More info on the SSEi I bought...I went and actually looked at it yesterday, drove it around for a few mins. Here are my findings:

1) The owner did not know anything about changing the trans fluid, which when I pulled the dipstick out, was extremely thin and had no red color to it at all. Looked more like water-based hydraulic fluid that had seen better days. Also, the mode switches were a bit sticky..when I put it in "normal" mode, the slippage seemed less...alot less. So I am hoping a fluid and filter change will help things greatly with this trans.

2) There is a very pronounced knocking in the engine. Owner seems to think the rod bearings are shot since he was running oil/gas mixture in the crankcase for a few weeks. He changed the oil and said it helped the noise....but I can't see how...it'* pretty noisy right now. Oil pressure was good....40psi range.

Thats all I know for now...SO, here are my new questions:

1) Can I change the bearings (if that is what is wrong) from under the car, or should the whole motor come out?

2) There are over 170k miles on this car. Thats alot of miles, and for a supercharged setup that is near-death if nothing has been rebuilt. Assuming the entire topend is still good (supercharger included), can I use a non-supercharged S1 block as they are more plentyful and less picked-over in the scrap yards?

The body on this car, albeit worn, is in really good shape...no rust to speak of, no broken glass, and the underside is pretty clean. Even for 500.00 its a good price I think, just in the parts alone, and I really want to tell myself this is going to be a decent car to work on....

Shift mode will have no effect on the amount of trans slip. It just raises the shift points.

Knocking? Is it a rattle at idle? If so, check the SC coupler using the procedures here: http://www.williamwren.com/superchargers
Clatter at idle? Loud? Check the harmonic balancer. If the rubber is cracked, replace it. Remove the Accessory belt and pull on the SC belt. Does the HB move?

If it'* the rod bearings, you can change them under the car without pulling the motor. The crank will have to come out, and you need to keep your rod caps IN ORDER.

At those miles, I'd suspect a Harmonic Balancer (crank pulley) and SC coupler both are needed. But you need to check them instead of just shotgunning it.

The knock is present at all RPMs, and frequency of knock is RPM dependent (as most are). I wanted to try to eliminate (or narrow it down to) the SC as the problem but the motor will not run without the belt on the SC. If the crank has to come out, that means the trans need to come out too...damnit man. Well, if they have to be replaced, I might as well find a lower-mileage block and do a swap. I had planned on servicing the charger anyways, and I have heard about the balancers going bad. I might go and monkey around with it tomorrow if time allows.

Thanks Will!

Check your harmonic balancer as soon as you read this, the front of your crank pulley is has a round rubber peiece in it, if its all dry rotted and cracked it will cause a terrible knocking sound, trust me, right Bill?
Having good oil pressure is an indicator to me that your engine itself, may still be in good shape, its a toss up at this point however.
the Supercharger will only make a rattle at idle if it needs a coupler, and the engine should run without the SC belt on, HOWEVER your waterpump wont be circulating coolant, only do this cold, and for no more than say 15 seconds to be on the safe side.
Alot of things can be causing your knock, i wouldnt jump the gun just yet.

Sandrock, the trans DOES NOT HAVE TO COME OUT to remove the crank. Does the knock go away under heavy accelleration? If not, then rule out the HB and SC coupler. This would indicate rod knock, but the crank CAN BE REMOVED in the car without removing the trans.

I was too friggen afraid to romp on the gas when I was driving it, but if memory serves the knocking was a little less pronounced when a load was put on it (I did get it to boost up to about 6-7 pounds with no problems other than the knocking). I am going to go get it today or tomorrow after work...I am going to spend alot of diagnostic time on it this weekend.

If you look closely at this pic, you can see how the rubber flat face that joins the inner hub to the belt hub has seperated near the outer edge. Just before the lip of the belt surface. This causes a clatter at idle and steady rpm'*, but goes away under light accelleration. When the rubber seperates, the hard stops clang against each other.

Ummm.....what pic?

Here'* another pic:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/faisal...13.jpg&.src=ph

And a topic on harmonic balancer replacement:

http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/forum/...83&highlight=A

Yeah that HB looked pretty much useless. I didn't get the chance to go get her yesterday...but I will definately be looking at it this weekend. Maybe I can get a video posted of how it sounds before I start disassembly. I've already been told by the sig. other that I am not allowed to spend anything else on that car this comming month, so what better way to fix the car than to tear it apart!