3 years of sitting... what to do first?

[EverRude]

OK new update. Managed to remove the taillight bypass the PO installed and get the normal brakelights and blinkers to function. The hazard switch I got from junk yard was broken. Missing internal pieces infact and I simply used it as a harness to create and plug-n-play bypass. So no 4 way flashers but atleast I have working blinkers and brakelights.

Apparently while restoring the tail section harness to operation I managed to connect the sending unit plug and now that works. Works well too. I had maybe 3 gallons of gas in it from a jug and it read just above empty. Drove her to gas station and filled up (about 11 gallons) and she shows full. So that's good. Provided it keeps working I'll be set.

Replaced tires. Unfortunately I ended up buying 195/70 14 for my 7 inch wide American Racing Vector wheels. Little narrow for my taste but the only things I could find locally in a wider usuable size was Goodyear T/A and while that would be fine I couldn't afford $120 per tire right now. For $397 installed I got General Altimax RT's. They get good reviews for wet and dry traction and for now that will be fine. Someday I may upgrade wheels and that'll be when I get tires more performance oriented.

Last things I NEED to do is service the rearend and transmission. Transmission seems fine but there is a tailshaft output seal leak. I want to service it to buy myself some time before I install 5 speed. However the rearend is making a noise. After about 2 minutes of driving it starts humming. While coasting it's quiet but if I get on throttle even slightly there's a hum. Low on fluid? Going bad? Either way it also has a small leak on passenger side half shaft seal so it needs some servicing. Hope the fresh oil will eliminate the hum. Not holding my breath though.

I hope to drive her daily to work for 2 weeks. Track any problems I have and calculate mileage. After that I will install 5 speed and possibly the 2.6 motor I have after I inspect it to ensure it's a good motor. Then track my mileage again to see how the other combo does compared to my first setup.

Anyways I am happy with the progress. Just wish it hadn't cost so much. At this point I am nearly 4k into this car and I most certainly could have bought a better car to start with at that price. It's been fun though. I'll probably stop updating this thread after I actually manage to drive her to work for a day or 2.

[EverRude]

Ok while attempting to service differential I found my rearend clunk. One of the mustache bar bolts of diff was loose. Tightend it and now I can shift without hearing the clunk.

However I didn't manage to get diff filler plug out. Will try again today perhaps with some heat and a much longer wrench.

But I have another issue. She started not wanting to pull past 3500 rpm. At first I thinking timing. There's a bit of valvetrain noise as I approach that rpm but that isn't the only problem. Car does it siting still as well. Watched the fuel guage. It should read nearly 4 psi. But was reading less than 3. As I reved the motor I watched the fuel psi and it dropped. As it hits zero the motor starts missing.

Pulled fuel filter installed on pump inlet. Sure enough there a bunch of gunk there. Not rust. Maybe a particle or two. But mostly something that looks like black rubber and I clear piece of plastic film. Someone dropped something in tank and it's clogging filters restricting fuel flow and not allowing enough fuel for upper rpm running. ofcourse it would built up and stop fuel flow entirely. Now I have to drain tank I just filled yesterday. Ofcourse I drained tank first thing but apparently this crap managed to stay inside but since I didn't find anything in the fuel I drain the first day I hoped it was a fairly clean tank. Pipe dream clearly. Now I have to do it all again.

But hey. Atleast I found clunk.

[EverRude]

Quick update. Dropped tank. Inspected inside. I am amazed how clean it is. VERY light surface "rust" in a few places I can see but otherwise very clean. However there is some kind of clear plastic floating around inside. Going to know clean it with a poiwer washer then flush it with some denatured alcohol or acetone and finally give everything a quick paint before I reinstall. Ofcourse I will be installing all new hoses. Two of the oriiginal vent hoses were cracked and the upper one was actually leaking and severely deteriorated. My guess is that the one that was dropping the black particulate I was finding in the fuel filter. The clear plastic however was the one truly causing the disruption in fuel flow.

Here's some pics. One major benefit of having a primitively wired fuel pump. Easy to pump tank dry and filter the fuel with 2 filters so I can put it back once the tank is back in.

One of the pics shows the clear plastic floating around inside tank. It is hard to see but hopefully it'll show for ya. But you can see the tank is very clean, It also has a baffle. Is that correct for an early 240 or is that from another year?