From the pasture; The valiant story of my '66 Valiant
So this as of yet unnamed resident in the House of Kirk was sold to me with the caveat, "Shes got'er a bent pushrod I figger." So who really knows? We all know that the people of Tribe Running When Parked and Clan of Wont Take Much To Get Her Back On The Road, know less than nothing about the cars they so willingly try to sell us for premium dollars, but want you to believe they do. So much so that I perfected the fool proof plan of dealing with them.
Ignore everything they say.
That and throw in jibberish too. "WELL THE VALIANT HAS ONE YEAR ONLY CHROMOLY PUSHRODS WITH A .06 CLEARANCE UNDER SPEC BY 30%"
Then sigh real big like its such a problem you may have to drink later. (I mean you were gonna drink later anyway, but they dont know that)
First and foremost I swap the plugs and wires with the recommended brands from some Plymouth forum. Dunno, took a bit, but they luckily all came out easily. I fed the dumpster six very brittle and very ancient plug wires, along with six soiled Champion plugs.
Valve cover off again, lets pull them one by one and see what we have. I have a box of them on standby just in case. In pretty short order, I see that yes, I do in fact have a bent one. Which is odd, because its pretty glaring, and I didnt see that the first time I had the valve cover off. Hmm.
She's bent pretty good Captain!
All in all, I replaced four, with this one being the worst. One had a nick on the side somehow:
But every one of them was covered heavy heavy in oil gunk so i cleaned them each.
The very last one I pull out, clean, go to re install and TINK. Hit something. Try to re adjust, TINK TINK. What the hell? I peer inside, and there lays a bright, shiny lifter. Literally. I have to close one of my aging eyeballs to squint in, and add in a ton of light, but sure as sh*t, there it is.
Bizarre and something I have never dealt with. So i text a buddy just to ask, and hes like "bullsh*t" and I'm like nope seriously, and hes like no way, and I'm all "yes way ted", finally he says, well get that big magnet on a stick and drag it out!
*Facepalm*
Boom, toldja sucka. Lifter. So with nothing else to do, I engage in a very strategic game of reverse Operation, wherein you try to put BACK the vital organs, instead of remove them. Takes some practice, because the center of the lifter isn't magnetic, just the outsides. About 12 min later, about the time my back starts to hurt and I get tired of Operation the game (much like my childhood) it slides home with a very rewarding *SNICK*. Just like that, I'm back in business. I re-install the last pushrod, tighten the valve train back down, and put the valve cover back on. My daylight is starting to fail, and the thunderstorms that have intermittently entertained me all day seem to be getting closer. Two loud cracks of thunder, and distant lightning remind me that im standing in a big metal building with metal tools, and I haven't eaten all day. Time to call it. I still need to set those valves, but that can wait for another day.
Stay tuned for the next episode Constant Reader, as I yet again throw dollars down a well to try to revive a long forgotten automotive relic. When things get tough, do what I do. I draw back to my last pasture project, a vintage BMW. Then I repeat over and over: "At least this aint a BMW."
So this as of yet unnamed resident in the House of Kirk was sold to me with the caveat, "Shes got'er a bent pushrod I figger." So who really knows? We all know that the people of Tribe Running When Parked and Clan of Wont Take Much To Get Her Back On The Road, know less than nothing about the cars they so willingly try to sell us for premium dollars, but want you to believe they do. So much so that I perfected the fool proof plan of dealing with them.
Ignore everything they say.
That and throw in jibberish too. "WELL THE VALIANT HAS ONE YEAR ONLY CHROMOLY PUSHRODS WITH A .06 CLEARANCE UNDER SPEC BY 30%"
Then sigh real big like its such a problem you may have to drink later. (I mean you were gonna drink later anyway, but they dont know that)
First and foremost I swap the plugs and wires with the recommended brands from some Plymouth forum. Dunno, took a bit, but they luckily all came out easily. I fed the dumpster six very brittle and very ancient plug wires, along with six soiled Champion plugs.
Valve cover off again, lets pull them one by one and see what we have. I have a box of them on standby just in case. In pretty short order, I see that yes, I do in fact have a bent one. Which is odd, because its pretty glaring, and I didnt see that the first time I had the valve cover off. Hmm.
She's bent pretty good Captain!
All in all, I replaced four, with this one being the worst. One had a nick on the side somehow:
But every one of them was covered heavy heavy in oil gunk so i cleaned them each.
The very last one I pull out, clean, go to re install and TINK. Hit something. Try to re adjust, TINK TINK. What the hell? I peer inside, and there lays a bright, shiny lifter. Literally. I have to close one of my aging eyeballs to squint in, and add in a ton of light, but sure as sh*t, there it is.
Bizarre and something I have never dealt with. So i text a buddy just to ask, and hes like "bullsh*t" and I'm like nope seriously, and hes like no way, and I'm all "yes way ted", finally he says, well get that big magnet on a stick and drag it out!
*Facepalm*
Boom, toldja sucka. Lifter. So with nothing else to do, I engage in a very strategic game of reverse Operation, wherein you try to put BACK the vital organs, instead of remove them. Takes some practice, because the center of the lifter isn't magnetic, just the outsides. About 12 min later, about the time my back starts to hurt and I get tired of Operation the game (much like my childhood) it slides home with a very rewarding *SNICK*. Just like that, I'm back in business. I re-install the last pushrod, tighten the valve train back down, and put the valve cover back on. My daylight is starting to fail, and the thunderstorms that have intermittently entertained me all day seem to be getting closer. Two loud cracks of thunder, and distant lightning remind me that im standing in a big metal building with metal tools, and I haven't eaten all day. Time to call it. I still need to set those valves, but that can wait for another day.
Stay tuned for the next episode Constant Reader, as I yet again throw dollars down a well to try to revive a long forgotten automotive relic. When things get tough, do what I do. I draw back to my last pasture project, a vintage BMW. Then I repeat over and over: "At least this aint a BMW."
