Project Blackheart

[TheSVOTrust]

Hi All, been a while since I did an update started work on a new TV series, TNT's "The Librarians". https://www.facebook.com/TheLibrarians Sorry for the shameless plug

Yeah really hard working with Rebecca Romijn ! I'll bet Sada gave you the RULES of work. No Geeking off! Mark

[Chalky]

Well, last Saturday was a very busy day. We hauled the '86 over to Josh's Dad's place and threw it up on the lift. We did a full rear suspensions swap, MM lowers, J&M uppers, Blackie's Koni reds and H&R springs, the '94 17" tri-bars, the full 3" exhaust, Satera and I refitted the dash, MM Steering shaft and steering column, we hooked up a bunch of the wiring and then dropped in the motor and gearbox. We also did a full brake flush and bleed which was much needed.

We hauled the car back to my place and pushed it back into the garage. This morning, I did a few more wiring fixes and checked everything and then dropped a battery in. Pump primes, fuel pressure present but no start. I decided to bridge the starter solenoid and low and behold she started!!!! No radiator at this stage so i just let it run for a few seconds.

I'm going to do some checks for the no-key issue and when that's resolved bolt everything back together and see about taking it for a drive!!!!

I haven't had a chance to post pics yet but there are some here.....

http://instagram.com/chalkys_explorer and here.....

http://instagram.com/svocop

[MikeFleming]

Party On, Wayne!!

[Ford Builder]

Well Chris, am glad to see your making great process

[Chalky]

Well, the no key start issue was because I didn't have the backup light harness connected. Hooked that up and VROOM!!!!

Been a busy few weeks so progress has been slow. Got the cooling system all bolted in a filled and checked cooling fan operation, all good. I re-ran the wiring and installed my boost/ oil/ water gauge pod. I was having a problem with the heater only hitting the window. The vacuum routing is different 84-86 so a minor adjustment there and I have warm feet Also had to replace the circuit breaker for the windscreen wipers and re-fit the mechanism.

I also decided that instead of using the 86 flush headlights I would use the Hella 9003 enclosures from Blackie. They survived the crash fine and so I installed them and refitted my PLA headlight harness. took a little bit of work and wiring but I now have super bright headlights so I'm happy.

Went to the DMV the other day and got a trip permit. Am planning on re-fiiting the steering wheel, a drivers seat and a seatbelt and we'll see if we can pass the smog test on Saturday
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[Ford Builder]

SWEET , Am very happy she's working fine for you .

[JTurbo]

Good progress Chris, keep going!

[SJones86SVO]

Look forward to following the restoration. You are making great progress considering what you started with!! I will try to get pics of my 86 SVO in the next week.

[Chalky]

Well, yesterday was a good day. I spent a few hours Friday night buttoning up some loose ends, basically getting the car to the point where it was driveable. I put in a seat and a steering wheel and got most of the assorted junk out of the car. I also checked fluids and bolted in a coolant recovery bottle.

Saturday morning, took it down to the local Chevron and added a few gallons of premium. There was a god awful scraping/ rubbing sound coming from the driveline. Threw it up on a jack when I got home and discovered someone had crossed the e-brake cables. Fixed that and then took a trip to the OR DMV DEQ test station. Nice and quiet for a Saturday so pulled straight up.

The driveline had always passed DEQ with ease but I was a little worried as I haven't properly set TPS/idle or changed the plugs in 2 years and it's been blowing a little smoke on startups since being fitted to this car. Well, to my relief and surprise it passed!! I'm a happy little bunny. I'll be submitting the title and plate request this week and the last time I checked "BLK HRT" was available so we'll see what happens.

Having said that, she still needs a LOT of work. The brakes are original to the car and although we bled them and added a new booster they are pretty terrible. They work, but I decided to leave plenty of room in traffic. There's also no interior in the car apart from a seat and the carpet so she's pretty loud and rattly!! There is a blown strut on the pass. side front so she wallows a bit especially considering the front is all old stock and the back is all MM, H&R and good Koni's. It's not exactly a balanced ride. Hopefully adding the SN-95, MM, H&R, Koni yellow combo I have this coming weekend and then it should resolve some of these issues.

With all that in mind, it's just nice to drive an SVO again and certainly put a smile on my face.

[18lbs]

Nice stuff but brakes are good.

[Chalky]

It's been to long time between drinks and although there hasn't been a huge amount of progress because I've been super busy at work we're getting there. Another day at the shop saw the whole front suspension removed and replaced with some of Blackies old MM parts plus a bunch of new SN95 parts. If anyone's wondering they are original SVO arms with SN95 balljoints.

I also got a package in the mail that made me very happy. Need to switch the rack and get an alignment and then we should be good to go. You can find more pics at the instagram pages but here are a couple to wet the appetite.

[Ford Builder]

Its good to hear from you, she is getting close.

[Chalky]

Things are progressing slowly, it's been a very busy start to the the year workwise so I haven't gotten a whole lot done. Seem to have fixed the electrical gremlin and a while ago josh and I fitted the new exhaust. It's a hybrid Merkur Depot/Stinger 3" to twin 2.5" full stainless with Magnaflow mufflers. I have a wastegate with a v-band which will eventually be fitted to the new turbo I got from Laredo a few years ago for which I am having all the parts apart from the CHRA ceramic coated coated. The system sounds pretty good and I like the look and sound more than the 3" single that was fitted. Here's a link to a clip of it running.

https://instagram.com/p/wCYNzbBeJw/?taken-by=svocop

Also started blowing some smoke a few weeks ago. It's not the valve stem seals because it starts a few minutes after startup. Josh and I suspect it's the oil return line which has been on the engine since it's was built nearly 100K ago. I've got a new one which we'll put on and if that's not it, the new turbo is going on.

[Meotchh]

Have you checked your plugs to see what they look like? That would be an easier & more logical place to start than the oil drain line.

[Chalky]

Good advice, it is due for a plug change but it's been running for a few months with those plugs before it's started smoking.

[Laredo]

Looking good Chris! Thanks for keeping us up to date...

[Meotchh]

Good advice, it is due for a plug change but it's been running for a few months with those plugs before it's started smoking.

The point is to check the plugs to determine if you are burning oil in any one cylinder.

[Chalky]

Got it aligned. That's it, all i got

[Chalky]

Actually, I was being cheeky, quite a bit has been done. The 8.8" rear out of Blackie was cleaned, painted and fitted with the '03 Cobra brakes, MM lines and DBA rotors. We also fitted the new turbo and ported E6. I got the turbo from Laredo but can't remember the specs apart from the fact that it a t3/t4 hybrid with a .63 turbine. Got that written down somewhere Doug?? it's the one he had Charlie from Evergreen build courtesy of the SVOCA re-union door prize thingy. It stopped the smoking problem so that made me happy. The E6 is the one that the machine shop messed up and heli-coiled so I'm running to see how long they last. It's ported and ceramic coated so it will be an interesting test. I also had the compressor housing coated in "cerami-chrome" so it's nice and shiny. As always, Finishline Coatings did the business and the parts look great.

We also fitted up an original SVO Spearco. I guess Josh bought it on eBay and since I had given him Blackie's old set-up he asked if I wanted it?? Is the Pope a Catholic bar that s#%$ts in the woods?!?!?!?! Hell yeah, I'll take it!!!! It didn't come with the mounting brackets or cross-over pipe so we made the brackets and had an exhaust shop bend up a pipe to suit. Turned out really well and is much more solid than the original setup as we used 1-1/2" angle iron and designed it to fit under the whole sway bar mounting bracket. The piping was powder coated by Jeremy ( In2Fords ), I also welded nuts to the mounting bracket so it's a one handed job to bolt it up. I'm glad to have this setup as it will allow me to run a stock A/C system which will make me happy.

You can find some pics of this stuff here: https://instagram.com/chalkys_explorer/ and here https://instagram.com/svocop/

[Laredo]

I got the turbo from Laredo but can't remember the specs apart from the fact that it a t3/t4 hybrid with a .63 turbine. Got that written down somewhere Doug?? it's the one he had Charlie from Evergreen build courtesy of the SVOCA re-union door prize thingy

Chris, do you still have your old emails archived from a couple years ago? I forwarded on the complete specs to you that I got directly from Charlie. I lost all of my old emails and pst files when my laptop crashed last year. Otherwise I'll check with Charlie to see if still has records on it.