W.E.G.

Initiated thread about seriously creaky door in the "Body" forum.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...ml#post5487186

W.E.G.

Your daily "fix."

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/v6/6...ml#post5488129

Creative spark plug wire routing.

W.E.G.

Ugly dash-pad contest.

I win.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/inte...-fix-dash.html

IMissMy86TA

but where is the joy in said victory

W.E.G.

where?

It is on you, and in you, and around you... and it is nowhere if you do not see

2007xl50

Yeah your dash is BAD!!!!! maybe the worst I have seen. Well keep at it and at some point you will be there, I mean you have owned the car a few weeks and have already replaced 1/4 of the car LOL!.

W.E.G.

.
.
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W.E.G.

Just wrote a Yelp review of the folks that helped me out when I broke down in Mississippi.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/bozeman-chevron-hazlehurst#hrid:c2N9e05zBCzbeUROxVyR6A

W.E.G.

Sticker from glove box.

How do I de-code all this?

Richboll

Here's a start.

http://www.chevy-camaro.com/chevy-ca....asp?year=1989

W.E.G.

New dash pad came today.

Pics at https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/afte...ml#post5494345

IMissMy86TA

it needed it

W.E.G.

"Pulling codes" now.

Gives me a headache.

I'm gonna go get some pulled pork while y'all chew on this thing I posted at:
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/elec...ml#post5497077

W.E.G.

Pulling out the wet carpet in advance of Monday's foray to the body shop to button up some leaks.

Payday!



All out!



Action!

IMissMy86TA

nice. good luck with everything!

Richboll

Wow.....lots of water! Well at least its not rusted through. I guess that's why I prefer a convertible instead of T-tops. Good luck with sealing it up. Still appreciate the adventure/challenge. I love car stories because we all have them. Please keep on posting.

W.E.G.

Dealing with the firewall apron today.

kmcn47

doesn't look to bad, infact it looks really good. i love red camaros, or camaros of any color for that matter

scottmoyer

The patches that you found in each footwell are sound deadeners. You do not need full wall-to-wall, front to back, sound deadening to silence the vibration in a panel. Small pieces of sound deadener will absorb the vibration of the whole panel.

The water in the rear footwell is probably coming from the rear hatch bolts or the rear window weatherstripping. I putting my money on the hatch bolts.

W.E.G.

I don't doubt it.

Frankly, I'm operating on the "Anywhere it could come in, it probably is" theory until disproven.

I should note that the design of the floorboard is such that if you poured a Mellow Yellow Big Gulp in the front floorboard, your Mellow Yellow would end up in the back floorboard in short order if the car were merely tipped a few degrees such that gravity would allow it to flow that direction. Its not like the front vs. rear floorpans are discreet reservoirs.

The reason why water was not splash-deep in the front floorboard is because the floorboard has failed (i.e. cracked and/or rusted through) along the apex of one of the stamped dimples/ridges under the sound-deadener goop.

Red line shows where the affected area of the floorboard will flex downward, and independent of the rest of the surrounding floorboard, if you put your weight on it. This allows any large quantities of Mellow Yellow that show up to drip right through the floorboard, and onto the ground. I'm going to talk to the body shop and see if we can get this particular area welded in a proper fashion.



...and here is a lovely pic of the nasty (and wet) toe-board/firewall insulation that I pulled out. You are looking at the BACK side of the extra insulation and floor-covering that resided under the pile carpet in the front floorboard. Can you smell it?

W.E.G.

Body shop says firewall rust is repairable!

2007xl50

Man the Saga goes on and on, but I give you credit for keeping the project going.

W.E.G.

Miles of smiles!

W.E.G.

Stopped by the body shop today to drop-off a hinge.

Got to visit the '88.

They are steady plugging holes.

The roof over the doors is looking really good, and the windshield mounting flange is (thankfully) NOT swiss-cheesed from rust.

Ordered some new hubcaps today to feed my Camaro jones.

Not that the existing ones needed replacing or anything...

W.E.G.

Body shop called yesterday.

New windshield is installed.

Also roof rust, cowl rust, firewall rust (floorboard rust?) are all repaired.

And a door hinge to boot.

I could pick it up Monday or Tuesday, but I've got trigger time both those days... and Wednesday.

Looks like the 88 is coming home on Thursday.

musicfreako

iTrader: (1)

Yay!

BowtieZ28

How has the progress been coming along lately?

beths91camaro

iTrader: (35)

Just read this! Believe it or not, the same weekend, I flew out to Denver, and drove a Suburban with 200,000 miles home, sight unseen. Worst problem I had was needing new wipers. You made me feel lucky that my trip went so well.

W.E.G.

Thanks for asking!

I got her home from the body shop about a week-and-a-half ago.
Repairs over the doors, and on the A-pillar looked great!
New driver-side door hinge.
New windshield.

Drove it around all afternoon.
OMG it gets HOT inside that car without any floor insulation or carpet!

So, I parked it on the street overnight and it rained like the bejeezus.
Acid test for the leak issue eh?

Next morning when it stopped raining, went outside to inspect.
Puddles in both floorboards.



Called the body shop and said, "Hey guys..."
They came right away and picked it up to have another go at it.

I obviously don't know for SURE where the water is still getting in, but I did notice a few drops on the crest of the bellhousing hump near dash. That sure suggests to me that its still coming through the firewall from behind the dash. No signs I could see that the water could be coming around the doors or the hatch or the roof.

I asked my buddy at the body shop to PLEASE pull the dash all the way out, and expose the complete firewall area. I don't mind paying him whatever is his hourly to get to the bottom of this. I'm already so upside down in this car that Roswell investigators are sniffing around my back door to see if I might have figured out how to shape-shift and travel dimensions that aren't apparent to the ordinary mind.

Well yeah. That much is for sure. I'm no ordinary mind.
But maybe not in a good way.
If I suddenly disappear through the walls, and there's a strange bright light outside, and I come back talking nonsense, and complaining about my butt hurts, its only because I've spent so much money on the Camaro. It really wasn't aliens... I don't think.

I stalked the body shop this afternoon. The 88 had been sitting outside by the street last week. Its gone now. Either aliens have it, or the shop is hiding it, or they are back at it. Front doors of the shop were open, and it looked like ten pounds of body-and-fender-work in a five pound bag. I couldn't tell if the 88 was in there or not. I hope they are back at it with some success.

I want to put down some insulation on that floor, and get started reviving the A/C system. Its like riding in a toaster oven with the top AND bottom heating elements on otherwise. Not going to put anything on that floor though until it survives the garden hose, three hard rains and two car washes.

W.E.G.

That's just 'cause there's no soul-food or fire ants between Denver and PA.

You'll have missed an opportunity for some real fun if you don't get to ride in a Mississippi flatbed with the driver and his whole family, and in the opposite direction of your destination, to some place you have never heard of at least once in your life.

scottmoyer

Where was the water puddled this last time. With no carpet in the car, you should be able to locate the area.

W.E.G.

Car was parked with the nose slightly downhill, and with it leaning slightly to the right (because of the crown of the road).

Small puddles about the size of a tea saucer in each front floorboard on the front right side of each floorboard.

The clue about the specific location of ingress was the droplets on the bellhousing hump.

Remember, the cowl drains (both sides) were plugged when I began my investigation some weeks ago.

We'll know whether (or more to the point - how BADLY) the firewall is perforated when the firewall behind the dash is fully exposed. The cowl scoop prevents visual inspection from simply looking under the hood. Perforated areas that were visible from under the hood have already been repaired.

I cling to the fantasy that it just can't be THAT HARD to seal a sheet metal box.

Richboll

Well, it sounds like you're trying to do everything the right way. I admire your perserverance and dedication. Good luck with the project.

W.E.G.

Little update.

88 still at the body shop.

Got to have look at it with the dash out.
Sho' nuff there were perforations in the firewall adjacent to the cowl bowl that could only be reached with the dash out.
Getting those patched.

While the dash is out, we're also going to replace the heater core on general principles.
Also replacing the batting-insulation with Dynomat or some such modern insulation.
The old batting insulation was made out of shredded underpants in the first place. With the odors it had developed from absorbing many years of leaking, the batting insulation had the distinct odor of SOILED underpants. Be glad to see that stuff go.

...and you wondered why I drove that car from Texas to Virginia at the end of January with the windows rolled down for the entire trip.

IMissMy86TA

I dont think we wondered that Very interesting story. will you restore this baby all the way or just make it a decent driver?

W.E.G.

I can quit any time.

...unless somebody stops me.

beths91camaro

iTrader: (35)

Now that had to have been priceless! Hubby probably wouldn't have liked hearing about that, though.
My other half is good at locating leaks like that. If for some reason they can't find it, bring it on up, and he'll help you get it squared away.

kmcn47

i wish i could find my leaks and plug em, about to say hell with it and buy new weatherstrip

W.E.G.

The business of pulling the dash all the way to the firewall is not for the faint of heart, or thin of wallet.

In my case, I think my strength is "weak of mind."

I'm paying the body shop to do it because I'm an old man, and I get to do this once in my life.

Seriously, I might have pulled the dash down to the firewall all by my own slef before delivering it to the body shop, except that it looked like I was going to need to drop the steering column to get the dash out far enough to work on it. Then I wouldn't be able to drive it to the body shop. Not having a flatbed truck, or a trailer, or a MIG welder, or an indoors place to work, or any hands-on experience with such hi-jinks, I figured I'd pay for the labor.

...and then the firewall is hardly the only place a thirdgen can spring a cabin leak.

W.E.G.

I see that the PO of the 88 is "selling off" the payment-in-kind I gave for the 88.

http://www.falfiles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=352303

Richboll

Nice looking rifle and it appears to be SOLD! Even though you've had to go above and beyond with yours, I'd still rather have the 3rd gen. As stated before, I admire your perseverance.

W.E.G.

I think I might still have an AK around here somewhere anyway.

Can only drive one thirdgen and shoot one AK at a time.

Richboll

Yeah..it's when you try to do both at the same time that there might be a problem

Still liking your approach to your car. I may sold mine if it was like that and looked for a rust free one. So good luck with it.

W.E.G.

Thanks.

I had kind of hoped the body shop would have been done with it by this weekend.

Waiting patiently (as I can).

W.E.G.

Was "passing by" yesterday so stopped in to visit the 88.

Additional firewall leaks are patched.

Half-inch Dynaliner is installed on the firewall.

Next to tackle the A/C system to get her ready to come home.

Caveman305

iTrader: (8)

a month later and.............. you finish the rest!

I just read through this thread, had me on the edge of my seat the whole time!

kmcn47

yeah anyprogress yet? you been having too much fun driving to update us?

W.E.G.

I'm actually a bit miffed at the moment. The fella who is supposed to be putting the A/C system back together is taking entirely too long. Reckon I'll be patient for just a spell longer. I'm gonna be driving this car before summer's out if it takes an act of Congress!

scottmoyer

Seriously W.E.G.! This is not your daily driver or primary source of transportation. Congress wants to take your car and give it to someone that doesn't have one!!! So, by an act of Congress, you may never drive this car again.

kmcn47

scott that sounds alot more probable