Pair of TLs

Wow, nice work so far!

For $200, a few parts and some elbow grease you guys have come a long way and we're all looking forward to updates.
(I'd subscribe to this thread if I knew how.)

Now you'll need a little patience--drilling out the broken PS mount bolts and retapping will be fun.
Unless--does anyone know--do these capture nuts slide into the frame and can they be replaced? Take a look...

But we're here to cheer you on!

brotatertot

Thanks! Yeah that was a result of way too much boredom in one sitting lol.
I'm willing to bet the mechanic was employed at an independent shop, most will do whatever it takes to sell a job.

Thanks! Unfortunately they do fasten like that, bummer is it would be a lot harder because there's multiple layers of steel to drill through underneath. It was quoted to be a 7hr job, because the subframe needs to be dropped, a smaller drill can fit down from the top for one bolt, but not for the other.

polobunny

Might be able to only loosen the subframe instead of dropping completely, thus do it in the driveway/garage instead of on a lift.

treal512

Loving this thread so far! I've been sidelining all my new parts since last year, but this here is pretty motivating. Thank you for sharing, sir.

LOL, right? But he has no understeer

brotatertot

Motivation is hard to come by for me as well, there's more to come!

brotatertot

Had an extra can of Seafoam I found in the garage, so Brian & I loaded this bitch full of it & smoked out..

It does run & start a bit smoother now.

brotatertot

There were a couple more mounts that needed to be replaced, so I tackled that while changing the oil.














There's a slight film of sludge all over the inside of the engine, I noticed this under the cap, I think I might investigate some flushes in the near future.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

Hmmm, that looks like a small amount of either coolant or condensation water emulsified with oil. If it is only on the (relatively cool) oil filler cap, no harm, no foul; however, if it is all over inside the engine I'd be looking for a culprit (leaking head gasket or something).

thoiboi

Yeah that's quite sludgy and almost milky brown..


Do you know if there's any issues with the HG or coolant/water going in? Judging by the sludge, i'm not surprised the seafoam was that smoky

brotatertot

A bad head gasket is what we've been leaning towards as mentioned previously, kind of a bummer, looks like it's been bad for quite a while..

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

I don't like it that color...that might be bad.
Good job on the mounts!

brotatertot

Thanks! Yeah me either, & with its mileage being 268,000 I'd almost just replace the motor, who knows what it's been through on that long & brutal journey.

thoiboi

i don't read, i just look at the pictures

thoiboi

careful... if you give a mouse a cookie it's going to lead down to,

well.. might as well drop a J35A8 in there.. oh and a J37 TB and IM.. oh and 6 speed swap it..

brotatertot

Brian had time to buff it out, first with compound, then back over it with a machine glaze, I followed behind with a paste wax afterwards.









50/50 for comparison

thoiboi

Although.. at the rate you guys are working, it might be worthwhile to do just that.. it's going to be a CLEAN AF car when you guys are all done

brotatertot

Haha, I remember days like that, I've had to trade in all my cool kid ways for dumb stuff like a mortgage, lawn mower, 401k, sedan(s), stress & cheap beer.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

looking fucking good, man.!

truonghthe

good job on works so far, at this rate mind as well restore the whole car. That paint correction and the headlight doesn't goes together.

brotatertot

edit*

brotatertot

Thanks guys! Yes the headlight is next ion the list, then more attention to painting both bumpers.

Here are some after shots in the sun, it's got a lot more depth & clarity.

90foxnotch

That's looking really good. My f150 does that same pudding under the cap and I was advised it was just condensation causing it usually in the winter time, so hopefully it's good to go. I almost want to donate a new fender for that poor car haha Keep up the good work man

brotatertot

Brian buffed the headlight while I started bodywork on the rear, Here are the before and after results of his work.






After sanding







After polish










We both worked on the broken off steering rack bolts, but had no luck. The rack can be safely moved far enough to remove the front bolt, but our bits aren't really biting, I think the problem is our current easy-out set.

MyGuti

I'm still amazed at what a lil TLC can achieve, especially on the headlights!

thoiboi

Hope you clear coat the headlights after polishing so they stay mint!

90foxnotch

Those look really good, +1 on a UV protectant or clear coat, Good luck with the rack

brotatertot

No just wax, I'm more concerned with the steering rack right now, it's making or breaking the car at this point unfortunately. I'd rather not spend 7-$800 to have a shop drop the sub-frame, but it might come to that.

truonghthe

gotta drop the sub frame if you planning to remove that broken bolt, if you can get your hand on a lift. IT keep me wonder what the hell the previous owner run over? a mountain?

brotatertot

I bet it happened the same time the fender got pushed in, one of the wheels is a different production with the squared off valve stem relief, probably cracked the original wheel as well.

guitarplayer16

iTrader: (8)

I was quoted a couple of hours of labour to replace engine mounts by dropping the subframe. $700-$800 is insane...

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

Sounds about right; hence the fact I had all of my engine and transmission mounts done when the subframe was down for the new clutch.

brotatertot

I called the local dealer for estimates, I'm sure other places are cheaper.

I installed all of my mounts through the top side of the car, using extensions & a floor jack for support, sounds weird that they'd drop the sub-frame for that, it took me a shade over 2hrs to do them all....with one arm.

guitarplayer16

iTrader: (8)

The shop was having a 50% off labour rate and I got my brake fluid changed for $30. After I left their shop I called and I asked them about changing engine mounts and they told me 2-3 hours doing it by dropping the subframe and they always drop subframe to do engine mounts.
I told them it's well known online to just use a jack and do it from the top and that's where I went wrong; they took offense to my question because I guess I crossed the boundary of "telling them how to do their job".

Needless to say, I ended up doing them myself.

brotatertot

I gotcha, that can be a difficult situation, it's frustrated me a time or two.

truonghthe

According to your description that wheel belong to a 06 model as its the first year of TL has TPMS.

I don't think it gonna cost you $800 for dropping the sub-frame as most engine harness connector need to be disconnected along the radiator hose. After that it a pretty straight forward IF you got a lift that is.

04WDPSeDaN

iTrader: (1)

At $200, the vehicle doesn't really owe you guys anything. I was more concern about the horrific body repair that was done to this car. You can see the radiator support was replaced and the panels up front are still misaligned. It's had a real rough life and just put back together with the bare amount of money. My honest suggestion is to buy this cradle https://www.ebay.com/itm/2004-2006-A...lXwz4e&vxp=mtr and do the swap. A lot of members here have dropped their cradles to do work. And if you don't have one, you could use this engine support bar Blackhawk BH2700 Jack, Bottle - Lifting Equipment It's $49.00. Another cheap solution, go to home depot and buy some 2x4's, cut 3x of them to fit from the inner part of fender to fender and screw all 3x 2x4's together. Use a chain around them and hook to the engine.

Option 2, drop it yourself and redo the threads.

Option 3, shop around for prices to do the job.

I only suggest replacing the sub frame because I have a feeling it's been abused and could be tweaked from whatever accident(s) it had.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

but then nothing they hammered into place to fit on the old twisted subframe will fit!

brotatertot

I was more so looking at all the variables involved and where to stop putting money into it, I would also hate to have spent money on parts only to unearth other problem(s). Part of the attraction to this was to ultimately having something for next to nothing, so far we are up to about $650 total, and it's liquid value is probably only about $1500 in it's current state. I also have a full driveway now with 2 other projects on hold that need my attention, I said in the beginning if it gave us a bunch of hassle, then it's getting 86ed. We'll see how it plays out.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

I wish I was smart enough to keep my projects cheap.

brotatertot

But cheap projects aren't any fun!