit...so that moved the timeline back again...and well here we are.

Once it's done, it should be finished and not a pieced and patched together project without end in sight.

-Tim

It will git er dun
 
Pulled the new engine this weekend to help my nephew get the ball rolling on his build. Motor is from one of my project cars...figure a 94/95 Bottom end would be a good starting point. Engine is now on the stand and well get all new bearings and rings. Heads on this engine came with 1100 dollars worth of rebuilding/porting/polishing and also a mild cam. Had the engine removed in 30 mins given the car came with 90% of the parts in the trunk.

I'll keep updating as the progression moves forward...

engine.jpg
engine2.jpg

-Tim
 
So almost 2 years later...wow time flys, finally going to work on rebuilding the engine that was pulled from a parts car. At that time I knew it to be a clean long block...but didnt know who assembled it so tear down and a stock freshen up was the game plan.

I have been asking my nephew for over a year to bring me the engine and motor stand so I could help him freshen up the engine. Needless to say 2 years of an engine laying around in a pole barn wasn't friendly.

Found the following last night when I pulled the old pan. Thank God no critters where still at home lol

engine89.jpgenginemouse2.jpeg

-Tim
 
just a quick hose down

just give it a quick hose down with the garden hose and let it go...lol. Now how much other stuff did those little guys get into?? time to get a couple of barn cats to roam in your building.... good luck....Rich
 
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