I didn't take too many pictures at this point as I was very excited to get this car running/drivable for the first time since I bought it, and probably for the first time in over 12 years. I go to start the car and it turs over but won?t start. I double check the wiring and vacuum lines. I notice I forgot to connect the ground wires near the fuel rail, and I realized that I had the vacuum lines mixed up for the fuel pressure regulator, SCV solenoid, SCV actuator, and PR solenoid. I try again and it wants to start but doesn't quite get there.
A good battery charge and some starter fluid later and I get it running. I fix another vacuum leak, exhaust leak, and set the timing. I notice no fluid leaks, it holds an idle, and is holding temp, time for a drive around the block. It feels good to be behind the wheel for the first time, but it sure does feel slow. Like really slow, doesn't want to rev and no power in the higher rpms. I know the kae is no powerhouse, but it can?t be this bad, can it? I open the hood to see how everything is holding up, and I notice oil spraying from the valve cover, and a fuel leak between the injector and fuel rail. I replace the leaking injector o-ring and retighten the valve cover per the FSM. I check all the injectors and fire them by manually applying power. Everything seems to check out. I decide to take it out for another spin, and at the beginning it?s the same as before, slow and does not like to rev, then a slight pop and suddenly there is way more power, the engine revs freely and all seems good. I think one of my injectors was stuck closed and it just took some running to clear up. I was still getting leaks from the valve cover so I applied a little rtv to the cam seals and the corners and that seems to stop the leaks. I am not very happy with the valve cover gasket and cam seals that came in the gasket set so I might need to pick up a better quality gasket in the future.
At this point I decided it was time to wash the car for the first time in who know how long, and while it might look nice in photos its seen better days, there is absolutely no clear left on the hood. I was able to get some of the tree sap stains off the hood but there is still plenty left behind. The front bumper is cracked and missing large sections of paint.
That was about a month ago, and I have just been enjoying driving the car while the weather is still good. I found anther vacuum leak that I fixed. Let that be a lesion that just because the old vacuum lines ?look? good doesn?t mean they are good. I should have just replaced all of them when I had the engine apart. I am really enjoying driving the car right now so I don?t think I will change much until the winter. After driving the car for a bit it is clear that the car was very well maintained before it was parked. There are no squeaks or rattles to speak of and everything feels tight for a car from 1989. There are a few minor issues that I will need to address soon like although the car has brand new tires on it they are from 2008, and are as hard and round as a brick. The cat back exhaust is completely rotted out, the first few times I started the car piles of rust flakes came out of the muffler. Lastly I need to figure out why the washer fluid sprayer isn?t working. I have cleaned out the nozzles and still nothing, so it must be something down by the pump.
There are also some cosmetic things I want to address; the drives seat, drives door card, and drivers side shoulder seatbelt are starting to show their 225k miles. The display on the factory radio doesn?t work, I would like to keep a factory radio in the car but I am thinking of upgrading to a tape deck so I can get an AUX adapter. Lastly I would like to get a crack free pignose bumper and yeah the car needs a new paint; idk if I?m ready to deal with the cost of paint yet. I got one quote that came in quite a bit higher than expected. I am open to doing as much of the prep work as I can, but I have almost zero experience with paint work.