OY pics and plans

Duke5A

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Well, all this information is great, and I understand more than I did about modifications that can be done. But, it's also discouraging. The FI sounded like a good idea until the issue of electric fuel pump emerged. At this point, it seems that it would be very easy for me to go down rabbit holes of modifications of ever increasing complexity and expense. In addition to the cost of these expensive mods, I would most likely have to have a mechanic do most of the work. And, to find a mechanic who actually even knows what a "Slant Six" is, might be a challenge. I think I would rather focus on what modifications might be closer to my skills, and budget. Then again, I could just leave it alone and drive it like it is. Kind of disappointing, but a lot less work and money. Working with wood and on houses is a lot easier. Oh well.

Fuel injection is great, but at the end of the day you'll be $2k lighter and still have a wheezy little turd between the fenders. Your wagon is heavier than my sedan and that motor realistically probably only produces 90 horsepower. You can add the typical bolt on and probably be somewhere in the 120 horsepower range. After you tear into it to increase the compression, do some head work and change the cam you'll be somewhere in the neighborhood of 175 horsepower and still not produce the torque a factory built 318 will. Lots of expense for very little gain.

Honestly, if you're not willing to commit to a V8 swap I would leave it all be.
 

Aspen500

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If your wagon is like my Aspen originally was, I can completely understand your wanting to up the power some. Mine had an E24 California emission 225 (for some unknown reason), rated at a whopping 90 hp. Even with the 4-speed and 3.23 gears, acceleration was, well,,,,,,,,,, leisurely. On the freeway, on the slightest upgrade you'd need to downshift out of O/D to 3rd to hold speed. ............Engine was fine with only 71,000 miles so it had as much power as it did when new. Of course I ended up way over compensating for the lack of power, lol. Back in '88 when my buddies GF blew my doors off in her bone stock 6 cyl, 3 on the tree '67 Camaro, I knew something needed to be done. :p (Yes I know a base '67 Camaro is a lot lighter than a '79 Aspen, but still......)
 

Duke5A

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If I were you, toss a 5.9L Magnum in it. Keep the motor factory with the fuel injection. 245 horsepower and 330 ft/lbs of torque with all the driveability of sequential multiport fuel injection. Use the 833 four speed you have now. Run it with V8 exhaust manifolds too (no headers). All OEM components means OEM reliability. This would make for one sweet ass driver.

Sure, fuel system would need to be retrofitted, but it's not crazy. You could get away with running the pump externally if you wanted to.
 

old yellow 78

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Thanks guys for all of your input and advice. I have a lot to think about for when I finally am able to get back to playing around with OY. For sure, I think I better replace the timing chain sprockets at least. I am kind of overwhelmed and a bit disappointed that there isn't some less involved and expensive things that would give me at least some of what I am looking for. But, it's not bad the way it is, and thats ok. It managed to make it home to PA from CO on interstates back when I bought it, and had no problems keeping up with the traffic too. It's purpose is really just to be a part time cruiser for me and to have fun at cruise nights and such. So...
 

old yellow 78

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Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get to any of the car shows or cruise nights this year. Just no time to spend working on OY. It's just sitting in the garage with the dash still torn apart, but at least everything is labled so it shouldn't be too confusing whenever I finally get around to putting everything back together.

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Been working hard on renovating a house and it's frustrating how expensive everything is - although lumber has come back down some. I had actually overbudgeted for the deck, so that was a nice surprise, but still expensive. Almost all the demo is done except for the main bath.

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Ten week wait for windows and sliding door to come in, and still counting. Did get the kitchen cabinets and appliances finally after FIVE postponements. Seems the smaller things like painting radiators and window trim is the least fun, and the easiest to put off. Also been trying to cut back the shrubs and hedgerows around the property line, and I had three damaged trees taken down (LOTS of firewood for my woodstove this winter!) But, it's so darn hot that my motivation melts by mid afternoon. Put up new lightposts along the driveway today and building a new mailbox post tomorrow.
Just like when restoring a car, it's easy to dig in much deeper than you originally planned to. The more I do, the more I see that I want to do. I thought I would be able to finish this house off by early fall. Now, I'm just telling myself, it will be done when I get it done. Can't wait to get free time back to work on my wagon and do things that I have wanted to, but that I have been putting off for way too long.
 

old yellow 78

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OY is sleeping in the garage in between new kitchen cabinets and a stack of doors. I haven't done a thing to it this entire summer. All my time is spent working on the house rehab or fighting to keep up with the lawns (the lawns are winning). But, there is going to be a small local car show this Saturday and I am tempted to take the wagon - even though the dash is ripped apart and the car hasn't been washed since I don't know when. The weather is going to be perfect and it would be a lot of fun. My first car show of the year. But, it is also perfect weather to pour the piers for the new deck I'm building. Hummmm. Decisions.
 

old yellow 78

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Oh well. The deck won out over the car show. I still have to complete the deck, but now that the piers are poured, the rest is easy. Three piers, each 12 inches wide by three feet deep took eighteen 50 pound bags of concrete mix. I'm REALLY glad I rented a concrete mixer! I am building a 12x16 deck over the concrete floor of an old screened porch that I tore down. It is more difficult than the previous deck I built on the last house because it is so close to the ground that there is no room for error at all. The attaching J bolts had to be precisely placed in the piers or the brackets wouldn't work. Hopefully, I'll have the deck done this weekend. I am STILL waiting on the sliding doors and casement windows from Pella. Backordered 12 weeks and counting! They say they will be coming in on the 25th. Tick tock, the leaves are starting to turn and I don't like the idea of cutting huge holes in the house in the Fall. Inside, I removed and refinished the fireplace mantle and primed and painted the original, but dark, solid pine paneling on the fireplace wall. Everything else inside is on hold while I do as much as possible outside before the weather turns. All of this doesn't leave much time for playing with OY unfortunately.
 

old yellow 78

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Ok, so no interest in the deck or the house renovation. Meh. I'll stick with OY then. I did get some time and the inclination to finally work a bit on putting the passenger remote mirror on. A friend lent me some step drills which I had never used before, but they worked really well. I used the plastic gasket from the mirror for a template for the holes, and measured the position using the placement of the drivers remote mirror. Also used a center punch to be sure the drill didn't slip. It worked very well, and the mirror fits on nicely. When I get more time I will file the holes clean and paint the edges before I mount the mirror.
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Ele115

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Looks pretty detailed to me. Good pics too. Routing the cable correctly is important for obvious reasons. If you get that wrong, you'll know as soon as you lower the glass
 

Aspen500

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Can't remember exactly but there's a couple clips that hold the cables inside the door, and away from the glass.
 
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