Hey all-

I just wanted to give an update and some helpful advice for anyone working on the weird '82 with LH1.0 / old 240's in general.

My saga left off with me replacing most/all of the vacuum hoses, cleaning the TB and IAC, new brake booster check valve/hose and replacing all of the injector seals/hoses, adjusted throttle body locknut/screw, new coil wire/spark plugs and wires, and I had a much improved, but very wandering idle.

Next on my parts cannon list (the best thing the PO did for this car was just garaging it- however most of everything looks pretty original/neglected) was the distributor cap/rotor. I have the white cap Chrysler distributor and looking at the phillips screws, I thought it would be a pretty easy task... Until I attempted to get my screwdriver in the right place. Unfortunately, the screw directly under the intake/some heater pipe/the fuel pressure regulator is impossibly difficult to get a screwdriver into place!@!@@!!!, and on top of that, I don't know if the distributor cap had ever been changed and the screw was pretty much welded to the distributor base. No amount of PB blaster was loosening that thing up.

Feeling like a boss, I unscrewed the easy side (it was still quite challenging), and just took a flathead screwdriver and pliers and just cracked the flap on the distributor on the stuck screw... Pulled out the distributor cap- huge white fluffy buildup inside. I pulled the rotor as well- it looked okay.

That remaining cap screw.

I took my tiny vice grips as I didn't have anything in any combination of any extension / wobble /screwdriver that seemed that could muscle that screw out! I grabbed on and it turned fairly easily. I turned the screw about 4 times with the vice grips and CRACK. The stupid cheap screw broke off in the distributor body!!!! Like I said, the screw seems like it was welded to the body.

If you run into this issue, get a metric tap and die set from harbor freight for 15$ as well as their 90 degree drill bit attachment (this thing is awesome) for tight spaces, and drill that stupid thing out. It took me forever, and the new hole was a bit off-center (it still worked fine) and the screw itself (in case anyone else in the world f's up getting a distributor cap off) is an M5x0.8. I bought a stainless replacement for the inner screw with an allen head top- kind of a PIA to put on, but will likely be much easier to remove in the future (with the leverage of the allen wrench). I also used a bit of anti-seize on the threads.

Beyond that, the pickup inside the distributor inside looked like crap- a little bit of rust on the shiny metal bits and yellowed plastic- probably the original. I'll probably be back in there next week when the new pickup arrives (it's actually called an 'Impulse transmitter' and FCP has it for about 60$- P/N: 1332207).

I had a hell of a time drilling that thing out, even with the 90 degree attachment. Just not a lot of space in there.

So, I started it up, and it definitely sounded much better, but not really perfect.

On to the next thing. I unplugged the MAF (with the car off) as that's something people say to do around here, and started it up. It actually sounded even better... maybe the best yet, thought not perfect.

Out of curiosity, as the MAF number was a Bosch '002' meaning someone had already replaced the '001', i went into the airbox to investigate the flapper.

Of course, the flapper thermostat needle was frozen in place (it's stuck 'IN' !!! I popped in the replacement and cleaned things up. I imagine this little thing probably fried at least one MAF. Is the flapper supposed to close the hot air hole when it's cold? I don't really get it.... When I put it back in there, the hot air hole was closed off. It's about 25 degrees F here. Not really sure if it's working or not.

Anyway, I also had an 001 MAF from the ebay to toss in. I popped it in and DAMN! My idle is now about 93% if I was to give it a grade in class. The only issue I'm having now is it seems to wander up from about 750 to about 950 and then drops back down. It's pretty tricky to actually tell what rpm it's at with the instrument cluster, but it's enough to tell it's rising and falling a bit. I'm hoping I can salvage the old MAF with some cleaner, but does anyone have a rec. for a place that reconditions them?

Blocking off the IAC makes it impossible/difficult to start, but it does seem to have an effect on reducing the idle 'searching'.

Does the IAC make a weird sucking sound? I can't pinpoint where it's coming from- certainly around the IAC or distributor, but there is this weird/regular sucking sound that comes kind of before or after a rise in rpms... Anyone have input on this?

And next on my parts cannon list is O2 sensor, the distributor pickup, thermostat/coolant lines, timing belt/new belts, water pump, and new sleeves for the chrysler box... aaand a new ignition/engine wire harness. I have a few nasties (thought most of the nasty wires look like they are part of the harness that comes from the interior.