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I just typed in the part #MD703619 on ebay, and it came up. Of course it is in United Arab Emirates... but it is still available...Quote:
Originally Posted by tortron
https://www.ebay.com/itm/183291579720
At this point, it may be worth the gamble. I plan to give Mike Warme a call first.
Got in touch with Mike. His shifter rebuild kits are $18. He is sending one my way.Quote:
Originally Posted by pennyman1
Thanks again for the phone number! 🙂👍
I took the engine apart this weekend. The main and rod bearing surfaces all looked really good. The pistons pushed out of the top of the cylinders without any snags so I don't think that there is a ridge around the top of the cylinders. The bores all have a faint sign of hone marks, so I am optimistic that I may get away with a hone and re-ring. The bearing on the rear of the upper balance shaft had a slight amount of scoring, so I am glad that I took it apart. I plan on replacing all of the bearings and probably the piston pins as well.
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I have heard that there are counter balance shaft eliminator kits, but am not sure if that is a good idea or not. I am getting a non-jet valve head for it, and I can see the advantage of that modification. Do the eliminator kits cause any issues long term?
Hope all are staying safe and healthy!
Jeremy
There has been fierce debates over balance shafts - to delete or not to delete. From factory the rods and piston assemblies are within a few grams of each other so getting a die grinder out and shaving a little metal off the heaviest assemblies will bring everything to near perfect without machining and balancing the crank/flywheel assembly. There are plenty of engines that don't have balance shafts in them and were in production up to early 2000's - they don't try to knock themselves apart or massage your legs under throttle...
Pros - rotating mass reduction. Improves throttle response, adds horsepower. Eliminates balance shaft bearing failure and deletes the secondary timing chain (balance shaft bearing failure leads to catastrophic oil pressure loss and RIP to bottom end) Subsequent improvement to primary oil pressure.
Cons - some people have experienced secondary harmonic vibration in certain rev ranges, to the point where they felt it was unlivable.
you can take the Crank,Harmonic balancer and Flywheel to a good machine shop and get them 0 Balanced for a for between $100-$200, then have the rods and pistons weight matched. Doing this the engine will perform better and you can eliminate the counter balance shaft with no problem. I have done this with the old Dodge 2.0Lengines and the newer 2.4L. What I don't understand about Mitsubishi is the Canadian engines didn't have a balance shaft in the 2.0 and the 2.6. that I have taken apart (79-84)
Some early Astron engines didn't have balance shafts, 2.0 and 2.6 forklift engines didn't have them either. The shaft design itself was integrated into Mitsubishi engines when they produced the Astron 80 but where they were implemented is a bit of a mystery. Astron II engines appear to have all been designed with balance shafts.
* get a cheap pair of digital kitchen scales, weigh each rod assembly 3 times individually to get the average weight then shave some metal off the heaviest ones. Unless you're building a high RPM range engine, I don't think the expense of fully balancing the bottom end will yield any worthwhile results. I'd also DIY cylinder head porting. This will make the engine idle smoother, improve throttle response and make it more efficient. Nothing too wild - just clean up the ports, match the intake side and radius off any sharp edges in the combustion chambers and the backs of the valve bowls. Only basic tools are required (don't go chopping away at it with a carbide tool and an air die grinder - that is a bad mistake) A rotary die grinder like a Dremel, a cheap tool accessory kit to go with it, a flexi drive on a regular power drill and drum sander attachments that will just fit inside the ports. And do the port work before sending the head off to avoid damaging fresh cut valve seats :)
you can set up a basic jig to hold the conrods at ach end while weighing to fully balance them, some good vids on youtube
Thanks for all of the great suggestions! My plan is to have a local engine builder do the final measuring and any needed machining/balancing. He has a good reputation for building race engines and is the good friend my friend. I trust that he will treat me right.
I had read here that the two common mods to these engines was to delete the jet valves and balance shafts, but wanted to hear what you all had to say about it. I am not looking to build a high performance race engine, but I do want to make any needed improvements to make it reliable and simple to work on.
If I want power, I will drive one of my V8 powered vehicles or my VTX1800 motorcycle.
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I plan to do as much mechanically as I am comfortable with. I will leave the more technical parts of the engine rebuild to the professionals.
Thanks again for all of the feedback! That is what makes these forums so valuable.
I read into your posts that your truck has A/C - the original condenser was probably an early design and not very efficient so you have the option of upgrading to a bigger surface area unit and they can be had relatively cheap but it might take some adapting for line connections. One of the biggest enemies of these trucks is heat. Having an efficient cooling system is a safeguard between you and cracked heads. Another worthwhile mod is the clutch fan delete. Installing an electric thermofan has a ton of advantages and you can pair it with a bigger A/C exchanger fan.
It has most of an A/C system. When I pulled the dash out to investigate the radio and antenna, I discovered some wires that ran to the A/C vent box that had been cut... and the original condenser had been cut out with a hack saw... there was a stub of one of the connections in one of the hoses. I have not eliminated the system, but for now I have rolled the hoses and wires up and tucked them into the passenger rear side of the engine compartment for safe keeping. I live an an area that gets hot in the late summer, so it may become a necessity at some point. For now, my plan is to get it running and then I will tinker on the rest of the little things.Quote:
Originally Posted by geezer101
A larger condenser was the one thing that has been mentioned on here about the A/C system for sure. I have also thought about adding an electric fan into the mix for better cooling.
Thanks Geezer!
Spent a good part the first of my new 3 day weekends getting some things done on the D50.
First thing Friday I got the engine and internals delivered to the machine shop. Looks like it will be a full rebuild, as the ring lands were shot in my pistons. So, at the very least, it will need new pistons, rings, bearings... still waiting to see if it needs bored or if we can get away with honing it.
Since the engine is now away and in the works, I decided to do some sprucing up on the exterior.
I repainted the front bumper and found some yellow spray paint (not 100% matched, but closer than what the previous owner had used) and resprayed the valance panel. That lead me to start waxing the paint to achieve a better shine on the whole truck. I am down to the drivers box side and tailgate. It started to rain, so I called it a day yesterday.
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It is taking a lot of elbow grease, and a fair amount of wax... but the oxidation is starting to disappear. Granted, the sides have a lot of dings and scratches so it really is a 20ft/20mph finish at this point. But it still looks loads better than it did, and progress is progress.
Stay safe and healthy!
Looks awesome! Amazing what a little love and a lotta elbow grease can achieve. The good thing about your A/C is you have the pulleys, tensioner and the evap unit. On Gen 2's this stuff is 'easier' to get, but good luck finding a complete evaporator that will work on a Gen 1 heater/blower. Hope your block bores are still serviceable :)
Ive got about half of an AC system I saved out of an 86' D50, Im not sure much about the interchange between the parts of an early first gen and a later first gen but if you are needing parts I may have some of what you need. I know I have the little harness and switch that plug in under the dash along with the evap box and idle up solenoid and some other miscellaneous parts. if you decide to start working on the AC system shoot me a PM and ill see if I have what you need:)Quote:
Originally Posted by 68valiant
Nice looking truck valiant :thumbup:
Thanks! It is coming along quite well. Of course the picture shows the best angle, but it all is starting to look pretty good.Quote:
Originally Posted by geezer101
At this point, the A/C will be on the back burner. The machine shop said that I am looking at a full rebuild as the ring lands were worn out in my pistons, so at the very least I will be replacing those along with all of the bearings. It just adds a little more to the bill there, but it will postpone any other costly repairs for a little while. Luckily, time is on my side, as this is an extra vehicle for me and I can take my time getting it the way I want it.
Thanks! I will keep this in mind when the time comes to get the A/C up and running. I am going to have to upgrade the hoses and things anyway got meet the new refrigerant, so will be doing some adapting already.Quote:
Originally Posted by StarquestMan
Thank you! These little trucks are definitely a labor of love!Quote:
Originally Posted by xboxrox
when u total up what $ u pump into refreshing that old motor..... u may have been better off finding a running starion donor
They can still be found. Not in abundance as they used to be
Folks chasing higher horsepower numbers, sell off their starion 2.6 bits when motor swapping
Minor 2.6 mods deliver V8 performance if u like. No more carb life. Higher learn curve to implement tho
My old 1980 corolla had a small AC condensor, with smaller frontal area. Same Nippondenso 6P compressor. R12
AC tech buddy suggested adding a fan to condensor/relay triggered by the compressor.
No window tint, hatchback, in miami sun, had ICE cold AC. Cabin volume more than twice a tiny mitsu pickup
truck shines up nice
Any more Valiant pix ? Luv those old school designs... so simple, so elegant
To be honest, I didn't plan on a full rebuild originally. My plan was to throw a set of rings in it and put on the new head... but as all things go, the plans have changed drastically. As for the A/C, I plan to fix it someday. My plan for the truck is to use it when the weather is not motorcycle friendly to get to work, so the A/C most likely wouldn't be needed. But, time will tell that tale.Quote:
Originally Posted by dash
I have more pix of my Valiant than would fit on this forum. I have owned the car since 1992, and before that it was my mom's car. She got it for high school graduation in the spring of 1968. It was originally a slant-6, three on the tree, bench seat car. After my first year of college, I put the 318 V8 in and a heavier 3 speed (floor shifted) and an 8-3/4 rear end with the same small bolt pattern axles. It is still all manual drum brakes and manual steering. The summer after I graduated from college (and before we started having kids) I did the body work and we painted it in my buddies garage. Hard to believe that was 22 years ago... I also switched it over to a bucket seat interior out of a parts car. Currently, it resides in my garage under a cover and gets driven on nice days and to a few cruises/car shows each summer.
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MOPAR is in my blood... and my D50 fits right in with all of my other Mopars. (2004 Dodge Stratus - current daily, 2008 Ram 1500 4x4 Laramie)
That is a cool old school car. Never seen the Plymouth Valiant before. I wonder how much the Australian Chrysler Valiant borrowed from it...
I think that up until the early 70's they were pretty similar. I do know that the Dart was very similar and there are a few folks over here that adapted the square headlight grills from Australian Darts into their US models. The uni-body construction makes them pretty unique and also makes parts from the Dart/Valiant/Barracuda somewhat interchangeable. I can't imagine that they would have strayed from that design for the export market.Quote:
Originally Posted by geezer101
Over the weekend I got my freshly machined flywheel back from the machine shop, and the engine block has been hot tanked and is awaiting machine and measuring. I ordered the new head and Weber carb kit off of eBay. They will be showing up in the next couple of weeks as well. I took some time and identified all of the wires under the hood that are associated with the engine, some of which had been removed by the mechanic who diagnosed the cracked head for the previous owner. I also cleaned up the starter and alternator, both which had 40 years of grime on them. Well, at least a lot of years if they aren't the factory parts. The alternator still had a Mitsubishi sticker on it, so there is a chance that it is stock. One of the previous owners had put SAE bolts in the starter, which didn't really work as he had nuts on the back side to hold them in. Luckily the threads weren't ruined completely and I was able to get the ones out of the parts pickup to thread into that starter. It is a proven starter so I plan to use it. The one on the parts pickup had been sitting out in the weather for 12 years, so I didn't plan to use it for much more than the bolts and a core if needed down the road.
I did some research on here about Weber carbs and stock fuel pumps. I do see where there is a lot of discussion about using an electric pump. I have added the 42S pump to both my eBay and Amazon lists, just in case. My plan for now is to try the stock pump first. Since my truck was running up until the head cracked back in December for the previous owner, I know that everything was working at that point.
I made a list of parts/projects for the D50 this weekend in my garage. The list turned out to be shorter than I had imagined, but there are some labor intensive items on it that have to happen post engine install. So, for now I will just chip away at the jobs that can be done while it is in limbo.
Hope all are staying safe and healthy!
Nice. Sounds like you got some wrenching to do on a fresh block. Safest place to be is in the garage working on a Mitsubishi truck :P
Just got the news that my block is machined and ready. The cylinders only needed honed and the bearing surfaces didn't need machined, so I can order a standard piston/ring set and standard bearings. The only issue that I have right now is that an "out of the box" master kit will not have the correct intake manifold or valve cover gaskets as they would be for the 1980 head and not the newer head that I have ordered. From what I have been able to find, the 83-newer G54B is the same engine with the exception of the head, is that correct? If so, wouldn't it make sense that I could just order the Master Kit for an 83-newer G54B?
Thanks for all of the help on this from all of you guys!
Stay safe and Healthy!