Sally Lives!

A while ago, Sarah and I decided to have a weekend out by doing a little car camping. Little did we know what the trip would lead to. We loaded up the car, fueled up, and headed north to the only camping spot I found that would allow campfires, which we have missed during all our camp-outs so far.

Just as we got to the start of the hills, about 45 minutes into our drive, we started up a small rise. Suddenly, Sally (our car) shifted, lost power, and shut off. We coasted to the side of the road to assess the problem. As we stopped, brownish smoke started pouring from under the hood. Sarah and I jumped out and while I dropped to look under the car for flames, Sarah grabbed our jug of water just in case....


With no flames, and the smoke becoming pure white, we opened the hood. Steam was pouring out of the radiator, which had blown the cap off. We let the steam subside a bit and started, slowly, adding water to the radiator to help cool everything back down. Every time we did this, the heat would create another geyser from the radiator. We decided to turn the engine over, very briefly, just to help circulate the water through the system. After about 30 minutes and 3 gallons of water, we got everything cooled down. With the radiator cap reinstalled, we tried starting Sally again.


I say tried, because after a couple attempts, she started, but ran extremely rough. not a good sign, but at least the engine hadn't seized completely. We called a tow truck and had it taken to a diesel shop for a diagnosis. It wasn't good.


If you look closely, you can see the scoring on the walls of the 2 and 3 cylinders. Unfortunately, this meant the engine would need a rebuild. Even more unfortunate, the quote to get this done was between $6,000 and $7,000 dollars, more than we paid for Sally in February. Common advice was to scrap the car and buy a replacement.

Not an option. So I rolled up my sleeves and got to work. After doing some research, I found that I could get the parts I needed for less than 1/3 the price of the quote. I also was lucky enough to have a few tools handy, and was able to borrow some I didn't have. The following are a few pictures of the process.

Surveying the damage, and the upcoming project

Loosening the engine, notice the fire extinguisher on the front seat, just in case

Ready to lift

With a little persuasion, and some extra hands, Sally's engine is out

Beginning the rest of the tear down, and cleaning.

The new cylinder sleeves installed in the cleaned block

New pistons and rings being installed

Reinstalling the engine

The head, valve cover, and intake manifold reinstalled

The home-made hot side EGR block off.

Cool side block-off.

I also want to give huge thanks to my friends and family for their help, support, and advice during this unintended project. Huge and many special thanks to Graeme for loaning us a car for work, Shaun for his garage and tools, and Sarah for keeping me fed.

More good updates coming soon!