The Tragic Tale of ElSuperPinto

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So, a few pages back, I chronicled the two transmission swaps in my dad's Suburban thanks to Monster Transmission's incompetance.

That particular saga continues.

You see, after I finished the second transmission R&R, my dad pretty much drove the Suburban exclusively for awhile. Well, he parked it for a few days and drove his Hyundai to save gas, and the Suburban leaked about a quart of transmission fluid all over the driveway from the tailhousing seal.

I figured they'd used the cheapest seal they could find, and replaced it with a new National seal, not bothering with their bull:poo: warranty over a $10 part and 30 minutes' work.

Dad drove the Suburban daily for awhile, all was well, and then he parked it for a few days, and it again "marked its territory".

I pull the driveshaft, measure the yoke with a micrometer, find that it's okay, and change the seal again, warning my dad that the next time it happens, we're going to have to take the tailhousing off the transmission and do some investigating.

Yesterday was that day, and what I found has me furious.

Monster didn't replace the tailhousing bushing, a goddamned wear item, while they had this thing apart! It's worn completely the hell out.

Whatever you do, don't buy a transmission from these assclowns.
 
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As I read your post I was wondering how the driveshaft yoke was. That seems completely ridiculous that they didn't replace that as part of a rebuild. I mean it's what, 5 extra minutes - maybe 10? It just seems like pure laziness to me. I think, if it were me, they'd be getting an ear full and definitely no more of my business. Did your dad say anything about vibrations while driving? I'll bet if he did it'll drive much smoother once it's back together.
 
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As I read your post I was wondering how the driveshaft yoke was. That seems completely ridiculous that they didn't replace that as part of a rebuild. I mean it's what, 5 extra minutes - maybe 10? It just seems like pure laziness to me. I think, if it were me, they'd be getting an ear full and definitely no more of my business. Did your dad say anything about vibrations while driving? I'll bet if he did it'll drive much smoother once it's back together.
No vibrations, just the recurring leak. Also found out it's missing a sleeve that's supposed to be on the tailshaft in this particular application that reduces fluid flow to the driveshaft yoke. Monster Transmissions is a :leghump:ing joke.
 
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Vacation this week. Nothing new on the Mustang II, but I did put new rear brakes on the 4Runner, replaced the left rear door latch that hasn't locked automatically since before I bought it, did the oil change that was 2500 miles past due (I run full synthetic and Wix or Motorcraft filters, not worried) and finished the tailhousing work on that damned Suburban.

I have a CV axle boot that needs to be installed on the left front axle of the 'yota, and would like to fix an issue I inadvertently caused with the stereo, but I also have some powdercoating to get done, and would REALLY like to put ol' ElSuperPinto back on the road this week.

We'll see. Daily beater, personal well-being, and business need to come first.
 
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So... this would've normally been the weekend I spent with the girlfriend...

But I've been sick with an upper respiratory infection and ear infection since last week, so I didn't go, didn't want to make her sick too... which instead pissed her off, so we'll see how much longer that lasts... but back to ummm... what was this thread about again? Oh yeah, the 4Runner! :rlaugh: Or was it the Suburban? :mad: The Accent? :thinking:Wait, this is a Ford forum, it must be the Taurus! :jester:

Oh, that's right, ElSuperPinto! :doh:

Umm... nothing happened there this weekend either.

However, the 4Runner did get that new left front inner CV boot it needed... a "reboot" if you will... and since Hollyweird's all about reboots these days, and those sell, maybe I should "reboot" ElSuperPinto... (Something's going on in the ol' brain... something's itching... and I have the feeling that ElSuperPinto is what needs scratching, I've even mentioned it in the thread lately).

Stay tuned.
 
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So... umm... I've mentioned the Capri a few times...

She and ElSuperPinto sit nose-to-nose with a garage door between them, neither running, both with a lot of potential, and both very red.

I dug out my laptop yesterday and found a bunch of pictures of the engine swap-in-progress on it, but don't have any here on my desktop PC, so here's pretty much where the Capri started once it was at my parents' house, 2.8 and 4spd intact... No idea why I'm posting this... it just kind of came to mind.

I don't know what this weekend's plans are yet, the girlfriend is mad at me, I'm not too thrilled with her, and I kinda want to get one of these old rustbuckets rolling again. They've both got a lot of my money invested (hell, the Capri is all me financially except the clutch set, flywheel, wiring harness, and the rebuild of the MSD box, I even bought the damned car for the old man (who apparently has decided it's his again, who knows?)...

Gotta come up with a name for the Capri... I mean, if the Mustang II is "ElSuperPinto" would that make the Capri "LaSuperCortina"?
 
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Sweet! That would make them a matched pair!! OR...... you could go with Zan and Jayna?! lol
Seriously though, I'm all for seeing what you've done or plan to do with the Capri too....
 
I know this car was super popular in the UK back in the day.
And in Germany also. It was devloped and build in Cologne (beside UK and Belgium).

Nice (and very light) car :nice:
10 years ago I was interested in either the Capri or the early Mustang. My decition was for the more exotic car (by european standards). Thats in your case vice versa, I think.
 
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Wait a damned minute... That's not the business end of this thing....

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Awww yiss, dat's more like it... Wait... Where was I with this thing... Anyone remember?
 
Um..... I think you were telling us how you were going to swap in some kind of Japanese engine or something.... :rlaugh:
Aha! Indeed! BRING ME MY SAMURAI SWORD! WE HAZ HACKING TO DO!

Allright, all bull-pucky aside, sitting still hasn't been kind to the ol' girl... There's a small rust hole on top of the right rear quarter panel, some previous body work has been undone by the elements, and there are leaves and rat poop everywhere under the hood.

But there is good news! And... Umm... Bad news... and potentially good news as a result of the bad news?

Good news first: I don't have to drain any rotten gas. It all evaporated from that crappy fuel cell. By the way, I will soon have an RJS racing fuel cell for sale should anybody want or need one.

Bad news: The girlfriend and I broke up.

Potential good news: my free weekends to work on ElSuperPinto and all the other crap that needs fixing around here have officially doubled!

So...

I just opened the hood for the first time since... Well... The first time since the day that hood was installed. Yeah...

Where am I?

Well, first things first, that MSD throttle body, and the rest of the engine is filthy. Everything needs a good cleaning.

Next, that ignition coil needs a new home, the a/c bracket it used to live on (which also had the p/s pump bolted to it) is gone.

After that, I need to finish the manual rack install. The work stalled when I didn't have a long enough punch to knock that damned steering shaft pin out. Need to start there. (Which includes re-installing the passenger side plugs, wires, header, and the motor mount bolts.)

Then, I need to install the new fuel tank, straps, and filler neck... I think the broken aux. tank is still in the left quarter panel, that'll need to be addressed as well.

I still need to go get a "Jeep hat" from the salvage yard.

There's also the matter of the coolant seepage from the water pump gasket.

I should probably do an oil change to be on the safe side.

I also need to dig out the notebook and see which port that wiring harness on the MSD throttle body is supposed to plug into on the power module... Because MSD's dumb asses put identical and unlabeled ports there... No wonder they got swallowed by Holley just like everyone else.

I need to find the battery in the garage and see if it'll charge... Speaking of which, where did my hold-down go?

Nothing to it but to do it, right? Easy for you to say, I've been up since 4pm yesterday. It's time for a nap, but something is going to get done on this car today, even if it kills me. So... I'm going to set an alarm for a few hours, take a nap, and come do something from that list.

Allright, so first, a nap, and then project "Get Something Done For Once", a paragraph in the chapter "Let's Get This Old Rustbucket Moving Again" in the "Tale of ElSuperPinto" will begin!

(Also, a hint, the "super-secret future powertrain isn't Japanese.)
 
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