Andy FitzGibbon

What do you run with the solar panel? Andy

I am lucky, the Autozone here is actually staffed by people who know a thing or two about cars and are interested in being helpful. They pretty much always side with the customer when there is a problem, instead of automatically siding with the company. Usually I hate chain auto stores but they are the best parts store in town (and we have five). If the manager has any information when I talk to him I will post it here, maybe it can be relayed to other stores and save the trouble of ordering online. Andy

I bought two Permatorque head gaskets about a month ago. I was buying a bunch of stuff and paying with Visa so I didn't really pay attention to what I was paying. Put them in, one didn't seal, so I ran out to get another (same situation, was paying for a bunch of stuff with Visa so I didn't notice the price). I looked at the receipt when I got home, and they had charged me $44.95 for ONE head gasket. Something ain't right... I printed the stock page for that gasket off the Autozone web site (they are $16.95 there) and took it back. They had no problem refunding me the difference, but the weird thing is that the gaskets are at $44.95 in their store computer. That got me to wondering what I had paid for the other two I bought a month or so ago. I went home, found the receipt (luckily) and sure enough, they had charged me the high price. I went back with the receipt, and it took a little longer but they refunded me the difference for those also. I haven't had a chance to talk to the manager yet to see if he figured the problem out, but just wanted to warn anybody who is buying those gaskets to make sure you aren't getting charged the high price. Andy

The exchange rate these days is pretty much negligible, as far as I know. Andy

When I had my heads milled it cost me around $112.50 for the pair. I didn't shop around at all to get the best deal, just took them to guys I've dealt with before and know what they're doing. Just my observations, not trying to dispute anything. Andy

Thanks for all the opinions. I will try all this stuff when I tear it back down to redo it. I'm leaning towards it being bolts/bolt holes. I did clean out the bolt holes but will do it again and make sure they're really clean. I will also use new bolts. Thanks again, Andy

Sometimes the ATF helps and sometimes it will make it worse, depending on what it breaks loose. It will sometimes remove gunk from around worn seals and they then don't seal as well as they were before the ATF, so air sucks into the oil and the ticking gets worse. Andy

I put my engine back together and the driver's side head gasket apparently didn't seal. The #4 cylinder is showing 95 psi compression (cold) while all others are 140. The car runs but starts burning water when it warms up and the thermostat opens. What are probable causes of the gasket not sealing? I had the heads milled, used FelPro Permatorque gaskets, cleaned the block thoroughly with solvent, and torqued the heads carefully using a clicker wrench. I did not use new head bolts, which I should have, but was in a hurry to get it done (I know, that usually leads to trouble). Any ideas? Thanks, Andy

I think there are two different lengths of water pump shaft available. Not sure, though, so hopefully somebody who knows for sure will come along. Good luck, Andy

I got an EA82 timing belt kit and also a gasket set from them. Parts seem to be reasonable quality and shipping was fast. Their gasket set did not include the cam case o rings (the ones that go between the cam case and head). I don't know if other sets do or not. Andy

I think the fan shaft might be 22 mm, but I can't remember for sure either. The dome light could just have a burnt out bulb. Andy

Autozone sells those kits for $9.99 Andy

I ran my Loyale over a curb once. It didn't blow the tire, but forever after the steering wheel has been off center. I was all over it many times looking for bent parts and didn't find any. Not sure what happened. It's parts now, so I'm not worried. The last tire I blew was from hitting a chuckhole really hard, and nothing got bent. Same thing as you, put a big hole in the tire. I agree with Tim, if you're lucky the tire absorbed the damage. Andy

A touring wagon has a raised roof from the driver's seats back. It's hard to see in my photo. They are sort of rare, a lot less common than Loyales. My Loyale is not worth rebuilding. It was on the road and doing fine until the rear suspension arms tore off their crossmember due to rust. It is an east coast car and has seen a lot of salt (and spray foam). It's also been through a similar front end collision, burns oil, needs tires and brakes, ect. ect. The Touring wagon, though it has high miles, is from Oregon and is not rusty. Andy

My girlfriend and I do a lot of camping in my GL wagon- so I will be glad to not hit my head any more when I sit up in the night:) Hopefully I can get it back on the road before winter hits. I need to keep the shop clear of cars until I move in a big lathe that is coming in the next couple weeks, then the T wagon will be going in. Andy

My exact plan. A stock wagon is about 2" too short for me to sleep comfortably in, so I'm going to change stuff around and gain the extra length that the seat backs take up. The damage really isn't that bad. As far as I can tell nothing that the suspension bolts to was tweaked. Matt already pulled a lot of it out. It does need a radiator and water pump, but it seems to run pretty good for an engine with 250k. My current plan (subject to change) is to cut the undamaged inner fender corner off the Loyale and weld it onto the touring wagon. The frame horn the bumper bolts to on the t wag crumpled in the wreck, so I'd feel better about replacing it than trying to weld patches on. I think it will be easier anyway. We will see how I feel when I get into it, though- right now I am elbow deep in my '85 doing head gaskets, and there are other projects in line after that is done. Andy

I bought this from Mellow65 and had it shipped back here. Other than the accident damage it looks like a good car. The red/blue Loyale next to it will provide necessary parts for the rebuild. It's an 89 GL Touring Wagon with dual range and 248K miles (and NO power seat belts- yes!). Eventually I want to put my AA lift and wheels on it, but first I have to rebuild it stock to get the title changed from "totaled" to "reconstructed". The damage is pretty light and will be easy to fix, but the insurance company totaled it when it was wrecked and it has a salvage title. Andy

All torn down. Heads were definitely not machined and, while not warped, definitely could use it. Found several mismatched/missing/loose bolts (like a cam case bolt used to hold the intake on...) so I'm glad it blew again. So far it looks like smooth sailing. Except that I want to get it done by Thursday and my "gasket set" didn't include cam carrier or cam case o-rings:mad: Andy

I assume these are 23 spline? Andy

That's kind of what I figured, but wanted to check to make sure there wasn't something wrong. I hadn't thought about the fuel mileage issue. I suppose if you drove 55 everywhere it wouldn't do too bad. 185/80 13s would help a little, but also make it that much more of a dog. Anybody who has an automatic Loyale- how does mileage compare to a 5 speed? Thanks, Andy

If you just spray it on the rust, it will continue to rot. The one car I did a "nice" job on (I say "nice" in quotes because it was still spray foam, after all) held up at least until I sold it a couple years later. I ground the rust as best I could, treated it with "rust converter" (the stuff that turns black), let it dry out for a week in a heated garage, then foamed it. After trimming the foam, I sealed it on the outside with brush on bedliner. I followed the panel line (this was on a Toyota 4Runner) and it came out looking really good. In the end it was probably just as much work as doing it with Bondo and fiberglass, but the foam is faster and I've never been much good with shaping Bondo. Andy

Done it to many cars but don't have pics. If you really take your time and do a nice job it comes out looking pretty good (I only did that once). I see it a lot around here on various rusty cars. Andy

I drove my first automatic Loyale today (looking for a car for my girlfriend). It's a 1993 and appears to have a three speed auto (only has D-2-1 on the shifter). At 65 MPH, the engine was running at almost 4000 RPM. Is that normal? I'm used to a 5 speed, and it seems like they run less than that at 65. Seems to be a good car, 128K and well taken care of. Thanks, Andy

You did me a big favor by suggesting them- thanks. Andy

OK, I will give that issue some more thought. My main reason for pulling it was that I felt like I might do a better job with it sitting on the bench rather than contorted around under the hood. Maybe when I get all the peripheral stuff off it will look better to me. I don't have air tools but I think I do have a ratcheting 10mm. Ordered gaskets today, including Permatorques. Thanks, Andy