Smog Check passed!!

It was time for the Aspen to undergo the once-every-other-year smog check here in San Diego. As always, I was very nervous in taking the car in for the test. When the test was over with, the technical told me "For as old as this car is, it runs surprisingly clean." San Diego county is one of the 6 counties in California in which the smog test is run on a dyno at two different speeds, 15mph and 25mph. Here's how the Aspen tested.

15 MPH

%CO2 measured : 14.1
%O2 measured: 0.7

HC (PPM)

• Max: 194
• Ave: 47
• Measured: 56

CO (%)

• Max: 1.26
• Ave: 0.20
• Measured: 0.34

NO (PPM)

• Max: 1286
• Ave: 554
• Measured: 140

25 MPH

%CO2 measured : 14.3
%O2 measured: 0.6

HC (PPM)

• Max: 161
• Ave: 37
  
• Measured: 27

CO (%)

• Max: 1.06
• Ave: 0.17
• Measured: 0.31

NO (PPM)

• Max: 1146
• Ave: 468
• Measured: 43

I was very happy with the results. Now, I can not have to worry about it for the next two years.

The Mail Man Delivers

Yippie! The electric choke (for the 2bbl this time) arrived today. I ordered it yesterday from Carbs Plus. Total includeing shipping was ~$59. Had I ordered the exact same part from Napa Online, it would have been $73 + shipping. Had I ordered it through the brick & mortar Napa store, it would have been $73 + $20 freight charge and I would have had to wait 2 weeks for it!!! Hopefully I'll get it installed this weekend.

A little disappointment

Well, this past weekend I wanted to install my newly purchased electric choke on to the wagon. However, when I pulled the part out of the box and started to mock it up... I realized that I had the wrong part. I had an electric choke for a 1bbl. :-( I was highly irritated because I was sure that I had ordered the correct part. I went back to NapaOnline.com (where i ordered it) to verify. LIke before, I specified my car all the way down to the 2bbl carb option. Even though I specified 2bbl, it listed both chokes for 1bbl and 2bbl. I just ordred the wrong one.

So, instead I took the car for a nice drive yesterday. Had to top off the tranny fluid, it was a little low. The drive went well, although I may have discovered a possible overheating problem, I'll need to research.

Ordering the correct choke today, so maybe by next week it will be installed.

Test Drive after Carb Rebuild

I was sick pretty much all last week, so I didn't get a good chance to get the Aspen on the road to test it out after the carb rebuild. I took it out over the weekend on a few errands, and I must say it is driving much better.

Before, I had to let the car warm up to full operating temperature before I could even think about moving it. It couldn't move under it's own power without stalling out until it was hot. After, I was able to start it up and get it to a smooth idle, and it pulled out of the driveway just fine.

Before, if I gave it some gas while driving around to accelerate, I would have to really feather the gas pedal to keep it from bogging out. Now, just gas it and it goes.

Happy me!

Super Six Carb Rebuild

Even though I'm going to be replacing the engine with the V8 from the T&C, there was still some work to be done on the Aspen. I've been having hesitation problems with the car, somtimes it couldn't even get itself out of the inclined driveway at my house. My dad was in town this weekend for Thanksgiving, and when I explained the symptoms to him he immediatly said the "accelerator pump" in the carb was probably sticking.

So, Saturday I yanked the 2 BBL carb off of the 225 Super Six and proceeded through my first carb rebuild. It was a bit intimidating at first, since I've never really worked on a carb before. But, after some careful disassembly and some good teaching from my pops I was able to rebuild the carb.

After reinstallation, it seems like it has cured most of the ills that I was having. I still need to take it for a test drive to see how well it actually drives at speed (I only drove it down the street).

I still haven't been able to get any more work done on the T&C. We have been really busy getting ready for the Thanksgiving holiday, and work has been a nightmare. I'm hoping that this weekend I'll be able to start work on pulling the engine out.

Ready For The Engine Hoist

After a week long exhile from working on the car due to the Wild Fires in San Diego, I got back to working on the car today. Just a lot of little things to do today, to get it ready for the engine hoist.

I disconnected the fuel lines from the filter/pump and disconnected the fuel hoses from the carb to the vapor canister to button up the fuel system. The start was removed, as was the two transmission-to-engine braces. The transmission inspection cover came off, and the torque convert-to-flexplate bolts were removed. At this point, there is nothing more that I can do to remove the engine until I obtain an engine hoist.

Stay tuned...

Accessories Removed

After a couple of weeks off from working on the T&C, I got back into it last night. I unbloted all of the accessories off the front of the engine. Air Conditioning compressor, alternator, and power steering pump. Eventually they will all have to be removed from the car and transferred over to the Aspen, but for now they are just out of the way.

Removed some of the electrical and vaccum lines as well. The electrical part is going to be fun. Eventually, I will need to pull most of the wiring harness from the T&C and put it into the Aspen. But, the engine has to come out first to make it easier to identify what goes and what can stay.

I would have continued further, but I ran into a tools issue. In order to remove the exhaust pipes from the manifolds, I need a set of deep standard sockets so I can get the nuts off the exhaust flanges. Making a trip to Sears on Saturday morning to get those, so I can hopefully spend a good portion of Saturday working on the car.

The Engine Compartment - Day 2

Emptied all the catch cans right after work, so I could start on the engine compartment.

Air Cleaner removed and out of the way, followed by removal of all the drive belts.


Cooling system drained, and radiator removed.


First casualty under the hood. This vacuum port on the upper part of the radiator lost its two vacuum ports when I brushed the radiator against the battery trying to manuever it out from inside the car. Oh well, this is a junkyard part easy to find.


Here's the empty space left by the radiator and shroud. Hard to believe under all that mess of hoses and wiring there is actually an engine in there.

Diving Into The Engine Compartment....Almost

This evening I started on the main event, prepping the engine for removal. Since this is my first engine removal, I'm following along with the steps outlined in the Hayne's Manual. First order of business was to remove the hood. It's now resting on the roof of the car. As I read along, there wasn't much more I could do. The next step was to drain the cooling system. I had nothing to drain it in, all my catch cans were full. So, I elected to cut the night short and wait for tomorrow.