1988 Alltrac - Fiona v2

So, figured I would post my build thread of my current project alltrac. She is not done, but I hope to try and start her in the next month or so. So, here are my posts from AT.net. Few things may be missing as I am just posting the sections with pics lol.

02-06-2012

So, a couple months ago I sold my alltrac (pretty much a shell) to the PO. Not a big deal cause I did not want an alltrac project that big.
Well, shortly after there was an alltrac for sale locally that was quickly dropping in price and it was more in the realm of the alltrac I wanted. Checked it out twice over the years (it has passed through a few hands) and at the price tag of 800, I couldn't pass it up.
The known issues:
Harness has been hacked to shit.
Lots of iffy wiring for remote start.
Dinged up front fender.
Possibly bad ECU.
HORRIBLE RIMS!! (Hope to replace with alloy stockers off a 6th gen)
Passenger front bearing is toast (Found out 4-1-2012)
Possibly upsides:
Significantly more complete then my last trac.
Supposed rebuilt motor.
Extra ebay turbo (maybe for my rolla)
Stock turbo with no shaft play.
Recently cleaned and tested injectors.
Aftermarket radiator.
The immediate plans:
Get it running in the next few months. May take out the harness and try and fix it, depending on what I find, or hopefully locate an unmolested harness. I want to have the car running and legal by next winter. No upgrades unless I have to replace something anyway.
The long term:
Mount my 3sge manifold and get front mount.
Reupholster interior (has seat covers right now).
Paint.
AEM, MS3 or another standalone.
And here is where I am going to keep a running tally of cost:
850 Car and towing
150 Harness and ECU
1000 Total
Well, here is what I got for my money.



















03-17-2012

So, I have started poking around the car and removing items that will be cleaned/replaced/repaired. This car has had alot of attempted upgrades and such and it has just become a cluster of an interior and engine bay. So, my goal is to strip it down to stock and also remove anything I think can be. So, here are some pics of what I have seen and done.
How the engine bay looked at the start of my pulling.

Part of the hacked harness and other mess.




Found this and learned it was someones half ass attempt to have a working heater, I assume.

Wiring and random switches.....




Random pics of what various previous owners have done.




I believe these were "crossovers" for the system that use to be in.


After the engine harness and fuel evap has been removed.



The PS line that I cant seem to get bolted down. Think a previous owner rerouted it a bit when they got the radiator and decided against trying to secure it.

Attempts at cleaning up the PS area. The return hose seems to press against the timing belt right now. Not sure if it was just pushed into a bad spot.


Driver side, under dash wiring havoc. Remote start was the biggest mess there.





And all the crap removed. Most items had the splice type plugs.

Here is the remote start/alarm in a pile

And how she sits, waiting for me to get her going.

 

Thanks for the comments My plan for the hood is to get a spare or 2 and try a few options I have seen posted on AT.net.......but I wont know which path I will take till I have the motor squared away. I try to focus on one thing at a time lol.

Right now the plan is to use the stock W2A. Mostly for simplicity and getting it running again. I have a GE manifold waiting for me to get the car running and working out important kinks. Once it runs I will get a FMIC.

Right now I am trying to reassemble the motor and interior to reasonable condition. On top of the I need to replace the passenger front bearing. That and I need some 6th gen celi rims some time in the future. I hate the rims currently on the car.

 

Well, status update. She runs with crap gas in the tank. Not starting her again till I remove the old gas and use fresh stuff, plus use new oil on her. The oil in her seems fresh, but after the scare with the fram filter, I want to just make sure all the simple shit is good.
What I know so far:
Motor seem a bit noisey, but not rod knock. May be valve chatter or something else.
Need to replace a small piece of PS hose at the reservoir.
Need to reconnect the to support rods for the intake on the back of the motor.
Need to replace a weird T adapter on one of the heater core hoses.
Still need to replace passenger side front wheel bearing.
I still have overly blingy rims on her and that sucks lol.
How the engine currently sits.

As she sits, waiting to be rode hard....

Old hood that I am going to try and use for making a good vent out of FG.

Uncut hood

How the interior stands. Still need to figure out how I am going to handle audio and the mediocre carpet.

 

The orange is a little darker in person, but I did that just to play around. In the future there will be orange under the hood, but it will also be with black and a metallic gray. That will be when I pull the motor for paint.

And the carpet is down the road, just bugs me that someone replaced the original carpet with what appears to be 162 carpet, plus some random shit cut out and not sitting right lol. That is further down the road. Right now I just want to get it running consistantly and find all the issues that are bound to show up with engine, suspension and drivetrain lol. I was just glad to buy a car that wasnt running, spent under 300 and get it running. That was a first for me since I always have started with running cars.

 

Well, here are some updates from the last week or so.

Aug 23

Well, small update.

I can start her consistently.
Motor is still noisey and I started it yesterday and it had no oil pressure
after sitting for a week, after an oil change. Added oil to the filter and where
the filter mounts. Seems to have fixed the issue, but will check it
today.

She has an oil leak and seems substantial. I see some liquid on
the bottom of the cat mount, but a shit load on the ground under the N/S
crossmember. May try an additive to taper that off. The more I dig into this
engine, the more it seems like the motor will need to be replaced. My guess is
the original rebuild that was done was done poorly.

Also one other issue,
it does not go through normal warm up. It starts quickly and sits at 1k then
will lower down to almost 500. And when trying to rev the motor, some times it
will stumble. So, lots of little shit to try and troubleshoot.

Aug 24

And more bad news for this engine. It now has 3 oil leaks
and I tried to drive it with horrible results. No power and alot of stuttering.
May try my other ecu, but since the CEL comes on, I think this ECU is fine. This
motor may just be at the point of no return with the oil issues and previous
rebuild issue.


So, I am pretty sure I will be finding a cheap, good motor to slap in for now and build a good one down the road. Still have to investigae more though.