Start of a Dart

It's a sad tale to tell, sir. I had it rolled back in the shop to get going on the front end but hit a mental wall and decided to get my truck going first Mission Creep on a D-150. And I was successful, sort of. I had bad noises starting at about 300 miles or so and it got worse, so at 700 miles I threw in the towel and pulled the engine to see what went wrong Ideas on what's causing my click/tick/rattle noise?. Turns out I screwed up big time and spun a couple of rod bearings, and also had it set wildly pig-rich which crapped up the head, fuel washed the cylinders, and probably contributed to the demise of my bearings. The truck engine is back out and after a trip to the MS for a bit of bearing love, is getting all new bearings and rings, then reassembled. The head is getting all positive valve stem seals and cleaned up. Clearly, I'm a borderline lousy mechanic.

However, poor Mr. Dart is sitting in the carport, patiently awaiting his re-entry to the shop. I have to get this truck going but it's a slow slog. WAY too much work isn't helping matters, as well as three monstrous projects on the home front. Stay tuned, I hope to report progress in a few weeks.