[Amc-list] From one orphan to another

[JOE FULTON <piper_pa20@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hope everyone is having a good holiday.  Happy
Birthday America.

I have lots of AMC projects (AMC content) lined up,
but I'm working on an 1994 Olds Cutlass I bought from
a neighbor two years ago.  The car has been sitting
idle since since I bought it and I finally dragged it
out this week and amazingly the battery took a charge.
 It starts and runs OK but has a bad coolant leak,
which is the reason I got the car so cheap.  I'm
hoping to clean it up and fix the squawk list and make
a few bucks when I sell it.

Naturally, when I read about this 3100 V6 engine (and
with my aged Mom having had a similar car) I assumed
that the coolant leak was at the intake manifold. 
That's a documented weak point on these engines.  I
checked the leak after starting the car and it seemed
to be coming from the intake manifold, but I didn't
actually confirm the source.  Dope!

So after removing the upper manifold and replacing the
two short coolant transfer hoses, I got a cooling
system pressure tester today to confirm whether the
car still had a leak.  No joy.  Major leak.

I looked closer and confirmed that the freeze plug on
the back of the block is rusted out.  In a way it's a
relief that I don't have to pull the lower intake
manifold (which is the documented source of frequent
leaks).  The bad thing is that I need to get access to
the back of the engine block.  It won't be easy.  I'm
gonna try to remove the front torque strut and roll
the engine forward a few inches.  Hope it works.  

Joe Fulton
Salinas, CA
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