New to the mighty max world

[Orangecrush73]

Hi I recently picked up a 88 4wd spx that needs a little work. Plan on making it my daily driver as soon as I work out the kinks. It has 92 thousand miles on it and it’s a 5 speed. No rot or rust that I could see 😀

[xboxrox]

Welcome Orangecrush no rust COOL..!

[Orangecrush73]

Yea just some faded clear coat it had sat off the road for about five years.

[B-Line]

Welcome to the club!

[Orangecrush73]

Thanks my mechanic called me today with the bad news carburetor and fuel pump shot, kinda figured that would be the case but he said the motor knocked bad for the couple of seconds it ran.��

[xboxrox]

Carbs & fuel pumps are available ~ hope you trust your mechanic but both are DIY level work IMHO

[geezer101]

+1 on that. The carb and pump are bolt on affairs and are within the scope of a noob mechanic. And it's a good opportunity to learn about your truck (and save some cash too) If you're not subjected to smog inspections you can think about ditching the Mikuni factory carb and installing a Weber. It's more work to set it up but worth it once you have it running properly.

[SubGothius]

If you're not subjected to smog inspections you can think about ditching the Mikuni factory carb and installing a Weber. It's more work to set it up but worth it once you have it running properly.

And just to clarify: that's referring to smog equipment inspection requiring all OEM parts to be present and functional. If you're just subject to a tailpipe sniff test, maybe inspection for eqpt. unrelated to the carb such as a cat and air-injection, a Weber 32/36 carb should be able to pass the sniff test just fine once it's properly tuned.

[Orangecrush73]

I do trust my mechanic he has done a lot for me over the years. I would do most of it but I don’t have a garage and my landlord is not big on me working on vehicles in my driveway�� so I have to have some work done for me.

[geezer101]

Grrr it's not like you're doing a full strip down of a block. Worse case scenario is flattening a big cardboard box under the engine bay so you don't get any real drips of oil and fuel anywhere. But if you have a good wrencher you can turn to he'll be able to sort it out easily.

[xboxrox]

Orangecrush ~ I know what you mean, I have a nice shaded secure parking spot under our apt bldg but anything more than wiping windows checking fluids all wrenching work is OFF LIMITS..! Our apt mgr is a swell guy & he let me remove and reinstall the Mikuni carburetor BUT ONLY after 8pm when everyone is inside for the night... I have a local mechanic friend that gets away with wrenching in O'Reilly's parking lot and a DIY shop with lifts on the Kanaohe Marine Base an MWR deal called Five-O-Motors ~ I REALLY MISS having my own garage ~ losing the house & divorce was bad BUT losing my garage was THE WORST

P.S. I felt like Clint Eastwood trying to escape from Alcatraz while working on that Mikuni ~ only a few minutes or one hour tops then duck & hide from the parking garage security guard making his rounds ~ it sux'd

[Salteen]

welcome to the forum! sounds about like how i got my 87 lol no rust needs a little tlc. youll be happy with the fuel savings and they are reliable when taken care of like most other vehicles. welcome to our knowledge center!

[Orangecrush73]

Orangecrush ~ I know what you mean, I have a nice shaded secure parking spot under our apt bldg but anything more than wiping windows checking fluids all wrenching work is OFF LIMITS..! Our apt mgr is a swell guy & he let me remove and reinstall the Mikuni carburetor BUT ONLY after 8pm when everyone is inside for the night... I have a local mechanic friend that gets away with wrenching in O'Reilly's parking lot and a DIY shop with lifts on the Kanaohe Marine Base an MWR deal called Five-O-Motors ~ I REALLY MISS having my own garage ~ losing the house & divorce was bad BUT losing my garage was THE WORST

P.S. I felt like Clint Eastwood trying to escape from Alcatraz while working on that Mikuni ~ only a few minutes or one hour tops then duck & hide from the parking garage security guard making his rounds ~ it sux'd

I try to keep my landlord happy I have a good deal. I dropped all my parts off this afternoon and he is going to drop the tank for me so I can repair the small leak, bought the kit form Eastwood. It worked great on my dirt bike and my willys tank.