A little help here guys ( Need a mid year!)

[vettedoc]

no problem Vig-

We'll wrap up the whole deal for about 250 Mil. I don't thimk you will have a problem with that. The whole world is waiting for this stuff. Keep on truckin!

Doc

P.S. with that kind of cash you can get any garage you wish.

 

[vigman]

Day 4

Got home @ noon...
and here we go again

Repacked front wheel bearings.
Got the rest of those GOD FORSAKEN CLIPS in the shift linkage & clutch.

Got the rear brake line supported & tucked away.

The fill plug for the tranny was sweating.. so a little form a gasket( non hardening) should fix that right up.( done )

Tightened the tranny side cover..MAN that was loose.

Cleaned & lubed E brake cable.

Lubed bottom zerk fittings.

Found more wiring Kludge-A-Trons ( fixed )
12 different styles :eek
Twisted wire no tape
Bad crimp ( 4X )
ground lug on a painted surface ( no connection)
etc etc.

Put fuel system cleaner & Octane boost in, topped tank off.

I get a weird ign shut down.. when I'm at the bottom of the power curve and step on it.. It's almost like the Vac advance has chafed the points wire ( have to look into that)

More cleaning..More chrome bits... put all the tools away

Oh the electric fan is making that bearing going noise.



Time to eat( sorry no time for pix today)

More chrome bits...Vig~

 

[IH2LOSE]

VIG READ THIS POST

A fellow forum members car caught on fire

Vig disconect your battery until you can figure out all your wires,
When I purchased my car it was loaded with electric gremlins.I purchased a manual with a wiring diagram in it and followed the diagram excactley,I removed a bunch or jumpers,extra grounds all over the place and found that a major ground on my car went to a power soursce incorrectley.removed all the extra wires and never had a problem since

 

[vigman]

Thanks for the tip off

I do that ANYWAY.. to prevent this kinda stuff.. the first things I do on ANY car I get is inspect the wiring CLOSELY.. and work from Main wires on down... then the fuel systems.


Pictures like that are BIG motivators to increase efforts on that. The car will be parked for the next week on so since I still have ignition issues, and work will be NUTS.


Vig~

 

[vigman]

Caught a break Day 5

I was thrown out of my room at work today
( somebody need a presentation space)

So I snuck out the back
and off to Vette Heaven I went.
4:30 PST

I started with the distributor
( ripping that apart again)
and found the following..
Bad ground wire
from the points plate to the frame ( open )
(fixed)
Points plate rusted into position
( fixed )
Vac advance diaphram blown
( fixed )
Replaced line from points to coil & the base grommet just for good measure.

Now I had good spark.. and still no start.. pulled the #1 plug , soggy wet FLOODED!
( BTW the heads on her have peanut plugs on them.. not the correct heads AT ALL!)

Now I'm PO'ed
.. I cleaned off the old Accell plugs
ripped the Holley off my 327 motor.. and VROOM.. she lives!

Stone cold...perfect start!

I let her get up to temp and tweeked the carb... SSSMMMOOOTTTTHHHHHH

SO off I go for a test drive!

She's purrin like a kitten...

But she drives like a 72 Chevy 1/2 ton pickup...

Up on the freeway I go
50
60
70 ( pullin great)
80
A drive train SLIGHT shake starts.. so I back off a bit,, and I'm sailing...WEEEEEEEEEEEE

1/2 tank later

I pull her into the driveway.. and shut her down for the evening....

Tomorrow IF she starts RIGHT UP.. I'll take her into work for the first time.. a bit rough.. but work in progress.

Day 5 was a turning point

I have to assume the carb needs a re jet/ rebuild ( for the Holley she came with)

I'll report more later..

OH YEAH....
The temp gauge is still screwey I think the sender is REALLY out of cal.

I'll have to temp in an after market one for a bit till I can figgure out whats REALLY happening.


Vig~

 

[MidShark]

Progress!

 

[vigman]

It made it to work today!!!!!All by itself!

After a rather hard start @ 6:00am... off it went.
Starter didn't crank but after a few attempts it worked...

Now I'm here @ work....

Can't wait for the drive home tonight.
* need better ignition, electronic*
* need lower gears.. 3Krpm/60mph..not good!*


Vroom Vroom

Vig~

 

[Tom Bryant]

You must have 3.70s. You get 3K at 70 with 3.36s and it will still move away from a stop well.

Tom

 

[58Mike]

This is very cool!

I'd sure like to see your new toy . . . hey, wait a minute . . . maybe I can! Are you up for a little detour through Hollywood on the way home from work or for lunch? My number is (323) 383-7374. I'm buying!

- Mike Greene

 

[vigman]

Mike your ON

If you don't laugh to hard....

I need a few days to straighten out a few more things..( see temp sender post).
Straighten out fuel feed.

I need to put a new starter in
( maybe tomorrow) It kacked 2X today.. so I hate push starts..

And the temp sender deal.. balance tires.. and get new shocks on ( on order.. here friday)

AND FIX THE KLUDGE HOLDING THE REAR SPRING ON!

I did get the petronix today
I have a bunch of little bits on the way from Mid America.

So like next week... I can swing by after work.

I need to make it a bit more manageable before I take it for another long ( 60 mile ) haul


Vig~

 

[58Mike]

You're welcome to use my 2-post lift (partially visible in my sigpic) for some of those projects. It's completely unused right now, both weekdays and weekends. I don't even have to be here, because it's outside. I could just give you a key to the gate.

Of course, I'd probably be here the whole time anyway, because I like watching someone else work on their car for a change!

- Mike Greene

 

[vigman]

Friday( and rest of weekend ) plan

Not in logical order

Steam clean!!!!!!!! EVERYTHING..

Maybe pull rear end out & replace nose seal & replace C clips for yokes, re do rear cover gasket.

Drill, tap & Helicoil the rear end diff mounts
(for spring) replace ALL rear end hardware & rubber.

Inspection cover for flywheel.

Starter rear hanger bracket.

Fix fuel leak @ tank feed ( old hose )

Rear shocks.

Center steering wheel.

Dis assemble electric fan & lube it
( bearing death squeeks)

Install Petronix/MSD6A & coil
NEW PLUGS
Clean, inspect & re route plug wires.

Remove tach cable, clean & lube ( again ).

Replace front sway bar hardware & bushings.

Replace ALL ( rubber) fuel lines & filters.

Front shocks
( If Mid America delivers on time )

Fix door locks ( really FUNKY feeling).

Drivers side door..
Sounds like a ton of LOOSE stuff in there.

Clean & adjust E brake & E brake indicator switch.

Lube heater cables & linkage

Rebuild & re jet carb.. it's a 750( 3310-2)Vac secondaries with 72's in the primaries.. starting @65 and will work UP.

Valve stem seals.

Rebuild power steering ram.

New water pump.

New belts.

Squirters for wipers ( not working).

Fix right turn signal indicator in dash.

Inspect brakes.

Balance tires.

This SHOULD make the car streetable.

Then back to clean & detail patrol.
Generate NEW lists.

Vig~

 

[vigman]

Todays BAD news

The heater core sprung a LEAK!

I came out to the car this am to a green floormat ( pass side )

So today

Clean the carpet......
Bypass the heater hoses
Put in the Petronix & MSD 6 WOW with totally fouled plugs.. the car LIT RIGHT OFF. WITH OUT SETTING TIMING ( which I still need to do!) What a difference!!!
and it works with the Petronix just fine.

Straightened out MORE shabby wiring.

Re did throttle return spring.

Replaced the front links from Lower A arms to sway bar. The mounts were tweeked, and the bolts/ nuts were the original RUST buckets.. ( that took 2 hours to get the 4 bolts out alone without snapping em!)

Re routed fuel lines.

Put new distributor clamp on.

New shorty plugs. ( .040 gap )

Steam cleaned the motor, rear end & under carrige.

And I got called back into work.. where I now sit waiting for the lab to deliver film...

TAP TAP TAP...

and I am DOG tired!

Vig~

More tomorrow starting with carb rebuild..

 

[vigman]

Saturday Wrench O rama

The car fired up from STONE COLD on first key blip.. I LOVE MY NEW MSD & Petronix combo!!!!!

Rear end 101

Drilled out the 4 mounting holes in rear diff, put Perma-Coils in ( with Loctite red )

Replaced rear spring hardware to grade 8.

New urathane bushings.

Replaced a grade 5 bolt ( with 4 split washers) in drive flange.

New rear shocks.

De slimed rear end & e brake stuff.

Checked timing.. BANG ON.. did not need to do anything!

Put in rear starter hanger.

That was it for today..... 6 hours!

The rear end feels MUCH better.


Vig~

 

[Tom Bryant]

Vig,

Your last 3 posts would be about a years worth of ambition for me. :L Go, man, go!

 

[vigman]

Must make car reliable..... Need to DRIVE IT!

1 word

POSSESSED!


Vig~

 

[Guy]

Re: Must make car reliable..... Need to DRIVE IT!

1 word

POSSESSED!

Vig~

Mike - You or the car ? When does that great looking nose come off?

Guy

 

[vigman]

BOTH!

So the nose will NOT be coming off for some time.. there are SO MANY other issues that those funds to get a nose job have been depleted ( for now ).. this might be a winter thing.... The object of the game is to get the car mechanicaly functional & reliable.. ( see above list ) then the new engine goes in... ragtop gets replaced.. then front end & cosmetics.. at this rate june 2008.... LOL.

When I replaced the bolt in the rear drive flange it was a 5/8 head instead of a 9/16.. now I have a tic-tic-tic in the rear which I think is the shoulder of the bolt hitting the drive shaft...NICE! Now I know why the guy had 3 lockwashers behind the bolt

I do not think I will be able to get much done today.. when drilling the rear end, the drill grabbed and gave my wrist a GOOD twist.. this morning its a BEAR just to lift the morning cup O java.

 

[vigman]

Today ( easter sunday )

Car fired up PERFECTLY again.

Inspected rear end for the bolt interference.. well I was WRONG.. it clears fine.. and the tic-tic-tic went away...

Painted new water pump
Found hole in coolant overflow feed line
( previous header burn ) replaced line.
Took drivers side door panel off.. and cobbeled together a temp fix for the wind wing crank assy. The back stop blew off it.. and the back was no where to be found. So I pinned the nose of the crank rod with a cold roll pin & thrust washer... ( 4 hrs ) to de rust everything.. clean repair adjust and put the whole thing back together ( with better hardware).

Found 2 door hinge bolts lying in the bottom of the door.. and oddly enough 2 open holes in the door hinge..

Found a 1980 ish Corvette Mike card from this neck of the woods...ODD...

Cleaned & lubed the door lock mechnisms window track & gears.

Now the door closes SOLID.

Took the glove box out and lubed the wiper linkage, heater cables, fixed the top speaker grille.. they used DOUBLE SIDED TAPE!!!!.. now that's working all smooth.. and no BUZZING.

Put the rear Corvette emblem on properly ( 2 hrs).. that was a PAIN!

Did some misc cleaning & polishing... she now is starting to look, sound & smell like a car...

Next new water pump & carb rebuild
power steering ram. and balance tires!



Vig!

 

[Tom Bryant]

Isn't it amazing all the little things that people don't fix on an old Corvette? They just pass them on to the next guy. Then when someone buys the car that really cares about it, he has a list a mile long to deal with. You're getting on top of it though.

Tom