Whew. Got the oil pan back on - these have a four piece gasket, two parts cork and two parts rubber. Quite a pain. There's a few other things I need to get back on that I had unbolted to get the pan off. Then it'll be ready to fire up and see if I got the leak fixed.
Note to self: Secure the battery properly before putting the car on jackstands. I'm glad that wasn't worse.
Got the other things that had to be removed for the oil pan buttoned up, but I have to deal with this before the car will start.
Looks like the battery may have survived fine with a recharge - but there's more disaster.
On closer examination, it looks like the back part of the oil pan gasket squirmed out of its location when trying to tighten everything down. It looks like that oil pan is coming right back off. 
Are you using those little screw in clips that hold the gasket in place? Might help. These.
Vigo said:Are you using those little screw in clips that hold the gasket in place? Might help. These.
Thank you for the suggestion. I'm using a similar version from Dorman. Quite useful, but didn't prevent the rubber gasket part at the back (slant sixes have a FOUR piece oil pan gasket!) from squirming out the side somehow.
Dropped the oil pan, and we definitely have a problem. Let's hope it is also the problem.
I’ve had good luck with Victor Rignz gasket maker. Install it on both sides of the gasket cork and rubber. Then hand tighten the bolts just until the sealant is in full contact with the block. Let dry overnight and then tighten the bolts. This keeps the gasket from moving anywhere.
New gasket is in, with a lot of goop and careful checking to be sure it didn't squirm out. I've filled it back with oil - so far, no sign of leakage.
Tried to start it today and there was a really weird scraping noise. So I shut it off. I suspected it was the transmission dust shield, so I removed that and started the car again. No weird noise. The shifter was initially stuck so that giving it full throttle would shove the linkage into Neutral - I ran it through the gears a couple times and got the problem down to only clicking up if I floor it in First.
So - I took the car out for a couple miles on the road. Even got it up on the Interstate. There turned out to be a boost leak - one of the charge pipes appears to have pulled loose when I lifted the engine to pull the oil pan. But the car isn't overheating, isn't stalling, seems to have kept the oil inside the crankcase and the coolant outside of it, and sounds like the Vacuum Cleaner of Thor.
Got a few things to tidy up, but today's test went quite well.
One perk of my job is that I sometimes get to play "Look what I found in the spare parts drawer" at reality show levels. I've upgraded the MS2 to an MS3 and found an open-box Innovate LC-2 to replace the LC-1.
Took the new parts out for a road test. Finally seem to be getting a good wideband reading. The speedometer's frozen up on me again, odometer still works. I'll need to pull the gauge cluster and see if it just needs some oiling.
Besides the gauge cluster, it needs a dyno tune.
That is one grille (and dyno tune) away from really good. 
The gauge cluster seems completely dead except for the odometer, so while I'm waiting for the dyno to be available, I thought I'd pull the cluster and have a look.
Yes, I haven't gotten around to cleaning up the wiring under the dash completely... the wire nuts were from when I put a stereo in while in high school.
Hmmm... maybe this is why the gauges aren't working.
Speedometer seems to work if I spin the cable connection - it may be a problem with the cable rather than the instrument cluster. And I tested the gauges on the bench - they move with a bit of stiction. I'll see if there's anything about them that can be oiled, then I'll reflow these 50 year old solder joints.
I feel like even the words 'solder' and 'joint' are a little generous here. 
Or, get an aluminum plate and some repalcement gauges from Summit. Bonus points for a pic of a sketchy sleeper Dodge parked in front of a cheesy motel! Seems like an outake from Bullitt.
The PCB turned out to be pretty easy to repair - it's just a single sided board with no close traces or anything else tricky. I'm going to see if there's any spots on the gauges that could use a bit of grease as they seem to have a bit of stiction. Greased the speedometer cable as well - mental note, do not use your cell phone as a flashlight when disconnecting the speedometer cable from under the car.
Speedometer still isn't working well. I do have a spare that I'll see if I can swap in. The fuel and temperature gauges are now working.
Time for a dyno tune! Started last night but had a bit of a scare when it seemed to have dropped a cylinder. I think the problem was a splice in the wiring that came apart under the heat and vibration. And it's having trouble pushing the turbo past 4 psi of boost. I'll see if I can get the tuning finished today.
Looks like the problem was a failed injector rather than wiring - I'm going to see if I can fix the injector. The dead cylinder has compression and spark.
mental note, do not use your cell phone as a flashlight when disconnecting the speedometer cable from under the car.
I haven't technically BROKEN my phone with transmission fluid, but i did once soak some ATF into the little foam cover for the microphone which basically muted the mic and required me to take my phone apart and fix it.
Vigo said:I haven't technically BROKEN my phone with transmission fluid, but i did once soak some ATF into the little foam cover for the microphone which basically muted the mic and required me to take my phone apart and fix it.
That's why I use a waterproof phone. 
Today's update - I switched the injectors on the #2 and #3 cylinders after an attempt to clean the #3 injector. The problem seems to be these questionable junkyard Supra injectors. I will see if I can find an alternate set of questionable junkyard injectors and then get the car back on the dyno.
Also, note - if making your own fuel rail, be sure to countersink the injector holes, or you'll go through O-rings like crazy.
Pulled and did a somewhat jury rigged flow test on the injectors; flow rate looked about even within the limits of the test. The dead cylinder does pass a compression check, though. Next step - pull the valve cover and see if I've got some sort of valvetrain problem.
MadScientistMatt said:
Besides the gauge cluster, it needs a dyno tune.
My God, this picture stopped me in my tracks. This is 5 minutes from where I was born and raised (where my Mom still lives and where I keep my Datsun).
I'm headin' down the atlanta highway
Lookin' for the love getaway
Headed for the love getaway, love getaway
I got me a car, it's as big as a whale
And we're headin' on down to the love shack
I got me a chrysler (close enough), it seats about twenty
So hurry up and bring your jukebox money
Love the car and hopefully I'll see it around at the Mitty or someplace else around Gainesvegas when I'm in state.
Wow, glad I could give you a bit of nostalgia there.
Latest update - pulled the valve cover, and the #3 exhaust rocker had more valve lash than valve lift. Looks like I need to replace that rocker arm.
Tightened down the rocker arm and it's back to firing on all six. I have some new old stock rocker arms on order from eBay for a permanent solution.
This is such a cool build!
So a box of new old stock rocker arms arrived in the mail yesterday. My first thought when I opened it is that some new old stock is newer than others.
On closer inspection, the one on the right appears to be new and never run, with the darker color being some sort of coating rather than caked on oil. The two had their markings in differnet sizes, so I think the uncoated one is from a different batch.
It looks like only the #3 exhaust rocker had a problem, so I now have plenty of spares. It appears both the factory rocker arm and the aftermarket replacement were made from a piece of stamped steel that wrapped around the adjustment screw, with the "fold" forming an area for oil passages. These are a different stamping from the originals, too; looks like an aftermarket replacement.
I also found out why the windshield wipers are not working - there is a circuit breaker built into the wiper switch. Unfortunately, replacement switches seem to be selling for a couple hundred dollars. I'm going to see if I can repair the one I have.
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