ZaneGrey04

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.

Attending my first Nascar race today. I've never even watch a race on TV so I had know idea what to expect. So far this is crazy I have never seen so many people in one place! I feel kinda out of place though cuz my shirt doesn't have a car on it. Anyone else here today?

How much would you sell the dash for?

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

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.

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?

Thanks for the advice. I was only planing on hitting the rusted spots with the blaster. It looks like brake fluid had been leaking for awhile so I have a lot of bare metal spots that have rust on them. Maybe just hand sanding the rust spots will work?

Work on the quest has been slow lately I removed some more parts from the engine compartment and have been working to remove the dash to get some of the wiring out of the way. A friend is going to let me borrow his sand blaster so I can get the engine compartment ready for paint. After paint progress will be really slow I have a lot of money to save for the motor swap and getting parts powder coated. Till then I have found a 89 Conquest for pretty cheap, I am going to look at it tomorrow and hopefully bring it home. It just needs a little work to get it running so I am going to try and get it running to use as a daily driver till I have the money to finish my Cursed Quest. Then it will be used for parts that the Cursed Quest needs. From the pics I have seen of the 89 its a little rough looking, but the parts that I will eventually need are good. I'm excited hopefully I will be finally driving a Conquest someday soon! I'll post pictures tomorrow if I end up bringing it home.

Sorry I haven't posted pictures yet I've been busy with school. Hopefully tomorrow ill have time. Edit: I have acquired another quest and will need the stock turbo for that car. Sorry for the inconvenience.

I've got one sitting in my garage. I'm not home now, but should be there in a couple hours. I'll get it pulled off the manifold and post some pictures if you don't find one by then.

PM sent

Do you still have the radio surround piece?

Ive been making some much needed progress on this project. Its been keeping me up at night thinking about all the things I need to do to this car to finish it. The more I tear into it the more I want to take the whole thing apart and completely restore the whole car. I want to do it right the first time so that I dont have to take it apart later after I have it running and do all the work over again. I also found that my drivers side frame rail has a horrible rust area that is going to need to be cut out and replaced. I wish that I still had my parts car to get the piece from. This picture is from a couple days ago I forgot to upload it. We are focusing on the engine compartment for now then we will work our way back most likely disassembling the whole car. http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t480/M_Z_B/Conquest/IMG_20120915_185042_zpsa0a3a952.jpg We accomplished a alittle more today. I was hoping to get more done, but we ran into some snags. The steering didnt want to seperate so we were unable to remove the steering box and the fuel and brake lines took longer than I thought to remove. I still have to figure out how to remove all the wiring. I guess though if I decide to take the whole car apart the wires wont be much of an issue. I would like to get the car done by next July which will have been ten years since my friends passed away, but if I decide to do a full restore it definetly wont be done in time. I cant decide what to do. http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t480/M_Z_B/Conquest/IMG_20120918_193447_zps24789d26.jpg

They have handles for rattle cans you can pick up for cheap and they work great. I've used them a for bigger paint jobs using a can. They make the can easier to control and save your finger.

Wow that engine compartment is clean! I'm trying to get mine stripped so I can paint it. Did you sand blast it before paint or just scuff the original paint?

This is going to take awhile this is after a couple hours of work. Good thing I have the service manuals for this thing! http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t480/M_Z_B/Conquest/IMG_20120915_153218.jpg

Finally some pictures to post: After 4 years. http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t480/M_Z_B/Conquest/IMG_20120327_185838.jpg Before cutting out the storage area above the car. A little messy. http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t480/M_Z_B/Conquest/IMG_20120907_153801.jpg Who says you cant use a chainsaw for remodeling. http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t480/M_Z_B/Conquest/IMG_20120907_174632.jpg Rearranged the garage and started taking apart the front end. http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t480/M_Z_B/Conquest/IMG_20120914_202856.jpg

Wow those are some old boats. The Philly was SSN-690 the oldest 688 on the east coast. No worries about post jacking nice to meet a fellow submariner. Not many people know what it means to get your fish.

Most of my time was spent on the USS Philadelphia, I also spent some time on the Dallas. Both out of good old Groton, CT. I was an a-ganger so I turned a lot of wrenches.

Made more room in my garage to work. I'll post pics. Still have some organizing to do, but it feels a lot better in there. Also got the quest turned around to make it easier to work on. Hopefully picking up a toolbox full of tools today and going to start cleaning out the engine bay. Hope to get a lot stripped out this weekend.

Thanks, I'm going to need it. I was going to message you to see if you could send me pictures of the mounting brackets for the rear window louvers. I saw that you had recently picked up a set.

I'm out of town, but I'll dig through my parts probably Friday and send you a pic if you still need the pump.

I can't believe its been four years since I first posted on this site! Even more suprising I remembered my password. Alot has changed over the past four years, both good and bad. Ive been through a horrible divorce, a job change, I am attending college, and met a wonderful woman to start a family with. I now have a 4 year old boy step son and a baby girl that will turn one on the 29th! All this time the conquest has been patiently waiting in the garage. Every time my son sees it he asks when he will get to ride in daddy's race car. It has been a long road, but with the support of a loving family and friends I am going to start working on the quest again. The car has been waiting to long. Its going to take awhile, but I feel like I have to get it done. Ive become obsessed with the thought of driving it someday. I have decided that I want to do an engine swap so I have parts from the g54b and other stock parts that I wont be using. I also sadly had to scrap my parts car. The town I live in frowns on cars that don't run sitting in yards and I didn't have any place to put it. I saved the hood, doors, hatch, and other random parts from it. I will be starting a thread sometime this weekend to get rid of parts.

Wow its been along time! Sorry everyone I have been busy. Owning a house has turned out to be alot of work and money. Home improvements here and there have made it hard to work on the quest. I did finally get it put in the garage. And I hooked up lights so that I will be able to work on it. It will be alittle while before I really get a chance to work on it though. Harvest is starting which means long hours and we are putting fence around our yard for the dogs. I will post new updates soon.

All That Remains- The Air That I Breathe http://youtube.com/watch?v=GG9qlKEyV4E