Putting the I in IDIOT!!!

Darwinskeeper

Frequent Racer
Sep 18, 2005
586
0
16
Wichita, Kansas
I'm going to have to stop doing things on autopilot.

The weather was nice last weekend so I decided to play musical cars Friday night so I could drive Darwin over the weekend. When I entered the garage I saw a small oily puddle right under the left exhaust pipe, but I was tired and my brain must have been disengaged. When I tried to start the engine, it REALLY didn't want to turn over. If I was thinking, I would have opened the hood and checked the oil, but I eventually got her to crank over and assumed the trouble was just from sitting in the garage for too long. I drove the car around the block, moved my daily driver up the driveway and restarted Darwin and parked her at the foot of the drive.

The next morning, I climbed in to go out and the engine wouldn't turn over, the starter was struggling but no rotation. I finally checked the oil and found a little dab of it at the tip of the dipstick. :oops:

I was in such a hurry to check the oil that I locked my keys in the car, so I had to prevail on a friend to help call a locksmith, once inside the house, I called a tow truck to get the car over to the garage to see how bad the damage is. I'm betting that the 4.3 is toast, but a second opinion wouldn't hurt.

This gives me the perfect excuse to try that 305 swap I've been dreaming about, unfortunately my employer is shutting down by the end of next year and I'll need to find a new job before I can afford to play with my toys again. :(

Any idea how I got oil into my exhaust???
 

Doober

Moderator
Jun 2, 2003
14,704
1
38
Catalina, AZ
www.cardomain.com
If it wasn't knocking then it's possible the engine is ok. Plus no oil on the dipstick doesn't mean no oil, it's just at least a quart low. See how much oil you need to add to get to the full mark, the 4.3 takes 5 quarts with filter I'm pretty sure. Also I can't remember, what heads are you running?
 

Darwinskeeper

Frequent Racer
Thread starter
Sep 18, 2005
586
0
16
Wichita, Kansas
Hmmm...Didn't think to check the battery connections & my mechanic has been so busy between work and muscle car projects for customers that he probably won't get to it for a few weeks.

Unfortunately I'm working lots of overtime and just dont have the free time to look at this. To make matters far more interesting, Boeing's shutting my worksite (Boeing Wichita) down in a year or two so I'm trying to devote the little free time I do have to finding a new job so I can afford to spend money on my cars. Gotta love Boeing

Oh and the heads are 85 heads with a slight port and three angle valve job.

Darwinskeeper
Last of the Bohicans
 

Darwinskeeper

Frequent Racer
Thread starter
Sep 18, 2005
586
0
16
Wichita, Kansas
Finally got Darwin back from the shop. It turned out to be a blown head gasket. The repair bill was spendy, and the tow truck driver losing the door lock key was a pain, but I eventually got the locksmith over, got a new lock key and backup keys made for both Darwin and White Lightning (my 80 El Camino) so I'm finally able to hit the road.

I'm really starting to fall back in love with the old car. The 4.3 may not have the most kick, and the gearing can be a bit tall/clumsy but she feels and sounds nice. Sunday afternoon cruised to the supermarket in 2nd gear on the inner city highway (2nd gear in a Saginaw with 2.41 gears gives me about 4000-4500rpm at 60mph) She sounded like she was going flat out. It was great!!! At this point I'm thinking of just enjoying her and save up to get the El Camino electrified.

Better still, I had three promissing interviews this week, so I might even be at a new employer in June.

Life is good!!! :D
 

Darwinskeeper

Frequent Racer
Thread starter
Sep 18, 2005
586
0
16
Wichita, Kansas
I never really gave much thought to the Saginaw 4 speed, always figured that if I was willing to deal with that level of fragility, I'd look for the more common S-10/S-15 T5 and get more flexible gearing. Otherwise, I'd just go with a 3.42 first gear Super T-10 and enjoy the extra robustness.

Do you know if the Saginaw 4 speed would have the same shifter location as the 3 speed?
 

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