you just inspired me to stop whining and try getting this thing in again later tonight.

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Glad to help! FWIW, we all have faith you man.... Just don't get frost bitten and freeze to death out there!




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1983 123.133 California
- GreaseCar Veg System

Its finally in the garage!

1 day = 50 feet movement

note to self-
When designing a dream home, make sure garage is in a hollow or a flat, not at the top of an icy hill.

Had it running for a good 25 minutes this time. Rear end stayed low, and I went and jumped on the bumper a bunch of times to see if I could get it to raise.
From what I was reading on Bidiesel300TD's instruction thread, this would seem to indicate a leaking SLS pump right? Or maybe no pressure is being developed by all the other leaking components in the system?

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Ok, Lots and lots and lots of work to be done.

Down the list-
-got some front end repair problems
-pretty much every single line traveling under the car needs to be replaced
-rust is starting in a lot of places, needs to be resolved pretty quick
-melted fuse box
-radiator is busted
-SLS system is a horrific mess of rusted out components and leaks.
-Fuel tank has to come down, to be hot tanked, and for a bracket weld repair

lots of other stuff, engine health is not yet classified as good. Ive got to adjust the valves and do a compression test.
Has a lot of trouble starting in the cold, pops right off with the block heater, so Im hoping its just glowplugs. Ill start there and see what else it might need.

Im afraid she might not leave the garage for a while.

Also, my driver side hood brace is rusted out on the inner fender. Has anyone fixed this paticular problem? Looks like its gonna be a real pain to effectively fix, kind of down in a hole and hard to weld in there.

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If you have major leaks in the SLS system the pump may not be able to lift the rear. Make sure the reservoir is full as well. I wouldn't blame the pump just yet. Get the leaks sealed up, and see what happens. Also make look at the arm on the leveling valve. It should be parallel to the ground. If it's not then the system isn't pressurizing. If it is an the rear is sitting low then it may need to be adjusted.

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That arm is rusted through/broken and looks recent. So the valve itself is getting no info from the sway bar, and I can't move whats left of the arm at all. Should I be able to move that arm by hand with it on the vehicle, or does it need more force typically? Feels totally frozen. That arm will have to be refabricated.
The valve will need to come off with a torch, and it looks like I will need to heat the valve itself to get whats left of these fittings out of it.

My new theory is that this valve is immobile and stuck and the arm was weak, so when the wagon was on the flatbed, the up and down motion simply snapped the arm.

Just how destructive to the valve itself would a little kiss from oxy-acetylene be apart from melting the O-rings?

I think this valve may be a total write off unless I can somehow get these rusted out fittings to move without damaging whats left of the valve. May not be possible.

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You should be able to move whatever it attached to the valve with little effort. You won't be able to move the part that is attached to the sway bar.

The valve is aluminum so heating it might not be a good idea. It might be a better idea to just get a different valve. If it's frozen it might be hard to make it work properly again. If it snapped in motion it could have done damage inside the valve. You'd have to pull it off and tear it apart. If you want a different one let me know I have some spares.

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My ordered SLS replacement springs arrived, some 19mm spring seats, and some sedan heavy duty shocks. Started to tear into the rear suspension and discovered that BOTH rear springs are also broken down in the lower control arm cup.
Can't wait to see the last of this suspension. Good parts consist of one accumulator and maybe the pump.
Should have all the replacement stuff in hopefully today, but the corrosion and rust problem on the components is kicking me in the tuckus. I have to cut both lines going into the shocks from above with a hacksaw.

Went a little overboard trying to get to the top of the shocks, and ripped most of the trunk interior out, fairly clean which is a surprise, and good access to a few rust locations.

question about the brake lights- I had one broken lenz on the passenger rear, and an ordered replacement arrived and both of them are partially melted from heat in the same places. The replacement one is way worse, which is unfortunate, maybe I can switch the lenz.
Is this a pretty standard problem with the brake lights? It almost seems like they are not ventilated enough and overheat.

Also, is there a metal upgrade to the plastic sway bar links?

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This post brought to you by Carl's Jr.

The light problem is standard in terms of people putting the wrong bulbs in quite often.

Well, engine can officially be classified as bad with low compression on several cylinders after a valve adjustment.

So much for being able to join the cheap wagons club!

I have an 83 300D motor on its way, stated as good compression and strong runner. Decent price I thought at 350 bucks out of a yard. The yard, based in jersey, was also able to put it on a truck that was already heading up here and worked it out where I can pick it up from one of the existing drop offs, so shipping is free!

Ill remove this one and put it on a stand for now, probably rebuild it in the long run.

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Quite the contrary. You're joining the CWC in high fashion - expensively.

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'85 300TD "Puff The Magic Wagon" - Rolling Resto
'19 Mazda CX-9 Signature - Wife's sled
'21 Morgan 3-Wheeler P101 Edition
'95 E300d - SOLD
'84 300TD "Brown Betty" - Miss this one
'81 240D "China Baby" - Farm grocery getter

you are right, I bet most of us fit in the NERCWC. "Not even remotely cheap wagon club". We should start a new thread.

Engine is due here on tues of next week! I love car-part dot com.

Pulling and swapping these engines will be an interesting technical challenge. The car is for whats its worth permanently in a very small garage with its nose within 1 foot of a wall.
For this reason, the engine and tranny can't come out as one, ive got to pull the tranny from underneath, and pull the engine out over the passenger fender, which I think I will remove to preserve it from probable damage.

There is also a height issue, the garage has a low ceiling. I have to do some measurements to see if it can be done in the space available. It was built with model Ts in mind, so its a little narrow and cramped for this kind of caper. Should be fun though!

If I get this thing done by summer, im gonna drive the heck out of it, maybe a good long road trip to celebrate!

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"new" engine has arrived. While it looks in far better condition than the current engine, it needs a good cleaning, and for me to verify the compression numbers I have been given.

There are no injector lines, which I find both disturbing and good. Good because the glow plugs have been out recently, hopefully for a compression test I hope happened, bad because of FOD risk that may have occured to the pump and injectors with the wide open.

Any simple stuff off the top of anyones head I should do while I have this one out? Simple test for health of the vacuum pump? it looks awful oily

Im putting it on the stand first, and replacing the oil pan and oil filter gaskets and putting a not EGR intake/exhaust on it. Assuming I have good compression, I don't really want to totally rebuild it, I just want to get it in the car and start driving around for petes sake!

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I'd replace the oil filter housing gasket and the oil cooler lines if you can. But definitely replace the housing gasket. It's WAY easier to pull the housing with the engine out of the car than it will be when it's in the car.

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LOL! Amen to that...

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84 300td (Yes, a wagon)
"The Golden Dragon"
195k, 2nd owner
Lives in Redmond, WA