When You Thought it Was Safe to Go Back to AZ
First off, thanks to everyone who wrote to offer help or express sympathy. Unfortunately, the saga continues: I returned to Colorado briefly to get my affairs back in order. On Feb 21st I left bright and early to fly back to Arizona and recover my much abused Deuce. A quarter mile out of the driveway, the bracket that holds the distributor in my Cherokee's 4.0 broke off and she refused to move further. Foolishly undaunted, I called both a taxi and a tow truck and proceeded to the airport. I boarded the plane with seconds to spare, and the aircraft somehow failed to crash. I would later regret this fact. The new turbo arrived ahead of me along with a muffler (might as well upgrade right?). By Wednesday, 26 FEB, the turbo and muffler was installed, the Deuce cranked right up - and ran like s$&@. Sounded like she wasn't firing on all cylinders. So, I pulled the front valve cover and behold, the replaced rocker arm was out of adjustment. Easy fix, right? Re-spaced the rocker on the lifting rod, replaced the valve cover, and voila! She ran like s$&@. Must be a problem under the other value cover. There was, two bent lifter rods on the #5 cylinder. End scene. The next day, I discussed the bent lifters with the other mechanics in the garage. The consensus was that the valves must be bent or damaged - for the third time this trip, off with the rear cylinder head! Now I've met smarter men, but even I know that the top of the piston shouldn't be covered in coolant. Or look like the bottom of the valve. Or not move when the crankshaft turns. Must have overheated, hydro locked, and/or thrown a rod. Time to order a piston rebuild kit and wait for the parts to arrive. The scheduled arrival date was March 6th. Yesterday, the 5th, we dropped the pan to inspect bearings and pull the destroyed piston. Once drained, the pan contained enough metal bits to yield an erector set. Not good. . . But we knew the piston was wrecked right? The bearings were in good shape. The piston head came right out, along with the upper third of the cylinder sleeve. Good news, she didn't throw a rod. Bad news, the wrist pin snapped, demolished the piston sleeve, and proceeded to gouge the block until it wore through the cylinder wall. Sad face minus. I'll be shipping a deuce and dolley set from Arizona to Colorado. Anyone with a spare engine block, please PM me!-Joe