The Saga continues (Backyard Queen)

I really went for it with my old 1990, after fixing everything and rebuilding another gas tank and figuring out how to reinstall it she fired right up and I thought hooray I have finally conquered this beast. Not so fast, it seemed to run fine for a few days and I was about to take her for a spin when the heat gauge went to “Red Hot”, what a bummer. Well it must be the thermostat, has to be right I mean there is a new rad in it. OK replaced the thermostat, same thing came to a quick boil, well I guess the water pump is next. That was fun learned how to remove the front of the engine, took me about 3 hours and had the new water pump in place and managed to get the timing belt and pulleys lined up. After putting it back together horrors she just kept on boiling, all that work for nothing, head gasket must be gone and the demons of the 3.0 have done me in.
I have contemplated scrapping it but there is a fresh transmission and clutch, solid frame and body, I have had this thing sitting here for years. I don’t like losing to a Machine so today I am bringing home the ultimate fix, just purchased a rotting 1996 with 298,000 KMS or almost 180,000 miles on it. There is a sweet 3.4, it’s a standard, has new brakes great tires, front struts and a load of great parts which should offset some of the cost doing this engine swap.
I can park them side by side and go for it once I have a bit of time to really get into it, this has me feeling alright. Why waste a perfectly good Second Gen when there are frames and body’s rotting off of 3rd Gens. It been hard to find a good one and prices are ridiculous but I found a complete one that apparently drives just fine, I will be testing that out before the wrenching starts. Wish me Luck!

 

Best wishes!!

 

Good luck! Keep us posted.

 

Oh fantastic! I just paid to have my 3.4 swap done, so I'll follow this eagerly. I wasted a month trying to get the emissions tests to complete, only for the shop to tell me that I was wasting my time cuz in Utah even if it's swapped to an OBD2, they only smog the tail pipe because it's registered as a 94. Took it smog and passed with flying colors.

 

These things are like owning a Shovelhead Harley, I’ve always been fixing and wrenching that old thing. It will be awhile before I start just brought the donor home. It seems the previous owner was trying to get this vehicle into good serviceable condition, lots of new parts. Guess that’s when they found the cracked frame, I will use all that I can then just sell and scrap the rest.

 

Is the TPS 3pin or 4pin? I've been trying to find a 4 pin throttle body with the cruise control linkage.

 

I have no idea, I am using this engine so won’t be parting with anything till it is all installed and functioning correctly.
Talked to my house call mechanic today, he is busy all summer doing motorcycles but will have time to help me with this project in October. I will take pics of the issues we encounter doing the swap, it shouldn’t be too bad with both vehicles parked side by side.