excessiveego

could be, my factory slave cylinder cracked out the plastic that holds the retainer ring that holds the piston in and it blew out the piston. But it only worked poorly for about 20 seconds before completely failing. Did you make sure the reservoir was still full? Might just be a weeping seal.

Dakota W.

The reservoir is full. I'm thinking it's leaking internally. I started having issues when shifting quickly through the gears a while back, thinking it was the clutch I replaced it. The problem was still moderately there though, and the pedal has always been a bit soft. I've heard that they go out quicker on cars that sit, than cars that drive regularly. So most likely it was already bad, and just got worse because it sat for a while, while I was swapping engines.

excessiveego

there really is no way for it to leak internally, the slave cylinder is a tube with one piston and one seal, the only way for it to "leak" is for the fluid to push past that seal, whick would result in the fluid dripping on the ground.

You could also have air in it, even if it hast been apart, you never know. Or it could be a bad master cylinder on the firewall.

Dakota W.

Yeah, I'm going to bleed it when I find a helper, I'm also going to pull the transmission and make sure everything is as it should be. I've also got an oil leak to fix, never had a timing cover to oil pan leak before...

Dakota W.

Well, I learned something new today. There's apparently a thick oil pan gasket and a thick one...That would explain the leak.

Scorpner

iTrader: (4)

The stock sbc oil pans tend to leak. I had a couple of books handy when I put mine back together and they recommended a gasket that was reinforced where the oil pan meets the timing cover. they also said to add extra sealant there as well.
When I noticed how twisted mine and other ones I looked at were, I just bought a Milodon pan instead. It had extra meat at the oil pan/timing cover intersection and it even had a slight bow to the length that worked out perfectly when everything was tightened down. I don't regret spending the money on it one bit.

Dakota W.

In regards to my transmission problem, I just remember that I used a pilot bushing and not a pilot bearing because there wasn't one available specifically for the 72 crankshaft. Could that be causing the issue I'm having with it not going into gear?

excessiveego

it was not available because these transmissions use a pilot bushing, NOT a pilot bearing

Dakota W.

Right, but there shouldn't be a difference in size, as far as I know. I've also seen other people using bushings with T5s without problems, so I'm not entirely sure why it would be the pilot bushing, but it isn't what was on it and it isn't working properly. I guess I'll find out when I drop the trans later.

excessiveego

you are supposed to use a pilot bushing

Dakota W.

Fixed the problem, pilot bushing wasn't in far enough, now if I could just get the transmission back in...

Dakota W.

So, good news and bad news. Good news is, the thick gasket fixed my leak on the front. The bad news is that Mr. Gasket oil breathers DO NOT vent crankcase pressure. Because of this I lost about 3 quarts of oil as well as the fitting for my oil pressure sender.

More bad news, transmission still will not go into gear. The pilot bearing is flush with the lip in the crankshaft, the clutch is installed correctly, pressure plate torqued to 30 ft lbs, throwout bearing is in correctly and transmission is not damaged as far as I can tell. My next guess is it is something in the hydraulics. I bled the system and it extended the rod into the fork quite a ways, so I'm going to attempt to put something between the rod and fork and see if it will go into gear, that should tell me if I've got a bad slave/master cylinder (hopefully)(in theory).

Dakota W.

well, I stood on my head and noticed a small amount of liquid on the rubber boot where the rod comes out to extend to the pedal from the master cylinder, so I'm guessing the master cylinder is bad. I still find it strange that it pushes the rod out a good amount, but won't go into gear.

excessiveego

mine leaks alittle there too, but ive never had to add fluid or anything, and it shifts fine

Dakota W.

When it warms up some I'll be dropping the transmission and putting a throwout bearing in, instead of a bushing. I'm also going to buy some 245/55/16 Firestone Firehawks for the rear, and put my current rears on the front. Then for exhaust I'm considering either a single 3" with cat and dumping right before the rear axle, or true duals and X-pipe with no cat and right before the axle. I haven't tried to start it since the fitting exploded, but I did put a new fitting in, again waiting for it to warm up to at least 60 degrees; The hands don't work very well in 30 degree weather.

89fast5oh

Did you ever get the car running properly even before the oil fitting broke?

Johnny Blaze

iTrader: (15)

Why do you want to replace your throwout bushing with a bearing?

Most I have talked too recommend the bushing over the bearing.

Dakota W.

Yep The T5 had a bearing on it when the 305 was hooked up to it, so I figured I might as well use what worked then. Plus the bearing is kind of beaten up, so I'm wondering if that's causing problems as well.

Dakota W.

Picked up a few upgrades yesterday at the junkyard.



Taurus fan and some mudflaps off of an '86. I'm going to repaint the 'Chevrolet' on them. I would've gotten the front flaps too, but they were pretty chewed up, so just the rear for now.

Zeifer

When I bought my car I worked for 8 hours one day to get the transmission in, Got it all together FINALLY, started it up, and went to back it out of the shop - clutch slave **** itself.

Best part is, I drove the car with the bad clutch and the bad transmission before I bought it and was able to shift. It was a horribly depressing moment.

Dakota W.

Thankfully my hydraulics are okay. I'll be trying to get out and change the pilot bushing out in favor of a bearing so I can have a drivable(somewhat) car again, since it has finally warmed up enough to feel my fingers when I'm outside. I've still got to make a bracket to mount the taurus fan to, as well as wire that up, but that's relatively easy.

I decided the exhaust is going to be a 3" single setup, I'm going to re-use my old cat and pipe, but instead of going over the axle I'm just gong to dump it before the axle, but after the SLP loudmouth (that I haven't bought yet). I'm going to let a shop build the Y pipe since there are no 3" pipes available for the hooker headers I've got.

I also determined that putting Royal Purple synthetic oil into a high volume pump is a big no-no. I'm thinking since synthetic flows better than conventional, that that's why my fitting broke on the pressure sensor. Even with regular oil, it still has like 50+ psi when warm.

Other than the transmission, fan stuff, and exhaust I've got to do it's as done as it will be for a little while. I'm going to be replacing suspension and brakes as money permits. Brakes will just be stoptech pads and some new rotors for now, since the car stops well enough with what it has. I'm going to most definitely get some new LCAs as priority...The stock ones flex waaaaaay too much for me to feel comfortable even going in circles in a parking lot. I almost consider myself lucky that they didn't snap when I was driving it like I stole it...lol.

There are a lot of cosmetic things I WANT to do, but don't have the money to do. I'm going to plasti-dip my wheels before I get new tires, since that's cheap and I prefer black wheels. Eventually I want to plastidip the whole car, but I'll probably save that for when I decide to put my low rise spoiler on in place of the F40 style Z28 thing. I want to cut out the center piece of the grill and slap a big LED light bar in there to use as a fog light, but again...money...I think it would look pretty badass though. Maybe get some expanded aluminum to go over the hole and recess the light bar a bit. I also want to take a shot at making some LED tail lights. Similar to the one77's, but I'd make them follow the contours of the stock lights. I'm thinking have the outside ring as just the running lights, and maybe put some big LED squares in between those to work as the brake lights. Here's a reference pic

Oh, I have a fuel pump switch now. It's the racing switch, not the red LED switch. The red LED switch is for the LED light strips I'm working on putting in the headlight buckets.

Wow, that's a big update.

Zeifer

I like the ideas. I'm glad you mentioned brake pads because I need new fronts. My Advance Auto cheapies throw out clouds of dust when I use the brakes and then squeak.

Zane M

iTrader: (1)

You may want to consider doing the wheels AFTER you get the new tires mounted if you are going to do the tires relatively soon.
There is a high probability the dip will get damaged along the edges when the tires are mounted, and you will end up doing the job again.

Dakota W.

That was the plan. I'm going to move the current rears to the front and get some firehawks for the rears.

Dakota W.

Decided that I'm going to go with a 3" In/Out cherrybomb glasspack instead of the Loudmouth 2. I'm thinking about a 4" turndown also.

Zeifer

Cherrybombs are awesome. Why 4"?

Dakota W.

4" is louder than 3", or at least that's what the internet and everyone on it says.

Zeifer

Three inches would be plenty loud. My dual 2.5's are the same volume as the average fart-canned 4-banger.

Just my opinion though. Why aren't you doing duals?

Dakota W.

Money.

86T/A_Ram_Air

my 4 inch is loud. I have a 4 inch mufflex with a 30 series flowmaster muffler and a cat. take a listen:
and this was when it was straight pipe

Dakota W.

Absolutely love the straight pipe. I'd keep mine open headers if it were legal, I never get tired of the rumble that pounds on your chest. Nice Vert.

86T/A_Ram_Air

yeah i had it idling one afternoon and my nieghbor came over and complained cause every time i fired it cold his daughter peed herself lol. so as a friendly compromise i put a muffler on it and i like how it cleaned it up a little. under a load it is still very very loud

Dakota W.

When I have the Y-pipe made for mine I'm going to have them put 3 bolt flanges on the Cat so I can just swap it out for a cutout and have either muffled or straightpipe. People weren't very happy hearing my car in my apartment complex either lol.

Dakota W.

Good new and bad news. Bad news is I was going to attempt to move the Camaro under it's own power and couldn't get it to run for more than half a second, even though it started right up....fuel pump was only putting out 2.5psi...Good news is that it roared to life in about 2 turns of the starter and I was able to put it into gear when it was off. Not sure if my transmission issue magically fixed itself after sitting through bad weather, or if I still have to take everything apart...again. I've finally got my hands on some metal so I can make a bracket for the taurus fan, so I'll be sure and upload some pics when I get around to actually making it. The plan is to use a cheap fan controller I picked up that has provisions for dual fans and wire in the low speed and high speed into an on-off-on switch. That way, when I'm cruising around, or it's a cold day I can just have it on the low fan speed to keep the car cool, and when I'm either racing or it's a really hot day I can have it on the high fan speed.

Dakota W.

The bitch finally moved under her own power today! I've still got a small oil leak to fix (original oil pressure sensor is leaking), and my return line is returning gas to the front of the car, so I'll have to plug that up. I don't have any video, and most likely won't until I fix the oil and gas leak, but that is the first time I've ever driven that car and it has actually scared me....I literally big-toe'd the gas pedal and the front end lifted up about 4 inches. Granted, my suspension is pretty warn out, and that's next on the to-do list (along with brakes), but omg I only used 1/5 of the pedal. Okay, I'm rambling. Here's a pic showing the bitch's resting place for a little while.

Dakota W.

Got the gas leak fixed, and I put a flare cap on the return line that isn't being used since some gas was sloshing out of it when I moved the car. I'm still trying to figure out the oil leak, I thought it was the oil pressure sensor since that was the only thing I could tell that was leaking oil, so I plumbed everything up for a mechanical gauge I purchased from a member on TGO, and it's still leaking from the same area. So, hopefully the original oil pressure sensor is good, and it's just something with the fittings.

Dakota W.

Well, I wrapped a whole helluva lot more thread tape around my fittings, and then I noticed the oil filter leaking from around the seal (Brand new K&N), and after I replaced it the leak was gone. That is the first and last K&N product I will ever buy. All that I have left to do is finish up my fan bracket, paint it, and wire up my taurus fan. I'll post pics of the bracket if there is interest.

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

Glad you were able to find the problem.

I had that happen years ago with an AC filter, I think it was. Less important than the brand was the lesson. Ever since, (30+ years), I've always opened the package at the store and checked the presence and condition of the seal before buying. Have caught a missing one, and a bad one (or at least I felt it was suspect) in that time. A bad part can slip through ANYONE'S quality controls. No manufacturing process is perfect. YOU have to be your cars last line of defense where part quality is concerned.

Dakota W.

Oh, I always check everything I buy before I buy it. Even after I took the oil filter off, I couldn't figure out why it was leaking, because there was nothing visually wrong with the seal. At least, nothing that I could see.

Dakota W.

Good news, went out and advanced timing about 10* or more (I can't shine a light on the balancer because the accessory brackets are so damn big, so I don't know exact timing), and within 2 turns of the starter it ROARED to life from dead cold. So, I decided to give driving it a shot, since all of the fluid leaks were fixed. Drove around the parking lot no problem. Gave the car, the first bath in about a year. Still need to get my fan bracket made, and wire the fan up, as well as put an exhaust on the car, so I can take it through DEQ and have a registration again.

Dakota W.

This is as far as I got, I might work on it more later today, but I have to stop here because I don't have long enough bolts to mount the fan to the bracket. After I get the fan mounted I can make measurements for where I need to put the holes for the top piece, and then where the holes need to be to connected it to the radiator tray.

Dakota W.

Didn't get much done today because my nose has turned into a flowing river with my allergies. However, I did manage to get the fan mounted to the bracket. Now I just need to test fit the "saddle" on the car with the fan, so I know where to drill my holes, as well as cut some metal I have to get the saddle held down to the stock location.
Had to use a spacer for this part. I just cut a piece of brass tubing about an inch or so long, and that seems to have done the trick.

I may need to reinforce the side with the brass tube, because that side only has one bolt holding it to the bracket, and it's a bit wobbly. I may just drill a hole through the shroud and zip tie the bottom of the fan to the bracket.

Dakota W.

I forgot to post an update. I finished the bracket. I've got everything held down with zipties until I can get my hands on a welder to finish the top part of the bracket, and it appears to be doing perfectly fine. I'm going to have to get another tach, because 3500rpm at 55mph seems a bit odd...especially considering it was 65mph at 3500 with the LB9. I'm guessing the stock gauge doesn't like HEI distributors. I've driven it a little bit, and I've noticed the suspension is COMPLETELY gone after sitting so long, and my pinion bearing/seal problem has also intesified. So first on the list, aside from making it legal, is going to be 4th gen rear, and shocks and struts. Hopefully my front tires live that long, they're basically slicks now, but that's not a problem considering we're moving into summer.

Dakota W.

Well, I called and made an appointment to have a y-pipe made for my car and was told it would cost me no more than $250. I get there today, and the price goes up to $500. So, I'll be buying the Hooker ypipe for the 2460 headers and getting some flexible exhaust tubing or something to hook up that to the cat.

Dakota W.

Did some grocery shopping today. Climbed a hill that is almost 6% grade at part throttle in 5th gear...So much torque right around 3k....so much monsterous torque...IT IS GLORIOUS!

Bob88GTA

iTrader: (2)

I read this whole thread during my lunch from March 2013, to the present.

You definitely get an A+ for determination. You just cant make that stuff up if you tried!

Kudo's!!!

Dakota W.

Thanks, it has been QUITE the adventure lol. And I'm still not done.

Dakota W.

Here is a video of me cruising down the street.

Dakota W.

First time driving in the rain today with the 350...Second gear, half throttle tirespin...Yessssssss.

Dakota W.

Bit of an update. I got my exhaust all done. Doug's D901 headers(which had to be modified to fit, flange re-welded, tubing added), my old cat, and a new glasspack. We'll see if it passes DEQ, if not, I'll be throwing some Alcohol in the tank. I don't really like how quiet it is, but people complained about the noise. It still rumbles though. I've also noticed my Edelbrock 1405 is leaking gas after I shut the engine off, which leads to flooded restarts. I'm going to be getting a Holley with vacuum secondaries to fix that issue.