Fail

[lucky]

So. My car is back in one piece. Starts with only slightly more hesitation than before I took it all apart. Idles a little rough, but runs, until it gets up to operating temp, then it dies. Plugs are black after only 20 minutes of run time, but it doesn't smell like it's running rich at all (yes I know I need a wideband). It throws a code when it dies, I haven't retrieved it yet. Anyone wanna buy a pile of parts?

[CincinnatiFiero]

You getting good spark?

[The Dark Side of Will]

Find out the code first. Troubleshooting without complete information is a waste of time.

[lucky]

Mucho progress since this post. Inline spark check showed good on all cylinders, plugs on 2 & 5 were black, others were white. Compression test showed 150psi plus on all cylinders except 2 & 5- those were zero.... Took it all apart today and rechecked the valve lash adjustment, redid just 2 & 5, recheck on compression also 150+. Car now idles much better, around 950rpm (code in history was idle speed error it idled around 1400 before), much less vibration and hesitation.

[The Dark Side of Will]

Awesomez. I love it when things actually work.

[AkursedX]

Congrats on getting her up and running. I hate adjusting lash. I did it more times than I want to remember.

[lucky]

I ended up having to crank down the nuts til I just barely felt the tension of the spring, it was almost more a zen experience than a technical one; the pushrods and rockers are so smooth it wasn't possible to actually get the rod to not spin, even with enough tension to have the valve almost fully open when it should be closed I could still rotate them by hand.

Still no pics. 60 plus hours at work this week, wednesday was my only day off (spent elbow deep in the engine bay). I gotta get a cheap digicam so I don't have to worry about getting my good one filthy if I'm working on the car by myself.

It's inspected, getting me back and forth to work again, anyway. I'm already on to the next phases of my projects, got feelers out locally for another cradle, made an egr blockoff plate yesterday morning, trying to find sources for cheap + pretty hose barbs, etc.