rewind's Bull Fighter (in training)

STATUS: Intermittent Oil Pressure, Engine Rebuild Coming Summer 2017.

After 10 years on this forum, It's about time My Mounty gets a spot in the registry.

This 1998 Mountaineer was my first car.
Here is what it looked like when I first got it in August 2005.

We've been through a lot together. This mounty has been hit on all 4 sides.
The worst damage being done my my sister-in-law backing her F-150 into it TWICE because she couldn't see it one foggy morning.

In July 2011, I picked up a 2003 Eddie Bauer. I parked the Mounty behind my house with plans to fix some quirks before selling it.
Unfortunately it fell victim to vandalization on December 26th 2011. (Guess these kids didn't get what they wanted for christmas).

It was kept under tarp for 4 years until legal matters had been settled.
February 2016 marked the beginning of this truck's re-birth.

Rehabilitation began with installing new windows where they had been busted, removing the mold that had manifested, and replacing rotten brake lines.

[Mold Removal pics BEFORE/AFTER] Coming Soon
[Brake Lines pics BEFORE/AFTER] Coming soon!

I found a couple surprises along the way.

I am currently working on some other repairs but ultimately I expect this truck to be road ready within the next few weeks (end of March 2016).
From there I plan to replace my busted front bumper with a new Steel Bumper and give it a 1.5" lift via TT/AAL.

I am so excited to be getting back into this truck and finish what we started 10 years ago.

 

[rewind1]

So I finished replacing brake lines yesterday. I was happy with how the whole process went and then...
I was going to take it for a test drive and she wouldn't start.

The past two weekends she started up just fine although there was some hesitation if I got on the throttle too quick.

I'm thinking there is a spark issue because I sprayed some starting fluid in the tb and it made no difference.

 

[rewind1]

The issue starting seems to be a fluke, The past 3 weekends she started right up so I'm going to act like it never happened.

I got it registered and on the road this weekend. It felt so good to be driving it again.
I was impressed with how confident she felt on the road, even with rotten shocks all around.

What does have me scared though is my oil pressure gauge. I didn't really hear anything awful but the gauge fluttered a lot on the highway and at times dropped to zero.

The oil level is good but it has been sitting for years so I'm hoping that I can get this cleared up with an oil change.

Beyond that, what suggestions do you have?

 

[rewind1]

I changed the oil, and took her to the car wash on Saturday. Lookin good even with the saggy bumper.
I planned to take her for a quick jaunt on Sunday and then for the 30mile trip to work today.
But Sunday when I started her up, no oil pressure and I could hear some knocking.

I think I'm going to have to drop the pan and at the very least clean up some sludge but I'm guessing I'll probably need to replace the oil pump too.

Am I headed in the right direction here?

 

[turboranger91]

Sounds like you know what you're doing. I definitely know the feeling of driving something that has sat for years! Glad to see you're getting it all back together.

 

[rewind1]

Hmm, I could swear I updated this. Not that there is much of an update...

I have decided that I don't want to play games flushing the motor out and hoping the issue goes away.
The problem is intermittent already and I don't want to play games just to have my working, original block blow up on the highway some day.

Not much progress was made over the summer (mostly due to me having too much fun with my new car) but I did work through our wrecked 99 parts truck.
I took my time to get through the mangled mess so as not to break anything that hadn't been broken. Now the tranny bolts and motor mounts are loose and motor is ready to be pulled.
I'm going to work through it a bit when it gets warmer and I'm hoping to have it running in my mounty mid-summer. I'll be posting some initial progress of that hopefully in mid-march.

See y'all soon.

 

[GingeRed11]

looked mint when you bought it! i like he color keep it up man!

 

[rewind1]

looked mint when you bought it! i like he color keep it up man!

Thanks man, will do!
This truck has definatley experienced an unfair amount of neglect. That being said,
With a good cleaning I think it's original luster should return quite well not to mention those first pics were taken with a DSLR camera vs the new pics being taken on my phone with a broken lens.

 

[GingeRed11]

Thanks man, will do!
This truck has definatley experienced an unfair amount of neglect. That being said,
With a good cleaning I think it's original luster should return quite well not to mention those first pics were taken with a DSLR camera vs the new pics being taken on my phone with a broken lens.

Anything new with it?

 

[rewind1]

Anything new with it?

Nah, I wont be working on this til spring time most likely.