You cant keep a good 82 down !!!!

[ga.spyder]

The flowers are blooming,the birds are singing,and my 82 is running on 4 cylinders again!! Yeah baby!!If any of you have followed my problems with my once trouble free 82,you know I have been butting my head against the garage wall with a miss that developed into a full blown cylinder out.To make a long story short ,after a ign. tune up the car deteriorated into a 3 cylinder dohc.I have swapped components,injectors wires,etc...with no luck.So,I towed it to my mechanic friend.
We pulled it off the trailer and into the shop.I showed them how you could pull the wire for #4 with no change.They played for a mi nute with wires,coil,etc..Gary decided to look at the piston/cyl w/ a fiber optic camera.Yook out the plug,and it had no gap!! NONE.Closed tight To make a long story short,the pimply kid with the thick glasses at autozone sold me the wrong plug.Too long,so the piston was tapping them and changing the gap.I did swap plugs around,but always from the new set.I might have caught it ifI had swapped in an old plug.We put a shorter plug in and VOILA...it was running sweet on all 4.Unbelievable,of all things!!!
They are putting in my new oil pan,checking over the car and putting new NGK plugs in tomorrow.I layed out a roof over their lift and will supervise the installation on Friday.I love the barter system.'On the road again'.....

[4babycar]

CONGRATS! That is such a relief and I am very happy for you.

[TulsaSpider]

Wow, such a simple thing! Congrats!

[pooldoctorstl]

Hey Craig,

Glad to hear it is back on the road, especially after reading your other post. The only way to kill an 82 is with help from Auto Zone! Enjoy the summer.

Jeff

[jimincalif]

Yeah! Great news.

Jim

[narfire]

Craig I/we all have a big smile for you. Gonna now have some installation fluid.
(just changed my injector rail) Love those easy fixes

[beachboy]

Craig, maybe you should check the plugs on the 76. LOL.

[So Cal Mark]

happy days are here again!

[Snoopy]

Good news !!! Congratulations !
(Your are a lucky man that the plug dont break an parts fall down and now are in the piston and never change a running system ).

[Europa]

That's great news Craig. Glad you're back on the road again!

[mdrburchette]

I'm especially happy for me! You sure were getting me down with your somber attitude. Now I got my buddy back! It always goes back to retracing your steps, doesn't it?

[ga.spyder]

Thanks guys..I am pretty happy.I put the plugs in the night before I did the ign. tuneup.I started the car ,let it idle and it ran fine.After the tuneup ,I took it for a long ride where it began missing and then #4 shut down.Apparently after a longer drive and higher rpms it was hitting enough to change,and eventually close the gap.I had that plug out a couple times and swapped it with another cylinder.I didnt re check the gap though,so I didnt realize they were changing.I always thought it was something stupid or simple,since the car was running fine before.We took the fiber optic camera(cool tool) and looked at all the pistons and they look fine,Apparently #4 is a little looser or tighter than the others,as it was eventually shutting the plug gap,the other were just closing them up partially.
I would have never thought to put in a new set or compare against the old.I will from now on!My mechanic friends said that they check everything against the removed part,that getting the wrong stuff happens all the time!!Who would a thunk it?

[zachmac]

Craig.

Voila! I bet the coffee tastes better, the sun shines brighter and all those little things that seemed so gigantic yesterday have gone back to their proper importance. Speaking of which, now that you have a fun car to go to the parts store with you should consider keeping and re-building the 76. I know you are concerned it will sit and not get done but how about if we all sign up to spend rotating weekend days in God's country helping. I mean just look at what you learned in a short visit to your mechanic friend yesterday. think how much an engine rebuild will teach you!

BTW, thank you for the hospitality and time yesterday (I dropped in on short notice on Craig to look at the 76). I am interested in teh 76 BUT I think you should keep it. You know what's gonna happen; some lucky stiff like me is going to steal it from you, fix it and then when you see it at meets etc. you'll be saying "I could've done that!" And you can!

[kilrwail]

Unbelievable! Congratulations buddy! It's good to have you back amongst us. The guys I deal with at NAPA are always careful to have me confirm that the parts they've sourced are the right ones, since they don't see our cars every day. That's a good lesson for all of us.

Now, will you take the '76 to the same guys for a second opinion?

[Europa]

Now, will you take the '76 to the same guys for a second opinion?

Now there's a plan!