quote:By chronicling what has happened to the car, I've devalued it now that everything is known about the condition the car was sold to me in.
On the contrary, you've increased the car's value because everyone now knows the complete state of the engine with certainty and confidence, and things look good. A well documented sorted car is always worth more.
quote:neither the engine, nor the gearbox had magnetic drain plugs. The box had a magnetic filler plug only
Swap the fill and drain plugs to put the magnetic plug in the bottom of the ZF case. If I recall correctly, they're the same thread size and interchangeable.
quote:The car will be back running very soon.
It will, and then you'll drive the wheels off it! Most likely, there will be no need to pull anything apart next year for rebuild. Get it back on the road and DRIVE IT! If or when something breaks, pull it apart, but otherwise keep driving it!
quote:My plan WAS to learn everything about my car as I went along, owning and maintaining it. I did not expect or plan on getting this deep into "knowing" everything about my car in this manner.
Yup! I had hoped to drive the wheels off of my car for 5 years before getting into the engine. Almost made it to 5 years, but spun a rod bearing. There were other fixes along the way, but it's part of the adventure of owning and driving a 40 year old car. Snow White is like a smoking hot divorced 43 year old MILF - she come's with baggage... But she's worth it!
Very soon you'll be back in the saddle and the last couple weeks will just seem like a bad dream. Hang in there Mike.
quote:I agree, 80lbs cold idle pressure sounds pretty high to me.
That's what the car has though.
Was that with the old high volume oil pump, or the new standard volume pump?