Arrow
07-20-2011, 03:55 PM
Hello,
Just picked up a 1980 Plymouth Arrow Sport and found this place while I was googling around. It's in decent shape but def needs a little tlc. Got it from a lady who's husband passed away, he was a mechanic and she claims the engine (2.6) was rebuilt recently. Can't verify the bottom end but the valve train def looks new, and the oil pan has a fresh coat of paint. So the history is basically unknown to me, but everything seems to be there.
So far....
Don't know how long it sat, but the gas seemed ok and there was oil in it, so I slung a battery in there and fired it up. Coughed to life to pretty quick and ran, well walked anyway, she was pretty rough. As it warmed up it started to smoke, then smoke more. Pulled the plugs, which looked nasty and did a compression test, 155-155-90-100. Uh-oh. Hoping for the best I shot some seafoam in the holes, installed fresh plugs did an oil change and hit the road. I have never seen any vehicle smoke that bad, James bond would be jealous. It started getting better and after about 15 min of drive time it cleared right up :)) Seems that the rings were stuck from sitting and just needed to reminded of what they were supposed to do. New comp test showed 155-155-145-155, couldn't be happier. Finished going over all the tune-up stuff and it's running about 95% perfect now, no smoke, steady idle, starts at a touch of the key. I still have a couple leaky freeze plugs to take care of, and the front end could use some work. I have some other projects I'm looking into and will post any questions in the other forums.
Anyway nice to meet to you all!
Just picked up a 1980 Plymouth Arrow Sport and found this place while I was googling around. It's in decent shape but def needs a little tlc. Got it from a lady who's husband passed away, he was a mechanic and she claims the engine (2.6) was rebuilt recently. Can't verify the bottom end but the valve train def looks new, and the oil pan has a fresh coat of paint. So the history is basically unknown to me, but everything seems to be there.
So far....
Don't know how long it sat, but the gas seemed ok and there was oil in it, so I slung a battery in there and fired it up. Coughed to life to pretty quick and ran, well walked anyway, she was pretty rough. As it warmed up it started to smoke, then smoke more. Pulled the plugs, which looked nasty and did a compression test, 155-155-90-100. Uh-oh. Hoping for the best I shot some seafoam in the holes, installed fresh plugs did an oil change and hit the road. I have never seen any vehicle smoke that bad, James bond would be jealous. It started getting better and after about 15 min of drive time it cleared right up :)) Seems that the rings were stuck from sitting and just needed to reminded of what they were supposed to do. New comp test showed 155-155-145-155, couldn't be happier. Finished going over all the tune-up stuff and it's running about 95% perfect now, no smoke, steady idle, starts at a touch of the key. I still have a couple leaky freeze plugs to take care of, and the front end could use some work. I have some other projects I'm looking into and will post any questions in the other forums.
Anyway nice to meet to you all!