Freed from the curse of the yellow wheels and 4 hood latches!
Since I've been running with what I thought was a broken temp gauge I ordered and installed a new one.....which also didn't work. Hmmm....further investigation revealed that both temp gauges worked but this crusty old thermostat did not.
No doubt this was a major contributing factor to the moisture in the oil. New 180 degree T-stat has been installed.
And might as well get this out of the way too.
The source of exhaust manifold leak turned out to be a degraded gasket where the exhaust pipe connects. The bolt was completely rotted and I broke it off but was able to drill out the remains without damaging the original manifold threads (a personal first after numerous attempts over the past few years...). I also replaced a missing exhaust manifold stud where there had previously been just a bolt without breaking anything in the process - hallelujah.
I deemed the entire exhaust pipe system not worthy of further use and ordered a new set-up from Walck's along with some new fuel lines. I will be removing the rubber hoses and electric fuel pump in favor of a glass bowl mechanical one.
And "while I was in there" I adjusted the valves and cleaned what residual oil goop I could get at out from around the valves and throughout the PCV valve and plumbing. It wasn't as horrid as I expected after seeing what was in the oil pan but it wasn't great either.
Thanks for checking in�
