BBR's 83GT - 552 BBF version 3.0 (at least)

[milner351]

alot of time money and effort has been spent on tow vehicles to make them "comfy" at 70+mph, when they could do the job just fine at 55 or 60mph with no money time or effort at all.

patience is a virtue most of us don't have enough of when towing down the highway to an event we have to make it to at a certain time.

Much like Mr.Buick's IDI 6.2 GM - my old '88 IDI 7.3 non turbo truck would pull anything - slowly.
My '97 powerstroke truck was able to pull anything - quickly.
My '01 powerstroke crew cab now can pull pretty much anything reliably, somewhat quickly - and infinitely more comfortably than the previous two diesels, and inexplicably more comfortable than the 351, 302, or inline 6 gas trucks to come before them, and most of you know the saga that cost me money time and effort to make it that way...

But you know what? the new 6.7 powerstroke would leave all of my previous trucks in the dust in any and every category hands down without question or debate.

Just like with race cars - tow vehicles cost money - the question is - how fast, reliable, capable and comfortable does your tow truck have to be?

Or - as Jim points out so eloquently - do you really need a tow vehicle in the first place?


If you like your durango and dakota - for you lucky sobs not in the rust belt - rebuild those muthatrucka's with towing in mind and surely you'll be happy with a bit more torque or a bit more gear and be able to keep the vehicle another 10 years with no payments, that's a win even Dave Ramsey would agree to as long as the build is reliable.

Mr Buick - you know there are turbo kits for the 6.2 right?

[BBR]

I will most likely end up with a 4 door pickup of some sort. The Durango upgrade would be an unlikely solution unless the 318 tosses a rod and I need to replace an engine.

Having a family, I see towing as a necessary evil. If I want to attend an event and the rest of the family (or even just the wife, lol) wants to come (like Ford v. Buick next month), driving the Mustang several hours is just not much of an option. Throw in my propensity to break stuff and having a trailer available is a no-brainer! haha

To just go out to Amarillo Dragway, the trailer is overkill though.

[mike343sharpstick]

If you like your durango and dakota - for you lucky sobs not in the rust belt - rebuild those muthatrucka's with towing in mind and surely you'll be happy with a bit more torque or a bit more gear and be able to keep the vehicle another 10 years with no payments, that's a win even Dave Ramsey would agree to as long as the build is reliable.

E.G. Not me....
Sure is painfull watching something bought new rot away.

[milner351]

the hijackyness of this is nearing epic proportions... sorry BBR!

rust sucks out loud to high heaven and I hate it as much as any other out of control aging process we all have to deal with.

hopefully now that i've put all that money time and effort into "lee's limo" I can keep the damned thing for 10 years.

having a crew cab long box 4x4 certainly has merit - as long as you don't face tight urban combat regularly - or short parking garages.

Our life would simply not be possible without the truck - and in some ways - the trailer - which is another painful story of time money and effort!

[BBR]

the hijackyness of this is nearing epic proportions... sorry BBR!

<<back on track>> I'm about to go home for lunch an pull the passenger side cylinder head.

[nesabo]

<<back on track>> I'm about to go home for lunch an pull the passenger side cylinder head.

About 10 days to late... Sorry had to...

[mike343sharpstick]

and the dirt bikes
Anyhoo, curious why a head gasket fail?? Hope the issue is obvious.
Is it a copper head gasket, or stock-style?

[SuperBuickGuy]

Get the mustang reliable, you don't need a tow vehicle....

reliable race car? good one

[BBR]

About 10 days to late... Sorry had to...

And the kick to the nuts to finish him off! haha

I'm leaning towards non-sealing intake gaskets sucking water into the engine right now. Was not smoking, had good oil pressure and the water temp was 180 when I shut it off. It was just running on 4 cylinders or so. Stock style head and intake gaskets. Intake gaskets looked like they might have slipped down when I was installing them. A few of the intake ports were barely sealed if at all. Switching to a CJ sized gasket to eliminate that problem hopefully.

[squirrel]

reliable race car? good one

Yeah, I know!

I drive a fast street car, I don't have a race car. Of course my car is a few seconds slower than the streetable race cars

[BBR]

I'd say that one was used up. lol 1, 3 & 4 were toast and 2 was on it's way out.



Side note.... I am SOOOOOO glad I did not use head studs!!! I had to leave two head bolts in the head, and this was the easy side to get to.

So far, pistons and bores look great.

[Orange65]

What brand of head gasket are you running? Looks like an uneven clamping force on the gasket- possibly a warped deck on the engine or heads or the head bolts aren't tight enough or stretched.. just a thought.

BTW- I have just found your website. What happened to running EFI? Why not on the mustang?

[TheSilverBuick]

Your cylinders are a little out of round =P At least you it didn't happen out on the road I know what you mean about head studs. I've used them and actually do wonder if I could pull the heads with the engine in the car....

[BBR]

They are regular Fel-pro's which should be fine. I didn't check the torque, but the head bolts didn't seem as tight as I thought they should have been (140 ftlb). May be a result of it sitting outside in the minus-freeze-your-ass-off weather we had right after I put this engine together.

I'm still sticking to the sucking water theory. Each cylinder failed in the same general area. If it was a warped deck or head, I think the failure pattern would be different. I am also going to check to make sure the ARP head bolts are not bottoming in their holes. Ford's have blind head bolt holes so that could be a possibility. Of course, I will be checking the head and deck with a machinist's straight edge too.

As for the efi, it was super freaking cool, I just had tinkeritis and could not leave it alone. Decided to run a carb so I wouldn't be temped to fart with it all the time. lol

[milner351]

tinkeritus - is that fatal?