ZaneGrey04 Posted October 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2012 Well I ended up buying the 89' conquest. I ended up paying $660.00. I wanted to get the car for less, but conquest are hard to find in Kansas and I couldn't talk the guy down any lower. Its a little rough looking, but once I get it running it will work as a daily driver. I was going to eventually use it as a parts car, but I dunno if I will after I get it running. The interior is nice well besides the driver and passenger seats and a small hole in the middle of the back seat. http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t480/M_Z_B/Conquest/IMG_20121007_163816.jpg In the ad the guy said that the car's timing was off and he had cracked the valve cover while working on it. I saw that valve cover and asked how he broke it. He kinda avoided the question and never gave me a real answer...I would soon find out how. When we got it home we decided to throw a valve cover on it and see if we could get it to start. After checking all the fluids we tried to start it a couple times until there was a loud explosion and a lot of smoke. It scared the ***t out of me! At first we thought it was on fire, but soon discovered that most of the passenger side of my valve cover was missing. The picture is a little blurry it wasn't taken with my awesome phone. http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t480/M_Z_B/Conquest/IMAG0010.jpg I have been trying to figure out how this happened, but I'm lost. We checked the oil and it didn't smell like there was fuel in it. I pulled the valve cover off today and the head doesn't look like it is damaged. Anyone have any ideas why this might have happened? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelby Posted October 9, 2012 Report Share Posted October 9, 2012 posible some one use'd long stem solid adjuster valves with hyd rocker arms ,,or the wrong valves install'dgot a pic with valve cover remove'd ,,and oem head bolts not studs right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZaneGrey04 Posted October 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2012 (edited) I'll get a pick of the head tomorrow. It has the oem head bolts installed. We are going to pull the head and replace all the gaskets then use one of my spare heads. Edit: Pulled the head off today and found what the problem was. That is the 3rd piston from the front. http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t480/M_Z_B/Conquest/IMG_20121009_164520.jpg Looks like I will be pulling the engine soon. I thought of just parting it out and not fixing it, but I don't want another one of these going to the scrap yard. Good thing I have extra pistons and other parts laying around. Edited October 9, 2012 by ZaneGrey04 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZaneGrey04 Posted October 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2012 Been making some progress on the 89' the past few nights. We removed the engine and auto trans. This car is a mess under the hood. So many years of people cutting wires and cutting vacuum lines. The wires for the auto trans were cut and just twisted together no wire nuts or anything! http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t480/M_Z_B/Conquest/IMG_20121010_223009.jpg Last night we started stripping the block to get it ready to send to the machine shop I also finished pulling the shifter and other auto parts from the car. I'm going to try and start the process for the manual swap this weekend. I hope to get the hole cut for the slave cylinder and get the clutch pedal mounted. My little helper fell asleep while I was removing the shifter. http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t480/M_Z_B/Conquest/IMG_20121011_204405.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasQuest Posted October 22, 2012 Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 Any updates? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZaneGrey04 Posted October 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 I don't have any updates I have been focusing most of my time on school. I only have two more months and want to end with A's. I also don't have the money, I am helping a family member out with a financial situation so they won't lose their home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psu_Crash Posted April 11, 2013 Report Share Posted April 11, 2013 I don't know how I missed this post years ago but .... incredible ...I hope the rest of classes went well for you! When I graduated from college was when I finally got a good job and had the $$ to get my obsession back on the road after about 7 years in a barn. You can do it and like the others said we will help you every step of the way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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