The Tracernator

I should've updated on the Tracer a long time ago. I had to put on a new head as the one that overheated was so bad it melted the aluminum between two cylinders and around the valve seats, exposing the seats themselves. That particular piston was also a little melted yet the cylinder walls got away with only some slight scoring (which could've been there already).



I've never seen an engine that smelled so awful inside as this one did after burning up the oil. I worked all night with Aaron to get this head swapped out, as they were recoating our lot the next day and it needed to be moved. Fortunately the towing guy (NOT Valley, I can tell you that right now) was nice enough to move it to a different lot for free anyway, so I finished it there. I scratched my head for another day as to why it would only run on 2 cylinders and went through all kinds of tests and checks thinking I did something wrong or the block was messed up somehow but I knew it couldn't be. I kicked myself when I realized I put the plug wires on the distributor in the wrong order. *sigh* Ah well, it happens to the best of us. Switched that around and it ran amazingly well considering what it had been through.



The Tracer certainly isn't what I had planned to get when I picked it up, as it's not in very good shape. The leaks, rust, and trashed interior all make it a beater, but there's no denying how tough the Escort/Tracer/Protege platform is. I even took it on track at Summit Point in lieu of the SVO and other than finding that the radiator was the weak point in the cooling system it did quite well with no mechanical problems. I definitely didn't fit in with the type of cars that were on track that weekend though and really learned what a challenge open track driving is.





I'll be back soon with more updating.