It was a busy week with my kids.  This was a pleasant surprise for me as it wasn’t ‘my year’ to have them over spring break.  The boys continued to humble me with their video game prowess (with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 the game of choice); however, I evened the battles by destroying them at scrabble and monopoly (yes, real boardgames!) — I still got it!

As usual, there was plenty of food, along with a special celebration of my daughters birthday that included some home made chocolate fondue (into which we dipped a variety of items).  The chocolate fondue was inspired by a cheese fondue we enjoyed on Wednesday generously provided by the ewillys Swiss Bureau; So, many thanks to John and his family for that generous gift :-).

The night before the kids arrived (which was saturday night of last weekend), I attached the new heads.  They appear to have solved the leaking problem.  I still have some minor leakage of oil out the dipstick holder, but I think a little sealant should fix that.  One very noticable change is that the engine starts very easily now (though the new battery and alternator are helping with that too).  Now, I need to fine tune the carb (an older 500 CFM Performance carb) so that it runs a little less rich under heavy acceleration.

Below are a few pics of the kids playing for the camera:

So, I pulled the driver’s side head and inspected the head and cylinders.  You can see in the pics of the valves that the number #1 cylinder isn’t buring as well as #3 and #5.  Also, number 1 cylinder looked a great deal moister inside as well.  The head gasket appears fine.

I’m still uncertain what’s causing the problems as I haven’t spotted any cracks yet.  As a refresher, here are the problems:

1.  Some exhaust or blow-by escapes into the block and escapes out the intake manifold (or out the driver’s side head).

2. It sounds like it runs well until under pressure such as more than average acceleration, then it seems to run rough,  until the acceleration is let up a little.

3. Some coolant residual appears in various places after running the engine (in the form of a slightly white foam).

4. I have leakage of slightly watered oil that leaks from the oil dipstick and from the valve cover.  I can slow this greatly by disconnecting the PCV unit from the intake manifold.

Here’s a few pics (note cylinders #3 & #5 have a little liquid from pulling the head, but the #1 cylinder is much damper/oilier).

This weekend I spent some time messing with my engine.  One of the concerns I have had was that the whitish smoke that still slips out of the intake manifold hasn’t gone away.  I had hoped that was simply the rings not sealing, but I don’t believe it is anymore.

While checking the engine closely on Saturday, I discovered that there was some whitish, oily residue on the roof of the oil breather, which suggests coolant in the oil.  My radiator level was also a little low. Between that, the smoke, and the fact that it runs a little rough when under pressure, I now believe that somewhere on my left bank there is a crack. I suspect it’s the REAL reason the seller of my engine stopped using it.

Fortunately, I have an extra 3.8L block that appears in good shape (I’m already using the heads and crankshaft).  I would have used that block initially, except that it’s bored .030, while my Hypereutectic pistons are made for a stock bore.  So, I guess I’ll go back to .030 bore and the pistons that came with that block.

So, I’m going to get my block dipped and cleaned, pull the engine, rip it apart, and put everything back together.  It sounds like some good weekend fun …. I’m might redo the radiator setup while I’m at it — I have a new idea for that.

I finally got a chance to get Lost Biscuit onto the dirt today (Saturday).  One of the unique aspects of Boise is that the surrounding foothills have been reserved for recreation.  There are areas for hiking, walking dogs, biking, motor biking and four wheeling.  One of the quickest ways to reach the foothills is to head north on 8th avenue from downtown.  It takes all of 5 minutes or so to reach hiking and biking areas.  It’s about 15 minutes to hit the motorized offroad areas.

My son Karson was with me.  It was his first off roading experience.  We were only out about an hour or so, as I’m being careful to push the bounds of the jeep slowly to let everything ‘settle’ into place.

On the positive side, the suspension is as I could have hoped.  It’s firm enough for the corners, yet handles the bumps well.  It’s a step up from my first suspension, which was a step up from the early jeeps I drove. We wound up the hill, took some side roads, tested out low range and four wheel drive.

On the negative side, I’ve still got a little oil that appears to be the result of valve covers that aren’t quite sealed correctly, so I’ll have to take them off to see what’s happening.  Here’s some pics before we got muddy.

This is a pic facing west.  Those foothills are all part of the foothill recreation system.

Here’s Karson with the hills and hundreds of miles of hiking, biking, four wheel drive trails, and the Bogus Basin Ski area behind him.

In this southern facing image you can see the City of Boise to the left and the entire Treasure Valley filling the background.  I can’t say for sure what the pole is, other than a modern day totem of some kind?

One thing I did not get with my $20 seats were seat covers (here’s another link on how they mount).  Kim offered to sew these together for me and, since she’s right here, I could keep my eye on them as they were being made.  These were sewed from the heaviest, nicest seat vinyl I could find from Beverly Fabrics.  Best of all, it was 50% off.

The Prototype, which is on the passenger seat, could use a little adjustment still, but the second one turned out great.  Both just need some rider time to get stretched and pressed against the seat so they will form more closely to the seats.