Rosie - My 1992 Gl Automatic 2016 Project

[1990new]

Done to Rosie today:
Installed valve cover, throttle body, timing belt, water pump pulley alternator and belt,
intake pipes and vaf meter, fuel pump bracket (my isolators came today), downpipe to cat. New O2 sensor.
Added coolant and changed the oil and filter. Connected all engine wiring (except the cooling fan which I have not yet installed).
Attempted to start but fuel pump would not start when I turn on the key. Will check that out tomorrow.
Will only run starter in neutral (not park). Radio works, headlight and tail lights work but not turn signals or reverse lights. Auto seat belts work. Troubleshooting to do tomorrow.
Wife is gone on a trip with daughter so it's just the two dogs, 1 cat and me until next week, but I did set up a
tripod with the camera on in to video the startup... which didn't happen. Hopefully I can get the fuel pump to working and get her started tomorrow.

Also my wipers came on but the mechanism is not syncronized correctly.. will have to solve that issue.

[1990new]

04/07/2016 Got up at 7:30 this morning It rained about ½ hour and then the sun came out and it was a beautiful and very pleasant day.
Today I cleaned up the VAF, jumpered the fuel pump bypass and started Rosie up.
Only trouble is she still smokes. Engine sound good though. Tomorrow I will test the compression.
In any case it looks like I will be doing a bottom engine rebuild at least..and replace that chipped piston in the number 4 cylinder. I uploaded a short video of the start up to the Rosie project photobucket library (It's sitting at 90% right now and stalled but it should be there soon).

[1990new]

Photobucket upload keeps stopping at 90% so I uploaded to Youtube
https://youtu.be/Vzf8DnmC_kU?t=20

For some reason the video does not start at the beginning in this link.. so just click it back to see it from the beginning.

Do you think the smoking will reduce after I drive it a 100 miles or so..
Should I do a seafoam treatment to the crankcase? I guess it can't hurt if I plan to do
a rebuild anyway. Don't want to do any damage to my rebuilt head though?


Tomorrow I will work on cleaning up the seats...at least the drivers seat.

[ryanprins13]

How did you bypass the the fuel pump? Are you running full voltage to it or something? Could the smoke be from getting too much fuel? Im just not sure what you did with that.
I used a ton of different oil additives a few years ago and then did a bunch of research about it after things got worse and i dont like them. Never used seafoam in a crankcase, but worked good in my intake manifold. Up to you if you want to use it, lots of people do. But why do you want to if your going to do a rebuild? If you just want it cleaner to do the rebuild perhaps a 5min oil flush right before you do it?


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[1990new]

How did you bypass the the fuel pump?
There is a black two wire female plug in the same bundle as the wiper connector. I just jumpered that plug and the fuel pump started up when I turned the key to on. Before I did that, the pump did not come on. I had removed the inertia switch completely when I stripped out the interior to clean. When I first attempted to start Rosie, I checked the inertia switch and pressed the red button in but there was still no pump activity in the ignition on position. Later I will remove the cargo plastic molding and see if I can find out what's wrong with the switch.

Are you running full voltage to it or something? I don't believe voltage is an issue with this proble..
Could the smoke be from getting too much fuel? Not possible.. it's blue and smells like burning oil.

Im just not sure what you did with that.

I used a ton of different oil additives a few years ago and then did a bunch of research about it after things got worse and i dont like them. Never used seafoam in a crankcase, but worked good in my intake manifold. Up to you if you want to use it, lots of people do. But why do you want to if your going to do a rebuild? If you just want it cleaner to do the rebuild perhaps a 5min oil flush right before you do it?

I have never before used additives in any car I have ever owned (going back to 1964). So I don't think I'll start now. Just wondered from all the comments from people here if the seafoam stuff would do good or harm to the engine.

I started it up again today and at first it ran smoothly with no smoke but in about 3 minutes it started and got worse at it got warmer.

I can say for sure that this is a ring issue... either badly worn or severely stuck. It is possible that seafoam could free up stuck rings.
Compression is leaking into the crankcase to the point where air rushes out when I remove the oil cap (looks like the pcv valve needs to be be replaced for sure too).
I was just hoping that after I replaced the warped head the oil burning issue was leaking valve seals but now I know that is not the case. Oil is apparently being sucked up from the crankcase past the rings.. most likely in multiple cylinders.

Before I changed the head, compression and oil was leaking into the water jacket as well as water leaking back into the cylinders.
I haven't done a bottom engine rebuild since 1972 and that was on a 1966 Simca 1000 (block remained in the car).
For this one I will have to pull the engine because I want to replace the rear seals.
Whats the going rate for having someone else do the rebuild for me?

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Some good news... all the electrical is working. All light, Wipers, wiper washers, turn signals, radio, heater blower, auto seat belts, (forgot to check the interior lights... will do that tomorrow.).

[1990new]

There is a local 91 Mercury Capri for sale listed as 64K on the odometer. Would this be a good source for a 1.6 engine for Rosie?

[FestYboy]

Yes but I'd tear it down and at least reseal it. That will also allow you to unsieze any stuck rings you're likely to find.

[1990new]

Yes but I'd tear it down and at least reseal it. That will also allow you to unsieze any stuck rings you're likely to find.

I know you are right... I was just hoping that replacing the head would miraculously cure everything. The piston walls looked clean but that chip out of the top of the number 4 piston still worried me. It just sounds so nice running when I first start it...then the smoking begins, and no doubt the seals need to be replaced. I'm still considering a 1.6 for Rosie so I might just rebuild this engine for a spare... we shall see.

[1990new]

04/09/2016 The last couple of days I have done the following to Rosie:
Discovered the hose from the trans to radiator was leaking at the connection so
I put a stainless steel screw type clamp on it and it fixed the problem.
Torqued the nuts on the front axles.
Bled the front brakes. All brakes work now and they are good.
Still have to find the problem with the brake lights staying on all the time.
Installed New PCV valve.
Installed the drivers seat today and drove Rosie around the neighborhood... starts out with not much smoke but gets worse as she warms up.
Stripped the seat covers off all the seats except the drivers side and they are in the washer right now.
Lots of rust on the seat frames and wires. Some of the tie down wires in the covers were just rust dust.
Sitting over a year at Sams house with that leaky sunroof sure messed up the interior but I will get it back good as new before I'm done.
The heater fan runs on speeds 1 and 3 but not at all on 2 for some reason.
Radio works great with the 4 new speakers.
Interior lights are not working (room fuse is good)...still have to troubleshoot that.
Instrument panel illuminating lights are not working.
Radio heat control and AT shifter illuminating lights are all working.
Horn is not working.
Cant tell a lot just driving around the neighborhood but she does ride quiet. That sound deadener is working. Uploaded 32 more pictures to photobucket (mostly of seats).

[FestYboy]

The dome light issue is likely corrosion at the door switches. Easy fix with a wire brush and dielectric grease.

[1990new]

The dome light issue is likely corrosion at the door switches. Easy fix with a wire brush and dielectric grease.

Not that easy I'm afraid... I had removed both door switches and cleaned them... even ran an extra ground wire from the right one to a new courtesy light that I installed under the right side of the dash. I also used my dremel to wire brush just about every electrical connector on the car. The direct ground to the roof using the on position doesn't work either so it must be in the power wire. I'll do some wiring trouble shooting tomorrow.
(Then again it could actually be the light itself ... It's one that I had on the shelf and I didn't test it before I installed it.)


Oh and by the way.. my fuel pump works fine now after I removed the jumper wire. Must have been the fact that it needed that extra boost to get the system primed and not the inertia switch after all.

[1990new]

Wish I could post the fresh smell of these just washed covers.

[1990new]

Today I did some wire wheeling on the rusty seat frames and the rust turns to orange powder and comes off pretty easy.
I painted the rear bottom frame but ran out of paint... will do the rest tomorrow.
Instead of cleaning up the front seat backs I will use the ones that I took out of Trixie (Still in beautiful condition).
I will remove the foam though and use the foam that was on Rosie's seats. The seat foam on Rosie (92 GL) is firmer that the
foam that was on Trixie (89 L). The frame on the front seat backs appear to be the same though.

I've decided to look around locally to see if I can find a relatively low miles 1.3 engine from a late model Aspire to put in Roise
and take my time rebuilding her engine. I decided against going the 1.6 route.

More electrical issues. The right auto seat belt motor keeps kicking on intermittently when the belt is already back.
The rear cargo light doesn't work. The right headlight works but is dim on low beam...will try a new bulb.
Started her up a couple times today and drove around the the block.. she's still burning oil.

[1990new]

04/11/2016 Worked on the seats frames and covers that last couple of days.
So far I have the rear bottom seat completed. I patched some of the cigarette burn holes by cutting small bits of fabric form the overlap inside, trimming them to match the hole pattern and super glueing them in. Still have to do some more wire wheeling and painting on the frames. I upload several more picture of the seat work today. The drivers seat cover is the worst for wear. Instead of cleaning it up right away, I'm going to see if I can find a better one. Upload more pictures of the seat work showing how I ziptie the covers back on.

[bravekozak]

I prefer to use hogrings, just like the original.